Conan, I'm an actor

"Fortunately, the other party didn't intend to hurt her; she was just drugged and will be fine once she wakes up." Xincheng shook his head. "But we'll have to consider moving afterward; it's a bit dangerous here."

"Do you need someone to protect you?"

"In close combat alone, I'm no match for that guy."

Shinjo's words effectively shut down Megure's next words. He knew Shinjo's close-combat abilities; back in the police academy, Shinjo was a formidable fighter who could take on a whole group single-handedly. Even Shinjo himself wasn't a match for that guy, let alone his rookies.

"Don't make that face. We'll handle this ourselves." Shinjo stretched his body. "Once Yue Shui wakes up, we'll move. You can investigate the scene here."

"Transfer?"

“I’m afraid they’ll target Yue Shui and do something detrimental to her if we move her to a safe place.”

Just then, Xincheng's phone rang. He picked it up and glanced at the caller ID, and his mood worsened.

His finger hovered over the red hang-up button, seemingly wanting to end the call. However, considering the consequences of hanging up, he could only say to Inspector Megure, who still seemed about to say something, "I'm going out to take this call."

The moment the call connected, Vermouth's somewhat languid voice came through the receiver, "I heard you're in trouble?"

“If you don’t want to get involved, you should say something sooner rather than later,” Shinjo said coldly. “I don’t care what Rum is trying to do, I want him dead.”

"You've got quite the nerve." Vermouth changed the subject. "That woman probably didn't hurt the little girl. He's still useful for now. If we kill him, the boss will be unhappy. If the boss is unhappy, I'll be in a difficult situation."

Xincheng was silent for a moment, then said, "Give me a list."

What do you want to do?

“Rum is still useful only because he still has people working for him,” Shinjo said coldly. “Killing him would upset the boss, but knocking out a few of his teeth shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You…” Vermouth’s expression changed. Shinjo was determined to take revenge on Rum, and there was no room for negotiation.

"I'm only keeping the old guy alive because I still need him to keep the organization in check. If even that has to be controlled, then I don't mind letting him die. Anyway, I won't bear the cost of the organization going out of control, and you'll be facing more than just agents."

“I will provide the list, but it will not be a complete list.” Vermouth finally compromised.

"I'll be waiting for your good news." Xincheng took a deep breath. "It'll be a pleasure working with you."

Looking at the disconnected microphone, Vermouth took out a cigarette but hesitated to light it. She hadn't expected that Rum's first act upon arriving in Japan would be to cause trouble for Cognac, and most importantly, he hadn't succeeded.

After a moment's thought, she directly passed the question to Gin. As the highest-ranking official in Japan, he was naturally the one responsible for mediating conflicts among the organization's members. The thought of the organization's current chaotic state gave her a headache.

Chapter 132 Telephone Lines and Transportation Lines

Meanwhile, mountain villas

After hanging up Shinjo's call, Conan began searching for the culprit, first ruling out Sonoko and her sister.

The culprit is among the remaining three people. Hiroki Kakutani's attitude towards Chikako Ikeda can be ruled out for the time being, but it cannot be ruled out that it is an act.

The most suspicious person should be Ota Teng. He seemed to have a problem with Ikeda Chikako's attitude at the dinner table, but in the end, it was just a normal conflict.

Takahashi seemed unremarkable, but when Ran knocked on the door earlier, his expression was somewhat unnatural, and it took him a long time to open the door, which seemed a bit strange.

"Uncle Shinjo is really something. Can't he give us some clearer clues?" Conan thought with a headache.

"Conan, what's wrong?" Ran asked, somewhat puzzled. "You've been acting strange since just now."

"It's nothing, it's just that Uncle Shinjo gave me a question, and I'm thinking about the answer." Conan looked at Chikako Ikeda beside him. In this situation, the only option was to protect the victim closely.

His status as a child is an advantage, but not a huge one. Moreover, judging from Chikako Ikeda's attitude, she seems to be a difficult woman to deal with and probably wouldn't allow a child to follow her around like a shadow.

