The cross-dressing master in the world of Detective Conan

Kazama Kaoru was telling the truth; Sato's eyes were now red and swollen.

"Oh well."

And so, Kaoru Kazama, swaying and staggering, followed behind Inspector Megure, leading the nearly asleep Sato to the arcade where the murder had occurred.

"Ran, Sonoko, what are you two doing here? Did Conan bring you here?"

Kazama Kaoru found it very strange to see Ran in an arcade. As a typical good girl, Ran should usually be at home cleaning at this time.

"Xiao Xun, no, I came to take photos with Yuanzi, but we ran into our English teacher, and then the murder happened."

"Hello, I'm Judy, and I'm currently an English teacher at Teitan High School."

"Is this the FBI?"

Following Ran's lead, Kaoru Kazama looked at a beautiful woman with short blonde hair next to him. She had a very hot figure, wore black-rimmed glasses, and greeted Kaoru Kazama enthusiastically in broken Japanese mixed with a little English.

Both his accent and his behavior made him seem like a foreigner who had just arrived in the island nation.

However, Kaoru Kazama knew that this was an FBI agent planted in Japan to investigate the Black Organization, and that she was also Shuichi Akai's ex-girlfriend.

However, he didn't show it on the surface. Anyway, it wasn't his business, and that should be left to those high and mighty Japanese police officers to worry about.

"You mean, this person died during the game?"

If it were a virtual stealth game like Sword Art Online, it might be possible for someone to get brain-dead from excessive excitement. But for a game console that only makes certain parts of the body react to enhance the combat experience, it shouldn't be that serious.

Even so, Kaoru Kazama went to ask the boss.

The answer was that the pain level of this game console was far from reaching the level that would cause death.

The boss's name is Daisuke Mikami, a middle-aged man around forty years old, who is currently looking at Kaoru Kazama with a mournful face.

Regardless of whether the death was caused by the game, his arcade's reputation is now completely ruined, and it's unlikely he'll be able to stay in business anytime soon.

Over there, Inspector Megure was listening to Ran and the others recount the case. The game character that this person had chosen had stood there motionless just as they were about to win.

Then everyone noticed that the person controlling the game character was also lying motionless in the chair.

"The deceased was Mr. Kengo Obō, 21 years old, currently unemployed. People around him said he had a bad reputation, and his reputation in this game hall was not good either."

In other words, the deceased was a good-for-nothing who didn't do anything productive and had poor relationships with those around him. Such a person is likely to attract hatred, which broadens the range of suspects.

"Is this the person who works with Mr. Mori?"

Ms. Jodie asked Ran about Inspector Megure's identity, and then Ran introduced Megure to Yi Ai.

"This young lady is my English teacher."

Then Inspector Megure gave a brief introduction in English, which was very broken Japanese-English. I really don't know how Inspector Megure had the courage to show off his decades-old English in such a public place.

What's even more embarrassing is that he misused a word in his self-introduction.

As a result, Ms. Judy taught the word "police" on the spot, just like she was teaching her own students.

That scene was absolutely delightful to see.

Anyway, Kaoru Kazama turned her back and pretended not to know this person, which was really embarrassing.

However, the person involved didn't seem to realize their mistake and repeated it twice. This time, realizing their embarrassing behavior, they coughed lightly and pretended nothing had happened.

No wonder he can be Uncle Mori's boss; it seems his shamelessness is even greater.

Chapter 237 Murder Methods Exploiting Psychological Pitfalls

"Ahem, in short, the focus of the investigation now is how this person died in the game center."

Inspector Megure coughed a few times in a mock-sounding manner, then narrowed his eyes and said...

"Yes, according to tourists who were present at the time, no suspicious persons were found at the time of the incident."

Takagi held up his police handbook and reported that he had just questioned the surrounding witnesses.

Because the incident occurred during a game competition that was being watched by everyone, there were plenty of eyewitnesses.

Unfortunately, there was no crucial evidence. It's incredibly unlucky to suffer such an undeserved disaster while just playing a game.

However, Inspector Megure couldn't help but wonder why the deceased was dressed like that after seeing him completely restrained.

As an Inspector Megure in his forties, he was completely clueless about anything even slightly high-tech.

He thought the deceased was filming a science fiction movie because the game props tied the player's entire body up and put a helmet on their head, which at first glance did look a bit like science fiction.

"This is the unique feature of this game, which allows you to experience the greatest sense of impact. When the game character is attacked, the player controlling him will also be attacked in the same area, resulting in a better gaming experience. That's why it's the most popular game in this game center."

"What?! You're saying players suffer the same blows? Could it be that his death was caused by the blows being too severe?"

"Impossible. I've already checked with the boss. The impact of this game console is far from enough to kill someone. At most, it will only restrict a person's movement while controlling the game character."

