He's in Detective Conan, and he's the mastermind behind everything.

Ying Sheng thought for a moment, then quietly pointed at the dark-skinned youth three seats away from him and whispered, "Don't turn your head. What do you think of Kyogoku-senpai? To be honest, he's been secretly looking at you several times. He's obviously interested in you."

Sonoko didn't turn her head, but instead glared at him fiercely: "What, trying to play matchmaker for me? Afraid I'll fall for you again? You're being too presumptuous."

Ying Sheng shook his head: "I'm serious. Yesterday, when you were cheering for Xiao Lan, the way he looked at you was off. And with his keen martial arts intuition, he didn't even notice that I was subtly paying attention to him. He was definitely mesmerized by you."

"Huh? He..."

Sonoko was a little bothered by being liked by someone, but after a fleeting glance out of the corner of her eye for a couple of seconds, she didn't actually look over. Instead, she gave a cold snort.

"It's perfectly normal for someone to like someone as outstanding as me, and what's it to you?"

"So you don't miss out on a chance encounter without realizing it." Ying Sheng shrugged. "You have a cheerful personality. If you don't actively let your mind wander in that direction, what if you end up becoming buddies with him? Like the kind of sworn brothers who swear brotherhood in the Peach Garden."

"........."

Sonoko gritted her teeth: "Go to hell!"

"Ok."

Ying Sheng tilted his head, took out an earphone and put it on: "I'm going to chat with the ghost for a while, don't bother me."

Sonoko snorted irritably, "It's definitely another woman, isn't it, you rascal..."

“Mr. Amuro, something suddenly occurred to me.”

Hotaru spoke, spreading his hands innocently at Sonoko. Sonoko was annoyed and turned her head away, not wanting to talk to him.

On the other side, Amuro Tooru had just sat in the driver's seat of the Mazda when he heard Hotaru's words. He was speechless. This guy really does do whatever he wants.

"Please say."

"Here's the thing, I live in the Ian Apartments. Once, I ran into Ms. Yoko Okino in the elevator. Wasn't she a member of the Earth Ladies Team before? She was a teammate of Kaoru Kusano. I'd like you to confirm her apartment building number."

"Are there any more specific clues?"

"One building, one unit, one elevator, that's all."

"Didn't Mr. Shuiyue pay attention to the floor when he met her that day?"

"The elevator in that apartment building uses a card reader, and it seems like there are separate elevators for several floors, and some even have yearly exclusive access or something. That's a clue, I guess. Please help me, Mr. Amuro."

"……I see."

Oh, it's a luxury apartment. No wonder he's a young master.

Amuro Tooru hung up the phone, speechless, without mentioning the commission fee. He already had so many things entrusted to him by Hotaru, plus a computer software task that looked like a long-term project. He could settle the score with him later.

Anyway, this person paid quite readily, and there was no delay in payment.

The thought of commission fees suddenly made Amuro Tooru realize that he was actually receiving double pay. One of the companies hadn't contacted him for quite some time, leaving him with plenty of time to work as a detective.

Well, let's just call it the third salary.

Buzz buzz buzz—!

The thought had barely formed when his phone rang. Amuro Tooru glanced at it, his expression immediately turning serious. The call he had been waiting for so long had finally arrived.

"Lord Rum, it's me."

The call connected, and Amuro Tooru spoke first.

Rum got straight to the point, giving Amuro Tooru his task in a harsh, cold electronic voice.

We're looking for several people.

Vermouth, Kiyoko Cedar, Sherry.

Rum finished speaking briefly and hung up immediately. Amuro listened as the dial tone gradually turned into a quiet background noise, and then into the sounds of people and loudspeakers from the outside world. He pondered for a long time.

Vermouth and Sherry probably really did defect from the organization, but what about Kiyoko Yukimatsu?

It was one thing for the two codenamed members to pay attention to her in the past, but why is Rum here now too?

Could it be that she is also one of Shirley's allies?

Was it through her that Shirley escaped?

With many thoughts racing through his mind, Amuro Tooru searched for Ian Apartments on his phone and drove straight there.

Things should be done one step at a time, and it's just right to go to the hospital after this is all done here.

Ultimately, the investigation will have to focus on Shinichi Kudo.

At 3:12 PM, Amuro Tooru arrived at Ian Apartments and asked the security guard where Okino Yoko was. As expected, he didn't get an answer. He tried to give the guard a red envelope, but still didn't receive one, because the guard genuinely didn't know.

So Amuro Tooru took the red envelope back, which made the security guard so angry that he jumped up and down and rushed out with a riot fork.

Amuro Tooru ran away, got back into his car, and sped off amidst the security guard's harsh words.

Looking at the security guard in the rearview mirror, who was baring his teeth and claws like a lobster soldier, Amuro Tooru's lips curled up slightly. He took out his phone, dialed a number, and silently apologized.

He wasn't so bored as to play pranks on the security guards for fun; he was just trying to make a good impression on them and show it to Ying Sheng.

He wanted to let Ying Sheng know that he was genuinely conducting an investigation himself, and not using other methods.

"Hello, Mr. Furuya, what's the matter?"

Kazami Yuya's voice came through the phone.

Amuro said, "Kazemi, help me find out Yoko Okino's address, near Ian Apartments."

"...Is Yoko Okino connected to the organization?"

