551

Arriving at the Tohto Film Development Studio, Senichi's attention was entirely focused on the upcoming case he needed to prevent.

To be honest, tracking down Shuichi Akai was secondary for Senichi; his primary goal was to prevent the case from happening to claim the reward.

After all, you couldn't just do anything to a potential "ally."

So, when planning yesterday, Senichi proactively treated the scenario of Yukiko accidentally discovering the tracker in the plot as a "plan" and actively implemented it..

As long as he proved his words were true and there was indeed a tracker, everything would be fine for Senichi.

After all, his main purpose in going through all this trouble was to come to the Tohto Film Development Studio with Conan and the others and then prevent the case to claim the reward.

Although it felt a bit strange, like "missing the forest for the trees," it was indeed covert enough.

Probably no one would guess that Senichi went to such lengths primarily to come to the Tohto Film Development Studio with them...

When Senichi finally entered after the three little ones, Yukiko had already finished greeting her old friends from her movie shooting days and was now introducing them to the kids.

"Hehe, this is Mr. Karata, who invited you to watch the movie!"

Yukiko pointed to the middle-aged man in front of her and smiled, "Mr. Karata is the light technician here. When I was filming movies back then, he could make the movie scenes look so beautiful!"

"Hahaha... you flatter me..." Takayoshi Karata scratched his head, feeling embarrassed and modest.

"Eh? So were you an actor before?" exclaimed Ayumi in surprise.

"Yeah~" Yukiko smiled happily, "Back then, I was a big star. Maybe your parents were my fans~~"

Seeing this scene, Haibara turned to Conan with a look of understanding on her face.

"Stare~~"

"What?" Conan looked at Haibara awkwardly, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Well... I know where your strengths and weaknesses come from."

Haibara folded her arms and commented, "Your talent for deduction undoubtedly comes from your father, as for your love for the spotlight, outstanding acting skills, and the impulsive, reckless personality that completely disregards danger..."

"It's probably inherited from your mother..."

"No way!" Conan retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Leaving that aside, it's best to change the last point." Haibara quipped, "I don't want us to get hurt because of your recklessness one day."

"Who would?!" Conan, feeling frustrated, exclaimed.

While the two were bickering, Yukiko had finished her conversation with Takayoshi Karata. As for the little ones' anticipated movie, they would have to wait a bit longer; the tape would only be ready around seven in the evening.

"Sorry about this, could you all wait a little longer?"

Takayoshi Karata noticed two men in uniforms passing by and called out to them with a smile, "Hojima, Negami! Could you please take Yukiko and the others inside for a tour?"

"Sure thing, no problem," the two replied readily.

According to their self-introductions, the man with brown hair was called Akira Hojima, and the man with a beard and glasses was called Yoshihiko Negami.

Upon seeing the man in front of him, Senichi knew that the main target of this mission was Yoshihiko Negami, the one with glasses.

Although he had forgotten the name, it was because "the glasses are the essence" — no, because only the culprit wore glasses in this case, so Senichi recognized him at a glance...

But overall, it was because the impression the man left on him was too deep.

There was no way around it; this man, like Teiji Moriya, was also a sufferer of obsessive-compulsive disorder in pursuit of his artistic self.

While Moriya pursued the beauty of symmetry, Yoshihiko Negami pursued the beauty of "perfection."

In simple terms, they had finished shooting a movie, and after it was completed, they only needed to develop it, but a colleague's mistake led to the film being exposed.

This mistake resulted in significant losses for them. With no other choice, they had to bear the compensation together and reshoot the movie.

The problem arose here. During the reshoot, an important actor unexpectedly passed away, forcing them to cut out his scenes.

As a result, everyone was left with regret, and Yoshihiko Negami's motive for murder stemmed from this regret. He hated the colleague who caused the film to be exposed and then killed out of anger...

In general, both he and Teiji Moriya were "crazy," choosing to kill for something that seemed insignificant to ordinary people.

But for artists, living only in their own inner world is also considered normal, isn't it?

There have been even more outrageous artists in history...

Like a certain man who was rejected by an art school and then started a war...

Ahem, but I digress.

Anyway, after the mutual introductions, the two men began to show the little ones around the interior of the Tohto Film Development Studio.

They visited the screening room for the Kamen Rider film and the darkroom to check for any damage to the developed film.

The darkroom was quite spacious, with various machines arranged around, resembling a laboratory.

"Beep! Beep!"

While the little ones were still observing their surroundings, the sudden sound of an alarm bell caught everyone's attention.

"What's that sound?"

Hearing the alarm-like sound, Mitsuhiko turned to the source of the sound and asked.

"That's the reminder sound when entering or leaving the main gate. Because we need to be careful not to expose the film to light when inspecting it, special signals are added to the double doors to remind us..." Yoshihiko Negami explained.

"I see, what happens next?" Mitsuhiko asked curiously.

"After the inspection, the film will be developed using the printing machine, which is my job," Yoshihiko Negami smiled, "Then it's Hojima's job to print the negatives into positives. After that, editing, cutting, dubbing, and light adjustment are the responsibilities of Mr. Karata."

"It's already six forty..." Akira Hojima glanced at his watch, "We can probably go to the screening room soon..."

"I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. The screening might have to wait a while longer before it can start..."

Just then, a rugged-looking man with a scruffy beard approached and delivered the unfortunate news to everyone.

Upon seeing the man, Senichi immediately became alert.

The real deal is about to begin!