Phantom Thief of Heart!but conan

Chapter 922 Mizunashi Reina: It’s over, it’s all over

"The ski resort in Gunma Prefecture is where you first met. Oh, that's possible..."

While driving on the road, Kogoro Maori glanced at the man who was fidgeting in the passenger seat, nodded, and said nothing.

Because of that conversation in the office, the nature of this trip has subtly changed.

They went to the ski resort not to look for Sankaku Atsushi's missing girlfriend, but to verify whether Goro Akechi's guess was true or false, or to prove Sankaku Atsushi's innocence.

But Kogoro Mori is not very confident about this.

"You two met in this mountain next to the ski resort?" Looking at the trees on both sides of the road, Maori Kogoro frowned strangely, "Well, it's really fate."

Meeting at a ski resort, that would be a bit romantic, but meeting in the deep mountains, that's...

"Yes, yes... Oh, sorry, it's a bit cold." Sankaku Atsushi had been rubbing his hands nervously. When he found that Maori Kogoro noticed his movements, he immediately seemed to be lost in memory and began to describe the process of meeting his girlfriend. "That day was also a heavy snowy day like today. She came to the ski resort to ski with her three friends."

"Then, you accidentally ran into the mountains over here?"

"Ah, it was to take a shortcut. They were at the top of the slope, and one of them was feeling unwell and didn't dare to slide to the bottom of the slope, so she wanted to pass through here and go directly back to where she lived. As a result, their rental car suddenly stalled due to heavy snow. My car happened to pass by there..."

"A hero saves the beauty? Sounds good." Kogoro Mori nodded lightly, without further comment on the story he described.

If he hadn't come to the office to look for someone, he and his girlfriend would have been a very normal couple.

But after Mingzhi's almost provocative reasoning, the story is shrouded in a gloomy hue.

Thinking of this, Kogoro Mouri raised his head and glanced at the people in the back row through the rearview mirror.

Perhaps because of the quarrel that just happened in the office, Goro Akechi was tactful enough not to sit forward, but sat in the last row of the SUV, next to Hondou Eisuke who insisted on squeezing in together.

The mountains and forests outside were covered in white due to the heavy snow. The warm air inside the car condensed into mist on the windows. Looking out of the windows, almost nothing could be seen.

Tang Ze withdrew his gaze from the window and looked in the direction of Hondou Eisuke, meeting his gaze and smiling gently: "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with me? You seem to be staring at me all the time."

"No, no, no..." Hondou Eisuke shook his head quickly, "I just didn't expect it. I've only been in Tokyo for two days, and I can see two famous detectives at the same time. It's really amazing. Although I am a fan of Mr. Mori, I also watch the program you participated in. I think it's really amazing that there is such a great detective among my peers. I admire him very much..."

"So, you are a detective enthusiast." Tang Ze smiled with narrowed eyes, and took the initiative to point to the mobile phone he had been holding in his hand: "Do you want to take a photo?"

"Oh, is that okay? Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?"

"Of course. Maybe it's because I'm on TV so often, people who recognize me always ask for this, and I'm used to it."

"Okay, okay..."

Tang Ze took his phone with a smile, looked at the camera, raised his hand and put his arm around his shoulders, looked at his own friendly smile on the screen, and pressed the shutter.

"It's a pretty good photo." Tang Ze looked at the photo and took the initiative to suggest, "Do you mind posting a copy on the social platform? I think I can repost it on my account."

As Goro Akechi, he is very professional in business. In addition to some daily content on his social account, he also posts some interactions with fans from time to time. Sometimes he also posts photos with clients and other detectives to emphasize that he is not actually an artist.

Hondou Eisuke, who was still observing him, would not refuse. While watching Tang Ze skillfully fiddling with the account and typing the content, he whispered, "I see you often participate in Nichimi TV programs."

"Yes. I have a long-term contract with Nichimi and the cooperation is quite pleasant." After processing the photos and clicking send, Tang Ze watched the loading progress bar.

"Wouldn't that mean I could get to know a lot of celebrities? That would be great..." Hondou Eisuke nodded, as if he was really expressing his feelings.

