Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"The hot spring hotel is right here."

After paying the taxi fare, Kogoro Mouri carried his bag, looked at the hot spring woman at the door and nodded. After reporting the appointment at the police station, he was led to the back.

The hot spring hotel is divided into two sides starting from the entrance. The woman took him to the right side. From the introduction, it seems that guests who have booked multiple rooms are basically taken to the right side, while the left side is generally prepared for guests who have booked a single room.

"Of course, if there are not enough rooms on the right, we will arrange for accommodation on the left."

The woman bent down and explained, "The room on the right side of the corridor is a collective bath, and the room on the left side is a separate small bath. Mr. Nishimura has requested dinner and breakfast the next day, so please enjoy yourself until then."

The woman knelt on the floor, gently pushed open the sliding door of the room with both hands, lowered her head and exposed her neck, and waited until Kogoro Mouri walked into the room before she stood up and left.

"Oh, Mr. Maori."

Officer Nishimura was sitting cross-legged on the tatami. On his right was Ginzo Nakamori. There was a coffee table in the middle. There were only the two of them in the room.

"Where are Xiaolan and Conan?"

"Those two kids, along with a few other girls, have gone to enjoy the hot springs, so don't worry."

There was no food or wine on the coffee table. Kogoro Maori sat cross-legged on the tatami, and when he looked down he noticed that it was a burly man in a suit.

"It seems that there is no reception, and we have to work right away."

"Stop complaining and explain the details of the matter clearly. It won't be too late for you to enjoy it later."

Nakamori Ginzo pushed the person in the photo in front of Maori Kogoro and said, "As a detective, you might be familiar with this guy."

"Brian D. Kadokura, right? There was a hint of him in a case I took on before."

Kogoro Mori put the photo down and reached out to other photos, and found that most of them were photos of Brian and his subordinates. Only one photo was blurry, and it showed a hotel building.

"This guy is an American philanthropist on the surface, but he is actually using this platform to sell arms everywhere." Officer Nishimura lit a cigarette and threw one to Kogoro Mouri.

"I don't smoke." Nakamori Ginzo was still looking at the photo of the building and held out his hand to reject Officer Nishimura: "It looks like they are absorbing charitable deposits and sending them to places in need. They are indeed weapons. This guy..."

"So what does this have to do with Hakodate? The reason why he appeared here can't be that there is a large demand for weapons in Hokkaido, right?"

Kogoro Mori noticed that Nishimura and Ginzo Nakamori looked at each other, and thinking about Nakamori's purpose of coming to Hakodate, he seemed to understand something.

"Is it related to Kaito Kidd?"

"Are you really Maori Kogoro?" Nakamori Ginzo stretched out his hand suspiciously and pinched Maori's face hard: "You are very different from the you I knew before, aren't you?"

"Don't treat me like an idiot." Maori Kogoro lowered his head: "I just checked everything on my phone. The attack on those children is related to this guy." His family was attacked, and Maori Kogoro's dusty brain started working hard again: "I'm afraid you arranged to meet here not just to reward the Tokyo police."

"I suspect there is a mole in the police department who is secretly helping Brian."

Officer Nishimura shared his previous experiences.

He has been tracking Brian for many years. Every time this guy shows up in Hakodate, he will organize the police to implement a plan to capture Brian, prepared to carry out the plan when the other party breaks the law, but the guy escapes every time.

"It was the same this time. In the morning, Kaito Kid went to his hotel, and we realized that this guy was also after the Star Blade. But when the police arrived at the scene, everyone had completely disappeared. Apart from the broken windows and surveillance cameras, there was not even a trace left."

Nishimura pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray and said, "Since this guy is after the knife, there is still a star-edged knife in Fujiang's place that has not been stolen by Kid, so the first thing I want to do is ask Officer Nakamori to forge a notice from Kid."

In order to lure Brian out, the police didn't have anything worth the other party's attention, so they could only borrow Fu Jiang's knife.

"Please don't spread this matter. Apart from the three of us, no one else in the police station is trustworthy at the moment."

Although he felt sorry for his subordinates who trusted him, Nishimura did not regret it at all. Catching Brian was much more important than this.

"I have one more question."

Maori Kogoro stared at Officer Nishimura and said, "What does this star-edged knife have to do with arms?"

It's impossible that the knife is the weapon itself. If so, can we still call him an arms dealer? Wouldn't we be an antique dealer?
"Star Edge Knife..."

While the three men were talking, Conan, who was sitting on a bench in the big bath, was covering his ears with his hands. He had been eavesdropping on the conversation between the three uncles since just now, and finally got a lot of information.

"A great secret treasure that can overturn the situation of war. It was bought from the United States."

Conan's expression was also stiff. He was also thinking in that direction, whether it was reasonable for Japan to purchase weapons of this level under the circumstances at that time.

"Considering that the United States and the Soviet Union began to quarrel before the war was over, it's actually quite reasonable."

"What's reasonable?"

Iori Muga stood in front of the sliding door and stared at the elementary school student who was talking to himself. He really couldn't hear clearly what Conan said.

"I think it's a good thing that we don't have to go to the big bath on the right, Edogawa-kun."

"Ah...hi!"

Conan raised his hand. (End of this chapter)