Chapter 273
Usuha Izuki stood in a corner playing with his phone.
Although he had some dark humor, at occasions like a colleague's sister's wedding, he was still sensible enough not to cause trouble.
Fortunately, this kind of banquet allowed guests to move around freely, with food placed on tables for self-service. If it had been assigned seating, just figuring out where to seat him and which table to put him at would have been enough to make Shiratori Ninzaburo lose all his hair.
"Here, juice." Hagiwara Kenji came over and handed Usuha Izuki a drink. "I'm going to greet other people. You..."
He wanted to say "don't wander around," but thinking that his friend was also an adult and had specifically chosen to stand in a corner, showing he was aware of the situation, there was no need to give such reminders. So he changed his words: "After the newlyweds arrive and I've greeted everyone I should, if you feel bored, it's fine to leave."
After all, just coming was already giving Shiratori Ninzaburo a lot of face. Even if he left early, Shiratori Ninzaburo wouldn't feel dissatisfied at all—he'd be grateful for Samukawa Shinryu's consideration.
Usuha Izuki acknowledged and casually held his juice while observing the guests.
He wasn't familiar with the groom's side, but quite a few people from the Metropolitan Police had come from the bride's side, including many of his acquaintances.
As his gaze swept over them, the more sensitive officers would startle and look his way.
Accidentally, they would make eye contact, and since they'd already made eye contact, they could only quickly raise their glasses in acknowledgment.
Those with better relationships, or who had received help from Samukawa Shinryu, simply walked directly to this corner to chat with him briefly.
Accidentally, what had been a quite low-key corner became somewhat conspicuous.
Fortunately, the MC soon announced the entrance of the newlyweds. As the lights dimmed, everyone's attention focused on the bride and groom.
Except for Edogawa Conan, who even in this dim environment immediately noticed someone turning away with a cold expression, looking nothing like someone who would bless the newlyweds—completely inappropriate for such an occasion.
But since the person was just turning to leave rather than suddenly attacking someone, Edogawa Conan could see it but couldn't do anything about it.
When the lights came back on, perhaps due to the newlyweds' entrance and their rounds of greetings, the atmosphere finally became more lively. Even the police officers who had previously made this place feel like some kind of criminal case conference center managed to force smiles, avoiding being the ones to ruin the mood.
At such times, Usuha Izuki wearing Samukawa Shinryu's mask became quite conspicuous in some people's eyes.
"Um, Mr. Shiratori."
The person following behind Shiratori Ninzaburo, being led around to greet people, looked at Shiratori Ninzaburo's advancing steps with inexplicable timidity: "Are we going to greet that person?"
"...We've already come this far." A drop of cold sweat fell from the back of Shiratori Ninzaburo's head as he realized he'd almost forgotten that the person he was bringing wasn't a police officer. "How about you wait here for a moment while I..."
Just as he was speaking, the dark-haired, red-eyed youth's gaze swept over and settled precisely on Shiratori Ninzaburo and the person he was bringing.
Shiratori Ninzaburo, who was only halfway through his sentence: "..........."
Having come this far, wouldn't it be too obvious to abandon the person and go over alone?
Obviously, the person he was bringing thought the same thing, saying in a very restrained tone: "...Let's go, Mr. Shiratori."
Shiratori Ninzaburo was embarrassed: "It's okay, he's actually quite nice."
The person he was bringing nodded to show understanding.
...Someone invited to such an occasion definitely wouldn't be some vicious criminal—he naturally understood this logic, but it didn't prevent him from getting nervous upon seeing the other person!
Just that one second when the gaze swept over and paused, he felt as if he'd been seen through, as if he were standing naked before the other person, and the other person knew everything... especially for a high-achieving student with strong self-esteem, this feeling was truly unbearable.
Well, since Shiratori Ninzaburo wanted to introduce him to the other person, he might as well get acquainted and find out what the other person did for work.
Shiratori Ninzaburo quickly brought this person before Usuha Izuki and introduced him: "This is my psychologist, Dr. Kazuto Kyosuke who works in the psychotherapy department at Beika Yakushi no Hospital."
"I'm Kazuto. Please treat me favorably." Kazuto Kyosuke put on his usual considerate and polite smile, extending his hand for a handshake.
Usuha Izuki also raised his hand to shake: "Samukawa Shinryu. Please treat me favorably."
Touching the somewhat cool leather glove, Kazuto Kyosuke was momentarily at a loss for words: "..........."
—This guy doesn't even take off his gloves when shaking hands?!
He could have easily concluded that the other person was rude, but looking at the dangerously imposing youth, Kazuto Kyosuke couldn't help thinking that perhaps he wasn't qualified to have him remove his gloves...
Or perhaps there were marks under the gloves that couldn't be seen, like burns or knife wounds... taking it further, what if it was to avoid leaving fingerprints when doing certain things...
Kazuto Kyosuke somewhat stiffly shook the other person's hand up and down once, then released his grip: "Please treat me favorably, Samukawa-kun."
Shiratori Ninzaburo coughed: "I was going to say that if you had anything you wanted to confide, you could consider finding Dr. Kazuto, but..."
