Chapter 108
As Usoya Saiki watched Hattori Heiji rapidly accumulate suspicion points for him, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
[This detective's mind works really fast! Look how much suspicion he's generated in just a few seconds—almost on par with an undercover agent's paranoia! It's just a shame there aren't many detectives with real power these days; it's not really worth going out of your way to meet someone just for a few more suspicion points.]
However, I'll pass on the Kansai region, it's a bit far. But Shinichi Kudo should be in Tokyo, so I can try again sometime.
Thinking of this, Usakabe Saiki couldn't help but smile with satisfaction at the bright future ahead.
This smile, when seen by Hattori Heiji, immediately increased the pressure on him.
Although he is very smart, Hattori Heiji is still just an elementary school student. The pressure is immense, and his suspicions become increasingly terrifying. However, considering that he has deduced that the older brother in front of him has a perverse sense of humor, Hattori Heiji can barely hold on.
First of all, you can't say that you suspect the other person is a criminal. What if they really are a criminal and it upsets them?
However, since it was described as a "riddle," it's possible that they just wanted to continue playing a deduction game with him. But to find out who the culprit was so quickly... he couldn't think of any other possibility but that the other person was the culprit!
"I can't guess." Hattori Heiji carefully observed the surroundings, trying to figure out the direction he should run if things went wrong. "How do you know?"
The silver-haired older brother was still smiling, and his tone was cheerful and upbeat.
"Because I'm an armchair detective."
Hattori Heiji: "…………"
The armchair detective, a type of detective who can solve cases simply by listening to others' stories without needing to investigate the scene, usually only appears in detective novels.
Hattori Heiji's mind went blank for a moment. After processing the information, the feeling of being manipulated again surged into his heart: "An armchair detective is an armchair detective, why do you make it sound like..." you are the murderer!
"Seems like?" The other person tilted their head innocently. "Seems like what? What do you think I wanted to say?"
Hattori Heiji's already dark face darkened even more: "It's nothing, let's continue looking for clues."
How could he possibly admit that he guessed the other person was the murderer? The discrepancy was too huge; he also had his pride.
Compared to the murderer, the answer of "armchair detective" is indeed more in line with the reasoning game.
Playing such a pointless mystery game at such a serious time... This detective brother who calls himself Conan might have decent deductive skills, but his character seems a bit... questionable.
"Huh? What other clues do you need to look for?" The silver-haired detective asked, puzzled. "Didn't I already tell you I know who the culprit is?"
Hattori Heiji: "...???"
He began to question the meaning of life: "Are you kidding me?"
"What joke? I think I've made myself perfectly clear. I already know who the culprit is. Let me tell you why I know. The answer is 'I'm the armchair detective'..."
The silver-haired detective fell into deep thought: "I'm sorry, I overestimated your passion for deduction. It seems you have no idea what an armchair detective is."
"I know! I just don't understand how you know!" Hattori Heiji began to ramble incoherently.
So it wasn't just a simple deduction game after all?! But he'd only just finished describing the scene. Even a real armchair detective would need to think for a while, right?!
Besides, aren't armchair detectives just something that only exists in novels? How could they possibly exist in reality? No, that's not scientific!
Heiji Hattori contributes a lot of suspicion points, while Saiki Usaku makes a fortune.
Although he really wanted to continue, Usoppō Saiki really didn't want to take a statement, so he could only regretfully stop there. He glanced at the murderer pointed out by the [Omnipotent Navigation] and started giving the answer directly.
"The murderer is the patrol officer who was helping out at the scene. This is not a serial murder case; it's a copycat crime. The police have gone in the wrong direction in their investigation."
Hattori Heiji pressed on urgently, "So, how did you know that?!"
Usoppai blinked: "I can tell at a glance. Because big brother isn't a good person either, so he can tell who the bad guy is at a glance."
Hattori Heiji's mind was in a mess: "...Don't always treat me like a child."
But this guy has already said twice that he's not a good person, but a bad person. Would an ordinary person emphasize that?
Could it be that this guy's identity is actually a bit...?
"But you're just a child. Last time you struck up a conversation with a suspicious stranger, and this time you followed someone you don't know to this remote place... If I killed you here, believe me, no one would be able to find me?"
Heiji Hattori's brain went blank for a moment again.
...So, every time this guy says he's a bad guy, it's because I want to teach him a lesson or mess with him...
He couldn't help but look at Usakata Saiki with an indescribable expression: "Isn't your method of disciplining children a bit too harsh? You don't have to play the bad guy every time, do you?"
"What do you mean by pretending to be a bad guy! Don't I look like a bad guy?"
"No," Hattori Heiji said, squinting. "He just seems like a very strange person."
Usaku Saiki smiled and pressed Hattori Heiji's head down: "You're still young. When you grow up, you'll know that you can't judge people by their appearance."
Hattori Heiji: "…………"
Why is this guy so obsessed with making him think he's a bad guy?
Could it be that she finds villains more appealing? Or perhaps she's still suffering from the infamous chuunibyou (middle school syndrome)...
"But is it alright for you to keep arguing with me about this?" Usakabe ruffled the child's hair. "Shouldn't you hurry up and tell the police who the culprit is?"
"We can't be sure your guess is right yet," Hattori Heiji muttered to himself. But he was quick-witted and had better observation skills than many active-duty police officers. He had been to the crime scenes of several serial murders, and when reminded this time, he immediately realized that something was indeed wrong. This time, it might not have been the same person who did it.
Now he was really getting restless. Regardless of whether the culprit was right or not, he had to tell the police about the possibility of a copycat crime, especially if the suspect was a patrol officer. Who knew if he might take the opportunity to erase some evidence...
