Conan, I'm an actor

As Yue Shui left, Xin Cheng yawned and then lay down on the bed to go to sleep.

Meanwhile, in the living room, everyone began to discuss whether it was better to take the initiative or to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements.

This kind of problem shouldn't be discussed. Staying in the room is better than going out to face a murderer with a weapon. However, everyone is under too much psychological pressure and has become somewhat abnormal, especially Tanaka Kikue and Hamano Toshiya, whose conditions are the most serious.

"I'll go to the wine cellar and get some wine." Huang Yize sighed and took a sip of wine.

At this point, all we can hope for is that alcohol can ease everyone's emotions.

"Mr. Doi, I have some rather personal questions, could you please answer them?" At that moment, Koshimizu suddenly asked.

"Me?" Doi pointed to himself and asked, somewhat bewildered.

If he remembered correctly, this girl named "Karen" was the magician Asai's assistant. Was she coming to see him at this time to deliver a message from Asai?

He looked towards Conan's location, but Conan didn't react at the moment, as if he hadn't seen him.

Following Karen upstairs, Doi Takaki asked the girl in front of him, "Is there anything else? The one shooting crossbows from outside the door must be one of yours, right?"

"It's none of our business. I'm just here to ask on his behalf." Yue Shui was taken aback for a moment, then her expression returned to normal. "Did you find anything?"

"I think Kikue Tanaka probably wants to avenge her grandfather, Harukaze Iden." Kaito observed Kallen's expression but couldn't discern anything.

"Oh, is that all?"

"That's all? It's already quite an achievement to find this out, alright." Kaito was somewhat agitated.

Chapter 209 The Victim's Identity

"It seems you're not all that great after all." Yue Shui sighed, staring at the Doi in front of him. "It seems I'm putting you in a difficult position."

"Damn it!" Kaito could only rage helplessly. "How can you be so disregardful of life...?"

"Disregard life?" Yue Shui glanced back at the fat man. "If we really disregard life, we won't even give you a chance."

Kaito opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

Having received the information, Koshimizu went downstairs. At this moment, she focused her attention on Tanaka Kikue's expression. Although Tanaka Kikue was anxious, her anxiety was probably feigned.

Moreover, Koshimizu also noticed that she was constantly provoking Hamano Toshiya with her words, keeping him in a state of agitation.

If we assume that Kikue Tanaka is the murderer, then her target should be Toshiya Hamano, whom she is currently targeting.

But what exactly is the grudge between her and Hamano Toshiya? Is it revenge?

With that in mind, she began browsing the forum's content. Just then, she noticed something amiss. This account had always been managed by Karen, and the chat logs should have been stored on Karen's server and the forum's cloud server.

If there were internet access, she could review her previous records, but this godforsaken place doesn't even have a signal, let alone internet.

In theory, she shouldn't be able to access the contents here, but the chat logs from two years ago are still preserved.

Data storage space on devices is extremely valuable. Even the expanded-capacity phone she had, jointly developed by Shinjo and Karen, couldn't store nearly two years' worth of chat room records, unless Shinjo deliberately saved them.

With that in mind, she opened other chat rooms, most of which only kept the chat logs for two weeks.

Two weeks ago, Xincheng told me he was coming here, so this device must have been prepared then. It seems that Xincheng's hints to me were in these chat logs.

With so many chat logs, finding clues was too difficult, so she chose to directly ask the members of the magic chat room.

As the owner of this small house, Araki Yoshizawa certainly couldn't leave the room casually, so she chose Kuroda Naoko instead.

Just then, Sonoko's satellite phone rang. Conan walked to an open area, answered the call, said a few words to the person on the other end, and then said nothing more.

"Did they say something over there?" Xiaolan asked with some concern. "Did they find out something?"

"No." Conan glanced at Kikue Tanaka, then fixed his gaze on Toshiya Hamano. "Uncle Hamano, is your online name 'Disappearing Barney'?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" Hamano's expression changed.

In truth, the moment he heard the news of Nishiyama's death, he had already guessed something. When he heard that it was the Shadow Mage who did it, he was certain of the Shadow Mage's reason for killing Nishiyama, and he also knew that he was the next target.

He had been unwilling to admit it before, but now that the little guy had come back after making the call, it seemed he was about to issue him an ultimatum.

