Chapter 231: Detective, Don’t Sue Me

Although Conan didn't know much about the shadowy Organization, he did have a soft spot for high school detectives.

But now really wasn't the time to unpack his odd preferences.

—The countdown had just dropped to "Ten." That meant there were still nine more to go.

The most urgent thing was to protect the remaining nine and catch the attacker as soon as possible.

Tsuji Hiroki had passed out so soundly that no one noticed his pupils. It looked more like he'd been lightly anesthetized than attacked.

Still, the assailant hadn't shown any obvious intent to kill yet. This kind of "missed the helicopter out of pressure" incident could barely be counted as a staff player mishap, so the police figured the attack on "Ten" had been completed.

Mouri Kogoro was dragged back into the spotlight, and someone shook him until he started racking his brain: Who could be "Nine"?

He couldn't think of nine, but eventually remembered "Eight"—Sawagi Kohei.

So the group decided to skip over Nine for now and head straight to the next target. If they could save even one person, it was worth it.

When they went to Sawagi Kohei's house, Jiangxia quietly snuck into the group.

No one stopped him. In fact, Inspector Megure even let out a relieved sigh when he saw him. With Jiangxia here, the case was probably nearing resolution.

…

As the mastermind and executioner behind the serial attacks, Sawagi Kohei wasn't surprised that Kogoro Mouri had pegged him as "Eight."

He greeted the incoming police with calm professionalism.

But when he saw Jiangxia at the tail end of the group, the corner of his eye twitched ever so slightly. Why is this guy here? What's his deal…

While pouring tea for his guests, Sawagi Kohei discreetly looked up Jiangxia's full name.

Then he froze when he saw the character "Tong."

Ah. Now he knew why Jiangxia was here…

"Tong" wasn't exactly a common character.

Until now, Sawagi Kohei had been completely focused on Tsuji Hiroki. He'd never expected Kogoro Mouri to assign "Ten" to someone else without asking. Just a few days ago, Mouri had met Tsuji at a hotel. Some "friend," huh? Hypocrite. Tui!

Thinking this over, Sawagi Kohei's confidence grew. Since Mouri clearly didn't take friendships seriously, dragging him into the incident was just smart risk management. His conscience felt fine—barely a twinge.

After confirming Jiangxia's full name, Sawagi cleared his browser history and put away his phone.

He straightened up and reminded himself: even if the media hyped this guy up, he was just a high schooler. No big deal.

From what Sawagi remembered, most of Jiangxia's previous cases were glorified multiple-choice problems. The kind where you just guess who looks guiltiest.

But this time, the attack was an open-ended question. One of those awful proof problems where everything is wrong unless it's right. With the police acting as a distraction, Jiangxia's attention would probably get rerouted to Murakami instead.

Sawagi gave himself a little pep talk.

By the time he returned to the tea table, he'd put his charming sommelier face back on.

Inspector Megure explained the string of attacks and advised him not to go out alone for now.

Sawagi nodded along, then showed a conflicted expression. "But I have a very important meeting this afternoon. You've heard of Asahi Katsuyoshi, right? The famous industrialist?"

"He recently built a massive marine entertainment complex in Tokyo Bay—the Crystal Restaurant. After hearing about my plan to open a store, he's considering offering me one of the locations. We agreed to meet at 3 PM today to discuss it."

Jiangxia glanced at the shikigami attached to Sawagi's leg and muttered, "Asahi Katsuyoshi?"

The thin, paper-like shikigami slowly curled up at one edge, as if turning to look at him, then relaxed again.

Shikigami don't think much. They mostly just fixate on specific obsessions. But when a name is spoken by a psychic, they tend to react.

Conan couldn't see what was happening near Sawagi's legs, but he still picked up on something from his words: "Asahi… there's a 'Nine' in that name! And this name… feels familiar…"

Mouri Kogoro scratched his head. "Asahi Katsuyoshi… that's the guy who asked me to find his cat once. You know, the one with the strap on its side. But besides that, I've never had any contact with him."

That counts? The attacker's standards were kind of lazy...

Still, it was the only "Nine" they had. And Sawagi was about to meet Asahi Katsuyoshi.

So Megure decided they'd accompany him to the meeting. With luck, they might protect both targets—and maybe even catch the attacker.

Sawagi didn't protest. He stood up with a sense of anticipation.

—He'd already planted plenty of bombs in the Crystal Restaurant. He'd made all the preparations. That place was his turf.

Even if someone—say, a certain detective who showed up out of nowhere—got suspicious, it wouldn't matter. He could take Jiangxia down with one more step.

As the group headed out to meet Asahi Katsuyoshi, Jiangxia shot a sideways glance at Sawagi Kohei.

So much murderous intent…

And all of it had flared up just now.

Which meant it wasn't aimed at his original targets—it was directed at someone new. Like the detectives and officers who had just butted in.

If that was the case, then Jiangxia could pick up the ghosts later and smother the murderous aura directly.

These serial killers weren't just handing out free ghosts—they came with complimentary murderous energy, too. Even though the amount wasn't huge, it was just enough for a psychic to play a tricky little game of "ghost or bloodlust?" Jiangxia considered this for a moment, then smiled gently.

…

Just before they set off for Tokyo Bay, Sawagi got into the driver's seat.

The passenger door opened unexpectedly.

He jumped in surprise, looked over—and saw Jiangxia slipping calmly into the seat next to him.

Sawagi Kohei: "…?"

Had he slipped up?! Somewhere?

…Impossible! When he'd attacked the previous victims, he left no trace. How could Jiangxia suddenly suspect him?!

…Stay calm. Don't lose it.

Maybe Jiangxia just came over because the other car was crowded and he needed a seat.

Sawagi tried to convince himself of that.

Then he realized a flaw in his own logic: if someone were going to squeeze in, wouldn't it be Kogoro Mouri, his old friend? Or maybe one of the ever-eager police officers?

Why Jiangxia?

…Something's fishy!!

*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.

Progress: 4/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.

Progress:2/10*