Conan: The Romantic Daily Life of a Ghost Detective

Wearing her high school uniform, Yukiko Kudo looked at Eri Kisaki with a bit of embarrassment, then glared fiercely at Kazuki Onami next to her.

Chapter 61 Xiaolan's Caught in the Act is Never Absent

Even with Wen Shui's nerves honed by numerous cases, he couldn't help but be dumbfounded when he saw Conan's mother in her high school uniform.

What the hell?

Why is Yukiko Kudo dressed like this and following me?!

Although Wen Shui knew that the original Kudo Yukiko was a rather childish type, prone to impulsiveness, and also loved to play pranks on Conan.

But Wen Shui was absolutely certain that neither the original owner nor herself had ever had any interaction with this woman before.

This made Wen Shui suddenly feel that she had encountered something even more terrifying than a "yandere girl confessing her love".

After a brief moment of shock, Officer Ichijo was the first to recover, looking at Eri Kisaki incredulously: "Yukiko? Could she be the wife of the famous mystery novelist Yusaku Kudo, the Baroness of the Night, and the mother of the famous detective Shinichi Kudo, Ms. Yukiko Kudo?"

Yukiko Kudo corrected him with displeasure:

"No, standing before you is a once wildly popular female idol from sixteen years ago, the record holder for the highest viewership rating on Nichiuri TV to date, and someone who still ranks among the top ten in terms of fan base even after retiring from the entertainment industry for many years..."

“Yes, it’s her.” Eri interrupted her lengthy statement.

Then, with a helpless smile, she said, "Yukiko, why are you still as competitive as ever?"

Yukiko Kudo responded with a smile.

She seemed to have recovered from her initial panic and was now radiating the confident glow that only a popular idol could possess.

The customers and staff trapped inside the coffee shop were all shocked by what they saw.

"Yukiko Kudo?! Could she be that popular female idol who chose to retire at the peak of her career more than ten years ago?"

"That's right, it's her. Her son is the famous detective Shinichi Kudo who often appears in the newspapers."

"She's so young, she looks even younger than my girlfriend who's still in high school..."

The onlookers immediately shifted their attention from the corpse in the bathroom to Yukiko Kudo, and began whispering among themselves.

On the other side, after receiving a positive reply, one of the police officers seemed even more shocked than before:

"But...why are you disguising yourself as someone else, and dressed like this?"

The officer's focus was clearly related to the case.

No matter how famous or important a person is, if they appear at the crime scene of a murder and try to disguise their identity, it's unacceptable.

They will definitely be listed as a key target of the police investigation.

However, Yukiko Kudo, as expected of a big star, has a strong ability to adapt to changing circumstances. She tidied her hair behind her ear and showed a confident smile: "Actually, I'm planning to shoot a movie recently. It's a romance drama with a youth theme. The reason I'm pretending to be like this is to find inspiration."

"So that's how it is..."

One of the police officers frowned, seemingly pondering the veracity of this explanation.

Eri Kisaki, on the other hand, did not believe her friend's words at all.

She had already deduced from the look in Yukiko Kudo and Awami's eyes that her old classmate was dressed like this and that her target was Awami and Itsuki.

As for the reason, if I'm not mistaken, it should be related to Xiaolan.

Eri Kisaki couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Yukiko really hadn't changed at all; she was just as impulsive as she was in high school. Of course, Eri didn't think Yukiko Kudo would kill anyone.

But here's the question: how exactly did the murderer create this locked room?

In order to clear her friend's name, Eri Kisaki meticulously observed every corner of the crime scene.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Department's investigation also continued.

Although Yukiko Kudo gave a relatively reasonable explanation, Officer Ichijo only temporarily reduced her suspicion to the same level as the others.

The more public figures are involved, the more careful and cautious the investigation process must be.

A slight misstep could cause controversy and ruin one's future.

Before long, Eri Kisaki deduced that after the murder, the killer probably left through the gap between the toilet stall and the ceiling.

After testing the physiques of the four suspects, Tonoyama Juzo and the long-haired handsome man were temporarily ruled out as suspects because they could not fit through the gap above the toilet.

If this hypothesis is correct.

So the murderer is either the thin college student Yuichi Tsuyoshi or Yukiko Kudo.

In the original work, Eri Kisaki was also a suspect because she had been to the restroom, but in this timeline, due to the effect of the warm water, Eri Kisaki happened to go out to answer a phone call.

Unlucky Yukiko Kudo, in order to avoid being questioned by Nuwa, became one of the suspects.

As time went on, Yukiko Kudo began to feel anxious.

Although she doesn't think she will ultimately be convicted as the murderer, the current problem is that she hears there are more and more people watching outside, and it seems that many of her fans who have heard the news are also on their way.

Her impressive record of having a large number of loyal fans even after retiring from the entertainment industry for 16 years has ironically brought her trouble at this moment.

If we let things continue to develop like this...

The news of her getting involved in a murder case while posing as a high school girl will definitely make the front page of tomorrow's newspapers.

