Conan, I'm an actor

In her opinion, Xincheng should be fine; she just made up an excuse to send them over because she was afraid of interfering with her father's work.

"Go pack your bags." Shinjo stretched. "Oh, right, Conan, I asked Heiji about the Nagano case, and he'll be there too. You two, make sure you get along well."

"What?" Conan was taken aback.

He wasn't surprised that Hattori Heiji would go; it would be strange if he didn't go for such an interesting case. But hadn't the client already hired Uncle Mori? Why would they hire Hattori Heiji? One client hiring two detectives—that seemed a bit...

Chapter 251 The Tragedy of the Torada Family

But by the time he tried to ask further, Shinjo had already helped Kogoro Mouri downstairs.

It was a seven-seater silver-gray MPV. Koshimizu was sitting in the passenger seat, while Shinjo had put Kogoro Mouri in the second row.

"I'm sorry you'll have to sit in the third row, I have to pick someone up later," Xincheng said with a smile.

"Um, Uncle Shinjo, is Sister Koshimizu a detective too?" Conan asked innocently. "Did the client also contact you?"

"No, I brought Koshimizu there just to clear my head," Shinjo said with a smile. "On the way back from Nagano, you can detour through Tottori. The architecture and temples there are quite nice. I've been having some bad luck lately, so I wanted to go to a temple to pray for peace."

Conan's face showed a hint of helplessness. You're always heading to dangerous places. Even the most powerful god can't protect someone who's courting death.

When Conan and Ran were putting away their luggage, they noticed two samurai swords, one long and one short, in the trunk. The scabbards of the samurai swords were extremely exquisite, seemingly some kind of work of art.

Conan became wary. Anything Mr. Shinjo carried with him couldn't possibly be just a decorative item; it was most likely a sharpened weapon. Just as he was about to examine it closely, Ran patted his hand.

Faced with Ran's warning look, Conan could only give an awkward smile.

After picking up the trio, Shinjo drove directly to the address provided by Amuro Tooru. Upon arrival, a young man wearing a hoodie got into the car.

Conan looked at the young man and felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

Koshimizu went straight to the second row and sat next to Uncle Mori, while the young man sat in the passenger seat. However, he did not lift his hood after getting into the car, as if he was afraid of being seen.

"How are you feeling?" Xincheng asked with a smile. "Any unusual reactions?"

"No," Jing Guang said with a smile. "I'm a good patient who strictly follows doctor's orders."

"That's good. What are you planning to do after we get back to Nagano?" Shinjo stretched his body. "Your brother's been pretty busy lately, with lots of cases at the police station. How about I arrange a position for you so you can help him out?"

"Forget it," Jing Guang said with a smile. "That face is fine to see occasionally, but I can't stand seeing it every day. I don't want to be disciplined by him."

Listening to the conversation between the two people in front of him, Conan fell into deep thought. This person had been sick before, and judging from Shinjo's familiar tone, he must have been treated at Shinjo's hospital. However, Conan couldn't understand why he would go to Shinjo's hospital for treatment.

To be able to get into the police station, this young man must have attended a police academy, and may even have worked in a department like the Metropolitan Police Department. But if that's the case, there's absolutely no need for him to be treated at Shinjo's family hospital, which has a dedicated police hospital.

Could it be someone from some special department? Considering his behavior just now, Conan's expression instantly tensed up.

Kogoro Mouri didn't wake up until an hour after getting into the car. Looking at Shinjo driving, he said somewhat embarrassedly that he wanted to take turns driving with him. However, when Shinjo took out a breathalyzer and asked him to blow into it, he shut up.

Upon arriving at their destination, Shinjo and the others did not rush to attend to their own business. Instead, they took Kogoro Mouri to the client's location.

"Is your business alright?" Kogoro Mouri asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I heard you mention that case yesterday, and it seemed interesting, so I came to take a look," Xincheng said with a smile. "Don't worry, I won't ruin your business."

Upon hearing Shinjo's words, Kogoro Mouri didn't feel relieved; instead, he became even more nervous. The last time he worked with Shinjo, they were involved in a plane crash. Although the fault lay with the client, not Shinjo, he had a feeling that working with this guy would inevitably lead to something bad.

However, seeing Shinjo's smiling face, he couldn't bring himself to refuse, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to the Torada family.

Not long after, Kogoro Mouri was led into the main hall and met the head of the Torada family.

