Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

But the moment Ai Haibara pushed open the door, the reporters waiting outside immediately unleashed another barrage of flashes, forcing the two of them to retreat again.

"This is really troublesome."

Sano watched Conan complain, then turned his gaze to an old man with slicked-back hair at the other end.

...Although there is no evidence, judging from the angle of the flame that shot out when the lights went out in the hall, the shot should have been fired by this old man.

To put it more bluntly, this person should be his teammate, Pisco.

...They even take in an old man like that? Is the organization really that short of people?

Sano waited quietly for a while longer. After examining the scene and questioning several suspects, Inspector Megure, who still couldn't find a clue, could no longer control the situation and left the hall with the flow of people.

Meanwhile, Conan, who had just picked up a purple handkerchief when the chandelier fell and suspected it might be related to Pisco's murder methods, was checking the guest registration records at the front desk when he turned around and found that Ai Haibara was no longer there.

Damn it, could it be that Pisco found out and took him away?

Seeing that the guests were about to leave, Conan didn't have time to think. He could only call Inspector Megure again and tell him to intercept all seven guests who had received the purple handkerchiefs.

Conan then rushed out of the Beika Hotel, got into Professor Agasa's car, and tried to contact Ai Haibara using the glasses he had given her.

...While Conan was urgently contacting Ai Haibara, Sano was watching Pisco lock the fake loli he had drugged in a room.

Unlike Conan, that silly boy, Sano certainly noticed that Ai Haibara had been kidnapped.

Pisco, did he really discover that Ai Haibara is a shrunken Shiho Miyano? I wonder what kind of trouble he'll cause next.

Sano glanced at Pisco, who had left after locking up Ai Haibara for some unknown reason, and intended to continue his observation strategy by staying near Ai Haibara.

Unexpectedly, Gin called Sano the next second.

"Find a chance to get rid of Pisco. I'll send you his photo to your email."

...So we have to deal with this again?

What happened to the high-ranking cadres with special status?

...Oh, Gin doesn't seem to have said that; it's all just his imagination.

Even so, Sano was stunned for a while by this instruction.

Although Sano had long suspected that Pisco might have an accident today, who could have imagined that he would be the one to end the accident?

While pondering, Sano didn't forget to verbally respond to Gin: "Hmm... it's that, Kenzo Masuyama?"

Since he already had suspicions about Pisco, Sano had naturally inquired about his identity.

Kenzo Masuyama is the chairman of a large automobile company and holds a high social position.

When Sano directly revealed Pisco's real name, Gin fell silent for a moment, but did not show much surprise.

After all, Sano himself is also a high school detective.

...Although Gin seriously suspects that this kid often gets something for nothing, and that this setting might be a bit exaggerated and unrealistic, he should still have some substance.

After humming in affirmation, Gin indicated that he would arrive shortly, while Sano would act according to the situation: if he could eliminate Pisco, he would; if not, he would wait quietly—because the premise of silencing him was not to cause too much of a commotion before Gin arrived.

"But speaking of which, didn't you say before that I didn't need to do anything and that I just needed to attend a banquet?"

Hearing Sano's somewhat teasing voice on the phone, Gin, who was driving, had a row of dots appear on his head.

...I always felt that although Sano's words sounded like a joke, there was something else hidden behind them.

"Speak your mind."

Gin, too lazy to guess Sano's thoughts, chose to get straight to the point.

Upon hearing that Gin had taken the bait, Sano couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth into a smile: "We'll have to... raise the stakes."

"...If completed, it will be considered a new task."

"Alright, you can leave it to me without worry."

Sano happily agreed, successfully getting a new sales record for free.

But at the end of the call, Sano had a feeling that Gin was holding back something.

However, since Gin didn't want to say, Sano didn't bother to ask.

Sano originally thought that the most likely danger factor for Shiho Miyano would be that Pisco.

Chapter 231, page 230: Quite ugly, but with pretty dreams.

But now that Gin has sent Sano to silence Pisco...

Then the risk factor should be other people.

Gin, or Vermouth?

It couldn't possibly be Pisco, could it?

If Sano had eliminated this danger before Shiho Miyano appeared, could the mission still be considered complete?

...Wait a minute, there seems to be a problem with the requirement Gin gave in his order to silence Pisco.

We can't make too much of a fuss before Gin arrives.