So Hattori Heiji said, "I'll go first," and hurriedly ran back. He then grabbed a detective he knew well and told him what had happened.
The detective pondered, "Now that you mention it, it's true..."
“There’s another suspect, that patrolman…” Hattori Heiji wanted to continue, but suddenly realized that the strange older brother hadn’t mentioned why the patrolman was a suspect. He should check his own guess with the other person. So he turned around and tried to find the person to see if they had followed.
There wasn't even a ghost in sight.
He called to ask where the other person was, but found that the phone was switched off.
Hattori Heiji: "...???"
Seriously, the detective solved the case, but didn't he come to the scene and tell the police?!
The highlight of a detective's job is to expose the killer's methods in front of everyone and then identify the killer, right? How can someone just dump this on a kid and run away?
Having been manipulated so many times, Hattori Heiji had given up on suspecting the other party, but the other party's strange behavior, which went against the interests of a detective, finally made him suspicious again.
...Could this strange older brother really have a problem with his identity and be unable to see the police?!
Having tricked the child into solving the case, and then secretly slipped away after collecting the suspicion points, Usakabe Saiki planned to return to the hotel to rest.
Anyway, the Mobile Investigation Team is on holiday now, so he can go back to Tokyo tomorrow. The organization still needs to see if there's any chance to squeeze out as much suspicion as possible.
Don't be fooled by how easily Vodka let him go earlier; he probably just wanted to get rid of him first. If they can't find anything wrong by investigating others, they'll come back to investigate him.
After all, he really is suspicious!
Usoppai felt he had really tried his best this time, and if Vodka didn't give him more doubt, it would severely dampen his enthusiasm.
Usoppei spent his time eating, drinking, and having fun at the hotel, and Vodka and Gin didn't return until late at night.
Hearing the noise next door, Usoppō Saiki went to knock on the door.
Vodka knew immediately it was Usakabe Saiki outside. He didn't really want to open the door, but considering that knocking might attract unnecessary attention, he reluctantly opened it: "Stop knocking..."
"Good evening." Bo Yezaki didn't stand on ceremony and asked as soon as he came in, "How's the investigation going?"
Vodka: "Hmm, we've found an undercover agent."
Usoya Saiki paused for a strange moment: "...Whose?"
"It's unclear whose people they work for, but they take money to do things, and they do have connections with the Horikawa Group."
Usoya Saiki: "Huh???"
Vodka was still dissatisfied: "As expected, we can't find people locally. The only intelligence officer transferred from here is indeed connected to the local yakuza... The intelligence team members are all very cunning. It's understandable that they have to feign compliance with local forces in order to obtain intelligence, but taking money is another matter."
"...Did he admit it?"
"Perhaps the intimidation from my older brother's interrogation yesterday was too strong; by the time we found him, he had already committed suicide."
Usakabe Saiki: "...Is it possible that he's innocent, and I'm the traitor? He's already in contact with the Horikawa Group, why would he need to make that anonymous call?"
Vodka looked at him too: "He didn't make that anonymous call. Maybe he ordered someone else to do it to clear himself of suspicion... And if he was innocent, why would he commit suicide? When I made that call, I just wanted him to explain whether he had taken too much money. And then he committed suicide... Humph."
System's comment: [That person was indeed a traitor, but while he took money from both sides, he didn't dare leak any information about the organization... He probably felt he couldn't explain himself, and was afraid of Gin, so he simply committed suicide...]
[Coward! Why die! He should have lived and insisted he hadn't leaked any information, so Gin and Vodka could continue to suspect others! Dying is just a waste of time!]
Bo Yezaki inwardly criticized the guy who was more trouble than he was worth, and then asked Vodka, still not giving up, "This guy might be someone else's smokescreen, someone threw him out to divert everyone's attention. I still think the traitor is among the rest of the people."
Vodka, of course, understood this principle: "I know, so everyone who participated in this operation is a suspect, and the investigation still needs to be conducted. But there are only so many people in total, and this has already identified one traitor... The probability of another traitor emerging from the rest is relatively small."
Usoppon Saiki said, "When you find a cockroach, your whole family may have already eaten a feast at your house, and the rest may all be traitors."
Vodka: "..."
Ha, trying to slander me and my brother again! I won't listen to your nonsense!
"If others are being monitored, what about me?" asked Usakabe Saiki.
Vodka: "...Are you looking forward to it?"
Usoppei's eyes widened: "Of course! I've been wanting to know what it feels like to be secretly investigated!"
Gin initially didn't want to pay attention to this, but upon hearing what Usui Saiki said, he still interjected with a cold smile: "Vodka, treat everyone the same, no need to give Potts special treatment."
After all, this guy was indeed very suspicious. He had long wanted to know what this guy usually did and why he couldn't find him no matter what.
Since Gin had put it that way, Vodka could only agree: "Alright."
The system got excited: [Are you going to be monitored?! At least starting tomorrow, don't forget you still have to go to work... You'd better buy the stand-in doll now! The price will go up if you don't!]
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I'll be adding an extra chapter tonight... I really have to update earlier tomorrow, otherwise I won't be able to finish even with the extra chapters. The main problem is that there's a lot going on at the beginning and end of the month, and I keep getting interrupted while writing...
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Vodka: Now that we've already found one traitor, the probability of there being another traitor among the remaining people should be lower, right?
Scotland: Hello
Akai: Hello
CIA: Hello
Vodka: ...?
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Hattori: This guy is so suspicious that he didn't even show up for the detective's highlight moment!
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