Conan's Exorcist Detective

Chapter 66 Betting with Haibara Ai
Haruhiko Kousaka lowered the car window halfway, and rain immediately poured into the car. The drizzle hit his face and felt cool and comfortable.

"What's wrong, Mr. Police?" Haruhiko asked.

The police officer wearing a raincoat outside the car lowered his head to look inside the car, and rain dripped down his hood.

The police officer fixed his eyes on Conan: "Kids, it's best to fasten your seat belts. The road ahead is not good and if you brake suddenly, it could be dangerous."

Conan obediently fastened his seat belt and smiled at the police: "Thank you, police uncle. I will remember it."

The police officer smiled and nodded, then took two steps back to signal that they could pass.

However, as the car window closed, his gaze remained on Haruhiko's face, and he seemed a little confused.

With the car windows closed, the clear sound of rain became a little muffled.

Haruhiko was also confused. Why was the police officer staring at him? Had they met before?

Maybe, after all, he has participated in the investigation of many cases, and maybe this police officer is at the scene.

Haruhiko was thinking about it when he suddenly found Conan secretly pulling his arm.

...

Officer Morita watched the yellow Beetle drive away, then turned to his companion and asked, "What happened? What did you find?"

"Nothing, there was a child in the back seat who wasn't wearing a seatbelt," the police officer said, "but..."

"But what?" Morita reset the Luca device and wiped the rain off his face.

"I see the young man sitting in the back seat. He looks a bit like the high school detective, Kosaka Haruhiko, who just passed by."

Morita: "You must have seen it wrong. Didn't he just drive past?"

"Maybe I saw it wrong." The police officer hesitated, "But he just passed by here twice, didn't he?"

Morita: "What do you want to say?"

"Do you think there are ghosts in this world?"

They were silent for a moment, and the only sound was the sound of raindrops hitting the ground.

Sudden--

The walkie-talkie on Morita made a hissing sound. The sudden sound startled the two police officers and they screamed subconsciously.

"Morita, Morita, this is the headquarters." The voice of Morita's boss came from the intercom.

He finally came to his senses and picked up the intercom: "This is Morita, everything is normal here."

Intercom: "The prisoner has been apprehended. You can withdraw now."

Officer Morita breathed a sigh of relief and said to his companion, "Really? There aren't any ghosts here. I think you've watched too many horror movies."

"I must have seen it wrong. I just saw him from a distance." The companion said, "By the way, let's go for a drink later? It will calm us down."

Morita thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's go to Songhewu. It's your treat."

"Eh? Why?"

"Who told you to scare me?"

The two men got into the police car and left the highway.

...

Haruhiko looked down and found that Conan had secretly unbuckled his seat belt.

"What are you doing?" Haruhiko asked.

Conan rolled his eyes, thinking, "Can't you see I'm trying to whisper something to you? Where's your deductive intelligence?"
Conan gently tugged at Haruhiko's sleeve and said in a low voice, "Hey, Kosaka, why do you trust this woman so much? Aren't you afraid that she will betray us?"

Haruhiko also lowered his voice: "Don't be afraid, I don't think she is that kind of person."

Conan said doubtfully, "I think you'd better not be so careless. There are too many suspicious points about her. Even if she is in a state of confrontation with the Black Organization, there is no guarantee that she doesn't have some special purpose."

Haruhiko looked at Huibara Ai who was sitting in front of him. She was looking out the window at the rain, seemingly oblivious to the conversation behind her. "Probably not. I trust her."

"Why? You are not objective at all in this matter. You don't act like a detective at all." Conan expressed his incomprehension.

Haruhiko thought that since he was a time traveler, of course he knew Haibara Ai's life experience. She was just a poor little girl who was persecuted by the organization and had nowhere else to go.

But of course, these words could not be told to Conan. He thought for a moment and said, "Don't you think she is very attractive?"

Conan: "Huh?"

"A female scientist being hunted by an evil organization has her body transformed into a child, but her mind remains that of an adult. If this setting were drawn into a comic, she would definitely be a very popular character," said Haruhiko.

