The cross-dressing master in the world of Detective Conan

"Damn, what bad luck."

The red-skinned man in the brown suit didn't dare to argue anymore, only muttering resentfully to himself.

In fact, the more someone bullies the weak and fears the strong, the more perceptive they are. Despite his arrogant demeanor, he could clearly sense that Kazama Kaoru, being a woman, was even more formidable than Officer Takagi, so he took the initiative to back down.

This is probably why people like this have been able to live peacefully until now without running into trouble and getting punished.

Standing before Kazama Kaoru now, besides the man who had been shouting earlier, were a middle-aged man with glasses, a blue suit, and a small coral-shaped hairstyle, as well as a young man wearing a trendy white hat, a light green shirt, and jeans.

Judging from appearances alone, it's not that easy to draw conclusions.

Although the man was arrogant, it doesn't necessarily mean he was the murderer.

So-called drug lords are not necessarily people with fierce appearances.

People who engage in this kind of business, where getting caught means certain death, are generally not brainless.

Therefore, drug lords often have very glamorous identities as a cover.

Despite the countless families ruined and broken apart by their drug trafficking, they may outwardly appear to be philanthropists who donate vast sums of money.

Reality is often far more exciting and bizarre than drama.

Chapter 268 Low-budget version of Coral Head

"If it's convenient, please tell me why you passed by that seat."

Compared to Kaoru Kazama's tough stance, Sato's attitude was slightly more gentle.

This is a common tactic used by the police, and the two men's cooperation was seamless.

The first to answer was the unruly middle-aged man named Tatsuro Iwakuni, who was forty-seven years old. He passed by the seat because his seat was four rows behind Officer Takagi.

Because of the fake bomb, people left their seats to watch the spectacle, causing chaos in the carriage.

This guy's reason was that he couldn't hear the horse racing announcements, so he moved to the front row to look for the signal.

"I see. And then what was your reason?"

While writing down Iwakuni Tatsuro's words in his police handbook, Takagi asked Tokuyama Norio, the low-budget version of Coral Head, a question.

"I bought coffee at the vending machine and was on my way back to my seat when I heard rumors of a bomb on the train from one of the middle carriages."

Takagi continued to take careful notes, while Kazama Kaoru took the opportunity to observe the facial expressions of the three people closely.

When questioned, the low-budget version of Coral Head kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, while the previous Iwakuni Tatsuro used superfluous words to cover up his nervousness.

Compared to his previous arrogance, he is completely different.

However, this alone is not enough to determine who the culprit is.

Then Takagi began to question the third young man, the one named Akira Akashi.

This person looks a bit like Officer Misao Yamamura from Gunma Prefecture; they both have protruding upper lips, which looks quite comical.

His reason was also that he was worried about his life after hearing rumors of an explosion, so he went to sit in the front carriage.

When they passed through the train aisle, what each of the three of them was carrying was:

Mr. Iwakuni - Newspaper

Mr. Akashi - Newspaper

Mr. Tokuyama - Coffee

Then Mr. Iwakuni provided a very important clue: the low-profile version of Mr. Tokuyama with the coral head was also reading a newspaper in his seat.

Then the police had the three of them bring their newspapers and coffees here, lay them out clearly on the ground, and then began to organize the information.

Mr. Tatsuro Iwakuni bought the horse racing newspaper, Mr. Tokuyama bought the Mainichi Shimbun and Coffee, and Mr. Akashi bought the Nichibuki Sports News. None of these three newspapers contained any words related to restrooms or toilets.

The man searched through the newspapers and coffee they had bought.

However, it's easy to imagine that if the information were revealed so obviously, it would probably be detected as suspicious in no time.

After all, even though Takagi is a bit weak, he's not completely useless.

Compared to Sato, who was squatting down, Kaoru Kazama, standing up, had a more comprehensive view of the three newspapers.

It was easy to spot the headline on the front page of the Daily Sports newspaper, which featured a report about Ray Curtis, Conan's idol.

The words "WORLD CUP" are written in large yellow letters on a blue background.

However, upon seeing these words, Kazama Kaoru suddenly had a very bad idea.

Could it be that the prisoner used this capital WC to signal to the prisoner to go to the toilet? That can't be that casual, can it?

Kazama Kaoru looked at the owner of the Daily Sports Newspaper, the youngest of the three, Mr. Akira Akashi.

At this point, Takagi did something stupid again. While comforting the three suspects who were becoming increasingly agitated, he actually revealed the scene the murderer had described.

Upon hearing that the prisoner had committed suicide, the three men immediately became agitated.

After all, if the prisoner committed suicide, there would be no need to bring the three of them over for questioning.

The three of them kept insisting that they wouldn't reveal a single word before the train arrived at the station, leaving Takagi in a real bind.

