Chapter 374: Gin’s Summary

Double Chapter

As her attention lingered on Jiangxia, Vermouth suddenly had a realization.

Gin had sent her a lot of material about Ouzo's mental state before she came to Japan.

Back then, Gin would bug her every few days:

"When are you getting here?"

"Ouzo's going off the rails."

"We need to intervene before something explodes."

But now that she was in Japan and technically able to intervene… he hadn't mentioned it again.

In fact, she hadn't found anything particularly off about Ouzo yet. Suspicious, yes. Concerning, definitely. But not unstable.

...Wait. No. Focus. That wasn't the main point right now.

Vermouth pressed her fingers to her temple and steered her thoughts back on track.

What mattered was this:

Thanks to the confidential intel Gin had shared, she knew Ouzo's murder methods better than most.

He wasn't the kind to strike directly.

He used the victim's surroundings, their relationships, their weak points—nudging everything into just the right configuration. The result was a murder that looked natural. Almost inevitable.

Sometimes, it took weeks. The mission records showed that in some cases, the person Ouzo "touched" would kill—or be killed—long after the initial interaction.

But other times, the chain reaction was shockingly fast: just an hour after contact, boom—someone was dead.

That kind of speed seemed outrageous at first.

But thinking back, it made a twisted kind of sense.

People full of resentment often just needed a little push. Most killers didn't want to get caught. If, in that moment of rage, they happened to notice something useful lying around—or someone whispered the right words—they might jump at the opportunity.

That tiny spark, that "flash of inspiration," was Ouzo's specialty.

Exactly how he delivered that spark... no one could quite figure out.

But that's what made him terrifying.

The world was full of prodigies. Ouzo just happened to be a genius in an illegal niche.

If anyone could copy what he did, he wouldn't be such a closely guarded secret inside the organization.

Even Vermouth still couldn't fully grasp how he did it.

If it weren't for the fact that Ouzo had completed multiple official hits, and had receipts, she would've thought his murders were just coincidences. Luck.

Now, here in the Gomera studio, with one more body on the floor…

Vermouth thought back to all the details, all the strange little timings, and it hit her:

She might have just walked into one of Ouzo's traps.

Let's rewind:

Earlier, Bourbon had barged into the studio with takeout. There had been some tense words between them, then he left.

But Ouzo hadn't followed immediately.

He appeared only after a significant delay—calm, unhurried.

And in that window of time, Vermouth realized, Ouzo could've easily slipped away and nudged someone.

He could've moved a piece on the board without anyone noticing.

By the time he came downstairs to find them, it wasn't to break up a fight.

It was to stop her. To block her from returning to the studio before the murder happened.

Which meant—even though she was with Ouzo when the crime occurred, she wouldn't get an alibi.

Because Ouzo wouldn't be the one to give it.

Vermouth's gaze sharpened as she stared at Jiangxia.

Coincidentally, Jiangxia looked up and met her eyes.

He smiled. Just a tiny, polite nod. But there was a glint in his eyes.

Vermouth felt a chill down her spine.

For a split second, she saw herself not as an equal—or even an organization superior—but as prey.

Ouzo was looking at her the way a predator sizes up dinner.

Vermouth's expression flickered. She straightened her posture slightly.

She couldn't let down her guard.

This was a member who had gained a code name—one of the organization's highest honors—not long after even appearing on the radar. And he hadn't even reached adulthood.

Just because he looked harmless didn't mean he was.

Vermouth forced herself to analyze the situation.

Why had he created this murder?

Gin once said Ouzo might just do these things "out of interest."

That was one possibility… but let's put that aside. Too vague.

Another theory: maybe Ouzo wanted to stop the conflict between Bourbon and her. Divert attention, cause a bigger distraction.

But that didn't hold up either.

Ouzo had no reason to assume they even knew each other, let alone predict what they'd do after leaving the studio together. If both she and Bourbon had decided to act immediately, the body on the top floor wouldn't have even had time to hit the floor before there was another body downstairs.

So, breaking up a fight? Not likely.

Then one possibility remained:

Among everyone present, she, in the disguise of "Amuro Tooru," was the most vulnerable to police scrutiny.

She was the one who least wanted to be noticed.

Had Ouzo engineered this entire mess… to send her in?

Of course, she hadn't killed that irritating producer.

But if the clues were arranged just right, and the deductions convincing enough, the police might haul her in anyway.

A witness interview was one thing.

But going in as a suspect? That was trouble.

If any other organization member had tried something like this, Gin would've already added their name to his hit list.

Ouzo, though…

He was new. He barely interacted with the top brass.

He probably didn't fully understand Vermouth's special status.

Was he trying to test the waters—to use this murder to eliminate her?

Vermouth's brows furrowed.

She felt a mix of emotions.

Instinctively, she was angry. She wanted to retaliate.

But then again…

Last time she messed with Ouzo, she'd gotten him drunk and dragged him into bed.

His only response had been to leave behind that pot with the suspicious symbolism.

This time, his reaction was far more severe.

She couldn't help but trace the escalation back to something else:

That first meeting, when she'd needled Ouzo about Shinichi Kudo—pretending to "test Gin's work."

Back then, she could hide behind Gin.

But now, both of her interactions with Ouzo had happened while she was in disguise.

Both times, she'd bumped into the Detective Boys.

Including one particular bear child who looked suspiciously like a shrunken Shinichi Kudo.

To Ouzo, she must look like an executive sniffing around the Detective Boys.

