Chapters 3548 and 3560: [The Ownership of the Sherry]
Across the table, Vermouth listened to Jiang Xia's words, her eyes twitching: This excuse was too crude. What if Angel noticed something was wrong and caught some clues? Then, according to the organization's usual practice of silencing witnesses...
Gin's murderous face and the image of "Conan Edogawa" forced to shrink flashed through her mind. Vermouth took a deep breath and silently clenched her hands on her knees.
However, the terrible scene that was expected did not occur.
"Oh, I see." Ran Mouri believed it without a doubt and felt quite apologetic.
"I was trying to call Sonoko, but I don't know why I called you instead. I was about to hang up when the call was answered... Um, I hope I didn't disturb your request."
"No." Jiang Xia smiled. "You dialed from your recent calls, right? You must have dialed the wrong number—my case is actually finished, and I'm on my way over now. How was your stroll with Yuanzi?"
Ran Mouri, remembering the policeman figurine, scratched her cheek a little sheepishly: "I bought some small gifts, I wonder if Jodie will like them..."
Vermouth frowned deeply as she listened to the strange, intermittent conversation interspersed with static.
Jiang Xia seemed to notice as well: "Is your signal bad?"
"Huh?" Ran Mouri belatedly realized what was happening, and her intermittent voice came through the receiver again:
"Maybe so. I parked underground... Just now, the gardener went to... join... me, I went to... the restroom, and after I came out... I couldn't find my way..."
Vermouth, through a combination of guesswork and deduction, understood: the child was probably lost in the underground parking lot—although she had excellent motor skills, Xiaolan was much worse at finding her way around. She would wander around several times in a regular supermarket before finding the exit, let alone a parking lot where all the surroundings looked similar.
She shifted her body, eager to go down to the basement level immediately to check on the situation. But in front of the guy opposite her, she instinctively didn't want to show her concern too obviously.
Across from her, Jiang Xia seemed oblivious to her unusual movements. This evil executive who had just plotted against Vodka now appeared to have reverted to being an ordinary high school student.
He asked for directions from nearby signs and gently pointed out the way to Ran Mouri: "Go to your right, cross two intersections and then turn left. Keep going straight and you'll find the elevator."
Ran Mouri shook her phone and shouted into the microphone, "What did you say?"
After Jiang Xia repeated it several times, she finally managed to capture the complete sentence through the intermittent signal.
"Turn left at the two intersections on your right, and keep going straight..."
Repeating the travel guide given by her classmate, clutching the phone connected to Jiangxia, Ran Mouri walked towards the elevator carrying a large number of shopping bags, as if she were holding a reliable navigator.
The signal seemed worse in that direction; gradually, only one or two words of a sentence could be heard.
Jiang Xia wasn't in a hurry, nor did he hang up the phone. He patiently placed his phone aside and said to Vermouth, "Since we're just killing time anyway, let's continue talking about Sherry."
Vermouth stared at the still-fluctuating call count on the screen: "???"
Are you crazy? Talking about Sulli in front of Ran?! Although this broken signal can effectively block out a lot of information, what if, by some twist of fate, the signal connects again when a crucial point is being discussed, and Angel overhears something she shouldn't...
Vermouth pursed her lips and abruptly raised her hand, intending to hang up the phone. But her hand, which was almost out of sight, was firmly held down by another hand before it could touch the screen.
Jiang Xia, holding her wrist, looked at her colleague whose face had changed drastically and slowly began to reason with her:
“Although you also want that bottle of sherry, there’s a first-come, first-served rule—I’ve kept it by my side for so long without opening it, and you’re going to reach for it first, Vermouth?”
Vermouth's face turned pale, then red. She gritted her teeth, about to say something. Just then, a dull thud, like something falling to the ground, came from the cell phone lying next to her.
Immediately following, a terrified scream pierced the receiver and echoed violently throughout the room.
“…?!” Vodka, who was sleeping soundly next to me, kicked his legs as if he instinctively wanted to run away when he heard this noise that symbolized a case and death.
But in the end, he couldn't withstand the combined effects of the anesthesia and the hand chop, so he simply turned over, lay down on the tatami mat, and fell back into a deep sleep.
His commotion sent a chill down Vermouth's spine.
"I understand." She gritted her teeth and whispered to Jiang Xia, "I'm giving up on that woman, and you... you mustn't lay a hand on them again."
After a brief eye contact, Jiang Xia smiled, let go of her hand, and took back his phone.
Then he hung up the phone and nodded: "Actually, I never laid a hand on my lovely classmates. You guys are just overthinking it."
Vermouth: "..."
She desperately wanted to rush over and grab Jiang Xia by the collar to make him speak seriously and earnestly promise not to harm Conan and Ran Mouri... but reason told her that it would be pointless.
...Now that things have come to this, the only thing she can do is gamble on Uzo's conscience.
Jiang Xia dusted off his clothes and stood up: "There's a case nearby that's calling for a famous detective. I'm going to save the police and ordinary citizens—do you want to come with me?"
Vermouth almost nodded, but at the last moment, she stiffened her neck and stopped moving.
"I wonder how much of that phone call Angel overheard," she thought rapidly.
"I was distracted by the atmosphere created by Uzo just now. When I heard Angel scream, I subconsciously thought something had happened to her... But thinking about it carefully, that scream was very loud. It shouldn't be an attack, but just a murder scene."
"Angel is terrified right now and has no energy to think about anything else, but if I suddenly appear, and she becomes suspicious of that phone call because of the few words she overheard..."
“No, I can’t let her have any doubts about ‘Jiang Xia’—when Uzo is still just ‘Jiang Xia’ in Angel’s eyes, he will really pretend to be Jiang Xia and maintain the appearance of a reliable classmate most of the time. But if Angel starts to have doubts about him…”
How are those who knew the true face of "Jiangxia" doing now?
—Just look at her and vodka and you'll know.
Once he no longer has to play the role of the model student and enthusiastic detective, Uzo's true nature is enough to torment anyone to the point of wishing for death.
Thinking this, Vermouth gave a fake smile and politely declined, "No need, I have other things to do."
She still had to go; she needed to see for herself that Angel was alright.
However, she didn't want to be with Uzo.
...After we separate, I'll change into a different outfit and blend into the crowd to see what's going on.
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