Conan looked at his own shrunken body and said, "I'm in the same situation now, right?"

Haruhiko gave him a look of disgust: "Don't say such disgusting things, kid."

Conan frowned and thought for a moment, then whispered, "Have you eaten anything strange recently? I now suspect that she gave you some strange medicine that confused your mind."

"There's no such medicine." Huiyuan Ai suddenly interrupted, apparently she had heard the two people's whisper, "When I saw him, this guy was already like this. To be honest, I was a little scared at the time, and even suspected that he was someone from the organization pretending to be him."

Haruhiko was also shocked: "You have doubted me?"

"Of course." Huiyuan Ai said, "You are so good to me, so good that it doesn't seem like a stranger can give."

Haruhiko was speechless. He didn't expect that his kindness would be considered as having ulterior motives. But it was normal when he thought about it. How could a person who just escaped from a terrible organization build trust in a stranger so quickly?
"So now, do you still suspect that I'm a member of the organization?" Haruhiko asked curiously.

Huiyuan Ai turned her head, and the light coming in through the front windshield hit the tip of her delicate and upturned nose: "Of course not.

But I warn you, if you dare to do anything weird, I have many ways to make you regret it. After all, I now completely share the doctor's laboratory, which is different from when I was at your house."

At this point, Haibara Ai's face suddenly turned red. She seemed to remember what happened that day after Haruhiko rescued her and brought her home. That was the first time she was so close to a boy. Although her body had shrunk, she still couldn't help feeling shy when she imagined it.

Haibara Ai quickly turned around and pretended to look out the window.

Conan felt a little embarrassed after his secret talk was exposed, and he didn't talk to Haruhiko again.

The car became quiet, with only the melodious sound of the car music.

...

When he arrived at Professor Hirota's house, Haruhiko saw several police cars parked at the door from a distance.

I thought to myself that I was too late after all. It seemed that Professor Hirota had already been killed.

This means that it is very likely that we will not be able to get the disk today.

But now that I'm here, I can't go back empty-handed. Can you at least let me exorcise an evil spirit and gain some experience before I leave?

Haruhiko quickly pushed the door open and got out of the car. Conan was also very excited to see the police car, and the two of them walked into Professor Hirota's house together.

There were several police officers investigating in the yard. Originally, people who were not related to the case were not allowed to enter the scene, but after they learned that they had made an appointment to meet with the deceased in advance, they were led into the crime scene.

When we arrived at the door of the room where the crime occurred, we saw that the room was in a mess, with all kinds of items scattered on the floor, which seemed to have fallen along with the fallen bookshelf.

A police officer with a coral haircut stood in front of the body. In front of him, an autopsy worker was squatting on the ground, taking pictures of the body with a camera.

After taking the photo, the coroner stood up and said, "The cause of death has been determined. The back of the head struck the corner of this trophy, causing death."

Officer Coral Head Yokogami frowned. "I see. It seems the deceased was trying to reach something on the bookshelf, fell, and hit his head on this trophy, causing his death."

He gave his reasoning on the case.

"Officer, several guests have arrived who claim to be visiting the deceased." The police officer who brought Haruhiko over said.

Officer Yokomizo turned around and walked up to the crowd. "What's your relationship to the deceased... Eh? Aren't you the high school detective? What's your name..."

Haruhiko said politely, "My name is Kosaka Haruhiko, but officer, I don't think I've seen you before."

Yokomizo Sango stroked his coral head and said, "I heard this from Inspector Megure during a meeting at the Metropolitan Police Department. By the way, what are you doing here?"

Haruhiko told him the purpose of coming here.

"I see. It's a shame you're late. Professor Hirota has just passed away in an accident," Officer Yokomizo said. "It's a shame, though. If this were a homicide, perhaps we could have witnessed Kousaka-kun's brilliant deductions."

Haruhiko smiled, he knew that Professor Hirota did not die accidentally, but was murdered.

The murderer was his student Shirakura Yang.

