After the Undercover System Went Haywire, I Switched to Grinding Suspicion Points Chapter 292

Old Lady Chikama was already feeling unwell from staying up all night, and suddenly seeing this horror movie-like scene in the surveillance footage nearly gave her a heart attack.

She quickly pressed one hand to her wildly pounding heart while gripping the chair's armrest with the other to steady herself and prevent accidentally sliding down.

Too terrifying! Why was Samukawa Shinryu here?!

Had he already discovered she wasn't actually dead but hiding in the monitoring room?! How did he find this hidden door to the monitoring room?!

It couldn't just be an accidental passing, could it? The way he deliberately looked at the cara felt very unsettling...

Although Old Lady Chikama had resolved to spend her remaining years here, making that decision herself was different from soone showing up at her door essentially saying "you can die right now."

She was even trying to recall whether she had locked the door.

What if Samukawa Shinryu was annoyed at being sched by her and ca to kill her now, then abandoned her corpse in this sealed room? She suddenly realized she might not be as accepting of death as she thought!

Old Lady Chikama silently decided that no matter how Samukawa Shinryu knocked on the door, she'd pretend no one was inside—the door was locked.

However, after watching the surveillance footage for a while, she found that Samukawa Shinryu showed no intention of knocking and instead walked away from the cara... Huh? Was he just passing by?

Old Lady Chikama thought fearfully: No way, right? What kind of temperant was this—staring at every cara he passed?

Soon, she found Samukawa Shinryu on another surveillance screen, discovering he had t up with Mouri Kogorou and gone to a nearby storage room, finding what appeared to be a very long steel pipe left over from construction... What was he planning to do?

Since the deceased Gourt Detective had originally planned to kill everyone here and claim the treasure for himself, he had placed many potentially useful props in the storage room to help these talented detectives design murders—this was one of them.

Old Lady Chikama watched Mouri Kogorou drag the steel pipe while following behind Samukawa Shinryu, then gesture with it in front of her door...

She was horrified!

All the doors in this castle opened outward, including this hidden door.

The steel pipe looked just the right length to use the opposite wall's corner as a pivot point while jamming the other end against her door, making it impossible for her to open it from inside.

And this room's window was too small for a person to climb through.

Once Samukawa Shinryu succeeded in doing this, and then everyone left with the police, she might starve to death here!

Don't say Mouri Kogorou wouldn't cooperate like this—she knew that wasn't Mouri Kogorou, that was Phantom Thief Kid!!!

Although Phantom Thief Kid supposedly had no record of killing, who knew? Seeing how cooperative he was with Samukawa Shinryu now, the rumors didn't seem that reliable!

Maybe Phantom Thief Kid's victims just hadn't been discovered, becoming cold cases!

Thinking of the ghastly appearance of people who had starved to death in cases she'd previously solved, Old Lady Chikama's fear of death finally overca her previous calm acceptance that death was no big deal.

She hurriedly walked to the door and opened it: "What are you trying to do?!"

Phantom Thief Kid, who was reluctantly helping because Samukawa Shinryu had exposed his identity, felt very unlucky inside but continued acting as Mouri Kogorou on the surface, showing a shocked expression: "This kid asked to help... This is actually a hidden door?!"

Sigh, how much longer did he have to keep acting? He kind of wanted to go ho...

Yesterday when Phantom Thief Kid and Samukawa Shinryu were walking back to the castle, Samukawa Shinryu had suddenly asked:

"Do you know Hakuba Saguru?"

Phantom Thief Kid had still tried to act: "Don't know him, first ti eting today."

"You seem very familiar."

Phantom Thief Kid: "...Are you even listening to what people say?"

Samukawa Shinryu glanced at him: "You should use honorifics with , Kid. I'm older than you."

Phantom Thief Kid: "—!!!"

He had actually wanted to argue back then, but when he t those dark red eyes, he felt he had been completely seen through, and further denials would only make him look more pathetic.

"What do you want?" Phantom Thief Kid had wondered if he could just run away.

But Samukawa Shinryu said: "When I need your cooperation, just cooperate with ."

"...You know I could actually leave right now, right?" Phantom Thief Kid said warily. "Even if you threaten with the gun in your pocket, it won't work."

"No need for that." Samukawa Shinryu said. "If you cooperate, I won't tell others your identity."

Phantom Thief Kid resisted the urge to roll his eyes: "Actually, soone's already figured it out. This condition has no appeal for ."

Conan-kun wasn't even pretending in front of him—obviously he'd been recognized, okay? Samukawa Shinryu didn't think he was the only one who'd seen through his Phantom Thief Kid identity, did he?

