Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

The animal shelter is not far from the station. Five minutes after Edogawa Conan replied to the email, Aoyagi Akimitsu came over.

He visited Ran Mouri several times during her hospitalization, and Eri Kisaki knew him. Aoyagi Akimitsu greeted them and took them away.

"Where are we going?" asked Aoyagi Binguang.

Edogawa Conan, who was immersed in thought, looked up when he heard the voice and looked at Aoyagi Akimitsu.

Today the FBI agent wore the same black suit as he did during the game, but he no longer had that frivolous vibe. Not only was he wearing a tie, but his shirt buttons were all buttoned up, as if he had just come from the embassy.

Conan Edogawa asked curiously, "Mr. Aoyagi, how come you are free this afternoon?"

"I applied for a one-year anniversary leave. I will hand over my work this morning and officially start my vacation in the afternoon." Aoyagi Binguang smiled.

Conan Edogawa was stunned for a moment, wondering if this was the follow-up impact of Saturday's incident (such as temporarily suspending him from his duties as a way of showing the Japanese side an attitude), but when he saw Aoyagi Akimitsu's usual calm expression, he knew this was impossible.

He didn't ask any more questions. He turned his head to look at the obviously more people flowing around the station, then looked at the not-so-good weather, thought for a moment, and gave a name.

"Let's go to Colombo's."

……

It was Monday, and there were no office buildings near the restaurant. When Aoyagi Akimitsu and Edogawa Conan entered Colombo Restaurant, there were only five or six tables of guests sitting inside. They chose a four-person table in the corner so that they could sit side by side.

"Just these two."

Edogawa Conan placed his order, and after the waiter left with the menu, he immediately took out his cell phone, opened a few saved photos, and then handed it to Aoyagi Akimitsu beside him.

"Originally there were several people, but I did a preliminary screening over the past two days and ruled out a few people whose similarity was not that high and whose social media accounts showed they had other activities that night."

Edogawa Conan felt helpless.

Before the formal investigation, he had no idea that there were so many people, especially high school students, who looked like him. And these were only the more famous ones - for example, those who often participated in competitions and had their photos taken - and there was no telling how many more were unknown.

Aoyagi Binguang didn't know what he was thinking. He took the phone and went straight to look at the photos on it.

It was a boy wearing a baseball cap with the letter K printed on it, swinging a bat in the twilight. Aoyagi Binguang looked at his face and arms: "It's not him."

"So sure?"

"Definitely." Aoyagi Hikari said, "The one I saw was about 175 cm tall, weighed less than 60 kg, had pale skin, and was thin. He was also mentally lethargic and slow to react. This should be caused by being under great mental stress for a long time."

Conan Edogawa had not heard these details at the time. He looked at the photo of the athletic boy who had nothing to do with depression with frustration, and silently took his phone back.

"You won't show me the other one?" Aoyagi Binguang wondered.

"No need." Edogawa Conan shook his head. "The other one is a kendo master from Kyoto. There is a video of his match last month on the Internet. He is in very good mental condition and his skin color is similar to yours, light wheat color."

This one doesn't make sense, so I'll just not watch it.

Conan Edogawa's disappointment was obvious. Seeing him like this, Aoyagi Akimichi apologized: "I'm sorry, I should have told you more clearly before, so that you don't have to check it in vain now."

After receiving the apology, Conan Edogawa shook his head and said, "It was my fault that I didn't ask clearly."

He only asked Aoyagi Akimitsu about the situation of the other [Kudo Shinichi] on Saturday night, but he was interrupted by the elevator coming up. A series of events happened afterwards, and when he had time, Aoyagi Akimitsu was gone again.

At this time, the waiter came over with drinks and appetizers for the two. He placed the iced coffee in front of Aoyagi Akimitsu and placed the soda next to Edogawa Conan.

Aoyagi Binguang noticed that he had put the drink in the wrong place, but did not remind him. He waited for the other party to leave before manually changing it back: "Eat something first."

Edogawa Conan hummed, sat up straight on the cushions that were raised several layers high, and took two gulps of the iced coffee.

"Actually... I know someone who looks a lot like you."

Aoyagi Akimitsu seemed unable to bear seeing him sad, and took the initiative to provide a new clue: "He is the one who looks most like Kudo Shinichi among all the people I have met. You can even say that they look exactly like each other."