“The police just called and said that the Shadow Mage’s next target will likely be you,” Conan said. “They’ve used technical means to confirm that the Shadow Mage is using fake identification, and the person is very likely a relative of Harukaze Iden.”

"The escape magician who died a week ago?" Hamano Toshiya was taken aback. "I only said a few trivial things after he died, is that wrong? He'd kill someone for such a ridiculous reason? Is this guy insane?!"

“No, to be precise, she’s seeking revenge.” Koshimizu led Kuroda out of a room on the side.

"What did you say!" Hamano Toshiya suddenly stood up. "Don't joke around. I don't know him at all, and I've never met him. At most, we had a verbal conflict in the chat room, but in my opinion, that wasn't a conflict at all. He's a paranoid, a lunatic!"

“If insulting him will make him leave, we don’t mind if you insult him a few more times.” Yue Shui took out a chat log. “Deceiving the Child is Chunfengjingzhuan, which is the stage name he used when he debuted on stage. Because he has objections to your evaluation, he plans to break your prejudice with practical actions.”

"What a joke, that old man just for such a trivial reason..." Hamano Toshiya's face turned pale.

If this is true, then the Shadow Mage was right; he was indeed the one who killed the old man.

“Yeah, it’s such a boring reason. It might be boring to you, but for the old man, magic is his second life.” Koshimizu looked at Conan and coughed.

"Now I know why Shadow Mage wanted to kill me. I guess I brought this on myself," Hamano said with a bitter smile. "After this is over, I'll go to the old man's grave to apologize, though it won't do any good."

After saying that, he went upstairs to his room. Clearly, this incident had had a huge impact on him, and he needed time to process it.

Conan looked at Ms. Karen beside him with some surprise. He had obtained so much information and made the above deductions by using the Metropolitan Police Department's intelligence system, but what was going on with this Ms. Karen?

Oh right, it seems she went to see Kaito Kid just now. Could it be that she got the information from Kid?

The problem is that Kidd doesn't know this information either. If he did, with his intelligence, he would be able to deduce the murderer.

If she didn't get the information from Kid, then where did she get it from? Just then, his gaze swept across everyone present, and he quickly noticed that one person had disappeared—the magician Asai.

Kikue Tanaka watched Toshiya Hamano go upstairs, a hint of disappointment flashing in her eyes.

Then she looked at the two detectives. Since they had found out so much, they must have found out the Shadow Mage's true identity as well.

However, while she was waiting for the verdict, both Karen and Conan abruptly stopped talking, seemingly having no intention of continuing.

"What are they waiting for?" Kikue Tanaka wondered.

After seeing Hamano Toshiya go upstairs, Koshimizu prepared to return to her own room. She glanced at the restless Tanaka Kikue and then went upstairs as well.

She didn't reveal Tanaka Kikue's identity for two reasons. First, she lacked conclusive evidence; much of what she knew was speculation, which only proved she had a motive but couldn't prove she had committed a crime.

Secondly, many of the pieces of evidence in her deduction chain were obtained through Shinjo, and if Conan and Doi were to investigate, it might expose Shinjo's identity.

Chapter 210 Prosecuting the Murderer and the Text Messages

However, just as she was about to open the door, Conan's voice rang out behind her.

"Who exactly are you? Karen, that shouldn't be your real name, just like that Asai." Conan said, looking at Koshimizu in front of him.

Looking at Conan with his hands behind his back, Yue Shui asked with a smile, "Little friend, has anyone ever told you that it's best not to approach strangers without an adult's supervision?"

“But I feel that you’re not a stranger, but an acquaintance,” Conan said, staring at Koshimizu. “You’ve just disguised yourself.”

"How do you know?" Yue Shui asked with a smile, as a watch appeared in her hand. "You don't need to hide your hands behind your back anymore. Because the real one is with me, while the one on your wrist is just a fake without the anesthetic needle."

Conan was taken aback, took out his arm, and tried pressing it. The next second, a tranquilizer dart shot directly into the ground.

"You lied to me..." Conan's face turned ashen.

"You're too gullible, little brother." After saying that, Yue Shui ignored Conan and went straight into her room.

Hamano Toshiya and the others in the villa spent a tense night, and the shadow mage hiding in the shadows did not make another move.

The next morning, two Metropolitan Police Department rescue helicopters arrived at the scene and took everyone away for routine identity checks.

