When Akikawa Sosuke woke up again, he found himself in a hospital room.
The headache and dizziness still lingered, and though his body was still weak, it was better than before.
Akikawa Sosuke struggled to sit up, leaning against the headboard, and sorted through his last memories in his mind.
Sky-blue eyes, short black hair, and messy bangs across his forehead.
A dark blue suit uniform with light blue shorts, large black-rimmed glasses covering nearly half his face, and a red bow tie at his collar.
—This was a face that anyone who lived in Akikawa Sosuke's previous life's era would not find unfamiliar.
"I remember now, I ran into the Grim Reaper Kid."
Akikawa Sosuke couldn't help but reach up and rub his forehead.
Originally, he thought he had merely transmigrated to Japan, but he never expected to transmigrate to a Japan where the Grim Reaper Kid existed.
Akikawa Sosuke had never watched "Detective Conan" and only had a superficial understanding of the anime.
But even so.
Akikawa Sosuke had heard of Edogawa Conan's computer-like knowledge base and deduction skills.
Akikawa Sosuke was certain that,
As long as he got involved with this elementary school student, the peaceful and stable life he yearned for would be nothing but a fleeting illusion.
He might even be in mortal danger!
Presumably, everyone who had heard the Grim Reaper Kid's name would avoid him like the plague.
And now, after covering up his crime, he had appeared before the Grim Reaper Kid as the number one suspect!
The reason Conan followed him into the ambulance was self-evident.
He must be suspicious of him.
But the critical issue was that he hadn't remained conscious the entire time, so he wasn't sure how much he had exposed.
"How much did I expose, and how much did he actually notice?"
Akikawa Sosuke, who had always been quite confident in his actions, couldn't help but feel doubt in his mind at this moment.
"Truly, out of the dragon's den and into the tiger's lair…"
Of course, Akikawa Sosuke knew that leaving the crime scene was only the first step, and he was far from being able to relax.
As the primary suspect, regardless of whether Conan existed in this world, he would certainly have to undergo questioning and investigation by the police.
It was already not easy to get through the police's relentless questioning and investigation without the original owner's memories.
Now he was being told that there would be a Transmigrator with a genius for deduction scrutinizing his every word and action.
In reality, for Akikawa Sosuke to escape smoothly, it had to be based on one premise.
That was the presumption of innocence.
Only if the police could not produce concrete evidence proving that he was the murderer could he get away scot-free.
But from Akikawa Sosuke's understanding, the police in Japan, when handling cases in the last century, basically operated on the principle of "guilty until proven innocent."
Although the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department officially claimed to handle cases based on evidence.
In reality, whether it was molestation, theft, robbery, or murder.
In the vast majority of cases, the police would directly arrest and convict people without concrete evidence.
Although Akikawa Sosuke was not clear about the current year.
However, just by looking at the surrounding environment and facilities, Akikawa Sosuke guessed that the current era he was in should not be too different from his previous life.
In this way, as long as there was no definite evidence sufficient to prove that he was the murderer, the police would have no way to convict him.
Akikawa Sosuke had previously thought of feigning amnesia due to his head injury.
But in modern medicine,
Neuroimaging tools such as MRI, CT scans, PET scans, and fMRI can be used to determine whether the brain regions related to memory formation and storage are damaged.
So even if Akikawa Sosuke truly had no memories of the original owner, he would still find it very difficult to escape guilt by feigning amnesia.
"The biggest problem now is that I have too little information. I know very little about the case, and I'm even completely unaware of my current situation."
Akikawa Sosuke thought to himself, then turned and pressed the nurse call button.
Soon, a nurse in a white nurse's uniform walked in.
"Mr. Akikawa, you're awake."
The nurse already knew Akikawa Sosuke's identity, but she still gave Akikawa Sosuke a kind and gentle smile.
"So the original owner's surname is Akikawa."
Akikawa Sosuke thought to himself and then said,
"Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom."
"The washroom, right? Okay, I'll find someone to take you."
The young nurse said, then turned and left the room.
In a moment, he returned with a man also dressed in a white nurse's uniform.
"Hello, Mr. Akikawa, I'm here to help you to the washroom."
"Thank you."
Akikawa Sosuke softly thanked the other party, removed the electrodes connected to his body with the help of the female nurse, and, supported by the male nurse, pushed the IV stand as he walked towards the restroom.
"I heard that the car Mr. Akikawa was in was in an accident, and you were also poisoned by carbon monoxide leakage. That's really scary."
On the way to the restroom, Akikawa Sosuke heard the male nurse speak to him.
His tone was full of sympathy, sounding very concerned about him.
"Thank you."
Akikawa Sosuke responded to the other party's concern with a flat tone.
"Sure enough, I'm being monitored by a Detective."
"His professionalism is very high; there are no flaws in his disguise as a nurse."
"But unfortunately, the decisive difference in demeanor between a Detective and an ordinary citizen still exposed your identity."
Akikawa Sosuke muttered to himself.
Detectives always possessed a certain aura that they themselves would never notice.
Criminals, or people like Akikawa Sosuke, could basically discern the other party's identity at a glance.
The other party's purpose in trying to get close to him was obvious.
Akikawa Sosuke naturally wouldn't reveal any flaws.
"But it's better that Mr. Akikawa is safe and sound than anything else. You should take good care of your body from now on."
Akikawa Sosuke's cold response did not seem to diminish the other party's enthusiasm for continuing to talk to him.
And this Detective, disguised as a nurse, with a simple sentence, made Akikawa Sosuke notice something was off.
"Take good care of my body? Would anyone normally say that to an injured person who's been in an accident?"
Akikawa Sosuke subtly moved his right hand, and immediately, a piercing pain came from it.
"My right hand has already started to swell, but they haven't given me treatment, which means they most likely haven't noticed that my right hand is fractured."
"So it's even less likely that they know I deliberately broke my own right hand."
Akikawa Sosuke ruled out the possibility that the police were hinting at his fractured right hand.
"And after the car accident, the engine damage and carbon monoxide leak are also difficult to achieve artificially."
"Moreover, I almost died from carbon monoxide poisoning, and I wasn't the driver, so the police shouldn't suspect that I deliberately caused the carbon monoxide leak."
The possibility that this Detective was hinting at his carbon monoxide poisoning was also ruled out.
"Which means."
Akikawa Sosuke lowered his head slightly, his narrow eyes narrowing.
"The police have concluded that the original owner had suicidal tendencies."