As soon as Kogoro Mouri finished his phone call, Megure Juzo rushed over with his men at top speed.
Because the crime scene was the home of a popular idol, if they handled the situation poorly, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department would face enormous public pressure.
Just as he stepped out of the elevator, Megure Juzo saw Kogoro Mouri buzzing around Yoko Okino.
"Why are you here too, Brother Mouri?" Megure Juzo asked, looking at Kogoro with a somewhat grim expression.
This reaction couldn't really be blamed on Megure. Ever since Kogoro had been on the police force, he had been entirely unreliable, frequently leading investigations in the wrong direction. Megure had hoped he might change after quitting to become a private detective, but he had only become even more unreliable, now reduced to tracking down lost items and investigating extramarital affairs for money.
Kogoro straightened his suit jacket and said with a cocky smirk, "I was hired by Miss Yoko Okino to investigate a case. She says someone has been stalking her and sending her harassing messages."
Looking at Kogoro's flippant attitude, Megure found it hard to understand. Logically speaking, a major star like Yoko Okino wasn't short on money—why would she hire someone so thoroughly unreliable to handle her case?
While Megure and Kogoro were talking, the Forensics Section finished their inspection. The traces left at the scene were identical to those from the anime in his past life.
The deceased was named Akiyoshi Fujie, and his cause of death was a stab wound to the back that killed him instantly. Left at the scene were a toppled stool, puddles of water and blood, and obvious indentation marks on the floor, with no signs of a forced entry from the outside.
"It looks like this is a locked-room murder case! This feels a bit troublesome. Well, Brother Qin Xiao, do you have any leads yet?"
Hearing Megure's words, the others turned to look at Qin Xiao, eager to see if the legendary Dragon of the Police World was really as formidable as the news made him out to be. The male officers, in particular, were consumed with envy because of the attitude Miwako Sato held toward Qin Xiao. In their hearts, they believed Qin Xiao had merely stumbled upon the solution to his last case by pure luck. Today, he surely wouldn't be so lucky. Consequently, one after another, they were waiting to see Qin Xiao make a fool of himself.
While everyone was watching Qin Xiao, Conan had already sneaked into the crime scene in search of clues.
*Qin Xiao, this time I will definitely find the killer before you and prove that I, Shinichi Kudo, am better than you!*
Just as Conan pulled an earring out from under the sofa, someone grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hoisted him off the ground.
"Just what do you think you're doing sneaking in here, kid? Don't you know you're tampering with a crime scene?!"
As Kogoro raised a fist to whack him on the head, Conan quickly cried out, "Uncle, I found this under the sofa! It could be an important clue."
After hurriedly handing the earring to Kogoro, Conan scrambled out the door and pressed himself against the doorframe to watch.
"Is this earring yours, Miss Okino?" Kogoro asked, holding up the earring.
"No, it's not mine," Yoko Okino replied, looking at the earring in puzzlement. "But it looks like Miss Yoko Ikezawa's earring. I remember seeing her wear it before. But why would her earring be in my apartment?"
At that moment, Yoko Okino's manager, Eiichi Yamagishi, seemed to recall something. "Miss Okino was originally scheduled for a TV appearance that went to Yoko Ikezawa instead, but the station later reassigned it to Miss Okino. Could she have done this?"
Upon hearing this information from Eiichi Yamagishi, Megure Juzo decided it might be a crucial lead and immediately ordered someone to summon Yoko Ikezawa.
Before long, a heavily made-up woman draped in designer brands walked in with a haughty air. "Out with it—what do you want? I'm a very busy person!"
*Well, I still think Yoko Okino is better-looking than her, if only because she hasn't had plastic surgery,* Qin Xiao thought as he looked at Yoko Ikezawa's heavily enhanced face.
The moment Yoko Ikezawa walked through the door, Kogoro leaped forward, eager to curry favor with Yoko Okino. "Did you harbor a grudge because Miss Okino took your television spot, and so you murdered someone to frame her?!"
Hearing Kogoro's accusation, Yoko Ikezawa immediately snapped. "Stop talking nonsense! I've never even been here before. Besides, how could I possibly kill someone over a television show?!" With that, she shoved Kogoro aside and marched uninvited into the bathroom.
While the two were arguing, Eiichi Yamagishi caught sight of a golden-blond hair on the corpse. He instantly faked a stumble, picked up the hair, and moved to slip it into his pocket.
"Hey! Uncle, what did you just pick up from the body?"
Prompted by Conan's shout, everyone turned their attention to Eiichi Yamagishi.
"Please hand over what you just took, Mr. Eiichi Yamagishi," Megure Juzo said sternly.
Just then, Yoko Ikezawa emerged from the bathroom, casually picked up a decorative lighter from the table, and lit a cigarette.
"Isn't that Miss Okino's hair? Why is it here?"
"This... this must have fallen on the floor when I first came in. I was just picking it up, please don't misunderstand," Eiichi Yamagishi stammered in explanation.
"I seem to recall that you once confessed your love to Yoko Okino, Eiichi Yamagishi, only to be rejected," Yoko Ikezawa chimed in, eager to stir up trouble.
At that point, Kogoro eagerly rushed to insert himself into the spotlight again. "The killer is actually you, Mr. Eiichi Yamagishi! As her manager, you must have the spare keys to Miss Okino's apartment! Because Miss Okino rejected your confession, you were consumed by a love-turned-hatred and wanted to frame her!"
"No way! Don't frame me! Even if she rejected me, what good would it do me as her manager if my artist got into trouble? Besides, I lost my keys days ago!"
Unable to bear Kogoro's bizarre and outlandish deductions any longer, Qin Xiao stepped forward.
"Inspector Megure, I already know who the killer is."
With that, Qin Xiao walked right up to Yoko Okino. "Miss Okino, you actually knew the victim, didn't you?"
Hearing Qin Xiao's words, Yoko Okino sighed, ignoring the warning glances Eiichi Yamagishi was shooting her. With a look of profound relief, she confessed, "Yes. Akiyoshi Fujie and I went to the same high school, and he used to be my boyfriend, but we broke up a long time ago."
"Then I understand exactly what happened."
Qin Xiao then spoke the killer's name. "In fact, the killer is none other than Akiyoshi Fujie himself."