At this moment, the head of the Torada family did not show any grief over the loss of his son; instead, he appeared extremely angry.

Kogoro Mouri took the photos handed to him by the client. "He died from a fall, his whole body was hit, and he suffered a brain hemorrhage. Was it a fatal fall?"

"So it seems that my only heir, Yoshiro, died at the hands of a vengeful demon who harbored hatred for our Torada family," Torada Naonobu said.

"Is it possible that someone pushed him from a height?" Kogoro Mouri asked, frowning.

He was also thinking to himself, "If you believe in gods and ghosts so much, then why did you hire a detective?"

“No, it was a tornado.” Naonobu Torada made another startling statement. “My son was caught in a tornado, swept up to a high place, and then fell onto rocks, which is why he died.”

"You mean a tornado..." Mori's face showed a troubled expression. He was a detective, not an Onmyoji, but he still asked with a forced smile, "Does that mean there's no possibility of being murdered?"

“Please look carefully, Mr. Mori. You should be able to see it clearly from the flowing blood.” A look of fear appeared on Torada Masanobu’s face. “Please look carefully. There’s something that shouldn’t be there over there.”

"Centipede?" Kogoro Mouri was taken aback.

"The centipede's corpse looked as if someone had stepped on it and placed it next to him before the blood congealed." A hint of resentment flashed in Torada Naonobu's eyes.

"In other words, that person, seeing my son so badly injured, not only didn't ask for help, but actually clapped and cheered from the sidelines." An old woman opened the sliding door and spoke slowly like a demon, "She even put a disgusting worm next to him and watched my son die."

"But it's also possible that the centipede was stepped on and accidentally caught in the tornado..." Kogoro Mouri tried to find an explanation for this bizarre scene.

"The first person to discover the body, Hanji, said that there were no centipedes in that area at all," Torada Naonobu said viciously. "My brother died because someone refused to help him."

"Brother?" Kogoro Mouri was a little confused. "You just said that the one who died was your only heir..."

“I no longer consider that guy, who’s obsessed with finding baseless treasures, my son,” Naonobu Torada snorted, speaking with extreme indifference.

"So now you should have a clue about the murderer, right?" Conan said. "Because you said someone harbors a grudge against you."

Chapter 252 Torata and Ryūo

Kogoro Mouri merely glanced at Conan behind him and did not stop him from speaking.

“Yes, that’s the Ryuo family, who have been enemies of the Torada family for years. The devil who stood by and watched my son die must be among them,” the old woman, Torada Tatsue, said.

Shinjo took the photo from Kogoro Mouri, glanced at it, and then handed it back to him. He then turned to Kagemitsu beside him and asked, "Want to see it? It's about a case that happened in your brother's jurisdiction."

“I don’t want to use my brain right now,” Jing Guang shrugged.

Both Naonobu Torada and Tatsuei Torada were taken aback. Could this young man's brother be a policeman here?

Meanwhile, inside the police station

Just as Yamato Kansuke was about to leave, he received a phone call from Morofushi Takaaki.

"Where are you now?" Zhu Fu Gaoming asked bluntly, without any politeness.

"The police station is preparing to leave to investigate a case," Yamato Kansuke asked coldly. "What brings you to call me at this hour?"

"I want to participate in the investigation of the Torada and Ryūo families' cases," Morofushi Takaaki said bluntly.

"What did you say?" Yamato Kansuke's voice rose.

If Morofushi Takaaki had been referring to other cases, he might have already conceded, but the cases of the Torada and Ryūo families, which involve the truth behind Kai's death, are special to him.

“It’s very important,” said Moribushi Takaaki. “You should know about my brother’s situation. Someone approached me and said that if I could solve this case, he would return Kagemitsu’s belongings to me.”

"who is it?"

“I don’t know, but what he said should be true,” said Morofushi Takaaki, looking at the email signed “Scotch Whisky.”

After his younger brother's death, he investigated for a while and knew his codename. He just didn't know if it was the young man named Furuya Rei, but he figured it probably wasn't. If it were him, he would have returned it to him in a more secure way, rather than by setting up this kind of test.

Torada family mansion

At that moment, Kogoro Mouri was staring intently at the photograph in his hand. He naturally didn't believe in ghosts or gods. In his opinion, Yoshiro Torada was most likely murdered, and the centipede was just a prop used by the murderer to cover up the truth and create a mystery.