The reason was that Shirakura Yang wanted to ask Professor Hirota for a photo of him wearing women's clothing when he was in college, but Professor Hirota sent him a photo of Shirakura before plastic surgery. Shirakura had no choice but to come to the professor's house and want to talk to him.

But Professor Hirota had been drinking and said some unpleasant words, so the angry Shirakura thought that Professor Hirota wanted to ruin his career, so he beat Professor Hirota to death with the trophy and created the scene of a fall to death.

Haruhiko looked around and didn't seem to see anyone with a handsome face and an evil spirit on his shoulder.

It seems that he has not arrived yet, so I can only make my own inference for now. Otherwise, if this police officer takes people away, it may be difficult to save their souls later.

At this moment, a child's voice came from the body: "This is not an accident. The position of this phone is very strange. If it fell from the cabinet, the microphone would not be able to stay in the same place. This is a murder case."

When Officer Yokomizo saw Conan, he shouted angrily, "Where did this kid come from? This is not the place for you to act naughty. Take him away now."

Several police officers pulled Conan away from the corpse.

Haruhiko then said, "That kid is right. I just took a quick look at the scene. There's something fishy about that phone call. This is most likely a locked-room murder deliberately staged by the murderer."

Officer Yokomizo: "Secret room?"

The deceased’s wife: “Murder?”

Coroner: "Incident?"

Haruhiko nodded. "That's right. I suggest we investigate it carefully."

Yokomizo Sango thought for a moment and said, "That's really strange. Thanks to you, Kousaka-kun. You truly are a famous detective on par with Kudo Shinichi."

Conan broke free from the police officer's restraints and glared at Haruhiko with a resentful look on his face, thinking that it was clearly me who discovered this first.

Unconvinced, Conan picked up Haruhiko's words and pointed at a book on the ground: "Huh? This place is also weird..."

Haruhiko had no intention of competing with Conan here, he turned his gaze towards Haibara Ai.

She was sitting in a computer chair in the corner of the room, her small hands tapping gently on the keyboard, the fluorescent light of the monitor shining on her face. Haruhiko walked behind her, leaned over and stared at the computer screen, a faint fragrance entering his nose: "Did you find it?"

Without even turning her head, Huiyuan Ai continued typing away on the keyboard, saying in disappointment, "No, all the disks in the computer are gone. They must have been taken away by someone."

Haruhiko advised, "Don't be discouraged. Maybe the data hasn't been cleared yet."

Ai Haibara turned her eyes away from the screen: "I think it's better for us to leave as soon as possible. Those disks might have been taken away by someone from the organization. The longer we stay here, the more dangerous it will be."

Haruhiko thought, no, I haven’t exorcised the evil spirit yet. I came all the way here, I can’t let it go in vain.

At this moment, Officer Yokomizo discovered Haibara Ai operating the computer: "Whose child is this? How could she tamper with the evidence at the scene?"

Before Officer Yokomizo could come over, Haruhiko grabbed Haibara Ai's arms with both hands and lifted her up from the chair: "This is my relative's child. She's a little naughty, so I'm sorry."

When Officer Yokomizo saw it was Haruhiko, he smiled and said, "Is that so? Did you find anything in the computer?"

Haruhiko shook his head to indicate no, and Officer Yokomizo turned to Conan's side of the scene disappointedly.

"How long are you going to hold me in your arms?" Haibara Ai's cold voice came from his arms.

Only then did Haruhiko realize that he was still holding Haibara Ai in the air. He felt a smooth touch on his hands. Her arms were so soft that Haruhiko's fingers could easily sink into them.

"Sorry, I was too focused." Haruhiko put her down with a wry smile.

After landing, Haibara Ai straightened her dress and immediately turned her head towards Conan's investigation scene. Haruhiko noticed that her ears were a little red.

Conan has already discovered that there are many voice messages on the phone, which are playing one by one.

"Hello? Hello? I'm Shirakura. Hirota-sensei said it's tonight, right?"

"I'm Sheng Gang... What time... where should we go tonight?"

