Chapters 3581 & 3593 [James' Dark Determination]

James had received the same call even before Judy. Although the other end refused to reveal details, the experienced FBI agent immediately knew what was going on the matter upon hearing "murder."

"Since the higher-ups have decided to continue sending us to work here, we can't escape Uzo anytime soon..."

Halfway through his speech, James suddenly realized something was amiss.

After a moment of silence, he smoothly changed his tune: "What I mean is, since the higher-ups have decided to continue sending us to work here, then capturing Uzo is also one of our tasks—it's rare to have a lead delivered to our door, we can't just ignore it, can we?"

This reason was used to deal with Judy.

But in his heart, James knew there was another reason: the higher-ups had been dealing with the docks recently and had been in close contact with the Metropolitan Police Department, so Takagi's phone call was likely recorded.

In this situation, knowing there was a case, and possibly one that Uzo had handed over, James, the team leader, refused to go... If this continued, he wouldn't be able to write his report at all.

Otherwise, should we write, "Uzo sent us an invitation to investigate a murder case, but Judy and I found it too troublesome and promptly turned him and his related leads away?"

If I remember correctly, recently the higher-ups' interest in Uzo has been subtly surpassing that in Vermouth. He's about to retire, and he doesn't want anything to go wrong at this crucial juncture.

Moreover, of course, as a warrior who has fought against the forces of darkness for decades, he cannot back down because of a little difficulty.

...Even though Uzo is the most formidable opponent in every sense of the word, and there seems to be no hope of successfully capturing him, ...warriors never back down!

After mentally reviewing the vow he made years ago and inspiring himself with those passionate movies and real-life examples, James finally reaffirmed his resolve, which had wavered every now and then.

He looked at the reluctant Judy: "Pack your things, I'll be waiting for you in the parking lot downstairs in 5 minutes."

...

While the FBI agents were making their own statements and rushing this way...

The crime scene.

Since he had nothing better to do, Conan briefly lost focus and tried to save Ms. Jodie, but failed. After that, he stopped worrying about it.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he quietly walked around the living room, examining various items.

The yellow jacket draped over the back of the sofa was covered with a protective film; the packaging was very neat, so it must have just been picked up from the dry cleaners…

"The blue dress on the ground is another example, but it has been opened, and the packaging bag is lying next to it. It seems that the deceased was likely unpacking this dress when she was murdered."

"There's also this convenience bag on the table; the snacks inside haven't been touched."

"It seems that after getting off work yesterday, Miss Mika went to a convenience store and a dry cleaner first, and then she was unfortunately murdered as soon as she got home."

Conan reconstructed the victim's movements in his mind, and gradually sensed something was amiss: "Strange, it feels like something's missing..."

Just then, two cars passed by the window, one after the other.

Jiang Xia looked up and said, "Ms. Judy is here."

The two high school girls were startled and looked up at the window, but they couldn't see anything.

Looking at the narrow field of vision, even though they knew it was true, they couldn't help but exclaim, "You have such a keen eye!"

Jiang Xia smiled and said, "Let's go out and take a look."

When I went downstairs to the apartment lobby, I looked up and saw three people getting out of a car across the street.

—It was Judy, James, and the deceased's female store manager, Midori Goshima.

The two exchanged a glance, each somewhat wary, but still politely nodded to each other before crossing the street and walking toward the apartment, keeping a distance between them.

"Ms. Judy..."

Sonoko Suzuki and Ran Mouri waited anxiously in the apartment lobby, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Although determined to confront the suspicious teacher Judy and find out her true purpose in infiltrating the school as a foreign teacher, a familiar person with whom she once had a relatively amicable relationship suddenly appears in front of her as a suspect...

The two soft-hearted high school girls hesitated for a moment and did not step forward, desperately thinking of what to say when they met later.

The glass door opened and closed, and James and Judy walked in.

Seeing the high school students in front of her who were always associated with "cases" and "bad luck," Judy paused, not wanting to go any further.

James remained calm and unsurprised. The old gentleman smiled and asked Jiang Xia in a gentle voice, "What happened here? Why did you specifically call us here? Is it because Judy and I are involved in this matter?"

The presence of two FBI agents drew the attention of everyone, including the police.

Behind them, the female store manager, who was about to push open the door, realized no one was paying attention to her, so she nervously glanced to her right. After hesitating for a moment, she didn't enter the lobby, but suddenly jogged to the right.

"Um?"

While everyone else was more focused on the two FBI agents, Conan didn't forget that there was a third suspect present.

And to be honest, he didn't think the two FBI agents were the killers.

Even if, hypothetically, Ms. Judy really did kill someone for the shameful and bizarre reason of "being caught reading pornographic comics!", as an FBI agent, their handling of the scene shouldn't have been as sloppy as it is now.

"After all, outlaws who frequently kill people or witness others committing murder know very well that the best way to dispose of a body is not through fancy tricks, but by making it impossible for anyone to find it."

Conan stroked his chin. "Although the FBI isn't operating on home soil, if they really wanted to silence us, they would definitely have better ways."

In short, since two out of three have been eliminated, the most suspicious person must be the female store manager.

Therefore, upon seeing that Midori Goto did not enter the crime scene but instead sneakily ran to the other side, Conan did not hesitate and immediately chased after her.

After him, another person pushed open the door and came out.

Unlike Conan, who was secretly following them, Jiang Xia simply glanced in that direction and then called out in a puzzled tone, "Shopkeeper's wife?"

"?!" Midori Goshima, who was about to cross the road, was so startled that she almost twisted her ankle.

"?!" Conan, who was following them, was startled and tripped, falling to the ground with a thud.

Jiang Xia walked over and picked up Conan, then looked at the terrified shopkeeper's wife: "You must be Mrs. Goto. The deceased's apartment is over here. You've passed by it."

"Ah...right!" The shopkeeper's wife forced a smile, her face pale, trying to explain her strange behavior just now. "Mika's death made me very sad. I, I was a little distracted."