Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 377 It Feels Like Home

The second 2016, April 2nd, Sunday.

Conan was incredibly anxious and restless at Kogoro's house...

It wasn't because school had started, nor because he was going to repeat first grade—in fact, he hadn't noticed anything unusual.

It was because he deduced that Ran was likely meeting someone today, and that she had dressed up specially... and when he asked her, she even said she was going to see Shinichi Kudo!

Kudo Shinichi?

I can't even see Shinichi Kudo anymore!

Could it be...

"It's a man? Impossible, right? Impossible... Absolutely impossible!" Conan was radiating jealousy.

Finally, he jumped up from the sofa, greeted Uncle Mori, and left to catch up with him.

"Ran-neechan! I miss Shinichi-nii too! I want to go too!" Conan said after catching up with her.

"Eh? Well... okay." Xiaolan had no choice but to agree.

The meeting place was still a café on Tsukishima Island, and Ran ordered orange juice for Conan...

"Ran-neechan, when is Shinichi-nii coming?" Conan asked with ill intent.

"Shinichi... actually, I didn't want to see Shinichi," Ran said shyly.

Upon hearing this, Conan finally breathed a sigh of relief—from the perspective of the motive for lying, if it was a lie to himself, that is, to "Conan," then it was very likely that Ran didn't want Shinichi to find out and prevent him from telling on her. But if it was just a lie to Uncle Mori...

It doesn't seem very good either!
"Huh? Is he someone important?" Conan asked, trying to sound cute.

"Yes, he's someone who's...very important to me!" Xiaolan said firmly.

"No way... he's more important than Shinichi, right?" Conan's jealousy became increasingly obvious.

"Well... you can't compare them like that," Xiaolan said with a smile.

Conan:! ! !
Goodness, Conan is just... goodness.

"Alright, so we won't be seeing Shinichi today... Go home after you finish your drink, and remember to keep it a secret from Dad!" Ran said to Conan.

"Huh? But I haven't had enough time yet!" Conan was being cute—he just wanted to know who Ran had made a date with!
"There's still some time before it's time. Let me go to the mall across the street and buy you a cake. After we eat it, we can go home, okay?" Xiaolan suggested.

Upon hearing this, Conan thought it was good that Ran left first, so he could observe which boy was seducing his Ran. And so…

"Then... I want to eat the lemon cake on the fourth floor of the shop in the mall next door!" Conan decided to lure Ran away.

"There... okay." Xiaolan agreed.

After Ran left, Conan stared menacingly at the entrance of the coffee shop.

Just then, a woman wearing sunglasses came in. Ignoring the waiter's suggestion that "one person can sit at the counter," she went straight to a booth, looked at her watch, sat down, and said indifferently, "Coffee."

"What did you say?" The waitress didn't hear clearly and wanted to confirm again.

"Coffee! Bring it to me right now!" the woman in sunglasses snapped.

The waiter was startled and quickly agreed.

Conan, who had been staring at her, was also startled.

"Although he's sitting in a booth and constantly checking his watch, it seems like he's waiting for someone, but... this guy doesn't seem like someone 'very important' to Ran, does he?" Conan thought to himself.

Then a thin man came in. He looked young, but he was unkempt. His casual suit was wrinkled and he had a stubble beard, making him look old!
Upon entering, the man politely said to the waiter, "Excuse me, I have something important to write today. Could you please give me a quiet spot?" Indeed, he was carrying a laptop.

Conan shook his head inwardly upon seeing this—it's impossible for someone to be working on a paper at the dinner table when they've arranged to meet someone else, right?
A short while later, the door to the coffee shop rang again, and this time a burly middle-aged man entered and went straight to the counter...

"Mr. Tonoyama, how did you hurt your finger?" The coffee shop owner obviously recognized him and greeted him warmly.

"I went to play golf yesterday, and my wedding ring got stuck on the club, which twisted my finger." Dian Shan chatted with the boss, pointing to his finger with the bandage on.

Seeing this, Conan secretly shook his head—something was wrong. If someone had made an appointment, they wouldn't go straight to the counter without even looking around…

"Where's the restroom?" the grumpy older woman asked the owner.

