Chapter 232: Jiangxia Is Not That Casual of a Person

Sawaki Kohei wiped his sweaty palms on the steering wheel cover.

Even if Jiangxia really was talented enough to realize there was something fishy about the "eighth victim"... right now, he definitely didn't have any evidence.

—Otherwise, with Jiangxia's habit of blurting out deductions the second they occur to him, he would've already solved the case out loud by now.

Thinking of this, Sawaki Kohei felt reassured.

—As long as he could survive the ten-minute ride to the Crystal, he could still keep everything under control.

He knew where the bombs in the restaurant were.

When the time came, all he had to do was subtly guide Jiangxia closer to the detonation point before pressing the button, and all his problems would go up in smoke.

With this plan in mind, Sawaki released the handbrake and started the car.

At the same time, he put on the mask of a sincere, law-abiding citizen who wouldn't even mind someone entering into his car without his permission, flashing Jiangxia a warm smile and nodding politely—committed to playing the role of a Good Person until the bitter end.

But when he glanced over, he was surprised to find that Jiangxia wasn't looking at him with suspicion, nor did he have the sharp, hawk-eyed look detectives usually gave criminals.

Instead, Jiangxia's expression was... relaxed. Friendly, even. He leaned back comfortably in the passenger seat, looking for all the world like a cat basking next to a heater on a cold day.

...But to a would-be murderer, Jiangxia's threat level was not "cat."

Sawaki Kohei felt like there was a leopard lounging beside him, just waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

...

Unconsciously, Sawaki Kohei started driving faster—he just wanted to get to the rendezvous point ASAP.

The people in the car behind him were confused at first, but then assumed he was just eager to open the restaurant and didn't want to be late. Understanding this, they stepped on the gas and followed.

Soon, the group arrived at Tokyo Bay.

The weather was clear, the sea calm, the skies a vibrant blue.

A long cable car track stretched out from the shore and snaked its way into the middle of the bay.

Jiangxia followed the track with his eyes and spotted a unique-looking sea structure at the end. It looked like a low-budget cousin of the Sydney Opera House—this was the Crystal, a brand-new restaurant that had just opened recently.

The group took a moment to admire the view, then, following "Katsuyoshi Asahi" instructions, they prepared to take the cable car to the Crystal Restaurant.

Just then—like something out of a dramatic sitcom—four luxury cars rolled up, and four VIPs stepped out.

—Supermodel Nana Osanai, essayist Minoru Nishina, photographer Eimi Shishido, and foreign entrepreneur Peter Ford.

Nana's name, "Nana," sounded like "seven." Shishido's "Shido" sounded like "six." Mouri Kogoro represented "five." Peter Ford was clearly "four." Add in the full name of Inspector Shiratori—Shiratori Ninzaburo, they pretty much had all the numbers.

Pretty much. Because one number was still missing: "one."

Jiangxia suddenly remembered—"one" referred to Kudo Shinichi.

He glanced at Sawaki Kohei, who was practically glowing with murder vibes.

This guy clearly hated him, so why didn't he seem to care about Kudo Shinichi?

Could it be that even Sawaki had noticed that Shinichi was the kind of person who always showed up right before or during a serial murder case—and as long as no one interfered with him, he'd solve it before getting killed?

…If so, maybe Sawaki wasn't just a coward. Maybe he had a thirst for risk and drama.

Well then.

Hopefully this guy wouldn't be disturbed by outside interference and would just focus on what he came to do…

…

The VIPs all knew each other and greeted the detectives and officers politely.

Everyone chatted casually for a bit, only to realize they'd all been invited by Katsuyoshi Asahi at exactly 3 p.m.

This gave the celebrities a weird feeling. Something about it was... off.

But hey, money's money. And maybe Katsuyoshi Asahi had a big multi-person collab project in the works or something…

It was almost three o'clock.

To avoid being late, the celebrities headed to the Chinese Restaurant first.

Inspector Megure decided to hold off on briefing them about the case until they arrived at the restaurant—Katsuyoshi Asahi would be there, after all.

As the group walked upstairs toward the cable cars, Conan squinted at the group ahead of him, something about it bugging him more and more.

A few seconds later, his eyes lit up. He tugged at Jiangxia's sleeve and whispered, "Did you notice? Other than 'three' and 'one,' everyone else's names seem to cover the rest of the numbers."

Jiangxia looked puzzled. "'Or'?"

...Even if Conan didn't know that Inspector Shiratori's full name was Shiratori Ninzaburo, there was no need to say something as weird as "or."

It sounded like someone was just slicing names apart into random numbers, trying to cram them into a murder sudoku.

Conan nodded seriously: "See, the 'Xia' in your name—doesn't it have a horizontal stroke? That could be split into three. Or the three water dots in the character can be seen as 'three' too. And 'one' or 'two' can be broken out of the 'Jiang' character, and there's even a vertical stroke like the number '1'!"

Jiangxia: "…"

To be fair, whose name doesn't have horizontal or vertical lines?

He politely countered, "'Three' probably refers to Inspector Shiratori. I saw his full name once at the station—Shiratori Ninzaburo. As for 'one'…"

Jiangxia leaned in toward the name-splitting Conan and whispered, "Weren't you the one invited here—Kudo Shinichi?"

Conan froze.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and an inexplicable chill crept down his spine.

"…But how did Mr. Murakami know I was here? And come to think of it, that guy seems to know way too much for someone who just got out of prison—

"When he gave Aunt Eri the poisoned chocolate, it just happened to be her favorite brand. And Uncle happened to walk by at just the right moment to hand her the apology chocolate…"

Jiangxia glanced sideways at the muttering Conan and began to worry a little for Sawaki Kohei.

—Just a few days ago, when Kogoro stormed out after fighting with Eri, Sawaki Kohei had been at the same hotel. He even served them drinks.

Just from the Eri poisoning case alone, the suspicion levels on Sawaki were enough to break a detector.

*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*