Chapters 3560 and 3572 [Gin's Best Seats] Requesting monthly votes (`)
Underground parking lot.
The signal was very poor at this location, but even so, Ran Mouri, who was on the phone with Sonoko Suzuki, heard what sounded like a scream coming from the other end, followed by a clattering sound.
"Sonoko?" Ran Mouri exclaimed anxiously, "Sonoko! Say something!"
Conan frowned, realizing that his bad premonition had come true: "The murderer must have seen Sonoko with her car keys and wearing platform shoes, and mistook her for a driver, so he attacked her!"
"What?!" Kogoro Mouri and Inspector Megure only then realized the seriousness of the situation. They quickly looked at Ran Mouri, who was on the phone. "Where did she say she was?"
Ran Mouri said anxiously, "Sonoko only said she went upstairs to use the restroom, but she didn't say which floor. She's not talking now... But, but we can hear some strange noises! It sounds like some kind of machine is broadcasting."
As she spoke, she pressed the speakerphone button.
A slightly shrill voice came from the phone, an electronic voice somewhere between a child's and a young girl's repeatedly saying: "Please choose a frame you like, pose, and then you can press the button."
"This is..." Conan recognized the voice, "It's a photo booth machine!"
Ran Mouri tried hard to recall: "I remember there were two such devices in the stairwell of the food court on the 10th floor. I even went there to film before."
Kogoro Mouri was stunned: "The 10th floor? What's she doing up there?"
Inspector Megure: "It's possible that the floors below were closed, so she went upstairs to use the restroom and then wanted to take the elevator down from there."
Inspector Matsumoto immediately gave orders: "Takagi, go and have someone turn the lights back on on the entire department store floor. Inspector Megure and Sato, take the elevator to the tenth floor and search from top to bottom. The rest of you search from bottom to top—we absolutely cannot allow any more victims to be found!"
"Yes, sir!" Inspector Megure was the first to rush out.
Kogoro Mouri was somewhat surprised by his speed: "I haven't seen an inspector run this fast in a long time."
“Of course.” Inspector Matsumoto sighed. “This case is so similar to the first case Megure handled back then. Speaking of which…”
The tall police inspector suddenly remembered something and belatedly realized, "Where did Jiang Xia go? I haven't seen him at all."
“Jiang Xia.” Kogoro Mouri thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, his eyes darting around. “He… cough, he must be working hard to solve the case! — Never mind him, Inspector, let’s deal with the media first.”
...
Across the street.
A Porsche 356A that had already driven away suddenly turned back and stopped in a secluded corner of the street.
Gin turned his head and looked at the dark shopping mall across the street, which was already preparing to close.
As Gin drove away to go on his mission, he recalled what "that person" had told him and belatedly realized that he had forgotten something because of the unpleasant little incident at the sushi restaurant.
—"That person" seemed to have said that after the meeting, he should take Vermouth safely to the airport.
Now, quite some time has passed since the party ended. But after contacting Vermouth, he discovered that the woman was still there.
"I thought she would avoid Uzo like the plague and run away as soon as she fulfilled that person's request to 'meet him.' But in reality, she has been delaying until now and has not left yet."
Gin tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, pondering to himself, "How exactly did Uzo manage to keep her?... Ha, there are definitely some secrets between these two that I don't know about."
While it's not fair to say they don't care at all, it would be strange if two riddle solvers didn't have secrets between them.
Gin didn't bother to investigate further: neither of them was seriously doing their mission anyway, and their mutual attrition saved the others some trouble... Unfortunately, Vermouth would be leaving after today. This mutually agreeable situation was likely to end for the time being.
“I’ve arrived.” Gin dialed Vermouth again. “Come out now, I don’t have time to waste with you.”
Vermouth, who was fishing, sighed: "Don't worry, you can go ahead and take care of your business. My business here is equally important—don't worry, I'll go to the airport myself once I'm done."
Gin sneered, "You're quite confident, aren't you? You've forgotten about what happened the day before yesterday so quickly?"
"..." Vermouth took a deep breath, saying nothing more, only wanting to deal with the dangerous security guard before she left. She smiled calmly and hung up the phone.
Hearing the busy tone from the receiver, Gin put down his phone but didn't rush to leave. Instead, he continued to squint and look at the other side.
Anyway, the next task wasn't urgent—he had already guessed that with that guy around, today's meeting might not go so smoothly, so he had adjusted his schedule in advance.
"They really won't shed a tear until they see the coffin." Gin picked up a can of coffee, took a sip, and scrutinized the building across the street like a spectator. "But what exactly does Uzo have on Vermouth that makes her so obediently stay here?"
...
The stairwell was dimly lit.
Ding Jinfang kicked the black and white cat that had broken his sunglasses. The cat raised its paw, as if to fight back. But then, for some reason, the black and white cat simply leaped to the side and landed on the stair railing.
Ding Jinfangxiong couldn't stop in time and kicked the wall hard. His whole leg went numb with pain, and he staggered against the wall.
"Aaaaaah—!!"
Hearing the noise behind her, Suzuki Sonoko didn't dare turn around and ran even faster in fright. As she was running frantically downstairs, suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something black fall from the sky and land next to her.
Sonoko Suzuki was terrified, but upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't the ferocious attacker she had imagined, but a cat that was entirely black except for its four white paws.
The cat stood on the square railing, scurrying along behind her, tilting its head as if trying to meow at her.
"It's you!" Sonoko Suzuki exclaimed, her face filled with emotion: Finally, in this critical moment, she encountered someone she knew—no, a cat she knew!
but……
"Why a cat of all people?!" Before the cat could even utter a sound, Suzuki Sonoko swiftly reached out, grabbed the cat while crying, and continued running, clutching it in her hand. "What good is a little cat like you? You'll be gone in one hit! Can't we switch Jiang Xia with her?! Ran would be fine, Officer Sato would be fine too!!"
The Snow-Treading Cloud Cat, dangling like a sack in her hand: "..."
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