Ke Xue: I have a knife, and you still dare to fight me?

Xiaolan glanced at the visitor guide in her hand, then at the "No Entry" sign in front of her, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Kogoro Mouri said nonchalantly, "Never mind, let's go somewhere else."

Kurokawa Saki narrowed his eyes, his powerful senses alerting him as he detected a faint smell of blood.

"Conan, would you like to go inside and take a look? I think you'd be interested."

With his hands behind his head and feeling utterly bored, Conan heard Kurokawasaki's question but didn't understand what he meant. He just assumed that Kurokawasaki was teasing him like a brat.

Conan chuckled dryly, "There's a sign here saying 'No Entry,' we can't just go in like that."

"I smell blood inside, and it's very fresh..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Conan's detective instincts were ignited, and he rushed in without saying a word.

"Are you serious? I can't smell anything... Hey, kid!" Kogoro Mouri saw Conan run straight in and quickly followed.

Xiao Lan was a little dumbfounded.

"Let's go too."

Ignoring the "No Entry" sign, Kurokawasaki Tsuki led them straight inside.

Once inside, Conan also smelled the stench of blood.

Then Conan's pupils contracted, and the scene before him made him gasp. He saw Mr. Manaka pinned to the wall by a sword, the wall behind him stained crimson with blood, and Mr. Manaka was practically covered in blood.

"Call the police!" Conan shouted.

Even Kogoro Mouri, who was a step behind, couldn't help but gape at the horrific scene.

Kurokawasaki Tsuki and Ran arrived last, but he was already prepared. The moment he saw the body, he covered Ran's eyes behind him.

"Little Mori, I don't think you'd want to watch this."

Xiaolan swallowed hard, her body trembling slightly. The pungent smell of blood that kept filling her nostrils made her realize how horrific the scene before her was.

Kurokawa Tsuki glanced at a huge painting beside him called "Divine Punishment," which depicted a knight pinning a demon to death with his sword.

Is this execution of the boss, Shinaka, as if he were a demon? ...The fanatical citizens of Beika are truly not to be underestimated.

Kurokawa Saki silently comforted Ran, giving her psychological support, while his gaze intentionally or unintentionally drifted towards Conan, who was observing the scene not far away.

He doesn't even keep an eye on his girlfriend.

After a long while, Xiaolan finally let Kurokawasaki Yue let go of her hand.

Then, seeing the dead look on Boss Manaka's face, Ran couldn't help but scream.

Soon, the police arrived. It was Inspector Megure, an old friend. The first thing Inspector Megure said upon seeing Kogoro Mouri was, "What, it's you again?"

Chapter Thirty-Three: Brother Kurokawa

Director Ochiai and others were also brought in by the police for questioning.

However, Director Ochiai looked somewhat tired at this moment, and Kurokawa Sakizuki's eyes narrowed slightly.

"So, has anyone seen the prisoner?"

Inspector Megure looked at Director Ochiai and the others and asked them questions.

"It's been confirmed, but it seems no one has seen it."

Director Ochiai replied, and at that moment, Iijima stepped forward and pointed to the surveillance camera not far away.

"Perhaps the security camera should have captured it."

The police immediately retrieved the surveillance footage.

The surveillance footage was quickly presented to everyone.

"It's on camera. This criminal is such an idiot, he didn't even know he was being filmed." Kogoro Mouri sat on a chair nearby, watching the surveillance footage and complaining.

The boss, Zhenzhong, appears in the scene, standing with his back to a suit of armor, glancing impatiently at his watch.

Then, something completely unexpected happened. Suddenly, the armor behind Boss Shinaka burst open, and he slashed down hard at him with the sword in his hand, splattering crimson blood everywhere.

Having been struck in the back by a sword, Boss Zhenzhong could no longer stand. After a brief pause, the armored figure turned around and delivered two clean and swift sword strikes, finishing Boss Zhenzhong off.

It seems the killer was hiding under the armor.

Inspector Megure pressed pause, and the final image froze on Boss Manaka pinned to the wall, his back to him in blood-soaked armor.

Kurokawa Saki said calmly, "This composition is exactly the same as this painting, 'Divine Punishment.' It seems that the culprit chose this method of committing the crime because he was imitating this painting."

"Brother Kurokawa, so you're here too." Inspector Megure remembered Kurokawa Saki, who had helped him catch the Italian bandit gang and decipher the code to retrieve the gold coins. He greatly admired Kurokawa's skills and wisdom, so he immediately recognized him as his younger brother.

