"Next, Ms. Akiko Sayama, please come in."

In a state of anxious unease, as members of the tour group were called into the interrogation room one by one, Akiko Sayama clenched her teeth tightly, her right hand trembling as she touched the pearl necklace around her neck.

She felt like a prisoner on the guillotine with her eyes covered, not even knowing when she would die, and could only languish in fear and anxiety.

After finishing his questioning, Maeda Satoshi met his fiancée's bewildered and fearful gaze.

Last night, while Mingzi was washing up, he accidentally opened the wrong suitcase. It was a set of clothes meant for impersonating the Dark Baron, and since Mingzi had recommended the novel to him many times, he was absolutely certain he wouldn't mistake it.

Combined with her sudden outburst of temper, her insistence on locking herself out of her room, and her recent actions that seemed to be preparing something, Maeda Satoshi had already guessed the identity of the murderer.

He approached and hugged Mingzi tightly as she struggled to her feet, whispering comforting words in her ear, "Mingzi, we'll be alright. Nothing has been discovered yet."

Akiko Sayama leaned against him, shaking her head with a bitter smile: "No, it's all too late."

"That's Yusaku Kudo. As a fan of the Baron of the Night series, I know all too well his extraordinary deductive skills."

"Akiko..." Before Maeda Satoshi could finish his vow, Akiko pushed him away.

"Are you out of your mind?!" She slapped her fiancé's hand away, crossed her arms, and leaned against the wall with a mocking smile. "I brought you here to cover up my identity, but you've only become a hindrance. Since you're useless now, don't bother me anymore!"

In front of everyone present, Akiko Sayama laughed heartily and turned to walk into the room.

“Miss Sayama, tears are about to fall.” Her bold declaration was clearly heard by Yoya Kuromon, who was just a door away. He stood up and handed her a handkerchief.

“You don’t need to worry about these things.” Akiko Sayama casually wiped her hands, then sat down opposite her and solemnly informed her, “I want to turn myself in. I was used to murder Tokio Ehara.”

"Use?" Kuromon Haruya opened his eyes, his tolerance turning into seriousness.

Akiko Sayama hugged her arms tightly again and took a deep breath: "Yes, I did want to murder Tokio Ehara, but I was just a pawn to be played with by others."

"Three years ago, the software that my brother had painstakingly developed with all his heart and money was stolen by that shameless guy, Jiang Yuan Shi'an, using the Dark Night Duke! Because of him, my brother's career and dreams were destroyed, and in despair, he jumped off a building and ended his life!"

While taking notes, Kuromon Haruya guided him: "So you planned this trip to avenge your brother."

Akiko Sayama nodded, and after calming down, continued, "Yes and no. When I had just set up the chat room and hadn't yet determined my method, a netizen with the nickname 'Alchemy Medicine' suddenly contacted me."

They knew everything about me: my identity, my motives, and how I found Tokio Egawa. That person told me they were also one of Tokio Egawa's victims, and that the bastard had a lot of leverage over them.

After her brother's death, Akiko Sayama lived solely for revenge. "Alchemy" helped her plan the perfect crime and gather information on Tokio Ehara, while she only needed to don the disguise of the Dark Baron and carry out her revenge herself. It seemed like a win-win situation.

Their original plan was to lure Jiang Yuanshi to her room, drug him, dress him in the clothes of the Dark Baron, and then push him off the balcony.

In the vicinity of the Izu Princess Hotel, a strong wind known as the "Himekaze" blows during certain seasons. Using this special airflow, the police cannot pinpoint the exact location of Ehara Tokio's fall; she can simply disguise the case as an accident.

Hearing this, Kuromon Haruya pressed the tip of his pen in confusion: "But as far as I know, Himekawa only appears in the summer in Izu, right?"

That's why I said I was played!

Akiko Sayama rested her hands on her knees, covering her face helplessly. "No matter how much I investigated, all the information I found said that the Himeka winds occur in winter. I was already ready to take action when I realized that such conditions simply don't exist!"

"And Jiang Yuan Shi'an, I clearly pushed him off the nineteenth floor last night! There was absolutely no cover down there, tell me, how could we not find the body!"

As Akiko Sayama spoke, she became increasingly distraught, and in the end, she even grabbed Haruya Kuromon by the collar and questioned him loudly.

“Ms. Sayama, your testimony is very important; it will give us a decisive breakthrough.”

Signaling to the officers on guard to stop, Kuromon Haruya looked up and met her gaze. "Calm down first. We'll request technical support from our superiors right now."

A group of officers were assigned to take the overly agitated Akiko Sayama back to the police station first, while Haruya Kuromon took out his phone and began reading Rum's emails.

[The plainclothes officers in Izu alerted a gang of bomb thieves during their investigation. I have used them to lure Kudo Yusaku away. I will not let you down.]

P.S.: I personally witnessed Calvados pointing out the yacht with the police. In order to uphold your authority, I have to suspect that there might be a defection within the Vermouth faction.

From Rum (one year until retirement)

"That kid Rum, after all these years, he still can't forget about factional strife." Kuromon Haruya just smiled and let it go regarding Rum's habit of tattling every now and then.

After all, strictly speaking, Rum is the second-in-command within the organization, but the top leader in terms of finances.

While Gin is adept at making money, his expenses for each operation are not insignificant; the same applies to Vermouth, as a top-tier female star in the world, her expenses are proportional to her income.

The old guard, led by Pisco, even though they used the organization's power to get rich, didn't forget to leech off their hometown. The remaining codenamed members were either undercover agents who came to eat and drink for free or used the organization's research funds for team building. People like Vodka and Chianti were already rare honest ones.

Under such circumstances, as the boss, Kuromon Yōya certainly cannot devote all his attention to business. Therefore, as the loyal secretary who has served the Karasuma family for two generations, this important task can only be entrusted to Rum.

"Why don't we send him all the hottest business trends for the next thirty years..."

Although he lacks business acumen, Kuromon Haruya, as a transmigrator, still knows about future financial trends. Given the time flow in the Detective Conan world, this information would probably depreciate rapidly.

Thinking about all this, Kuromon Haruya walked to the hotel entrance, intending to contact Yokomizo Kengo through the police officers on duty outside.

A van sped through the crowd and crashed into a pillar next to Kuromon Haruya.

Bang!

With a gunshot, eight tall, burly masked men squeezed out of the deformed car door, taking tourists hostage while shouting at the police:

"Don't move! We've hijacked this hotel!"

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