"Indeed, sometimes variety shows will invite some popular artists to be guests to add to the highlights and increase ratings. For example, Ms. Okino Yoko, she also has a long-term MC job in a Japanese TV series, and you will meet her once or twice a week." After sending the content, Tang Ze handed his phone back and suddenly said, "Speaking of this, you look a bit like that famous host, Ms. Mizunashi Reina. I happened to participate in her program a few days ago."

"Oh, I know. It's the program that unites multiple detectives to uncover wrongful convictions, right? It's very exciting..." Hondou Eisuke smiled and pointed at his face. "Indeed, people often say that. But I'm the only son in the family."

"That's it... um..."

Tang Ze nodded, took out his mobile phone, found Hondou Eisuke's account, and forwarded his photo.

One kilometer away, Rena Mizunoshi, who was feeling uneasy, suddenly felt the notification tone of her mobile phone and quickly lowered her head.

It was her SNS that sent the new message notification.

This was a small account she registered specifically to keep an eye on topics she needed. Kumail's apparent identity was such a famous star detective, so she naturally couldn't miss the opportunity to keep an eye on his movements.

...I kind of regretted following it after I started. It's so noisy. In many cases, like now, it can scare people out of the blue.

Seriously, didn't Gin and the others say that Kumail has a busy schedule now? Why does Kumail, who is so busy, still have time to post several updates on SNS every day and interact with fans? Should we praise him for his dedication?
Her desire to complain completely disappeared when she saw the photo. In an instant, her fingers tightened so much that she almost deformed the phone.

Kumail didn't send anything new this time, he just forwarded a photo from an account.

In the photo, Hondou Eisuke, wearing big round glasses, is leaning head against him and smiling at the camera.

Kumail's hands, which had touched countless guns before, rested lightly on Hondou Eisuke's shoulders, with his fingertips almost pressing on his carotid artery. The gentle smile on his face looked strange and unusual in Mizunashi Rena's eyes.

After looking at the text he sent again, Rena Mizunashi's expression became even more tense.

[I met a friend who looks a lot like Ms. Mizuno. They do look a bit alike, right? ]

Kumail... Is this a warning or a test...

Having completed the frightening target, Tang Ze sat up straight, looked at the snow scene outside the window again, and silently evaluated it in his mind.

The situations of Rena Mizunoshi and Shuichi Akai are different. Compared to Shuichi Akai, whose motivation for being an undercover agent is to find his family, she is a disconnected undercover agent who has struggled to survive in the organization until today. Her driving force is completely opposite to his, which is the death of her family.

So, when her loved ones are about to face a threat, which direction will she choose?
Tang Ze narrowed his eyes and smiled expectantly.

----

"That's my car!" After driving hard in the snowy woods for nearly half an hour, Sanjiaodu suddenly pointed at the tree in front and shouted loudly.

"Well, it's really here... So, you don't have to hire a detective. No detective can understand you better than your lover..."

Kogoro Mouri said this, but he opened the child lock on the passenger side without hesitation to prevent Sankaku Atsushi from jumping out of the car under the pretext of being emotional.

Although he has never explicitly expressed his support for Goro Akechi's judgment, as a detective for many years, he has his own criteria for judging whether a person has committed a crime or not.

Now Sanjiaodu is nominally his client, but in fact he is half a suspect. Naturally, he has to take the responsibility of guarding him so as not to increase the difficulty of subsequent investigations.

To put it simply, I was afraid that he would run away.

"I, I was just in a hurry..." Perhaps remembering what Akechi Goro said, Sankaku Atsushi's face froze, and he added hastily, "After all, the document is important, and she is important too..."

Even as he said this, his hands clenched involuntarily.

This is the most important part of his plan, success or failure depends on it.

He glanced with some fear at Akechi Goro who was chatting and laughing with a few students in the back seat. Almost at the moment when Mori Kogoro parked the car and opened the door lock, Sankaku Atsushi jumped into the soft snow and staggered forward.

After opening the door, Ran Mouri and Conan looked at his back with scrutiny.

