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

Tokyo, Miwa Town.

Conan Edogawa, who usually sleeps in on his days off, got up early that day. At 8:30 in the morning, he finished washing up, sat at the table and started eating breakfast.

Maori Kogoro picked up some fish and put it in his mouth, then looked at Maori Ran next to him and asked, "What time are you leaving today?"

He has no interest in art, and Yoko Okino has a performance in the afternoon, so he doesn't plan to attend today's art exhibition. Only two people around him will go.

Mao Lilan was serving rice to Edogawa Conan. She handed the bowl to him, thought for a moment and said, "About eleven o'clock, but Sonoko said she would pick me up, so it might be earlier. Dad, you can go to Polo for lunch by yourself."

"It will rain all day today, remember to bring an umbrella when you go out." Maori Kogoro didn't care about the lunch arrangements. After he told his daughter, he looked at Edogawa Conan, "What about you?"

Edogawa Conan quickly swallowed his food and replied: "Mr. Aoyagi said he would pick me up at 9:45."

Maori Kogoro nodded, then asked in confusion: "Why didn't you make an appointment for the hour?"

"The art museum opens at 10 o'clock, and it takes about 15 minutes to get there from here." Edogawa Conan added, "He wants to go in as soon as it opens."

Newly opened places are often the most crowded when they open, from elegant exhibitions to ordinary street shops. Maori Kogoro muttered: "Then he really likes the hustle and bustle."

Edogawa Conan lowered his head and ate his meal quickly.

This time he and Mao Lilan will not go to the art exhibition together. Their schedules will be staggered. This was agreed upon when he talked to Aoyagi Akimichi on the phone yesterday.

"inconvenient."

This is what Mr. Qingliu said on the phone at the time, and his words were very straightforward:

"It was okay last time in Osaka, as there were other people with me, but this time it's an exhibition and it would look weird for me to be around two young girls."

Edogawa Conan was not surprised that he thought this way. When Aoyagi Akimichi was in junior high school in Minato Ward, he would deliberately keep a distance from underage girls and would not stay in a room with them alone unless necessary. He was very careful to avoid suspicion.

...Poor Suzuki Sonoko, she gave the ticket just to be able to attend the exhibition with the handsome guy, but Aoyagi Akimichi politely thanked her for the ticket and then politely rejected her.

"And I want to take you to see Mr. Kuroba after the exhibition. It's inconvenient for them to follow."

Aoyagi Binkou added, with a hint of smile in his voice.

"By the way, there is a surprise waiting for you."

Edogawa Conan couldn't help but become curious: "What's the surprise?"

"It won't be a surprise if I tell you now." Qing Liu Bingguang said with a smile, "See you tomorrow."

……

After Edogawa Conan finished his breakfast, there was still half an hour before the agreed time, so he went to the second floor to wait for someone.

As Maori Kogoro said, it was raining outside, and it was raining hard. The office window was only opened a crack to let in air, and the rain flowed down the glass with crackling sounds.

Edogawa Conan looked out the window, then sat on the sofa and took out his cell phone.

Kogoro Maori yawned lazily, complained casually about the bad weather today, then walked straight to his desk and turned on the TV.

After changing into her traveling clothes, Mao Lilan was the last one to enter the office. Seeing her father's lazy look and the mess in the office that had not been cleaned up yesterday, she walked over to tidy it up helplessly but habitually.

The three of them were doing their own things, occasionally exchanging a few words. The sound of rain and the sound of the TV echoed in the office, but it made people feel inexplicably peaceful.

Today seems to be another peaceful day like any other.

Conan Edogawa, who was searching for the latest mystery novel news on his mobile phone, paused slightly when sliding the screen. He seemed to have noticed something and suddenly raised his head.

Not far away, Mao Lilan was still tidying up the things on the table. She piled up the old newspapers and flyers from the past few days and naturally noticed a report at the top:
“International Pet Products Expo?”

Maori Kogoro glanced over and saw the same report. He said without much interest, "This is it. It was held in Shibuya these few days."

Mao Lilan looked at the screen and recognized it as Shibuya Crossing. Pedestrians were crossing the road with umbrellas, many of them with pets, such as the high school girls who just walked by. They hurried to the other side. At this time, the camera jumped and pulled away, revealing the street. There were ribbons above the road, and various balls made into the shape of animal heads were hung on them. A gymnasium was looming in the rain behind.

This is a program of Nichimi TV. The host this time is not Rena Mizunashi, whom they have met once. Instead, there is a strange male host standing on the street, introducing a recent exhibition to the audience outside the screen.

The host was a good speaker. He talked about the background and scale of the exhibition, the various pets on display and the companies from all over the world. He proudly said that there would be many foreign tourists coming to visit.

Mao Lilan listened and showed a longing expression: "My mother might participate in such an exhibition. She just adopted a kitten a few days ago."

Kogoro Mouri rolled his eyes. He had no interest in pets, and even less interest in the pets his estranged wife kept. He picked up the remote control and wanted to change the channel.

Just then, a bell suddenly rang in the room.

The two people at the window turned around and found that it was Edogawa Conan's phone that rang. He jumped up from the sofa, "It's Aoyagi... uh, it's the doctor calling."

It is now nine forty. According to the time, Aoyagi Akimitsu should be here soon. I didn't expect that Dr. Agasa would suddenly call at this time.

He quickly picked up the phone and asked in confusion, "Doctor? What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Shinichi, something happened."

Dr. Agasa's voice was more serious than ever before, which made Edogawa Conan stunned.

As if both sides had agreed on it, when Edogawa Conan heard this, the male host who was originally introducing the pet products exhibition seemed to have received some important news, and his face changed.

"Everyone, we are facing an emergency and need to switch the live broadcast back to the studio immediately..."

"——I just saw a video while surfing the Internet. It should be a live broadcast. The content is..."

In front of the TV, Kogoro Mouri and Ran Mouri were looking at the screen with pale faces.

It was a dimly lit room. A young man with greasy hair that almost covered his eyes was standing beside a bench. His face was covered with a thin layer of masking tape. A person with his face covered by a towel was tied to the bench. Judging from his body shape, he should also be a man.

The young man seemed unaware that he was being filmed. He grinned, raised the hose in his hand, and poured all the gushing water onto the towel-covered face.

The video stopped abruptly here. Another host in the TV studio looked solemn: "Twenty minutes ago, a live broadcast targeting Japan was launched on the world's largest video website..."

"!!!"

Mao Lilan covered her mouth and almost screamed.

Maori Kogoro noticed that his daughter was frightened, and quickly turned off the TV, cursing: "What is Nichimi doing? How can such a thing be broadcast directly on the show?!"

But he obviously misunderstood why Mao Lilan was so scared.

"He is..." She murmured, "That man seems to be..."

"Ding dong."

The doorbell rang at this moment.

Several people were stunned at the same time. Edogawa Conan, who heard the live broadcast news from the phone, shuddered and turned his head to look at the door.

The visitor seemed to be in a hurry. After ringing the doorbell once, he couldn't wait to open the door.

Standing at the door was Zhufu Jingguang.

His face was terribly gloomy, and his once bright blue eyes were now as cloudy as the weather outside. He took out his ID from his jacket pocket and showed it to them.

"Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Department, Morobushi Kagemitsu."

He looked at them, and his eyes finally fell on the stunned Mao Lilan.

"We are investigating a case and hope you will cooperate with the investigation." (End of this chapter)