Guns and Coffee in the World of Science

The morning sun streamed through the windows of the Jingxin Café, gently casting its rays on every table and chair, and the air was filled with the faint aroma of coffee. Chen Shuo stood behind the bar as usual, expertly operating the coffee machine while chatting with Mao Lilan, who sat nearby. Chen Shuo truly enjoyed chatting with a cheerful girl like Mao Lilan; her smile always made him feel relaxed.

Mao Lilan is also happy to come to the "Jingxin" cafe, especially in the company of Chen Shuo. Chen Shuo is knowledgeable and can always share various interesting experiences and stories, which makes her feel much more relaxed than the tense and reasoning atmosphere around Kudo Shinichi.

However, Chen Shuo had actually noticed that ever since he became familiar with Mao Lilan, Kudo Shinichi's figure had appeared more and more frequently in "Jingxin". He couldn't help but glance at Kudo Shinichi, who was sitting not far away with a look of resentment on his face, and laughed to himself: "It seems that this guy is not very happy about me and Xiaolan getting too close."

Just as Chen Shuo was thinking about this, a sharp scream broke the tranquility of the early morning.

---

"Ah!! What's going on! Shinichi! What's wrong with you!" With a man's scream, the atmosphere in the cafe suddenly became tense.

Chen Shuo looked up, following the sound. He saw a man sitting in the corner, slumped over a table, his fingers stiffly stretched toward the ground. His face was pale, the corners of his mouth slightly blue, and he had clearly stopped breathing. A coffee cup beside the table had shattered to the floor, spilling black liquid and carrying with it the pungent aroma of coffee.

"What's going on? Someone's in trouble!" Mao Lilan hurriedly stood up and looked at the body with a worried look on her face. Kudo Shinichi reacted instantly and rushed to the fallen man.

"Ran! Call the police!" Kudo Shinichi shouted anxiously, as if Ran Mouri was just a tool to call the police at this moment.

Kudo Shinichi squatted down to examine the body while constantly observing his surroundings. Meanwhile, Chen Shuo looked at the scene calmly, slowly picked up a cup of coffee, took a sip, then walked over to Mao Lilan, rubbed her head, and said softly, "Xiaolan, sit down. This is not something you should be looking at."

Mao Lilan wanted to go forward to help, but seeing Chen Shuo's calm expression, she hesitated for a moment and finally sat back down obediently. Her face flushed slightly, and she touched the top of her head that Chen Shuo had gently stroked, with a look of mixed emotions.

---

"Inspector Megure! Over here!"

Soon after, Megure Juzo arrived at the scene with several police officers. They cordoned off the café, set up a cordon, and began to investigate the scene. Officer Megure walked over to Kudo Shinichi and glanced at the body with a serious look.

"The deceased's name is Shinichi Kitajima, an executive at a company in this city." Officer Megure examined the body and said in a deep voice, "It appears he died of poisoning, and the color of his mouth suggests so."

Kudo Shinichi nodded and turned his gaze to the coffee cup: "The coffee cup is broken. The poison must have been poisoned through the coffee. The question is, who had the opportunity to poison it."

Inspector Megure glanced at the people in the cafe. Besides Chen Shuo and Mao Lilan, there were two other customers. One was a panicked man in a suit named Matsumoto Ichiro, the deceased's business partner. The other was a young woman named Tanaka Miki, who appeared particularly nervous and frightened.

"I am innocent. I don't know why he suddenly fell down..." Miki Tanaka whispered, her voice trembling slightly. She kept twisting her scarf with her fingers, and it was obvious that she was emotionally unstable.

Inspector Megure frowned and looked at Kudo Shinichi: "Brother Kudo? Did you find anything?"

Kudo Shinichi turned his gaze to Chen Shuo behind the bar with a serious expression: "The coffee in the cafe was prepared by Mr. Chen Shuo. The poison might have been in that cup of coffee. At that time, no one except Mr. Chen could have touched this cup of coffee."

Chen Shuo heard this, still with a faint smile on his face. He took a sip of his coffee and said, "Kudo-kun, are you sure you want to jump to conclusions so quickly? As a famous detective, you should be more cautious."

Mao Lilan stood up and looked very dissatisfied when she heard what Kudo Shinichi said: "Shinichi! How can you doubt Shuo-ge? How could he be the murderer!"

