Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

The Hagiwara family's predicament weighed heavily on everyone's hearts, making the originally relaxed atmosphere exceptionally somber.

Furuya Rei and Matsuda Jinpei, two kids who are usually never still and always bickering, had no interest in playing around at this moment and followed behind the adults with their heads down.

Matsuda Jotaro glanced at the two listless children, then at Hayashi Hideichi, who looked grave, and sighed softly, thinking that perhaps buying something would ease the tension a little.

After withdrawing the money, he had planned to go to a nearby department store to buy some daily necessities and snacks that the children like. Now, he took this opportunity to divert everyone's attention.

"Lin-san, Zero, Jinpei, the department store is just ahead. Let's go inside, buy some things, and then go home," Matsuda Jotaro suggested.

Lin Xiu nodded, understanding Matsuda Jotaro's intention. He said gently to the two kids, "Let's go, let's go take a look. What snacks do you want? I'll buy them for you."

Although Furuya Rei and Matsuda Jinpei still weren't very interested, they obediently nodded and whispered, "Okay."

The group walked towards the department store, and soon a three-story department store came into view.

This shopping mall is quite well-known in Kanagawa, with a good flow of customers on weekdays, especially on weekends when it is bustling with people.

But today, when they approached, they were surprised to find that the mall's doors were tightly closed, and the windows on each floor were either covered with blinds or thick curtains, completely obscuring what was inside.

A crowd of passersby had gathered at the entrance, all craning their necks to peer curiously into the mall, whispering and discussing amongst themselves.

This unusual scene made everyone uneasy.

Matsuda Jotaro stopped in his tracks, a look of confusion on his face: "Strange, why is the mall closed in broad daylight?"

As he spoke, he quickly walked to the edge of the crowd and asked a passerby who was looking around.

"Sir, excuse me, what's going on with this shopping mall? Why did it suddenly close down?"

Upon hearing this, the passerby turned around, his face also full of confusion.

"I don't know. I just got here. I heard from other people that the mall was open just over ten minutes ago, and there were still quite a few customers and staff inside."

"I don't know what happened, but they suddenly closed the front door and even drew the curtains on the windows, making it all very mysterious."

"Could it be that something in the mall needs repair?"

Another middle-aged woman standing nearby chimed in, "I've encountered this situation before. When the elevator in the mall breaks down or there's a problem with the electrical circuit, they'll temporarily close for maintenance. It should be fine after a while, let's wait and see."

Passersby chimed in, some saying it might be a fire drill, others saying it might be a temporary inventory check for the shopping mall.

Matsuda Jotaro also felt that the middle-aged woman's words made sense, and turned to Hayashi Hideichi to ask for his opinion.
"Mr. Lin, how about we wait a bit? Maybe the mall will open in a few minutes."

But as soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that Lin Xiuyi wasn't looking at him. Instead, she was frowning and staring intently at the third floor of the mall, as if she were observing something, her expression extremely serious.

"Lin-san?" Matsuda Jotaro called out again.

"The mall's sudden closure is probably not as simple as maintenance or inventory," Lin Xiuyi replied gravely. "It's most likely a robbery." "What?"

Matsuda Jotaro was stunned for a moment, and the smile on his face vanished instantly. "Robbery? Lin-san, are you kidding me? This is broad daylight, and this mall is right in the city center with so many people around. How could someone dare to rob someone so openly?"

Not only Matsuda Jotaro, but also Furuya Rei and Matsuda Jinpei next to him looked up, their faces full of surprise.

Although the two kids were young, they knew that robbery was a very dangerous thing.

"I'm not joking."

Lin Xiuyi shook her head and pointed towards the third floor of the mall.
"Look at that window in the corner on the third floor. Look closely, isn't there a light shining from there?"

Matsuda Jotaro quickly looked in the direction Hayashi Hideichi pointed.

The windows on the third floor were all covered with thick, dark curtains, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

He squinted, trying to focus on the window in the corner. After looking for a while, he vaguely noticed that a faint light seemed to be flickering through the gap in the curtain. It was so faint that it was almost imperceptible unless you looked closely.

"It seems... there really is light flashing?" Matsuda Jotaro said uncertainly.

“That must be the light from someone’s flashlight,” Lin Xiuyi explained with certainty. “The rhythm of the light is three short, three long, three short. This is an internationally recognized distress signal. People only send out this signal when they are in danger and in urgent need of rescue.”

"Based on the mall suddenly closing its doors and drawing the curtains, along with this distress signal, it can be basically confirmed that a robbery is taking place inside the mall, and the people inside are likely being held hostage by the robbers."

Listening to Hayashi Hideichi's analysis, Matsuda Jotaro finally realized the seriousness of the matter and no longer doubted Hayashi Hideichi's judgment.
"Mr. Lin, I'll go call the police right now!"

With that, Matsuda Jotaro turned to look for a phone booth.

But as soon as he took a step, he saw Lin Xiuyi suddenly turn around and walk towards the side of the mall.

"Lin-san, where...where are you going?" Matsuda Jotaro quickly called out to him, his face full of worry. "It's too dangerous inside, you can't go in! Wait for the police to arrive!"

Lin Xiuyi stopped and looked back at him.
"It will take some time for the police to arrive, I'll go in and check the situation first."

“I just observed that there was a window on the second floor that wasn’t closed properly, leaving a crack. I climbed in to find out how many robbers there were and where they were, so I could provide clues for the police who arrived later.”

"No, Lin-san, it's too dangerous!" Matsuda Jotaro shouted anxiously. "There are robbers inside, and they might even be armed. What if something happens to you if you go in alone?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the two little devils beside him shouted in unison, "We want to go too!"

Matsuda Jinpei clenched his small fists and said with a determined look in his eyes, "I'll go in with Brother Shuichi. I know boxing, so I can be of help!"

Rei Furuya nodded and said earnestly, "I'm going too. I've memorized all the Sanda techniques my master taught me, I'm sure I can handle the robbers!"

Lin Xiu looked down at the two kids, a mixture of helplessness and amusement on his face... (End of Chapter)