The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

“That’s right!” James Black readily admitted. “Their performance was absolutely fantastic. I personally loved it, and I didn’t want to miss it, which is why I came all the way to Japan.”

As he spoke, he took out the same Leon phone pendant that Ayumi and Ai had.

"However, these kinds of merchandise aren't sold all over the world, so there's no need to come all the way to Japan to buy them, right?" Ai Haibara asked, looking at the pendant in James Black's hand.

Although the pendant was indeed very cute, she still couldn't quite understand the man's behavior.

"NO, NO!"

Unexpectedly, James Black became excited as soon as this was mentioned. "You can look at the back of this tape. Doesn't it say 'In Japan'?"

As he spoke, he unfolded the decorative ribbon from the pendant and handed it to Ai Haibara.

Looking at his fascinated expression and the look on his face that said he would regret it for the rest of his life if he missed it, he really looked like a die-hard fan of Leon, and there was no way to doubt his true purpose for coming to Japan.

If he hadn't already known the man's true identity, Aragaki Yu felt he would have been fooled by the guy's acting skills as well.

Sure enough, anyone who can become an FBI agent must have some skills.

Apart from Yu Aragaki, who knew perfectly well what was going on, everyone else present was indeed fooled by James Black's performance.

Even Conan subconsciously rolled his eyes in exasperation, muttering to himself about the old man's strange quirks.

"However, the little incident just now was really disappointing, and I didn't even get to see one of the friends who were supposed to come to see me."

Then, James Black asked, looking slightly troubled, "Have you seen a long-haired man?"

"Oh... this..." Professor Agasa stroked his chin and recalled, "There were just too many people watching the performance, so I didn't notice someone like this."

The children naturally shook their heads, since those who were focused on the performance were naturally paying attention to who was around them.

Although Conan and his friends didn't know the identity of the long-haired man James Black mentioned, Aragaki Yu knew very well—

He is FBI investigator Andre Cameron.

Although he appears fierce and even more intimidating than Vodka, who is always by Gin's side, he is actually a calm, kind, and fearless person.

However, due to a moment of carelessness, Shuichi Akai's undercover identity was exposed during the FBI's operation to arrest Gin, leading to the failure of the subsequent operation.

"But Conan, how did you know he wasn't Mr. Hawke?" Professor Agasa asked, puzzled, recalling Conan's strange behavior earlier.

"It's because of what he said!" Conan said with a matter-of-fact smile.

"What did he say?" Professor Agasa couldn't understand Conan's meaning.

"that is because……"

"Cough cough!"

Just as Conan was about to smugly explain to the others, his words were interrupted by a slightly deliberate cough from Ai Haibara.

He looked up, puzzled, only to find Ai Haibara's warning gaze constantly darting towards the man and Yuu Aragaki.

"Forehead……"

It wasn't until this moment that he realized how suspicious it was that an elementary school student would know such things.

"Um, it's because..."

For a moment, Conan didn't know how to salvage his words, and stammered, his sentence getting stuck halfway through.

"What is it all about, Conan?!"

"Yes, Conan, stop keeping me in suspense!"

The Junior Detective League members naturally had no idea what Conan was struggling with.

Seeing that Conan was only halfway through his story, they all urged him on impatiently.

"Because of……"

"I think it's because of this gentleman's accent! His accent is clearly not the Southern American accent that Mr. Hawke has, but rather a strong British accent, which is actually quite easy to distinguish."

Just as Conan was at a loss, Yuu Aragaki suddenly spoke up.

He glanced at James Black, who also looked curious, then smiled and turned to Conan to explain, "I think this child's parents are quite sensitive to accents because they live abroad for many years!"

"That's right, this gentleman just pronounced the English word 'can't' as 'can't' and 'kant' as 'can't'. That's what's called standard English. It's not normal for someone born into an American cowboy family to speak with such a standard British accent."

