Coroner Ke Xue

According to Lin Xinyi's instructions, Mao Lilan took Conan outside the villa to conduct an on-site re-examination of the murderer's footprints on the snow.

"Stand still and don't move."

Mao Lilan subconsciously gave Conan a few instructions, and then leaned down to observe the series of footprints with all his concentration.

Conan was speechless for a while.

He has also discovered these days that Xiaolan is treating him more and more like a child without knowing it.

Just like Lin Xinyi treated Hui Yuan Ai.

"What do you mean don't move?"

"I'm not really a primary school student."

Conan rolled his eyes.

In addition, what also concerned him was:

Xiaolan's way of leaving him behind and focusing on investigating the case was so practiced that it became a habit.

It's like I didn't realize that there was a childhood sweetheart beside me.

Lin Xinyi sent Conan to help her.

But after these days of hard work, she has become independent and capable, and does not need the help of this great detective at all.

"Alas" Conan sighed lightly.

It's such a terrible feeling to be forgotten.

So, Conan held back his energy and subconsciously turned his attention to the string of footprints in the snow.

Something has to be seen.

We have to get there before Xiaolan.

Otherwise, slowly, the heroic image he has built in Xiaolan's mind over the years will collapse sooner or later.

He will gradually become a useless follower behind Xiaolan, a stay-at-home nanny who only knows how to wash dishes, sweep the floor and clean toilets.

A dull life will dim passion, and Xiaolan will gradually lose favor with him who is invisible to everyone.

Maybe before he grows up, he can find a "brother-in-law" for him from outside.

"This is absolutely not okay!"

Conan shuddered subconsciously.

His gaze when observing the scene became more focused and solemn, as if he was battling wits with a terrible fate.

And after he tried so hard, he quickly discovered something:

"Yes!"

An idea flashed in Conan's head.

His eyes also quietly became solemn.

"Xiaolan." Conan's voice suddenly became deep and confident: "I noticed-"

"There's something wrong with this set of footprints!"

"Oh?" Mao Lilan raised her head curiously and turned her gaze to the little boyfriend whom she had subconsciously forgotten.

"Just now you were focusing on observing a specific footprint."

"And I carefully observed the entire series of footprints, and soon discovered a very important problem:"

Conan gradually regained the feeling of a famous detective:

"That is, the steps of this series of footprints are too short."

"Short step length? No"

Mao Lilan looked at the set of footprints and took out a tape measure to measure:

"The owner of the footprints moved evenly, and the step length was about 75cm."

"This is the average step length of an adult's normal gait. It's not considered short, right?"

"etc."

Without Conan's continued reminder, Mao Lilan reacted instantly:

"Normal gait. How can it be a normal gait?"

"The murderer was blocked in the room by us at that time, and he had no choice but to jump out of the window and escape."

"How could he still use this normal gait of even movement and walk leisurely around the villa when the murderer was caught on the spot and there were pursuers behind him?"

"The footprints he left must be very messy!"

"That's right!"

Conan nodded in agreement:

"The murderer was being chased by you and Belmod at that time. He didn't have time to 'run', so how could he use 'walk'?"

"When people are running, their stride frequency is fast and their steps are long, mostly above 110cm."

"The footprints are often incomplete, and the forefoot pressure when landing is heavy, while the heel pressure is light."

"Especially when running in this fluffy snow, the active gait of kicking, digging and lifting should be more obvious. Starting and lifting your feet quickly will inevitably bring up a lot of snow debris."

"But what about this set of footprints?"

"It's so smooth, clear and complete."

"This does not look like the footprints of a panicked escapee at all, but more like the footprints of a person walking frequently in a calm environment."

Conan explained his reasoning in an orderly manner.

At the same time, he unknowingly raised his head with confidence, looking forward to receiving the adoring eyes of his childhood sweetheart like before.

Mao Lilan was really looking at him.

However, the look in his eyes was not one of admiration, but something strange:

"Aren't these all traces of knowledge?"

"Conan, didn't you say that you don't want to follow Mr. Lin's tricks?"

"I" Conan blushed.

Hattori Heiji, who is also a famous detective, has changed his career and became Lin Shinichi's apprentice due to family factors and shattered dreams.

But Kudo, a native of Kanto, has always been stubborn and refused to embrace the modernization of criminal investigation, insisting on being a traditional Sherlock Holmes-style detective.

To describe it in the style of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ overseas propaganda mouth, this is called craftsmanship.

Of course, Conan is not such a stubborn and conservative person.

He just vaguely felt that if he gave up detective and became a police detective, it would be like losing to Lin Xinyi completely.

And because of a series of past experiences and some hidden worries that have not been completely eliminated even now, the last thing Conan wants is to give in to Lin Xinyi.