Gin, who wasn't originally planning to come, came to Beika Restaurant because of Ai Haibara... or rather, Shiho Miyano or Sherry would most likely be coming too.

But now that Senator Tokuguchi is dead, from Gin's perspective—even if Shiho Miyano really came to Beika Hotel, he would probably have left by now.

Why did Gin come here?

Unwilling to give up, unwilling to abandon even the slightest hope?

Unlikely.

The fact that he doesn't allow any noise means that Gin has come here because he has something important to do and doesn't want to be interfered with.

There was only one answer Sano could think of: Pisco had already reported to Gin about capturing Ai Haibara, or rather, Sherry.

That's why Gin would still come to Beika Restaurant under such circumstances.

And looking at it this way, the dangerous factor is indeed Gin.

That makes sense, after all, this is the villainous mini-boss who directly caused Conan to shrink and indirectly caused Ai Haibara to shrink.

After rubbing his fingers together and roughly sorting out his thoughts, Sano chose to temporarily withdraw from Ai Haibara's side.

Anyway, Gin hasn't arrived yet, and there's still some time left in the mission. Most importantly, Ai Haibara hasn't turned into Shiho Miyano, so there's no need to rush.

Go and do what you can first.

However, when Sano arrived at the entrance of Beika Hotel, he discovered that Pisco had already been stopped by the police.

In addition to Pisco, six other people, including Vermouth, were also stopped.

...It's probably Conan's doing.

I don't know what clues the expert discovered.

However, for Sano, this is both a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing is that it saves Sano the trouble of wasting his energy looking for someone.

The bad thing is that under these conditions, it's not convenient for Sano to take action.

Although Gin said that if things really didn't work out, they could postpone the silencing and wait for him to arrive so he could handle it himself, if that were the case, the credit for the silencing mission probably wouldn't go to Sano.

Sano pondered for two seconds, switched back to his original vest, modified his clothes, took off his passerby hat, and walked towards Inspector Megure.

"Ok?"

Upon noticing Sano, Inspector Megure was initially taken aback, but then overjoyed: "Oh, Sano, you're here too! That's wonderful!"

"Where is it good?"

Sano instinctively asked.

"where……"

Inspector Megure choked for a moment. The good thing was that Sano's appearance meant he could leave work early... cough, no, it should be that this troublesome case could be resolved as soon as possible.

Shigehiko Toguchi was, after all, a member of parliament, and given the recent bribery scandal, he has attracted a great deal of public attention. Now that he is dead, if the truth cannot be found, it will naturally be a big problem.

...But the idea that the police can't do something and need to ask a detective for help is something that people might know in private, but they would never say it out loud.

As a member of the police force, Inspector Megure still has a sense of shame.

After coughing, Inspector Megure pulled Sano aside to whisper to him.

Sano's peripheral vision lingered on Pisco and Vermouth.

The two of them also noticed Sano.

For some reason, Pisco showed an expression as if he had seen a ghost when he saw Sano, and even Vermouth's expression looked unusually strange.

what's the situation.

Have these two people seen me before?

That shouldn't be the case. I don't think I've ever appeared in front of Vermouth in my true form, let alone in front of Pisco outside of that.

His photo has not appeared in any of the current newspaper reports related to Sano.

...Just now, when Inspector Megure saw Sano, he called out "Brother Sano." For someone with good connections, it's not surprising that he guessed that he was Shinichiro Sano.

But is it really necessary to make such a fuss just because you know his public identity?

Sano snapped out of his daze, looked at Inspector Megure who was rambling on about the situation but whose explanations were unclear, and lit a cigarette.

"Enough with the nonsense, he's the one who killed Senator Tunkou."

With Sano's undisguised voice and his finger pointing at Pisco, everyone present was taken aback.

Pisco himself, who was being pointed at by Sano, was completely dumbfounded.

What the heck? How did I get exposed?

"That guy dyed the light chain with something that would glow in the dark. It would light up when the lights were off, so all he had to do was lure the swallower under the light and then fire to make sure it was smashed to death."

Before Inspector Megure could speak, Sano explained the situation first: "If you don't believe me, you can search him. The gun should still be there."

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Pisco was so shocked that he dropped the cigarette he was holding, but he still tried to remain calm: "This is a society governed by law. I have my personal rights. How can they search me just because of this kid's words? This violates my right to privacy!"