"Turn left inside," the shopkeeper replied.

As she walked over, the owner reminded her, "Please note that our restrooms are unisex, so please lock the door."

“I know!” the woman in sunglasses said matter-of-factly.

Conan glanced at her retreating figure, puzzled—her tone made it seem as if she already knew…

Even though they didn't know where the restroom was, they knew it was unisex?

However, Conan didn't think much of it at the moment, when the door to the coffee shop rang again.

The person who came in this time made Conan wary; it was a young, long-haired man who looked very "socially savvy"!

He looks somewhat handsome, but he exudes a wild and unrestrained aura.

Conan's intuition was correct...

This young man not only said he had "made an appointment" and sat down in the booth, but also took a call from a friend and started showing off his "achievements" on the phone!
"I told you young girls like this are the easiest to fool, right? Look, I managed to get one out of the house today..." the young man boasted.

Conan's eyes suddenly turned dangerous.

Just then, Conan's phone rang, and it was Ran.

"Hey, Sister Xiaolan..."

"Sorry, Conan, there's been a problem at the supermarket. The cash register is broken, and they haven't given me my change yet. I might be a little late getting back," Ran said helplessly.

"It's okay, I can wait... By the way, Ran-neechan, are you waiting for someone with long hair?" Conan asked casually.

"Huh? That's right, that's strange... I usually tie it up." Xiaolan asked, puzzled.

Conan then turned his head and glanced at the guy who didn't uphold male virtues.

Yes, my long hair is tied up!
“Yes, I understand. It’s tied up now.” Conan nodded affirmatively.

"Is that so? That's great, Conan. Could you tell him to wait a moment?" Ran said matter-of-factly.

"Hmm, but I'm not sure if they'll wait for me." Conan said, his mind wandering.

It's decided, watch me kick you flying!
Ran hadn't reacted yet, and when Conan agreed, she hung up the phone.

Just as Conan crouched down to turn the switch on his shoe, the cafe door opened again.

"Welcome the light..."

The waitress paused for a full three seconds before finally saying, "Lin."

Conan turned his head curiously and immediately understood the reason. Now, the once burly "Mr. Tonoyama" had become petite.

Even the normally normal ceiling of the coffee shop now appears somewhat low!
The newcomer was none other than the famous...

“Mommy, it’s Director Mika!” a little girl said, pointing at Shiraishi.

"Don't point at people, it's impolite," her mother said softly, pressing down her hand.

Conan: ...

The visitor was none other than Shiraishi Kuro, who could not be mistaken!
Kogoro could at least impersonate a mustachioed man; in the entire Tokyo metropolis, you probably couldn't find another person of Shiraishi's build...

"Huh?" Conan was taken aback.

"Hmm?" Shiraishi frowned as he looked at Conan squatting on the ground—I almost stepped on you!

"Conan? What are you doing here?" Shiraishi asked, puzzled.

"I'm with Ran-neechan..." Conan was just about to ask Shiraishi whether he would catch the scumbag.

The coffee shop door rang again.

This time, three men walked out of the coffee shop. Conan was a little puzzled when he saw this—these three people shouldn't be together, so why did they just leave together at this time?

"Ah, sorry."

"Cough cough... Let's go!"

The three of them were at the door when they accidentally bumped into someone.

at this time,

Conan then saw a woman in business attire enter. At first glance, she looked to be only about thirty years old, but upon closer inspection of her demeanor and the corners of her eyes, it became clear that she was probably over thirty-five, though she looked very young... about the same age as his mother!
"Huh? Attorney Fei?" Shiraishi was also surprised to see the visitor.

Eri Kisaki was equally surprised to see Shiraishi—why was there a wall in front of the coffee shop? Oh, it's Inspector Shiraishi…

"Officer Shiraishi, it's been a long time." Upon seeing Shiraishi, Eri suddenly remembered something: "Oh, right, actually, there's something I wanted to ask you about recently..."

Conan was stunned—shocked! Chief Mikasa was having a weekend date with a beautiful young woman at a coffee shop?

Shiraishi then realized that Conan must have come with Ran, and as for Ran... of course she had made an appointment with her mother!
But before Shiraishi could speak, just then...

what--

A not-too-loud scream rang out...