"Really?" Edogawa Conan was delighted at first, then he realized, "No, that's not right. If it was someone you knew, you would have recognized him that night."

"It's not knowing, it's knowing."

Aoyagi Akimitsu corrected him, “I once learned from a magician and saw a photo of his son, but I had never met him in person.”

"What's his name? Is he in Japan now?" Edogawa Conan asked. "Kuroba Kaito, the same age as you." Aoyagi Akimitsu said, "Kuroba-sensei's comeback tour will end this Friday, and he should come back once this weekend. I will ask him to come visit me then. If he agrees, I will take you with me."

Edogawa Conan didn't agree at once, and gently reminded: "Is this okay? He is your teacher, you'd better say hello first."

"It doesn't matter." Aoyagi Binguang smiled softly, "I think Mr. Kuroba will like you very much."

"...?"

Conan Edogawa didn't understand, but seeing Aoyagi Akimitsu's calm attitude, he chose to accept it.

He glanced at the drink in Qingliu Bingguang's hand and smelled a faint sweet smell like star anise. He was about to ask what soda he ordered, but at this moment, Qingliu Bingguang interrupted him:
"By the way, why isn't Mr. Maori here today? Didn't he go to pick up Miss Maori?"

"He went..."

Conan Edogawa put down his iced coffee and briefly recounted the whole process of how he encountered a case on his way back and how Kogoro Mouri chose to stay and take notes.

"…This is what happened. When I left, John had already been taken into custody, and the officers were waiting for Attorney Sakaguchi to return."

Conan Edogawa sighed: "If it wasn't someone else's instigation, but John attacked people randomly, he would be euthanized."

Originally, he made an appointment to meet with Mr. Qingliu, on the one hand to show him the information of the two people for identification, and on the other hand to discuss a problem with this reliable adult.

——Should I tell Xiaolan my true identity?
When he saw Xiaolan in danger because of his recklessness, he thought he should tell her that the Black Organization had given her drugs and made her smaller, so that she would not be defenseless against possible danger.

But after meeting the members of the organization again in the hotel and seeing how dangerous and daring they were, he hesitated again.

Conan Edogawa wanted to seek advice from Aoyagi Akimitsu, who supported him, but today's unexpected incident disrupted his plan. Now he just wants to find out the cause and effect of this incident as soon as possible, and talk about other things later.

After listening to his story, Aoyagi Binkou pondered for a few seconds.

"Um……"

Edogawa Conan raised his head and waited patiently for him to express his opinion.

"Who is the person who escaped? ... Do you know him?"

Aoyagi Binguang spoke, with a rare hint of curiosity in his voice.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Mao Lilan, who left with Kisaki Eri, did not walk too far. They chose a restaurant that was just opposite the shelter, sat by the window, and started ordering food after sitting down.

"You've just been discharged from the hospital, so it's better for you to eat light food these days." Hibiki Eri reminded her daughter while flipping through the menu.

"Then I'll order a salad and..."

Mao Lilan turned to the main food page and suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure outside the window. She turned her head and looked outside, and found a person standing outside the window of the animal shelter opposite.

The man's coat was dirty, and it was obvious that he had not been well taken care of. At this moment, he turned his head to look at the intersection, and she saw his profile clearly. The face was very young, and she let out a soft "eh".

"What's wrong, Xiaolan?"

Kisaki Eri noticed that she was looking outside, so she looked outside as well and saw the man: "Do you know him?"

"I know him. He was my former elementary school classmate." Mao Lilan said hesitantly, "But he transferred to another school when I was in the third grade."

"I think the last name is... Kadoya?"

That was seven years ago. She only remembered that he left very suddenly. When her classmates asked the teacher about it out of curiosity, the adults kept silent about it, as if it would touch some taboo. She never met him again after that, so she was not sure.

Kisaki Eri looked at the boy who was probably the same age as her daughter and frowned slightly.

For some reason, she also felt that he looked familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere.

A cold wind blew outside the window. The boy didn't stay outside the window for too long and left quickly.

The sky above his head was gray. It was cloudy today. Thick clouds had obscured most of the sky. The weather forecast indicated that it would rain for the next week. (End of this chapter)