Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 393 Suzuki Hotel
As Shiraishi walked into the hotel, he immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the lobby.

As expected of the Suzuki Hotel, the lobby is so luxurious it almost makes you instinctively speak in a translator's tone—Shiraishi climbed directly to the 18th floor from the outside, and when he left, the hotel was closed due to the shooting, so he didn't notice anything amiss…

The Suzuki Hotel's branch in Tokyo has always been positioned as an international luxury hotel, boasting luxurious facilities and services.

Therefore, people tend to be more reserved in this environment. Although many people whispered among themselves after seeing Shiraishi, no one dared to approach and disturb them.

In terms of public recognition, Ayako is far less well-known than Shiraishi; apart from the hotel staff, no one recognizes who Ayako is.

Because Ai came along, anyone who didn't know better would really think it was a family of three—since it was a suite, Shiraishi naturally brought Ai along as well, which would also help to lull the murderer into a false sense of security.

After all, no one would have expected that Shiraishi would bring a child along to personally "keep an eye on" them.

Ayako initially opposed this, believing that Ai was still a child and might be in danger, but...

Shiraishi insisted on "training" Ai, after all, this seemingly seven-year-old girl's body housed the soul of a wicked woman from the Black Organization, and Shiraishi didn't believe any murderer could do anything to her.

……

Upon entering, Shiraishi walked straight to the front desk, where Fuji stood with a stiff expression.

Yamagishi, standing nearby, whispered a reminder, his lips barely moving: "Ms. Fuji, try to smile more naturally..."

"Welcome to the Suzuki Hotel. How can I help you?" Fuji managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"Oh, new guest rooms for trial stays... Besides the guest rooms, have you also changed some new staff?" Shiraishi pointed out.

"Excuse me, let me check you in." Yamagishi readily took over the duties of this distinguished guest.

After the simple procedures were completed, Yamagishi had already called over the "bag carrier" standing beside him to help guide Shiraishi.

But before they could even get into the elevator, Shiraishi suddenly heard a familiar voice...

“That’s right, the three of us are checking in… Can we use this raffle ticket?” Xiaolan’s voice came from the direction of the front desk.

Shiraishi turned his head and saw that it was indeed the Mori family of three!
"The Suzuki Hotel even gave out invitation vouchers?" Shiraishi asked with a strange expression.

"Yes, because there are new family suites, they've released invitation vouchers on the market," Yamagishi explained, knowing the situation.

Mori then asked Fuji expectantly, "By the way, does this voucher include the lounge? I heard that the Suzuki Hotel's executive lounge offers complimentary cocktails and snacks..."

"Dad!" Xiaolan called out to Maoli speechlessly.

"Of course that's why we came here, otherwise why would we stay in a hotel in Tokyo!" Mori said matter-of-factly.

“This…” Fuji quickly recalled whether Yamagishi had mentioned “Executive Lounge” to him during the brief training session.

Xiaolan initially thought the receptionist was a bit inexperienced and probably new, so she wasn't in a hurry. But then she suddenly realized that the receptionist looked increasingly familiar...

"Ah! You're not..." Xiaolan's surprise was about to burst out.

Fortunately, just then, Conan used his crotch-covering technique: "Toilet! I need to go to the toilet, Ran-neechan..." to interrupt Ran from saying "Officer Fujii."

"I'm sorry..." Xiaolan said, feeling embarrassed, but then she realized—a perfectly normal police officer had suddenly become a hotel receptionist...

This is definitely a secret search!

Shiraishi turned around at that moment, and Xiaolan immediately saw him and said, "Director Shiraishi, you're here too?"

"Well, I'm also here to try it out. After all, the Suzuki Hotel will be serving some foreign basketball teams later!" Shiraishi's reason was perfectly legitimate and very convincing.

"Chief Shiraishi, I need to use the restroom!" Conan jumped up and patted Shiraishi's knee.

"Conan!" Ran had initially suspected that Conan had deliberately interrupted her, but now it seemed he really just needed to use the restroom.

"Little brother, how about I go with you?" Yamagishi treated him like a real child and of course wouldn't let her distinguished guest disturb the other distinguished guests.

Conan blushed deeply upon hearing this.

