Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 416 An Investigation That Was Made Unnecessarily

"Today is another peaceful day in Beika Town, but a child lost her drawing, and we're going to return it to her... Do you know this child, Kanda Hinata?" Amagi asked the three members of the Detective Boys.

"You mean Kanda-kun? Of course I know." The three little ones really did know.

Hinata Kanda, like the Detective Boys, is also a first-year student in Class B at Teitan Elementary School.

Narcissistic and Amagi were both excited upon hearing this—it seemed they could find it easily!

"Do you know where Kanda-kun lives?" Amagi continued to ask.

"I don't know, we haven't been to her house..." Mitsuhiko said regretfully—firstly, it was regrettable that we couldn't help more, and secondly, it was also regrettable that we only went to return lost items and nothing else happened.

However, Narcissistic and Amagi were not disappointed—since they already knew who it was, asking at the school would be the same thing.

“By the way, I remember her house is in 9-chome,” Ayumi said, providing a vague clue.

"Ninth Street? Looks like we should just go check it out." Narcissistic said at this moment.

I've been working at the Beika Police Station for over half a year now and I know the layout of Beika Town very well—the 9th Street is full of wealthy people, and there are basically no densely populated residential areas or apartments. For example, the Yamashiro family lives in the 9th Street next to the Beika Forest.

Although manors like the Yamashiro family's in the city are rare, large mansions are everywhere. If you go to the gate and look at the signs, you can usually find the Kanda family's mansion.

"Thank you for your cooperation, little detectives." Tian Shu seemed to know how to coax children.

Afterwards, Narcissistic and Amagi headed to 9-chome and, as expected, quickly found the Kanda family home...

Not only does the house look like a "luxury mansion," far superior to ordinary detached houses, but the yard is also very large.

At this moment, you can also see a little girl playing by herself in the yard.

Tian Shu stepped forward and rang the doorbell. The little girl heard the sound and came over, asking through the iron gate, "Uncle, who are you looking for?"

Just then, a woman dressed as a housewife came out somewhat nervously, her face also full of wariness, and said, "Who are you two...?"

"Oh, we are officers from the Mihana Police Station." The narcissist flashed his police badge upon seeing this.

Hearing that they were police officers, Mrs. Kanda relaxed a little, but not completely: "Excuse me... what brings you here, detective?"

"Well, we found something very important, so we brought it back specifically." Tian Shu's eyes flickered slightly, and then he took out the painting.

"Ah! This is a birthday present for Mom... That's wonderful." Hinata happily accepted it.

Mrs. Kanda then said gratefully, "It's really too kind of you two to trouble yourselves with such a small matter!"

"It's nothing... Hinata drew very well, she captured her mother's characteristics!" Amagi encouraged Hinata.

"But it's a bit strange, this painting was found in a long-abandoned factory. Why would it be in a place like that?" the narcissist asked directly.

"This... perhaps it was taken in with something, or someone brought it in?" Mrs. Kanda said evasively.

wrong!

There were no signs of homeless people or other unauthorized individuals entering the scene.

Neither Narcissistic nor Amagi actively refuted Mrs. Kanda at this point...

Amagi countered, "May I ask Mrs. Kanda's birthday?"

"Eh? This... it's the 13th of this month." Mrs. Kanda was taken aback when she heard this, but she still told her.

“It’s all in the past… Kohinata, when did you draw this? How did you lose it?” Amagi asked Kohinata again.

"I drew it at Beika Park after my dance class this morning, and I accidentally lost it on my way home," Hinata answered fluently.

"I see... Sorry to bother you." Amagi nodded to the Kanda mother and daughter.

The two then left the Kanda family's front door, but...

"That Mrs. Kanda must know the police system very well; she could tell at a glance that we are detectives," the narcissist said calmly.

“That’s right, and they must be hiding something… The shopping mall on the flyer opened last Tuesday, the 11th, and started advertising on Monday, April 10th. Mrs. Kanda’s birthday is on Thursday, the 13th. In any case, there is no weekend in between, so how could there be ‘morning dance class’?” Amagi continued.

"In other words... well, there's not much to say, since it's not really a case." The narcissist first analyzed seriously, but then switched to a nonchalant tone.

