Chapter 165 Twenty-one Vigilantes

"So you also think the murderer is among you?"

Conan sat cross-legged on the bed, with a few playing cards scattered on the clean white quilt in front of him - of course, they were not the original ones left by the murderer in the previous cases, but they were just the ones he took out from the playing cards in the guest room of this cruise ship.

At the same time, Conan had two small Bluetooth earphones in his ears and was talking to someone.

When he heard this question, he just picked up one of the cards in front of him and said, "Ah, I had doubts about it."

"The man who attacked the doctor controlled the gun with his right hand, but later Officer Date showed us a photo of Murakami when he was still working in the casino." Conan held the cards in one hand and used the other hand to retrieve the video footage of Murakami that he had taken before, frowning, "The Murakami in the photo is a left-handed person who deals cards with his left hand."

Conan was very concerned about this matter, and he also privately asked Date Kou for more details about the case. Unfortunately, Date Kou joined the company seven years ago and did not have a deep understanding of the case of that year.

The person who was Uncle Maori's friend and was in charge of the case back then was the first victim of this serial murder case, Megure 'Jusan'.

Because he was stabbed by the murderer, Inspector Megure, whose old wounds have not yet healed, needs a more stable and quiet place to recuperate, and Tokyo is not one of the options.

Fortunately, with the help of the Suzuki family, Inspector Megure is now able to go abroad for treatment with his wife, which is why they cannot be contacted for a while.

Conan had no choice but to put this doubt aside for the time being. After all, one can fake it with one's habitual hand. Moreover, he could only observe Murakami through video footage, so the information he obtained was definitely not comprehensive enough.

This doubt, which seemed insignificant at first, finally came to his mind again under the current circumstances.

"Hey, Hattori, do you still remember what I mentioned to you before?" Conan sent the photo to his friend, then turned off his phone and opened his notebook.

Maybe because he felt it was inconvenient to sit, the child simply lay on the bed and circled the two names in the notebook with a pen.

"Are you talking about the murderer's previous actions?" Hattori Heiji, who was far away in Osaka, leaned against the fence of the school rooftop and thought for a moment before saying, "Now that you mention it, I think I understand what you mean."

So far, four people have been attacked. As for Mr. Asahi Katsuyoshi who invited them to the cruise ship, Conan actually agrees with the chairman's guess that Mr. Asahi may have been killed. But as a detective, even if there is only a one in a thousand chance, he will not easily make a conclusion before finding Mr. Asahi.

"Among the four people who were attacked, Inspector Megure and the doctor were both shot by a dagger, and Xiaolan's mother ate poisoned chocolate. Although the attacks on these three people were also very dangerous, in fact, as long as they are rescued in time, their lives will not be in danger."

Conan paused his pen on the paper, and his tone became serious: "But Hiroki Tsuji was supposed to fly the helicopter alone at that time. If I hadn't been there, all of us - most importantly Hiroki Tsuji himself - would have died in that plane crash."

Even if he, Officer Date and his uncle had not been in the helicopter at the time and saw with their own eyes that there was something wrong with Hiroki Tsuji's eyes, in the end no one would have known that the murderer had tampered with the eye drops. They would have just thought it was an accident caused by Hiroki Tsuji's own poor driving skills.

The murderer's method of dealing with Hiroki Tsuji was completely different from the method he used to deal with the other three people! It was clear that his purpose was to kill Hiroki Tsuji.

If the murderer was really Murakami Jō who had a grudge against his uncle, then the person who had to be killed by this method should be his uncle's wife, Eri Kisaki, instead of Hiroki Tsuji who had only met his uncle a few times? This alone makes people question the identity of the murderer.

Now, add to that the missing and most likely murdered Asahi Katsuyoshi.

"I remember you are on the sea now." Hattori Heiji on the other side also thought of this, "If the rich uncle was really attacked before you boarded the ship, no one would find out. He would basically be alone and waiting to die."

"That's right." Conan pondered for a moment and closed his notebook. "Rather than saying that the murderer has a grudge against my uncle, it's better to say that the murderer's actions are clearly a grudge against Hiroki Tsuji and Katsuyoshi Asahi."

Only these two were attacked in a way that was certain to result in their death.

"No wonder you also suspected that the murderer was among the fellow travelers." Hattori Heiji suddenly realized, "Among the people on the cruise ship, there are people who may be related to both victims. These are the 'potential victims' who were invited!"

Yes, and if Conan was not too strict and only used the process of elimination based on the details of the dominant hand, he could have narrowed down the suspect's identity to the only two right-handed people other than their team of acquaintances, namely the sommelier Sawaki Kohei and the model Koyama Nana.

But the situation is unclear now, and we cannot just rely on our dominant hand to make a judgment. Who knows whether the murderer was in disguise when he committed the crime?

However, Conan actually has a primary suspect.

"The box of chocolates that Xiaolan's mother ate." The young detective explained, "Murakami-jo was released from prison not long ago, so it's impossible for him to have investigated so clearly what brand of chocolate Kisaki Eri likes. I recalled that not long ago, Xiaolan did mention this in a scene, and the person present at that time was..."

