Conan, I'm an actor

To be honest, he was quite afraid that Vermouth might make a phone call to the Boss. Shinjo could disregard the organization's power, but he couldn't. If they turned on his own friend, that would be terrible. He was already considering whether to trade places with Vermouth.

Just then, the carriage door was opened, but then blocked by chains.

"Hey, you called me, but now you won't even open the door. Is this how you treat your guests, Vermouth?" A familiar voice came from outside the door.

Amuro Tooru looked at Vermouth, not understanding what this woman was up to.

Vermouth ignored him and simply opened the door.

"Those people are all on this train now, right?" Shinjo asked with a smile. "To be honest, I really didn't expect you to cooperate with me. According to my plan, it would take at least three to five years to get rid of these guys."

"Stop talking nonsense, where is what I asked for?" Vermouth said coldly.

"The improved APTX-4869 data." Shinjo tossed a file folder onto the table. "It contains instructions on how to obtain the data. If you're worried, you can check it online now using your laptop, though it will take a while to download it locally."

“That’s not what I want. I want the complete information,” Vermouth said, staring at Shinjo. “If you insist on doing this, I can provide you with a list, but its authenticity can only be verified after you get off the train.”

“If you want to do that, go ahead.” Shinjo shrugged indifferently. “Anyway, I won’t use this list myself; it will ultimately be handed over to the police. They’ll handle the verification and the actual actions; it’s none of my business.”

Vermouth sighed helplessly, then took out a document from her backpack.

"OK, I got the stuff." Shinjo didn't even look at it before handing it to Amuro Tooru beside him. "The rest is your job."

"What about my job?"

“Arrest these dangerous criminals,” Shinjo said matter-of-factly. “Are you just going to watch them run rampant and get away with it?”

"This was unexpected, wasn't it?" Amuro Tooru swallowed hard. He really wanted to ask Shinjo when he and Vermouth had reached a deal, but he also knew that now was not the time to talk about it. After getting the information, he went directly to inform his subordinates in the car.

"Oh, right." Just as Amuro Tooru was about to leave, Shinjo suddenly said, "When we search later, there's no need to search this place. I'll keep an eye on her until she gets off the car."

"Is this also part of the deal?" Amuro Tooru suddenly asked.

"I guess you could say that."

Amuro Tooru nodded, then gave Shinjo a "be careful" look before leaving the room with the documents, leaving only Shinjo and Vermouth in the room.

“Actually, you can catch them all without that list, right?” Vermouth sat on the sofa in the carriage, crossing her legs. “You already knew their identities and their ticket information, just like you did with me.”

Shin-chan picked up a glass of liquor, poured himself a drink, and said, "Sometimes being too smart isn't a good thing."

"Can I meet that hacker lady? Her name is Karen, right?" Vermouth poured herself a glass. "I'm really curious how she found out where I was."

She had just arrived in Japan when she received a call from Shinjo, and the number was a new one she had changed.

Shinjo contacted him immediately, and the two talked for a long time before meeting and making a deal today. Shinjo presented the information on the improved drug, and Vermouth handed over the list of the organization's remnants.

“It’s not as amazing as you think,” Xincheng said, stroking his chin. “I copied the system inside the ocean buoy, including the backdoor. I can use any function that the ocean buoy can use, and I can also use any function that the ocean buoy cannot use.”

Is this considered a warning?

"Yes. He should be glad it was you who came. If it were someone else, like Gin or Vodka, he would be a corpse by now."

"You seem very confident."

“In Japan and Europe, as long as it’s in a city, you won’t be a match for me. There’s also a back door in Frankfurt; those surveillance cameras will be my eyes and ears.” Shinjo drew a circle on the table. “I only want this little patch of land. If you won’t even give me this little patch, I don’t mind trading places with you.”

"Changing your home, do you mean Europe?"

“Not only that, with that person’s abilities, hacking into the security systems of the Americas would be a piece of cake,” Shinjo said, squinting. “We have to thank Syndra for delivering Noah’s Ark to me; otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to handle so many data streams.”

Vermouth's eyes narrowed instantly, and the questions she couldn't understand before suddenly became clear. No wonder this guy was able to pinpoint her and Rum's location in such a short time; he had access to all of Japan's surveillance systems, plus the assistance of artificial intelligence—finding someone was a piece of cake for him.

"Aren't you going to deal with the explosives in the last carriage?"

"Just leave the explosives to Amuro Tooru." Shinjo shrugged. "If he can't even handle this, he'll have wasted his time at the police academy."

At this moment, Amuro Tooru and his two subordinates had arrived at the last carriage. Upon opening the curtain, they saw rows of bombs, each with a sensor above it flashing a red light.

