Chapter 30
Amuro Tooru stopped in his tracks.
The abandoned corridor was empty. A dull thud suddenly echoed from the wall.
Bourbon’s powerful hand clamped down hard on Kinoshita Yatarou’s neck, his five fingers tightening.
“Who told you?” he asked coldly.
Kinoshita’s throat was constricted, the lack of air making it difficult for him to form complete words. The man’s mouth opened and closed with difficulty, mouthing a word.
Rum.
Rum.
Fresh air flooded his lungs. Kinoshita clutched his neck, bending over and coughing violently.
“Cough, cough! What is it with you people and other people’s necks?”
Kinoshita hadn’t dared to look in a mirror for days. His neck had been repeatedly traumatized. “Is that girl your friend? Your lover? The two of you have remarkably similar styles.”
Before the words were even out of his mouth, a sharp pain shot through Kinoshita’s ribs. Amuro Tooru coldly retracted his hand, the warning unmistakable.
“A piece of trash who only dares to run his mouth,” Bourbon sneered.
When An’an was present, Kinoshita had been as quiet as a dead man. It was only after the girl’s figure had disappeared from the escape room, her footsteps long gone, that he had dared to speak.
Kinoshita’s face twitched. He stiffly changed the subject. “Bourbon, you’re not really going to hand me over to the police, are you? Are you on their side?”
“I have no reason to protect you.”
Bourbon completely ignored Kinoshita’s probing. “You openly committed a crime and were witnessed. Covering for you would expose my identity.”
“You’re not worth that much.”
It was only two people who witnessed it, Kinoshita thought viciously. According to the organization’s style, couldn’t he just silence them?
He didn’t say it out loud, because Bourbon’s attitude towards the girl who had almost killed him was clearly unusual. He might end up silencing him instead.
“This face isn’t mine. I haven’t been exposed,” Kinoshita said, rubbing the foundation from his neck to reveal the suture marks.
Amuro knew. And because he knew, he was even less likely to let him go.
Bzz, bzz, bzz.
The moment the blond young man’s killing intent began to rise, a ringing sound broke the silence. An unknown number appeared on the screen.
Bourbon paused for a moment, then swiped his thumb across the answer key.
Before a voice came through the receiver, he had already deduced who the caller was from the triumphant expression on Kinoshita’s face.
“You revealed my identity,” the blond young man said, displeased.
“Special circumstances,” Rum said slowly. “I told him he could seek your help.”
“It sounds like he has a mission,” Bourbon said with a nonchalant air. “Have you considered giving it to me? At least I wouldn’t be on the verge of being arrested by the police.”
Kinoshita: “You—”
“Alright, secrecy first,” Rum said, placating them. “Only Kinoshita knows the target to be silenced. Bourbon, prying into another’s mission is a taboo in the organization.”
“I just don’t want to be implicated,” Bourbon said, glancing at Kinoshita with a sneer. “Do whatever you want. Just don’t blame me if the mission fails.”
The escape room had only one entrance, but many hidden exits.
A small door opened silently.
A man looked around, and after confirming that the corridor outside was empty, he lowered his head and quickly left.
A human skin was torn off and hastily stuffed into his coat.
…
“All annihilated. No survivors.”
“A perfect five-star rating on ‘Are You Dead Yet?’. Who else but me?”
In the hotel restaurant, the dark-haired girl proudly announced her performance, awaiting a round of applause as thunderous as a storm.
Edogawa Conan gave her a dead-eyed stare. Hey, maybe read the room before you start showing off? Everyone sitting here is a pitiful victim who just died at your hands!
Demanding applause at someone’s grave—where was your conscience? Where were your morals? Where was your humanity?
Clap, clap, clap!
The moment Fan An finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted in the restaurant. Many people were even moved to tears as they clapped.
Edogawa Conan: Everyone, if you’re being threatened, just blink.
“What do you know, squirt?” Suzuki Sonoko said, clapping. “The whole point of an escape room is the thrill! The feeling of being relentlessly pursued is so captivating!”
“The experience was really great,” Mouri Ran agreed, clapping. “It was as if there was a real killer in the escape room.”
Edogawa Conan’s expression became even more complicated.
Bad news: There really was a killer.
Even worse news: The fake one was more real than the real one.
Suspect An loved whatever line of work she was in. Her dedication was terrifying.
Edogawa Conan was overthinking it. Although An’an had a lot of fun in the escape room, she had no immediate plans to switch careers and become a full-time killer.
The director’s business card, given by Sharon Vineyard and passed on by Amuro Tooru, was tucked away in An’an’s wallet. She had made the call before her phone was shattered.
“Hello, this is Fan An. ‘Fan’ as in ‘to commit a crime,’ and ‘An’ as in half of ‘to commit a crime’,” she had just finished her self-introduction when a surprised and delighted shriek came from the other end of the line. “I know!”
The director’s assistant was overjoyed. “I’m watching the drama you’re in! I love you so much!”
“Whose call is it?” Director Yuko asked, curious, seeing the delighted expression on her younger sister and assistant’s face.
“You were just praising her yesterday,” the assistant sister raised an eyebrow. “Saying things like, ‘I’d love to work with her, please come guest-star as a villain in my film’.”
