The Split-Actress in Conan's World

Inspector Megure stopped in his tracks when he was called out and looked over in confusion.

"The ball was right below us, so the shooter should be in the same stand as us, right?" Conan reasoned clearly, "With the effective range of a pistol, it's impossible to accurately shoot a football across a 68-meter wide stadium."

"Ah, you're right." Inspector Megure agreed with what he said.

"Since he is in the same area as us, why does he think she is a boy?" Conan pointed at the short skirt of Haibara Ai beside him.

"It must be because it's blocked by the fence, so we can't see it." Chiyoko came over suddenly with a cheese stick in her hand and continued.

"That's right. In other words, the man who made the call was on the opposite side of the stand from where we were. The man who called to extort money was not the same person who fired the shot!"

"There are at least two prisoners!"

"So that's how it is!" Inspector Megure was shocked and quickly took out his walkie-talkie.

"Everyone, please be careful. If you find a suspect, don't act rashly. Just keep an eye on him. There is more than one criminal!"

Conan realized that there were still omissions in the suspicious characteristics he had just divided, and added: "Also pay attention to those who carry telescopes."

"From such a long distance, it was very difficult to see the six children in the crowd and identify that one of them was wearing a blue hat. The criminal may have used tools such as binoculars."

"It might be an opera telescope!" Ayumi grabbed the tail of the scarf and helped to come up with ideas.

"The monocular telescope is also suspicious!" Yuantai used both hands to pretend to look into the distance and began to examine the densely packed people in the audience.

“Don’t let your guard down even when using portable cameras!” Mitsuhiko gave constructive advice.

"Ordinary glasses may also be a big suspect." Haibara Ai looked at Conan who was thinking with a smile.

Conan said "Eh", and quickly realized that this guy was referring to his glasses prop.

"Hey, hey, the doctor's invention won't be so common." The corners of his mouth twitched.

Although he didn't understand the last sentence, Inspector Megure still roughly understood what Conan meant, and added on the intercom: "In any case, the criminal may have a tool that can see far away, everyone pay attention!"

Jingle Bell--

Mr. Kaneko froze and the phone in his hand rang. He looked at Inspector Megure as if asking for help.

"Inspector! They're calling!"

"Calm down!" Inspector Megure saw that his hands were shaking, and calmly comforted him, "Just answer the call normally, try to delay the time, but don't be too deliberate."

He picked up the intercom again: "Attention all units, the criminals are calling, see who is using their cell phones!"

Mr. Kaneko nodded, swallowed nervously, answered the call, and turned on the speakerphone.

"Hello? I'm Director Jinzi."

"..."

"Why didn't you answer the phone immediately?" The man's dull voice came from the phone. He seemed suspicious, and the next sentence made Mr. Kaneko's heart almost jump out.

"Are you notifying the police?"

"No, that's not the case! It just took me some time to prepare the money."

"It would be better to put the money at the exit of Gate 18 at halftime of the first half."

"I understand, but how can I make sure that the money is handed over to you and not taken away by passers-by?"

beep - beep -

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Mr. Kaneko looked at the phone that had been hung up and angrily hit his thigh.

"Damn it, there was no chance to delay at all!"

"How is it, Inspector Megure?" Conan approached Inspector Megure, "Have you identified any suspicious persons?"

"Ah, there were eight people in the audience who were making phone calls at the time." Inspector Megure put down the walkie-talkie, took a structural diagram of the stadium from the TV station, and began to deploy police forces.

"Hey, where's my walkie-talkie?" When he raised his head to give orders, he found that the walkie-talkie was gone.

"Is this it, Uncle Inspector?" Conan handed over the walkie-talkie with an innocent look on his face and smiled harmlessly.

Huiyuan Ai walked up to him lightly and whispered in his ear: "What did you do with the intercom?"

"A bug. This way we can keep track of the police's movements." He proudly raised his glasses, revealing a missing corner of the temple.

"What a skilled criminal act, the target is the police." Chiyoko looked at him jokingly while holding a cheese stick in her mouth.

