Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 25 Bureau!

"Ah……"

Towako chuckled and said, "Little girl, why are you asking that? What's the significance of that kind of case?"

"I'm just curious." Xiaolan said.

"Don't be curious. Curiosity is the beginning of ruin. Stay away from it. That's all I have to say."

"You misunderstood. I have no interest in it."

"Then let's talk about your father, Kogoro. He did call to make an appointment with me that night, but another customer who came to the store specifically asked for me. After I refused, he said he could pay double the price, so I went to drink with him.

I was indeed a bit dishonest in this matter, but on the one hand, Kogoro is usually very easy-going, and on the other hand, when I called him that night, he was on the phone the whole time.

I thought he might be busy, so I decided to receive him later."

"Aren't you the boss lady?"

"It's not a place that's too big to handle. If a customer asks me to, of course I can sit at the table. Your father does that. He's an old acquaintance."

When this was mentioned, Xiaolan suddenly felt angry, and even the empty room was no longer an eyesore.

The night before yesterday, her knee had not yet fully recovered when she received a call from Megure Juzo. Reluctantly, she took a taxi to the Metropolitan Police Department and saw Maori Kogoro sitting in the detention room with a depressed look on his face. His first words were:
"Xiaolan, don't tell Eri about this."

Xiaolan didn't even know what happened at the time and didn't respond. When Megure Jusan told her what happened in a roundabout way, she connected it with Maori Kogoro's usual behavior of drinking flower wine...

I wanted to run away right then and there!

But in her heart she still hoped that her parents would reconcile. Seeing Kogoro Mori's face full of grief and remorse, she hesitated for a long time, then softened her heart and agreed.

As a result, a person died the next day and the matter became a big deal. Kisaki Eri somehow heard about it.

then……

Even now, when Xiaolan thinks back to the expression on her mother's face when she "comforted" her last night, her heart still aches!
In the end, she was the one comforting her mother.

Xiaolan took a deep breath and suppressed her emotions.

"Ms. Towako, please continue."

"Ok."

Towako sighed softly.

"The customer and I drank together until about nine o'clock. We were both a little tipsy. He offered to take me out as a prostitute, but I declined.

He said he wouldn't do anything, but I looked a lot like his late wife, and he wanted to take me to the beauty salon to get my hair done, and then go shopping on the high street. If he did anything inappropriate, I could always leave.

I was a little hesitant and used Kogoro as an excuse.

He then ordered two more girls from our restaurant and asked them to serve him when Kogoro came.

I thought Kogoro wouldn't mind if someone treated him to a meal, and the guest's generosity was enough to show his sincerity, so I agreed.

He really didn't do anything, just treated me like a dress-up doll, giving me instructions on makeup and changing clothes, trying to make me look as close to his late wife as possible. When we returned to the store two hours later, I was almost completely different.

He asked, "Can you hug me for a moment? If I feel uncomfortable, I can always call for help."

So I took him to the lounge.

About 20 minutes later, Kogoro broke in without explanation and started to attack without explanation. Behind him was a bald middle-aged man, who was the victim of the next day, Yamada Okao, who was holding Kogoro tightly.

I wanted Kogoro to calm down and talk properly, but another drunk customer passing by picked up an ashtray and hit Kogoro on the head.

Seeing blood on his head, Kogoro broke free from Yamada Okao and attacked the guests. The situation got out of control and gradually developed into a melee.

You know what happened next, little girl."

After listening to Towako's story, Xiaolan couldn't calm down for a long time. The words that Kudo Shinichi yelled at her in the morning rang in her ears again...

"This is not an accident, Xiaolan! This is a setup!

Uncle Maori is indeed innocent, but his innocence is not what you think! You know nothing! Go back to school, I will handle this!"

Shinichi said this was a setup, but who was it targeting? And what was the problem?

Dad, Shinichi, Inspector Megure...

How could she not know “nothing” if they didn’t tell her anything?

"Ms. Towako, what was your makeup like at that time?"

"Heh, that high school detective also asked this question.

You think that I was made to look like Lady Hime by that guest, and Kogoro was wrong, right? But unfortunately, there is a big difference. The makeup is younger, and the hairstyle is different from Lady Hime's.

The only thing that can match it is probably a pair of plain half-frame glasses."

That's it...

"And the guest?"

"He's still in the hospital and hasn't woken up yet. Kogoro's shoulder throw seems to have hit the back of that person's head."

"!!!"

This is another unknown situation. How many stupid things has Dad done?

"He was drunk?"

"It is true that I need to drink more than usual."

Xiaolan felt a little relieved... No, she couldn't relax at all, the situation was still extremely bad.

Didn’t dad just sleep when he got drunk before?
What happened to him that night?

"What about the identity of that guest? Did the police tell you?" Xiaolan asked again.

"He said he was just a small clerk in Shibuya. His wife did die of illness two months ago, but he didn't look that much like me."

Shibuya, clerk...

Xiaolan kept thinking about it, but in the end she found out with frustration that she might really have no talent as a detective.

This doesn't make any sense at all.

"Shinichi, the high school detective, did he ask any questions after this?"

"He asked me some details about my interactions with the guest. Officer Megure asked him why. He said he wanted to analyze the guest's daily behavior patterns and whether he was instructed by someone else that night."

"What's the conclusion?"

"He analyzed that the customer would not normally spend money like that, so he asked the police to investigate the customer's financial situation. I don't know what happened next."

"Did he come straight to you that night?"

"No, he looked at all the girls in the store and finally chose me."

Xiaolan thought for a moment and said, "Ms. Towako, can you call the police to ask about the follow-up?"

"Well, okay, I'll ask you whether or not to return the money. But why don't you ask it yourself? You are half a party to the case, right?"

"They all treated me as a burden and didn't tell me."

"As expected, the evil male chauvinism."

Towako hung up the phone, and about five minutes later, she called back.

"The police have already investigated clearly. After the death of his wife, the customer spent all day drinking in the pub. Two days ago in the afternoon, he borrowed a loan shark and started hanging out in various entertainment venues. The police inferred that he might have had thoughts of committing suicide."

"usury?!"

A word suddenly crossed Xiaolan's mind, and she asked hurriedly:

"Is it Watanuki Credit Corporation?"

(End of this chapter)