Well, probably.

Amuro Tooru's eyes crinkled with a smile. Earlier, when Hotaru had asked him to use the police system to investigate something, he hadn't shown it outwardly, but his heart had tightened considerably. Then he realized it was just a casual inquiry, and now he was actually using the police system to help him…

Hmm, this sounds interesting.

A moment later, Amuro Tooru parked the Mazda in the underground parking lot of Beika Central Hospital. Kazami Yuya also found Okino Yoko's address and reported back, adding a somewhat strange note about what happened yesterday:

"While we were chasing the short woman who was carrying people away, she threw out a magnetic sheet to distract us. When we opened it, we found it was a set of photos from a dance party. The main character was an unknown woman whose identity could not be found in the system."

Amuro Tooru asked doubtfully, "Isn't this very important information? Maybe that face holds a secret."

"Well, we originally thought so too, but after carefully reviewing the files of the Shizuoka case, we found that it was just a photo of the suspect, Shirakura Yo, in women's clothing."

"........."

Amuro Tooru wondered if his subordinate had been too relaxed lately, using such things to amuse him.

Amuro Tooru shook his head and asked about the matter he was concerned about: "How's Miyano Akemi's investigation going?"

Last night, after recognizing that the injured person might not be Vermouth, and considering that he shouldn't approach the Miyano sisters, he naturally requested an investigation from Team Zero.

Kazami Yuya said, "The only information we found was that she left an accounting firm the day before yesterday afternoon, and then disappeared. The apartment she was supposedly renting was emptied by a moving company yesterday afternoon, and she checked out this morning."

Amuro Tooru spotted the key point: "On the surface?"

"Yes, Akemi Miyano also rented an apartment at 6-17 Beikacho. According to the manager, it should be her. She had hardly ever been there before. But around midnight last night, the manager found the lights on there."

"I understand. Is Inspector Kuroda alright?"

"It's just a sprain, nothing serious. The compensation for the fallen is being handled properly, Mr. Furuya, so don't worry about us. Please be careful."

Amuro Tooru was silent for a few moments: "Goodbye."

call--

Letting out a long sigh of stale air, Amuro Tooru raised his hand to cover his face. He was now a deeply embedded nail, a nail driven into the darkness.

With a slight smile, Amuro Tooru chuckled silently. Three seconds later, he lowered his hand, his gaze returning to calm, and used another phone to dial the number he had called Vermouth the night before.

Shut down.

Amuro Tooru had anticipated this outcome. He got out of the car and soon arrived at room 413 of building 3, Shinichi Kudo's ward. He knocked on the door and entered. Inside, Shinichi was sitting alone on the bed, quietly looking out the window. Hearing the knock, he turned around to look.

"Mr. Amuro, what brings you here?"

“Miss Aida took the day off today. Mr. Mizuki asked me to come and chat with Mr. Mori for a while, and also to stop by and see Kudo-kun.” Amuro Tooru looked at Kudo Shinichi’s bandaged left shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “What happened to your shoulder? Did Kudo-kun get a new injury?”

"It's nothing, I just got cut by a shard of glass."

Shinichi Kudo smiled, seemingly not very interested. If Tooru Amuro knew what was good for him, he should say goodbye and leave now. However, he had come with a purpose, so he immediately put on a concerned expression and asked:

"Is Kudo-kun in some kind of trouble? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Amuro Tooru then shifted his gaze slightly to another hospital bed by the window, which was naturally empty.

"Has Kiyoko-kun woken up yet?" he asked again.

Shinichi Kudo shook his head slightly: "There's no trouble. Kiyoko has woken up and left."

He wasn't in a good mood right now, especially since he wasn't very close to Amuro Tooru, so naturally he didn't want to bring it up.

However, Amuro Tooru seemed completely oblivious to the atmosphere and inappropriately pressed on, "Is Kudo-kun having relationship problems? Did something unpleasant happen between you and Kiyoko-kun? This kind of thing should pass quickly, right?"

"........."

Shinichi Kudo was rather speechless. "Who is this guy? So overconfident, bringing up this kind of thing right off the bat." He thought for a moment, then decided to find something to get rid of him. He did indeed have something he wanted to confirm, so he said:

"Mr. Amuro, I would like to ask you for a favor."

"Please say."

"Could you investigate which kindergarten I attended thirteen years ago, before I transferred to the Sakura Class? It should be a kindergarten around Beika Town, most likely a private one, and the name was Kudo Shinichi."

"Can I ask why?"

"It was just a sudden thought that made me feel like time was passing so quickly. I didn't want my parents to know, so they wouldn't laugh at me for being so sentimental at such a young age."

Amuro Tooru smiled and said, "I'll accept this request. It doesn't sound like too much trouble. The fee is tentatively set at 20,000 yen."

He felt there must be a secret involved!

Shinichi Kudo is also a detective, and he said that the injury on his shoulder was not serious. If it was just a sudden feeling of nostalgia for the past, he could have investigated it himself after he recovered.

Wouldn't that make more sense?

Moreover, even if childhood memories are unclear, there should still be some vague impression. The current use of terms like "should" and "possible" feels like we're investigating someone else without any certainty!

"No problem, please do it as soon as possible."

Chapter 253 Hotaru Amuro: Food and sex are human nature; Kudo: Heartbroken!