Conan: Start from Lucky Three

Chapter 64 My Father, the Director

In the piano room, Tachibana Shizuka's insight was always on. In this state, Tachibana Shizuka's observation ability was greatly improved, including but not limited to vision, touch, smell, hearing, and taste.

As expected, Tachibana Shizuka heard footsteps approaching from a distance. The footsteps were very frequent and belonged to one person.

Panic? Nervous? It should be a feeling of urgency.

"Someone is coming, let's go out." Tachibana Shizuka patted Hattori Heiji who was squatting on the ground and searching the piano thoroughly, then pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window leading to the beach and walked out.

Outside the piano room is a beach. Perhaps because not many people come here, the environment of this beach looks very good.

Xiaolan, Sonoko, and Toyama Kazuha have been playing on the beach for a while, and it can be seen that they are happy from the bottom of their hearts.

This is Tachibana Shizuka's suggestion.

The thing in the piano's secret compartment that made Hattori Heiji furious was "anesthetic". The appearance of this thing meant that the complexity and danger of the incident had increased significantly.

Because of the poor signal on the island, Tachibana Shizuka was unable to call the police immediately, but if they left in such a hurry they were afraid that their flaws would be discovered.

Fortunately, Tachibana Shizuka found a floor-to-ceiling window in the piano room that led to the beach.

Since leaving in a hurry is not an option, it is better to try a different way of dealing with the situation.

Tachibana Shizuka asked the three girls to go to the beach and leave some traces of their play. As for Hattori Heiji, he stayed in the piano room because he wanted to investigate the piano carefully.

Tachibana Shizuka was accompanying him, and his ability to see things clearly allowed him to detect signs of someone approaching earlier than anyone else.

Hearing what Tachibana Shizuka said, Hattori Heiji stood up without saying a word, and followed Tachibana Shizuka to the shade of the trees at the edge of the beach, looking at the three girls who were playing in the water and sand.

"How was the inspection?"

"I've carefully examined that secret compartment. It doesn't look like it was created recently. It's probably been there for quite some time.

I guess this thing was originally intended for Keiji Aso."

"Yes, I think so. This means that there has been a criminal gang on Moon Shadow Island for twelve years, and this gang is still operating today.

If nothing goes wrong, we will be able to meet one of the criminal gangs soon. Don't say anything, just follow my instructions."

"Okay, then it's up to you."

"Pay attention to your expression, someone is coming."

As soon as Tachibana Shizuka finished speaking, the piano room door was violently pushed open. The wooden door slammed against the wall with a loud noise, and Tachibana Shizuka frowned and looked behind him.

"What are you doing?" Tachibana Seiji shouted at Hirata Kazuaki who came hurriedly. This retort even stunned Hirata Kazuaki.

"I'm the village chief's secretary. Who are you and why are you here?" Hirata Kazuaki subconsciously used a tone of serving the village chief and asked Tachibana Shizuka in a "soft" voice.

"The village chief's secretary? I thought you were the secretary of the mayor of Osaka." Tachibana Shizuka's domineering look is very similar to the stereotype of bureaucrats' children in literary works.

It's not that Tachibana Shizuka can't pull off a higher-level performance; it's simply that this Moon Shadow Island village chief's secretary is a wild boar who can't stomach finer things. Even if you play the introverted son of a bureaucrat, he'll think you're weak and vulnerable.

Tachibana Shizuka's arrogance reminded Hirata Kazuaki of the village chief's daughter, who had bossed him around at Kuroiwa's house, and he felt a slight sense of apprehension. The three girls playing on the beach spotted Hirata Kazuaki standing in the piano room and, shoes in hand, walked towards the shade where Tachibana Shizuka was standing.

Hirata and Akira hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help but ask Tachibana Shizuka, "Um, who are the ones I haven't asked yet?"

"Ask for advice? Are you qualified to ask me for advice?" Tachibana Seiji didn't even look at Hirata and Akira, but just asked softly whether Xiaolan and the others were having fun.

After secretly giving a wink to Xiaolan and Sonoko, Xiaolan and Sonoko, who had been a team for a while, had already formed the most basic tacit understanding with Tachibana Shizuka.

So Xiaolan ran to Tachibana Shizuka, with a slightly blushing face, she took Tachibana Shizuka's arm and persuaded him to calm down.

Sonoko laughed heartily and said to Hirata Kazuaki, "There's nothing to ask, we are just tourists on this island.

I know what you want to ask. Look, this guy with an unusual skin color is the son of the Chief of the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters. His surname is Hattori.

This is the daughter of the Chief of Criminal Investigation of the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, her surname is Toyama."

Sonoko only introduced Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha, but this nonchalant attitude made Hirata Kazuaki even more wary.

On the other side, Tachibana Shizuka seemed to be comforted by Xiaolan, and then he looked at Hirata Kazuaki again:

"Secretary Hirata, is this beach developed by your family? If so, I'll give you the entrance fee.

But even if you want money, wasn't it a bit rude of you to come in just now?"

Hirata and Ming never expected that the word "disrespectful" would come out of Tachibana Shizuka's mouth.

From the moment they met until now, he hadn't seen any sign of courtesy from Tachibana Shizuka. Of course, Hirata Kazuaki knew that for this bureaucratic son, they all had double standards when it came to etiquette.

Fortunately, Hirata Kazuaki is a flexible person. He has been serving the family of the Kuroiwa village chief for many years and he doesn't mind being a little servile.

This is especially true when facing big shots.

"I'm really sorry for my disrespectful behavior just now!" Hirata Kazuaki began to apologize tactfully and explained his previous behavior:

"The village office's piano room isn't open to the public on weekdays, so this misunderstanding has occurred. I'm truly sorry!"

"The piano room isn't open to the public? Why don't you lock the door?" Tachibana Shizuka rebuked Hirata Kazuaki in dissatisfaction.
"Either lock the door or set up a cordon. The piano room door is wide open. Who knows if you're not allowed in?"

Tachibana Shizuka's repeated scolding made Hirata and Akira bow their heads repeatedly, and they kept apologizing.

"Alright, alright, you're so timid." Tachibana Shizuka waved his hand impatiently, "We won't make things difficult for you. Since no one is allowed in here, let's just leave now.

I wonder what you value so much in this broken piano?"

Tachibana Shizuka snorted lightly and pulled Xiaolan towards the piano room. Behind him, Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha didn't even look at Hirata Kazuaki and followed Tachibana Shizuka.

As for Sonoko, who was at the end, she patted Hirata and Akira's shoulders sympathetically, then followed the team out of the piano room.

After everyone had left, Hirata and Akira hurried to the piano, opened the secret compartment and made sure that the "anesthetic" inside had not been touched, and only then did they finally feel relieved.

(End of this chapter)