Conan: The Romantic Daily Life of a Ghost Detective

"How could that be? Your expression is completely different from before." Yuan Tai jumped out and accused, "You must have stolen the doll and replaced it with a fake one, and now you're pretending to excuse yourself."

Conan: "Genta, don't talk nonsense. If the culprit really stole the doll, there's no need to replace it. He could have just taken it like the Thor painting."

Genta paused for a moment: "It seems so."

Mie Yoshiharu handed the doll to Ayumi, letting her observe it herself.

Surprisingly, when Ayumi received it, she found that the expression on the doll's face had returned to a smiling one.

When she placed the Girls' Day doll back on the altar, the doll's expression turned somber again.

The Japanese-style room was completely silent; everyone stared at the staircase-shaped altar covered with red cloth.

"Could it be... a paranormal event?" Xiaolan asked in horror, instinctively grabbing Wenshui's arm.

The expressions on the faces of the others also turned somewhat grim.

Although the world of Detective Conan has entered modern society, the people living here still have a strange fear of these monster legends.

Miwako Sato was also somewhat undecided. Since becoming a detective, she had encountered cases involving paranormal events. Some of these cases turned out to be people in disguise, while others were simply shelved because the investigations were so difficult.

Even Inspector Megure, who joined the Metropolitan Police Department earlier than her, mentioned more than once when he was training his class of new recruits that they should have reverence for ghosts and spirits, otherwise a bullet might come looking for them one day.

In the past, Miwako Sato would probably have contacted "relevant personnel" at the police station to take these dolls away and dispose of them.

That's right. Because the Metropolitan Police Department deals with all sorts of bizarre cases every day, including traffic police, they encounter countless corpses every day. Naturally, in order to ensure the mental health of the officers, they recruit some extraordinary individuals to specifically solve these kinds of problems.

Of course, these are all unspoken rules that are not officially permitted.

Whether those people can actually deal with the monsters is secondary; the main point is that this ritual is very important. It can give people a lot of psychological cues, allowing police officers who are already under a lot of pressure to relax.

However, because Wen Shui was present today, Miwako did not directly call for help yesterday.

She looked at Wen Shui with anticipation, hoping that this boy would bring her more surprises.

Wen Shui felt a little embarrassed by the stares and coughed, "Um... I already know who the murderer is."

“Okay, let’s have Mr. Wenshui speak first… Eh? What did you say?” Miwako didn’t react for a moment. She originally wanted Wenshui to express his opinion, but she didn’t expect him to directly find the murderer.

As expected of the one I chose...

"That's impossible!" Conan couldn't help but jump in, interrupting Sato Miwako's thoughts. "We were investigating together, so how could you... uh, how could Wen Shui-nii solve the case before us?"

After rushing out, Conan realized that his behavior was a bit too impulsive, which was not the reaction a primary school student should have. So he subconsciously switched to a childish, coquettish voice in an attempt to salvage his image.

However, if I'm not mistaken, in this situation Xiaolan should usually... Ouch, that hurts!

Conan felt a sharp pain on the top of his head.

Sure enough, as soon as he rushed out to question Wen Shui, Xiao Lan rushed over and punched him on the head, then grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him out of the room.

Ran put her hands on her hips and scolded, "Conan, haven't I told you so many times that you can't fool around when Wen Shui is doing the deduction?"

"I'm sorry," Conan said, bowing his head in apology.

At the same time, he glanced around and found that, thanks to his excellent acting skills and Xiaolan's "cover," no one suspected that the way he spoke just now was different from usual.

Thinking of this, Conan felt a mix of emotions.

To think that he would have to rely on his childhood friend's affection for another detective to cover up his identity is such a disgrace to Conan.

Conan, burning with rage, glared at Wen Shui and Shu as they walked towards the crowd.

I will surely avenge this humiliation today...

Hmm, why do I feel a surge of joy?

What on earth is that horrible thought, "I really want Brother Wenshui to keep bullying me"?