It felt like everyone around Samukawa Shinryu had psychological problems, but he himself wouldn't!
Usuha Izuki said naturally: "I don't need it. Why don't you recommend him to Mr. Mouri instead? He's been falling asleep at random times lately—I suspect he's ill."
Shiratori Ninzaburo immediately laughed: "You're right about that. I'll go find Mr. Mouri now. Want to come along?"
Usuha Izuki nodded.
Kazuto Kyosuke felt the pressure increase... Mr. Shiratori, don't you seem to have a good relationship with this Samukawa-kun? Why were you pretending to be under so much pressure just now...
And why is this over already? At least introduce what this person does for work!
But his opinion didn't matter. At this moment, he had no chance to speak and could only follow the two people ahead into the crowd.
Mouri Kogoro's group also noticed the several people approaching—Shiratori Ninzaburo and Kazuto Kyosuke alone would have been fine, but Samukawa Shinryu's presence was too conspicuous to ignore.
"Hey, congratulations, congratulations." Mouri Kogoro smiled and greeted Shiratori Ninzaburo, also nodding to acknowledge Usuha Izuki, then looked questioningly at Kazuto Kyosuke.
After everyone got acquainted, Mouri Kogoro was chatting well with them when he suddenly spotted Inspector Megure and Takagi Wataru out of the corner of his eye and turned to call out.
"Wait, Inspector Megure, how's the investigation of that matter going?"
Inspector Megure was always tolerant toward Mouri Kogoro, his former colleague, but this time he had a stern expression: "Sorry, I don't want to discuss that matter."
Mouri Kogoro looked shocked, his expression seeming to say "Am I not your most beloved child anymore?": "Why won't you tell me..."
Then he grabbed Takagi Wataru by the collar and pressed him for answers.
Usuha Izuki naturally turned to ask: "What does Mr. Mouri want to ask about?"
Shiratori Ninzaburo smiled bitterly: "Well... sorry, it's classified."
After saying this, Shiratori Ninzaburo noticed that Takagi Wataru had actually revealed the intelligence about "the dead police officer was gripping a police handbook," and quickly stepped forward to interrupt: "Mr. Mouri, Need not to Know—saying that should make you understand, right?"
Mouri Kogoro's expression immediately changed dramatically.
This was a hint used among detectives, meaning the case involved someone related to the police force.
After Shiratori Ninzaburo stopped Takagi Wataru from further leaking information, he gave Takagi Wataru a look to follow him, while apologetically saying to Kazuto Kyosuke: "Sorry, I need to step away for a moment."
Kazuto Kyosuke quickly waved his hands: "No problem, go ahead and take care of business."
Although he wasn't part of the police, he understood the hint just now and was secretly delighted.
—Because the person who had killed those two police officers was actually himself!
He had deliberately fabricated a dying message, pulling out the police handbook and placing it in the hands of the police officer he'd killed to disrupt the investigation.
Now the police were already doing exactly as he'd hoped, thinking it was a code left by the deceased and beginning to investigate people related to the police... heh, if they really investigated cases involving dead police officers, some high-ranking police officials would indeed be implicated. Once the waters got murky, progress would slow, making it even less likely they'd investigate him.
After all, Kazuto Kyosuke was a high-achieving student who had even been a genius surgeon. To reach this level, his intellect couldn't be poor.
If that person hadn't deliberately sabotaged his hand during surgery, forcing him to transfer from surgery to psychotherapy and ruining his life—even admitting in front of him that it was intentional—he actually wouldn't have developed murderous thoughts.
But sometimes, murder was just a moment's decision, and after killing one person, killing others no longer pressured him.
He wasn't some serial killer. The dead police officers had actually all been investigating the case of that enemy he'd killed. When it had clearly ended as a suicide, they inexplicably wanted to reopen it. He was forced to "protect himself" and had no choice but to silence them and frame others...
Now everything was going smoothly. As long as he killed that policewoman named Sato tonight, he could stop...
"Need help?"
Suddenly, an icy voice called him back from his thoughts.
Meeting those dark red eyes, Kazuto Kyosuke's heart nearly stopped beating, followed immediately by an accelerated heart rate.
What did he mean? Was Samukawa Shinryu offering to help with murder? What exactly did this person do for work, being so brazen with so many police officers around...
Kazuto Kyosuke, who had accidentally misunderstood, quickly realized that he had only been thinking to himself without speaking aloud, so the other person definitely wasn't referring to that.
Sigh, was he too nervous because he was about to kill someone? How could he suddenly think in such a strange direction...
It wasn't like he was a murderer who could still mix with police and think that other acquaintances of the police were also outlaws... Most murderers actually couldn't maintain good relationships with police while acting as convincingly as he did!
Kazuto Kyosuke calmed himself down and asked with a smile: "What kind of help are you referring to, Samukawa-kun? Speaking of which, I still don't know what you do for work..."
The dangerously imposing youth raised his wine glass toward him with his leather-gloved hand in acknowledgment.
"Legal consultation, if you want to know... For example, someone once came to me to discuss their murder plan and ask about the feasibility of escaping legal punishment."
Kazuto Kyosuke: "...?!?!?!"