"Uncle Shinjo, did you notice anything?" Conan asked Shinjo, looking at him with some curiosity.

Xincheng seemed unusually quiet today, and he appeared to be focusing too much attention on the young man beside him.

"Hmm? You're asking me?" Shinjo asked with a smile. "Isn't this Mori's case?"

"Don't just stand by and watch me die! You must have figured something out, right?" Kogoro Mouri looked at Shinjo with a pleading gaze. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here, would you?"

“No.” Shinjo pointed to Kagemitsu next to him and said, “His older brother is a prefectural police officer in Nagano Prefecture. If we happen to run into him in this case, we can take him away.”

"Hey, hey, hey, why are you making me sound like a huge problem?" Jing Guang said, somewhat displeased.

"Isn't that right?" Shinjo asked with a smile.

Jingguang said somewhat helplessly, "This case still can't be confirmed as murder, and my brother might not come. Besides, there are other police officers in Nagano Prefecture besides him, so it's impossible for us to run into each other."

"Can't we confirm it's murder yet?" Conan was taken aback.

In his view, this case was a murder case; there was no way it could be such a coincidence.

“No, at least there’s no evidence. That worm can’t be used as evidence either.” Zhu Fujingguang shook his head. “Besides, don’t overestimate the county police. They’re far inferior to the elite officers in the First Investigation Division. They’re good at mediating neighborhood disputes, but asking them to investigate cases is really asking too much of them. Some cases can be ruled as accidents or suicides, and they definitely won’t investigate them in depth.”

Conan's face was full of astonishment; he simply couldn't imagine how unreliable those police officers were.

"Don't look so shocked. That's just how the police are." Kogoro Mouri coughed. "If it's classified as a murder case but can't be solved, things will get complicated. You haven't had much contact with the police yet, but you'll get used to it as you get to know them better."

Conan was taken aback and looked at Uncle Mori with a strange gaze, but looking at Kogoro Mori's stupid face, he thought he might be overthinking it.

“If it’s about the wind, then I’m reminded of a saying,” Xincheng said with a smile. “Its speed is like the wind, its stillness like the forest, its aggression like fire, its immovability like a mountain, its unknowability like the shadows, and its movement like thunder. The first four lines refer to the famous wind, thunder, fire, and mountain, which are also the four most widely circulated sayings.”

"You mean, three more are going to die?" Kogoro Mouri was shocked.

"There might be fewer, after all, one member of the Longwei family died too," Shinjo said, taking a sip of tea. "What's wrong? Why are you all looking at me?"

"How did you know?" Conan looked at Shinjo in shock.

“Didn’t I tell you? Hattori Heiji is here too. If he’s not here, where could he be?” Shinjo shrugged.

"That Osaka Black Chicken is here too?" Kogoro Mouri asked in surprise.

"Well, if we can't find any clues, we can investigate the Ryūo family's place." Shinjō stretched. "We can also go and see Hattori while we're at it."

“Perfect timing. I was just worried about not being able to go to Ryuo’s house to investigate.” Kogoro Mouri stretched. “Let’s go together.”

"Isn't this your case?"

“Since you’re already here, wouldn’t it be a waste of your trip if you didn’t investigate a case?” Kogoro put his arm around Shinjo’s shoulder in a very familiar manner. “Come on, let’s hurry, it’ll get dark soon.”

“No need to rush.” Shinjo yawned. “I’m exhausted from driving all this way. I’ll rest for a bit. Hattori should know we’ve arrived. He’ll come looking for us once he’s finished investigating the Ryūtori family.”

Conan felt very uncomfortable looking at Shinjo, who looked sleepy. Mainly, Shinjo seemed unfamiliar to him.

Seeing that Shinjo was determined not to get involved, Kogoro Mouri had no choice but to go out and investigate on his own, taking Conan and Ran with him along the way.

After Kogoro Mouri left, only Koshimizu, Kagemitsu, and Shinjo remained at the scene.

"You really didn't do any preparation?" Yue Shui asked Xin Cheng. "What's with the two knives in the trunk?"

"Actually, I'm quite afraid of ghosts," Shinjo said with a smile. "Those two swords are ancient artifacts from the Warring States period. They're said to have slain demons and ghosts, so I brought them with me."

Yue Shui and Jing Guang rolled their eyes almost simultaneously. Only a fool would believe that.

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Shinjo shrugged, deciding not to explain further. Judging by the time, Yamato and Kensuke should be arriving soon.