Protect our prophets

The high school student detective "Kudo Shinichi" stands beside the "corpse" with a calm demeanor, showing the pose of a thinker.

Even if he's not a real detective, he still can't figure out why so much ketchup is used as a prop when it's poisoning food.

Generally speaking, the poison enters the blood circulation through the respiratory system, paralyzes the nerves, or destroys the function of the kidneys, causing heart and lung failure, and finally causes people to suffocate to death.If you vomit blood, it is often due to internal organ rupture, which is actually relatively rare.

In other words, to create the effect of being poisoned, wouldn't it be good to just paint the lips with blue and purple?

Kaito looked at the male master beside him from the corner of his eye.Judging from Katori Masaburo's slightly stiff expression, this stage effect is purely the actor's own play.

Alas, it's not reliable.

He symbolically checks the representation status of the "corpse", then gets up to examine the "evidence" on the dining table.

The actors have already begun their performance, chirping.

The heroine Sayuri Mifune choked with sobs and fell down on a chair. The artist Ms. Kurihara held her hand sympathetically and comforted her in a low voice.

Not far away, as an invited "neighbor", Otsuka Hideko fiddled with her hair accessories slowly, crossed her legs, and smiled mockingly when she saw the two women clinging tightly to each other.

Mrs. Katori was busy telling the butler to clean up the scene, but she didn't seem to remember the script very well, and almost asked the servant to take away the teacup Uesugi had drunk.

Shinsaburo Katori stopped her helplessly: "Jingzi, go and sit over there for a while, and let Sister Feng accompany you."

Katori Shizuko was helped to the empty table on the other side, and was immediately surrounded by other players, asking for their health.

She twisted her fingers in a little bewilderment, trying to recall the lines, and answered very cautiously.

"I don't know... the tea was brought by the butler?"

"Well, I chose it, because Mr. Xiuzao has always liked to drink Indian tea, and Shinzaburo also confirmed it with me, can't I remember wrong?"

The housekeeper and maid who were responsible for the arrangement of the tea party were also answering everyone's questions.

When was the snack prepared, which was sweetened, what flavors the deceased preferred, etc.

The garden was very lively, and there were people walking around.

Others went directly to the "corpse" and tried to explore Uesugi's pockets to find clues about gems.Kaito coughed dryly and backed away a few steps to make room for them.

"Be careful not to damage the scene..." His reminder seemed so feeble.

At this time, the real detectives are still drinking tea and eating sandwiches, as stable as Mount Tai.

Only Inspector Hakuba didn't know Kaito's true identity, holding a teacup, staring intently at the young man's back, deeply admiring: "As expected of Kudo-kun, so dedicated..."

Conan: "Hehe."

Atobe and Hakuba were in a good mood after happily exchanging their experience of British afternoon tea. When they turned their heads, Matsuyuki went too far, leaning on the back of the chair with his chin propped up, drowsy.

"Call me when you're done." She said briefly and closed her eyes.

After going back in the morning, in order to seize the time to catch up on sleep, she only had time to change into clean clothes, her hair was messed up and didn't bother to wash it, even now a leaf was caught.

Red and green, very... eye-catching.

Atobe helped her take off the leaf in disbelief, couldn't help frowning, and said slightly disgusted: "Go back to sleep in the room."

"No way," Songxue replied vaguely with her eyes closed, "Anyway, the case will be solved soon."

"...?"

So fast?

Atobe was slightly surprised, he seemed not familiar enough with the professional ability of detectives.

Of course, he is not a professional after all, so he calmly faced up to his identity as an ordinary player, and asked, "So who is the murderer?—Where are the gems?"

"The gem is indeed not on Uesugi Tsuzo's body," Conan held his chin, "it should have been transferred overnight. Last night, the actors seemed to be very busy."

When Kaito finally came back to them, he just heard this and interjected, "No, do you know what Ms. Kurihara is doing? She stayed in the studio all night, drawing with the lights on all night..."

Conan gave him a cold look.

"Brother Xinyi knows it very well. It's hard not to sleep all night, right? How about it, have you found the gem yet?"

"Also—" Kaito was about to answer, when he saw the white horse's suspicious gaze, he paused, and swallowed his original words, "That's not counting, I just have a few doubts that I want to clarify, how much It took some time."

He glanced at Songxue vaguely, then retracted his gaze with a little guilt, coughed dryly, and tried to change the subject: "In short, based on the testimony of the housekeeper and Mrs. Katori, combined with the signs at the scene, the 'murderer' should be—"

"Himself."

"It's Mr. Uesugi."

"Made by Uesugi."

Several people said the same name almost at the same time, and looked at each other tacitly, but Atobe couldn't help being stunned.

"suicide?"

"Of course not," Hakuba shook his head. "Actually, this is an interesting technique. I think it was carefully designed by Mr. Katori."

Kaito cleared his throat: "The plot revolves around the protagonist's emotional relationship, so the most likely conflict is the married male and female protagonists. In contrast, although an artist is a mistress, he is more ambitious , in the character setting, once refused to associate with the male protagonist, and only agreed to maintain a vague extramarital relationship with him.

"And the hero's first love is even a big star. He once chose to break up with the hero for his career. Now even if he wants to restore his relationship with the hero, he can't easily abandon the reputation and status he earned, let alone go to jail for him. .

"If it's the same as in the novel, the heroine catches her husband having an affair with a big star, and in a fit of rage shoots—kills him—and the two methods of shooting and poisoning are very different."