"I'm Shirakura. I have something to do tomorrow, so I want to go there early..."

The most common one among them was the voice message left by a man named Shirakura Yang. Haruhiko knew that this was actually his method of creating a secret room.

Just as he heard the last message, a woman's voice came from the phone: "Hello... This is Hei... Life Insurance. I would like to introduce our company's latest products to you..."

"Insurance salesmen?" Officer Yokomizo muttered. "It seems the three people who left messages saying they'd visit at night are the most likely suspects. Let's find a way to contact them."

A police officer was immediately contacted.

Haruhiko also planned to start setting up the exorcism site, and as soon as Shirakura arrived, he would directly exorcise the evil spirits.

But at this moment, he suddenly found that there was something wrong with Haibara Ai's expression.

Haruhiko leaned over and asked quietly, "What's wrong? What did you find?"

Huihara Ai: "It's Vermouth... That female salesperson has the voice of Vermouth."

"Could it be that the organization has also discovered that the information may be in Professor Hirota's hands?" Haruhiko was a little surprised.

Huiyuan Ai nodded: "But this case should not be committed by her. If the organization took action, there would be no need to set up a secret room. They could just burn it down and be done with it."

Haruhiko also thought so. With the organization's unscrupulous style, there was no need to play such tricks. But what was the meaning of Vermouth making this call?

Huiyuan Ai said calmly: "Don't worry, I guess they want to know if Professor Hirota is here, so they can find a way to relax his guard and complete the mission more easily.

I guess they must be extremely anxious now. If they can’t get the disk back, they will be in big trouble.”

She looked gloating, as if she didn't take the matter to heart, but Haruhiko noticed a slight tremor in her shoulders. It seemed that she was still very afraid of the people in the organization.

Haruhiko placed his hand on her small shoulder and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, we'll go out the back door later. I'll use my body to block you, and everything will be fine."

Because Haibara Ai was wearing that classic red high-necked off-shoulder shirt, Haruhiko's hands rested directly on her smooth skin. The soft touch of her small and round shoulders made people want to knead them.

Huiyuan Ai said stubbornly: "I'm not scared. I've become so small that they can't recognize me. But you should be careful. Maybe you are already on the organization's assassination list."

Haruhiko ruffled her hair and said, "If I am killed, you must help me avenge me."

"You're such a jinx." Haibara Ai shifted her gaze to the other side. Perhaps the memory of Vermouth seemed so terrifying that she didn't even notice that Haruhiko's hand was still on her shoulder.

On the other side, Conan mumbled for a long time at the scene but couldn't find any key information. The police just thought he was a little kid who liked to play detective games.

Conan had no choice but to come to Haruhiko to see if he had any clues. Now that their identities had been revealed, it was much easier for the two to communicate.

Conan walked up to Haruhiko and Haibara Ai and asked, "How is it? Did you find anything?"

Haruhiko: "Not yet. We'll wait until the suspect arrives and see."

"Oh, I see." Conan was a little disappointed, then his eyes fell on Haibara Ai's shoulder, his eyes full of confusion.

Haruhiko also noticed Conan's gaze and pinched her fair and small shoulders twice as if to show off.

Only then did Haibara Ai react. She slapped Haruhiko's hand away and glared at him coldly.

Conan couldn't help but ask, "What's going on with you two?"

Haruhiko interrupted, "Habara said her shoulder hurt, so I rubbed it for her."

Haibara Ai raised her little foot and kicked Haruhiko on the calf, but her strength was too weak, and it seemed more like she was acting coquettishly.

Conan was completely focused on solving the case at this moment, and didn't think about anything else.

Ai Haibara told Conan that the last call was from Vermouth.

Conan frowned. "So, we'd better leave as soon as possible. The longer we stay here, the more dangerous it will be."

"That's right, confused detective, you don't have much time left to solve the case." Haibara Ai lifted the hair beside her ear with her hand.

At this time, there was a noisy sound coming from the door, and three suspects came in one after another. They were Shirakura Yo, Hosoya Kazuhiro, and Morioka Michio.

