Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

"..."

Kudo Shinichi, who has read enough mystery novels to fill up an entire large bookshelf, suddenly had the same strange feeling he had yesterday.

...No, he just encountered a case yesterday, how could it happen again today...and this is a university! Although there are shootings, homicides are relatively small... right?

Kudo Shinichi was filled with doubts, and just when he couldn't help but want to go over and take a look at the situation, a hand suddenly stretched out and put it on his shoulder.

Qingliu Binguang looked at him, then at the door, and asked in a calm tone: "What's wrong? The two of them have already gone up."

"——Xiaoxin? Are you down there?"

Kudo Yukiko's voice came from above.

"I'm here!!" Kudo Shinichi shouted in response as he quickly walked up the stairs, "Let's go up too, Teacher Aoyagi."

He was still used to calling him that.

Qingliu Binguang didn't look at the door anymore. His cell phone seemed to ring. He didn't take it out to check, and quickly went upstairs with Kudo Shinichi.

----

On the other side, two FBI agents enter the campus.

There were not as many visitors to the school as there were before, so when Judy took out her ID, explained her purpose and asked to enter the school for inspection, she did not cause any trouble, and the security guard did not stop her, and even notified a professor.

The professor took them into the building through the back door - this was Judy's request.

Kamel, who was traveling with us, also wondered: "Why are you walking this way? Aren't all the visitors to the school in front?"

"...Xiu said so."

As Judy said this, she looked up into the distance. The church was right across the street. She could see it more clearly from here than from the front.

Yesterday they found obvious clues to the murderer's next location in the steam room - a huge clock and a vertical line of unknown meaning.

Based on the identity of the female victim's music teacher, Shuichi Akai guessed that it was a carillon. The reason the painting was so big was because it referred to the largest one.

This reasoning is very simple and crude. If it were included in a local Japanese mystery novel, readers would definitely be chasing and yelling, "What kind of Baga reasoning is this!", and they would even suspect that the people who came up with the puzzles and solved the puzzles have brain problems.

But Shuichi Akai said it seriously, and Judy and others in the FBI were willing to believe him and went to Riverside Church early this morning.

Akai Shuichi led a few people into the church, and the others were scattered around where the carillon could be seen. She and Kamel were in charge of the music academy next door.

Kamel would not question Akai's decision. He looked left and right seriously, trying to find out if there were any suspicious signs nearby.

His reaction caught Judy's eye, and she sighed inwardly.

Because this case is most likely the organization's revenge, this made Kamel, who led to the failure of the operation last year, feel very uncomfortable. He refused the protection of the headquarters and insisted on participating in the investigation.

Currently, the agents involved in that operation, except Shuichi Akai and Kamel, the other agents and their families who are still alive are all under the protection of the FBI, and their whereabouts can be completely determined.

...If there is a new victim, who did the prisoner choose?

They walked through the corridor, nothing out of the ordinary. The two did not continue to communicate. Although the professor was curious about what they were looking for, he did not ask any more questions.

Soon they arrived at the door at the end of the corridor. The professor explained: "This place has been abandoned."

"Why?" Judy asked.

"In the stage collapse accident, a student's hand was crushed by the piano when he fell. Two fingers were crushed and fractured. He could not recover to his previous condition. After being discharged from the hospital, he returned here and shot himself..."

Judy was about to ask for more details, but just then she noticed strange footprints at the door and no movement inside.

Her heart was filled with alarm, and she took a step forward and pushed the door open.

Chapter 221: Little Silver Bullet Scores a Second Score

Between that door and the formal concert hall, there was a small lounge for performers to adjust, and a teenager fell on the floor of the lounge.

His hands were handcuffed in front of him, a rope was wrapped around his neck, and his ankles were tied from behind, bending his body backward into a C shape. The pair of green eyes stared at the intruder blankly, without any emotion at all.

He is dead.

Judy was shocked to see a person squatting next to the boy's body!

The sound of her opening the door startled him. He turned around and saw a pair of black gloves on his hands and a mask on his face!

"Oh, God……"

The professor was stunned when he saw this scene.

"Don't move!!"

Judy drew her pistol and pointed it at the suspect. In fact, she was confused at this moment. She never expected that she would directly hit the suspect!

"Stand up and slowly raise your hands!"

Kamel finally reacted and took out his gun and pointed it at the opponent.

The other person stood up slowly.

Judy couldn't see his face, but she could only tell that the man was close to 1.8 meters tall and was wearing thick clothes - not sure if he was afraid of the cold or if he was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath.

Seeing that the other party was still clenching his fists, Judy ordered loudly: "Let go of your..."

"boom!"

Before she finished speaking, she saw the other person suddenly open his fingers, something fell from his palm, hit the ground, and a burst of bright light shot out. They couldn't see anything for a moment.

