Ten minutes later, Kurosawa Hoshino and Conan sat on chairs at the dining table next to the kitchen. The curtains in front of them were drawn, so they couldn't see Ran and the others busy in the kitchen. They could only hear Kamimori Michiko's voice.
"Hoshino-nii," Conan said in a very soft voice, still thinking about Vermouth, "I think that Ms. Chris is a bit abnormal."
Kurosawa was surprised. After a moment of silence, he asked calmly, "What's abnormal about her?"
"Her whole body is abnormal." Conan's tone was very certain.
"What did you find out?" Kurosawa continued to probe.
"Yes, I found out." Conan's tone turned serious. "Hoshino-nii, you have to keep a close eye on Ms. Chris. I found out—she might like to... touch Ran."
Kurosawa looked at him like he was an idiot. He thought Conan had discovered Vermouth's Black Organization identity—or that she wasn't an ordinary person. But after all that, all he got was the statement that Vermouth "likes women."
"Hoshino-nii, am I wrong?" Conan felt very uncomfortable under Kurosawa's gaze and couldn't help but ask.
Kurosawa chuckled, too lazy to answer his question. He took out his phone and opened a previously downloaded game to play.
Conan wanted to press further, but after thinking about it, he decided against it. Kurosawa's demeanor just now had clearly shown he didn't believe him, so further explanation was useless unless he saw it with his own eyes. And so, both of them fell silent—one played on his phone, the other stared blankly at the curtain.
Suddenly, the overhead lights went out, plunging the surroundings into darkness.
"The power's out?" Conan looked up.
A loud crash followed. A loud banging came from the entrance hall.
Kamimori Michiko's voice echoed from the kitchen: "Yuko, go to the electrical room and see if the circuit breaker has tripped."
"Yes," Komiyama Yuko replied.
Kurosawa turned on his phone's flashlight and pulled back the curtain. Just as he did, Kamimori Michiko let out a scream, drawing everyone's attention. With the sudden light, Ran and the others saw a hand retracting from Michiko's back, holding a long, thin needle.
"Nishitani, what are you doing? What have you done to my mother-in-law?" Kamimori Kaoru demanded loudly.
"I—" Nishitani Hiroaki looked at the needle in his hand, then at Kurosawa holding the phone, and froze, rooted to the spot.
Vermouth grabbed Ran's hand and led her to Kurosawa's side. Looking at Michiko, kneeling on the ground in pain, and then at Nishitani standing there in a daze, she said calmly, "Looks like she was preparing to kill someone."
Just then, the overhead lights came on, illuminating the entire kitchen.
"Michiko!" Yashiro Kazue called out worriedly, wanting to help Michiko but afraid of Nishitani standing there. Kamimori Kaoru, her daughter-in-law, hadn't moved an inch beyond calling out.
"What's wrong?" Komiyama ran back from the electrical room, startled to see Michiko kneeling in pain. She quickly reached out to help her.
"Ms. Komiyama, don't go! Be careful of Nishitani! He's the one who hurt Michiko!" Yashiro pulled Komiyama back.
Kurosawa said calmly, "Ran, call the police and an ambulance."
"Oh—okay~" Ran snapped out of her daze, took out her phone, and dialed.
"Mr. Nishitani, are you still not back to your senses?" Kurosawa called out.
Nishitani, of course, snapped out of his daze. A wry smile on his face, he said in a low voice, "I actually assumed everything was normal—that you guys were like Komiyama and the others and didn't bring your phones to class."
Michiko turned around, staring intently at Nishitani, utterly bewildered as to why this student who had previously provided her with financial assistance would harm her. After a long pause, she asked with great difficulty, "You—are you—going to—harm me because I didn't lend you money to open your shop?"
"That's one reason." Nishitani looked at Michiko and said softly, "And also because of Komiyama. I feel it's unfair that you stole her recipe."
Then he looked at Komiyama and said with a bitter smile, "Komiyama, you probably haven't noticed, but I've been—"
"I know." Komiyama slowly stepped forward, helped Michiko up, and said softly, "No matter what, I don't want you to do this for me. I only hope that one day I can create a recipe that even the teacher can't modify. At that time, I will be satisfied."
Kurosawa stared blankly ahead, glanced at the system panel, and noticed that the Origin Points column had jumped again. He was just ten Origin Points short.
Twenty minutes later, Inspector Megure arrived with his team. Looking at Kurosawa, he rubbed his temples and asked in a low voice, "Hoshino-kun, have you noticed that you've been dealing with a lot more cases lately?"
"Inspector Megure, what are you trying to say?" Kurosawa glanced sideways. Was Inspector Megure implying that he was a Grim Reaper—bringing death wherever he went?
"Ahem, no, no. I just suddenly feel that Tokyo has been quite unsettling lately, with people dying frequently." Inspector Megure didn't dare tell the truth and lied with a laugh.
"Alright, Inspector Megure, you can handle things slowly. We'll be going now."
"I'll see you off."
"No need. It's not far. A walk back is fine." Kurosawa waved and turned to walk toward Ran and the others in the distance, heading toward Beika Town with them.
On the way, after they had gone a little further, Ran sighed. "I never expected things to turn out this way."
Vermouth said calmly, "I think it's quite good. I always felt those people had some issues. It's better to avoid them."
Conan pouted. "That Mr. Nishitani definitely has some problems. Knowing Hoshino-nii was there, he still made a move. I really don't know what he was thinking."
Kurosawa knew exactly what these people were thinking. They were all stubborn, believing they could fool this person and that person, but in the end, they were full of loopholes. Not to mention that he now had a cheat code—he wasn't relying on anime memories to deduce things anymore.