"This can't be a coincidence. You just used a police dog to solve a case yesterday, and today all the police dogs vanish," Misty Rain whispered.
The two of them walked toward the cri scene. This ti, the murder took place at a suburban Hot Spring Inn, and a faint scent of sulfur hung in the air.
The cri occurred at night. A festive celebration was in full swing outside the Hot Spring Inn, complete with bustling crowds and blooming fireworks.
"It is probably because I derailed the usual routine of Conan solving the case," Bai Mu replied. "To prevent the exact sa thing from happening again, the concept of the police force having dogs was simply written out of the Script."
"That is quite a headache," Misty Rain sighed. "I was actually planning to follow your example and find a dog to use."
"Even without a dog, all we need to do is force a confession out of the killer before Conan does," Bai Mu declared. "Let's figure out another way."
O
The pair entered the cri scene. The victim lay dead in his own room with a bloody hole right in the center of his forehead. Bai Mu recognized the unmistakable mark of a bullet wound at first glance.
Living up to their reputation as harbingers of death, the family of three, including Mouri Kogoro, was already present at the murder scene.
"This is a robbery!" Mouri Kogoro announced, flipping through the victim's wallet. "The proof is that all of the victim's cash has been taken!"
The mont Mouri Kogoro made that bold claim, it practically guaranteed that this case had absolutely nothing to do with a robbery. It was almost certainly preditated murder.
Today's case did not feature any obvious suspects standing out in the open. In other words, this was not a multiple-choice question, but a complex puzzle.
Although many guests had gone out to attend the festival, the number of potential suspects was unprecedentedly high. Security caras captured a total of eight people entering and exiting the inn around the ti of the murder, while three others had remained inside the building. Furthermore, the inn's staff could not be ruled out. That ant there were over twenty suspects in total.
"The difficulty of this case is way too high." Misty Rain's expression darkened. "I think we should just give up and wait for an easier one."
"Don't panic," Bai Mu reassured her. "I think we still have so room to maneuver."
Retreating to an unnoticed corner, he opened his Reporter profession skill tree and invested his only available skill point into the Plainclothes Photography skill.
Because a fatal shooting was an exceptionally severe cri, the police took the matter extrely seriously. Upon arriving at the scene, they imdiately dispatched officers to track down potential suspects.
Japan maintained strict gun control laws, aning an ordinary person should find it virtually impossible to acquire a firearm. However, this was Beika Town. No matter how bizarre the situation, nothing was truly considered impossible here.
"Figure out a way to buy so ti," Bai Mu whispered to Misty Rain. "I need to step out for a bit."
"Be careful," Misty Rain cautioned. "Even if you trigger a hidden chanism, we still need to secure the basic rewards for this Script."
""
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Bai Mu replied.
"Alright." Misty Rain nodded, gesturing that she would handle things at the cri scene.
Bai Mu then made an excuse about needing to fetch so tools and left the room where the victim's body lay.
Endo initially tried to follow him, but Misty Rain called out and stopped him, asking the officer to help her turn the corpse over.
Bai Mu made his way down to the first floor of the inn, where the police had already gathered and detained all the staff mbers together.
"I discovered so anomalies on the corpse and have a few questions I need to ask the staff. Could I be permitted to speak with them in private for a mont?"
The detectives were already quite familiar with Bai Mu as a colleague. Since his request was completely reasonable, they did not turn him down.
Bai Mu secured a small room to serve as a makeshift interrogation space. He then asked the detective squad for a roster and instructed them to bring the listed individuals into the room one by one.
Sitting in the room's blind spot, Bai Mu activated Plainclothes Photography. This skill did not just randomly change his outfit; rather, it required him to morize a specific casual outfit beforehand. Furthermore, he could only store one casual outfit at a ti.
The outfit he had stored this ti belonged to Inspector gure. The mont he triggered the skill, his white lab coat instantly transford into the senior uniform of a police inspector. At the sa ti, he pulled out a gas mask and slipped it over his head, thoroughly concealing his face.
The first person arrived shortly after. A detective shoved a chef wearing a headband into the room.
"Mr. Ishikawa, we will be right outside! Call us if anything happens!"
"Understood."
The chef looked at Bai Mu timidly. The detectives had hauled him in here without any explanation. Since Bai Mu's attire was distinctly different from the regular officers, and the authoritative way he commanded them easily made him look like a prominent figure in the departnt, the chef behaved in an extrely submissive and compliant manner upon entering.
But Bai Mu had no intention of letting him off the hook just because he was obedient. He lunged forward, grabbed the man by the neck, and forcibly pinned him down.
His close-quarters combat was at the mastery level. With the added physical boost from his Piggy Doll item, even with his titles disabled, his strength attribute still reached a terrifying 21 points.
As a result, the chef had absolutely no room to resist. He was effortlessly restrained, completely immobilized.
"You are the killer, aren't you?" Bai Mu asked coldly. "Illegally hoarding firearms is a felony in Japan. Do not think I will let you off easily!"
Bai Mu growled his threat. He had already figured it out: in this ani-like theater, there was no true reality. Ti was chaotic, logic was broken, and even established concepts like police dogs could be altered on a whim. The inhabitants here were nothing more than a string of data serving the plot's dramatic effects. Because of this, he attacked without hesitation, treating his thods exactly like trying to clear a video ga.
The chef was frightened out of his wits on the spot, completely speechless for a long while.
"S-Sir... I really do not know what you are talking about..."
Bai Mu fired off a few more questions. Judging by the man's deanor and reactions, he concluded that this person likely had nothing to do with the murder. He then released the chef and shoved a piece of candy into his mouth, forcing him to swallow it.
Thanks to the healing properties of the Health Recovery Candy, not a single scratch was left on the chef's body. Bai Mu warned him not to breathe a word about what happened in this room. He claid the entire police force was on his side, and if the chef dared to step out of line, he could imagine the consequences.
The chef frantically agreed. Even if Bai Mu had not made the threat, he probably would not have dared to act up anyway. How could a normal civilian dare to oppose the police? Though, if this guy had his own independent thoughts, he might have believed the police force operated like a mafia syndicate and that Beika Town was completely dood.
After letting the chef go, the detectives brought in the rest of the staff mbers one by one. Bai Mu repeated his exact sa thod on everyone. Regardless of whether they were n or won, he would shove a Health Recovery Candy down their throats and interrogate them thoroughly. If anyone showed defiance, he would simply beat them up and use the candy to restore their health, ensuring no visible marks were left behind.
To save ti and get ahead of Conan, his beatings were swift and brutal.
Unfortunately, the killer did not seem to be among them. However, he had at least managed to eliminate a dozen or so incorrect options.
Next, he asked the detective squad to bring over the suspects staying at the inn. This ti, it drew a bit of attention from Inspector gure, but thankfully, Misty Rain managed to stall the people at the cri scene. She sent him a text ssage reading, "I can keep things under control on my end for a little while longer, but hurry up."
Bai Mu quickened his pace, deciding to handle three people at once. As soon as the three suspects walked through the door, he instantly knocked them all to the ground before they could even utter a single word.
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