However, Kurokawa Saki had no intention of becoming his assistant in solving cases, so he simply nodded slightly in greeting.

Conan and Kogoro Mouri also noticed the painting hanging in front of the deceased, and it was indeed exactly the same.

Inspector Megure said, "The criminal is quite bold; his attire makes him too easy to spot."

Xiaolan chimed in, "That's probably why they put up a 'No Entry' sign at the entrance."

Inspector Megure scratched his head: "Huh? So this was already there? I thought you guys put it there." Then he deduced that the criminals put up the sign to separate the visitors before sneaking into the exhibition hall, luring Mr. Manaka there, and then killing him.

“Then the culprit must be very familiar with the structure of the art museum, so the culprit is among you.” Kogoro Mori glanced at the group of art museum staff led by Director Ochiai.

While Kurokawa Saki was still watching the show, he suddenly felt his trouser leg being tugged. It was Conan.

"what?"

"Brother Kurokawa, could you help me rewind the surveillance footage and take a look?"

Kurokawasaki Tsuki rewound the video and casually pulled up his trouser leg.

Conan stared intently at the recording, then pointed at the screen: "Look here, Kurokawa-san."

His shout also drew the attention of Kogoro Mouri and Inspector Megure.

In the scene, during the brief interval between the first stabs, Boss Manaka grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the table next to him and wrote something. Then he threw the pen away, and the others watched as Boss Manaka was killed again.

Kurokawasaki Tsuki keenly noticed that the first thing Boss Manaka did when he received the paper was to be shocked. After writing something on the paper, he angrily threw the pen away.

"What did he write? Is that piece of paper still in Mr. Manaka's hands?" Inspector Megure instructed the officer next to him to go and check.

The note was quickly delivered to Inspector Megure, who unfolded it and saw that Kubota's name was written on it.

"Kubota?"

Kurokawa Tsukiya glanced at the note in Inspector Megure's hand. It happened to be slightly reflective, making him notice the scratches on the note. He was all too familiar with the marks left by a pen running out of ink. He stroked his chin, and his thoughts suddenly became clear.

Kubota never expected to get caught up in this mess. "Why are you calling my name?"

"Please tell me why Mr. Manaka wrote your name before he died."

"I...I don't know. I didn't kill Mr. Manaka," Kubota stammered in his defense.

"Then please tell me where you were when Mr. Manaka was murdered?"

"I completed the tasks assigned by the curator in the office. You can ask the curator if you don't believe me."

“I did assign him tasks,” Director Ochiai said.

"So, that means no one saw you at all?"

Kubota waved his hands repeatedly, "It really wasn't me, and I had no motive to kill Mr. Manaka. I'm innocent."

"Don't try to deny it, Kubota. You secretly took the artworks here and sold them, and the owner is demanding huge compensation from you, isn't that right?" Iijima exposed Kubota's crimes, and now she had a motive.

While they were still arguing, Kurokawa Tsuki arrived at the place where Boss Manaka was murdered, and soon he found the ballpoint pen that Boss Manaka had discarded.

He took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wrapped the pen in it, and picked it up.

"Kurokawa-kun, what did you find?" Conan appeared next to him without him noticing.

"I found the ballpoint pen that Mr. Manaka lost, Conan, what do you think?"

Conan rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought: "There are many suspicious points in this case. I think there is another culprit, but I haven't figured it out yet."

"You're too slow, Kudo-kun."

"Huh? Has Kurokawa already found the culprit?" Conan was somewhat surprised by Kurokawa's speed.

Kurokawa Saki smiled slightly: "Guess."

Conan's forehead creased with a black line.

At that moment, two police officers returned carrying a large bag containing a bloodstained suit of armor.

"Officer, this was found in Mr. Kubota's cabinet."

Kubota was dumbfounded; what kind of thing was that they found in my cabinet?

He was so anxious he was almost crying: "How could this be? I really don't know anything!"

Inspector Megure glanced at the armor and said to Kubota, "With two irrefutable pieces of evidence right in front of you, are you still not going to plead guilty?"

"Inspector Megure." Seeing that Kubota was about to cry, Kurosaki Tsuki finally spoke calmly.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Kurokawa-kun?"

Director Ochiai's cloudy eyes also looked at Kurokawa Sakizuki.