At this moment, Wen Shui had already walked to the middle of the crowd. He slowly looked around and then fixed his gaze on Kanno Yayoi:

"The murderer is Granny Kanno."

Chapter 248 Lifting Xiao Ai High Above...

When Wenshui said that it was obviously the elderly lady Yayoi Kanno, almost everyone present was stunned by this deduction.

Because in everyone's opinion, the least likely of the suspects to be the murderer is Granny Kanno.

Unlike her daughter-in-law Setsuko Kanno, Setsuko Kanno might have created the illusion of breaking and entering to secretly steal and sell the scroll in order to live a better life, which is perfectly logical.

As Yayoi Kanno was an elder in the family, and this painting was her husband's heirloom, Grandma Kanno had absolute control over this hanging scroll.

If she wanted to sell it for a high price, she could have simply asked Jin Qushui Gui for a price negotiation, or even traded it with other collectors on the market. There was absolutely no need to go through all this trouble by creating the illusion of a burglary.

The prediction made by Wen Shui was quite surprising.

Yayoi Kanno stood in the crowd with her hands behind her back. Her hair was gray and her face was full of wrinkles, but her expression seemed relatively stable: "Mr. Nukumizu, why would I steal paintings from my own home? That doesn't make any sense."

Detective Takagi couldn't help but advise, "That's right, Nukumizu, are you mistaken? Statistically speaking, Kanno Yayoi is actually the least likely to be the murderer."

Wen Shui smiled and said, "But sometimes the truth is illogical. Although I don't know why Granny Guanye would do this, judging from the evidence at the scene, it seems that only she could have done it."

"Are you referring to the time of the crime?" Detective Takagi flipped through the investigation log. "Indeed, judging from the timeline, Ms. Kanno Yayoi was the closest to the crime scene, and her behavior of going out to buy sugar is also somewhat suspicious... But the problem remains the same: she had no motive."

Everyone seemed to agree with Detective Takagi's reasoning.

Especially the Metropolitan Police Department investigators who came with him, some of whom had long been annoyed with Wen Shui. It was simply unbearable that this kid, who hadn't even grown up yet, had such an ambiguous relationship with their Metropolitan Police Department's beauty.

Although Takagi Wataru sometimes gets eye-rolls from his colleagues because he is partners with Sato Miwako.

But now it's clear that warm water and trees pose a greater threat. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

"That is to say, when we criminal police officers handle cases, we still need to pay attention to logic and evidence. We can't just arrest whoever we want."

"I also think the reasoning that Yayoi Kanno stole her own painting doesn't make sense."

"Kid, we have a lot of cases to handle, we don't have time to waste here messing around with you."

As Detective Takagi refuted the claims, criticisms of Nukusui gradually increased.

Looking at the faces of the detectives, some familiar and some unfamiliar, Sato Miwako felt extremely unhappy, even though she knew that she couldn't let her subjective emotions interfere when solving cases and that she should take into account the opinions and perspectives of those around her.

But deep down, I still couldn't help wanting to throw those people out the window.

Even if you question Wen Shui's speculation, can't you at least be a little gentler in your tone?

Warm water is providing free assistance to the police, and previous experience has repeatedly proven that warm water is always the right thing to do.

It seems that even a valiant female detective like Miwako Sato will subconsciously become protective of her boyfriend after falling in love, unable to bear seeing him suffer even the slightest grievance.

"Quiet! Let Wen Shui finish what she has to say." Sato Miwako tapped the table expressionlessly. "Are all the people in the Metropolitan Police Department this rude?"

Miwako Sato usually enjoys a high level of prestige within the police force, and everyone immediately shut their mouths when she opened her mouth.

Looking at Wen Shui's handsome face, which grew more and more appealing with each glance, Sato Miwako gave him an encouraging smile.

Wen Shui cleared her throat and pointed to the altar where the Girls' Day dolls were displayed: "Actually, the clue is right in front of you. Look, haven't the two Girls' Day dolls at the top been switched?"