He even saw Ai behind Shiraishi looking at him with a "what a spineless guy" gaze—even though he didn't know Ai's true identity yet, it still hurt him deeply.

Conan had initially hoped that Shiraishi could help him out of this predicament, but...

"Ai, could you take Conan to the men's restroom?" Shiraishi asked Ai.

"Huh? Okay." Ai was taken aback for a moment, then gave Conan a look that said, "You're such a little brother."

Conan: ...

"No, no need..." Conan couldn't stand the public humiliation and refused to go to the toilet for the first time in his life.

“That’s right, our room will be booked soon, we can go up then,” Xiaolan said.

Under Conan's resentful gaze, Shiraishi, Ayako, and Ai, led by Yamagishi, entered the elevator. Conan didn't really want Shiraishi to accompany him to the restroom; rather, he noticed that more than one officer from the Beika Police Station was disguised as a staff member, and even the station chief, Shiraishi, had come in person. Therefore, he deduced that there might be a case here and wanted to investigate!
At the same time, Shiraishi couldn't help but sigh inwardly...

This time is really right!
The situation was already dangerous, after all, the murderer had already killed three people, and a fourth one was unlikely to be a joke. But then the Mori family arrived, making the situation even more dangerous.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Shiraishi no longer needed to pretend that he was "just trying out the place" and went straight to Yamagishi and asked, "Are there any special cases among the guests who have booked the hotel recently?"

"Well... nothing special was found," Yamagishi replied after a moment's hesitation.

The hotel has a responsibility to protect the privacy of its guests, but considering Shiraishi's identity, Yamagishi still answered—after all, it was necessary for the case.

"If anything seems amiss, please remember to notify our officers. You can also call me," Shiraishi said, handing her a business card.

Ayako:……

Ai, watching Shiraishi's actions from the side, couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Shiraishi certainly had his reasons for doing so—no matter how much the Suzuki Hotel cooperated, it was impossible for all the employees to know the truth.

To most employees, the hotel was just filled with "newcomers from other hotels who came to learn." Although they wondered why the general manager would agree to such a thing, they didn't treat them like police officers!
after all……

We must consider the possibility that the murderer might be a hotel employee.

There were fewer than ten people in the hotel who knew the truth, and Yamagishi was one of them. Moreover, she was the only front desk supervisor among them who would directly face the guests, making her position extremely important. "Okay..." Yamagishi didn't think much of it, or rather... she was struggling with how much she could compromise on "protecting guest privacy" because of the "police investigation," without paying attention to anything else.

Ding--

Shiraishi was led to the room.

Just as advertised, the room was spacious and fully equipped, with a stunning panoramic view of Tokyo from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Even the furniture, including chairs, included large-sized pieces, which was very thoughtful.

……

On the other hand, the Mori family has also moved in.

Although it's not the most luxurious suite, it's still a family suite—at the price, Kogoro's monthly detective income wouldn't even cover three days of stay.

Of course, Kogoro wasn't particularly interested in the luxurious room; the main reason was that the room came with an open lounge. Otherwise, Kogoro really wouldn't have bothered coming!

"Dad, I just saw not only Inspector Fujii, but also Detective Suzuki. Could something have happened at the hotel?" Xiaolan asked worriedly.

"Maybe... but since Director Shiraishi is here too, it shouldn't be a big problem. We don't need to worry about it," Kogoro said nonchalantly.

However, Conan chimed in, "Uncle, if you can help the Beika Police Department solve the case, Inspector Shiraishi will admire you even more!"

"This..." Kogoro seemed somewhat tempted upon hearing this, and then said, "Alright! Let's go ask them. After all, I've helped the Beika Police Station solve quite a few cases, so Chief Shiraishi should be able to tell me."

As Kogoro spoke, he went out with Ran and Conan.

Just then, a couple from the next room came out, seemingly checking out, and bumped into Conan while dragging their suitcases.

"Watch out, kid!" the man dragging the suitcase said rudely.

"You..." Xiao Lan was about to argue when she saw this, but the other party had already turned and left.

Xiao Lan wasn't one to fight, so she didn't chase after them.

……

Then the impolite couple went to the front desk to check out.

