The cross-dressing master in the world of Detective Conan

Kaoru Kazama looked down and saw a fairly well-decorated blade, but strangely, the hilt was also stained with blood.

"This knife was originally a decoration in the masquerade room."

"Based on this, it seems the murderer wasn't actually holding the knife when they attacked Ms. Su Fang; otherwise, the hilt wouldn't be stained with blood."

"police officer!"

A middle-aged man in a blue suit, with a stubble beard and a somewhat listless look in his eyes, suddenly rushed in, saluted Kazama Kaoru, and reported:

"Officer, we've searched the snow outside the villa, but found no signs of anyone entering or leaving."

"Yes, thank you for your hard work, Officer Kobayashi."

"So, the murderer must be someone in this house, no doubt about it."

Kaoru Kazama scanned the people in the room with sharp eyes, but did not detect any unnatural expressions on anyone's face.

Indeed, someone who can meticulously plan such a locked-room murder must have exceptional mental fortitude.

The only advantage Kazama Kaoru has over others is that he has eliminated the possibility that Conan and his friends are criminals in advance. However, Inspector Megure usually does not list them as criminal suspects in various cases.

"Besides Mr. Mori and the other two, the people still in this house are: photographer Mr. Masaki Katagiri, professional baseball player Mr. Mamoru Matsudaira, popular fortune teller Ms. Haruka Nagara, rock singer Mr. Touya Aikawa, the victim's secretary Ms. Kazuyo Inagami, and maids Ms. Namiho Shimokasa and Ms. Namiho. The total of these seven suspects."

After listening to Kazama Kaoru's words, Detective Kobayashi took out his police handbook from his pocket and reported the suspect's name to Kazama Kaoru word by word.

However, what caught Kazama Kaoru's attention were the twin maids, Shimokasa Namiho and Shimokasa Honomi. Their names were reversed, which made their parents seem incredibly careless in choosing names for their children.

"Inspector Kazama, the suspect should still be narrowed down."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Because the doors on both sides of the masquerade hall were locked at the time of the incident, the east and west wing rooms were not connected. The bedroom of the deceased, Ms. Su Fanghongzi, was located in the west wing room on the third floor, and could only be accessed through the stairs in the west wing room."

"Was the masquerade room locked at the time of the incident? Also, what was the layout of your bedrooms?"

Kazama Kaoru quickly grasped Uncle Mori's meaning. The design of this villa was very interesting. Su Fang Hongzi had placed all the masks she had collected in the mask hall in the center of the second floor. Moreover, this place was locked from the front and back, so the mask hall was a passageway connecting the east and west wing rooms. If it was locked, people on both sides would not be able to visit each other.

"Yes, because we received a call from someone claiming to be a cursed fake interviewer, the first place we rushed to was the masquerade hall. At that time, both doors of the masquerade hall were locked, and the maid had to get the key to open them."

Uncle Mori agreed with this.

He then went on to describe the distribution of everyone's bedrooms: Aikawa Touya and Honomi lived on the east side of the first floor, Inagami, the secretary, and Minaho lived on the west side of the first floor, the three of them lived on the east side of the second floor, and Katagiri Masaki and Matsudaira Mamoru lived on the west side.

The person living in the west bedroom on the third floor was the deceased, Su Fang Hongzi. Therefore, the only people who had the opportunity to commit the crime were the secretary, Inagami, who lived on the west side of the first floor, and Minaho, who lived on the second floor, and Katagiri Masaki and Matsudaira Mamoru.

This does indeed reduce the number of suspects from seven to four, but the four whose names were mentioned didn't look too happy.

Conformity is a natural human instinct, but when one is singled out for being different from others, it inevitably creates a sense of discomfort or even panic, especially when one is suspected of being a murderer.

That sounds like the way to rule them out is correct, but Kaoru Kazama still didn't arbitrarily rule out the suspicion of the other three people. Instead, he took them all to the restaurant on the first floor and asked them to prove their alibis on the spot.

In addition, they also sent out that detective Kobayashi to investigate the interpersonal relationships behind Su Fang Hongzi.

When this method proves ineffective, investigating the motive is the wisest choice.

Chapter 216 A Fanatical Enthusiast of Bones: Kujou Sakurako

It was four o'clock in the morning, but there was still no light outside the villa.