Everyone looked in the direction Wen Shui was pointing.

Ayumi exclaimed, "It's true! I didn't even notice that the positions of the Empress and Emperor dolls had been switched!"

Detective Takagi was even more confused this time: "But wouldn't this just prove that Yayoi Kanno didn't do this? She knows a lot about Girls' Day dolls, how could she have misplaced them?"

“What if this arrangement is an ancient one?” Wen Shui suddenly asked.

"An ancient way of arranging?"

Everyone stared at Wen Shui with bewilderment, except for a hint of surprise flashing in Kanno Yayoi's murky eyes.

Appraiser Mie Yoshiharu suddenly clapped her hands: "That's right, I remember now. It seems that decades ago, before the Girls' Day dolls were so commercialized, there was indeed a way of arranging them with the Empress on the right and the Emperor on the left."

However, in order to adapt to the market, it was later changed to a more easily understood method of men on the left and women on the right.

With the affirmation of professional expert San Chong Fangchun, everyone's initial disbelief about the warm water gradually turned into skepticism.

Wen Shui struck while the iron was hot: "Xiao Lan, help me take down the rest of the Daughters' Day dolls."

"okay."

Xiaolan, already used to being a detective's assistant, immediately went over and carefully took down the dolls from the bottom two layers.

Miwako Sato, who was standing next to her, also went over to help and took down two dolls that were placed on the middle shelf.

Just as Ran returned from the box and was about to reach for the two dolls on top, Wen Shui suddenly caught a glimpse of Ai Haibara standing beside her with a dark expression.

Oh no, I forgot this guy was still here.

Wen Shui hadn't thought that much about it; she just subconsciously felt that detectives usually ordered their subordinates to do things in this kind of situation, and even Uncle Mori was no exception, perhaps because it made them seem more sophisticated.

The problem is that Ran and Miwako Sato both came to help, which made Ai Haibara seem isolated and uninvolved.

Wen Shui glanced at the height of the two dolls; it was clearly beyond the reach of Ai Haibara's short legs.

However, if I don't treat everyone fairly now, I'm afraid I'll face Ai's wrath when I get home.

Wen Shui sighed, walked up to Ai, put his hand under her armpits, and lifted Ai Haibara high up like a kitten: "Do you like playing this game too? Come here, let your brother hold you."

Ai Haibara felt herself suddenly rise into the air.

Her body stiffened for a moment, then she struggled violently, her face flushed.

This is because that bastard Wen Shui accidentally placed his hand in the wrong place, but unfortunately Ai's figure is really not that great.

Even when in close contact with young Usagi-chan, all Onami could feel was her small and cute sternum.

However, the people around them didn't think much of it. Instead, they thought that Wen Shui and Shu were very gentle, and that they would think of taking care of the child's feelings at such a time.

In the blink of an eye, the two Girls' Day dolls at the top appeared in front of Ai Haibara.

Ai Haibara suppressed her embarrassment and reached out her fair and slender little hand to grab the two dolls.

Warm water gently placed her on the ground, and then, like a cat that had been ravaged by its owner for a long time and finally escaped, Ai Haibara ran away in a flash.

Ayumi walked up to Ai and asked curiously, "Ai, why is your face so red?"

Ai Haibara instinctively hugged the doll to her chest, trying to hide the buttons that had sunk in from the warm water: "N-nothing, I'm just a little uncomfortable being suddenly held like this."

Ayumi's eyes sparkled with curiosity: "Is it really that exciting to be held in Wen Shui's arms?"

"N-no way!" Ai Haibara quickly shook her head, while also worrying that Ayumi might ask for a hug from Wen Shui out of curiosity. Oh well, since that's the case, she could only give Wen Shui a good talking-to that night.

At this moment, Genta and Mitsuhiko also came over.

"Ai, I didn't expect you to like this kind of game. How about we go ride a roller coaster next week?" Genta suggested, thinking that Ai Haibara liked the feeling of being tossed in the air.