Oritis in the world of Detective Conan

Chapter 105: The Voyage of Oceanus (Part 8)

The novelist was a little surprised: "This is the same symptom as Frederick's. Is it poisoning?"

"There are no traces of needle holes on his body. It's likely that he ingested the toxin directly through food." Subaru Okiya said after checking.

"I'll go outside and ask." Conan was a little anxious and ran to the door of the room to ask the sailor in charge of guarding the room.

We learned from the seamen that after the engineer was imprisoned in this room, only the waitress came to deliver water and food.

Subaru Okiya frowned: "Looks like we still have to go talk to the waitress."

The few of them returned to the banquet hall, where the waiters were busy preparing food and drinks as usual.

Seeing several people coming, the waiter seemed very happy: "Good afternoon, everyone. Would you like to have something to eat first? This afternoon is the end of the journey, and I specially prepared a celebratory meal for everyone."

Conan began to get information: "Hey, big sister, I feel a little seasick. Can you send lunch to my room alone later?"

"Of course, no problem, little brother. If there are no special requests, the meals will be delivered after twelve o'clock."

Subaru Okiya agreed, "Will there be any difference between the dishes delivered and eating directly in the banquet hall?"

"Of course not. All meals are prepared uniformly, but they will be divided into on-site supply and those that need to be delivered later. Besides that, I need to deliver meals to the engineer separately, so I will be away for a while at noon."

After finishing the questioning with the waiter, several people sat down in the corner of the banquet hall.

Conan analyzed: "The waitress had a very good alibi last night. She was busy in the kitchen counting ingredients and preparing meals."

"She's unlikely to be the one who attacked the cartographer, but there's a good chance she poisoned the engineer."

"Maybe she has some vested interest in the real murderer?"

The novelist shook his head. "It seems no one on board has ever been overly intimate with the waitress."

The mercenary lowered his voice and said, "Hey, I feel like there might be something wrong with the food we've been eating these past few days."

The mercenary held out his hand. "My fingers are a little out of control and are trembling spontaneously. It seems that the other passengers are the same."

Conan glanced around. Many of the passengers looked unwell, exhibiting muscle tremors and limb instability. The meteorologist was frantically gathering his research materials, while the acoustician couldn't even hold his pen steady. Conan recalled the whispers he'd heard while sleeping the past couple of days; it was likely the same reason.

The composer held his forehead and said, "I'm fine. I haven't been feeling well these past few days. I have no appetite and haven't eaten much."

Okiya Subaru pointed out the only normal-looking person in the banquet hall. "That taxidermist seems completely unaffected. Her hands seem quite steady as she manipulates the instrument."

Conan immediately rushed to the taxidermist and tried to get some information out of him: "Hey, taxidermist sister, I have always been a little seasick. Can you give me some seasickness medicine?"

"Of course, little brother." The taxidermist took out a bottle of seasickness medicine from his medical bag, poured out a pill and handed it to Conan. "Since the past two days, many people have developed serious physical problems due to seasickness."

Conan took the pill and said, "Is the cartographer sister okay? She seems to have been poisoned. The seasickness medicine should not work on her."

"In fact, that gentleman seemed to have anticipated this happening and had specially prepared some targeted antidotes. Miss Cartographer will be fine."

Returning to the group, Conan continued his analysis.

"Although the taxidermist had ample opportunities to access syringes and extract poisons, she never acted alone yesterday."

Subaru Okiya analyzed, "If we analyze it from the perspective that the engineer is not the murderer, then the taxidermist lady may have an accomplice who can help her place the empty syringe and frame the engineer."

The novelist felt a bit embarrassed: "Many sailors will obey the taxidermist's orders. There are too many people who meet this requirement."

Several people thought and analyzed for a long time but could not come to a clear conclusion.

It was already afternoon, and the novelist, composer, mercenary, Conan and Subaru Okiya came to the deck together. The taxidermist was leaning on the railing and admiring the beautiful scenery of the sea.

"We have arrived at the center of Oceanus. Behold those glowing jellyfish, such beautiful creatures."

Although there was no definite evidence, Conan still asked the taxidermist: "Sister taxidermist, why did you poison the cartographer?"

The taxidermist did not deny Conan's inference: "Oh? Why do you say that?"

"Of all the passengers, you had the best chance of accessing those medical supplies. You could even instruct the seamen to help you place the empty syringe and pin the blame on the engineer."

"Yesterday, after you poisoned the cartographer, you only needed to find an opportunity to catch the engineer red-handed when he returned from patrol to visit the cartographer. Then you could pretend to be the discoverer of the scene and clear yourself of suspicion."

The taxidermist smiled. "That's a fascinating inference, but haven't you missed something quite important?"

Conan was stunned for a moment. He remembered that when he found the cartographer fainted on the ground yesterday, the taxidermist was with Mr. Frederick. So...

While Conan was still stunned, the mercenary had reacted and rushed towards the composer who had started to move away from the crowd, while Subaru Okiya rushed towards the taxidermist and tried to control him.

The composer was not panicked when he saw the mercenary rushing towards him. He pulled out his cane, took out a pistol from it and pointed it at the mercenary, forcing the mercenary to stop.

On the other side, the taxidermist jumped off the railing before Subaru Okiya could rush in front of him and disappeared into the thick fog.

"Frederick, you?" the novelist asked incredulously.

The composer pointed his gun at the mercenaries: "The show is over, gentlemen."

The mercenary was a little annoyed: "So you are the new guy?"

The composer's lips curled up slightly. "I've long heard of you, Mr. Naib Sabeda, codenamed 'Mercenary', the chief member of the Oritis Manor Survivor Action Team."

"My DM warned me not to confront the Operations Team until I earned the title. They're a tough bunch, quite formidable and difficult to deal with. Your physical fitness is truly remarkable. After all, you've ingested a considerable amount of toxins since the start of the voyage, yet you're still able to function normally."

"However, you must be at the end of your strength now. Your movements were noticeably slow just now."

The mercenary took a few breaths, as if the toxin was taking effect. "It's terrible, you newcomer really only like stinging jellyfish."

The novelist angrily questioned the composer: "Frederick, why did you join Eurydice? That organization took away my Eurydice, my Alice, and you..."

"I thought you could guess why, Orpheus." The composer's face turned cold. "We are obviously the same kind of people."