Kudo Shinichi ignored Mao Lilan's emotions and continued to stare at Chen Shuo with a firm look in his eyes: "The evidence won't lie. The deceased's coffee was served by you. If it wasn't you, who else could it be?"

Chen Shuo shook his head slightly, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding customers before finally settling on the uneasy Miki Tanaka. "Kudo-san, you've overlooked a crucial point—if I were the one who poisoned her, I wouldn't be so brazen. Actually, there seems to be something off about this Miss Tanaka."

Miki Tanaka's face turned even paler, her eyes flickering around, and she was obviously feeling the pressure: "I... I didn't..."

"Calm down, Ms. Tanaka." Chen Shuo remained calm. "You accidentally touched the deceased's cup when you entered the room. Your ring... seems to have some interesting little tricks, right?"

Miki Tanaka's face turned pale instantly, the scarf in her hand almost fell to the ground, and her body trembled slightly: "I... I don't know what you are talking about..."

Officer Megure stepped forward, his face serious. "Ms. Tanaka, please hand over the ring for us to examine."

Kudo Shinichi stared at Miki Tanaka. He keenly noticed that something was wrong with her behavior. Recalling the details of her entering the cafe just now, it seemed that she did touch the coffee cup.

"Ms. Tanaka, what is your relationship with the deceased?" Kudo Shinichi's voice was calm and sharp.

Miki Tanaka finally couldn't bear the pressure anymore. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she said in a trembling voice, "I... I had a relationship with him... He promised to divorce his wife and marry me, but in the end he betrayed me... I acted on impulse and..."

Kudo Shinichi took a deep breath, and the truth of the matter finally surfaced. In extreme anger and disappointment, Tanaka Miki poisoned Kitajima Shinichi with the poison in the ring, resulting in his death.

"So you tampered with the coffee cup while he wasn't paying attention?" Kudo Shinichi asked, his voice filled with helplessness. This case was actually very simple; he was just blinded by jealousy.

Miki Tanaka nodded weakly, tears streaming down her face. "I... I didn't want to, but he... he lied to me..."

With Tanaka's confession, the truth of the matter finally came to light. Inspector Megure signaled his men to take Tanaka away, and the atmosphere in the cafe gradually returned to calm.

---

After the case was solved, Inspector Megure walked up to Chen Shuo and said with a hint of apology: "Mr. Chen, I'm sorry to have you involved in this matter. Thank you for your cooperation."

Chen Shuo smiled faintly and said calmly, "You're welcome, Officer Megure. It's my honor to help you find the truth."

Inspector Megure nodded and left the cafe with the other officers. Chen Shuo watched them leave and sighed softly.

Mao Lilan walked to Chen Shuo's side, with an apologetic look in her eyes: "Mr. Chen, I'm really sorry about Shinichi's attitude just now..."

Chen Shuo smiled slightly and said softly: "Xiao Lan, there is no need for you to apologize for him. I understand his sense of responsibility as a detective. Suspicion is his job."

Mao Lilan felt a little relieved after hearing this, but she still glared at Kudo Shinichi angrily: "Shinichi, you really went too far this time! How can you doubt Brother Shuo so casually?"

Kudo Shinichi seemed a little embarrassed. Although he knew the matter had been resolved, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous and unwilling when he saw Mao Lilan defending Chen Shuo. He whispered, "I'm sorry, Xiaolan, Mr. Chen... I just want to find the murderer as soon as possible. I didn't mean to suspect you."

Chen Shuo smiled slightly and said nothing more. His eyes were deep, as if he could see through everything in Kudo Shinichi's heart.

"Shinichi, go home and stop bothering me." Ran Mouri said angrily, obviously dissatisfied with Shinichi's persistence.

Kudo Shinichi gave a wry smile and turned to leave, but before he left, he glanced at Chen Shuo again, his eyes revealing a complex mix of emotions. He had a hunch that Chen Shuo was no ordinary coffee shop owner, as he was so calm in the face of a murder case, but he had no evidence yet.

"Mr. Chen, I will definitely find out the secret you are hiding." Kudo Shinichi whispered, then walked out of the cafe.

Watching Kudo Shinichi's departing back, Chen Shuo revealed a meaningful smile, his eyes still as calm as water: "This kid... is too easily shaken."

The air was still filled with the faint aroma of coffee, as if what had just happened was just a trivial accident. He continued to chat with Mao Lilan. For Chen Shuo, this was just a small episode. He would not bother to kill someone.