However, just as the helicopter was about to reach the Metropolitan Police Department, Doi suddenly opened the helicopter door, and as the white paraglider unfolded in the air, Sonoko screamed.

Conan looked at Asai and Karen. Their identities should also be fake. Don't they want to find a way to escape?

However, an unexpected situation arose again. After the police verified the identities of the two, they found nothing unusual. In fact, the two of them had left even earlier than him and Xiaolan.

"What's with that ID card? Why is there no problem with it?" Yue Shui removed the human skin mask from her face as soon as she got on the bus; it was really uncomfortable to wear.

“Karen’s fake ID is just something she made; it’s enough to get past the Metropolitan Police Department’s inspection.” Shinjo started the car. “But if they go to her registered residence to check her paper records, that would be dangerous.”

"No wonder the ID says Hokkaido." Koshimizu leaned back in his chair. "That kid, is he really alright?"

You mean Conan?

“Yes, in that little house, he seemed to have guessed who we were,” Yue Shui said, stroking his chin. “He will definitely try to investigate later.”

"Without evidence, what is he investigating? Besides, he should be investigating Asai and Karen," Shinjo said with a smile. "What does this have to do with us?"

“You…” Yue Shui was speechless. “By the way, what are you going to do with that Tanaka Kikue? She’s probably the one who killed Nishiyama Tsutomu. I guess she’ll be charged with murder.”

While Kikue Tanaka was pitiful, in Koshimizu's view, Ten Harukaze's death was of his own making. As a magician who had performed escape magic for many years, Ten Harukaze should have known the dangerous nature of escape magic, yet he still chose to perform it in the end.

Whatever his reasons, he should be responsible for his choices. While Nishiyama Tsutomu and Hamano Toshiya may have sharp tongues, they were the ones who were targeted by Tanaka Kikue's ire.

"Did she kill someone?" Shinjo asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Didn't you say that she was the one who killed Nishiyama?" Yue Shui was completely dumbfounded.

"When did I ever say that the person who killed Nishiyama Tsutomu was Tanaka Kikue?" Shinjo said casually. "That's just your speculation. Speculation, you know? A prosecution requires a complete chain of evidence. Right now, there's not even a chain of evidence, let alone any evidence."

"You wouldn't be thinking of bringing her..." Koshimizu thought of the two unlucky guys, Sakata Yusuke and Okakura Masaaki. Could Shinjo be trying to drag this woman into their gang as well?

“That’s not what I meant. I had Curaçao check the site, and she cleaned it up very well. Also, her face wasn’t captured on camera while she was cleaning the site.”

"This……"

“I’ve also reviewed the evidence from the Metropolitan Police Department’s forensic division. There’s nothing of value in it. Even if we force a prosecution, we’ll lose due to insufficient evidence.” Shinjo glanced at Koshimizu beside him. “I’m just stating the facts. If Conan and Kaito Kid provide more evidence later, or if she can’t handle the pressure and tells them herself, that’ll be a different story.”

"Don't come to me with these kinds of things again. I don't like solving cases either." Yue Shui felt exhausted.

"Didn't you used to be clamoring to open a detective agency?" Shinjo said with a chuckle. "Didn't you complain before that I, your assistant, was getting too much attention?"

"I just want to earn some living expenses and satisfy myself." Yue Shui rolled her eyes. "The cases you've encountered are too heavy, I can't take them."

She's good at simple deductions, but every case Xincheng encounters is anything but simple. They're either murder cases or serial killings, and each case is incredibly complex. Like this case, they might not even be able to catch the killer after working on it for ages.

"Actually, you've complicated a simple problem yourself." Xincheng flicked out a cigarette, lit it with the cigarette lighter, and rolled down the car window.

"A simple problem has been complicated?" Yue Shui was taken aback, not understanding what Xin Cheng was talking about.

“You’ve already guessed that the murderer is Kikue Tanaka, so why don’t you wait until Kikue Tanaka kills Toshiya Hamano before coming forward to testify against her?” Shinjo said, looking out the window. “In this situation, you only have two things to do: one is to record the scene of her killing Toshiya Hamano, and the second is to make it public.”

"Then Hamano Toshi is dead too, isn't he?" Koshimizu was taken aback.

What is your mission?

"Have we solved the case...?" Yue Shui was somewhat uncertain.