“It’s her?” Director Yuko was also pleasantly surprised. But after the surprise, her expression turned troubled. “I would love to invite Miss Fan An to guest-star as a villain, but I haven’t even cast the main character yet.”
“Oh well, I’ll just choose carefully on the day of the audition,” Director Yuko said, flipping through the script and pointing out several villain roles.
“She can play any of these characters she wants. I’ll cast her directly. The screen time and billing won’t be low.”
The assistant sister glanced at the script. She remembered an investor had come to them, promising to add more investment in exchange for getting their chosen celebrity one of those roles. Her sister had been putting it off, saying she was still considering.
But for her chosen actress, her attitude was completely different. This was the entertainment industry, a real and cruel place.
“…That’s what my sister said,” the assistant sister relayed Director Yuko’s words. “There are character bios in the script. Which role would you like to play?”
The dark-haired girl read the script carefully, her fingertips brushing against the pages. The newly printed script gave off a faint scent of ink.
“The audition for the main character… can I participate?” she asked.
The assistant sister was taken aback. “Well…”
She really liked Miss Fan An. If she were the director, she might have impulsively agreed out of personal bias.
But her sister, Director Yuko, was a very strict director. She had worked with Kudo Yukiko before and was friends with the top international actress Sharon Vineyard. Director Yuko was extremely picky when it came to casting.
Miss Fan An had debuted too recently and could still only be called a rookie actress. Director Yuko never worked with rookies.
The assistant sister couldn’t make the decision. She asked her sister.
Director Yuko pondered for a moment. “I’ll be blunt. Even if I give her a chance to audition, I most likely won’t choose her.”
This drama was her passion project. She preferred a more mature and experienced actor.
But young people were always impulsive. It was understandable that she would want to try. Director Yuko relented. She nodded.
The assistant sister quickly relayed the director’s meaning and received a sincere thank you from the girl.
After hanging up the phone, the assistant sister sidled up to her sister to probe. “After you reject her, are you still going to ask her to guest-star?”
“You want an autograph. Can’t you just ask on the day of the audition?” Director Yuko gave her sister a light knock on the head.
She picked up a pen and circled a name in the script. “Tell those investors who are trying to shove people into my cast that this role has already been decided.”
“You got it!” the assistant sister happily agreed.
In her hotel room, An’an studied the audition scene sent by the assistant sister over and over.
To ensure fairness and objectivity, all actors auditioning for the main role would perform the same scene, with the same styling. No special treatment.
“The lines are fine, easy enough to memorize, but…” The dark-haired girl slumped over the table, a look of distress on her face.
The audition was set at a swimming pool.
She couldn’t swim.
“What’s wrong with a person having a few flaws?” An’an argued with herself, her eyes closed. “Yes, I was born in Yokohama, and Yokohama is a coastal city. I lived in Izumo, and Izumo is also a coastal city—so what? Do I have to know how to swim?”
Please respect biodiversity!
The listless girl got up from her chair. She walked to the hotel balcony and looked out at a vast expanse of blue.
The Suzuki Resort Hotel had an outdoor swimming pool. Clear water rippled in the pool, sparkling in the light.
An’an couldn’t see the bright smiles of the tourists. She could only see the “Caution: Deep Water” sign and the corner of the massive tome peeking out of her suitcase: “Beika Town Murderers’ Collaborative Publication: A Beginner’s Guide to Planning a Drowning Murder.”
The Drowning Edition was the sister work to the Locked-Room Edition. They were sold together as a set.
The dark-haired girl’s inner conflict raged. Finally, she made up her mind.
“Please give me two swimming rings. Three would be even better,” An’an said, pressing her hands together in a plea. “I would be eternally grateful if you could turn me into the Michelin Man.”
The attendant renting out the swimming rings went back and forth with the girl. “Each person can only borrow one swimming ring. Don’t be afraid. The shallow end only comes up to your thighs. What’s so scary about that?”
“Isn’t coming up to my thighs scary enough?” An’an was shocked. “You can’t even see his head after he gets in!”
Edogawa Conan, who she was pointing at, gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and endured.
The 102cm elementary school student forced a smile. “I’m going to the kids’ section.”
An’an had a flash of inspiration. “Maybe I should go to the kids’ section too?” Can you learn to swim in the kids’ section?
Learning to swim in the kids’ section was less effective than just splashing around in a deep puddle. As an adult, An’an was heartlessly rejected from the kids’ section.
The girl, hugging a donut-shaped swimming ring, sat by the edge of the pool. She tentatively dipped her toe into the water.
So cold, so chilly. It felt like there were water ghosts.
“Um, miss,” the lifeguard cautiously reminded her. “It’s fine to sit by the edge and read, but could you please not read ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Planning a Drowning Murder’?”
It’s so scary! What terrible thing are you planning to do in the pool?!
An’an reluctantly put down her textbook. She did another ten minutes of mental preparation and slowly got into the water.
The shallow end is a gentle haven for non-swimmers. Standing on solid ground for a long time can give a non-swimmer the illusion that water isn’t so scary after all, that they can do it too.