Chapters 3544 and 3556: [The Gathering]
Hearing Gin's words, Jiang Xia looked at the somewhat empty private room and sighed inwardly.
—No wonder I didn't see those two snipers today, even though they were there the night before last. It turns out this isn't some full moon debriefing meeting, but a gathering to help him and Vermouth get along.
...Alright, at least three of them came. Although one of them was very lazy and always hid his murderous aura very well, his palate-pleasing murderous aura made up for it quite well.
Thinking this, Jiang Xia picked up his teacup and glanced at the vodka next to him.
Vodka sat upright, his eyes fixed straight ahead, seemingly quite interested in Vermouth across from him.
Vermouth didn't like the staring, but she understood why Vodka was sitting so upright and knew that the silly big man wasn't actually looking at her; he just didn't want to look away.
So she didn't say anything, but poured herself a cup of tea and said helplessly, "'That sir' really went to a lot of trouble. Since that's the case..."
She looked at Jiang Xia across the table and raised her glass in the distance: "Then let's follow his wishes, let bygones be bygones, and live in harmony."
Vermouth subtly emphasized the last few words.
"But speaking of which, the way 'that person' negotiated was by sending me right under Uzo's nose..." Vermouth muttered to herself while maintaining a smile.
"This is definitely punishment, a punishment for my recent unauthorized actions. When I went to see him yesterday, he seemed somewhat displeased, so it's clear he had other tricks up his sleeve..."
"In addition, this is probably also a test for Uzo. Subordinates who are too capable are always hard to trust—but if I, who have just been targeted by Uzo, appear in front of Uzo, and am unharmed because of 'that person's' mediation, then 'that person' will think that Uzo is 'very measured', just like Gin."
This is precisely why Vermouth dared to come today—even she could see that this was a test, so how could Uzo not understand?
So Uzo probably... probably... won't lay a hand on her.
Vermouth: "..."
Really, really not?
She glanced discreetly at the person diagonally opposite, and then suddenly realized that no matter how she looked at it, Uzo was in a very cheerful mood, almost humming a song.
Based on her experience, there are many possibilities, but it is definitely not a sign of not intending to do anything.
Vermouth's hand holding the glass stiffened for a moment, and she glanced at Gin next to her out of the corner of her eye.
If I'm not mistaken, Gin is probably a safety device set up by the Boss to prevent Uzo from going too far... right?
...
People's joys and sorrows are not the same, but they are somewhat similar.
While the organization's leaders were feeling anxious, the police officers were also anxious, but for a different reason.
"What do you mean, 'related to Amuro's family'?! This is clearly just a disguise!" Inspector Megure couldn't take it anymore: He finally managed to lure someone away with Sato, and finally encountered a detective, but it just so happens to be this clueless detective who can't even tell the difference with makeup!
Why didn't we lure out Brother Jiang Xia...?
While expressing his regret, Inspector Megure said to his former subordinate, Kogoro Mouri, "Can't you tell? These three people are just wearing the same makeup!"
Although he didn't realize it at first either...
Officer Sato, who was also familiar with Kogoro Mouri's skill level, explained unsurprisingly, "These three ladies have very normal skin tones after removing their makeup. The reason they look so dark in the photos is because they wore 'black gal makeup'."
Kogoro Mouri scratched his head: "Oh, I see..."
Inspector Megure sighed, deciding to move on from the topic to avoid further trouble: "Fortunately, the three victims were only injured and their lives are not in danger. In addition, we questioned them carefully, but apart from wearing the same makeup, the three of them seem to have nothing in common, and none of them have offended anyone recently."
After recounting all the clues the police had gathered, he looked at Conan expectantly: "So, Jiang... what are your thoughts?"
Conan: "..."
Kogoro Mouri slammed his fist on the table in dissatisfaction: "Shouldn't you be asking me?! I'm a proper detective, what does this brat know?"
Inspector Megure's eye twitched, and he asked with disdain, "Alright, so what's your opinion?"
"..." Kogoro Mouri held the three photos in his hand. "Hmm... these... they really do look exactly alike. Apart from makeup, could they be long-lost triplets or something?"
Inspector Megure's forehead creased with a "well" shape, and the words "Alright, you can go now, let's get Brother Jiang Xia here" came to his lips.
But before he could speak, a surprised voice suddenly came from the side: "Oh my, how cute!"
Immediately afterwards, a hand reached out and took the photo from Kogoro Mouri's hand, flipping through it.
"Huh?" The group turned around and found that it was actually Suzuki Sonoko.
The high school girl put down her shopping bag and looked at the three photos: "The completion level is really high, especially the one in the middle, which is all browned."
Kogoro Mouri: "..." How come everyone can tell it's makeup? What if the person just really has dark skin?
Conan, however, was more concerned about something else. He looked towards the shop entrance and asked, "Sonoko-neechan, why are you the only one here? Where's Ran-neechan?"
Sonoko Suzuki returned the photos to the police: "Ran wanted to go to the restroom, so she told me to come to this noodle shop to find you first—by the way, what are you talking about? Jiang Xia will be here soon, do you want him to take a look?"
"Great! Great!" Inspector Megure exclaimed in delight, but then realized it was beneath his composure, so he quickly cleared his throat and said, feigning calmness:
“Actually, we would prefer to handle this ourselves, but with these kinds of serial attacks, as long as the perpetrator isn’t caught, he will continue to commit violence. For the sake of the victims, we must bring him to justice as soon as possible.”
Looking at the pitiful women in the photos, Miwako Sato sighed: "Other cases with vested interests are better; at least we can screen out suspects. But these kinds of indiscriminate attacks based on certain characteristics, where the perpetrators run away after the attack, are really too difficult to catch—these cases are rare, and we don't have any precedents to refer to."
"There's no precedent to follow? I doubt it." Kogoro Mouri suddenly remembered something:
"I remember hearing about a similar case many years ago, where someone drove into a female high school student, ran away, and ended up killing several people... Sigh, such criminals are really outrageous."
Across from him, Inspector Megure's eyes darkened upon hearing about the case.
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