Chapter 54 Case: I find her repulsive...

Everyone suddenly looked at the person who had spoken.

Kitagawa Ryusei immediately looked in the direction of Mizunashi Rena.

The woman's brow furrowed subtly, then quickly smoothed out, revealing just the right amount of surprise and worry.

The young man's glance was noticed by Conan Edogawa and Kenji Hagiwara, who couldn't help but wonder.

But now is not the time to ask.

For a moment, Conan Edogawa forgot to hide his intentions and, with his habitually stern face, asked before the three policemen could even speak: "Where is the deceased? When did this happen?"

This interrupted Kogoro Mouri, who was about to speak. The middle-aged man could only echo, "I am the famous Detective Mouri, take me to the scene!"

The two detectives quickly got into character.

The three young police officers: "..."

Unlike Hagiwara and Matsuda, who were used to it, Kitagawa Ryusei had a deep doubt about who the police really were.

He immediately took out his phone and said to his assistant, "I'll notify the Metropolitan Police Department. You take us upstairs first."

"Okay, okay!"

The group followed the assistant upstairs.

Conan, that little rascal, darted faster than anyone else. Although his steps were shorter, his pace was correspondingly faster, keeping close behind Kitagawa Ryusei.

Noticing a child, Matsuda Jinpei turned his head, stared at Edogawa Conan for a long time, frowned, and asked, "Is it alright for a child to follow us?"

Will it really not leave any psychological trauma?

No……

This child has probably had his fair share of corpses and police encounters since junior high school.

Kitagawa Ryusei even suspected that Kudo Shinichi had seen more criminal cases than Matsuda Jinpei.

So he simply said, "It's nothing."

On the fourth floor of the office building, Kitagawa Ryusei and his team quickly located the crime scene.

Many staff members gathered outside the break room, whispering among themselves, curious but hesitant to approach.

"Make way, don't crowd together, protect the scene!" Kitagawa Ryusei took out his badge and strode through the crowd to the outside of the lounge.

The young man stopped at the doorway.

The situation in the lounge was not quite what he had imagined.

The interior was fairly tidy, and the somewhat messy arrangement of items was within the normal range.

There was no damage, nor any visible signs of resistance.

The woman with her hair tied in a bun was lying on the table, her head tilted towards the inside of the room, so her face was not visible.

One of her hands dangled from the table, while the other was bent, and there seemed to be a piece of paper under her arm.

Kitagawa Ryusei put on gloves, stepped over the threshold, and went inside.

The woman's head was tilted in an odd position, slightly raised, and vomit flowed down her face onto the table.

It's likely that the people who found the body thought she was asleep and accidentally moved it when they tried to wake her up.

Kogoro Mouri followed him in, bent down to look at the body, stroked his beard, and wondered, "Was it suicide?"

As officers in Beika Town who serve multiple purposes, Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji skillfully maintained order at the scene.

They instructed the relevant personnel to remain at the scene and wait for the Metropolitan Police Department.

Inside the break room, Kitagawa Ryusei quickly completed a preliminary on-site investigation, confirming that the deceased had no basic vital signs. He turned to the person in charge and asked, "Who is the deceased? Where was the first person to discover the scene?"

"W-what, wasn't this suicide?"

The person in charge was terrified, speaking incoherently, repeating a single syllable several times, almost sobbing: "Inspector, I just got here too..."

"This lady's name is Yamato Yuriko, and she's a celebrity's assistant!"

Conan somehow broke through the cordon of Kenji Hagiwara and the others. After entering, he first scanned the surrounding environment with a scrutinizing look before finally looking at the corpse.

Because of his height, the first thing he noticed was the employee badge hanging from the corpse's chest.

The deceased was named Yuriko Yamato, 25 years old, and worked for Nichiri TV. She had previously worked as an assistant to idol Yoko Okino, but was recently transferred to rookie singer Rika Nagano.

The employee badges displayed the deceased's ID photo, name, and job title. The fair-skinned and pretty woman stared at everyone through a small photograph.

Kogoro Mouri was horrified and scooped the boy away from the corpse: "What are you doing here again, you brat?!"

Is this a place where children should come?

Conan Edogawa was suddenly lifted off the ground with his limbs dangling in the air, pinned to the chest by an arm, in a standard kidnapping pose.

He struggled and shouted, using both his hands and feet, "Uncle, put me down! Uncle, you kicked the medicine bottle on the ground!!"

"My evidence..." Shinichi Kudo cried out in his heart as he saw the medicine bottle rolling on the ground.

Just as he finished examining the body, he heard this sentence. Kitagawa Ryusei lowered his head and bent down to pick up the medicine bottle on the ground.

Fluoxetine.

After calming the witnesses down, Kenji Hagiwara walked over, glanced at the name of the medication, and stroked his chin, guessing, "The deceased was taking antidepressants?"

Matsuda Jinpei then asked, "Has the cause of death been determined?"

