Chapter 9

Facing the suspect, Abe Yutaka, Conan chuckled and said, "Although you deceived the detective, the photos won't lie for you."

The person who looked very similar to Negishi Masaki had a very obvious difference from Negishi Masaki—he was left-handed.

Conan looked up at Abe Yutaka with a cute tone, "Go turn yourself in, the police will be here soon."

"Haha... Hahaha!!"

"Amazing, this deduction is brilliant!" Abe Yutaka laughed heartily, "You're right, the one who killed Negishi Masaki is me, Abe Yutaka."

He squatted down, patted Conan's head, and smiled smugly, "But I won't turn myself in! I'm going to live a carefree life abroad."

"Huh? But Uncle, you just admitted your crime to me, didn't you?" Conan asked with an innocent look.

"Hehe... Do you think anyone will believe a child?"

"But, Uncle..." Conan pulled out a small recorder from his pocket, winked at Abe Yutaka, "If it's your words, the police will definitely believe it."

"The one who killed Negishi Masaki is me, Abe Yutaka!"

The recorder played back his previous smug words, which were clearly recorded.

"Don't underestimate me, you damn brat!"

Abe Yutaka turned around and grabbed Conan's neck, his face twisted with anger, "My company is on the brink of bankruptcy, do you know how I feel?"

"Hahaha, lying is better than being lied to!! That guy was too stupid!! He didn't even suspect anything, agreed to the insurance, and unknowingly stepped into the death trap I set for him!"

Abe Yutaka's expression was疯狂, and the hands that were choking Conan's neck made it hard for him to breathe.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, Abe Yutaka felt a powerful kick to his back, causing him to stagger and involuntarily release his hands.

Before he could react, a loud slap hit his face, leaving him dazed.

Abe Yutaka realized he was under attack and struggled to fight back, but the next moment he felt a pain in his abdomen.

"Ugh!"

Abe Yutaka gagged, his body involuntarily going limp, and the heavy blow to his soft abdomen instantly rendered him unable to resist.

"This is really dangerous, Conan-kun. Don't act so recklessly next time." Jōsaku took out handcuffs, arrested Abe Yutaka, and smiled at the panicked washing machine.

"Detective Jōsaku! You... you're here... No, when did you come?"

"From the beginning." Jōsaku caught his breath, pulled Abe Yutaka up from the ground, and calmed his nerves.

To be honest, this was his first time fighting as an adult, and his opponent was a murderer. Although he had been trained by the system on how to subdue criminals, he didn't use any of those techniques just now.

What worked was the wild fighting style from his high school days. The flying kick from behind was a sneak attack, and the slap was a "soft control" that quickly disoriented the opponent.

The knee strike to the abdomen was the key move to make the opponent lose the ability to fight back.

The techniques he learned before joining the force... were completely useless.

Realizing this, Jōsaku decided to strengthen his combat skills.

Kyojiro Maki, who is officially rated as the highest combat level "Special A," is out of the question. So are Shuichi Amuro and Shuuichi Akai, who are rated "A" by the official standards.

Ran and Sonoko, who are rated "B"...

Cough, let's skip these freaks. Jōsaku thinks he should at least reach "C" level, where he can handle two or three people without a problem.

Otherwise, in this world that is increasingly turning into an action movie, Jōsaku feels his life is always in danger...

"I... you..."

Looking at Jōsaku, who was deep in thought, Conan mistakenly thought Jōsaku was thinking about his problem and couldn't help but panic.

He wanted to find an excuse but didn't know how to explain it, feeling like an ant on a hot pan.

After all, he was caught in the act!

Conan's broken words woke Jōsaku from his thoughts. The panicked expression and unconscious waving of his hands clearly showed how anxious Conan was.

"Conan-kun."

"Hi!!"

Hearing Jōsaku's words, Conan immediately straightened up.

"You shouldn't do that."

Jōsaku, with the expression of a "veteran," educated Conan, "From the first time I met you, I thought you were a very smart kid."

"So young, yet with such sharp insight, and able to make such meticulous deductions, and actually find the culprit."

"Huh... That's all..."

Conan's usually calm demeanor was long gone, his brain frantically working to find an excuse, but he couldn't think of anything to fool Jōsaku.

"Don't say anything more!"

Jōsaku's serious expression made Conan's heart sink.

"Am I exposed?"

This thought flashed through Conan's mind, but then he heard Jōsaku's words.

"You, kid, are a genius!" Jōsaku maintained a serious expression, "You excel in deduction, and your thinking is very mature, just like me when I was young."

"Huh?"

"When I was young, I was also very mature, but compared to your talent in deduction, my talent was more focused on academics."

Jōsaku smiled, "At that time, it was a tough period, and our family's hot spring had no customers at all. We could only live off our savings."

"I begged my parents to let me study and get into university, and I eventually proved myself with excellent grades. In university, it was the same, and after graduation, I immediately became part of the Career group."

Jōsaku squatted down and smiled at the dazed Conan, "What do you think? Compared to those who live blindly happy, I knew what I wanted very early on."

"And when I was young, I often gave mature advice, but my parents treated it as a joke, just like you, right?"

"Especially in a murder case, even ordinary adults would find it hard to identify the culprit, let alone a child."

Without paying attention to the dazed Conan, Jōsaku spoke fluently and finally stopped.

Looking at Conan's dazed eyes, Jōsaku couldn't help but give himself a mental pat on the back.

Operation Convince Conan, a great success!