"My name...is Bai Heqing."
As the male figure suddenly appeared in the guesthouse said this special name, Carly, who was wearing monitoring headphones on the second floor of a store near the guesthouse, stood up suddenly with an expression of extreme shock on her face.
"Sister Mary! Well, Shirakawa, he, he... in that hall..."
"I heard."
In the communicator, Mary's voice was calm and steady, not too excited or panicked.
【White River...】
In order to be as foolproof as possible during this operation, they not only hid a lot of bugs and trackers on the child named Haibara Ai, but also sent many people to pretend to be invited guests. Mix it in.
Therefore, although Mary and Carly did not personally squat in the lobby of the guest house, they were actually aware of what was happening in the lobby.
When the mysterious male figure first appeared, Mary could already hear the familiarity in his voice.
That was Bai Heqing's voice, exactly the same as the impression in her memory.
Yes, exactly the same.
Still as young as she remembered...
This puzzled Mary, because if Shirakawa is still alive and has lived until now, then his age must be close to sixty years old. After all, Shirakawa is several years older than her.
How can you still have such a young voice at such an age?
Even if Bai Heqing and Regel are equated, assuming that Bai Heqing has the skills to change his voice, he can completely change it into other voices. There is no need to use his own voice...
Mary couldn't understand the doubts in this, and it was precisely because of this that she was unable to make a judgment.
She still suspected in her heart that maybe the male figure was just a young detective who happened to appear and had a voice similar to the one she remembered from Shirakawa's clear voice.
Until the male figure said the name "Shirakawa"...
【Can't hesitate any longer. 】
"Carly."
After exhaling softly, Mary said:
"start to act."
"..."
"Shirakawa Qing?"
At the same time, in the lobby of the guest house, Mouri Kogoro was in a trance after hearing the name.
For him who was once a criminal police officer, this name was undoubtedly very familiar, although he had never actually met the owner of this name in person.
Mouri Kogoro looked at the male figure in front of him who called himself Shirakawa Kiyoshi, and suddenly became a little distracted, as if the person in front of him overlapped with the image in his memory.
But soon, he woke up from this trance.
[How is this possible? It just happens to be the same name. Officer Baihe has passed away long ago. 】
Not only Mouri Kogoro, but also a few elderly guests in the hall had some reaction to this name.
But like Mouri Kogoro, they all thought that this was just a coincidence of the same name...
"Okay, the case is over, everyone, I will take my leave now."
The male figure who called himself Bai Heqing said and bowed slightly to everyone.
He did not go to the main entrance of the Guest House, but turned around and walked to the back of the stage, as if he wanted to leave through the back door of the Guest House.
"I never expected that the murderer would be Sister Xueding..."
At the dining table, the three young detectives who were visiting the entire event sighed sadly.
"I always thought Sister Xueding was a good person..."
"Yes, she even bought me ice cream when we were out doing activities before..."
"But who was that detective just now? He looked so powerful, Bai Heqing... Xiao Ai, have you heard of this name?"
"No, I have no impression."
Hearing the three little ones' questions, Hui Yuan Ai shook his head.
She really had no memory of this name. Among the detectives she had seen or heard of, there was no one named Bai Heqing.
Maybe it's a pseudonym...
【Um? 】
Just as Haihara Ai was thinking this, she suddenly noticed a figure walking quickly towards the back of the stage in the passage against the wall of the hall next to her.
[Strange, that person...]
Wasn't she sent by Mr. Akai and others to protect her? What was he doing behind the stage?
Could it be because of the man who called himself Bai Heqing just now?
"Yoko?"
Not far from Haibara Ai, Hoshino Terumi, who had been immersed in the reasoning just now, came back to her senses and realized that Okino Yoko, who was supposed to be standing next to her, had disappeared.
"Strange, where did it go again..."
"..."
"I'm chasing him. Did the target leave through the back door?"
Behind the stage of the guest house, a male figure in kimono hurriedly walked through the corridor, and his colleague's voice came from the earphones.
"No one entered or exited the back door, and the target did not leave the guest house."
There are several back doors for exiting the guest house, one of which is connected to the dressing room at the back of the guest house that stores at least tens of thousands of kimonos of all kinds, and does not lead directly to the outside.
According to the order given to them by their employer, their people had already watched the back doors after the little girl entered the lobby of the guest house.
Since the detective on the stage did not leave through the back doors leading to the outside, he must have gone to the dressing room behind the guest house.
After thinking about this, the man in kimono walked quickly towards the locker room.
"ah!"
As soon as he entered the locker room door, the man in kimono ran into a figure. It was a blond woman in a windbreaker who looked like a foreigner.
"Sorry! Miss, are you okay?" Stabilizing his body, the man in kimono quickly reached out and pulled up the woman who was sitting on the ground.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry. I didn't notice when I opened the door..." Covering her forehead, the woman in the trench coat bowed to him and said apologetically.
"Ah, no, I didn't notice. I'm the one who should apologize..." Perhaps influenced by the women, the men in kimonos also hurriedly bowed and apologized.
"Well, then I'll leave first..."
After a brief exchange, the woman in the trench coat walked around him and wanted to leave.
"Miss! Wait a minute!"
At this time, the kimono man who had not forgotten his mission quickly stopped her and asked:
"Have you seen a man here before? He is wearing a sun hat and looks younger..."
"And he's dressed simply and plainly, walking with his head down and covering his face with the brim of his hat?"
Before he could finish speaking, the woman in the trench coat took over his words.
"Yes! That's him! Have you seen him? Where is he?" the man in kimono asked quickly.
"Well, I saw it. When I came out just now, I happened to see that person hurriedly going to the second floor of the locker room..."
"I get it, thank!"
Before she could finish speaking, the man in kimono hurriedly ran towards the stairs leading to the second floor of the locker room. As he ran, he pressed the headphones on his ears and whispered something.
"Well, you're welcome..."
Behind him, the woman in the trench coat gave him a meaningful look, turned around and left the dressing room.
(˙ー˙)
I forgot to mention it yesterday, wishing everyone a happy Chinese Valentine’s Day~
(End of chapter)