"!!!"

There was no protective frontal flash bomb, and even if Judy wore glasses, she could not recover for a while.

There was a bang in her ears, the sound of the door being slammed shut. When she finally opened her eyes, she found that the man was gone. At the same time, there was a clanking noise behind the door of the formal concert hall, as if someone was moving something inside.

Judy went up and pushed the door, but it didn't budge.

There was still the sound of things being dragged inside. She suspected that the other party was blocking the door with something, and looked at the professor anxiously: "Are there any other entrances or windows here?!"

"There are no windows. Go around here. There is a back door on the left side of the concert hall..."

Before the professor could finish speaking, Kamel rushed out.

Judy stared at the door. While she urgently notified Akai Shuichi and other colleagues in the church next door, she asked the professor to find guards to quickly evacuate teachers, students and tourists, and finally pressed the button on the small intercom.

"——Kamel, are you here?!"

Kamel on the other side quickly walked through the woods in the middle of the teaching building.

He heard his walkie-talkie making a rustling sound, and was about to press the answer button when someone suddenly appeared in front of him.

The other person was a stooped old man wearing a cleaner's clothes. He was almost hit by Kamel who was rushing towards him, and he let out a scream.

Kamal was so anxious that he was sweating, but he still gave him a hand and even helped to pick up the fallen broom: "Sorry!"

The old cleaner took the broom tremblingly, and then looked at him with eyes that looked like fear and suspicion.

Kamel met his gaze, and belatedly realized that the other party was also a little suspicious - there were too few people in this place - and quickly asked: "Did you see anyone coming out from there?"

The cleaner shook his head: "I've been sweeping the floors here, sir. Today is the open day, and I have to work hard to show the most beautiful campus to those parents and children..."

The intercom kept ringing, Kamel pressed the button, and Judy's voice suddenly came from inside:

"——Kamail, are you here yet?! He is still moving things inside. Hurry up and block him at the back door!"

Hearing what Judy said, Kamel's suspicion of the cleaner in front of him suddenly plummeted. He apologized again and continued running towards the door.

He prayed that he didn't delay too long, and asked as he ran: "I'm here! The door here can't be opened! ... By the way, have you informed Akai?"

"He knows and is on his way now! The professor called the police and the city's SWAT team will be here soon! We just need to block the exit and prevent him from escaping!"

Judy was agitated and spoke loudly, and the suspect inside may have heard her.

They heard a terrified voice yelling in the concert hall: "Don't come in! I have a hostage! If you dare to knock on the door, I will shoot the hostage!!"

"!!!"

Judy and Kamel were both stunned. Today is the school's open day. There are far more people on campus than usual. It is easy to capture a few hostages.

"Don't be impulsive!"

Judy comforted her loudly. She held a gun in one hand, temporarily put down the walkie-talkie, and used her free hand to send a text message to Shuichi Akai that "the other party may have taken hostages."

Then Shuichi Akai called.

Judy picked up the answer immediately, not daring to use such a loud voice to avoid alerting the people inside: "Xiu, the situation is very bad now, how long do you have until you arrive?!"

"I have arrived at the school gate." Akai Shuichi said, "When you came in, what were the footprints at the door? How many people were they?"

His voice remained calm, and Judy gradually calmed down and began to remember. But at this moment, they heard together——

"boom!!!"

A deafening sound came from the concert hall.

Kamel was shocked: "Did you fire the gun?!"

"not me!"

Judy was equally shocked. She threw herself at the door and knocked hard: "What's going on? Did you shoot?!"

There was no response from inside.

"That doesn't sound like the sound of a pistol." Shuichi Akai, who also heard the sound through his mobile phone, said, "Judy, Kamel, go in now. The prisoner may not have any hostages!"

Judy didn't know why Shuichi Akai, who hadn't arrived yet, made such a judgment, but she believed what he said.

She tightened her grip on the pistol, put her finger on the trigger, and counted "one, two, three" with Kamel, and then kicked the door with all her strength.

The door opened suddenly, much easier than she expected, as if it was just locked.

Sunlight fell into the concert hall through the sealed windows above, and the whole room was exceptionally bright. Judy saw Kamel who came in from another door, saw the neatly arranged seats, and saw the speakers on the stage. and loudspeaker.

But there are no hostages. There are no prisoners.

Judy stared blankly at the empty room. Suddenly, she noticed the stairs leading to the second floor on the right side of Kamel: "Kamel!"

Kamal also noticed the stairs and ran up quickly, followed by Judy.

The two went up to the second floor. There is not much space on the second floor, and you can have an unobstructed view from the stairs.

Judy looked around warily and saw a door close at hand. She quickly complained in her mind that the professor had missed such important information, and rushed over to open the door.