Sawaki is fair.

If he was the murderer, it wouldn't be surprising that he could use such a clever timing to send out the chocolate.

That day, when Kogoro Mouri and Eri Kisaki had an argument and Ran wanted to persuade them, Sawaki Kohei was also there!

"He is number eight, right? In that case, you should not only look for Mr. Xu, but also protect the model number seven."

The Osaka detective was shocked by the cunning Tokyo criminal: "If it was really the person you thought, why did he attack the first three people? Was it just to cover up his own criminal behavior and put the blame on Murakami?"

"Well, that's probably the case." Conan jumped off the bed, put on his backpack again and walked out. "It's not clear who he has grudges against yet, but since he attacked innocent Inspector Megure and his men in order to conceal his identity, I'm afraid he won't stop even if the remaining people on the ship have no grudges against him."

"Why can't I encounter such exciting cases in Osaka?" Hattori Heiji said with emotion, "Every time you come to me to discuss something, I have the urge to move to your place immediately."

"Hello..." Conan smiled and chatted with Hattori Heiji for a few more words before tapping twice on the Bluetooth headset and hanging up the call.

Their team consists of Officer Matsuda, Mr. Midorikawa, Miss Nana, Mr. Ford, Xiaolan and him. The rest of the people, except the chairman and the chairman's butler, are in a team with Officer Date.

Before starting the search for Mr. Asahi, Officer Matsuda suggested that they go back to the room to make some preparations, while he and Mr. Midorikawa would discuss which floor they would go to next.

No matter how small a cruise ship is, it is still a cruise ship. If they don't plan their route well, they will have to search for a long time and might even get lost, so everyone else accepted this reason.

This suggestion hit the mark, so Conan decided to go to the deck alone before Xiaolan came out and try his luck to see if he could talk to the young chairman.

He always felt that the chairman was not simple, and there was also a sense of déjà vu that made him feel very familiar.

The Ottonoe will stay at sea for two days and one night. It has just set sail and is not far from the shore. Conan believes that if the murderer is on the ship, he will not choose this time to attack the model Miss Nana.

Because if they really did that, the others would immediately know that the murderer was among them, and the cruise ship would immediately turn around and return, making it difficult for the murderer to move.

Moreover, since it was revenge, the purpose would be to see others die in fear, right? It would be difficult to conceal and inefficient to attack during the day, so according to Conan's reasoning, the murderer would most likely choose to attack at night when everyone was tired and relaxed after a day of searching.

So Conan planned to look for Mr. Asahi during the day, and then anesthetize his uncle and sneak out at night to confirm the identity of the murderer.

For some special reasons, Conan does not intend to share his reasoning with others for the time being, not even with Midorikawa Hikaru and others.

Conan, who was thinking this, had no idea that there would actually be a 'big surprise' waiting for him in tonight's action.

The little detective, who knew nothing about the plan of a certain evil-minded adult, was tentatively sticking his head out from the corridor and secretly observing the chairman who was a little distance away.

Akae Nazuki, who was enjoying the sea breeze at the other end of the deck, suddenly heard Furuya Rei's teasing: "Are you going to ignore him? Your little friend has been watching here for a while."

Chijiang Nayue held her face and tilted her head to look to the upper right, into her good friend's eyes.

The bad-humored savior's desire to perform exploded at this moment, and he couldn't help but give Furuya Rei an incredibly adorable smile.

On the sunny sea, a handsome and delicate-looking boy in kimono was smiling at him, as if his reflection was the only one in his eyes.

This feeling...

This feeling is so scary!!

When Furiya Lingyi saw this expression on Akae Nayue's face, he felt horror all over his body. His rich experience of being tricked by little demons told him that this guy definitely had no good intentions in his mind.

His expression changed suddenly, and the smiling mask that he kept calm on almost broke at this moment. He subconsciously took a step back.

Oh no, run—

"Are you jealous, Brother Zero?"

The moment these words rang out, Fūya Rei's entire demeanor darkened, because he knew that he couldn't escape.

The black-haired, red-eyed handsome boy suddenly looked guilty, and came close to touch his hands, infinitely shortening the distance between them. Then he looked him in the eyes from bottom to top, and said softly, "Don't worry, no matter how many assistants appear to satisfy me, Brother Zero will always be the most important family member in my heart."

It took Rei Furuya's brain a full three seconds to process the two sentences he heard.

Then he took a deep breath, feeling an increasingly scorching gaze, and the public security elite, who also had superb acting skills, immediately got into the role.

"I hope you are joking. I certainly don't mind those things." The blond, mixed-blooded magnate held the boy's hand and looked at his eldest master worriedly and said, "I am just worried about Master Yue's health. If more people can help you instead of me, I will be very happy."

He was standing facing Conan, so Conan, who couldn't hear anything, could only vaguely guess what Furuya Rei was saying based on his lip movements.

Conan's expression became a little subtle.

Are this master and servant playing some weird game?