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

It was almost twelve o'clock when Edogawa Conan arrived in Adachi District by train.

He didn't bother to have lunch, and hailed a taxi as soon as he got out of the station. He cut into the queue, and luckily another person who was waiting for a taxi saw that he looked like a child, and after mumbling something, he let him go.

Fifteen minutes later, Edogawa Conan arrived at a certain street. He paid and got off the car, and saw a red Mazda parked in front of the house on the corner.

There were two people standing in front of the house. Edogawa Conan recognized them and ran towards them.

"Officer Sato! Officer Takagi!"

The two Metropolitan Police Department detectives were standing at the door. This time, Sato Miwako brought Takagi Wataru with her, and the officer Matsuda wearing sunglasses was not there.

Takagi Wataru was looking through the police manual and talking about something. When he heard the call, he turned around and was stunned when he saw Edogawa Conan running in front of him: "Conan-kun? Why are you here?"

In order to obtain the right to investigate together, Conan Edogawa decided to tell the truth:
"I came here for the kidnapping live broadcast this morning. Someone from the Metropolitan Police Department came to the detective agency to question us this morning. The suspect was Xiaolan's high school classmate, so uncle is a little concerned."

"..."

Sato Miwako had a subtle look on her face: "So it was Detective Maori who brought you here? Where is he now?"

"Uncle has other directions for investigation..."

Conan Edogawa, who got the address from the pet store's adoption records and came alone, gave a vague explanation. As he spoke, he looked at the closed door of the house in front of him.

"Let's go in quickly. There may be important clues here."

Sato Miwako and Takagi Wataru were obviously much easier to talk to than Morobushi Keimitsu who visited in the morning. They looked at each other with helplessness on their faces and did not drive Edogawa Conan away.

Gao Mushi reminded: "Then you must follow us closely and don't touch the things inside."

"Okay!" Edogawa Conan quickly agreed.

Takagi Shigeru put away the police manual and squatted down at the door, picked up a flower pot, and there was a key underneath.

They arrived less than ten minutes earlier than Edogawa Conan, and just knocked on the door, but no one answered, so they went to find the neighbor. The neighbor told them that Kadokawa, who lived here, liked to put the key under the flower pot.

The neighbor's attitude was very strange at the time. He looked like he didn't want to talk to them any more and hoped that they would leave as soon as they got the news.

Takagi Shigeru was a little confused at first, but after opening the door, he instantly understood the reason.

"Well, this smell..."

Miwako Sato subconsciously covered her nose with her hand and frowned tightly.

Conan Edogawa, who wanted to rush in, was also staggered by the smoke.

Behind the door was another world - from the entrance to the corridor, it was filled with all kinds of garbage, making it hard to find a place to step. Many mosquitoes were flying around, and the smell was overwhelming.

It was raining outside and the house was dim. Sato Miwako put on gloves and reached out to touch the switch next to her. After pressing it, the light above the entrance did not respond.

"S-Ahem, Officer Sato, the lady I was questioning just now told me that the water and electricity here have been out for a long time."

Takagi Wataru was also uncomfortable with the environment in front of him. This was a completely different kind of nausea from the one he usually felt when he encountered a corpse. He answered while suppressing his nausea.

"Then he hasn't paid for at least four months..."

Miwako Sato put down her hands, her brows still furrowed.

In Japan, if the water and electricity bills are overdue, the payment will not be cut off immediately. Instead, the owner will be reminded to pay several times in the next few months depending on his/her situation (whether he/she is sick). Only after repeated reminders and failure to pay will the payment be cut off.

Takagi Wataru seemed to be about to say something, but he noticed Edogawa Conan beside his legs. Unlike adults like them, the height of the garbage mountain in front of him was almost submerging this child.

"Conan-kun, are you okay?" he asked considerately, "If you're not feeling well, please leave. We'll take you back to the detective agency later."

Edogawa Conan gritted his teeth: "I'm fine. Let's go in."

The most vulnerable people didn't mind, and the other two didn't say anything more. Takagi Shigeru didn't persuade them anymore. He rummaged through his pocket, took out a mask, and gave it to Edogawa Conan to wear.

The three of them entered the house, and Conan Edogawa turned his watch, and a beam of light shone out. With this only light, he tried to identify the layout of the house.

"Officer Sato, Officer Takagi, let's go to the room over there."

It was obviously too inefficient to start looking through the garbage from the door, or go directly to the room. The other two had no objection, they paid attention to the road under their feet and continued to move forward.

Soon they arrived at the door of the room. This single-family house was not big and had only one floor. The bedroom was opposite the living room.

"I'll go check out the bedroom." Takagi Wataru stood at the door. "This room has a good orientation. I can see clearly inside after opening the window."

Sato Miwako looked over and agreed to the assignment: "Then Conan and I will be in charge of the living room."

The three of them split into two groups, and Sato Miwako brought Edogawa Conan into the living room.

Fortunately, although the corridor and entrance were piled with garbage, the room was "okay". At least now when they stepped down, they could step directly on the floor between the gaps of garbage.

Miwako Sato noticed the altar placed against the wall. It was arguably the cleanest area they had entered, with no garbage around it.

Edogawa Conan naturally noticed that place as well. He saw the tablet and the photo behind it. After seeing the middle-aged woman's childlike smile in the photo, he was silent for a moment.

"This should be Kadokawa's mother..."

Miwako Sato walked to the altar. Out of respect for the deceased, she did not pick up the photo directly, but looked at it from a certain distance.

Edogawa Conan walked up to her and looked up at Sato Miwako. From her tone and expression, he thought that she didn't know about the tragedy of the Kadokawa family seven years ago.

He stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "Officer Sato, the Investigation Division started investigating only after seeing the live broadcast on TV, right?"

Sato Miwako came back to her senses and looked down at him: "How did you know?"

"Actually, it was the police who came to see my uncle today." Conan Edogawa said, "Just a few minutes after we saw the live broadcast, they came to the door. So I guess the police may have learned about the kidnapping of their colleagues earlier, so they came so quickly."

"...That's true."

Miwako Sato sighed, "They knew about it an hour in advance because the criminal sent them a tablet for live broadcasting. They originally planned to conceal it and investigate privately, but they were willing to cooperate with the Investigation Section after the Nichimerai incident broke out."

"The suspect who appeared in the live broadcast, named Kadokiya Nobu, has actually been caught by the Investigation Division. A passerby who saw the show reported him half an hour ago, but..." She paused, "As soon as he arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department, the public security took him away and refused to allow us to interrogate him together."

At the end of her words, there was a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone.

As a detective who once heard Inspector Megure complain about the Public Security Bureau, Conan Edogawa finds it difficult to evaluate the conflict between the Public Security Bureau and ordinary police officers. He only cares about intelligence.

After hearing that Kadokawa had been arrested, he was shocked at first, and then learned that the other party was taken away by the police. He slowly clenched his fists at his side.

"Then we must hurry up."

he said softly.

"——We still have time to save him." (End of this chapter)