Although the winters in this island nation, also located in the Eastern Hemisphere, are not as cold, the nights are still just as long.

Everyone was gathered in the first-floor restaurant. Just six hours earlier, they had been enjoying a pleasant dinner together. In the blink of an eye, the villa's owner had died a violent death. The atmosphere was tense, and everyone remained silent.

Kaoru Kazama just stared at them without saying a word.

He was putting psychological pressure on everyone, then secretly observing the micro-expressions on each of their faces.

"Excuse me, everyone, where were you all at 2:00 AM when the incident occurred? First, Ms. Namiho..."

After a long silence, Kaoru Kazama finally spoke up and asked:

When Namiho's name was called, she jumped, and what's even more interesting is that the twin sister who was holding her hand also jumped.

Could it be that twins have a telepathic connection? Looking at this pair of beautiful twin sisters, Kaoru Kazama's expression softened.

"I was sleeping. I was sleeping in my room until Miss Xiaolan came to wake me up."

During the questioning, Kaoru Kazama learned that the key to the masquerade house was kept in a place that anyone could access, and that because it was old, a backup could not be made.

It is worth noting that there is a very important clue in Uncle Mori's account.

That is, they were all woken up by an internal phone call. The person on the phone used a synthesized voice that was obviously fake. This was basically to cover up their real voice, which means that there was a possibility that the criminal's voice could be detected, and there was a very high possibility that it was an inside job.

This aligns with previous assumptions that the murderer is among the seven people in the room.

"Ding," the "Search for the Truth" mission has been issued. Host, please redouble your efforts to find the real culprit as soon as possible and reclaim the long-lost dignity of the police in front of the detective.

The system, which had been idle for a long time, suddenly came back to life at this time and issued a task in a very strange way, which attracted the attention of Kazama Kaoru.

"Is the real culprit still right in front of the detective? Could there be another truth hidden in this case?"

While others may not know Conan's true identity, Kaoru Kazama knows it perfectly well.

Putting aside everything else, Shinichi Kudo's crime-solving abilities are top-notch.

Kaoru Kazama had no doubt that this case would stump him, but the fact that the system issued this task at this time was quite meaningful.

Does this mean that the truth will be covered up this time, and Conan may not be able to discover the profound meaning hidden behind the surface?

His mind worked quickly, and he analyzed several possibilities in an instant. However, he didn't make a sound. He glanced at Ran and saw that her attention was elsewhere, and quietly kidnapped Conan.

"Have you figured out how this locked-room murder will be committed?"

"I have some ideas, but I'm not sure if I can do it."

Conan's words were concise, and he had no intention of joking with Kazama Kaoru anymore.

It's clear that this bizarre locked-room murder is so difficult to detect that it's like trying to spot a goose's horns by hanging them on a tree – there are no clues to be found. So far, the only way to identify the possible culprit is through the process of elimination, which puts immense pressure on the great detective.

From the moment Kaoru Kazama entered this room, Conan's brows have been furrowed, and they haven't changed since.

Because Kaoru Kazama started it, the group, who had been under immense psychological pressure, finally found an outlet and began discussing the case like a group of famous detectives.

Among them, the currently very popular fortune teller demonstrated extraordinary reasoning ability, but he was very mysterious, his eyes never leaving his tarot cards, as if he could see everything from them.

Kaoru Kazama has never been interested in such mystical things, but she had heard about them from Yumi.

The woman in front of me, named Haruka Nagara, is indeed very popular, which is probably related to the current economic situation.

The island nation is currently in a period of great depression caused by the bursting of a bubble economy. Since the post-war economic recovery, in the two decades from the 1950s to the 1970s, although the island nation's economic growth rate fluctuated to varying degrees, it has generally maintained a growth rate of more than 10%.

The golden age that lasted for two decades greatly increased the wealth of the island nation's people.

However, money can't be valued if you don't spend it.

During the decade or so of stable economic growth that followed the 1970s, people began to invest in the real estate sector.

Investing is perfectly acceptable, but malicious speculation can cause irregular economic fluctuations. Initially, the conservative people of the island nation did not believe that real estate speculation could make money. However, when real estate speculation did indeed make money, their conservatism and prudence disappeared. A large number of people began to follow the trend and invested huge sums of money in the real estate industry, causing housing prices to skyrocket. People were intoxicated by such "direct" profits.

