Kindaichi's gaze swept over the young man and woman embracing him, after blinking a few times without noticing anything amiss, he looked back at the Deceased.
For Detective Kindaichi, rather than gossiping about the young female star's romantic history, he would rather focus on properly solving this case.
..
Feeling the intermittent soothing touches on his head and sensing the movement within his hair bun, Vermouth maintained his current posture, his shoulders trembling as she sobbed, his voice shaking as she murmured something softly.
However, the content was vastly different from the emotions she was displaying: "Are you done?"
"It's set." Gin's voice was calm and cold, his deep and heavy tone brushing against Vermouth's ear like a falling feather.
Even though she was teased, Vermouth was not the type of person to blush and lose his composure so easily; she maintained his exquisite performance: "It didn't show?"
In response to the blonde-haired beauty's confirmation, Gin gave an affirmative reply: "No."
Vermouth emerged from Gin's embrace, his face bearing just the right amount of tear stains and lingering shock. A forced smile hung on the corners of his lips, making his appear even more pale and weak, like a balloon flower ravaged by a violent storm.
No one would have suspected that the deeply affectionate scene between the handsome man and beautiful woman was actually just Gin using Vermouth's movements to hide a USB in her hair bun, to prevent any potential body searches by the Police.
After all, compared to Gin, Vermouth had been absolutely radiant all night, moving about like a socialite and drawing everyone's gaze—making it easy for his to naturally clear himself of any suspicion.
"This detective.. seems to have some skill." The Blonde-haired beauty, having completed all this, wore a weak expression on her face as she leaned half-way against her Partner, yet her light words were incredibly sharp.
Indeed." Gin agreed, but—"The more capable he is, the faster we can escape.
“True.” The blonde-haired beauty nodded slightly. He lowered his eyes slightly, his blue eyes appearing even more clear under the light and shadows, his sapphire blue dress complemented his blue eyes, creating a soft, shimmering glow.
And—
The police are coming soon.
The two exchanged a knowing glance, Vermouth stood up straight, raising his hand to smooth the wrinkles on his silk skirt.
..
“Akechi Kengo!” The Person in charge of the party hurried toward the arriving Metropolitan Police Department members, guiding them—though they didn't seem to need it, as both the gathering crowd and the bloodstain near the corpse made the location of the corpse perfectly obvious: “Over here!”
What are you doing here?!" / "You again?!
The Police Inspector with blue-grey hair and eyes, Kindaichi, who was searching for clues, spoke in unison, their gazes and tones both carrying a sense of mutual disdain for one another.
This kind of disdain was different from the common definition; it was a tacit, slightly helpless, mutually appreciative form of "disdain" that was not off-putting.
“Akechi Kengo..” Vermouth's deep blue eyes swept over the Police Commissioner who had just arrived, revealing a hint of a look as if she were watching a good show.
Gin watched silently as the two exchanged a few sharp words before finally, with great restraint, returning to serious business. His gaze swept toward Vermouth, who seemed to know something, he asked, "What is it?"
The youngest Superintendent in the history of the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo." Vermouth revealed a hint of a reserved smile, his voice soft and unobtrusive. "It is said he is also known as 'Sherlock of Shuou'.
Gin sneered, "Since when could just anyone call themselves 'Sherlock of Shuou' these days?"
Calculating the time, the 'Sherlock of the Heisei Era' should make her debut in a few years, right?
You all are clearly so close to Grandma Agatha, yet you insist on attaching Holmes to every title. Have you ever considered how Holmes feels about it?!
Vermouth smiled softly, brushing a stray strand of hair from his forehead with one hand; his smooth skin was flawless, revealing the favor the years had bestowed upon him. "Don't be like that. In fact, he is one of the few capable people in the Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigation Division."
"Is that so?" Gin replied nonchalantly, neither confirming nor denying it.
..
It must be said that both Kindaichi and Akechi Kengo are formidable individuals who cannot be underestimated.
They quickly figured out the reason for the power outage and also discovered the mechanism at the circuit breaker.
"This way, even if the Killer is inside the banquet hall, he could still control the switch." Kindaichi stared at the remaining fishing line, lost in thought; a doubt had been lingering in his mind regarding this matter.
But—" he murmured, "Since the murder has already been committed, why bother with the circuit breaker?
If the lights were turned off to facilitate a murder, then wouldn't turning them off after the Killer has already succeeded and the Corpse has been discovered be redundant?
"Could it be to escape amidst the chaos?" the trainee police officer beside him suggested.
Akechi Kengo gave the trainee officer a cold glance and said gloomily, "Every participant at the Party is on a recorded list."
Wouldn't it be obvious which one was missing?
Then.. could it be to create an alibi?" another officer speculated. "If the person who pulled the switch is the killer, then the person present wouldn't be the killer—but in reality, the killer wouldn't need to leave the crime scene to pull the switch..
"So—" he said, becoming increasingly excited.
Kindaichi was covered in frustration and quickly interrupted such nonsensical speculation: "Is the Killer stupid, or does the Killer think we are stupid!"
Actually, what he really wanted to say was, is the Killer stupid, or are you stupid!
After committing the crime, he pulled the lever to create an alibi.. Even without discovering the mechanism, just by thinking about it, one could tell that if he had the time to pull the lever, he would have been better off just fleeing the scene!
What if.. the person who pulled the switch and the Killer are not the same person?" Kindaichi offered a reasonable guess. "If that's the case..
In that case, they certainly wouldn't be working together." Akechi Kengo followed Kindaichi's line of thought. "Because that person could have easily controlled the power supply through the mechanism. If he and the Killer were working together, they wouldn't have made such a blunder.
Vermouth gave Gin a knowing look, but he did not feel embarrassed at all; instead, he observed the nearby duo show with a hint of interest.