However, when Akira Akira followed up on Takagi's words, Kaoru Kazama suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

The reason is that Officer Takagi pointed out a suspicious point in the case: the blade fell in the wrong direction.

Akira Akira then added, "The deceased stood up and pulled the knife out, which caused this effect."

Akira Akira, eager to exonerate himself, probably didn't realize that this one sentence completely cemented his suspicion of murder.

If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, how could they describe such specific actions?

This was done in a specific context, because the prisoner, Ogura Chizo, had his right hand handcuffed, so he really had to stand up to pull out the knife.

However, the only people who would know this, besides Takagi who handcuffed the deceased himself, are the murderer who entered the bathroom after him.

However, one very important question remains unresolved: how did this guy manage to avoid the splattering blood?

Although his super sense of smell was weakened, it shouldn't be to the point that he couldn't smell blood. If this guy really was the murderer, then the action of personally stabbing the victim in the abdomen with a knife couldn't have been done without getting blood on his hands, unless there was something blocking his way.

Obstructions.

Thinking of this, Kaoru Kazama looked at the newspaper on the ground.

Come to think of it, isn't this the best cover?

It can provide information and also serve as a tool for killing; there really is no more convenient tool than this.

While Kaoru Kazama was thinking, the suspects had already begun to feel dissatisfied.

Everyone refused to answer questions, and just then, the train's announcement came on, indicating that they had arrived at Tokyo Station.

Without clear suspicion, they cannot forcibly detain them; at most, they can only cooperate with the investigation.

Getting off at the stop is a perfectly natural thing to do, and even the police can't stop you.

Now even Sato started to worry. If the suspect were allowed to continue like this, her police career would probably be over.

After all, this is not only a case of causing the prisoner's death during transport, but also of allowing the real culprit to escape such a double fault. Even if Inspector Megure is a good person, he cannot protect himself from such a situation.

"Don't worry, Miwako, I already know who the real culprit is."

"The three of you don't need to rush off the bus. Don't you want to know who the culprit is who's causing you to cooperate with this investigation?"

These words stunned the three people who were about to get off the bus. They turned back to look at Kazama Kaoru, who hadn't said a word except for confronting the fierce-looking middle-aged man.

How do you explain this?

The moment Kazama Kaoru uttered those words, Akira Akashi's body trembled slightly, before he feigned surprise and slowly turned around to look.

This feeling is probably like when the teacher calls on you during class while you're daydreaming, and you instantly snap back to reality and involuntarily jolt awake.

"Actually, this case is very simple. What we are looking for is to find out which of the three of you passed the message to the criminal Ogura Chizo to go to the restroom when you were passing through the corridor."

"Obviously, to avoid Officer Takagi who was guarding him at the time, a relatively covert method had to be used, so the murderer first placed a fake bomb in the toilet of the previous carriage."

"This wasn't just a diversionary tactic to distract the police; it was also to subconsciously suggest a toilet to the criminal, Chizo Ogura."

“You can see that the message the prisoner wanted to convey to the dead is hidden on the front page of this newspaper.”

Kaoru Kazama squatted down and pointed to Akira Akira's copy of the Daily Sports Newspaper.

When Kazama Kaoru pointed at the newspaper, Akira Akashi's nerves twitched violently.

"Could it be this WORLD CUP—WC?"

Sato, being a woman, was more perceptive and immediately noticed another layer of meaning in this World Cup.

She then began to have doubts:

"Isn't it a bit far-fetched to conclude that this is the WC?"

She didn't question Kazama Kaoru's intentions, mainly because this piece of evidence was clearly insufficient, even inadequate for the police to prosecute the criminal in court.

Not to mention that he later found his own defense lawyer to fight the case. Such untenable evidence can be easily overturned, and Kazama Kaoru will inevitably be labeled as a wrongful conviction.

Chapter 269 The Secret to Being a Successful Cross-Dresser

"Actually, the murderer revealed an extremely important piece of information beforehand, and it was this information that made me certain that he was the real murderer."

After Kaoru Kazama finished speaking, he stared intently at Akira Akashi.

Everyone knows perfectly well who bought this sports newspaper.

"The real culprit is you, Mr. Akira Akashi."

"What a joke! What evidence do you have that I'm the murderer? Didn't that person just say the victim committed suicide? Why do you suspect me?"

Akira Akashi gave a live demonstration of what a hysterical defense looks like.

However, this attitude only increased the suspicion surrounding him.

"You previously stated in your defense that the deceased stood up and used both hands to pull out the knife, right?"

Kaoru Kazama asked this question.

"That's right, that's what I said. The knife was stuck so deep, how could my left hand possibly reach it if I didn't stand up..."

Halfway through his speech, Akira Akashi realized the flaw in his words and began to speak ambiguously.