Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 363 The Disguise is a Job

“Officer Yamamura,” Gao Mo heard the resentment in Yamamura’s voice, and after a moment’s thought, he asked Koshimizu to turn on the speakerphone, “This may not be suicide, but a premeditated murder.”

“Boss Kido, I also hope it’s murder,” Yamamura Misao sighed. “I finally managed to get this mission opportunity, but the scene looks like suicide.”

The windows of the car the deceased was in were completely sealed from the inside with duct tape. There was a bottle of sleeping pills nearby, and burnt-out charcoal in the car's stove. It's clear she committed suicide by burning charcoal, a fact that your agency's detectives can also attest to.”

"How did things come to this?"

Then, another man's choked sobs came from the other end of the phone.

“We’ve argued before, but I never imagined she would come to the place where we first met to commit suicide. I really love her, but I’ve been too busy with work lately to be with her…”

“That’s what happened,” Yamamura Misao sneezed and pulled his coat tighter. “They supposedly met at the ski resort here, and the woman probably drove here to commit suicide out of spite.”

"Wait a moment, I'll have Kindaichi contact you."

Gao Mo hung up the phone and took out his backup phone.

Xiao Ai watched with great interest. She was very curious: what if Gao Mo himself got confused one day?
Xiao Ai's brow twitched when she saw Gao Mo change his voice.

“I’ve already heard about what happened from Kido,” Gao Mo waved for Ai to leave, then spoke to Nanatsuki Koshimizu in Kindaichi’s voice. “Besides what you’ve said, there are a few other suspicious points at the scene. First, regarding the broken windshield, there are so many windows that could have been broken, yet they broke the windshield, which could have injured the woman.”
While there is a possibility of an emergency, considering other suspicious points, he probably knew from the beginning that the woman was already dead.

Next is the driver's seat where the woman was sitting. People who commit suicide probably don't consider how to sit comfortably, right? The driver's seat in the photo is obviously more suited to a male driver, so it's very likely that someone drove her there and then moved the sleeping woman to the driver's seat.

Finally, there's the spot where he chose to cut the tape with a utility knife—the passenger door, right? Did you try opening the passenger door when you got there?

“No,” Nanatsuki Koshimizu turned to look at the car, her expression solemn, “because that woman was in the driver’s seat, and the driver’s side door was facing us, so…”

“If you look closely at the tape, you’ll see that it was first applied horizontally, and then another layer was applied around the door seam. The cuts of the two layers of tape don’t match. I’m afraid the horizontal layer was cut open a long time ago, and the second layer of tape was just a cover-up and wasn’t actually applied tightly.”

Gao Mo and Xiao Ai, who was watching the show, stared at each other.

"It was all a setup from the moment they hired the detective. They just wanted someone to be a tool to help them find the crime scene and prove that the car was a locked room, thus faking a suicide..."

But in reality, after breaking the window and entering the car, he took the opportunity of cutting the tape to actually seal it up, thus completing the sealed room. Even if you tried to open the passenger side door, he would probably stop you.

"I see!"

Nanatsuko Koshimizu has bright eyes and, being a former high school detective, she understands things almost instantly.

"I understand, Kindaichi-senpai. I was almost fooled by this guy. Now I know how to investigate."

"It's nothing, we're all colleagues."

Gao Mo was about to hang up the phone when Koshimizu Nanatsuki suddenly called out to him, "Wait, Kindaichi-senpai! Um... that time at the Detective Koshien, it was you, right? I've been wanting to thank you."

"You're welcome."

Gao Mo gently ended the call, avoiding Xiao Ai's probing gaze with annoyance.

"There's nothing to see here. I just wanted to make it easier to separate work from life."

"How do you change your voice so freely?" Ai asked, inquiring. "You change your voice completely without any props. Even professional voice actors can't do that. Can anyone imitate my voice?"

"No."

Gao Mo did not satisfy Xiao Ai's curiosity.

He has a talent for human voice changer, so he upgraded his voice changer to the maximum level early on, and can make almost any sound.

But his only purpose was to act as a pseudonym.

All skills and professions are used to advance ranks; they haven't really been properly developed.

Even with an actor's pseudonym, he's still a perpetual slacker.

The magician only performed once with the magic troupe.

After being promoted to Level 5 detective, he simply ran away, which reportedly caused Officer Chiba to become depressed for a while.

The freelance journalist hasn't submitted any articles since the plane crash. The novelist isn't much better off; the professor is constantly being pressured to submit his work, and he even suspects that the professor was so annoyed by the pressure that he went to help Yusaku Kudo a few days ago.

"I'm so damn stupid."

Gao Mo smacked his lips and continued flipping through the projected book in his notes.

Although he has the ability to copy skills directly with his divine eye, he still prefers to read through the text several times beforehand if he's not in a rush. The learning process is also a kind of enjoyment.

"The children are all here?"

In the entryway, Yukiko Kudo helps Vermouth, disguised as an old lady, home. Seeing Conan playing games with the three children, she suddenly feels like she's back in her youth, and her mood brightens considerably.

Beside her, Vermouth looked exhausted and wished that Yukiko Kudo would leave quickly.

She didn't really want to go out, but this drama queen insisted on dragging her out. She pretended to be an old woman and went shopping all day. It was much more tiring than normal shopping, and she had never been so exhausted before.

Sometimes she even suspected that Yukiko Kudo had recognized her and was deliberately messing with her.

"Are you alright?" Ai asked, handing her a glass of water.

Is this person really Vermouth, the one who terrified her in her past life?
Why does it seem like the more I get to know someone, the more incompetent they seem?

Could it be because he almost died at Kido's hands?

"Thank you." Vermouth's heart softened.

Although the child looks a lot like Shirley, she is much cuter than that kind of woman, and vaguely resembles Shirley when she was a child.

"I heard you went to try out a virtual game today? How was it?"

I still prefer reality.

Ai recalled Conan's thrilling encounters in the game.

She prefers the freedom of reality to the game world and enjoys a simple life more.

For someone who has died once, there's nothing wrong with a mundane life.

"Really?" Vermouth chuckled. "I prefer reality too. Do you know how to knit? Want to give it a try?"

……

An underground parking lot.

Two black cars stopped facing each other, one of which was Gin's beloved car.

After all, it's an antique car. Although it has been repaired, the front of the car still bears scars similar to those on Gin's face.

Gin made no attempt to conceal his injuries, but his murderous intent was even greater than before.

"Where's that woman?"

The short-haired, thick-lipped sniper, Chianti, got out of the car opposite and angrily searched everywhere for Vermouth.

"That woman must be with you, right? Damn it, where is that damned woman?"

“I’ve already punished her, Chianti,” Gin and Vodka got out of the car. “Although Vermouth deserved to die for acting on her own, Calvados’ death is not her fault.”

"It's not her fault? If she hadn't called Calvados over, how could that have happened?"

“That’s right,” another sniper with a long face, who looked rather dull, chimed in, “I wanted to kill her too. Calvados died because she seduced him and used him as a tool…”

"And that Hunter thing!"

The short-haired woman, Chianti, had a fierce face. When her murderous intent erupted, the black tattoo below her left eye, resembling eyeshadow, was particularly terrifying.

"Don't let me run into them! I will definitely avenge Calvados!"

(End of this chapter)