Kitagawa Ryusei stated his judgment: "The deceased had white foam in his mouth and nose, and it smelled like bitter almonds, indicating cyanide poisoning."

His tone was calm and unsurprised by the appearance of this drug, which should clearly be strictly controlled: "This is not suicide."

The conclusion was given without the slightest hesitation.

"How is this possible?!"

When his guess was refuted, Kogoro Mouri retorted, "Depression, no signs of resistance—this is clearly suicide!"

As he spoke, he waved his hand and pointed directly to the paper under the deceased's arm on the table: "Look, even the suicide note has been written!"

Conan, whose armpit was being squeezed, had given up struggling and was hanging listlessly with his limbs drooping like a dog that had given up resisting: "The posture is wrong. Acute cyanide poisoning will cause vomiting and convulsions. It's not like this lady is lying there quietly. I guess the murderer deliberately pretended to commit suicide in hopes of fooling the police, but it's a bit too deliberate."

Kogoro Mori & Kenji Hagihara: "..."

The two couldn't think of anything to say, so they just kept staring at the child.

That makes a lot of sense, but don't you know a little too much...?

After a brief silence, the young detective finally realized something was wrong. He slowly raised his head, and his gaze met Kitagawa Ryusei's amused and amused look. He managed to utter, "...Oh dear."

"Shinichi-nii told me!"

He endured the toothache, his face innocent and guileless: "Ryusei-nii, Shinichi-nii didn't lie to me, did he?"

"No."

Seeing this, heaven knows how hard Kitagawa Ryusei tried to hold back his laughter; the despicable adult's shoulders were trembling: "...Conan has a very strong memory."

Of course, her acting skills are even better; Ms. Yukiko has no shortage of successors.

After praising the "child," the young man added a few more points: "There was vomit left on the clothes on the deceased's shoulders and on the ground, indicating that the body had been moved. Moreover, the deceased was wearing a work badge around his neck, which doesn't seem like he planned to commit suicide."

After listening to them, Kogoro Mouri stopped insisting.

Rena Mizunashi was left outside along with other relevant personnel; she had been holding her phone the whole time.

She seemed to have received some information and, after a moment's thought, spoke up: "Inspector, Yamato Yuriko is Nagano Rika's assistant. Rika has just finished recording a program and is on her way here."

Kitagawa Ryusei found her reminder somewhat novel, but didn't say much about it.

Not long after, Metropolitan Police Department Inspector Megure and Rika Nagano arrived at almost the same time.

Inspector Megure first learned the general situation from Kitagawa Ryusei, then sighed upon seeing Mouri Kogoro, patting him on the shoulder with his fan-like hand: "Brother Mouri, we just met yesterday, I didn't expect to see you again so soon..."

"Conan, you're here too."

Conan Edogawa, with his deadpan expression, thought the use of the word "also" was very clever.

Thankfully, Kogoro Mouri finally put him down, and almost as soon as he landed, the little boy wobbled his short legs back to Ruki Kitagawa and the others.

He looked like a little radish in front of the three tall young men, but the expressions on all four faces were exactly the same when facing the corpse.

The officers at the scene reported the clues they found to Kitagawa Ryusei and Inspector Megure.

"The body has developed cherry-red lividity, and the time of death should be around two hours ago. The stomach contents need to be sent back to the Metropolitan Police Department for examination, but it can be basically determined that it was cyanide poisoning."

“We extracted two different fresh fingerprints from the medicine bottle on the ground. One of them belongs to the deceased, and the other still needs to be compared.”

“There are no surveillance cameras in the corridor, but witnesses reported seeing Ms. Mizunashi and Ms. Oda enter the lounge three hours ago.”

...

After carefully listening to his subordinate's report, Inspector Megure nodded and fell into deep thought. He asked the young man beside him, "Kitagawa-kun, what do you think?"

Kitagawa Ryusei's gaze lingered for a moment on the people being questioned at the door, then turned to his colleagues without revealing anything unusual: "We have confirmed that the deceased ingested cyanide orally. We will only know what carrier the murderer used to administer the poison after the results of the stomach contents are available. We can first collect fingerprints from other people and compare them with those on the medicine bottles."

The clues we have found so far don't prove anything, and no witnesses saw anyone meet with the deceased within two hours of his death.

Despite his frustration, Inspector Megure had no choice but to continue searching for clues.

The body on the table had already been removed by the forensic doctor. Conan Edogawa was now leaning over the table, looking at the suicide note that had been marked as evidence.

The police have confirmed that the handwriting in the suicide note matches that of the deceased, but it was written in a hurry and lacked some elegance.

The suicide note stated that Yamato Yuriko was under too much work pressure, her depression was getting worse, and she wanted to commit suicide because of recent setbacks at work and the inability to bear the voices from the outside world. She wanted to say goodbye to the world before she died.

At first glance, there seems to be no problem, but Conan Edogawa feels that something is not right.

The two members of the "Breaking Virginity Group" were standing behind the little boy at some point.

