Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 327, Section 321: A Master Shooter in the Right Eye

"What's wrong, Ryoma-kun? Is there some emergency?" Suzuki Shiro asked with concern when he saw Ryoma return to his seat after a long while.

"Something unexpected happened. Inspector Nakamori's Egg of Memories was stolen by Phantom Thief Kid."

It can be said that the theft of the Egg of Memories was not at all unexpected by Ryoma Hayashi and Shiro Suzuki. Kogoro Mouri glanced at the wooden box not far away and realized that the Phantom Thief Kid had probably stolen a replica.

"So what if the fake was stolen? That Nakamori guy is really something, he hasn't improved at all after all this time?"

Kogoro Mouri pursed his lips. How could there be such a person in this world who gets stronger after every setback?
"Inspector Nakamori getting the short end of the stick is not the problem. The problem is that Phantom Thief Kid was attacked just now."

Someone ambushed him on his likely return route and shot him in the back.

"What about the Egg of Memories?" Suzuki Shiro asked.

The genuine Egg of Memory was right beside them; it was clear that Suzuki Shiro wasn't concerned with the egg in the actual sense.

He asked this to find out whether the thief was after Kaito Kid or their family's Memory Egg.

"There were police officers around when the shooting happened, so the perpetrators didn't have time to check where Kidd fell before they hurriedly left the scene."

The Memory Egg that Kid got from Inspector Nakamori was returned to the art museum by Conan, who arrived later.

"Conan? How come Conan is involved here?" Kogoro Mouri looked puzzled.

He came to Osaka because of Sonoko Suzuki's invitation. The second young lady noticed that Ran Mouri hadn't been in a good mood lately, so she took this opportunity to bring Ran here to cheer her up.

She also gave Kogoro Mouri a new job: to protect her "children's toys" with Ryoma Hayashi.

When Sonoko Suzuki was a child, she really did play with the Egg of Memories as her own toy.

That's how the Mori father and daughter came to be, but Kogoro Mori doesn't know why Conan is also in Osaka.

"I know that. Conan was invited to Osaka by Hattori-san. They are quite a few years apart in age, but they get along surprisingly well."

Heiji Hattori clearly also wanted to capture Kaito Kid, or rather, all detectives hoped to use Kaito Kid as a stepping stone for their advancement.

Such a formidable thief—if he were to be caught by any detective, that detective would instantly become a famous detective, a rising star with immense popularity.

Heiji Hattori doesn't need this fame, but his competitive spirit is no less than that of any detective.

"Let's leave the matter of Hattori and Conan aside for now." Lin Longma naturally received an invitation from the Hattori family during his trip to Osaka.

However, due to the tight schedule, he declined Hattori Heizo's invitation.

It hadn't been long since Ryoma Hayashi's last visit to Osaka. Hattori Heizo was busy enough with work, and Ryoma Hayashi didn't want to bother him too often.

"President Suzuki, I'm afraid I must take my leave now. I can't rest easy until I've thoroughly investigated this situation."

"That's only right, then I'll leave everything to you, Ryoma-kun!" Suzuki Shiro stood up to see him off.

As an "expert" specially hired to protect the Egg of Memories, Lin Longma naturally had to determine who the perpetrator was after such a sudden shooting incident.

Suzuki Shiro, having left for business, would neither try to persuade Hayashi Ryoma to stay.

"Oh, right, and this too." Suzuki Shiro picked up the wooden box containing the Egg of Memories and handed it to Hayashi Ryoma:
"Although it's still uncertain whether the thugs were after it, I feel more at ease having Ryoma-kun keep it safe."

Lin Longma took the Egg of Memories and nodded: "Don't worry, President Suzuki, I will take good care of this Egg of Memories."
-
After leaving the restaurant, Ryoma Hayashi didn't head to the art museum or the hospital. Instead, he immediately asked Shiraishi to drive him to Shiratori's villa in Osaka. A car was already parked in the courtyard; it was Shiratori's vehicle, who had shared his idea and rushed back to the villa as soon as possible.

In the living room of the villa, Ryoma Lin saw Shiratori applying medicine to Kaito Kuroba.

Lin Longma walked over quickly and carefully examined Kuroba Kaito. Fortunately, he didn't have any serious injuries.

It was just a minor sprain and abrasion.

Relieved, Ryoma asked Kaito Kuroba, "What happened? Who attacked you?"

Kaito Kuroba's expression wasn't very pleasant at the moment. He was flying peacefully in the sky all night. He only needed to circle around a few times to complete tonight's mission and return to the villa.

Who knew that they would be shot in the back as soon as they flew over the dock area.

If he hadn't remained vigilant during his retreat, and if the gunman who ambushed him hadn't been using only a pistol...

He might become the second Phantom Thief Kid tonight.

After hearing Kaito Kuroba's description, Ryoma Hayashi and Shiratori both frowned. Unlike usual murder cases, this attack on Kid seemed completely out of the blue.

These kinds of unsolved cases are the hardest to investigate—they don't even have a suspect right now.

It's not that there aren't any; Snake could be considered one. But that old guy is hiding too well; he's impossible to find.

"I don't quite understand why the gunman didn't use a more professional sniper rifle if he wanted to ambush Kuroba."
What's wrong with shooting at a target in the sky with a pistol?

Instead of using better weapons, they chose to shoot at distant targets with a pistol. What's the difference between that and deliberately trying to endure hardship?
"Not only that, I remember now!" Kaito Kuroba suddenly tapped his palm.

"I remember seeing a moving red dot on my body when that guy was aiming at me!"
The gunman's gun was already pointed at me, but it seemed he was deliberately trying to shoot me in the right eye.

If the gunman hadn't deliberately shot at his right eye, giving Kaito Kuroba time to react, he probably would have been hit by the bullet long ago.

They would rather sacrifice shooting time to shoot Kaito Kuroba in the right eye. This is at least a distinctive characteristic.

"A gunman who specifically targets the right eye? I understand. I'll have someone investigate now."

Lin Longma edited an email and sent it to the base, asking them to check if there were any gunmen who liked this kind of habit.

The primary targets of the investigation are well-known assassins, mercenaries, or treasure hunters.

Being able to shoot a moving target in mid-air with a pistol and accurately hit its right eye is something most people can't do.

Coupled with his brazen act of firing a gun in a busy downtown area, this gunman was clearly not a respectable person.

The right thing to do is to investigate in the underworld.

Because of the organization's unique niche, investigating information about this underground world is not particularly difficult.

Even some well-known figures in the underworld have relevant intelligence within the organization.

This is routine intelligence gathering and filling – who knows, it might come in handy sometime?

(End of this chapter)