"Hello Mr. Furuhashi, thank you for checking in. We'll process your check-out shortly." Fujiwara said as Shiraishi had predicted.

Although he was very impatient inside, he still maintained a "customer is God" attitude on the surface.

Fujii was supposed to check out normally, but then another male receptionist, Hisagi, took over the man's check-out process.

At the same time, Fuji heard a staff member and said into the walkie-talkie, "Yes... go check the items in the room immediately... um, especially the bathrobes!"

Although Fuji didn't understand the hotel's operations very well, he was very familiar with this scene—it must have been the same guest who had been suspected of "taking" the hotel's bathrobe before.

In general, high-end hotels like these don't make guests wait or check their rooms. However, for guests who are "suspicious," a different matter is naturally handled.

In an effort to stall him, Yamagishi rushed over at this moment—after all, he couldn't upset the guest before confirming that something was missing.

"It's just a small receipt, how much longer are you going to keep going?" Gu Qiao, with his face full of fat, urged impatiently.

"Don't worry, it'll be done soon..." Yamagishi said, glancing at his colleague who was on the phone. After the colleague nodded in response, Yamagishi changed his words and said, "Ah, I'm sorry, Mr. Furuhashi, our sanitation worker said that you may have mistakenly packed something from our hotel. We need you to check it."

Yamagishi sounded troubled.

Even so, Gu Qiao still said impatiently after hearing this, "Huh? What is that?"

“A bathrobe,” Yamagishi replied honestly.

Fuji felt something was off, so he whispered to Kuga, "How much do your bathrobes cost?"

"The order price is around 20,000, and it's even more expensive if you buy it from the official store yourself," Kuga said proudly—he didn't know that Fuji was a police officer, and only thought that he was "someone from another hotel who came to learn."

Upon hearing this, Teng grinned – "Your bathrobes don't look any different from ordinary ones! And this is 20,000 yuan?"

“How could a bathrobe be mistakenly put on?” Furuhashi said matter-of-factly.

"I'm very sorry, please check it yourself." Yamagishi was very service-oriented, still insisting that it was a "misinstallation" and did not mention checking, but just asked the other party to check it themselves.

However, Furuhashi got angry and said, "Hey! What do you mean? Do you think I stole your bathrobes?" He then slammed his hand on the front desk.

The commotion not only attracted the attention of other guests in the lobby, but also...

Several customers, some reading newspapers and others drinking tea, suddenly stood up. Even the bag carriers and elevator operators looked over warily, and some even reached into their pockets. Only when they saw Teng Yanli's stern look did they all stop.

Ancient bridge: ? ? ?
There's something subtly off about the atmosphere...

Something's definitely not right!
Ten people infiltrated as employees, but there were many more posing as customers in the lobby!
After all, theoretically, guests do not need the hotel's permission, and when Zongfang discussed it with General Manager Fujiki, he added quite a few more "guests".

Nobody knew what had happened. Suddenly seeing the commotion at the front desk, and given Furuhashi's menacing appearance, they assumed he was the culprit...

"I had no such intention. I just wanted you to confirm. I'm very sorry to have troubled you!" Yamagishi quickly bowed and said.

Upon hearing this, Gu Qiao immediately gave a strange look, while at the same time he waved to his female companion in the rest area and said, "Give them the suitcases!"

"No, you can confirm it yourself..." Yamagishi didn't want to embarrass the other person at this moment. After all, she wasn't a police officer, but a service worker, and not making the customer feel that something was wrong was her top priority.

However, upon hearing this, her female companion walked over and impatiently slammed her suitcase onto the counter.

Gu Qiao then said with a smug expression, "You want to check it, right?" and started to open his suitcase in front of everyone.

Just then, Teng, who had been silent until now, suddenly came over and stopped the other person from opening the suitcase, saying, "I'm sorry, sir, we made a mistake. We are very sorry for taking up your time."

Upon seeing this, Yamagishi couldn't help but look puzzled—What are you talking about?
However, seeing Teng wink at him, he didn't say anything.

On the contrary, the ancient bridge, which had been so aggressive just moments before, was momentarily stunned, seemingly not expecting this situation at all, and its arrogance vanished instantly...

(End of this chapter)