Chapter 259: Only One of the Two Detectives

As a part-time detective who'd handled his fair share of corpses, Amuro Toru frowned at the pile of suspicious items in front of him.

If the tools could barely pass as props for "Izu's Mysterious Journey," then the photo with the red X was... way too sus.

Since he was on a mission for the Organization, Amuro shelved his questions for now and resumed his search for the "Night Baron" virus in the host's room.

But after a fast and thorough sweep, he came up empty-handed. Not even the safe in the hotel room, which he cracked open like it was a vending machine, contained anything useful.

...Is the host carrying it on his person?

Amuro wondered this as he meticulously restored the room to its original state, spy instincts kicking in.

Then he left the room and headed to the second floor, peering through the railings to watch the host below mingling with the other participants like a totally average guest trying to suss out who the host was.

Amuro stared for a while, and slowly realized something was off—

Jiangxia Tongzhi was nowhere to be seen.

Jiangxia had promised him earlier that he'd be in charge of drawing the other guests' attention.

But now most of the group was in the lobby, and Jiangxia was... presumably off somewhere fishing.

Something's wrong.

Jiangxia wasn't the type to bail. He took his work seriously—scarily so. Skipping out like this was totally out of character.

Unless...

Amuro's eyes narrowed. He remembered the opened pack of pills in the host's room, and the universal key card tucked into the luggage. Not to mention the "Night Baron" costume, which had clearly been worn and then shoved back into the suitcase…

All the pieces clicked.

He stood abruptly and rushed back toward the elevator.

———

A little earlier

Jiangxia had just heard from the Tengu that Amuro Toru had busted into someone's room, found the Night Baron cosplay outfit in the host's luggage, and nearly cleared the game using brute force. He fell silent in contemplation.

...Too careless. Sure, Amuro had detective instincts—but being a detective was only his side gig. The guy's a spy. Breaking and entering was literally in his job description.

Honestly, it was a miracle Amuro and the host hadn't bumped into each other mid-break-in.

If they had randomly met outside a room door, Jiangxia's whole mission would've gone up in smoke. The ghost wouldn't have been picked, and unless he pulled off the wig and threw on the Ouzo badge, the only thing he'd be picking up is shame.

And strangling Ebihara directly? No way. Jiangxia was a serious psychic who prioritized stability. "Violent solutions" wasn't even on the menu.

But even though Amuro and the host had missed each other, Jiangxia still had a bad feeling.

Bourbon(a.k.a. Amuro Toru)'s deduction skills were no joke. He'd even searched the host's home base. It was likely that the host was now squarely in his crosshairs...

Which meant that Jiangxia's mission—and his ghost—might soon be toast.

He sat down to think.

Amuro had come to Izu chasing the "Night Baron" virus.

But in reality, there was no virus. It was just the event organizer talking out of their ass. A hundred percent fabricated nonsense.

So once the host was caught and explained their motives for murder, Amuro's mission would technically be "complete."

In that case, maybe it's better to let him rest early tonight.

Then I can go collect the ghost in peace.

With this perfectly ethical thought, Jiangxia opened a hidden zipper on his luggage.

Inside was a small vial of eco-friendly, non-toxic, non-polluting anesthetic.

In the past, he'd tried to avoid knocking out his fellow detective pals—mainly out of conscience, and partly because it was bad for professional PR.

But this time was different. Tokio Ebihara had already been marked by the Organization. His lunch box was basically packed. Meanwhile, the would-be killer was a corporate judo master who'd destroyed a parade of innocent competitors.

Given all that... it felt like justice to let both of them duke it out, without interference from certain blonde half-agents.

———

While Jiangxia was playing pharmacist, Haibara Ai picked up the kettle he'd left on the ground and carried it into the bathroom to rinse it out thoroughly.

While she was doing this, she heard a soft knock on the door. Turning to look, she saw Jiangxia leave—and return in under a minute.

Satisfied, she turned back and kept washing.

When she returned to the living room with the squeaky-clean kettle (zero drug residue guaranteed), she was surprised to find Jiangxia already stretched out on the sofa, apparently asleep.

She blinked, then stepped closer and gave him a push.

"Jiangxia?"

No response.

He looked more dead than asleep—like his soul had gone out for lunch and never came back.

Haibara's mind went from zero to panic instantly.

And when you're panicking, the imagination goes full throttle.

She suddenly remembered that time when Conan collapsed mid-mystery. She'd asked Jiangxia what happened, and he casually replied that the water Conan drank "probably" had sleeping pills in it.

Back then, his easygoing tone had lulled her into forgetting the "probably" part. She'd just assumed Jiangxia was completely in control of the situation—maybe even the one who'd drugged Conan himself.

But now…

What if Jiangxia had accidentally drunk it himself?

What if he had taken a smaller dose, and thanks to his taller build, managed to resist longer than Conan—but finally knocked out just now?

Which would mean—he wasn't the one who spiked the kettle.

And that meant… someone else had done it.

And there was only one other Organization member in the hotel.

Why would they drug both her companions? What were they planning?!

Haibara's persecution delusion circuits went haywire.

If she was the target, staying here could endanger everyone in the room. She bit her lip, brain already defaulting to: I'll leave to protect everyone else.

But just as she moved, Jiangxia jerked upright like a corpse reanimated.

Haibara yelped, nearly falling off the armrest in shock.

Jiangxia caught her one-handed and set her back on the floor, like this was a perfectly normal Tuesday.

"Oh, right," he muttered. "The sleeping pills were probably added by the event organizer. Nothing to do with the Organization. I'm not getting involved in this mess. If anyone asks, just say I drank the other half of the water and slept through the night."

"…Got it." Haibara clutched her wildly beating heart and nodded stiffly.

Then Jiangxia leaned back again—and promptly passed out like nothing happened.

Haibara Ai: "…"

The room was silent.

The wind outside howled against the windows like some low-budget horror BGM.

Haibara looked at the deep, dark glass and instinctively pulled her jacket tighter.

Then she glanced at Jiangxia again, confirmed he was dead to the world, and cautiously leaned in.

"Tell me who the host is?"

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

Progress: 45/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

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

Progress:2/10*