The cross-dressing master in the world of Detective Conan

The so-called mole could not possibly be someone from the police force.

They had no grudge against Kataoka Jun, so even if they were to kidnap him, it wouldn't be to kidnap him.

Hakuba Saguru, the son of Director Hakuba, is more like him.

So all that was left were Sachiko Ezaki and a few staff members who were also present at the time.

Kaoru Kazama remembered that besides her, there was only one person who arranged the fashion show and a driver from the Kataoka family.

"The time of death should be accurate to around 1:25."

This judgment was made based on the time it took for livor mortis to spread on the surface of the body.

The time of death can only be roughly estimated based on the degree of rigor mortis of the body.

Lividity, on the other hand, is a more precise form of skin stain caused by the coagulation and deposition of inactive blood on the skin's surface.

The fact that the body of the deceased, Yoshizawa, was not moved after he was strangled undoubtedly increases the credibility of this judgment.

After confirming the time of death, Kaoru Kazama removed his gloves.

He slowly walked to the restroom, washed his hands three or four times with hand sanitizer, and carefully sniffed his hands to make sure they didn't smell of a corpse. Then he slowly took out his phone from his pocket and dialed Miwako's number.

"Miwako, could you help me investigate the exact time when Ms. Ezaki left the scene to arrange the fashion show?"

"no problem."

Miwako made the call cleanly and decisively, that's how easy she was to save time.

This saved Kaoru Kazama from having to explain further, and she then answered another phone call.

This time it's Conan's turn.

"Moshi moshi, this is Conan."

"I'm Kazama Kaoru, and I need to talk to you about something."

Why did you call me?

Perhaps because he had never received a call from Kazama Kaoru before, Conan was so busy being amazed that he didn't even ask Kazama Kaoru what she wanted to talk to him about.

"You know the police are now suspicious of Sachiko Ezaki, right?"

"Yes, I'm still at the scene, so of course I know about it."

"Regarding this matter, I think your classmate might have some secrets. After all, the kidnapping target was him, so it certainly couldn't have been a spur-of-the-moment thing. If it really was something someone close to him said, a child's sensitive mind wouldn't be completely oblivious."

"You mean Xiaochun?"

Conan initially thought Kaoru Kazama would say something, but to his surprise, it turned out to be his classmate Jun Kataoka.

"Are you asking me to try and get information out of him?"

Conan was somewhat uncertain.

"Don't you do this kind of thing all the time? Use your charm; it should save this case a lot of trouble."

Kaoru Kazama's idea was just a spur-of-the-moment thing; it might not come to fruition, but it was worth a try.

Conan is truly an expert in this area; with his childlike appearance and cunning mind, no one is better at extracting information from him.

Especially with that "Ah-le-le" killer move, countless high-IQ criminals have inexplicably fallen into Conan's clutches.

"Okay, I'll give it a try. But I'm not that close to that kid. Because of his parents' divorce, he's a bit withdrawn and stubborn, and he doesn't open up to others easily."

"Just do your best. You're the leader of the kids, so I don't mind."

After Kaoru Kazama finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

Not long after, she received a call from Sato. Sachiko Ezaki's alibi was valid from about 12:30 to 1:15. After that, the time was ambiguous.

Even so, given Yoshizawa's precise time of death, there is no possibility that he committed the crime.

We can definitively remove her from the list of suspects.

After Miwako told Inspector Megure about it, Kaoru Kazama changed out of his coat and left the Metropolitan Police Department.

"Christiana, where is that tunnel where the helicopter hovered earlier? Can you give me directions?"

"No problem, Mom."

In just a few short days, Kaoru Kazama's life seemed to be completely inseparable from Christia.

Even my mother, who used to find it very jarring, is now starting to get used to it.

Humans are truly highly adaptable animals.

Chapter 338 The Intellectual Beauty Mitsui Ayako

Following Christia's navigation, Kaoru Kazama easily found the tunnel where the stolen car had stopped and then disappeared.

There's no doubt that a car can't just disappear into thin air.

