Conan's Corpse Picker

Double Chapter

Vermouth and Amuro Tooru both turned to look at Jiangxia at the same time, each mentally scrambling to figure out how to steer the conversation off the dangerous path it had just taken.

But before either of them could say anything, Jiangxia suddenly stopped talking on his own.

He simply looked at them in silence, as if nothing had happened—as if he hadn't just blurted out "last time" a few seconds ago and nearly caused an inter-departmental security breach.

Perfect.

Amuro Tooru gave a subtle, relieved nod. What a quick-thinking kid.

Vermouth's lingering killing intent dissipated even further, and she gave a similar nod of approval. So it was just a slip of the tongue… Ouzo must've realized mid-sentence that bringing up the previous encounter at school might connect the dots for Bourbon—he could end up noticing the Detective Boys, and worse, Shinichi.

Jiangxia glanced left, then right. From the looks on their faces, both bottles of suspicious liquor had successfully worked through their internal monologues.

Only then did he tilt his head and ask, in a tone of an uninvolved cadre minding his own business, "So… are you two done sorting this out? How should I handle the rest of it?"

Amuro Tooru blinked, then couldn't help but look at Jiangxia with a touch of admiration.

If only Kazami and the others could learn a thing or two from this kid's instincts.

"We'll let it go for today," Amuro Tooru said. "But if you see anyone disguised as me again, report it to me."

Then he turned to Vermouth, offering a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Understood?"

Vermouth smiled back with matching frost.

Then, with deliberate theatrics, she pulled out a spare Bourbon mask, slapped it onto her face in front of him, and—now fully Amuro Tooru again—strolled off.

She still had to resign properly from her fake studio job, after all. Just ghosting them would damage her credibility, and honoring agreements—even petty ones like this—was part of the temporary ceasefire she and Bourbon had worked out.

Jiangxia silently watched her leave, then looked sideways at the real Amuro Tooru. He helpfully shifted the blame. "She really seems to enjoy impersonating you."

Amuro Tooru returned his gaze and nodded vaguely.

While he suspected Vermouth's disguise routine was part of a loyalty-check sting operation aimed at him…

Another possibility loomed.

Maybe she was using the Bourbon disguise just to get close to Jiangxia.

If she impersonated someone Jiangxia knew well, he'd spot it instantly. But if she chose someone Jiangxia didn't know intimately but would still accept hanging around him—someone like another organization executive—it gave her enough space to maneuver without raising alarm.

And she had to choose someone whose mannerisms she could mimic believably.

Bourbon was a solid choice.

Amuro Tooru: "…"

Come to think of it, when Vermouth had first arrived in Japan, hadn't she tried to tail Jiangxia into a hotel?

Why is she always chasing after Jiangxia?

He cast a side glance at the high school detective walking beside him, who was now steadily growing more competent by the day. A subtle sense of unease began to bubble up in his chest—like a flower of the homeland being eyed by an evil gardener.

He mentally jotted another black mark next to the organization's name. Then, for now, shelved the thought for further investigation.

He turned to Jiangxia. "Let's head back to the studio."

…

The two walked side by side down the hallway, pushed open the stairwell door, and stepped into the stairwell.

Just as they were about to climb to the top floor, a muffled scream rang out—distant, but clearly from somewhere above.

Both of them froze. Jiangxia muttered, "Something's happened?"

They exchanged glances, then bolted up the stairs.

They had only climbed a few steps when, through the landing's small window, they caught a glimpse of something falling.

A flaming shape plummeted past the window—huge, bigger than any normal person—and vanished below.

It left a vivid mental image burned into both their minds.

Amuro Tooru's pupils shrank. "That's… Gomera?!"

He rushed up to the landing, yanked open the window. A wave of outside air surged in—along with faint screams, drifting down from the roof.

Jiangxia joined him and looked down.

"It's empty," he murmured.

Amuro Tooru nodded grimly.

The falling object had clearly been too light for a human—it wasn't someone wearing a Gomera suit, just the suit itself.

"…Why throw it down while it's on fire?" Amuro muttered. "Aren't they broke? That suit probably cost more than their entire budget."

"Let's go see."

The two of them shut the window and headed for the studio on the top floor.

…

About ten minutes later—

Inspector Megure arrived in a rush, a convoy of police vehicles behind him.

On the ground outside Dabaofilm City lay a scorched shell of the Gomera suit. Next to it was a twisted kitchen knife, coated in blood that had been charred black by fire.

The scene was grim: blood spatters, burnt fabric, and a shallow crater where the suit had slammed into the concrete.

The fire had long been extinguished.

A crowd of staff members and curious locals had already gathered, roped off by newly arrived police officers.

Jiangxia stood among them with Amuro Tooru and "Amuro Tooru" (Vermouth still in disguise), watching as eyewitness Conan gave his statement to Inspector Megure.

"Mr. Kamei was stabbed to death. Right there. In the top-floor studio," Conan explained in his best scared-child voice. The "Amuro brothers" listened on, watching him with complicated expressions.