"Hehe...where are Genta and the others?" Conan abruptly changed the subject and pretended to stick his head out, looking for the three little ones.

Huihara Ai shook her detective badge and said, "Mr. Kaneko said that if you show half of your ticket, you can enter again. Then the three of them ran away happily."

"Happily..." Conan's expression froze, "They can't be..."

Chiyoko had already efficiently turned on her detective badge and tuned to the channel with the three little ones.

The children seemed to be engaged in some exciting secret agent activities, and their breathing was a little rapid.

"This is Yuantai, have you seen anyone suspicious? Over!"

"Mitsuhiko received it. No suspicious person was found. Over! Ayumi, please report the situation."

"Hello...ah, I'm Ayumi!"

When the three were having fun, Conan's intolerable roar joined the channel: "What do you mean by 'I am Ayumi'? What the hell are you doing?!"

"The other party has a gun. If you get shot, you will die!"

He said in a serious tone that left no room for doubt: "Let the police handle this. You kids, leave the gym immediately!"

"No!" the three little ones shouted in unison.

"Aren't you a child yourself? The guy who was missing for the longest time in the castle last time has no right to say that!" Yuantai retorted disdainfully.

"We also want to help catch the bad guys!" Ayumi said stubbornly.

Mitsuhiko was much more rational: "The Junior Detective Team can't retreat, and we have plainclothes police officers with us, so we can ask for help if we get into danger."

"With kids like us following them, the chances of the police being discovered will be much lower, right? After all, the criminals can't possibly expect that there are plainclothes officers with children."

Conan was speechless and was actually a little convinced.

"I understand," he finally compromised, "but if you find a suspicious person, you must not act alone. You must notify me and the police. Do you understand?"

"Got it!" The three little ones quickly became excited again.

Huihara Ai let out a breath and put her slightly cold hands into her pockets.

“Who knows? Maybe they really have the qualities to be reliable detectives.” She raised her head slightly and looked at the river of clouds slowly flowing in the sky.

"Kind, brave, rational, and full of sense of justice."

"That clean scent is exactly the same..."

Conan turned around when he heard the voice, but the detective's keen sense of smell did not allow him to understand the latter sentence.

"what?"

"Nothing." Huibara Ai shook her head.

"If the criminal went to withdraw the money, he would be arrested by the police immediately, and then the real criminal among the eight people who were under surveillance in advance would not be able to escape."

"Don't you think it's going too smoothly?"

"After all, they have revealed too many clues. The road to pursuing the truth is actually like this, as monotonous as a straight road. It's just that those criminals always like to use some sleight of hand to deceive others." Conan held his head, not surprised.

"There is one thing I care about very much." Huibara Ai stopped and decided to express her doubts.

"If a prisoner with a gun needs to be in a crowd to ensure his deterrent effect, does a prisoner who makes a phone call really need to be in the audience?"

"It's hard to believe that the criminal would make a blackmail call in a crowd. Wouldn't it be easy for people around him to get suspicious? As long as there's one suspicious person who calls the police, he'll have no way to escape."

"It doesn't make sense that an inmate who was alert enough to turn off his phone to prevent call back would put himself in such an unsafe situation."

Her words did indeed make Conan stunned for a moment, and he had to admit that it was indeed true.

If Haibara Ai's words gave him inspiration, then Chiyoko later gave him a push on the door to the truth.

"All we need to do is find a position where we can see the whole place and be alone without being suspected, right?" Chiyoko waved the cheese stick that she had eaten clean in her hand and directed her orders to the audience.

"We are just on one side of the stands, so there are too many blind spots. It would be difficult to escape if an accident happened."

"I understand!" Conan's eyes lit up, and he turned back to look at his two friends excitedly, "You are really my Watson!"

"Ah, great detective, you want us to be your assistants so casually?" Although Haibara Ai said this, there was a faint smile on her face.

"And then, what major discovery did you make?"

"It can have a panoramic view of the entire scene, can be alone without being suspected, is closest to the exit, and also has a telescope function..." Conan smiled, with a hint of anticipation in his eyes, as if a shark that has smelled the blood from the wound of its prey is ready to strike.