The reason this period was called a bubble economy is that a large amount of capital invested in the real estate industry was not absorbed. Instead, this led to the stagnation of other industries. When the bubble burst, it triggered a chain reaction, affecting not only the real estate industry but also other light and heavy industries. It can be said that the prosperity of the island nation's economy was directly cut off at its root.

In this situation, numerous industries went bankrupt, unemployment soared, and families were torn apart and people died—these were no longer uncommon occurrences. People wounded by the double-edged sword of finance turned to mysticism to soothe their wounds.

Or, to put it another way, once bitten by a snake, twice shy.

The island nation's people, overwhelmed by the bursting of the bubble economy, began to hesitate. When faced with important decisions, they no longer trusted themselves, but instead placed their hopes on these strange and unusual things. If they failed, they would not take responsibility for themselves. This can be seen as the most realistic manifestation of escaping responsibility and life.

However, the woman in front of me, Ms. Nagara Haruka, truly lives up to her reputation. In other words, if she were just spouting nonsense, she would probably have disappeared into the dark of night long ago.

It's important to know that it's not just the occult that thrives during economic downturns; underground activities and criminal organizations also flourish.

Perhaps the activity of dark organizations arose under the influence of this historical context; when a country is in crisis and turmoil, these underground organizations are often the first to become chaotic.

Oops, I've gotten a bit off-topic. Let's get back to the main point.

While everyone was arguing, Kaoru Kazama made a special trip to the restroom.

However, he wasn't doing this to go to the toilet; he had changed into a cosplay outfit of Kujou Sakurako.

Sakurako Kujo, from the anime "Sakurako-san no Uta no Shita no Kokoro ...

However, the first reaction upon discovering a body is usually not to call the police, but rather to develop a desire to collect the bones due to a crazy love for them.

To put it simply, the first thing this guy did upon seeing the body was not to call the police, but to secretly take it home to admire. It has to be said that he is an incredibly thick-skinned person.

What made Kazama Kaoru quite happy was that this young lady from a prestigious family, Kujo Sakurako, dressed in a very androgynous way, often wearing men's shirts and trousers. Apart from her flowing long hair and stunningly beautiful face, she was almost indistinguishable from a man in terms of speech, behavior, and clothing.

"Xiao Xun, what's wrong?"

Sato looked at Kazama Kaoru, who had changed into black trousers, a white shirt, black gloves, and even a black tie, with a strange expression.

It must be said that Kaoru Kazama looks very capable and spirited in this outfit, which is completely different from her previous lazy image.

"It's nothing. I've discovered another part of this case, and I plan to conduct an autopsy on the body. Some things can't be discovered just by looking at the surface."

Perhaps because of cosplay, Kaoru Kazama discovered that he also had a fanatical love for bones. When he first saw the corpse lying on the bed, his first reaction was to pack it up and take it away. Sakura Kujo's obsession with bones is not ordinary.

Chapter 217 The First Autopsy of Kujo "Kaoru"

Instinctively, he was quite resistant to corpses, which could be considered as a way to restrain Kujou Sakurako's obsessive love for them.

The suspects were all gathered in the restaurant on the first floor, while the body of the deceased, Su Fanghongzi, was in her bedroom on the west side of the third floor.

Apart from the forensic personnel still investigating the scene, there was no one else inside.

When Kaoru Kazama went in, she saw a young woman in a blue forensic uniform working with her head down.

"Officer Kazama!"

When the forensic officer saw Kaoru Kazama enter, she quickly stood up, saluted, and then continued working while crouching down.

Kaoru Kazama nodded in acknowledgment and then began her dissection work.

The black gloves she was wearing were also high-tech products produced by the system, with a +3 attribute bonus to hand speed. They were quite good products, especially for tasks like dissecting corpses.

"I'm about to perform an autopsy. Do you want to watch?"

Kazama Kaoru thought that once she said those words, the young lady would immediately back away and turn away from the room.

Unexpectedly, after hearing Kazama Kaoru's words, she showed no fear whatsoever; instead, her large eyes were filled with curiosity.

While all the forensic team members need to have strong hearts, it's truly rare to see such a young lady with such remarkable mental fortitude.

"Then prepare yourself mentally, I'm about to begin."