It's nothing more than using some means to disguise it as another car.

"Chris, could you please show me the CCTV footage from before and after this tunnel during the time I was there this afternoon?"

"No problem, but I want a reward, Mom."

"Hmm? A reward? What kind of reward do you want?"

Kaoru Kazama was sitting in the driver's seat thinking about possible ways to disguise the stolen car when he didn't expect Chris to make such a request.

I couldn't help but chuckle for a moment. That's true. Christia is an AI with emotions, not just a computer program that can only execute commands.

Moreover, when Chris said those words, he added a touch of coquettishness, which gave Kazama Kaoru a completely new experience.

It felt as if I had actually raised a little daughter.

Of course, it's just a thought.

"I haven't decided yet, but you have to promise me in the future, Mom."

"Yes, as long as I can do it."

Kazama Kaoru smiled and agreed.

I really do feel like a mother.

At this time, there is still relatively little traffic, after all, the morning rush hour has passed, and this tunnel is not a major thoroughfare.

She got out of the car and examined the traces at the scene bit by bit along the tunnel.

Meanwhile, Christia was instructed to scan the area.

These two processes are being carried out simultaneously, because Christia currently needs Kazama Kaoru to provide a field of view in order to perform a scan.

Strictly speaking, Kaoru Kazama can now be considered a humanoid self-propelled computer.

"Mom, we found a special plastic fragment about fifty meters ahead, near the tunnel wall."

"Hmm? Let me zoom in and take a look."

Kaoru Kazama said casually.

There's practically no lighting in this area, so without some external equipment, it's incredibly difficult to do anything, let alone search a place, even just to look at someone's license plate.

"There it is!"

In Kazama Kaoru's field of vision, there was an area marked with different background colors, and a small piece of it was a fluorescent fragment. This must be Chris's discovery.

What is this?

Seeing that the fluorescent fragments were very small, Kaoru Kazama even went back to the car, put on white gloves, and also brought small tweezers and a plastic bag.

Then, using tweezers, they carefully picked up the tiny fragment and placed it in a plastic bag.

After getting into the car, I turned on the interior light and carefully examined the fragments inside the bag.

It turned out to be a yellow and white plastic fragment.

"Mom, this should be some kind of coating material."

"Is that so? We still need to take it back to the lab for them to analyze and investigate."

After Kazama Kaoru finished her makeup, she drove to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Although this location was determined after the transmitter stopped moving, it still cannot guarantee that this is the debris that fell from the stolen car.

Fortunately, the car is now in the hands of the police. The next step is to investigate whether the paint on it matches that of the stolen car.

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"This should be a new type of instant coating material. Although it is similar to paint, it will not leave marks on the car, and it can be peeled off after it dries."

A sophisticated-looking woman in a white lab coat and glasses said this.

"So, it's entirely possible for a car to be disguised inside a tunnel, right?"

"That's correct in theory."

The intellectual beauty thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you very much this time, Mitsui."

“There, this is my job. You’re welcome, Officer Kazama.”

The sophisticated woman adjusted her glasses and spoke calmly.

This is a researcher recently transferred to the Metropolitan Police Department's laboratory. He is said to be a PhD with considerable talent in chemistry and biology, and is an expert that the Metropolitan Police Department hired at great expense.

Kaoru Kazama felt that she and Ai would definitely have a lot in common.

Perhaps it's because highly educated people tend to be quite calm and collected. While Dr. Mitsui can't be described as a completely icy beauty, she's not exactly a very warm person either.

All I can say is that Kaoru Kazama has a lot of charm points.

After all, the title of "the allure of a cross-dressing master" is appealing to both men and women, and it is quite powerful.

"Do you know how many painting plants like this are in the Tokyo area?"

Kaoru Kazama asked casually.

She had originally planned to ask Chris for help, but it turned out that Dr. Mitsui actually knew the answer.

To be precise, this special material was developed with the assistance of Dr. Mitsui, and it can be considered a completely new material. Currently, it is unknown whether it has been widely adopted.