Without considering the possible suspicion on him, he really looked like an eager partner, but with those wise words, his behavior looked like an eager murderer...

"Anshi, Anshi!" He rushed to the car window covered by snow and knocked on it hard a few times.

A thick layer of snow fell, and the scene inside the car came into view.

A short-haired woman was sitting in the driver's seat with her head tilted. From her posture, it seemed that she was completely unconscious.

Conan walked over quickly and noticed the strangeness of the scene at a glance.

Without the obstruction of the snow, the woman's lowered face had a strange pink color, which seemed to be particularly rosy, but with a bluish-white luster diffused in it.

Even stranger than that, was the glass on both sides.

The broken pieces of tape of different sizes were densely covered on the edges of the glass.

On the passenger seat, there was a charcoal basin that had been extinguished, with only a few pieces of ashes left in the coal...

There's almost no need for a second look, this scene is the most standard example of charcoal-burning suicide.

Kogoro Mori's eyebrows raised for a moment.

Sanjiaodu was still banging on the glass and calling the woman's name, but when he tried to take the key from his pocket to open the car door, he was immediately stopped by two arms on the left and right.

"She's dead, Mr. Sanjiao." Tang Ze spoke first and gave a straightforward conclusion, "Please accept my condolences."

Although he was announcing the result to the victim's family, his expression did not seem to mean that at all. His eyes were sharp and cold, as if he was telling him bluntly, "No need to be so hypocritical."

His attitude was sharp enough, and even his steps stopped when he made a sharp move. However, Kogoro Mouri, who seemed to have little nerve in this regard, had an expression that was even more severe than his.

"Don't destroy the scene." Maori Kogoro's eyes were bright and angry, and a faint flame-like emotion spread in his pupils. "Don't get close to the vehicle. Mr. Sankaku Atsushi, you are the last person who saw her alive. It is indeed a bit offensive to say this, but... now, you are the most suspicious person."

"I, I..." He never expected that the first step after arriving at the scene would be to be rejected by the two detectives one after another. In the cold wind and snow, Sanjiaodu felt himself sweating all over in an instant.

He turned his head and looked at the scene which he had carefully arranged and disguised. He only needed to rush in to save people to achieve his goal. He let out an almost grief-stricken wail.

"What do you mean?! Impossible, you are lying, An Shi is not dead yet, she is not dead yet! She can still be saved..."

Seeing that he seemed to want to take the opportunity to get closer, Tang Ze reached out and pinched his shoulder.

A hand like an iron clamp grabbed his shoulder, and Sanjiaodu was instantly unable to move. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't get free.

"Give me the keys." Kogoro Mouri took the car keys that he was holding tightly in his hands and tried them from the passenger side first.

The key opened the lock without any hindrance, but the tape behind it seemed to be stuck very tightly, and he couldn't pull it open even with great effort.

"Xiaolan, you come and try it."

After staring blankly for a while, Mao Lilan came to her senses and hurried forward to help.

After another effort, the car door still didn't move.

"It should be because of the air pressure." Conan held onto the edge of the car window and looked inside, guessing, "The tape is too tight and the seal is too good, so it will be difficult to open it for a while..."

As he spoke, his brows couldn't help but furrowed.

This means that it is difficult to open the door directly. It is almost impossible to open the door without causing any damage to the scene.

"Try from the other side." Tang Ze, who had been holding the triangle stick like a prison guard, suddenly spoke.

Kogoro Mori frowned, but soon realized what he meant. He glanced at Sankaku Atsushi and turned towards the driver's seat.

For the purpose of rescue, the person opening the door will instinctively avoid the side where the victim is. It must be said that the idea of ​​Triangle Du is feasible to a certain extent.

This time, the door was still tightly closed, but after Mao Lilan came up to help, it opened almost immediately.

The woman's stiff body slid down, but was quickly caught by Kogoro Mouri and slowly put back in place.

"Your plan doesn't work, Mr. Sanjiao." Tang Ze patted the almost collapsed man under his hand sympathetically, and pressed him deeper into the snow.

(End of this chapter)