The narcissistic assessment is actually reasonable; it's strange that someone would get "entangled" in such a matter!
“It’s not really a case yet, but… I still feel like something’s off. Let’s go to Beika Park again!” Amagi said.

Although he didn't ask what Tian Shu was going to do, the narcissist seemed to have already guessed, and shrugged and said, "Hopefully the little detectives haven't gone home yet."

Fortunately, the three little ones were just about to leave the park when they were spotted by Narcissistic and Tian Shu.

"Narcissistic Brother, Sky Tree Brother, is there anything else you need our help with?" The three little ones also seemed very excited.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to ask... has Kanda-kun taken any leave recently?" Amagi asked.

"Taking leave? That's right, Kanda-kun did take several days off last week because of a cold, and it seems he only came for a day or two..." Genta recalled.

"Yes, he should only be able to come to school on Mondays and Tuesdays," Mitsuhiko confirmed.

"There haven't been any classes since Wednesday, and it's been like this week..." Amagi and Narcissistic exchanged a glance.

"Is Kanda-san in some kind of trouble? We can..."

Just as Mitsuhiko was about to volunteer, Narcissistic quickly said, "Of course not! But you guys should also be careful of the flu!"

"Huh? Is that so?" The three little ones were a bit skeptical, but of course, Narcissistic and Amagi wouldn't tell them anything more.

Just then, a short-haired woman wearing glasses walked over quickly and warily, asking, "Kojima-san, Tsuburaya-san, Yoshida-san... why aren't you home yet, it's so late?"

It's no wonder she was wary. After all, in her mind, it was like three first-grade students in her class being talked to by two "suspicious adults."

One looks greasy, the other is dark-skinned...

“Ms. Kobayashi, we… are cooperating with the police. Don’t let their appearance fool you, these two older brothers are actually detectives from the Beika Police Station!” Mitsuhiko said immediately.

Although Kobayashi was quite upset by Conan's disappearance during the explosion at the school gate last time, overall, Kobayashi Sumiko, who just transferred to the school this year, is a strict teacher.

The three children didn't understand that Xiaolin was actually "scolding" them because she was worried about their safety. They thought she was really angry that they had been playing outside until sunset.

“‘Don’t look at it like this’ is unnecessary!” Narcissistic said, flashing his police badge. Narcissistic and Amagi could see that flashing the badge at this moment made Ms. Kobayashi relax.

"Ah... I'm sorry," Kobayashi said apologetically.

"By the way, Ms. Kobayashi, did Kanda Hinata from your class ask for leave last week? Did you visit him then?" Amagi seized the opportunity to ask.

"Huh? Well... I did go to deliver the homework after get off work for those three days." Xiaolin was taken aback when she heard this—after all, it was indeed strange that a police officer would care about this.

"Have you seen Kanda-kun?" Amagi pressed further.

"No, all three times I happened to be on break with Kanda, so I only saw Kanda's father... But maybe it's because I'm too strict, so the students don't really want to see me?" Kobayashi muttered to himself.

"Not at all, you must be a good teacher," Tian Shu complimented—after all, Xiao Lin had just thought he and the narcissist were bad people, but they still came over on their own initiative.

"By the way, what does Kanda's father do for a living?" the narcissist asked at this point.

Generally, one wouldn't answer a question about revealing privacy so easily, but since the other party was a detective, Kobayashi relied on his memory and said, "I remember it was the company president... his name was Kanda... Kanda Foreign Trade, right? What happened?"

"No, it's just out of curiosity, you don't need to worry," Tian Shu quickly said.

"Then I won't bother you any longer." Upon hearing this, Xiaolin didn't ask any further questions, but simply watched the three little ones obediently go home.

……

"I still feel like something's off... Senior Narcissist, I'm on vacation tomorrow. Let me take this rare day off from working overtime and investigate this matter." Amagi asked Narcissist for permission.

"What kind of vacation is this... Fine, I'll go with you. I also go to the pub when I'm on vacation," the narcissist chimed in.

……

The next day, Monday morning, April 24th.

On vacation, Narcissistic and Amaki, with great initiative, went directly to "Kanda Foreign Trade Company" to visit the president.