The scream was male, and out of habit, Shiraishi and Conan reacted immediately, rushing toward the bathroom from which the sound came.

Upon opening the bathroom door, one could see the long-haired young man who had been there earlier now slumped down in the doorway, pointing inside with a look of terror on his face.

Following the direction he pointed, we saw a pool of red liquid flowing out from under the crack of a door to one of the inner cubicles…

And just by smelling that scent, Shiraishi knew—blood, human blood!

Conan rushed forward to open the door, but it wasn't locked. There was resistance when he tried to open it, so something must be blocking it from the inside!

Seeing this, Conan crouched down, intending to turn the switch on his shoe to help him jump up and look over—of course, the toilet stall was empty above and not connected to the ceiling.

but……

The next moment, Conan was lifted up by Shiraishi, who then peered inside.

Given Shiraishi's height, the bathroom stall only reached his neck...

At this moment, Shiraishi saw a female corpse lying face inward in front of the door in the bathroom stall, blocking the door. Judging from the scene, she had been stabbed in the heart, which is why there was blood all over the floor. The dagger, which appeared to be the murder weapon, was left at the scene.
"Director Mi-Mi ...

The other guests also gathered curiously at the doorway.

Shiraishi turned to them and said, "Boss, let's call the police... There are a few other customers who might need your assistance in the investigation."

"Um...should we call an ambulance?" the boss asked tentatively.

Shiraishi shook his head – he was already dead. They could just wait for the police to collect the body and issue a death certificate; there was no need for emergency medical procedures.

There was blood everywhere; you needed to call the police, but not an ambulance...

The meaning of this was clear to everyone present, and their expressions changed as they guessed the answer.

Just then, Eri Kisaki frowned and said, "Wait, three guests left when I came in..."

and……

Eri Kisaki felt a strange sense of familiarity with those three people!
They were all dressed casually and had their heads down, so Eri couldn't immediately figure out who they were.

Upon hearing this, Conan quickly said, "It couldn't be them! They didn't come into the bathroom just now."

Using the process of elimination, Conan has a pretty good idea of ​​who the deceased is—most likely the long-haired woman who came in first but never came out!
after all……

Judging by the amount of blood loss, he probably wasn't killed for long.

"Hmm? Little brother, are you so sure?" Eri Kisaki looked at Conan scrutinizingly—he seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place him.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi deliberately said, "After all, this kid is Detective Mouri's apprentice... right?"

Conan immediately felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly...

However, to prove himself, Conan still said, "That's right, Uncle Mori always told me that paying attention to your surroundings and remembering faces are the basic skills of a detective... Hehehe."

“That old geezer… little brother, it’s best not to learn from him.” Eri’s attitude immediately turned sour.

"Huh?" Conan was taken aback; this attitude seemed rather unusual...

But now is not the time to talk about that. Conan remembers that someone who came to the restroom just now...

"This long-haired man, that uncle in the hat, and that guy with the computer... they all came in after that woman in sunglasses came in," Conan pointed out.

"Eh? Wait a minute... little brother... he might be someone from outside, right?" Uncle Dianshan said quickly.

"Hmm, that's possible... After all, the windows here aren't very high. We'll have to wait for the forensic team to come and take a look at the situation. After that, everyone, please go back to your seats," Shiraishi said calmly.

In this situation, police officers will arrive at the scene immediately, and Shiraishi is just helping to coordinate things first.

As for Shiraishi's identity...

No one needs to show their police ID, and no one will fail to recognize them, so of course they'll obediently follow their orders!

Before long, patrol officers from the Tsukishima Police Station cordoned off the scene, and detectives immediately took their positions...

To Shiraishi's surprise, Kunikida actually showed up at the scene!
"Director, it's been a long time since I've greeted you," Kunikida said to Shiraishi as soon as he entered.

Shiraishi also saw Tohsaka and Matsuki—the original partners of Akasaka and Aoki, who had been brought to the Tsukishima Police Station by Kunikida. For a moment, Shiraishi felt like he was on "his own turf" in Tsukishima...

(End of this chapter)