"What an unreliable adult." Mouri Ran supported the swaying Mouri Kogoro and muttered, "This afternoon, he was going on about how 'There's no mystery in this world I can't solve' and 'I'll uncover the secret of the Dark Night Baron,' and now he's drunk like this!"
"Maybe because someone else paid the other half of the fee," Conan said, not surprised. "Even if we can't figure out who it is, he still gets to attend for free. I guess the old man's lost his motivation."
Mouri Ran, holding up her unsteady father, shook her head. "I'll take him back to the room first. I'll come down again later."
"Okay! I'll wait for you downstairs!" Conan waved quickly at Ran.
He didn't know what Kazawa had seen earlier that made him leave first after saying goodbye.
Unable to catch anyone to share information with, Conan stuffed his hands in his pockets and, using the advantage of his childlike appearance, openly scanned the other guests in the room without restraint.
"Strange… Why do these people react so strongly to the word 'detective'..." Conan frowned, observing the atmosphere. "If it's just a 'Dark Night Baron' scavenger hunt event, is it necessary to be so startled?"
He stepped out of the open-air restaurant, climbed the stairs in the lobby, and went up to the terrace.
Below was the hotel's saltwater swimming pool. From here, the open-air restaurant on the first floor could be clearly seen. He leaned on the railing, pondering where he should begin the investigation.
During dinner, Kazawa had provided a lot of intel. Besides the official participants, many others who had caught wind of the event had also come—and many of them were on Tequila's list.
If there was a common thread…
Were they all people in desperate need of the "Night Baron"?
Conan's eyes lit up as inspiration struck. He gripped the railing tightly.
In other words, they all needed this virus to erase evidence of their crimes… All the people on the list were guilty practitioners in the software field?
Then what exactly was the organization doing gathering these people? Setting up a software development wing involved in the underground world?
His intense thinking was interrupted by the soft creak of a sliding partition behind him—and the crisp sound of leather shoes tapping tile.
He turned around, puzzled, only to see a black cloak… and a chilling white mask twisted into an exaggerated smile.
It was… the Dark Night Baron!
Before Conan could react, the figure dressed as the Baron grabbed him by the nape, lifted him effortlessly, and pushed him forward.
"Wah!" Conan screamed. His arms flailed, trying to find something to hold onto as he fell through empty air.
Then, his wildly swinging hand caught hold of something solid.
Looking up, Conan saw Kazawa's concerned expression—what he had grabbed was Kazawa's right hand.
"You alright?" Conan's weight was nothing to Kazawa, but he didn't pull him up immediately. Instead, he pretended to struggle and paused for dramatic effect. "Grab on with your other hand—I'll pull you up!"
Just after dinner, Kazawa had seen the creepy-looking Jiang Yuan Shi'nan shamelessly hitting on Miyano Akemi. Without a word, he'd left the table to intervene.
When Ehara Tokio left with a dark expression, Mouri Ran had already taken her father upstairs.
Kazawa had considered that Sayama Akiko might push Conan off the second floor into the pool to get rid of the detective, so he'd decided to follow.
Since the murder was going to happen anyway, he might as well stop the kid from falling into the water from that height.
Falling objects from a height could only end badly for everyone involved.
After waiting a few seconds to make sure Sayama Akiko—who had panicked at the sight of him—had already fled, Kazawa gave a sharp tug and pulled Conan back to safety.
Now back on solid ground, Conan was still in shock. But he instinctively looked toward the wide-open door behind Kazawa. "That person just now!"
Kazawa followed his gaze into the corridor. But the figure in the Baron costume was already gone.
"Escaped?" Conan clung to the wall, his legs going weak as delayed fear set in.
"I saw you standing up here and came looking for you. That's when I saw him push you," Kazawa said, feigning deep thought. "He came dressed like that and attacked one of the participants… he must be the event's host."
To calm his pounding heart, Conan walked back to the railing and looked down again—but none of the seven other participants were in sight.
"Pushing a kid off a ledge... this isn't just a prank anymore," Conan said with a frown. He looked at Kazawa. "Why did those seven people come to this event in the first place?"
—
"Akiko, you misunderstood. I didn't—" Maeda Satoshi stood in front of a door, looking helplessly at his girlfriend, who blocked the entrance.
"You still won't admit it! You're a shameless flirt!" Sayama Akiko shouted, gripping the door handle tightly and refusing to budge.
Maeda Satoshi tried to push the door again, but seeing her so stubborn, he didn't dare use force. "Hey, Akiko… did you drink too much earlier?"
"Uh, what's going on…" Mouri Ran had just finished settling her father into bed and stepped out to find the couple across the hall in a heated argument. She cautiously approached.
"Oh, Miss Mouri." Maeda Satoshi scratched his head awkwardly. "Akiko insisted I was making eyes at the waitress during dinner. Now she's mad…"
"Didn't you do it?" Sayama Akiko raised her voice, perhaps using the moment to vent her nerves.
Her plan to push the little boy off the terrace and drive the detective away had failed—unexpectedly witnessed.
Did the boy notice what she did?
Would he piece it together and expose her even faster?
Damn it… I need to call Jiang Yuan Shi'nan before everything blows up…
Her decision made, Sayama Akiko let out a final huff and slammed the door.
"Akiko! Akiko!" Maeda Satoshi knocked, but got no reply. He let out a long sigh and looked at the stunned Mouri Ran. "Forget it. She drank a lot. She won't listen now. Let her cool off."
Inside, Sayama Akiko leaned against the door after peeking through the peephole and seeing her fiancé walk away, confused and angry.
All her preparations were in place.
There was nothing to hesitate over now.
She just hoped the detective would get drunk—really drunk.
Walking over to the nightstand, she reached for the phone to call Tokito Ehara's room.
But before her fingers touched the receiver, the phone suddenly rang.
"!?" Startled, Sayama Akiko stared at the ringing landline before hesitantly picking it up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this room 1901?" A sweet female voice came from the other end.
It was the hotel front desk…
Her nerves eased slightly, and Sayama Akiko composed herself. "I'm Sayama. What is it?"
"Haha, such a determined voice." The voice on the other end suddenly changed—to a calm, smooth male voice. "It seems you've made up your mind to kill your despicable enemy with your own hands, Miss Sayama."