Chapters 3582 and 3594: [Go, Matsuda Kyu]

Jiang Xia nodded understandingly: "It's normal to feel sad when a top employee you've worked with for so many years suddenly passes away."

Remembering the rumors about the detective, the shopkeeper's wife didn't want to talk about Mitsui Mika any further. As she walked with Jiang Xia towards the apartment, she awkwardly changed the subject: "Speaking of which... why are you here? Did the police ask you to help them?"

Jiang Xia smiled and said, "The hairdresser was going to cut my classmate's hair, so we came at the agreed time. But when we got there, she was already dead."

The shop manager's wife sighed, "Oh, I see."

Conan rubbed his sore knee, then looked up and suddenly noticed something. He looked at the shopkeeper's wife and asked, "Why is there a band-aid on the back of your hand?"

"Huh?" The shop manager's wife looked at her right hand, startled, and said in a fluster, "Yes, I accidentally burned my hand while cooking this morning, so I put this on to relieve the pain... I, I'm just clumsy, hahaha."

Conan: "..."

Suspicious, extremely suspicious, there are so many suspicious points that they're practically overflowing.

But the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt: was it really as simple as it seemed?

"Based on experience, murderers are often a bit more cunning, so those who look like criminals at first glance don't seem so much like criminals." Conan muttered to himself, then looked towards the apartment lobby as if struck by a thought:

"If we go against the grain... could the killer really be one of those two FBI agents?"

"..."

No, we can't draw a conclusion so easily—we need more evidence.

While thinking about this, Conan entered the apartment building with the suspicious shopkeeper's wife.

Jiang Xia followed behind them. He glanced down at Matsuda Jinpei, who was pacing back and forth on the ground with a solemn expression. The spirit medium picked up the ghost, flicked his finger, and threw it into the alley.

The shikigami flew out with a whoosh, and the clay puppet took shape. Soon, a man dressed in a black suit, wearing a black tie and black sunglasses, with naturally curly hair, appeared in the alley.

Matsuda Jinpei paused, then subconsciously looked around, pondering who his spirit medium master wanted him to scare this time.

But soon he heard Jiang Xia say, "Go if you want to, you're just killing time anyway."

Matsuda Jinpei: "!"

After hesitating for a moment, he clenched his fist, then buried his head and ran in one direction.

...

In the apartment lobby.

Judy scratched her head, feeling like she had missed something.

However, her attention was soon drawn to the bedroom in front of her and the pitiful corpse inside.

"This is..." Judy thought for a moment, and then realized she actually recognized him. "That hairdresser?"

Officer Sato nodded: "When was the last time you met?"

Judy looked a little bewildered: "It's been a long time, hasn't it? I haven't gone to her hair salon since I moved. Speaking of which, this hairdresser is incredibly popular, she has hundreds, if not thousands, of customers. Why are you all coming to me when something happened to her?"

James, standing next to him: "..." Look at the way those two high school girls are looking at you. What else could it be?

"However, the hairdresser and Judy were completely unrelated, yet Judy was easily listed as a suspect by the police because of the hairdresser's death..."

James sighed inwardly: "I really don't know if it's because our FBI has such a bad reputation, or if these police officers are no longer trustworthy... But whatever the case, the culprit is very clear."

"I've been in the FBI for so many years, but I've never seen such a troublesome guy—he doesn't even need to show his face; he can drive people to this point with just some inexplicable methods."

"Capturing him is not as difficult as humans trying to capture a god who manipulates fate, but it's not as simple as an extra in a TV drama disobeying the director either."

Just as James suspected, the police were indeed quite suspicious of the two FBI agents.

However, appearances still had to be maintained. Officer Sato didn't keep pressing Judy for answers. After asking a few questions, he turned to the restless shopkeeper's wife with a composed demeanor: "I heard that you and the deceased had an argument last night?"

The shop manager's wife shook her head: "It wasn't really an argument, just a little disagreement—recently, other shops have been trying to poach Meixiang, and she really wants to go there. I was very upset about this, so I said a few words to her."

"Actually, I regretted what I said yesterday. I was planning to apologize to Mika properly today, but who knew she would actually..."

The shop manager's wife burst into tears. She covered her face, as if she didn't want anyone to see her like this, then turned around and hurried up the stairs, as if she wanted to hide in the stairwell and have a good cry.

Seeing that she didn't walk out of the apartment, Sato Miwako didn't bother with her anymore, thinking she would wait until the shop manager's wife calmed down before talking to her.

She turned back to Judy and James: "Where were you two respectively between 8 and 11 p.m. last night? What were you doing? Were there any eyewitnesses?"

—If it were any other suspect, she might have asked more tactfully. But these two were different people, and no matter how tactful she was, her purpose would be guessed, so Officer Sato simply asked directly.

Across from her, Judy, though she had suspected it beforehand, still felt a headache coming on when she heard those words: "How did I end up being treated as a suspect again..."

James said calmly, "At that time yesterday, Judy was resting in the hospital—in fact, she hasn't left the hospital since she was rescued from the kidnappers."

Sato Miwako was taken aback, only then remembering that just a few days ago, she and Mouri Ran had pulled Judy out of the basement of that abandoned factory.

Looking at the unfortunate FBI agent again, her expression softened slightly, and she asked with concern, "How are you feeling now?"

Judy nodded: "It's much better now. It would be even better if you didn't come looking for me."

Officer Sato: "..." Ms. Judy... seems to be speaking much more bluntly than before. Is it because her FBI identity has been exposed and she's too lazy to pretend anymore?

"Ahem!" Noticing that Judy's condition was showing signs of relapse, James interjected, "And I was responsible for taking care of Judy, so I've been in the hospital the whole time—Officer, neither of us is the murderer of this hairdresser."

Sonoko Suzuki didn't believe it at all: "What evidence do you have?"

James said gently, "There are surveillance cameras at the hospital entrances and exits."

Sonoko Suzuki shook her head: "For ordinary people, surveillance is indeed effective—but you are the FBI, climbing down the hospital building shouldn't be too difficult for you."

James: "?"

Do you have some misunderstanding about the FBI? We're just the FBI, not some flying gecko!