The most effective way to get close to her would be to talk about her work, specifically her famous novel, *The Blue Kingdom*. The problem is, Conan isn't interested in *The Blue Kingdom*; he was asleep the whole time Ran was watching it, so there was no way to discuss it.

"By the way, Ran, what about that man with bandages wrapped around his head that you mentioned before?" Sonoko suddenly remembered something and started the conversation. "We're the only villa here."

Conan was taken aback. Could it be that the culprit was that bandaged man? Thinking about it that way, it wasn't impossible.

"Is this the only villa here?" Conan asked, somewhat puzzled.

"More or less," Sonoko said, frowning. "That's why I found Ran's words rather strange."

“This…” Xiaolan’s face turned pale. “That man was wrapped in a cloak and his face was covered in bandages, like a mummy.”

Conan nodded. "That's right. We also saw that man run towards the back of the villa. By the way, Sonoko-neechan, does the villa have a back door?"

He was now certain that the person disguised as the bandaged monster was the murderer, and the bandages and cloak were likely just a disguise. Estimating the bandaged monster's height, it seemed only Hiroki Kakutani and Tōtō Ota fit the bill.

"What are you guys talking about? Can I join you?" Ota Teng walked over with a smile.

“Of course.” Sonoko had been “coveting” Ota Teng for a long time, and seeing him walk right into her trap, she naturally had no reason to let him go. She immediately began to tell him what had happened.

"The bandaged man, is he someone wearing a tulip-shaped hat and completely covered in a cloak?" Ota Teng's smile vanished. "I saw that guy when I came to the villa."

"Huh? Oh, Ota-nii-san saw it too?" Sonoko was taken aback.

“That guy you’re talking about, I’ve seen him too,” Hiroki Kakutani said with a grin. “I thought he was someone who lived nearby.”

“Absolutely impossible. Apart from two or three detached villas across the suspension bridge, there are no other houses on this side of the valley; you have to climb over the mountain to find any,” Ayako Suzuki said with some concern. “Takahashi, did you see him on the rooftop just now?”

“No, but when I came to the villa, I saw him standing on the suspension bridge,” Takahashi said, frowning.

Chikako Ikeda, on the other side, remained silent, but judging from her pale face, she was clearly not at peace with herself.

"What's the deal with that man?" Ota asked with some concern. "I have a feeling he's a bit..."

"Why don't we call the police?" Kakutani suggested.

"But that guy didn't do anything, so what grounds do we have to call the police?" Takahashi hesitated.

"It's too late to call the police now, because the phone line has been cut and we can't make a call." Conan picked up the phone and tried to dial, but there was no sound from the receiver.

"What?" Everyone in the room paled.

If it was just speculation before, they are now certain that the man has ulterior motives towards them.

Conan held his pendant, contemplating whether or not to call the police.

The safest course of action is to call the police. Given the Suzuki family's social standing, the police will definitely arrive as soon as possible. If the police arrive promptly, the murderer will have no chance to commit the crime. If the police do not arrive in time, the murderer may take risks because of the approaching police.

However, this is a test from the new city, and calling the police should not be an option.

Last time, when he said he would hand over the information about the cash to Inspector Megure, Shinjo immediately kicked him out...

Just then, Takahashi and Kakutani outside exclaimed in surprise.

Conan followed the others to take a look and found that the suspension bridge was broken.

“It must have fallen down on its own.” Ota Teng’s face showed a look of horror. “After all, this suspension bridge is quite old, so it’s not unusual for it to fall down.”

"No, this suspension bridge must have been cut down." Conan squatted on a wooden stake beside the bridge. "If you don't believe me, you can take a look here."

"How could this be? It looks tattered and broken." Ota's face showed disbelief.

“Indeed, there are knife marks on it.” Kakutani looked at the wooden stake.

"It was that guy! It must have been that guy!" Takahashi's face turned deathly pale. "It must have been that guy!"

"You guys should stop now. What bandaged monster? That's utter nonsense." Chika snorted. "Whether it's cutting the phone or severing the suspension bridge, these are just tricks that guy uses to scare us. If we're scared by this, we're just playing right into his hands."

The others looked even uglier. While Ikeda's words made sense, the fact remained that the transportation and telephone lines had been cut.