Kenji Hagiwara bent down, his chin almost touching the top of his head, his purple eyes full of curiosity: "You're so young and you can already recognize all the words on this?"

The sound came from above, startling Conan so much that he almost jumped up.

Fortunately, Kenji Hagiwara was prepared, placing his hand between the boy's chin and the top of his head, thus saving his sharply defined and beautiful jawline from damage.

"Hey, are you judging others by your own standards?" Matsuda Jinpei chewed gum, his words carrying a pointed meaning: "This kid even knows about cyanide."

Immediately afterwards, the curly-haired police officer removed half of his sunglasses, revealing his blue eyes peeking out from the gap, and said in an unquestionable tone: "By the way, we've met before, haven't we, kid?"

Speechless, Conan Edogawa: "..."

...How scary! Ryusei-ge, please help me! QAQ!

Fortunately, someone immediately drew the attention of the two police officers to him.

Rika Nagano, who rushed over, was stopped and questioned before she could even remove her makeup. Her face was somewhat pale: "I've been recording a program in the studio for the past two hours. The photographer and Momoko can testify to that. You don't actually think this has anything to do with me, do you?!"

Her other assistant, Momoko Oda, wasn't as excited as Rika Nagano, but she nodded in agreement: "We didn't leave along the way."

Beside them, Rena Mizunashi readily cooperated with the police in collecting fingerprints and even confessed, "I saw Yuriko three hours ago. Rika asked me to deliver medicine to her."

"The other fingerprint on the medicine bottle should be mine."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone around her turned to look at her.

The female host remained calm and composed, seemingly unconcerned.

Kitagawa Ryusei raised his eyebrows high.

But before he could say anything, he was interrupted by a loud, middle-aged male voice:

"I know, you're the murderer! Miss Mizunashi!"

Kitagawa Ryusei: ...

Conan Edogawa was caught off guard: "Huh?!"

Inspector Megure: "Mouri, have you found any clues?"

Hagiwara and Matsuda were also dumbfounded: ...Although I don't understand, I am greatly shocked.

Seeing all eyes on him, Kogoro Mouri instantly mustered all his strength and began to speak eloquently:

"You think admitting to fingerprints will dispel the police's suspicions?! Hahaha, you underestimate the famous Detective Mouri! Right now, only you had the opportunity to commit the crime and met the victim before her death—it was you! You poisoned Miss Yamato's medicine!!"

Rena Mizunashi: "..."

Just as Kogoro Mouri was about to stick his finger on her nose, Rena Mizunashi's gaze went from stunned to increasingly helpless.

Conan Edogawa felt there was still a chance to save him, so he asked, feigning confusion, "But... wasn't it Ms. Nagano who asked her to deliver the medicine? In this kind of emergency, it would be difficult to prepare in advance if poisoning was to be administered, wouldn't it?"

"Forehead……"

Kogoro Mouri hadn't thought of that and was speechless for a moment.

However, he felt that Ms. Mizunashi might know something... He swallowed the rest of his words.

Conan Edogawa had been keeping an eye on this person, and now he was about to sneak over and find out more without saying a word.

Before Conan could even make his way through the crowd, Kitagawa Ryusei immediately saw what he was about to do and stopped him, saying, "Conan, do me a favor."

"Huh??"

Conan Edogawa's eyes lit up. He's actually asking him for help?

The young man leaned close to the young detective's ear and whispered a few words.

Conan Edogawa instantly knew what he was going to do. After pondering for a moment in that direction, his eyes grew brighter and brighter. He excitedly assured him, "Leave it to me!"

After saying that, he slipped between the legs of the adults at the door and ran towards the stairwell.

He felt a gust of wind sweep past his trouser leg, and Kogoro Mori only saw a shadow flash by, unable to catch it.

"Hey kid, where are you going again?!"

They spend all day wandering around crime scenes, never finding a moment of peace.

Watching the person walk away, Matsuda Jinpei, who had been keeping an eye on the child, glanced at his friend and asked, "You suspect that Mizunashi Rena?"

“No, Rena Mizunashi is actually the least suspicious.” Kitagawa Ryusei frankly told the two people beside him his guess.

If the codenamed members of the Black Organization easily expose the case to the police, they might as well carry their boss to the police station and commit suicide together.

Kitagawa Ryusei wouldn't need to maintain this stalemate with them for so long.

Kenji Hagiwara raised his arm and put it on his childhood friend's shoulder, getting closer to Ryusei Kitagawa, his fox-like eyes blinking: "But Ryusei is also wary of people, isn't she... It's really sad. This morning she was calling her Miss.007 affectionately, but now she won't even let children get close, directly classifying her as dangerous."

After saying that, she made a few soft sobs.

"..."

Seeing that he was getting more and more outrageous, Kitagawa Ryusei originally wanted to glare at him, but after staring at him for a while, he could only feel helpless and raised his hand to cover his face: "...Would you believe me if I said I was just trying to annoy her?"