The Split-Actress in Conan's World

“This house is really magnificent!”

Several people were waiting outside the gate of the mansion for Ikemura Kimie to open the door. Kogoro Mori looked up and saw this mansion with a garden, and couldn't help but admire it.

"Please come in." Mrs. Chicun took the lead and led everyone in.

"Madam, you're back." The long-faced man who greeted them at the entrance was the Ikemura family's butler, Koike Fumio.

"Where is the sir?" asked Ikemura Kimie while taking off his coat.

"He is probably still in the study on the second floor." Butler Koike recalled and said uncertainly.

He saw a few people behind Ikemura Kimie and came over enthusiastically.

"How many are there?"

"Ah, we are..." Kogoro Mouri couldn't figure out what identity he should use to visit, and he dragged out the words for a long time.

Fortunately, Mrs. Ikemura reacted quickly and simply said, "It's my old friend Mr. Maori and his family."

After Butler Koike knew how to address him, he asked thoughtfully, "So, Mr. Maori, what kind of drink would you like?"

"It's all right, hahaha..." Kogoro Mori touched his head and said casually.

At this time, a girl with short hair and a headband came over with a smile. It was Yukiko Katsuragi in the photo.

"Ah, Mom, you're back?"

She first greeted Ikemura Gongjiang, then looked at Maori and the others: "Hello!"

Conan keenly noticed that when Ikemura Kimie was called, his expression became surprised.

"You, why are you here?"

Ikemura Kimie spoke a lot faster, as if he was frightened.

"I asked her to come." Another protagonist in the photo came over. Takayoshi Ikemura put one hand on Sachiko Katsuragi's shoulder and stood behind her like a backer.

"Dad has been refusing to see Sachiko, so I had to take the initiative to create opportunities."

As he spoke, he raised his head and looked towards the study on the second floor.

"But he still doesn't seem to want to leave the study..."

It seemed that Katsuragi Sachiko was a little nervous as it was her first time coming to her fiancé's house. This girl was trying very hard to leave a good impression on others.

She suppressed her hands that were trembling slightly due to nervousness, and smiled contagiously, which made people feel good at first sight.

"You are all my friends?"

Kogoro Mori also smiled and was about to respond.

“It has nothing to do with you!!”

Ikemura Kimie's voice suddenly rose, almost breaking, and sounded very sharp.

She frowned and looked very mean.

"And there's no reason for you to call me mom! Know where you stand!"

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

Katsuragi Sachiko lowered her head in disappointment, feeling a little aggrieved.

Ikemura Kimie led a few people upstairs, leaving Katsuragi Sachiko and Ikemura Takayoshi behind.

"What? You're just a second wife!" Takayoshi Ikemura hugged his fiancée and said angrily while looking at Mrs. Ikemura's back.

As they walked up the stairs, Mrs. Ikemura called out in surprise, "Dad?"

"Why are you here too?"

A slightly hunched white-haired old man was standing in front of the stairs, having a pleasant conversation with another figure.

Although that man looked much younger, putting the two of them together easily created an atmosphere of an old man enjoying his retirement.

"Who is this?" Ikemura Gongjiang looked at the man in confusion.

"Oh, it's Gongjiang," Grandfather Ikemura Toshimitsu turned around, stroked his long white beard and laughed, "You said you wanted to talk to me about fishing, so I came here."

"This is a friend I met when I was a professor at the University of Tokyo!"

At this time, several people behind Ikemura Gongjiang also went up the stairs and were able to see the man clearly.

"Professor Lecter?!"

Lecter raised a hand and waved them.

Mao Lilan's bright big eyes were full of confusion. She didn't expect to meet this person here.

"Why is the professor here?"

"I'm still on vacation, so it's not strange to be anywhere." Lecter smiled gently.

"Actually, Professor Ikemura invited me to go fishing. We are making preparations here, and we will set off after Professor Ikemura is done."

The old professor took out a piece of cloth with a picture of a giant catfish on it, shook it in front of him, and laughed heartily.

"Look, isn't he plump?"

Ikemura Kimie said in a coaxing tone, "Ah, yes, it's really big! Then please wait in the Japanese-style room, I'll be there soon."

The old professor obediently walked downstairs.

Maori Kogoro looked back at the old man and said, "Is this okay? You've already made an appointment with him..."

"It doesn't matter. He'll forget it soon anyway."

There was also a look of fatigue on Ikemura Gongjiang's face.

"Dad has become very forgetful lately."

Lecter nodded: "From what I have observed, Professor Ikemura already has signs of Alzheimer's disease."

"What is that?" asked Mao Lilan.

"It's Alzheimer's disease." Hattori Heiji explained.

Mrs. Ikemura looked a little worried: "When people get old, they will be very troublesome."

"Professor Ikemura is already 78 years old. He only shows some signs of Alzheimer's disease. He is considered to be a relatively stable elderly person." Lecter did not comment.

As they were talking, several people had already arrived at the door of the study.

Ikemura Kimie reached out and knocked on the door, but the knock was muffled because he was wearing black plush gloves.

"Honey, I'm back!"

"husband?"

There was no movement in the study.

"Strange, isn't it inside?"

She muttered something, took out her small bag, took out a key from it, and opened the door.

Conan's face flashed with confusion.

She clearly had the key, so why did she pretend to knock on the door?

Moreover, both the housekeeper and Takayoshi Ikemura said that Mr. Ikemura was in the study, so how could she say something like "Isn't he here?"

As the heavy door was pushed open, the layout of the study came into view.

