Ke Xue: The thief Cao is actually myself

Chapter 551: Give my daughter back to me! (Please give me a monthly ticket!)

"Wow..."

Just as everyone was concentrating on the clues and discussions of the case, an abrupt and strange noise suddenly sounded, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

Everyone subconsciously raised their heads and looked towards the source of the sound.

With the tacit cooperation of the divers, the crane was slowly and steadily lifting the box car driven by the kidnappers from the water.

As the crane operated, the box car gradually broke out of the water, with water droplets constantly sliding down the body of the car, sparkling with tiny rays of light in the sun.

Finally, the box car was placed steadily on the road by the crane.

Under the leadership of Inspector Megure, Kogoro Mouri, Ran Mouri, Byakuya and Conan hurried towards the wet car body.

They couldn't wait to know Takei Naoko's current life or death status.

After approaching the van, Inspector Megure, Kogoro Mori and Byakuya walked around the vehicle and observed it, looking for any possible body inside.

Their hearts were extremely heavy and filled with conflicting emotions.

On the one hand, they fully expected to find key clues related to Takei Naoko in the car, which would point the way to rescue her;
On the other hand, they were deeply worried that they would witness an unwanted tragic outcome in the car, because that might mean that Takei Naoko's life was in danger or even dead.

Looking at the box car that had just been fished out and placed on the road, with the entire body of the car still in a flowing state, and Officer Megure and others who were pacing around the body of the car, observing and collecting clues, Conan pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and his eyes behind the lenses flashed with wisdom.

According to the previous description of Inspector Megure and others, the kidnapper had the opportunity to completely escape the police pursuit, but when he had the upper hand, he chose to crash into the roadside barbed wire, which eventually led to the destruction of the car and the death of the kidnapper. No matter how you look at it, this is unreasonable.

In his opinion, the kidnapper obviously kidnapped Takei Naoko for money. Would a kidnapper really give up his life so easily before getting what he wanted?
He seriously suspected that the kidnappers' behavior, although seemingly crazy, might have other hidden meanings.

Perhaps all of this was a trap set by the kidnappers, and this car was the key link. If we can find the flaw in this trap, we may be able to find Takei Naoko's whereabouts.

——Since the kidnappers treated this van in this way, it must be hiding important clues. Perhaps these clues are the key to solving the whole mystery.

"Naoko-san, you have to be okay!"

Mao Lilan stood aside, her hands unconsciously clenched tightly, her knuckles white from the force. Her eyes were fixed on the car, full of anxiety and uneasiness, as if she could see through the car.

She kept praying in her heart, hoping that Takei Naoko was not in this car, hoping that she was still alive and well, but hidden in some unknown place.

At this moment, the air around them seemed to freeze, and everyone held their breath, waiting for their fate to be revealed.

Suddenly, Bai Ye seemed to have discovered something. His brows furrowed slightly and his eyes turned towards the driver's cab, as if he had captured some important information.

Upon seeing this, Inspector Megure and Kogoro Mori immediately gathered over, a hint of anticipation in their eyes.

"Gudong Gudong..."

However, before Inspector Megure and others could see clearly what Byakuya had discovered, they saw movement again on the originally calm water surface. The two divers who had previously dived into the river to carry out the mission slowly surfaced and came to the side of the van.

There was an indescribable complex expression on their faces, which contained the tension after completing a dangerous mission, but also seemed to hide the subtle expressions brought about by new discoveries.

"!!!"

Noticing the complicated expressions on their faces, Kogoro Mouri's heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible big hand and instantly rose to his throat. He no longer bothered to check the car's cab, and his eyes were fixed on the divers, his eyes full of expectation and anxiety.

Officer Megure stepped forward quickly, his anxiety evident as he asked loudly, "How is it? Any new developments?"

The two divers looked at each other first, their eyes seemed to convey some complicated information. Then, one of them raised his hand to wipe the water off his face, then took a deep breath and reported loudly: "Report to the officer, we didn't find anything in the car, and we didn't find any bodies at the bottom of the river."

When he said this, the diver looked a little worried. "The river here is fast, and it is possible that the bodies of the kidnappers and hostages were washed away!"

Hearing these words, everyone's expressions instantly became solemn, as if shrouded by a heavy haze.

"My God!"

Mao Lilan raised her right hand and covered her mouth, her eyes full of disbelief and pain, unable to accept such a cruel thing.

How she wished that all this was just a terrible nightmare, and that when she woke up, Takei Naoko would still be able to laugh and play with everyone as usual.

However, the heaviness of reality forced her to face the cruel truth that might emerge.

"call……"

Seeing this, Inspector Megure sighed slightly and was about to say something to comfort everyone and stabilize everyone's emotions. Suddenly, a rough voice came from the side and interrupted his speech.

"What corpse?"

Naoko Takei's father, President Takei, walked slowly to Officer Megure, grabbed his collar angrily, and started questioning him frantically.

"I trusted you so much and gave you everything, and what's the result?"

His voice became hoarse with anger, and his eyes were burning with rage, which was dissatisfaction with the police and extreme worry about his daughter's fate. "Tell me! What's the result?"

President Takei grabbed Officer Megure's collar and swung him back and forth frantically, his hands shaking slightly with anger and excitement, "Give it back to me, give it back to me, give my daughter Naoko back to me!!!"

As he was speaking, President Takei seemed unable to bear the blow. His legs went limp and he fell to his knees on the ground, holding his head in his hands and crying bitterly.

Mao Lilan looked at the grief-stricken President Takei, her heart full of bitterness and pity. She wanted to go forward and comfort him, but her throat seemed to be blocked and she couldn't speak for a while.