And if Shinichi was among them—

Vermouth suddenly felt like an undercover agent who'd been exposed by her own mole.

Flustered. Trapped. Frustrated.

And yet… part of her almost admired it.

Because it was a good move.

A beautiful counterattack, if she were being honest.

A little too aligned with her expectations.

...Was she proud of him?

Standing beside her, Jiangxia had just finished answering Officer Sato's questions.

Now, he was heading off toward the paint footprints left by the falling Gomera.

Time to check the scene, clock in at the evidence point, and—if everything lined up—start pushing the progress bar toward solving the case.

But just as Jiangxia turned to leave, he caught Vermouth's gaze—still in disguise as Amuro Tooru—and was momentarily stunned. Her expression was an unreadable mess of emotions: anger, relief, frustration, and something that looked dangerously close to resignation.

Jiangxia: "...?"

Before he could analyze it further, "Amuro Tooru" quickly looked away and started scanning the studio. Her eyes flicked from corridor entrances to prop piles to doorways, her gaze sharp and calculating.

Jiangxia: "...???"

Wasn't she still grinning like a mischievous cat five minutes ago? Why had she suddenly turned into a somber Buddhist cadre planning her own funeral?

He had the sudden urge to crack open the heads of these overthinking types just to see what was rattling around inside.

Jiangxia shook his head, squashing the intrusive thought, and walked over to the corpse as planned. He needed to examine the more important evidence points—after all, how else was he supposed to cheat later when pretending to solve the case?

Still, this time, he decided to slow things down a bit. He wanted to see what exactly Vermouth was trying to pull.

...

Vermouth, for her part, had a clear goal.

She first checked all the exits—evaluating escape routes, from back hallways to the building's outer ledges. Worst case, she'd climb out via the HVAC units and the weirdly placed exterior platforms. It wouldn't be fun, but it was doable.

As for slipping away in disguise while no one was looking? She didn't bother considering it. Since Ouzo had obviously planned something here, she wasn't naive enough to think she could escape so easily.

Once she had her escape options mapped out, she shifted gears—time to try the peaceful route.

...Find the real culprit.

From her knowledge of Ouzo, she knew he liked to wait until he'd personally inspected the evidence before starting any deductions. Just enough to seem normal.

This gave her a narrow window.

If she could piece together a coherent case and prove "Amuro Tooru's" innocence in time, she could turn from "suspicious twin" into "helpful detective." When the police inevitably invited her down to the station, she could smile, say "next time for sure," and dump all the mess onto Bourbon.

With that in mind, Vermouth's gaze landed on the storage area.

Shugo Matsui—the actor playing Ghomera—was still sitting there. He'd claimed to have been stabbed in the leg by the killer and had only received basic first aid.

Vermouth already had a suspect in mind.

After all, she'd worked here a few times. She understood this film crew better than the cops.

Producer Kamei—the murder victim—had ticked off a lot of people. But his beef with Shugo Matsui had been especially nasty.

To pressure the team into ending the franchise, Kamei had spread a nasty rumor: that Matsui had secretly begged him to stop making Ghomera movies because the monster role was ruining him, mentally and physically.

The rest of the team, swayed by "years of friendship," eventually gave in and agreed to make The Last Ghomera.

Matsui, who knew none of this, suddenly found himself labeled as the traitor who'd killed the series.

Not long ago, he found out what really happened. He'd rushed to confront Kamei, hoping to clear things up. But by then, the project had already been locked, announced, and funded. Too late.

Vermouth had been around for that argument—in disguise, of course—and she remembered Matsui's growing silence afterward.

Now, with Kamei dead… well, if Ouzo were going to pick someone to manipulate into a murder, Matsui fit the bill perfectly.

And once she had that suspicion, a lot of things started to look strange.

Like Matsui's claim that he'd been stabbed in the thigh by someone wearing a full-body Ghomera suit.

She remembered clearly—his wound was on his thigh.

But the Ghomera costume was tall. Very tall. The kind of clumsy, top-heavy suit with short arms and huge feet.

Unless the person inside was lying down, they'd have a hard time stabbing someone in the leg.

Which meant...

Maybe Matsui had staged the whole thing.

Add in the layout of this floor… the four bear child witnesses...

A plan was forming. The only problem was that a few pieces were still missing.

...

Meanwhile, Jiangxia continued watching "Amuro Tooru" with idle curiosity. She was clearly up to something. He just hadn't figured out what.

At that moment, a police officer walked up to Jiangxia—he was in charge of confirming the real Amuro Tooru's alibi.

Jiangxia was about to parrot the same story he'd just told Officer Sato, when—

Vermouth made her move.

She suddenly abandoned her thoughts and marched toward them with purpose.

Jiangxia blinked as she approached.

She didn't show it on her face, but inside, Vermouth was vaguely panicking. Still, her tone was cool and composed.

She patted Jiangxia's shoulder, and in Amuro Tooru's voice said,

"Looks like we won't need you anymore—I already know who the culprit is."

The police officer blinked in confusion.

But across the room, Inspector Megure's ears twitched like a rabbit's.

He turned sharply.

"Really?!"

Jiangxia glanced over at the inspector, then looked around at the general noise level in the studio.

...Inspector Megure's hearing was honestly kind of terrifying.

Then again, maybe he just had a built-in radar for keywords like culprit, confession, and plot twist.

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

Progress: 44/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

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

Progress:3/10*