"Shooting may be a passion to kill." Conan took the words, "but poisoning, from preparation to implementation, there is sufficient time for premeditation, and it is usually a decision after careful consideration. At least, it is not likely to be decided overnight. Well, there should be a motive for killing earlier."

However, the "male protagonist"'s promiscuous affairs were very subtle, and it was not until the "first love" suddenly visited the fantasy house that the "wife" discovered it by accident.

This is probably the misleading clue set by Shinsaburo Katori.

Atobe nodded thoughtfully: "So, if the 'murderer' is his wife, he would not choose to poison her."

Kaito continued to play Detective Kudo vividly: "The butler said that Mr. Uesugi doesn't like sweets, so the desserts on the table have hardly been touched. The Katori couple confirmed that he likes to drink Indian tea, usually with milk. His The wife is more casual, adding milk and sugar depends on her mood.

"We assumed from this that Uesugi was tired of his weak wife. He was accompanied by his confidante and reunited with his first love. The wife was an obstacle to him, and he wanted to get rid of her even more. Until today, he finally found the opportunity to take advantage of Others didn’t pay attention, they added poison to the sugar cube, poured it into tea, and handed it to his wife—if he poisoned the dessert, everyone would know that he loves sweets, so the suspicion is too obvious.”

"As a result," Heiji said dryly, "I don't know what went wrong, maybe Mrs. Katori interrupted people's attention when she was speaking, Miss Mifune accidentally mixed up the teacup, and Mr. Uesugi took the poisoned cup The tea is gone..."

Swapping teacups and drinking poison by mistake are also common techniques in mystery novels.

"The above is Mr. Katori's script." Conan concluded slowly.

Atobe: "..."

This is too stupid!

What about well-designed reasoning puzzles, that's it?That's it? ?

He couldn't control his expression well, his eyebrows twitched slightly, and he let out a long breath.

Mixed feelings.

"As an audience, I really feel unsatisfactory." Baima shrugged and sighed, "But in life, many prisoners do do some incomprehensible and stupid actions. , quite in line with reality, right?"

Atobe was indeed a little disappointed, but Baiba said again: "However, the fact that we were able to see through the murderer so easily is actually because we saw it."

When Katori Shizuko asked Miss Shiraishi to bring the candy from the next table, they all saw that Uesugi Shuzo was meticulously following the requirements of the script, carefully kicking the poison wrapping paper away from under his feet.

It should be to direct the players' attention to Kurihara Ryosa and increase the interest, Conan explained.

Atobe: "..."

"Don't be disappointed, Atobe-kun," Baima said with a smile, "A lot of times, detectives are just a little more observant than others."

Tracebe was silent.

Does he lack observation?No, because Mrs. Katori was attracted by him and kept pulling him to talk, while the others were doing nothing, which was a little bit more than what he saw...

Yes, it must be because of that.

The caring detectives continued to drink tea and eat snacks, watching the players busy investigating clues, keeping silent about the "truth".

It would be too disappointing if Mr. Katori's "trick" was exposed so early.At least let him be happy for a while...

After all, he and the actors have carefully prepared many levels for this script.

For the game experience of most players, they still decided to sacrifice their ego.

"What are we here for?" Hattori Heiji suddenly fell into deep doubt.

"Uh, there's also the whereabouts of the gems..." Kaito said slowly, but before he started, he played tricks again. Let's talk."

Conan looked at him deeply and didn't speak.

Indeed, what they are more interested in now is what did Kaito Kidd do last night, and what did he and Songxue see?When they saw Mrs. Katori today, they all showed very... indescribable expressions.

Like I can't believe my eyes.

This made him very curious.The dining table fell silent, everyone was drinking tea quietly, thinking about something, Songxue couldn't fall asleep, opened his left eye, squinted his eyes to adapt to the light, and said vaguely: "I suddenly have a new idea."

"Huh?" The two people beside him looked over immediately.

Kaito even straightened his back, slightly stiff.

"About Mr. Katori..." She hesitated for a moment, and she wasn't quite sure, "What happened last night was a bit strange."

Atobe frowned: "What happened last night?"

"It was nothing at first, but the male lead and his first love staged an affair scene," Songxue pondered, "But we saw something very unexpected. I have always wondered whether this is also included in the script."

"But it doesn't feel like it." Kaito added.

"unless--"

Songxue thought to herself, if it wasn't that her brain was too big, then the chess game on Xiazhile Island was too deep.

She couldn't help but look at Shinzaburo Katori in the distance.

The other party had a perfect smile on his face, admiring the progress of the players, and seemed to be so smug about everything.

Such a person would really...

Suddenly, the screen flickered.

She saw Katori Shinzaburo pouring water into the flower pot, suddenly her complexion turned blue, her lips were dark purple, and she fell down tremblingly...

The prophecy strikes again.

Songxue frowned slowly, and the doubts in her heart gradually deepened.

She turned to Tan Baima and asked directly, "Did Mrs. Katori grow flowers in the backyard?"

"Yes, we saw it when we passed by last night." The white horse nodded, "I heard from the gardener that there is a hornet's nest on a nearby tree."

Songxue understood, and breathed a sigh of relief: "This is also a very common scene in novels."

She stood up, and the others didn't know why, so they followed suit.

"Going to the backyard?"

"Although I don't quite understand it yet... But in any case, Mr. Katori must be prevented from continuing to die." Matsuyuki said with a smile, "All the puzzles are on him."