Chapter 3605 & 3617 [Sherry vs. Curaçao] Requesting monthly votes o(〃'▽'〃)o

In the apartment upstairs.

Curaçao leaned against the railing, arms crossed, staring at the motionless corpse in the entryway. She appeared calm, but her mind was racing a hundred times faster than when she was gathering classified intelligence for the organization.

The police officers busied themselves around the body, and as they talked, Kula picked up on clues and stored them in his mind.

Listening to this information, Curaçao gradually pieced together a complete scenario in his mind: President Nakamoto had set out dinner and was waiting for someone when the doorbell rang. He came to open the door with a wine glass in his hand, only to be stabbed in the chest with an ice pick and die on the spot.

“Nakamoto died at 7:30, and the meeting time I had arranged with him was at 7 p.m..”

Curaçao felt a lingering fear. "If I hadn't seen Uzzo at the coffee shop and had come to the appointment without knowing anything, I might have been there when the incident happened."

Although with her skills, she was confident she could survive even if the killer came to the door with a machine gun, let alone an ice pick, half an hour was enough time for her to leave many footprints, fingerprints, and other clues pointing to her inside the house.

"Luckily, I discovered it in time and resolutely refused to go to the appointment, staying at the law firm and obtaining a sufficiently solid alibi. Otherwise..."

Curaço was a little pleased to have successfully avoided a troublesome situation. But before she could even smile, she remembered something and suddenly became alert.

"According to that messy Uzo defense rule that Vodka came up with, if you suddenly think of something happy or feel happy near Uzo... it means you're not far from falling into a trap."

Just then, a commotion came from the stairwell, sounding like a group of people with different gaits walking down the stairs to this floor.

Curaçao listened intently, feeling that the footsteps sounded familiar. After a moment, she suddenly realized something, and her pupils contracted slightly.

"Miss Shirai?"

Just as he was looking for a place to hide, a cheerful voice suddenly drifted from the other end of the stairs—Jiang Xia hadn't even arrived yet, but the voice had already come from afar: "What a coincidence, what are you doing here?"

Next to Jiang Xia, Ran Mouri looked at the person next to Curaçao and asked in surprise, "Mom?"

Eri Kisaki paused for a moment, then turned around and saw three familiar high school students leading two elementary school students, walking slowly towards her.

"It's you guys." Unlike her lawyer colleague beside her, who seemed ready to jump over the railing on the spot, Eri Kisaki actually liked these kids quite a bit, but...

She counted again, then her gaze slowly moved down and stopped on the small figure behind Jiang Xia: Xiao Lan, Jiang Xia, Sonoko and Conan are very common, but now, why is there another person who looks like an elementary school student next to this small team?

...

The other end of the corridor.

Ai Haibara, with her hood pulled down and head bowed, quietly pulled the brim of her hood all the way down.

Her hands, which were tucked into her sleeves, were clenched into fists.

—As soon as she arrived at the building, she felt unwell all over.

As she entered the apartment building and walked upstairs, Ai Haibara's pupils trembled slightly as she realized that there seemed to be an organized presence in the building.

...Are there organized cadres in this building?!

She instinctively looked at Jiang Xia, but he didn't react. Ai Haibara wanted to turn and run away, but she felt that nowhere was as safe as being with Jiang Xia.

After hesitating for a moment, she gritted her teeth and followed closely behind Jiang Xia.

In the midst of unspeakable torment, Mini Sherry followed Jiang Xia through the apartment lobby, up the stairs, and down the corridor... before bumping headfirst into Jiang Xia's leg.

Jiang Xia had stopped at some point; her hood was pulled down too low, and her thoughts were completely focused on the increasingly close aura of the organization, so she didn't notice it for a moment.

With this sudden collision, beams of gaze fell from all directions.

Ai Haibara: "..."

She had intended to remain a low-key shadow, but who knew she would cause such a commotion upon arrival? Ai Haibara was filled with regret and fear, a chill running down her spine. Noticing that the "Miss Shirai" leaning against the railing was also looking in their direction, she held her breath, her mind going completely blank.

Just then, a gentle voice suddenly surfaced from her memory and echoed in her ears—it seemed to be the words Jiang Xia had spoken when she last met Miss Shirai.

"Miss Shirai is exceptionally capable, but she's not the type to be overly ambitious, and she's also a bit timid," the voice in her memory chuckled as it spoke to her.

"You remember Conan's sinister smile, right? If you run into Ms. Shirai and can't avoid her, then just do what Conan does and smile at her."

Her thoughts, which had been paused, began to flow again. Ai Haibara's expression changed, and she calmed down slightly.

She had used this trick once before, and it worked well.

And now...

Recalling Conan's occasional sinister demeanor, Ai Haibara suppressed her pounding heart, curled her lips into a smile, and darkened her face, replicating a 100% pure sinister smile.

"..."

Almost the instant the smile appeared, she felt a lightness on her body—the gaze that had been scrutinizing her seemed to have encountered something ominous and terrifying, and it abruptly withdrew. The oppressive, suffocating aura of the organization also seemed to dissipate somewhat.

Ai Haibara was stunned.

Is it that effective?

What exactly is the principle behind this?

Although she had carefully considered it before using it, the same puzzle has returned to her mind, making her even more confused.

...

Conan was examining the corpse in the entryway with a serious expression when he suddenly noticed a probing gaze.

A chill ran down his spine. He looked up warily and instinctively glanced at Attorney Shirai, a suspicious person who occasionally appeared.

However, he soon realized that the source of the gaze was not the lawyer—Ms. Shirai was not looking in his direction at all. The lawyer, who had just been facing away from the railing, had somehow turned around and was now facing out of the railing, as if she was intently admiring the night view outside.

"Not her?"

Conan looked away in confusion, glancing around again. Suddenly, his eyes met those of Ai Haibara beside him.

Conan: "..."

That complex look in his eyes, so complex that it couldn't be fully captured even with a pie chart... there's no doubt, the one who was looking at him just now was this mini-scientist.

"Why are you looking at me like that? And with such a strange expression." Conan asked, puzzled. "Is there something on me?"

As he asked the question, he looked himself up and down, but found nothing different from usual.

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