I'm in Detective Conan, and the system has appointed Batman.

Mihana Theater, a period drama travel troupe.

Three stunt performers are currently performing scenes from an older script on stage, familiarizing themselves with the performance environment of the Miho Theater, preparing to immediately get into character once the new script is completed.

That's right, although the flyers have already been sent out, the new script is not yet finished.

There is a conflict between Tamanosuke Ito, the leader of the boy band TNT, and Tetsuo Chikaishi, the scriptwriter, regarding the direction of the script.

Ito Tamanosuke insisted that the ending of the script should be that the true identity of a member of the period drama traveling theater troupe is revealed to be the phantom thief Edo Kid, but Chikashi Tetsuo did not change a single word, saying that it should be the twin brother of a certain actor.

The two sides were unable to reach an agreement, so even during daily training, the actors could only rehearse according to the previous script.

Although performance and kung fu are different.

But the same principle applies to the saying "one minute on stage requires ten years of practice off stage." If you don't persist in practicing every day, it's like rowing against the current—if you don't advance, you fall behind. Even if they don't have a new script, they still have to practice.

"That's amazing..."

The youngest actor in the period drama travel troupe stood at the edge of the stage, looking on with longing.

Her name is Megumi Ito, and she is only seven years old.

Like her brother Ito Tamanosuke, she was a transfer student to Teitan School in Tokyo. However, while Ito Tamanosuke transferred to Teitan High School, she transferred to Teitan Elementary School and was in the next class with Conan.

However, Ito Megumi greatly admires Conan.

Because she felt that Conan looked exactly like her brother in a photo of him dressed as a woman when he was a child, she kept thinking about whether she could trick Conan into dressing as a woman to see how it would look.

"Really, why is my brother so insistent on writing the ending of Edo-era boy among the theater troupe members?"

"We could have started rehearsing right away by following the script that Uncle Chikashi wrote. But if we continue like this, by the time the script is finished, there will probably only be one or two days before the performance, which is not enough time to work out the plot."

Megumi Ito gripped the curtain at the edge of the stage and whispered.

She sensed someone standing behind her, but she didn't think anything was wrong. Instead, she said...

"Uncle Tajima, don't you think so?"

"How could an Edo boy possibly be a member of our period drama traveling theater troupe?"

However, no one responded from behind.

She turned her head blankly to look behind her.

There was no one behind him.

She initially thought he was an elderly member of a period drama travel troupe.

Behind them stood Kenzo Tajima, the teacher of the stunt performers on stage, who had difficulty moving due to a back injury.

But there was no one behind him, which made Ito Megumi feel a little sad.

It is said that an actor was once murdered at the Miho Theater due to a verbal dispute.

Thinking about this, and considering that she had felt like someone was behind her, but when she turned around she saw no one and heard no footsteps, she immediately thought that the theater might be haunted.

If it weren't for the fact that Ito Megumi had been traveling all over the country with the old commander since he was a child...

They are much braver than the average elementary school student, and at this point they would probably be crying from their own fantasies.

Even so, Ito Megumi's eyes welled up with tears.

She was completely unaware that a locator, flashing red and activated, had appeared below her collar. Instead, she instinctively sought reassurance from Kenzo Tajima, who was behind her.

However, just as Ito Megumi turned around...

She exclaimed with delight,

"Brother, you're back!"

I heard Megumi Ito's voice.

The stunt performers who were rehearsing on stage also stopped and turned to look at the entrance of the Beika Theater, wondering why Ito Tamanosuke had returned so early.

Regarding Ito Tamanosuke personally handing out flyers.

They actually knew.

That's because Ito Tamanosuke and Chikaishi Tetsuo had been arguing, and in the end, in a bad mood, he just took a big stack of flyers and went out to hand them out to relieve the stress.

Logically speaking, Ito Tamanosuke shouldn't have returned so soon.

Unless he casually threw all the flyers into the trash can.

Just as the three stunt performers stopped, they suddenly felt a chill down their spines.

It was as if someone was passing by behind us.

Three stunt performers, one man and two women, turned around at the same time to look behind them, but saw nothing.

Just then, a gentle breeze blew by.

