I'm in Detective Conan, and I start with the Grand Theft Auto system.

The police arrived quickly. Within fifteen minutes of the explosion, the area around the apartment building was filled with police cars and fire trucks, their red and blue flashing lights illuminating the entire street.

Several police cars blocked the intersection, and uniformed police officers set up yellow police tape to keep onlookers out.

Yoko Okino's apartment was completely sealed off by the police.

Several capable detectives wearing shoe covers moved in and out of the living room, using tweezers to pick up fragments from the floor and put them into evidence bags, while the flash of cameras blinked in the room.

A faint smell of gunpowder still lingered in the air.

Lin Shen and Yoko Okino were separated, one in a corner of the living room and the other in the bedroom, each being questioned.

Inspector Megure personally took charge of Lin Shen's side.

He stood in front of Lin Shen, holding a notebook in his hand. His brows, furrowed under the brim of his hat, formed a deep frown. His expression was neither friendly nor stern.

Lin Shen recounted the events in a selective manner.

He began by saying that Yoko Okino came to him for help investigating the intrusion into her home;

In the middle of the conversation, he followed them to the apartment to begin the inspection;

The ending was also mentioned: when Sakae Yamagishi was inspecting the doll, it suddenly exploded.

But he never mentioned when or how he put a small bomb inside the bear doll.

Inspector Megure listened and took notes, glancing up at Lin Shen every now and then: "You said you came to help because you had nothing better to do?"

"Yeah," Lin Shen shrugged, his expression natural. "I opened a detective-themed café, right across from the Mouri Detective Agency."

"Ms. Yoko Okino originally wanted to go see Detective Mouri, but he wasn't home, so she came here instead."

"I figured I didn't have anything else to do, so I came to check it out—who knew this would happen?"

Inspector Megure stared at Lin Shen for a while, but couldn't find any flaws in his face.

He closed the notebook and turned to ask Yoko Okino a question.

Yoko Okino's testimony is basically consistent with what Hayashi said.

She recently discovered signs of a forced entry into her home, so she sought help from a detective tonight. She found Lin Shen, who accompanied her back to inspect the place, and that's when an explosion occurred.

After she finished speaking, she gripped her handkerchief tightly with both hands, and added in a trembling voice, "Officer, please, you must catch that murderer!"

"He wanted to kill me... If Mr. Yamagishi hadn't examined that doll for me, I'd be the one dead now!"

Her voice choked as she said this.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. She covered her mouth with a handkerchief, her shoulders trembling slightly.

She was filled with lingering fear and guilt towards Yamagishi Sakae; he had died in her place!

Looking at her like that, Inspector Megure suddenly felt immense pressure.

Yoko Okino is a popular idol with national-level fame!

If this case makes the headlines tomorrow, the higher-ups will definitely put pressure on me to solve it as quickly as possible!

All he wants now is to get this old lady away safely as soon as possible and prevent her from appearing in the media, so as not to add fuel to the fire of the case!

"Ms. Yoko Okino," Inspector Megure softened his tone as much as possible, "we will do our best to investigate this case and give you a satisfactory explanation."

"But the situation is rather sensitive right now, so I suggest you leave here for the time being."

Yoko Okino wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, nodded, and said in a hoarse voice, "I understand... Thank you, officer."

She left her phone number, stood up, put on a mask, covering most of her face.

She paused at the doorway, turning her head to glance at the living room door, which was now charred black from the explosion.

Her eyes welled up with tears again, but Yoko Okino held back her sobs.

Lin Shen stood outside the door waiting for her.

Seeing her come out, he didn't say much, just nodded to her and said in a flat tone, "Let's go."

Yoko Okino followed him down the stairs.

--------

In the study of the villa, a warm yellow table lamp was lit.

Akemi was wearing a beige yukata, her hair still damp from her bath, loosely draped over her shoulders.

She sat at her desk with an account book and several bank statements spread out in front of her, and a glass of lemonade that had gone cold beside her.

She was doing the accounting; the coffee shop's revenue had been doing very well lately, but the money laundering was still too slow.

Just as she was considering whether to open another store, the access control system beeped.

Mingmei looked up and glanced at the monitor screen; Lin Shen had returned.

She put down her pen, got up and walked out of the study, through the corridor to the entrance hall.

She reached out and opened the door, a natural smile on her face: "Mr. Lin, you're back—oh?"

She stopped speaking halfway through her sentence.

Because she saw that there was another person standing behind Lin Shen.

a woman.

A woman wearing a mask, with slightly red eyes, who looked like she had just been crying.

Lin Shen stepped aside and nodded: "Yes, I'm back."

Akemi froze, staring at the woman removing her mask, and exclaimed in surprise, "You...you're Yoko Okino? Mr. Hayashi, I didn't know you knew her!"

Lin Shen bent down to change into slippers, his tone flat: "She's the person who made the request tonight."

"The person who entrusted you with this???" Akemi was quite surprised: "Then why did she come back with you?"

Lin Shen put the shoes he had taken off into the shoe cabinet, straightened up, and briefly recounted what had happened that evening: "Her house was broken into, and the intruder even hid a bomb."

"Her agent was killed in an explosion while checking her dolls."

"Her phone was also destroyed, and she couldn't contact anyone else, so I brought her back to stay for the night."

After hearing this, Mingmei's expression slowly changed from surprise to sympathy.

Looking at Yoko Okino's distraught appearance, she understood what tonight meant for the girl.

Witnessing your agent being blown up right in front of you is something no one could bear.

She lowered her voice: "Come in quickly, don't stand at the door."

Lin Shen walked up the stairs, paused at the corner, turned around and said, "Mingmei, could you please take care of her? I'm going upstairs to rest now."

After saying that, he turned and went upstairs to the second floor.

Akemi withdrew her gaze and turned to Yoko Okino.

She didn't ask any questions, but simply reached out and gently took Yoko Okino's wrist, leading her into the living room.

She asked Yoko Okino to sit on the sofa, went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of hot water, placed it in front of her, and then sat down beside her quietly.

Yoko Okino held the cup of hot water in both hands, feeling the warmth emanating from the cup's walls through her fingertips.

The living room was quiet, with only the second hand of the wall clock ticking.

Akemi asked softly, "Miss Yoko, if you don't mind, you can talk to me."

These words seemed to have triggered some kind of superpower in Yoko Okino, and her tears began to fall in large drops, landing in her water glass and creating small ripples.

She spoke haltingly as she cried.

She said she felt like someone was watching her these past few days, and that she was really scared when she got home and saw that her things had been moved. She said that Mr. Yamagishi had always taken good care of her like an older brother, and that he died because he was helping her with her examination.

She became more and more upset as she spoke, and finally cried so hard that she couldn't speak, burying her face in her hands.

Mingmei looked at her and sighed softly in her heart.

She didn't say anything, but simply reached out and gently pulled Yoko Okino into her arms.

Yoko Okino leaned on Akemi's shoulder, feeling the hand gently patting her back, experiencing a warmth and sense of security she hadn't felt in a long time.

She cried even louder, as if she wanted to cry out all the fear and grievances that had accumulated over the past few days.