There were bookshelves filled with books on all four walls. In the middle of the room was Mr. Ikemura's desk, on which were piled several large volumes.

Next to the desk, a bulky speaker was playing an opera, but the study was so soundproofed that they hadn't heard it before.

"Really? He fell asleep without even turning off the stereo." Mrs. Chi Cun looked at Mr. Chi Cun sitting at the desk, sleeping with his face propped up, and she couldn't help but feel resentful.

Hattori Heiji and Conan followed Uncle Mori and gathered around the speaker, trying to figure out how to turn it off.

"Honey, it's time to get up!"

"husband!"

Mrs. Ikemura came up behind him, holding his shoulders and trying to shake him awake.

thump.

"Husband?!"

At this moment, everyone in the room looked over and saw that the "sleeping" Mr. Ikemura fell down with a push and lay on the ground motionless.

In front of the desk, Ikemura Gongjiang had a terrified look on his face, his hands still in a supporting position.

Hattori Heiji reacted quickly, stepped forward, squatted beside Mr. Ikemura, and took his pulse.

Not long after, he withdrew his hand with a look of regret, and his already dark face became even gloomier.

"It's too late, he's already dead..."

"How, how could it be?"

Ikemura Kimie covered his mouth with his hands as if he couldn't believe it.

Katsuragi Sachiko and others downstairs heard the noise here and rushed to the study one after another, wanting to know what happened.

Kogoro Mouri used his qualities as an excellent detective to keep everyone out.

"Don't come in!"

"No one is allowed to enter the study until the police arrive!"

After he maintained the situation, he also asked Mrs. Ikemura to leave.

"Mrs. Ikemura, please don't move."

The old professor grabbed his beard, and the wrinkles on his face told of his anxiety: "What on earth happened?"

Kogoro Mori moved half of his body aside to allow them to see Ikemura Isao lying on the ground in the study, and his tone was sad.

"The owner of this house, Mr. Ikemura, has passed away..."

"You, what did you say?!"

When everyone heard the news, they were all shocked and opened their mouths in surprise.

Kogoro Mouri borrowed the phone in the study to call the police.

Relying on his small stature and the fact that his movements were not easily discovered, Conan secretly lay down beside the corpse and investigated the scene.

The body was still warm, and the lips were just beginning to turn purple.

He gently moved the dead man's face away, revealing half of the back of his head.

Ok?

There is a small red spot behind my ear...

When Conan saw the trace, a guess came to his mind, and he immediately looked around to search for it.

There was a desk not far away. He looked over there and found a suspicious silver needle under the desk.

He was about to reach out to take it, but unexpectedly a dark brown hand reached out from the other side.

Bang!

"Ouch!"

Conan cried out in pain and squinted his eyes to look, and found that Hattori Heiji was also covering his head and grimacing.

"What are you doing here, little brat?"

He stood up, grabbed Conan by the back of his collar, lifted him up, and handed him to Mouri Ran.

His tone was very serious: “How did you take care of him? You actually let this child see the corpse!”

Ran Mao Li took Conan from him and held him in her arms, feeling inexplicably guilty.

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

Soon, an old acquaintance, Inspector Megure, led a team of police officers to the crime scene.

"Then it was Mr. Ikemura's wife, Ms. Gong Jiang, who found the body. When you used the key to enter the study, Mr. Ikemura was already dead sitting in the chair, right?"

"Yes..." Ikemura Kimie looked sad, and at this moment she finally showed some signs of fatigue of a 50-year-old woman.

Inspector Megure nodded, turned his head, and looked at another frequent visitor to the crime scene with his half-moon eyes.

"Also, a detective who happened to appear at the crime scene at the request of this mistress."

"It's me, Kogoro Mori, Inspector Megure!"

Uncle Maori patted his chest with a playful smile, not feeling embarrassed at all.

"So this case should also be a homicide, Detective?"

"Well, there are no obvious external injuries. I'm afraid it was a natural death?"

Kogoro Mori performed normally.

"That's not right, uncle!" Conan hurriedly went up to pull the corner of his clothes, trying to get the case back on track, "Look at the body carefully again, it must be..."

"He must have been poisoned!"

A confident young man with an Osaka accent interrupted him, and Hattori Heiji stood up from the corpse, put his hands in his pockets, and made a final conclusion.

"This uncle was killed by poison."

"If you don't look carefully, it's easy to miss it. There's a small red dot behind the body's ear, and there's also a needle that looks like the murder weapon dropped nearby."

The police officer in charge of examining the body did as he said, turned over the body, and indeed saw the mark.

"Inspector, there are indeed such scars!"

Hattori Heiji got the affirmation, chuckled, and continued: "When this uncle was found, he was still holding his chin. Although it looks like suicide, no one would stab that place with a poison needle."

"So, someone must have stabbed him to death with a poison needle, which is why he is in this position."

"But, can we conclude that it was poisoning based on this alone?" Kogoro Mori was thwarted again. He pouted and narrowed his eyes, giving Hattori Heiji a little questioning.

"Can't you see that? Just look at the body carefully and you will understand."

Hattori Heiji seemed really confused. In his eyes, the famous Maori detective asked a very superficial question.

"The body's lips, fingers and toes had turned purple, and there were bleeding spots on the conjunctiva, all of which were evidence of death by suffocation."

"There are no signs of strangulation or drowning on the body, and there is no expression of pain on the face, so the poison must have paralyzed the nerves and caused suffocation!"

Lecter agreed, "Probably tetrodotoxin."

"I just checked it. The orbital pressure response has disappeared. The limbs are paralyzed and there are occasional convulsions."