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

"Evil... evil spirit?!"

Inside a speeding luxury car, Kogoro Mouri's exclamation rang out from the back seat.

Conan Edogawa, who was sitting in the front row and had to be held in Ran Mouri's arms because there wasn't enough space in the car, looked curiously towards the back row.

Kogoro Mouri stared at the butler sitting next to him, raised a finger to point at himself, and asked again in disbelief.

"You mean, you want me, the detective, to break the curse of the evil spirit?!"

The chubby butler, with a small mustache under his nose, smiled sheepishly: "Yes, that's what my master said."

Conan Edogawa withdrew his gaze from them, looked out the car window, and sighed almost imperceptibly.

……

A month ago, they went to Gunma to complete the commission on the recommendation of Chairman Suzuki.

Unexpectedly, this triggered a series of events. Conan Edogawa not only encountered members of the organization again, but was also unfortunately captured and taken to the organization's base. Fortunately, his companion, Aoyagi Akimitsu, arrived in time and rescued him.

Since Kogoro Mouri had already cooperated with the police's questioning at the hotel, the Metropolitan Police Department only called them once after they returned to Beika, and then did not bother them again.

Conan Edogawa was very attentive to the situation. He not only followed the progress of the police investigation into the Takeuchi family in the media every day, but he also kept an eye on his surroundings, constantly observing whether any strangers were behaving suspiciously.

To avoid involving Ai Haibara, he didn't go to Professor Agasa's house after that, but instead asked her to bring him a set of anti-tracking equipment made by the professor.

He also went home alone after school, which led to complaints from the Junior Detective League.

But weeks passed, and nothing happened.

There were no suspected members of the organization, nor were there any suspected members of the police.

Conan Edogawa was somewhat frustrated by this.

He thought that since he and Morofushi Hiromitsu, who had been an undercover agent, had been arrested and taken to the organization's base, the police might notice him, or at the very least, send someone to question him about what had happened that night. But nothing happened.

His life seemed to have returned to normal.

He inquired about the matter with Aoyagi Akimitsu, an FBI agent who was also involved in the case. This agent was likely very busy, as he only spoke a few words to him on the phone before abruptly hanging up. The two did not meet again for the next month.

Now that summer vacation has begun, Conan Edogawa and Ran Mouri have plenty of free time. After receiving a case at the detective agency in the morning, they head out together...

……

Conan Edogawa sighed again after finishing his recollection.

Hearing him sigh, Ran Mouri, who was holding him, looked down at him and asked, "What's wrong, Conan? Is it too hot for me to be holding you like this?"

"No, no." Conan Edogawa snapped out of his reverie and said dryly, "I was just thinking about what evil spirits are like."

Ran Mouri, who was always afraid of ghosts, turned to look at the butler and asked hesitantly, "Why do we need a detective to investigate evil spirits?"

The butler scratched his head awkwardly: "We've consulted priests and several mediums who are said to be very effective and have helped the police solve cases before, but strange things still happen after they exorcise the evil spirits, so we came to find a detective."

Kogoro Mouri had a slight headache. He hadn't received any decent requests this month, so he patiently asked, "What kind of strange things are they? When did the first one happen?"

"It started two years ago when our master had a nightmare."

The butler's face darkened as he recalled what had happened.

"He was like he was possessed by a ghost, making eerie noises I'd never heard before, waking me up from my bed downstairs. When I opened the door to ask him what was wrong, he didn't answer, just sat there repeating, 'It's a curse... I'll be killed... It's a curse... We'll all be killed...'" "Then, six months later, during a trip, the car the old man was in suddenly lost its brakes!"

As if to confirm, the butler looked at the driver in the front seat: "Mianyin, you're right, aren't you?"

The driver was a young man brought by the housekeeper; he was the family's personal driver for this client. He had neatly parted hair and wore white-rimmed glasses, looking very refined.

He nodded in agreement: "Yes, the car had just been inspected not long ago, but for some reason the brake fluid was still leaking. Fortunately, nothing bad happened in the end."

Ran Mouri tightened her grip on Conan Edogawa's arm, forcing him to join the conversation: "This might just be an accident."

Surprisingly, Kogoro Mouri didn't refute his interruption, but agreed with his point of view: "Right now it just sounds like a nightmare and a traffic accident, you..."

"more than!"

Seeing their indifference, the housekeeper grew anxious and raised his voice: "There are also strange phenomena in the house, such as noises coming from rooms that have been unoccupied for a long time, and kitchen cupboards suddenly falling over in the middle of the night, but when others rush over, there's no one inside, and—"

"We received a bomb."

The driver in the front seat chimed in.

The other three people in the car were all shocked. Even Conan Edogawa, who hadn't taken it seriously at first, had several question marks on his head.

"A bomb?!" Kogoro Mori glared at them. "Did you call the police?!"

"When we found it, there were only a few seconds left on the countdown, not enough time to call the police. But it wasn't a real bomb. After it exploded, a bunch of confetti and a clown holding a greeting card popped out. It was probably just a silly prank."

The driver squinted, his facial expression and tone showing little emotional fluctuation.

Conan Edogawa's curiosity was piqued: "Do you have any photos?"

"Have."

The butler took a photograph out of the inside pocket of his coat and handed it to Kogoro Mouri.

Conan Edogawa craned his neck to see, but Ran Mouri, seeing this, did not stop him from this dangerous action. Instead, she let go of his hand, allowing him to get out of his seat and squeeze through the gap in the front row to the back row.

Kogoro Mouri was also drawn to the photo, but did not reprimand him for doing something dangerous.

The "bomb" itself is a metal box with a small black LCD screen at the front. The top of the box is open, and a clown wearing a red pointed hat is swaying on a spring, beneath which is buried a bunch of tangled wires.

The clown was deathly pale, with messy hair on his head. His face was divided into two halves, one black and one white, half laughing and half crying, with his lips painted an exaggerated red that stretched almost to his ears.

There was a card stuck to his front.

"—Pray when you encounter storms. Confess your sins before the voyage begins, though it is of no use...the sixth man who observes everything."

Kogoro Mouri frowned as he slowly read the words aloud: "What does this mean?"

"I don't know." The head of the household sighed. "The master and madam were initially relieved that there hadn't been a real explosion, but their expressions turned very grim after seeing this card."

Conan Edogawa looked at the photo, his expression equally grim, but not because of the words on the card.

He had studied bomb disposal in Hawaii and had even tried it himself. He was certain that the scene in the background was not a prank at all; the wires were clearly arranged to form a real bomb.

"What about this box?" he asked. "Did you dispose of it?"

The butler gave him a strange look, then nodded and said, "It was given to a friend of our master; it should be taken care of." (End of Chapter)