Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 350, Section 344: Ireland's Luck Stolen
“Miss Mori, you should know that a person’s fingerprints are the most authentic ‘identity card’.”

Human DNA may change, but fingerprints remain largely unchanged unless deliberately erased or destroyed.

Lin Longma spoke eloquently to Mao Lilan, and to be fair, this could be considered a unique form of professional matching.

"If your classmate wants to verify that the person is her childhood friend, then try your best to find his fingerprints from when he was a child."

Then we need to find a way to get his current fingerprints; a professional organization can make an accurate comparison.

Ran Mouri was a little troubled by the idea of ​​a "professional organization." The most professional place she knew that could do fingerprint comparison was the Metropolitan Police Department.

But she couldn't possibly take Conan's and Shinichi Kudo's fingerprints to the police for comparison.

"Don't worry about that. If your classmate needs it, I can help them contact a professional organization."

Not only are the staff highly professional, but the level of confidentiality is also top-notch.

Lin Longma pointed a finger at this point, with an expression that said, "I have an idea: This organization has cooperated with my company quite a bit, so there's no need to worry about the fees."

Both Ryoma Lin and Ran Mouri deliberately ignored one thing: collecting fingerprints from more than ten years ago is no easy task.

Because no one can guarantee that if someone left fingerprints in a certain place a decade or more ago, those fingerprints will still be there intact.

This would be incredibly difficult for others, but for Ran Mouri, it's nothing.

Putting everything else aside, there are tons of Shinichi Kudo's fingerprints in the Kudo residence. Just go anywhere in Shinichi Kudo's room and you'll find his fingerprints everywhere.

Needless to say, Conan is another story.

Since he lives in Ran Mouri's house, getting his fingerprints would be incredibly easy.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Uncle Lin!" Ran Mouri bowed deeply to Ryoma Lin. "I'll deliver the items to you as soon as possible, along with the testing fees."

"Don't worry about the fees. Our company has a partnership with that organization, and payments are settled quarterly."

It's just comparing a few fingerprints; it won't take long or cost much.

Lin Longma wasn't exaggerating; Yixinhui really does have collaborations with such organizations.

Lin Longma considered this point when he first established Yixin Society: whether to rely on the organization's resources to allow Yixin Society to grow freely, or to follow all the proper channels.

He chose the latter.

Choosing the former would have led to a much faster development for the Yixin Society than it is now.

The price is whether or not one will remain "independent" as they are now.

With his channels and resources all reliant on the organization, what qualifications does Lin Longma have to challenge it?
Once the channels and resources are cut off, won't Yixinhui eventually have to bow its head, admit its mistakes, and behave itself?
This is something Lin Longma absolutely cannot accept.

His original intention in founding the Yixin Society was to provide a safe haven for members like himself who were caught in difficult circumstances. If this safe haven can't even provide the most basic shelter from the storm, what's the point of its establishment?
Of course, Lin Longma didn't intend to waste the organization's resources.

In life and in work, you have to do both things well, and both aspects have to be strong.

When Yixinhui handles tasks assigned by the organization, it will definitely utilize the organization's resources.

If fingerprint comparison is needed, just hand it over to the Logistics and Intelligence Support Department or the logistics personnel and let them do the comparison.

However, if it's some business unrelated to the organization, or if it's just routine intelligence gathering work.

So they would spend money to hire professional institutions or scholars for help, and over the years, their relationships would gradually develop. The help Lin Longma provided to Ran Mouri was this kind of assistance; otherwise, he would have taken both Shinichi Kudo's and Conan's fingerprints to the organization for comparison.
If people found out who owned this fingerprint, wouldn't that cause an uproar?
Two days later, or more precisely, the third day after Ryoma Hayashi and Ran Mouri parted ways at the coffee shop.

Ran Mouri arrived at Ryoma Hayashi's office by appointment with "something".

"Please sit down, Miss Mori. These two items are the samples, right?" Ryoma Lin took the "samples" from Ran Mori's hands.

Ran Mouri's "carelessness" is evident from the packaging of the samples. Both samples were packed in transparent plastic bags: a literary magazine and a transparent water glass.

This literary magazine perfectly reflects Ran Mouri's dedication. Logically speaking, the Kudo residence should be overflowing with all sorts of mystery books.

Moreover, that's also Shinichi Kudo's interest.

However, given Shinichi Kudo's identity as a high school detective, Ran Mouri was afraid that bringing over mystery-related books would expose Conan.

Therefore, a literary magazine unrelated to mystery would be just right.

This magazine can appear anywhere, whether it's elementary school students, middle school students, high school students, or even adults.

And that glass was the kind you could buy at any store on the street; it had no distinctive features.

In short, judging from Ran Mouri's cautious attitude, Ryoma Hayashi felt that she must have realized something.

This is not surprising, after all, the Kudo couple had reported their son to the police not long ago.

In certain circles, the disappearance of novelist Yusaku Kudo's only son has also caused quite a stir.

Ran Mouri was paying attention to this matter, so she was naturally aware of it.

Most importantly, Conan was living at the Kudo family's house at the time. Living with his parents, how could Conan possibly hide his identity?
Ran Mouri doesn't think Conan can keep it a secret, and he probably never even intended to.

Since Yusaku and Yukiko Kudo knew that Conan was their child, yet still chose to report him missing, Shinichi Kudo must have had a compelling reason to disappear.

What kind of dangerous situation would make parents choose to let their only child "disappear"?

Ran Mouri wanted to know and verify Conan's true identity, but she also didn't want to expose him.

Ran Mouri's cautious approach is to choose items that will not lead to contact with Shinichi Kudo.

"If the fingerprints extracted above are fine, the results should be available in about three days."

How about I let you know when the time comes?

Lin Longma showed no intention of opening the plastic bag; he simply picked it up and placed it on his desk.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Uncle Lin," Ran Mouri said again.

Meanwhile, Ireland, an organization cadre on the other side of the ocean, suddenly felt something leaving him.

A strange sense of emptiness washed over Ireland.

He quickly shook off that feeling and looked towards the island nation—finally, the boss had agreed to let him return.

He must get to the bottom of Pisco's death!

(End of this chapter)