"Then there's only one spot!"

"You mean..." Haibara Ai understood, and after thinking about it, she realized that it was indeed a very simple thing to think of, but because of their position, they subconsciously ignored it.

"Yes, that's it." After Conan locked onto the truth, he immediately took action and ran towards the gymnasium.

"What an energetic kid." Haibara Ai ran two steps and felt her breathing became heavy, so she stopped and walked over slowly.

"Then I'll catch up first. After all, the criminal has a gun in his hand." Chiyoko greeted her and started to catch up.

Inside the gymnasium, the work area of ​​​​Nichimai TV Station.

A man with a hooked nose was wearing a headset and fiddling with a bulky video camera.

"I finally figured it out, uncle." Conan confidently jumped down from behind him and said with his hands behind his back.

"You are the criminal who threatened Nichimai TV, right?"

Seeing the hook-nosed man turn around, he chuckled and continued, "As a TV station photographer, no one would find it strange to observe the surroundings while using the camera."

"And with a headset on, people would only think you were communicating with the director and wouldn't realize you were actually making a blackmail call. I'm afraid no one would have thought that it was actually someone from the TV station who was threatening their own company."

"Humph, a kid who hasn't even grown all his hair yet actually saw through me." The hook-nosed man sneered and turned his head to adjust the focus of the camera as if nothing had happened.

"So, do you want to surrender?" Conan stared at his back, secretly estimating the area of ​​skin exposed by his coat.

"The shooting was done by your accomplice, and there were no casualties. If you turn yourself in now, maybe your sentence won't be too long."

"There's nothing we can do about it..." The hook-nosed man rustled and turned around quickly.

call out--

Conan seized the opportunity and fired the anesthetic needle watch hidden behind his back at his neck. Unexpectedly, when he turned around, the needle was aimed at his chest.

Just then, the hook-nosed man pulled out a black pistol from his arms, and the anesthetic needle shot into the metal, falling weakly to the ground.

Oops!

Conan's heart skipped a beat. The hook-nosed man had already taken out a pistol, tucked it under his armpit, and was pointing it at him.

"That's a Beretta! Not a Tokarev?!"

"You're quite knowledgeable, kid," the hook-nosed man chuckled, "Both the Beretta and the Tokarev were originally intended to be used to rob a bank a year ago."

He showed some reminiscence: "It took three years and all my family's wealth to prepare a perfect plan..."

"If it wasn't for the fact that on that day, the bank held a boring farce in which an artist played the role of the bank president for a day, so it was closed to the public..."

"My girlfriend was depressed for a long time because all her money was gone, and finally she committed suicide!"

"This is all because of Nichimei TV who planned that stupid show that day!"

Conan was pointed at with a gun, but he didn't get anxious. Instead, he put his hands in his pockets, looking calm.

"I see. You joined Nichimi TV as a photographer in order to seek revenge."

At this point, he laughed instead: "So what are you going to do? If you shoot me now, someone will find out."

"Oh? Really?" The hook-nosed man pursed his lips towards the noisy audience. "Look, the audience's attention is focused on the arena. Plus, my pistol has a silencer, so it's impossible for anyone to hear it."

"Besides, these guys were completely immersed in the game. Didn't no one notice you when you jumped down from the stands before?"

He grinned and smiled cruelly: "I will kill you at the moment the game is over. At that time, the cheers will turn into screams, and the joy of victory will fall to the bottom of hell..."

"Just like when I was about to succeed in my plan, I learned that the bank was closed. Don't you think this fateful cycle is wonderful?"

"Hahaha!" He suddenly burst into laughter crazily, and tears flowed from the corners of his eyes.

"If our plan had been executed earlier, everything would have been different, right?" He wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes, restrained all his emotions, returned to his most primitive calm, and pointed the gun directly at Conan.

"Just feel this feeling. You can only pray that time stops at this moment, or flows back to a time when everything is still possible!"

law--

The whistle for the end of the game sounded, and the hook-nosed man sneered and pulled the trigger.

call out--