No matter how she spun it, this just didn't seem like a credible motive.
If Ouzo were truly jealous enough to want Kudo Shinichi dead, then back at the bar, when he mentioned "Kudo," he should've at least shown something—guilt, resentment, disgust, or that classic villainous satisfaction of "haha, got him."
But Vermouth remembered it clearly—there was none of that.
If anything, he'd looked like he was protecting someone. Not Kudo himself, but from her—Vermouth, the actual villain poking her nose into things.
That image nagged at her. Her frown deepened as she returned to Jiangxia's inbox.
She had a feeling—just a faint, tingling sense—that today, she might finally uncover the whereabouts of the supposedly "dead" Cool Guy.
She backed out of the inbox and opened his contact list.
As expected, Jiangxia saved names in full.
She quickly located Ran Mouri's number. Her finger hovered over the call button for a moment, then pressed it decisively.
Vermouth wasn't worried about getting caught—she'd studied disguise under Kuroba Toichi himself. Voice mimicry was child's play now. Give her a voice once, and she could become that person over the phone with uncanny accuracy.
At the concert venue…
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki were already inside, eyes sparkling as TWO-MIX took the stage. Front row seats, shared glowsticks, and a steady stream of fangirl screaming—this was peak Sonoko-bait.
Suddenly, Ran's phone buzzed.
She checked the screen: a call from Jiangxia.
"...Has he finished the case already?" she muttered, surprised.
Perfect timing! The concert had just started—he could still make it in time!
She whispered a quick excuse to Sonoko, then stepped out into the quieter hallway to take the call.
A familiar voice came through the speaker. "Why'd you take so long to answer?"
Ran froze.
That voice—was unmistakable.
"Shinichi?! Why are you using Jiangxia's phone?"
Her eyes widened. "Did you finally wrap up that troublesome case and come back to Tokyo?"
That "troublesome case" was the exact excuse Shinichi Kudo had given their classmates for why he'd dropped off the radar.
On the other end, Vermouth's lips curled into a smile.
Ran's shock was obvious—but it wasn't the soul-crushing shock of someone getting a phone call from their dead childhood friend. It was surprise. Genuine, yes, but the normal kind.
Which told Vermouth everything she needed to know.
Cool Guy was alive. Angel knew. And so did Ouzo.
Vermouth thought back to how Gin had praised Ouzo so highly… and let out a soft, delighted laugh.
Gin's judgment was still as trash-tier as ever.
...
Having confirmed her hunch, Vermouth toyed with Ran a bit longer in Shinichi's voice—just a few harmless lines—and then ended the call.
Next, her eyes slid to the contact labeled "Conan Edogawa."
And below that, an unmarked number.
Huh.
Uuzo's call frequency with that unmarked number was suspiciously high. In fact, he'd spoken with it more often than with some of his labeled clients.
Even stranger, several times right after finishing a call with that unmarked number, Ouzo would instantly call "Conan Edogawa." No pause. As if "Conan" had dialed the wrong phone, hung up, then redialed with a different number.
Vermouth narrowed her eyes at the logs, flipping back and forth between the records.
Something's fishy here…
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 20/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:3/10*