Mino Suo stared at the god-like detective in front of him, cold sweat streaming down his temples. In a matter of seconds, he had become the center of attention.
This rapid turn of events left Mino's mind in a complete daze. He'd spent months meticulously preparing to kill the young lady, even practicing the murder method more than ten times. Yet, Jiang Xia had just walked in, took a quick look, and in less than a minute, Mino's flawless technique was completely exposed.
Mino struggled internally for a moment, trying to come up with a convincing excuse. But the pressure was too much, and he collapsed to the floor with a soft thud, launching into his monologue.
Jiang Xia listened as Mino confessed, a bit surprised.
Originally, Jiang Xia had thought that once they had a basic idea, Conan and Amuro would soon be able to follow the clues and find the evidence. But to his surprise, the murderer was so quick to admit it, saving them a lot of trouble.
Without even needing Jiang Xia to give a signal, the three ghosts swiftly grabbed the shikigami from Mino Suo's leg and the murderous aura that he'd been relieved to let go of after seeing his son-in-law get arrested.
Mino Suo's motive was pretty typical—he had started working with the young lady a few years ago, and most of the "Kikuemon works" sold by her were created by Mino Suo.
But recently, his skills had improved, and Mino had gotten ambitious. He compared himself to the other apprentices and thought he might be the one to inherit the name "Kikuemon." If he succeeded, he would become famous, and his works would sell themselves. So, Mino wanted to end the cooperation, afraid it would leave him with a dark history.
But the young lady wouldn't agree. While her father-in-law was still alive, she could manage everything, but once Mino was handed over the title of Kikuemon, her life would no longer be as comfortable. She just wanted to make more money now. Seeing that Mino was reluctant to cooperate, she threatened to give the title to someone else.
The death flag had been raised firmly.
As Mino Suo grumbled about the situation, Jiang Xia sorted through the murderous aura he had picked up.
When he looked up again, he saw Amuro Toru holding a pottery piece, deep in thought.
Jiang Xia glanced closely and realized it was the same pottery Mino Suo had used to assist in the murder. It had a hidden compartment, and inside was a mobile phone, the same model the young lady used.
This was the tool Mino Suo had used to control the young lady's falling time. She usually slept heavily and didn't toss or turn much, so Mino Suo had placed the pot with the mobile phone hidden under the cabinet where she slept. This morning, when he called the phone, the young lady, still half-asleep, reached for it, causing the pot to fall off the cabinet and choke her to death.
The same type of pottery had appeared on the organization's site because the young lady had accidentally sold the murder props when she was sorting through pottery, which led to it flowing into the market. Mino Suo was very talented in pottery art, and when it came to making murder props, he was meticulous. Objectively, this clay pot was of a high standard.
Amuro stared at the hidden compartment in the pot, surprised. After all the days of tracking, he found such an oolong/unexpected outcome. No wonder he couldn't find "suspicious people with intentions against the organization."
However, as a resident of this world, Toru Amuro was used to being disturbed by murders. He sighed and handed the pot to the police officer, preparing to leave. As a busy person with multiple jobs, he needed to get to his next task quickly now that this was wrapped up.
Meanwhile, Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko had arrived by train. On the way back, Suzuki Sonoko tried to squeeze into the car.
Amuro had originally wanted to refuse—the organization members, with all their secrets, shouldn't be hanging out with a group of students for no reason. It felt suspicious.
But Jiang Xia nodded so quickly that Amuro didn't have time to speak.
He paused, thinking that refusing would make things awkward. And come to think of it, if he was developing a new undercover agent, he should observe the relationships of the people involved. Jiang Xia's overly friendly attitude towards these people was unusual, no matter how you looked at it. It wouldn't hurt to take the opportunity to observe the situation.
With that in mind, Amuro grabbed the tires from the back seat, put away the mouse traps under the bewildered gazes of Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko, and made room for them to get in with the elementary school kids.
Amuro had thought it through—since Izu was only a couple of hours from Tokyo, they could start working as soon as they arrived and still keep an eye on Jiang Xia and his classmates during the ride.
However, after driving through the woods for a while, the car suddenly shook.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 18/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*