"What? Professor Hirota was killed?"

"How is it possible? The teacher is such a good person..."

Each of the three suspects showed an expression of sadness and shock, and said they knew nothing about it.

Officer Yokomizo was also in a dilemma. Although the scene had the possibility of being set up as a murder scene, no key evidence was found and he could not convict the criminal.

So he had to pull Bai Cangyang, who was behaving suspiciously, and kept asking him why he made so many calls.

But Shirakura Yang has good psychological quality and insists that the room at the crime scene is a locked room. If he cannot find the way to unlock the locked room, then Professor Hirota's death can only end as suicide.

Conan was very anxious at this time. He was sure that one of these three people must be the murderer, and the one with the greatest suspicion was Professor Hirota's student, Shirakura Yo.

Because there were 10 calls, which was very abnormal.

However, since there is currently no way to unlock the secret room, even if he is suspected, there is no way to convict him. Moreover, this guy seems to have identified the secret room. If the secret room cannot be unlocked, it will prove that Professor Hirota fell by himself.

Damn it, the method used in this secret room must be related to those 10 phone calls, but what is the connection?

Conan racked his brains but couldn't figure it out. Seeing that Officer Yokomizo was gradually unable to withstand Shirakura Yang's questioning, he guessed that he would have to let him go soon.

If he were to go, the case might never be solved.

Just when Conan was extremely anxious, Huiyuan Ai came over and said, "It's useless. After the murderer locked the room, he had to get the key into the center of the room, and it was under the notebook. The probability is almost impossible."

Conan looked up at Haibara Ai and noticed that there seemed to be some special emotion in her tone.

Huihara continued, "Although there are many doubts about this case, it's not impossible that Professor Hirota drank too much at the time, fell with the bookshelf, and hit the back of his head and died.

Besides, there is no point in us staying any longer, as it will only increase the risk of exposure.

Give up, Kudo, it's just like the previous 10 billion yen robbery."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the back door.

Haruhiko had just finished setting up the exorcism barrier when he heard the conversation between Haibara Ai and Conan. He felt that Haibara Ai seemed to have lost her direction in life after learning of her sister Akemi's death.

In addition, the organization is a terrifying existence that she cannot resist. Without her sister as a spiritual support, Haruhiko is very worried that she will suddenly become depressed and choose to commit suicide one day.

Haruhiko felt that he had to do something.

So he walked over and took Huiyuan Ai's hand: "Wait."

Huiyuan Ai turned back: "What are you doing?"

Haruhiko: "It's not too late to leave after we find the murderer."

"Didn't I say that? No matter how you look at it, this matter is..."

"Let's make a bet?" Haruhiko interrupted her, staring into her beautiful eyes.

"Bet?" Haibara Ai was stunned.

Haruhiko: "That's right. If I can uncover the truth about this secret room, you must agree to one condition of mine."

Haibara Ai pulled her wrist out of Haruhiko's grasp and rubbed her slender wrist: "What if I win?"

"You've always wanted to know why I know so much about the Black Organization, right? I told you before that I was secretly investigating it, but you didn't believe me at all, did you?" Haruhiko said, "If you win, I'll tell you, and I promise it will surprise you."

Huiyuan Ai thought about it for a moment. She seemed very confident in her judgment and said, "Okay, but if you make any obscene requests, I will use medicine to erase you from this world."

Haruhiko scratched his head. "Do you think I'm the type to make weird requests?"

Huiyuan Ai answered without any hesitation: "That's right."

"Those are really hurtful words." Haruhiko pretended to be hurt. "But it's a deal, you can't regret it later."

Huiyuan Ai said in a cold voice, "Then I'll wait and see who is more powerful, you or that confused great detective, or whether all the detectives in this world are actually useless guys."

Haruhiko nodded and walked over to where Shirakura and Officer Yokomizo were arguing. "Officer Yokomizo, I've figured out the layout of this locked room and the true identity of the murderer."

For a moment, everyone's eyes were focused on him.

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(End of this chapter)