"The culprit is not Mr. Kubota."

"Huh? Why?"

"Although Mr. Manaka's death was gruesome, none of the artworks here have been damaged. If I'm not mistaken, this armor used to kill is just a replica."

“Ah, that’s right. It’s just a decorative replica. Mr. Kubota moved it in during the day,” Iijima explained.

“So we can infer that the culprit is someone who cherishes art, but as far as I know, Mr. Kubota is clearly not that kind of person.” Kurokawa Saki looked at Director Ochiai, and their eyes met.

Conan couldn't help but look at Director Ochiai after hearing Kurokawasaki's analysis.

"Then, Kurokawa, why is Mr. Kubota's name written on the note?" Inspector Megure asked.

"That was just a trick the criminal used to frame Mr. Kubota," Kurosaki Tsuki said, showing everyone the ballpoint pen hidden in his handkerchief.

"This is the ballpoint pen that Mr. Manaka just found, but the nib is tucked in. I don't think anyone would have the mind to tuck the nib in before they die."

"Also, Inspector Megure might want to look at that note from different angles, and you'll find scribbled marks on it."

Upon hearing this, Inspector Megure took out the note and read it. "It's actually true."

"Also, when I reviewed the video just now, I noticed that Mr. Manaka's expression was a bit off. I think Mr. Kubota's name was originally written on the paper, and Mr. Manaka's real intention was to pick up the pen and cross out Mr. Kubota's name. However, it was a pen that could only write but not write. The prisoner clearly knew that there was surveillance here, so he did this on purpose to leave the footage of Mr. Manaka writing the prisoner's name."

Kurokawasaki Tsuki stroked his chin and continued, "But the ballpoint pen in my hand is a pen that produces ink smoothly, so it must have been replaced by the culprit later."

"The perpetrator went to such great lengths to plan this murder scene that I guess he would remove the 'No Entry' sign at the entrance after dealing with all the evidence, allowing the world to witness it. However, he didn't expect to be discovered in advance, so he dealt with it hastily. He probably even left the replacement ballpoint pen on his person. Therefore, a simple body search should reveal the truth."

Director Ochiai's pupils constricted sharply after hearing Kurokawasaki Tsuki's reasoning.

Inspector Megure also thought his reasoning made sense and immediately prepared to order a body search.

Director Ochiai sighed and stepped forward, saying, "No need, officer. I am the culprit. This gentleman is right." He then took out the ballpoint pen that Kurokawa Saki had mentioned, which was out of ink, from his pocket.

“All of this was meticulously planned by me, and I even rehearsed it here several times.”

Kogoro Mouri also realized: "So the moving armor that the security guards saw was you?"

Director Ochiai looked up at the sky: "Perhaps you think I'm stupid, but all of this is to get rid of Boss Manaka. He's too selfish and wants to destroy this sacred art museum, so I have to get rid of this devil. He can't take away my precious artworks, which are like my own children."

After saying that, Curator Ochiai lowered his head and chuckled softly: "Although the demon was killed by the righteous knight, the knight was also baptized by the demon's evil blood, which means that he himself was also corrupted by the demon, just like I am a murderer now..."

Director Ochiai stretched out his hands, looked at Kurokawasaki Tsuki, and then calmly accepted the judgment of justice.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Heading to Moonshadow Island

It was already evening when I walked out of the art museum after solving the case.

Conan was a little dejected, as Kawasaki Tsuki had once again beaten him to the punch by finding the culprit.

Seriously, this guy is already incredibly skilled, and his reasoning ability is just as strong. This is just too unfair.

Conan sighed again. There was nothing he could do but endure it because he was not as skilled as his opponent. But next time, he would definitely be the first to deduce the truth. Kurokawa-san, just you wait!

He silently comforted himself.

Kurokawa Saki had no idea what Conan was thinking. Humming a little tune, she retrieved her car and drove Kogoro Mouri and the others home. She even got to eat dinner cooked by Ran, which was all home-style dishes but surprisingly delicious. She wondered who Ran inherited her cooking talent from, but it certainly wasn't Eri Kisaki.

Kogoro Mouri finally had the chance to taste the shochu that Kurokawasaki had brought him that morning. Kurokawasaki declined his invitation to have a few drinks with him, citing that he was driving, and thus witnessed Kogoro Mouri's feat of finishing a whole bottle of shochu by himself...