"When Mr. Matsui left to fetch props from the warehouse, someone stabbed him in the leg," Conan recounted. "We followed the trail the attacker left behind and saw someone in the Gomera suit stab Producer Kamei to death. Then they escaped through the back."

"While the culprit was running away, they kicked over a paint bucket. Their shoes left painty footprints, which we followed. First, we ran into Sister Tomomi—she'd been knocked over by the same Gomera. Then we chased it all the way up to the roof."

"But when we got there… no Gomera."

"We heard a weird noise, ran to the edge, looked down, and saw Gomera—on fire—falling. I thought the killer jumped… but when I got downstairs, the suit was empty."

Despite the childish voice, the story had clear cause and effect, and involved multiple adults besides the deceased.

Inspector Megure nodded. While waiting for forensics, he began organizing witness statements and preparing to sift through the list of suspects.

Before heading upstairs, Inspector Megure's gaze instinctively swept across the Gomera film crew staff.

Then, suddenly, he spotted two Amuro Toorus standing side by side. His feet froze mid-step.

He blinked. Rubbed his eyes.

Still two.

Not a hallucination. Not the overtime catching up to him.

His gaze slowly shifted to Jiangxia, who was standing calmly between the identical blondes. It looked like his small beady eyes could actually speak::

Brother Jiangxia… what the hell is going on here?

Inspector Megure vaguely remembered that this suspiciously multiplying mixed-race man was Jiangxia's boss.

Jiangxia gave Amuro Tooru a sideways glance. Seeing that the real one didn't seem in a hurry to arrest the fake, Jiangxia sensibly played along.

He pointed to the one in the delivery uniform—the actual Amuro—and casually said to Megure, "This one's apparently the boss's younger brother."

—After all, Vermouth had shown up at the studio much earlier. Everyone here already assumed she was Amuro Tooru.

Now that the real Amuro had arrived late with takeout, they could only shove him into a placeholder role—"Amuro Akira."

…Fortunately, it looked like Inspector Megure hadn't gotten clever yet and wasn't about to start checking IDs. If he did, Vermouth might be in for some trouble.

That said, Jiangxia looked at the still-idling police cars outside and the wide-open road perfect for a high-speed escape and figured… even if things went south, it'd probably be fine.

Sure, if Vermouth bolted, he and Amuro would get grilled later. But that was manageable—they'd just blame the impostor and say they were threatened into silence.

After hearing Jiangxia's explanation, Inspector Megure looked even more puzzled.

When did Amuro get a younger brother? And a twin? How have I never heard about this?

Vermouth sensed his confusion and stepped up. With Amuro Tooru's face on, she gave a simple, earnest smile.

"My brother used to live in the countryside," she explained. "Recently, I told him city life was more exciting, so he came to check it out."

"Ohhh, that makes sense," Megure nodded, suddenly enlightened.

Since the two "brothers" lived separately, it wasn't strange he'd only seen one until now.

Although… with a face that international, the idea of "trying out life in the big city" felt oddly scripted. Still, it wasn't the police's job to question a citizen's family dynamics.

He turned to "Amuro Akira" and nodded. "Welcome to Tokyo. Enjoy yourself." Then he marched upstairs to question the other witnesses who saw the flaming Gomera.

Behind them, Vermouth glanced at the street again, checking police car placements, the building layout, possible escape routes. Satisfied, she followed Megure into the building.

Jiangxia turned to the real Amuro Tooru, who still wore a polite smile—but his clenched fists gave away his real feelings.

Jiangxia gave the boss a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

Getting impersonated was one thing. Being impersonated with extra personality traits added in? Painful.

Amuro Tooru's face was dark, and his mental blacklist had a fresh Vermouth-shaped entry.

But soon, another thought crept in:

As irritating as she was, Vermouth's fake twin idea… wasn't bad.

No legal ties, no overlapping responsibilities—just a helpful fake identity floating out there, ready to be used when needed.

If he created a "twin brother" with an official ID, it might actually be useful in certain tricky operations.

Amuro Tooru mused quietly as he walked into Dabaofilm City.

Jiangxia watched his back. Something about the way the boss was walking screamed bad idea forming, but he had no proof.

He followed him in, heading back up to the crime scene.

Since they had been present before and after the murder, it wouldn't look good to leave now.

…

In the studio, forensics was still busy working around Producer Kamei's body.

Nearby, officers were questioning staff about what they saw and heard before and after the murder.

Soon, Jiangxia's turn came. Officer Sato approached him with a notebook.

Jiangxia thought for a moment, then said truthfully, "I saw the burning Gomera fall from the building. I was with Amuro Akira at the time."

A few meters away, Vermouth's sharp ears twitched.

Her expression shifted subtly.

Back downstairs, while listening to Conan's story, she'd already realized something troubling—

From the time Kamei was stabbed to the culprit's escape, she, disguised as Amuro Tooru, had just parted ways with Jiangxia and the real Amuro.

She'd been wandering alone in the corridor.

In other words… no alibi.

At first, she'd simply felt a little annoyed by her bad luck.

But now, hearing Jiangxia casually mention he wasn't with her at the critical moment, her gaze instinctively turned back toward him.

*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.

Progress: 35/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.

Progress:3/10*