Conan frowned as he looked at the villa in the distance.

Although the villa is large, it is unlikely that Chikako Ikeda could be killed silently inside.

The crime scene could only be outside the villa, but with such a large forest, where would the murderer choose as his crime scene?

Furthermore, after the afternoon tea party ended, Ikeda returned to her room and showed no intention of coming out. It was only just now, when they made too much noise, that she came out to check.

When she gets back to the villa, she'll definitely choose to stay in her room alone. What method will the murderer use to lure Ikeda out of the villa?

"That's it!" Conan's lips curled into a smile; he had just realized something.

Based on the information provided by Xincheng, it's likely that the murderer would have lured her out under the pretext of "I don't want my plagiarism to be exposed, so come to XX place."

“That should be it. All we need to do next is disrupt this step.” Conan smiled. “The culprit couldn’t have notified us in person, and there’s no cell phone signal in this place, so the only way they could have notified us was by letter or note.”

The villa was unfamiliar to both the murderer and Chikako Ikeda. If the murderer wanted to deliver the letter and note to Chikako Ikeda, he would have to face a very important question—where to put it.

Public areas are definitely out of the question; if others see it, it could very well cause the plan to fail.

It seems that the only private area of ​​this villa for Chikako Ikeda is her own room. In other words, if you keep an eye on Chikako Ikeda's room, you can find the murderer.

Chapter 133 Victims and Perpetrators

Everyone is here now. If the murderer is here, then the best time for him to notify Ikeda is from now until Ikeda returns to his room.

From now on, all I need to do is keep an eye on the door of Ikeda's room.

"That Conan guy is really something, running around everywhere in this heavy rain." Ran looked at Conan and said with some concern, "Be careful."

"I'll go check the doors and windows of the villa to see if that guy has entered." Conan waved to Ran, indicating that she shouldn't worry.

“Yes, now go back and check the doors and windows. Everyone, pair up and don’t separate,” Kakutani said. “If you encounter any danger, shout for help.”

"I think you're overthinking it." Chikako snorted. "I'm not getting involved in this kind of thing. I'm going back to my room to rest. I won't be coming out before dinner."

“Chikako…” Ayako Suzuki wanted to persuade her, but she was too gentle and was silenced by a single glare from Chikako.

Half an hour later, Conan was still sitting on the floor at the end of the corridor, waiting for the murderer to arrive.

"Little brother, what are you doing here?" Just then, a gentle voice sounded behind Conan.

"It's Uncle Takahashi." Conan scratched his head awkwardly. "The drama 'Blue Kingdom' is very popular, and many girls at school like it, so I wanted to ask Aunt Ikeda for an autograph."

"You like this work too?" Takahashi tried to squat down, but her belly was too big, so she gave up in the end. "As for the autograph, you can probably wait until tomorrow morning. Chika is angry right now, and if you bring up autographs at this time, you will definitely be harshly rejected."

"Oh."

"Also, remember to call Chikako-neechan, it's very impolite to call a girl 'auntie'," Takahashi said with a smile.

"That's true." Conan said innocently. "By the way, Uncle Takahashi, what's the deal with that lady named Atsuko?"

Takahashi's expression changed instantly, but he quickly recovered. "The Atsuko you're talking about, she committed suicide two years ago. At that time, she was also a member of our film club, but one day she hanged herself in the club. After that day, none of us film club members have seen each other since."

Conan stared at Takahashi's face, a smile playing on his lips. He was certain that the bandaged man was this guy.

When Atsuko was mentioned, his emotions changed noticeably, as if a sore spot had been touched. Although he concealed it well, Conan, having seen many murderers, keenly sensed the murderous intent hidden beneath his emotions.

"Dinner will be ready soon, you can go now. I'll let Chika know," Takahashi said somewhat shyly. "Your older sister Ran is very worried about you."

"I'm not in a hurry, Uncle. Why don't we go down together?" Conan acted like a clingy little child.

A hint of impatience flashed across Takahashi's face. How come he hadn't realized this kid was so annoying? But he quickly suppressed his annoyance. "Alright, just wait a moment."