Chapter 43: Shinichi Kudo's Guide to Deduction

"You are... are you Kido Komo?!"

The handsome man with long hair was the first to recognize Komo, and Takahashi’s gaze shrunk instantly as well.

"H-how... how could you be Kido Komo?" Takahashi stammered, his tone tinged with a hint of indignation. He felt deceived and toyed with. He had clearly suggested to Ayako that they hire an obscure, unknown actor, so how had Kido Komo ended up here? And of all people, he had to be someone that Ran and her friends already knew. Given this guy's past fame, even if the frame-up succeeded, it would easily escalate into a sensational public scandal that would inevitably bring the police in for a reinvestigation. Besides, being Kido Komo was one thing, but why hide so thoroughly? Why intentionally dress up like a freak? He had told him to play a freak, not to actually become one! If he had known sooner, he would have initiated his second plan...

"Is it really Kido Komo?" Sonoko peeked out from behind Ran, her wide eyes no longer brimming with tears, staring longingly at Komo with a flushed face. Kido Komo hadn't seemed this handsome in the past. It was the perfect combination of a great detective and an idol. Secretly protecting her, followed by that stunning appearance that overturned the image of the murderous monster... it was even more perfect than the plot she had envisioned. In an instant, she had already thought of names for their future children.

"Oh my, sister, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I didn't know either," Suzuki Ayako replied, squinting in confusion. "Someone said they would recommend an actor for me... I didn't expect it to be Mr. Kido."

Komo glanced past the dazed Sonoko to observe Suzuki Ayako, confirming there was nothing unusual about her. It seemed there was only danger when the existence of the system was at risk of being exposed.

"So it was just a misunderstanding," Takahashi said, his face stiffening as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry, just now I..."

"Just now, you wanted to silence me, didn't you?" Komo turned back, showing no courtesy to the man. "You didn't want anyone to know you were framing me, so you wanted to take the opportunity to kill me and leave no witnesses."

"Huh?" Takahashi looked bewildered. "What are you talking about, Mr. Kido? I really just..."

"When we first met at the entrance, everyone else looked at me with curiosity, but you weren't surprised at all... which means you had already seen me beforehand." Komo interrupted the fake fat man’s performance. These criminals were truly impressive; their acting skills were better than any ordinary person's. "The only person who had seen me before this was one person—the other freak wrapped in bandages. You said you saw the freak, but you weren't talking about the bandage monster, were you? You were talking about seeing me."

"That's not it," Takahashi continued to quibble. "I saw you from the second-floor window, and as for the bandage monster..."

"The body type was different?" Komo’s gaze was sharp. "Then can you lift your shirt and let everyone see your stomach? Let's see if you really are that fat."

Takahashi’s expression changed abruptly. He lowered his head, sweat pouring down his brow, and his mouth opened, but he could not force out a word.

"Why look at his stomach?" The long-haired young man looked nervously at the suddenly transformed Komo and urged the fake fat man, "What is going on? Takahashi, speak up! What do you mean by 'really fat'?"

"Stop struggling." Komo gestured for Ran to guard against any sudden move from the fake fat man. "Although I didn't see the trick you used here at the villa, I happened to discover the scene where the body was dismembered in the forest. Ikeda Chikako’s head wasn't in the woods then, but now..."

Takahashi’s brow twitched—he had assumed Komo never went there.

"When we went, the head and the torso were together," Conan realized, looking at the silent Takahashi. "So he pretended to be fat just to make it easier to transport the body?"

He simply hadn't thought of Takahashi being a fake fat man at first, but with Komo’s hint, the whole case became clear. So that was it. He had been completely fooled...

"He only needed to carry a head." Komo felt the magical charm of deduction. It was even more intense than the Hatamoto case—this time, he had connected the clues beforehand. The feeling of solving a difficult mystery was indeed fascinating, especially for a half-baked detective like him who relied solely on observation.

"If there are no surprises, that blood-stained bandage monster coat is on you right now... or you could wait for the police to come and search tomorrow. It’s impossible to pull off such a murder trick without leaving a trace. You must have realized this, which is why you wanted to find a scapegoat, right? Intentionally crafting the image of a murderous monster..."

"I remember!" Ran suddenly whispered, realizing the truth. "When we first arrived at the villa, I accidentally opened his door. I didn't see clearly, but it looked like he was changing his clothes... is that why he attacked me?"

Conan glared at the fake fat man. This guy had wanted to kill Ran just because of the possibility that she might have seen something she didn't even notice.

"I had no choice..." Takahashi suddenly burst into tears, laughing and crying at the same time. "That woman Chikako deserved to die. I only wanted to avenge Atsuko, whom she drove to suicide. What was wrong with that? It's all your fault! Who just opens doors without knocking? And you, Kido Komo... everything should have gone so smoothly... why did you have to run in and ruin it?! You could have just revealed your identity..."