"So many bombs, and that bastard actually told me to defuse them! I'll defuse your grandpa!" Amuro Tooru cursed out loud.

"Um, should we send the explosive ordnance disposal team over?" a subordinate asked with some concern.

"By the time they get here, it'll be too late." Amuro Tooru approached the bomb with a flashlight. "This device is probably for speed measurement. If the train's speed drops below a certain value, all the bombs here will explode. How much longer until we reach Nagoya?"

“Four hours left.” One of the officers’ faces turned deathly pale.

"Four hours? That's a bit tight. I don't know if we can make it."

“But didn’t we just stop the train and unload a carriage?” Another officer clearly questioned Amuro Tooru’s judgment.

“There’s another remote control here. I guess the criminal is probably still in the car. He doesn’t want to send himself to his doom over something so trivial.” Amuro stroked his chin. “Go ask him. Or, never mind, I’ll just check the map myself.”

"Mr. Furuya, are you preparing to defuse the bomb?"

"Looking at this dense network of wires, do you think it's necessary to defuse the bomb?" Amuro Tooru said, pointing to the bomb stack behind him. "I'm planning to find a place to lower the last carriage, so that even if it detonates, it won't cause much of an impact. The next step is to consider where to detonate it."

"Detonate? Then the railway tracks will be..." The police officer was about to say something when he saw Amuro Tooru hand him the bomb disposal pliers, his attitude very clear—if you can do it, then you do it.

The officer opened his mouth, but ultimately chose to remain silent, since he didn't know how to defuse a bomb either.

Soon, Furuya Rei found the map of the train's route and selected a suitable location to detonate the bomb.

On the other side

"What's going on? Why are you leaving us here? I have things to take care of in Nagoya this afternoon!" Ando Yu said somewhat anxiously.

"This matter..." The train conductor didn't know how to explain it for a moment.

"A murder has occurred on the train; Mr. Murohashi is dead," the train conductor said somewhat awkwardly. "Therefore, the train crew has decided to drop off this first-class carriage first, and the other passengers can proceed to Nagoya."

Hearing the commotion outside, Nonoda Tsurugi opened the door to check the situation, and Izumi Mari was also startled by the captain's words.

"What did you say? Murohashi is dead!" Uncle Noto asked in shock.

“How is this possible? I saw him in the dining car just now.” Izumi Mari was clearly unable to accept this fact.

“It’s still uncertain whether it’s suicide or homicide. Once the Metropolitan Police Department arrives and takes your statements, they will definitely take you to Nagoya,” Sonoko said. “As for the losses you’ve suffered, the Suzuki Zaibatsu will fully compensate you.”

Sonoko was also in a state of shock. If it were a suicide, that would be fine. But if it were a homicide, then the stage the Suzuki family had gone to so much trouble to build would become a stage for the murderer's crime show, a very serious blow to the Suzuki family's reputation. She could already imagine how furious her uncle must be right now.

Just then, her phone rang in her bag.

“It was Uncle Jirokichi calling,” Sonoko said, then walked to the side to answer the phone. “I know about it. The deceased died in my carriage. I’ve already had the train stop at a nearby station. No need for that. Uncle Mori is on the train. He should be able to solve the case before you arrive.”

Ran, who was standing nearby, became a little nervous when she heard Sonoko mention her father. Her dad was a half-baked idiot, and she was afraid that Conan would have to help her with this matter in the end.

"Conan, do you have any clue?" Ran asked Conan, leaning close to his ear.

"We don't have a clue yet." Conan looked at Ai Haibara. "By the way, Haibara, how did you know that a silencer can suppress muzzle flash and prevent burn marks?"

“You’ll understand after watching it a few more times. You shouldn’t be asking me this kind of question. This Ms. Sera should know a lot about it.” Haibara looked up at Sera and said, “After all, your mother is an MI6 agent.”

"Don't talk about my mom like she's a murderer," Sera Masumi said, somewhat speechless. "Besides, she's your great-aunt."

"Oh," Ai Haibara replied expressionlessly, clearly not taking Sera's words to heart.

After Sera sighed at the failure of Japanese education, she turned to Conan and said, "Should we ask the conductor for more details next?"

"Do you think the conductor would talk to two minors like us?" Conan rolled his eyes. "Before that, we'll have to learn how to raise a big flag first."

"Raise a big flag?"

“Yes, for example, using Uncle Mori as a shield,” Conan said matter-of-factly.

"Don't make it sound like I'm useless except as a shield." Kogoro Mouri punched Conan in the head with his iron fist. "At least show some respect for your elders!"

'I have absolutely no respect for you.' Conan thought to himself, then followed Kogoro Mouri toward the train conductor.