While waiting, the two learned from the president's secretary that this was a foreign trade company specializing in South American countries. It was said that before the president turned thirty, he was a backpacker traveling all over the world. Later, because he was familiar with South America and received an investment, he opened this company.

Soon, President Kanda Shino personally received them, but after hearing the purpose of their visit...

"You found my daughter's drawing in an abandoned factory? So what?" Kanda looked at them with an expression that said, "Are you guys crazy?"

"Furthermore, as far as we know, when Kohinata took leave last week... no, the week before last, you were at home taking care of her, right? You actually put aside such a busy job..." the narcissist said, feigning emotion.

"So what? Of course I care about my daughter!" Kanda said irritably.

Before the two could ask anything else, Kanda spoke up: "Alright, being questioned by the detectives about something like this all of a sudden is honestly a bit unpleasant... Can we leave this topic here?"

As Kanda spoke, he crossed his arms over his chest, clearly adopting a defensive posture.

and……

Frankly, since Kanda wasn't cooperating, they really had no right to ask any further questions, so they had no choice but to leave.

Just half an hour after the two left Kanda Foreign Trade Company, Shiraishi received a call from Odagiri in the director's office...

"Minister, it's been a long time since I've greeted you..."

"We have no superior-subordinate relationship; address me by my rank!"

Judging from the tone of the other party's voice, Shiraishi already knew that one of his subordinates must have caused trouble.

"Minister Odagiri, is there anything I can do for you?" Shiraishi changed his address, but not completely.

"No need for service, just let us know that you can get some rest. The director and I will be very grateful!" Odagiri brought up Director Hakuba as well.

Bai Shi was also puzzled at this point. Although it was common for his subordinates to offend people, but...

The criminal investigation department didn't report anything today. What major case happened in Beika Town?

Can you offend people even without a case?
"Thank you for your concern, Minister. I'm working harder for the safety of the people of Dongdu..." Shiraishi pretended to be clueless for a moment.

Odagiri laughed in exasperation upon hearing this: "Heh, since the Beika Police Department is working so hard, why not stop sending your detectives to investigate 'ordinary citizens' for no reason?"

“Ordinary people? You mean…” Shiraishi really didn’t know what Minister Odagiri was talking about, but he could tell from the way he used the word “ordinary people” that he was not ordinary at all.

Sensing Shiraishi's genuine doubt, Odagiri then reminded him, "Those two from your department and headquarters are being a bit too overactive."

"You mean... cough, Detective Kogure and Detective Amagi?" Shiraishi guessed that he meant the two of them. Although Shima used to be in the General Headquarters, his direct dispatcher was the Driving Test Center. And if we're talking about "those two", only the duo of Narcissistic and Amagi fit the bill.

At the same time, Odagiri only made this "reminder" and never specified which "ordinary people" he was referring to.

"So mysterious..." Shiraishi muttered to himself, puzzled, after hanging up the phone.

Immediately, Shiraishi dialed the internal phone number of the Criminal Investigation Department.

"Section Chief Munakata, what are Detective Kogure and Detective Amagi investigating lately...? What? No cases...? Then they're...on leave today? Okay...I understand." Shiraishi's expression was also strange after confirming.

Although Shiraishi remembered the work schedules of every department and every person in the entire agency, but...

Criminal investigators don't always get to take their holidays!

Therefore, at first Shiraishi thought that the two of them were working overtime as usual, but when he asked, it turned out that they were actually on vacation.

"I really need a rest..." Shiraishi was speechless—he had no cases on hand and was on vacation, yet he still managed to get Chief Odagiri to call him? You two are really not to be underestimated!

……

Half an hour later, Narcissism and Amagi, whose vacation was officially over, were already standing in front of Shiraishi's desk.

"Chief, is there anything I can do for you?" the narcissist asked awkwardly.

They had actually guessed that it was probably because of the complaint against the Kanda family, but...

I didn't expect it to be so fast!
"No need for service. We'd be grateful if you could get some rest!" Shiraishi said irritably.

"Well... we're only doing this extra work for the safety of the people of Dongdu."

(End of this chapter)