Chapter 3551-3563 [Complete Defeat]
Officer Takagi followed Sonoko Suzuki's gaze and actually recognized her.
He said to Jiang Xia, "The lady next to Mr. Shirakawa is named Konno Yuri, and she is a waitress in his restaurant."
"Something's not right!" Sonoko Suzuki narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Which waiter would so naturally take his arm and comfort his boss when his girlfriend died? Look at that other waiter in the corner, he's standing so far away, acting like it's none of his business—that's the attitude most employees should have."
As she spoke, she pointed across the crowd and precisely spotted a waiter standing discreetly in the distance.
Although the waiter was plain-looking, for some reason, Sonoko Suzuki noticed him as soon as he approached. She was puzzled as to why she noticed this unremarkable waiter, so she took a second look... and then she remembered his presence and the style of his uniform.
Jiang Xia followed Suzuki Sonoko's gaze and looked over there, and sure enough, he saw an "ordinary waiter"—when Suzuki Sonoko pointed at him from afar, the expression of this onlooker distorted for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.
Seeing this, Jiang Xia smiled kindly at them.
The "ordinary waiter's" brow twitched again. A moment later, he took a deep breath, rudely ignored the detective's friendly smile, and quietly disappeared from everyone's sight.
...
"Uzo is one thing, but how did that high school girl manage to spot me at a glance?"
Still disguised as a waitress, Vermouth slipped behind a pillar, checked herself from head to toe several times, then took out a mirror and looked at herself, momentarily incredulous:
"My disguise skills have actually deteriorated to this extent?"
After encountering the wig on the street, Vermouth was suspicious for a moment, followed by a series of predictions and counter-predictions... In the end, she hesitated and ignored the wig, continuing on her way.
As she walked towards the underground parking lot, she pondered what disguise to use. After much deliberation, she finally made a reckless decision: she wouldn't change it.
"No matter what I look like, Uzo will recognize me at a glance... So what I need to do now is not to hide it from him, but to prevent Angel from noticing my abnormality and then connecting it to the fact that there was something wrong with that phone call just now."
Thinking this, Vermouth went to the underground parking lot and, after confirming that Ran Mouri was alright, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She was about to leave when she overheard someone saying that people who wore those pieces of jewelry would become the killer's target.
After glancing at the necklace that Ran Mouri had hastily removed from her neck, Vermouth remained silent for a moment, then gritted her teeth and stayed behind with a death wish, stopping at a place that was neither too close nor too far, where she could lend a helping hand at any time.
She thought that with her abilities, this outfit would be enough to fool everyone except Uzo. But not long after, she was spotted precisely in the crowd by a high school girl who was not particularly bright.
“…No, don’t doubt yourself.” Vermouth clenched her fist, professionally reassessed her disguise, and nodded slightly.
“My disguise was fine. As for Sonoko Suzuki… it’s possible that Uzo just told her some things beforehand.”
"In short, we must not lose our composure. A person who doubts even their own best skills will only lose their way on the stage of Uzo and fall into an unimaginable predicament."
...
Meanwhile, next to the body.
Sonoko Suzuki didn't realize that her casual remark had dealt another heavy blow to the already broken hearts of the organization members.
After briefly using the waiter in the corner as an example, she withdrew her finger and gaze, turning back to the man and woman outside the police line, and said to Officer Takagi, "There's definitely something else going on between these two!"
Officer Takagi glanced at her, somewhat impressed: He had thought this high school girl wasn't very bright, but he hadn't expected her to be so perceptive at times... None of the students around Jiang Xia should be underestimated.
After reflecting on his own ability to judge people, Officer Takagi nodded and said, "They have indeed known each other for a long time—I heard that Ms. Konno was Mr. Shirakawa's college classmate, and Mr. Shirakawa trusts her a lot and often confides his troubles to her."
Sonoko Suzuki's ears perked up, sensing she'd caught a key phrase: "What's bothering you? Is it something to do with your relationship?"
“Uh… I guess so.” Officer Takagi scratched his head. “According to Ms. Konno, Mr. Shirakawa’s father was always against his relationship with the deceased, which strained their relationship.”
Kogoro Mouri stroked his chin and nodded: "The son of a shopping mall owner wants to be with a hot, unemployed woman... It's a common setup in breaking up couples."
He then looked at his daughter and asked, "Xiaolan, when you found the body, did you see any suspicious people around here?"
Ran Mouri shook her head: "It's strange, there was hardly anyone in the entire underground parking garage at the time, and I couldn't find anyone to ask for directions. Later, I did see a security guard, but before I could say anything, he walked around the corner, and by the time I ran over, he was already gone."
“Security guard? Right, I remember this shopping mall does have security guards patrolling regularly. Maybe he saw something.” Inspector Megure turned to a junior officer. “Go to the security office right now and ask which security guard was in the parking lot at the time.”
Before the junior officer could respond, a voice came from the crowd: "The security guard you're talking about, shouldn't it be me?"
Everyone looked up and saw a middle-aged male security guard in his forties walk out of the crowd and come to the side of the deceased's boyfriend and female confidante.
Stared at by a group of people, he awkwardly adjusted his hat: "Although I was on patrol at the time, I drank too much tea and went to the restroom several times. The murderer must have taken advantage of that moment. Sigh, if only I had held back..."
"Really?" A sarcastic voice came from the side, questioning the security guard.
"How could the murderer time the crime precisely when you went to the restroom? In my opinion, you are the murderer! — As far as I know, just six months ago, you were working as a security guard in that department store across the street. Admit it, you were sent by our rivals to sabotage my business!"
"..." Inspector Megure looked at the fourth person who had suddenly appeared, "You are..."
The chubby middle-aged man snorted but did not answer.
Beside him, the deceased's boyfriend wiped away his tears and forced himself to introduce, "This is my father, and also the owner of this shopping mall."
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