"How did things turn out like this..."

Kogoro Mori couldn't help scratching his head, his heart full of guilt and self-blame.

He felt that he had not fulfilled his responsibilities as a detective.

Thinking of this, his usual confident look disappeared without a trace, replaced by a look of confusion and helplessness. Officer Megure also looked helpless and guilty. He gently patted President Takei on the shoulder, trying to calm him down: "President Takei, don't worry, we will do our best to find your daughter's whereabouts. This case may be more complicated than we thought, but please believe that we, the police, will never give up."

Although his heart was also filled with pressure and worry, as a policeman, he had to give confidence and hope to the victims' families.

President Takei raised his head, his face full of tears, his eyes full of despair and anger: "How can I believe you? The deal failed, and now even the car has been found, but the people are nowhere to be found! Are you serious about doing this?"

His words were full of doubts and dissatisfaction towards the police, which made Inspector Megure and others feel even more guilty and self-blaming.

Conan silently looked at President Takei who was kneeling on the ground in grief. A trace of pity flashed in his eyes. Then he turned his gaze to the van that had just been salvaged and was still dripping with water.

The water continued to flow down the body of the car and gathered into a pool of turbid water on the ground.

Although he felt sympathy for President Takei's situation, he did not give up hope of saving Takei Naoko.

Because, from the beginning of the case, Conan was certain that the kidnapper who kidnapped Takei Naoko would not seek death, and would not easily attack Takei Naoko before receiving the ransom.

However, he also knew that time was passing by, and every second that passed, Takei Naoko would be in more danger. Therefore, he had to race against time to find clues as soon as possible and solve the mystery.

Thinking of this, he paced around the van, examining every detail with sharp eyes, trying to dig out key information from this wet car.

Suddenly, Conan seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes fell on the sunroof of the car. "According to what Officer Megure just said, this van was driven by the kidnapper and crashed directly into the car. But why is only the sunroof on the driver's seat broken?"

This anomaly was like a thorn that pierced Conan's mind and made him unable to ignore it.

While thinking about this question, Conan walked into the interior of the van which still had water stains on it.

The humid air blew in his face, mixed with the fishy smell of river water, making Conan wrinkle his nose.

"Besides, whether it was Takei Naoko or the kidnappers, even if they really met with misfortune, it is impossible that they would leave no traces..."

It would have been fine if it was Naoko Takei, as she was under control. After the car fell into the water, there were no signs of struggle inside the car, which was normal.

However, the kidnapper was not tied up. After the car fell into the water, even if it was just an instinctive reaction, he would subconsciously struggle to survive.

But the key point is that he didn't find any signs of struggle in the van.

Of course, this may also be because the skylight was broken and the water in the river washed away all traces.

But no matter how fast the water flowed, how could it be possible to wash away the corpses and remaining clothing without leaving any trace?

This is obviously not in line with common sense.

Conan frowned slightly, the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He felt that there must be some unknown secret hidden in this. His hand unconsciously supported his chin, his face full of confusion.

At this moment, his eyes inadvertently swept across the toolbox between the driver's seat and the co-pilot seat, and he was stunned.

"This is?"

Because, right on the ground between the clutch pedal and the brake pedal on the driver's seat, there was a hammer lying quietly.

"Hammer?"

Conan's heart suddenly moved, and his intuition told him that this might be a crucial clue.

He slowly squatted down, carefully picked up the hammer, and looked at it carefully. There were still some water stains and sand on the hammer, and he gently wiped off the dirt on the surface, trying to find more clues from it.

Suddenly, he found that there seemed to be some subtle marks on the handle of the hammer, as if it had been scratched by something. Although not obvious, these marks were particularly eye-catching under his keen eyes.

Conan's eyes lit up, he knew that he was one step closer to the truth.

He stood up, looked around the interior of the car again, and began to form a bold hypothesis in his mind: If this hammer was closely related to the disappearance of the kidnappers and Takei Naoko, then the kidnappers might have used this hammer to create some kind of illusion, and the real Takei Naoko might not be in this car at all.

Thinking of this, Conan decided to start with this hammer and investigate its origin and purpose. Perhaps all the mysteries would be solved in the process.

"Hmm? Conan, where's that little brat?"

However, before he could take action, Kogoro Mori, who was working with Inspector Megure to comfort President Takei, suddenly seemed to notice something unusual and frowned slightly.

He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that something was wrong from the beginning, as if something crucial was missing from his side.

Subconsciously, he looked around. It would have been fine if he hadn't looked, but when he looked, he suddenly realized that a little kid who always liked to ask questions and chatter non-stop at the crime scene had disappeared without a trace.

"Where has this little brat gone again? He's such a worry!"

After realizing this, Kogoro Mori frowned, a little displeasure appeared on his face. He immediately became furious, turned around angrily, and then cast his gaze towards the van beside him.

Because he knew in his heart that with Conan's love of joining in the fun and his strong curiosity, the most likely thing he would do was to get into the van and investigate on his own.

After all, the other party has done similar things countless times.

So, Kogoro Mouri left President Takei who was still in grief and Inspector Megure who was busy, and walked quickly towards the van.

When he arrived at the van, as expected, he saw Conan lying in the driver's seat, seemingly concentrating on looking at something.

Seeing this, Maori Kogoro was immediately furious and couldn't help but yell at Conan: "Conan!? What are you doing?"

"Do you want to be beaten again?"

As he spoke, Kogoro Mouri clenched his right fist and waved it twice at Conan as a warning.

(End of this chapter)