With Kogoro Mouri's name on the team, the captain's attitude quickly changed from initial wariness to warmness.

After some questioning

Kogoro Mouri frowned and said, "In short, Room B, where the deceased Mr. Murohashi was located, was locked at the time, and the train conductor, who had been in the corridor before the murder, claimed that no one had left Room B. Theoretically, Mr. Murohashi can be considered to have committed suicide, right?"

“But, around the gunshot wound near the temple…” Sera Masumi was still more concerned about the burn marks.

“This cannot be used as evidence of homicide.” Kogoro Mouri sighed. “All the passengers on this mysterious train are mystery enthusiasts. They introduced themselves at the station earlier. Perhaps Mr. Murohashi thought he was about to die and simply packaged his suicide as a mysterious incident. Don’t forget, he has a penchant for playing the dead. Maybe that was just a rehearsal.”

Chapter 322 The Train (Clue)

"I see, no wonder he's the sleeping Kogoro Mouri." The train commander clapped excitedly.

Sure enough, he preferred the conclusion of suicide to homicide. This guy committed suicide; how did the flight attendants know he was going to commit suicide? So there was no question of inadequate security.

"But there are bullet marks on the sofa across the way," Conan said, frowning. "Would someone really test a gun on a sofa before committing suicide?"

“Some guns have bullets that aren’t powerful enough. Maybe he’s afraid he won’t be able to blow his own head off with one shot, so he’s testing the power first,” Haibara said expressionlessly. “Actually, he’s overthinking it. Once it penetrates the temple, the bullet will deviate from its original trajectory and spin randomly, creating a huge cavity inside the head. The weaker the bullet’s penetrating power, the larger this cavity will be. If we dissect it now, we should be able to…”

She was interrupted by the sound of the train conductor vomiting before she could finish speaking; clearly, the train conductor was not yet able to withstand such a stimulating narration.

"This instruction card is probably fake." Conan took out the envelope he had received. "Someone deliberately gave this to us. Besides us, Sonoko and that dead uncle also received it."

The train conductor took the envelope and frowned the moment he saw the card. "You're right. Although it looks like a regular instruction card, the content written on the card is completely different from what we've heard about."

Conan lowered his head and began to ponder. 'As expected, someone must have had some ulterior motive in orchestrating Mr. Murohashi's move to the first-class carriage. Perhaps it's because Mr. Murohashi always reserves his first-class cabin, B, which was accidentally snatched by Uncle cutting in line. Could this be a tactic that can only be used in this particular carriage?'

"By the way, what's so special about this first-class carriage?" Sera asked the conductor in front of him.

"What, what's different?" The train conductor was clearly bewildered by the question.

“I heard that this first-class carriage is booked by the same guests every year,” Sera asked. “Is there some special reason?”

“Oh, you mean this?” the conductor said with a smile. “This Suzuki Express was only completed five years ago, but I heard that the first-class carriage was custom-made by Suzuki Jirokichi, an advisor, at the request of his wealthy friend. Since that wealthy friend was a fan of the Orient Express, the rooms in this carriage were specially expanded so that his family could travel on this train at a leisurely pace.”

"So, were all those passengers just now family members of that wealthy man?" Kogoro Mouri asked, frowning.

“No, your family members all perished in a fire a month after the first trip.” The conductor’s tone became somewhat somber. “Only one of these passengers was from that family.”

Who is that person?

"It's Ms. Xiaosuo in Room D. I remember she was a relative of the deceased bourgeois aunt."

Sera had already found the news about the fire on her phone. "There were also reports about the fire online. On the day of the bourgeois's birthday party, the entire bourgeois family and twelve guests who came to the party perished in the fire. The article also said that the survivors rescued from the fire were the Ms. Kosuke who had spoken to us earlier, her maid, and four guests."

"Could it be that these four guests are the same passengers from earlier?" Kogoro Mouri felt a chill run down his spine.

"The fire was caused by a power system malfunction, but the exact cause has not yet been determined." Sera felt a headache coming on. "If it was indeed a homicide, and the murderer is still in this carriage, things will become complicated."

“If that’s the case, then this murder is a revenge drama stemming from the fire that happened before.” Kogoro Mouri rested his chin on his hand. “Isn’t this becoming more and more like the Orient Express murder case? It seems we still need to ask those passengers again.”

"Speaking of electricity, why didn't you replace the light bulb in room A beforehand, even though you knew it was broken?"

"The freight cars are right behind the first-class cars. We usually prepare spare light bulbs in advance, but when we need them, we can't find them anywhere." The train conductor was also somewhat helpless.

"So, before departure, was the person responsible for inspecting the train the conductor?" Conan immediately pressed for answers.