"Since it was revenge, why involve others?" Komo remained unmoved. "Framing others for your crime—was that also for the sake of the person you called Atsuko? Not to mention you tried to kill Ran and me."

Takahashi fidgeted with his fingers, and finally, under the watchful eyes of Ran, he released the mechanism on his abdomen—"Pfft!" As the air bags on both sides deflated, the bandage monster costume and its accessories all tumbled to the floor.

"There is one thing I can't figure out," Takahashi wiped his flowing tears and looked up at Komo, unwilling to yield. "Since you went to the woods at that time, why didn't we run into you when we went?"

"Maybe because I run faster?" Komo didn't want to talk to this guy anymore. The criminals in this world were truly capable of driving normal people insane. Apart from Conan and his group, he felt it was difficult to trust anyone else easily.

...

The long, stormy night came to an end in the morning light. The group didn't sleep for the rest of the night, keeping watch over the grief-stricken Takahashi in the dining room. Even after killing Chikako, Takahashi couldn't resolve the sorrow in his heart, crying as he recounted many things from the past, especially his fond memories of Atsuko, the classmate who had committed suicide two years ago. It was said that Ikeda Chikako’s famous work, which had been adapted into a film, was actually stolen from a manuscript Atsuko had written during their university days.

"Miss Ayako." Before heading down the mountain, Komo approached Suzuki Ayako, who was in a slightly low mood. "Could you help me hide my presence in this matter? Otherwise, I don't know how the reporters will report it."

"Huh?" Sonoko, who had been stealing glances at Komo, asked in surprise. "If it gets reported, you might become as famous as Ran's father and make a comeback..."

"I just don't want to be famous," Komo shook his head. "I dressed like that in the first place because I didn't want to be involved in any more trouble... and if this incident really spreads, it won't be a good thing for you either."

Komo’s last sentence was actually directed at the long-haired young man and the man with the center-parted hair, who stood nearby with varied expressions. Especially the man with the center-parted hair. This guy had almost filmed the entire process, except for the last scene where he was too flustered to take out his camera.

"I understand." Suzuki Ayako squinted, still looking dazed, but she realized the potential impact of this event. Kido Komo, the former popular idol who once rivaled Yoko Okino, suddenly returning as a famous detective... she couldn't imagine the magnitude of the stir it would cause. The source of this incident was ultimately the party she had organized, and it happened in her own villa; in the end, public opinion would also affect the Suzuki Financial Group.

"I will have my family handle this."

"Thank you." Only then did Komo finally breathe a sigh of relief. His handling of this case had been too rough, a lack of experience, and he had made many mistakes from the very beginning of his performance. Although some were coincidences and accidents, and he hadn't expected it to be the "Villa Bandage Monster Murder Case" before coming... it was best to use the power of the Suzuki family to handle the aftermath. Otherwise, he would likely have to flee abroad and wait for the heat to die down before returning to Japan.

"Ran," Sonoko was blushing like an apple beside Ran, burning with heat. "Do you think Mr. Kido likes me? He risked his life to protect me last night, and now he’s looking out for our family... is this moving too fast?"

"..." Ran was at a loss for words, not knowing how to correct Sonoko’s delusions. Her best friend was usually a relationship expert and spoke eloquently about gossip, so why had she become like a fool now?

...

"Brother Kido is really amazing." Conan followed behind Komo with his hands in his pockets, smiling as if he had caught Komo in a mistake. Including their first meeting in the Hatamoto case, this was the second time he had lost to Komo in terms of solving a case. Thinking about how Komo had brushed him off last time, pretending to be a half-baked intuition-based detective like Uncle Mouri, Conan felt a wave of frustration. He had been too naive. Without strong logical reasoning ability, it was impossible to have put on that deduction show just now. Komo simply hadn't wanted to pay attention to him last time.

"Actually, you saw through Takahashi’s trick from the beginning, didn't you?" Conan speculated. "You knew all along that Takahashi wanted to use the invited actor, right?"

"Uh." Komo felt the kid was being sarcastic. "I was just lucky and happened to discover the problem."

"Tsk." Conan didn't believe him at all. He had finally figured it out: Komo just liked to hide his talents. He was excessively cautious and low-key.

"Woo—!" A series of police sirens echoed from down the mountain, startling the birds. The others had called the police from a nearby villa. At this moment, the glowing text in Komo’s field of vision finally finished calculating.

[Mission accomplished, drawing rewards...]

[Obtained "Kudo Shinichi's Guide to Deduction", 4-star]

[Performance rating: Good, reward 2 stars]

[Death participation level: 1, additional reward 1 star]

[Acting tasks: 4/4]

...

Performance rating: Good?

Komo was slightly stunned. That's right, he was playing the role of an actor this time; it was impossible for him to fail.