However, Samukawa Shinryu asked: "How's your relationship with your father's two disciples?"

This question completely baffled Phantom Thief Kid.

His father's two disciples? What kind of question was this? His father... Wait, he really did take two disciples!

One was Kudo Yukiko, the other was Sharon Vineyard. These two were only taught so disguise techniques, not magic-related skills, so he hadn't thought of them imdiately.

But wait! If he knew even this! Then didn't Samukawa Shinryu already know his identity too?!

Phantom Thief Kid imdiately beca serious: "Just who are you?"

"You can call [Consultant]."

With that, Samukawa Shinryu handed him a business card: "If you have any problems, feel free to pay for consultation."

Phantom Thief Kid: "..................???"

Anyway, on the return trip last night, besides a head full of doubts and questions, he got no answers... It wasn't that he didn't want to pay, but the situation really wasn't appropriate.

They couldn't linger too long on the road and risk running into the late-arriving old lady—that would be awkward.

In any case, since Samukawa Shinryu seed to already know his true identity and Phantom Thief Kid couldn't figure out this person's temperant, he could only cooperate for now, like helping carry the steel pipe right now... Sigh, he actually hadn't slept well last night either, thinking about it for half the night.

Old Lady Chikama could also see that the mastermind between the two was Samukawa Shinryu, so she ignored Phantom Thief Kid and asked with a fake smile: "Samukawa-san, you're truly very clever to discover I didn't die and even find this place... But isn't trying to kill soone going a bit too far?"

"How could I choose this timing if I wanted to kill you? The police are already here." Samukawa Shinryu said righteously. "Do you even qualify as a detective?"

Old Lady Chikama: "............"

A bit embarrassing—she had actually forgotten such an important thing!

But she had walked for ages to get back, was tired and sleepy, yet persisted in staying up all night, so her brain wasn't really working anymore, and she'd been startled by Samukawa Shinryu...

Facing Samukawa Shinryu's disdain, Old Lady Chikama felt sowhat wronged.

"...Then what are you trying to do?" Old Lady Chikama's voice beca a bit quieter.

"Just calling you out."

Old Lady Chikama: "Couldn't you just knock on the door?!"

Phantom Thief Kid wearily interjected: "That only works if you're willing to co out. Knocking would definitely require more talking, and does he look like soone willing to chat with you?"

Old Lady Chikama: "..."

Uh, indeed not really.

Phantom Thief Kid pulled out handcuffs and cuffed Old Lady Chikama's hands: "Alright, let's go. Everyone's waiting in the dining room for the decryption."

Old Lady Chikama was stunned. This was clearly the secret she'd been anticipating for over forty years finally being revealed, but perhaps due to too much stimulation just now, she sohow couldn't get excited: "You've already solved the cipher?"

Samukawa Shinryu modestly indicated: "After all, we ca all this way."

Old Lady Chikama: "...Then if you'd just said the cipher was solved, I definitely would have co out! Was it necessary to scare like that?!"

Phantom Thief Kid: "Probably because he didn't want to let you be happy too early."

Old Lady Chikama: "............"

Since the police arranged by Hakuba Saguru were arriving, everyone had discussed calling Old Lady Chikama out to leave together. It really was a simple matter—tell her the cipher was solved and she'd definitely co out.

Samukawa Shinryu said he'd go call her.

Everyone was a bit suspicious, but after thinking about it and recalling Samukawa Shinryu's state of toying with everyone when bored, they unanimously agreed it was better for him to go play with the criminal.

Matsuda Jinpei went to et the police colleagues, so no one here could stop Samukawa Shinryu!

When Old Lady Chikama finally entered the dining room again, whether it was everyone's collective illusion or not, even though only one night had passed, this old lady seed to have aged ten years...

Thinking of how they had cooperated with Samukawa Shinryu and had a good night's rest while the other party looked like she'd over-cultivated and was about to ascend to heaven... Uh, they felt a slight sense of guilt about bullying an elderly person.

But rembering that Old Lady Chikama had wanted them to die, that guilt disappeared, leaving only Mouri Ran still feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Good, everyone's here." Hakuba Saguru coughed. "Everyone should have solved the cipher, right? Who wants to explain?"

Though he said this, since the leadership here had sohow ended up in Samukawa Shinryu's hands, everyone looked toward Samukawa Shinryu.

Samukawa Shinryu looked down at Edogawa Conan: "Conan-kun, you do it."

Edogawa Conan: ".................."

—With so many people here, why specifically call on , a child! Is there so other aning?!