Conan: Start from Lucky Three

Chapter 90 This Secretary is a Master at Playing Dumb

"Wow, you're right, President Takei is quite talented, as he can build his own house like a bathhouse."

Tachibana Shizuka stood at the door of President Takei's house, looked up at the Takei residence, and gave sincere praise.

In Northeast China, or in Shenyang, if you find a building with a gorgeous appearance but unknown purpose, there is no need to ask, it is most likely a bath center.

The gorgeous appearance of the Takei residence also made Tachibana Seiji feel like taking a bath as soon as he got home.

Sonoko scratched her head and didn't understand what Tachibana Shizuka said in Chinese, but she knew it didn't matter. Tachibana Shizuka was just saying something they couldn't understand.

Sonoko went up and knocked on the door, and it was the housekeeper of the Takei family who opened the door for her.

"Is Miss Hanai back?" Sonoko had come to Takei's house with Kogoro Mori not long ago, so the housekeeper naturally remembered her.

"Yes, but Miss Hanai is resting in her room. She seems to be in a bad mood."

As the steward of President Takei, he naturally knew the true identity of Suzuki Sonoko. The Suzuki Group could not be considered the breadwinner for Takei Trading Company, but it could only be said that Takei Trading Company depended on the Suzuki Group for its livelihood.

Although President Takei has been busy with various mergers and acquisitions recently in an attempt to break his trading company's dependence on the Suzuki Group, reform is never something that can be achieved overnight.

At present, the Suzuki Group is still the god of wealth for Takei Trading Company.

Since the Suzuki Group is the God of Wealth, the God of Wealth’s own daughter naturally cannot be offended.

"Please take us to see Miss Hanai. We have something urgent to discuss with her."

When it comes to being assertive, Sonoko is never vague. With a semi-commanding "request", Tachibana Seiji and Sonoko followed the butler to Hanai's room in the Takei residence.

Why would a female secretary have her own bedroom in her widower boss's house? Tachibana Shizuka was too lazy to think about it.

After he saw the butler knock on the door gently several times and there was still no response from inside, Tachibana Shizuka waved to the butler, indicating that he had nothing to do at the moment.

"Mr. Butler, please go ahead and do your work. We'll handle this on our own. We've received authorization from President Takei to investigate his daughter's kidnapping.

You can go and ask President Takei now. By the way, if things don't go smoothly later, I hope to have a private conversation with you, Mr. Butler."

Tachibana Shizuka told the butler to go wherever he pleased, using some not-so-subtle social etiquette. It was clear that Hanai Akiko didn't want to see them.

Or maybe she didn't want to see anyone, but in order to find Takei Naoko, she had to see Hanai Akiko today.

When Tachibana Shizuka recalled this plot, he knew that Takei Naoko was finally found in a small room in an abandoned factory.

But there are countless abandoned factories throughout Beika-cho and even in Tokyo, and no one knows which factory Takei Naoko is in.

The purpose of Tachibana Shizuka and others is just to make sure that Takei Naoko is safe. As for what Hanai Akiko wants to do, what does that have to do with them?
The service purchased with these 5 million yen is just to find President Takei's daughter. The matter of the victim seeking revenge on President Takei is not within their "scope of service".

After the housekeeper left, Sonoko pushed open the door of Hanai Akiko's bedroom at the signal of Tachibana Shizuka. For some reason, Miss Hanai, who obviously didn't want to see anyone, did not lock her door.

"Ms. Hanai, stop pretending to be asleep. Let's be respectful to each other, okay? I don't want to lift a lady's blanket in front of my friends.

And this is at a time when this friend might tell another friend about it.”

As soon as Tachibana Shizuka finished speaking, Sonoko rolled her eyes twice. Well, Sonoko is usually a little naughty and gossipy, but she would never do such a thing.

So, this sentence was just Tachibana Shizuka's nonsense, but the threat in it was genuine. Hanai Akiko sat up from the bed with a clear conscience and looked at Tachibana Shizuka and Sonoko helplessly.

It was true that she didn't want to interact with people, and it was also true that she was very tired and needed to rest. After all, she followed President Takei to receive police and detectives, drove to play the role of robbers and "deal" with the victims, and escaped from the police in a car chase.
After doing so much in one day, it would be strange if I wasn't tired.

And Sonoko was someone she couldn't neglect, so it would be best to let Sonoko give up. Unfortunately, the eldest daughter of the Suzuki Group seemed unwilling to play by the rules.

What is the relationship between this high school boy and her?
Hanai Akiko heard clearly what Tachibana Shizuka and the housekeeper had just said at her door, and she felt uneasy at the moment.

This was probably a guilty conscience - she didn't know what Tachibana Shizuka's abilities were, but she did kidnap Takei Naoko.

"Ms. Suzuki, and this classmate, I apologize for not being able to greet you immediately. But please understand that I am truly exhausted after so much has happened.

So, if you have any questions, can you please ask them as soon as possible? I want to rest early."

"Of course, we won't be delayed for long." Tachibana Shizuka was very understanding: "I just have one question.

Where is Takei Naoko now?"

"what?"

"You heard me right. What I'm asking is where you are hiding Takei Naoko, who you kidnapped."

Hanai Akiko: ???

Since Hanai Akiko planned and implemented the kidnapping plan, she had imagined the situation where someone would come to her door.

Whether it was a police officer or a detective, Hanai Akiko had mentally rehearsed the situation, but she really didn't expect Tachibana Shizue to ask her so directly.

How about we be a little more subtle? How about we talk about the reasoning and go through the process?

Now this high school student doesn't even go through the formalities and just asks directly?

"What are you talking about! How could I kidnap Naoko when I have such a good relationship with her?!" Hanai Akiko adjusted her mood and decided to make an excuse according to her established ideas.

Anyway, this high school student has no evidence.

"Look, Sonoko, Hanai is obviously a master at pretending to be confused." After Tachibana Seiji pushed Jiang Wen's rough face out of his mind, he said helplessly to Hanai Akiko:
"Come on, Hanai, stop pretending. Your tricks might fool an amateur like President Takei, but they're completely flawed with me."

Tachibana Shizuka picked out a few "flaws" that he observed during his moments of insight and told them to Hanai Akiko. With every flaw he mentioned, Hanai Akiko's face turned paler.

At last, Tachibana Shizuka concluded, "I'm not interested in the feud between you and President Takei. I just want to make sure Takei is safe.

Just tell me where Takei-san is hiding, and it's fine as far as you're concerned.

As long as you think about it.”

"Well, Miss Hanai, I'm being quite generous. If it were another detective, not only would you not be able to continue the operation, but if they didn't send you to prison, they'd be considered unethical."

Isn't that right, Kudo Shinichi?

(End of this chapter)