So he stubbornly persisted in his dream of being a detective.

only.

He said no, but his body was honest.

Faced with these new knowledge and new methods that were obviously of great help to criminal investigation reasoning, Conan, as a reasoning madman, couldn't help but secretly followed Mao Lilan to learn.

Now he showed it so casually.

Mao Lilan immediately noticed something keenly:

"Conan, did you peek at the professional books I kept at home?"

"No, no," Conan said guiltily, "This is all from my past, eh."

"Learned it from my dad when we were on vacation in Hawaii."

"Is it."

Mao Lilan smiled noncommittally:

"Conan, do you understand now?"

"The kind of detective that relies too much on personal intelligence and reasoning to solve crimes is now outdated."

"From now on, you can study criminal science and technology with me, and preferably, you can also work with me at the Metropolitan Police Department."

She looked forward to the days when she would work as a police officer with her childhood sweetheart.

But the kid Conan shook his head stubbornly:

"don't want!"

He will never become a policeman in the future!

You know, Mao Lilan is now working in the Metropolitan Police Department and has long since become a de facto forensic officer.

If he becomes a policeman in the future, he might even have to salute when he sees his girlfriend.

Especially if the antidote is not developed, he will have to wait for more than ten years before joining the workforce.

Then it won't be as simple as saluting.

Mao Lilan has probably become his immediate boss. He has to bow when he is greeted and sent off. He is not allowed to sit in front of her when reporting work, he can only stand - if he makes any mistakes at work, he may have to sit down.

And if he marries Mao Lilan, he will definitely be misunderstood by his colleagues as a young pretty boy who sells his lust to seduce his boss.

"No. Absolutely not!"

Conan was so frightened by his own imagination that his face turned pale.

He suddenly understood Mouri Kogoro somewhat.

With such a strong and domineering wife, how can a man have any dignity?

"Ahem. Anyway, let's talk about this later."

Of course Mao Lilan didn't know that Conan had already used his detective-level imagination to imagine in just a few seconds that he would nod and bow down in front of his wife in a humble posture in the future.

She just saw that Conan was eager to change the subject:

"The most important thing now is to determine the owner of this series of footprints."

"Just said:"

"This set of footprints was not left by someone busy running away."

"Then the question comes. Where is the murderer?"

"There is only this set of footprints outside the villa. If he didn't leave them when he escaped, what about his footprints?"

"There is a vast expanse of snow outside. It's impossible for him to disappear out of the window without leaving any traces."

"unless."

Conan's persuasion finally brought Mao Lilan's attention back.

She thoughtfully took up Conan's conjecture:

"Unless the murderer didn't leave the room at all, but hid in the room?"

"Otherwise, he would have been chased by us and jumped out of the window to escape, and the footprints left behind would not have been so smooth."

"But this doesn't seem to make sense."

Mao Lilan frowned slightly:

"The room is so big, the only place to hide people is under the bed."

"But after we arrived at the scene, there were always people staying at the scene."

"I also checked under the bed. There was only one body underneath. There was no hidden murderer at all."

"And if the murderer neither escaped through the window nor hid in the corner of the room."

"Then how did the murderer disappear?!"

She seemed to be in trouble.

"Actually, you should be able to guess it, Xiaolan."

"It's just that you are too familiar with that person and respect her too much, so you subconsciously don't want to doubt her."

Conan sighed lightly, his expression a little sad.

He was also familiar with that person.

After all, that was the teacher he, Xiaolan, and Yuanzi shared.

"You mean"

Mao Lilan bit her lip tightly.

Instinctively she didn't want to say the name.

Conan, on the other hand, continued to raise the stakes and said in a solemn tone:

"Xiaolan, we have confirmed through trace science that these footprints were not left by the murderer when he escaped."

"It was stepped on before the incident, for some purpose."

"Why did that guy leave such strange footprints?"

"Of course it's to confuse things."

"In order for people to subconsciously believe when they see these footprints, the murderer was broken into the crime scene and jumped through the window to escape in desperation."

"Coupled with the evidence he hid in Mr. Nakamura's clothes in advance, the murderer can easily put the blame on Mr. Nakamura."

"But actually" Conan paused slightly:

"The real murderer never escaped from the room."

"That's why you, and tracking experts like Belmode, were so easily thrown away by the murderer."

"Because you are chasing air from beginning to end."

"The murderer misled you."

"She just stayed in the room and acted in front of all of us."

Conan replaced the "he" he pointed at with "she".

Apparently, he had been able to identify the murderer.

Mao Lilan also thought of that name, but she instinctively refused to admit it:

"Mr. Yonehara"

"Could this murderer be you?"

The second is later