The duo's performance continued.
If we start with the person who pulled the lever—" Akechi Kengo said thoughtfully, then asked aloud, "Did anyone notice if anyone left the Party midway?
Everyone looked at each other and whispered for a moment, they did indeed manage to identify a few people.
After all, a party lasts for several hours, with food, drinks, music; it wasn't impossible for someone to leave midway to go to the Restroom or the Smoking room, to have a smoke, or to wash their face and freshen up.
However, at this moment, the panicked Onlookers would not think that way.
They whispered among themselves, their eyes and brows filled with a certainty that, while lacking the Truth, felt correct to them. Even though there was still no evidence at this moment, they were convinced that the Killer was one of them. As for why?
Suspicious, indeed!
Setting aside the fact that these people act as if they are judges ready to pass judgment on right and wrong based solely on subjective thought, even a rational person would subconsciously keep their distance from them in such an atmosphere, adhering to a cautious and self-preserving attitude.
The abandoned people stood there alone, their brows furrowed deeply, clearly dissatisfied with the situation. A few hot-tempered individuals were already furious; even though they struggled to restrain themselves in front of the Officer, they could not help but clench their fists and mutter curses under their breath.
“Um, excuse me, that gentleman—” Amidst an indescribable awkwardness, Nanase Miyuki stepped forward quietly, speaking to Gin in an inquiring tone. He used the most tactful manner possible: "It seems I.."
“I saw you in the corridor.” Gin admitted without changing his expression. He gave a light cough, his green eyes fixed on Kindaichi, showing no sign of panic. “I was going to the smoking room to smoke.”
"Who knows if you're telling the truth?!" someone shouted from within the restless crowd.
Beside them, Vermouth showed a puzzled expression, his blue eyes revealing a sense of weakness, pity, helpless timidity. His stunning features were tinged with a hint of sorrow; he looked as if he wanted to say something but held his words back, a sight that was truly heartbreaking to behold.
His eyes, which were even more dazzling than a Sapphire, shimmered with a faint light, no one could tell if they were tears.
Gin: ……
What tears? This is clearly the light of gloating!
Don't think for a second that he doesn't know; Vermouth clearly just wants to watch the show!
Before he could even open his mouth to argue, Kindaichi took the initiative to explain, "What this gentleman is saying should be true.. When I ran into him before, I smelled cigarette smoke on him."
Gin nodded slightly, giving a cold, indifferent response.
It was not in vain that he had specially put on such a performance.
With someone actively clearing his name, Gin's suspicion was actually the smallest among those who had left the Party, a phenomenon that appeared quite dramatically absurd in the eyes of the two bottles of fake liquor.
Gin was one thing, but Vermouth had already laughed out loud; however, the Oscar Best Actress had such excellent acting skills that she looked as if she were truly happy for his Partner to be cleared of suspicion.
Gin..
"You had better restrain yourself." As the Police questioned the people without alibis one by one, the Silver-haired youth warned coldly. Although Vermouth was breathtakingly beautiful at this moment, being considerate of a woman's feelings was a concept far too distant for Gin.
Don't worry," Vermouth said in a tone like Chris Wynyard's, "I know my limits.
Is this why you're dancing on the edge of my patience?
Before Gin could snap back, the sound of breaking dishes drifted from not far away. The crisp shattering was immediately followed by a scream, easily drawing everyone's attention.
Chris's gaze turned cold—it was a look belonging to Vermouth: "They've found us."
The Drunkard was no longer moving; although no fatal wound had been discovered yet, his state of lying on the ground, his life hanging in the balance, seemed to suggest that his fate was grim.
The Police immediately split up several people to run toward the direction of the second corpse. The Onlookers present became even more panicked; the masses are often easily incited, at this moment, more than one person had already demanded to leave the venue.
"Don't worry—" This time, Gin was answering Vermouth, but the words were spoken in a completely different context.
The Silver-haired youth leaned lazily against the back of the nearest chair. Hearing the surrounding questions—"Who knows who will be next?", "I'm not the Killer, so why won't you let me leave?", "Can you take responsibility if someone else gets killed?"—he looked on with a mocking gaze. He raised his hand, revealing a small section of his exquisite, fair wrist, unhurriedly pointed toward the direction of the Corpse.
They won't find anything on me.
There are not many smart people in this world, but there are plenty of mediocre ones; the ratio between those who are truly wise and those who merely pretend to be clever is severely imbalanced.
That is why I am interested in so-called "rivals," after all—
Heh.
-----------------------
Author's Note: (1) Some of the cases in Detective Conan are very similar to Agatha's novels.
..
Thank you to the Little Angels who gave me a霸王票 or provided Nutrient solution~
Thank you to the Little Angel who provided Nutrient solution:
Gongjun Wangshu 10 bottles; Kongshan Jue 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for everyone's support, I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 89: As long as you swing the hoe well, there are no corners..
There are not many smart people in this world, but there are plenty of mediocre ones; the ratio between those who are truly wise yet appear foolish and those who are merely foolishly pretentious is severely unbalanced.
However, even though there are very few people among the Japanese police who can catch Gin's eye, Akechi Kengo clearly has some real skills.
Similarly, even though Akechi Kengo and Kinda Ichichi disliked each other, the two geniuses essentially held a profound mutual respect for one another; at the very least, they both had confidence in each other's investigative abilities.
Through their full cooperation, the Killer was quickly caught.
To be honest, Vermouth almost felt a sense of sympathy for this poor Killer.
Look at Gin's expression; he has clearly already seen through it to find out who the real killer is.
The blonde-haired beauty did not doubt for a moment that if it were truly necessary, Gin would give the Police and the Detective, who were working diligently on the case, a little hint "by accident."