They shuddered as they recalled the horrific murder that had occurred at the Miho Theater, feeling a chill run down their spines. They only managed to remain calm because of the presence of children.

"Everyone, I'm back."

Ito Tamanosuke's voice came through.

He smiled and waved to Megumi Ito and the actors on stage. Kogoro Mouri and the others followed behind, curiously observing the layout of the Beika Theater. Only Conan kept his eyes glued to Tamanosuke Ito.

There's a flaw!

He saw something glowing on Ito Tamanosuke's body!

If I'm not mistaken.

That appears to be a locator developed by Dr. Agasa.

Only he and Chen En possessed this locator. Since he hadn't installed it on Ito Tamanosuke, the only person who could have installed it was Chen En!

Chen En had already found Ito Tamanosuke before them.

They might have already entered the Beika Theater and are probably hiding somewhere there, secretly observing what's going on!

He is the most cunning of Conan's many friends.

Even if he didn't see any red light on the other members of the period drama travel troupe, he could still say with certainty that Chen En had most likely installed locators on these people.

There might even be small surveillance cameras and listening devices next to the stage!

"You've actually realized there's a problem here?"

"As expected of Chen En..."

Conan thought to himself.

When they found Tamanosuke Ito.

Ito Tamanosuke was handing out flyers. Ran and Sonoko originally wanted to help, but a kind old lady nearby offered to do it for him.

Then, Ito Tamanosuke gave the flyer to the old lady.

Instead, we first took them to the Mihana Theater to see what was going on here.

They're friends, after all; it would be impolite not to treat them.

"Mori-kun, Suzuki-kun, these are the members of our theater troupe."

"Mr. Ryuichi Muraki, Ms. Yuri Shirai, and..."

Ito Tamanosuke was halfway through his introduction when he turned to the extra person and asked,

"Ms. Ito Ogiwara, why are you, the finance manager, on stage? Are you temporarily filling in for me to ensure the performance can continue?"

Ito Ogiwara, who had been awkwardly reciting her lines on stage, smiled sheepishly.

"Ah... just trying it out while I'm at it."

Chapter 142 Batman's Suspicion Never Needs Evidence

Someone died at the Miho Theater.

Chen En knew this, but he was completely unmoved by it.

Because in Beika Town, where hasn't someone died?

If you were to say you wouldn't go to a place where someone has died, you could probably just move out of Beika Town altogether, since people have died in every theater, supermarket, school, and other public facility in Beika Town.

"Next up are two people from backstage."

Chen En put his hands in his pockets and thought to himself.

He has already installed magnetic tracking devices on everyone else in the troupe. The only ones who haven't had tracking devices installed are the so-called scriptwriter and the stuntman who hasn't shown up yet.

In Chen En's opinion, the stuntman was the prime suspect in the murder.

Kenzo Tajima.

One of the members of the Era Drama Travel Troupe, he was agile and could be said to be the most famous action star of the Era Drama Travel Troupe during the old troupe leader's time. However, he later claimed to have injured his back and had since retired from the front-line performances.

After the old troupe leader's death, he went behind the scenes to teach new top-tier actors how to perform.

As for whether Kenzo Tajima had any injuries to his back or waist.

If so.

Chen En did not believe that Kenzo Tajima had actually injured his back.

He investigated and discovered that the old troupe leader's death was suspicious, because Edo Boys only started performing after the old troupe leader died, as if they were avoiding him.

This is most likely because if the so-called Edo boy committed the crime.

If the old director of the theater troupe were still alive, he would be able to tell at a glance who this so-called Edo boy really is, right?

"The Edo boy steals from various places while traveling with a period drama troupe."

"By eliminating those deceptions and relying on the conclusions of Detective Conan, we can basically confirm that Edo Kid is among the remaining members of the traveling theater troupe. Compared to the others who have alibis for the performances, Kenzo Tajima is the most suspicious."

Chen En analyzed in his mind.

He pushed open the door, passed behind Chikaishi Tetsufu who was engrossed in typing and hadn't heard anything else, placed a locator, closed the door, and headed to the backstage lounge without looking back.

Until the door closed, a gentle breeze blew in.