Kaoru Kazama had considered this possibility beforehand, so he went to the boss to verify it in advance.

Moreover, according to those around the deceased, he was always healthy and had no heart problems. In his usual gaming matches, he had suffered much more severe blows than this.

"Impossible. The vibration level should be similar to that of a cell phone receiving an incoming call. I've never heard of a cell phone killing someone, have I?"

A young man wearing a blue suit and with side-parted hair came out and spoke.

And who are you?

Inspector Megure looked at the young man who had suddenly interrupted with a suspicious gaze.

"I was the one who was fighting this guy right before he kicked the bucket, and I don't want to be seen as a murderer because of it."

"In fact, I was the one who got beaten up the most. I only fought back two or three times during the whole match."

As he spoke, he put a cigarette in his mouth.

The man seemed quite calm. Despite being the prime suspect, he wasn't nervous at all, and didn't seem to be making trouble for himself.

"Wait a minute, don't move."

As Inspector Megure was deep in thought, Kaoru Kazama suddenly called out to the staff member who was walking past him.

The man was tall and thin, with curly hair, wearing a work uniform, and his lips were somewhat pale, making him look unhealthy.

"Officer, are you calling me?"

The kid jumped when he was called, and then looked at Kazama Kaoru with a guilty look.

Although he tried to appear calm, Kaoru Kazama, who was an expert in analyzing micro-expressions, could clearly sense his extremely tense mental state.

"Why are you so nervous? I didn't say you were the murderer."

Kazama Kaoru spoke calmly, but her expression was rather serious, which put immense psychological pressure on the tall, thin man.

"You were making noise while you were walking, didn't you notice?"

Kazama Kaoru has very sensitive ears; the kid kept making a faint "clanging" sound when he walked, like the sound of metal hitting the ground.

However, upon closer inspection, there were no metal decorations on his shoes, which is why Kazama Kaoru stopped him to ask questions.

"Make a sound?"

Upon hearing this, the tall, thin staff member lifted his foot and looked at the bottom of his leather shoes.

There was a large piece of green chewing gum stuck right in the middle of the leather shoe, which was extremely disgusting.

However, he was clearly used to it. The game center was a mixed bag, and it was common to see people's phlegm on the ground, let alone chewing gum.

However, just as he was about to reach out and take it off, he was stopped by Kazama Kaoru.

If it were just chewing gum, it wouldn't make that metallic sound of hitting the ground, so there must be something else inside.

He borrowed a fruit knife from the boss and then had the tall, thin employee scrape the large piece of chewing gum off himself.

He didn't want to touch such a disgusting thing.

Peel off the green clump of chewing gum at the bottom, and you'll find a cigarette that's been crushed inside.

The man didn't think much of it, but when he saw Kazama Kaoru use tweezers to pull a steel needle out of the cigarette, he was horrified and felt a chill run down his spine.

Based on the way he just touched it, there's a high chance he'll push the steel needle out of the cigarette.

"Here, send it for testing."

Kazama Kaoru didn't look at the boy's pale face, but turned around and went to the dead man's side.

The person was wearing a sleeveless top, exposing both arms, but there were no wounds on them. Instead, a small needle prick wound was found on the neck, which was covered by a helmet.

"Alright, now the cause of death should be confirmed; it was murder."

Kazama Kaoru's words caused another uproar at the scene.

"No way, if someone really pricked him with a needle, he couldn't possibly not react at all."

"Inspector Megure, I don't think so."

Conan suddenly barged in, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Look, at that time, this uncle's body was tightly strapped to this game machine, and he couldn't move around freely at all. In addition, the game center specially dimmed the lights here so that customers could see the game screen clearly."

"Hmm, now that you mention it, that's a possibility."

After Conan gave him a few reasons, Inspector Megure rested his chin on his hand and began to think.

Kaoru Kazama went to the trunk of his car and took out a computer.

Then she connected the game console with a data cable, ostensibly using the computer to acquire data, but actually using Misaka Mikoto's super hacking abilities to directly transfer the usage data from the game console to her own computer.

"Sister Xiaoxun, what are you doing?"

Conan, with his sharp eyes, spotted Kazama Kaoru fiddling with a computer and came over.

He was probably trying to get some clues, and Kazama Kaoru had only just discovered it. Seeing this kid approaching, he thought to himself:

"This great detective has a really sharp nose; he came over as soon as he found a clue."

"If you're going to ask a question, just speak properly and don't try to act cute on purpose."

Kaoru Kazama felt a chill run down her spine from Conan's maliciously cutesy tone. She couldn't understand how this kid could be so nonchalant in acting cute towards someone who knew his true identity.

Don't you feel any burden in your heart?

To avoid being disgusted by that greasy tone again, Kaoru Kazama quickly told Conan about his interesting discovery.

He had already heard about it from the tall, thin staff member before that.