Those gossip reporters don't care about the veracity of their reports; they might just fabricate some sensational stories.

Although Yusaku and Shinichi probably wouldn't believe the newspaper report.

But the thought of being lectured by that father and son in the same tone as a child because of this incident stirred up a strong sense of rebellion in Yukiko Kudo.

However, if they don't ask those two for help, the only way to solve the mystery of the case is to rely on this seemingly confused rookie police officer and his friend Eri Kisaki.

Wait a minute, there seems to be a detective who's been making headlines lately at the crime scene.

Yukiko Kudo searched for Onami and Itsuki in the vicinity, only to find that they had already left the restroom and gone to the coffee shop counter to order another coffee.

He didn't seem to have any intention of offering help.

Damn it, this kid holds a grudge. Mrs. Kudo pouted in dissatisfaction, looking at her like a young girl in love, whining to her boyfriend.

.

At the same time, reporter Akira Nakai, standing in the crowd at the toilet entrance, keenly captured this moment.

Although he wore a disgruntled expression, as if he were trapped at the crime scene, he was secretly overjoyed.

This is big news!

Although the Metropolitan Police Department had clearly instructed that no filming was allowed after entering the scene, and had also assigned officers to keep a close eye on the people around them.

But as a professional journalist, Akira Nakai naturally had ways to evade the police's notice.

Hidden inside his thick suit jacket was a set of professional hidden camera equipment, designed to capture sensational photos at such moments. Besides sending them to newspapers, blackmailing the other party was also a viable option.

Over the years, he has used this method to amass wealth quite a bit.

Although former actress Yukiko Kudo has been retired for many years, her popularity has decreased.

But her famous mystery novelist husband, Yusaku Kudo, is a hot topic these days, and I heard that several of his works will be adapted into movies this year.

If news suddenly appears at this time that a wife is dressed as a high school girl and having an affair with a young boy, it could be very disastrous.

This will probably cause the movie's box office to plummet, right?

As Akira Nakai was contemplating whether to sell the news directly to the newspaper or to reach a private agreement with the woman, he was suddenly bumped on the shoulder, and scalding hot coffee spilled onto his suit jacket.

"hateful……"

Just as Nakai Akira was about to get angry, he turned around and saw that it was actually the young detective, Nukumizu Kazuki.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Wen Shui apologized as she took out a tissue to help him wipe the coffee stains off his body.

Nakai Akira quickly took a step back to prevent Wen Shui from touching the hidden camera he had concealed in his suit: "It's okay, I can handle it myself."

After bowing his head in apology again, Wen Shui and Shu re-entered the crime scene. He told a detective who was investigating the case, "I've figured out the killer's method."

Upon seeing this, Akira Nakai quickly focused his camera on the crime scene, only to be shocked to discover that his hidden camera seemed to have malfunctioned because of the coffee spill.

That wretched brat! He spent nearly a million dollars importing this equipment from abroad.

If it breaks due to water damage, then we'll lose a lot of money.

However, since the camera was specifically designed for covert filming, it was designed with in mind that users might have to temporarily discard the camera in certain situations. Therefore, the camera's memory card is actually located in the cuff.

So there's no need to worry about damaging the photos of Yukiko Kudo that we just took.

Nakai Akira was thinking about how to make that kid named Wenshui bleed a little to compensate for the loss of the damaged camera.

Then he opened another concealed camera hidden in his belt.

.

After returning to the toilet at the crime scene, Wen Shui immediately pointed the finger at Tonenyama Jūzō.

"You are the murderer, Mr. Tonoyama!"

The detective's identity and resolute demeanor immediately drew everyone's attention to the burly Tonoyama Juzo.

Only Eri Kisaki and Yukiko Kudo looked at the warm water with some surprise.

When Officer Ichijo first saw Wen Shui's imposing manner, he was delighted, but he quickly realized the flaw in his assumption and shook his head, saying, "But, given Mr. Tonoyama's build, there's no way he could squeeze through the gap above the toilet stall."

I also had the windows and the alleyway outside checked.

The killer probably didn't leave from outside. So how did he manage to come out of the toilet after committing the murder?

Wen Shui glanced at the bandages wrapped around Dian Shan's thirteen fingers and said, "Because he doesn't need to go into the toilet stalls at all, he doesn't need to worry about how to get out."

"No need to go in?" A police officer was completely confused. "This... uh, this Mr. Wen Shui, please stop keeping me in suspense."

Wen Shui thought to herself that although this police officer was a bit absent-minded, he had already mastered the essential skills of a detective in the world of Conan, and had a bright future ahead of him.

Wen Shui wasted no time and asked directly, "Officer, the rope that strangled the deceased still hasn't been found, has it?"

An officer looked at the investigation report in his hand: "The rope hasn't been found yet. I think the murderer probably flushed it down the toilet."

"No, the rope is still there, and it's tied to Mr. Tonoyama's finger."

Warm water directly points to the most crucial aspect of the problem.

Everyone looked at the bandage wrapped around Dian Shan Shisan's hand without prior arrangement.