[And here it was. Conan knew he had to move cautiously now. He needed to push this man just enough to discover how much he had figured out. Too far and... Well, he had already shown himself to be dangerously unpredictable.

The detective deliberately relaxes himself and allows a air of boredom to creep into his voice. Now for the bluff.]

Not at all. But blackmail is rather overused, isn't it? You think you're the first to try it? If you insisted on trying something, I had hoped for something more creative.

That much is known well enough. I've never hidden the fact that I'm a detective.