Conan’s Corpse Picker

Seeing that Toru Amuro fell silent, the old woman raised her hand tremblingly and pointed to the deep forest:

"According to the direction you are taking now, it's actually a smooth road - turn left at the fork in front and you'll be there in ten minutes.

"Although it's a little willful to say this, I hope you can give me a ride. That dinner is really important, and I'm almost late..."

Kidd looked at the old woman trying to hitchhike, then at Toru Amuro, and leaned back in his chair again.

... He originally planned to wait until he reached the intersection leading to the Dusk Annex and try to damage Tohru Amuro's car. In this way, in a place like this where there is no signal, one can only look for houses within sight and ask for help by calling - such as the Dusk Villa in the distance.

That was Kidd's destination.

However, Kidd observed the current situation and realized that this time, it seemed that he didn't need to bother to do anything.

Because if I remember correctly, the old lady who came to take the ride was actually a celebrity.

——Her name is Senjian Yudai, and she is a relatively famous easy chair detective, that is, the kind of detective who can deduce the situation by simply listening to the client's narrative at home without going to the scene.

Kidd felt that as a colleague, Toru Amuro should know her. And according to what Toru Amuro muttered before parking the car, even if it was for the reputation of Amuro Detective Agency, the boss would not refuse such a convenient request for a ride. After all, the Dusk Annex is really not too far from here.

…

Although Toru Amuro looked worried, he finally sighed, nodded, and agreed.

Mother-in-law Qianjian thanked her.

Then she returned to her own car, opened the passenger door, and pushed the person inside: "Wake up, we have to change cars."

Kidd looked through the car window and looked at the passenger seat of the car ahead with slight curiosity.

In his impression, based on previous investigations, Qianjian's mother-in-law did not open a detective agency, nor did she have an assistant. She usually lived alone at home. Why did she bring an extra person to the party this time?

Just as I was thinking about it, I saw a strange young man getting out of the car in front of me.

The man seemed to have just woken up, and his fluffy natural curls were slightly messed up. At this time, he was yawning. As he got out of the car, he took out a pair of light-colored sunglasses from his pocket, opened them and put them on the bridge of his nose.

——This is Jiang Xia's new vest, a puppet constructed with Matsuda Jinpei as the frame. When Jiang Xia applied for a fake certificate for him, he casually named him "Kurosawa Zuo".

Toru Amuro was leaning against the window frame and wondering if he would have to stay in the "Twilight Annex" tonight.

He noticed another person in the car in front of him getting out of the car and glanced casually.

Then his eyes stopped.

...Matsuda? ?

…

Several of Amuro Toru's close friends are now all dead.

Among them was Matsuda Jinpei, who was shattered by the bomb.

Although Matsuda's body was difficult to identify when he died, he was indeed the only one in the exploded Ferris wheel. The police would never collect the wrong body. Matsuda Jinpei was indeed dead.

but……

Toru Amuro suddenly remembered the figure he and Jiang Xia had seen in the mountains a while ago when they received the commission to "hire a killer to kill themselves."

Although the distance was far away at the time, the figure of the acquaintance was easily identifiable. No matter how he looked at it, Toru Amuro felt that it was his old classmate who unfortunately died - his clothes and sunglasses might be in a mess, but the acquaintance's movements and body shape were unique and easy to identify.

But at that time, just a few seconds after watching, the person who was highly suspicious of Matsuda Jinpei was washed away by the landslide. After digging for a long time, nothing was found.

In addition, no living person has ever seen "Matsuda Jinpei" except Toru Amuro himself. In the end, Toru Amuro had no choice but to regard what happened that day as a hallucination.

…

However, he didn't expect that as soon as he barely convinced himself that it was an illusion, he saw someone who looked like Matsuda Jinpei again.

... Even putting aside the friendship between old classmates, the mere fact of "resurrection from the dead" was enough to make Toru Amuro's breathing stop.

Just now.

Toru Amuro used the car lights to look at the people getting out of the car in front of him, and gradually realized something was wrong.

——The "Matsuda Jinpei" he met this time, whether it was sunglasses, curly hair, or black casual suit, was exactly the same as he remembered. But between the actions, there is no longer that sense of familiarity.

A closer look shows that although they look surprisingly similar, there are some differences from Matsuda...

"..." Could it be that the person I saw in the mountains last time was not Matsuda, but the person in front of me?

As for the similar body shapes... maybe he saw a familiar outfit, so he unconsciously made up the corresponding actions?

…

The young version of "Matsuda Jinpei" who got out of Senjian's mother-in-law's car was of course a puppet driven by Jiang Xia and constructed with Matsuda Jinpei as the main raw material.

The appearance of the puppet will neutralize the characteristics of the ghost fetus and the spirit of the medium. So the current Matsuda puppet looks very similar to Matsuda Jinping.

Previously, after Jiang Xia had settled down on his body, he went down the road and bumped into Qianjian's car.

——Matsuda Jinpei's puppet, the person he arranged to be a "Nishito" smuggled from Myanmar, with the pseudonym "Kurosawa Zuo", is still an invisible person in society and does not have a corresponding detective identity. It would be too suspicious if he went alone to the Dusk Villa as a guest.

So Jiang Xia found a companion for herself.

When they met, in order to explain the problem of not bringing any luggage and to make the old lady less wary, Jiang Xia carried ghosts about her parents and casually made up that she was a passenger who committed suicide in the mountains after suffering a terminal illness.

Mother-in-law Qianjian seemed to have some empathy for this, and she had other plans. After a moment of silence, she let Jiang Xia get in the car, and the two naturally became companions.

The last time this vest was released in Danyuan Mountain, the vest buried by the landslide was opened by Matsuda Jinpei - after Jiang Xia took the strange tear-shaped crystal, the ghosts and shikigami got A big increase.

In the past, if the vest wanted to move, Jiang Xia had to go into battle in person, but now, the ghosts can move on their own for a long time.

This is probably one of the reasons why Toru Amuro thought that the new vest was Matsuda Jinpei last time in the mountains, because what was inside the shell was indeed Matsuda Jinpei.

However, ghost fetuses are born unable to speak. Even if they can run around in puppets, they cannot make a sound. And compared to Jiang Xia himself controlling the puppets, the ghosts are more murderous and tiring to operate.

Therefore, except for occasions when double opening is required, Jiang Xia usually goes into battle in person at other times.

...such as now.

…

The headlights were dazzling. Eka and Senma Yoyo, who were standing in front of the Mazda, did not see Toru Amuro's change from calm to shocked to pretending to be calm.

Mother-in-law Qianjian pushed Jiang Xia, a companion she picked up halfway, to wake up and reminded him to change cars.

Then she walked to the Mazda in small steps and grabbed the tool man randomly.