Chapter 549 The Man from Chicago

“That’s right, that’s right!” Professor Agasa nodded in belated recollection, “Come to think of it, the Mr. Hawke I saw on TV did speak fluent Southern American English, and he had quite a bold personality!”

Yuu Aragaki smiled and nodded, then took the brochure from Ai Haibara's hand, flipped to the last page, and moved Mr. Hawke's photo slightly closer to James Black.

"Moreover, if you carefully examine the photograph in the manual and the gentleman's appearance, you can still find some differences."

"However, it is understandable for a reporter to make a mistake. Just as foreigners often think we look the same, we may also mistake foreigners for each other because of similar skin and hair color."

“Yes, that’s right!” The boys in the Junior Detective Club nodded in agreement.

“Your observation skills are truly remarkable. My name is James Black, and what are yours?” James Black, completely impressed, introduced himself to the group.

However, judging from the way he kept glancing at Aragaki Yu and Conan, it was clear that he was truly interested in the two of them.

"Edogawa Conan is a detective!" Upon hearing James Black's question, Conan instantly became proud and forgot Ai Haibara's warning.

Yuu Aragaki simply replied, "Yuu Aragaki."

Seeing Conan's smug look, Yuu Aragaki subconsciously glanced at Ai Haibara behind him.

Sure enough, Ai Haibara couldn't help but sigh and rub her forehead.

As for Conan's tendency to show off, Yuu Aragaki can understand it very well.

In any case, Gin and Vodka were practically blind, completely ignoring this arrogant guy who always exposed himself.

The only members of the organization who realized Conan's true identity were either fake alcohol or real water; the others were all inexplicably killed.

"Edogawa Conan, the detective?"

James Black watched as Conan repeated his words, clearly intrigued by his explanation.

"It's not just Conan who's a detective!"

"The five of us are all members of the Junior Detective Club!"

Just as James Black was observing Conan with great interest, Genta Mitsuhiko and the others, unable to bear Conan stealing the spotlight, pulled Ai Haibara over to Conan's side and explained the situation.

"That's right, look!"

At the same time, Ayumi also raised her armband, displaying the Junior Detective League's armband in mid-air.

The metallic detective patch gleamed in the sunlight, emitting a dazzling light, and James Black's attention was drawn to the image of Sherlock Holmes on the patch. "Oh? Isn't that Sherlock Holmes!"

The next second, he chuckled and squatted down, looking at the children and saying, "So, you're the irregulars of Baker Street?"

"what?"

Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi blinked blankly at the way James Black was addressed.

It was obvious that they had never heard of this name before.

"Mr. James is referring to Sherlock Holmes's intelligence source, which is the team of children living on Baker Street!" Seeing Ayumi and the others' puzzled looks, Aragaki Yu explained to the three of them.

Conan nodded several times when he heard what Aragaki Yu said. If Aragaki Yu hadn't said it, he would have given the same explanation.

“To be honest, I was born on Baker Street,” James Black said with a broad smile.

Just then, he seemed to suddenly remember what the little girl had said when she pulled him out of the crowd, so he abruptly changed the subject and said, "By the way, it's fate that we met. Besides, you helped me out of that predicament just now, so let me treat you to dinner. I know a restaurant with a very famous dish!"

"Have a meal!"

"Wow, that's fantastic!"

Upon hearing Mr. James Black say that, the boys in the Junior Detective Club immediately became excited.

The thought of delicious food made Genta's mouth water with excitement.

Dr. Agasa didn't seem to have any objections to this.

Did you drive here?

"No, that's right..." Professor Agasa nodded, then frowned and said, "But as you can see, there are a lot of people here, so there probably won't be any seats for you."

It's not that he has any problem with Mr. James Black.

He actually had a rather good impression of this enthusiastic gentleman.

However, he was also worried that if too many people were crammed into his Beetle, it would be overloaded and he would be stopped by the traffic police, which would result in points being deducted and a fine.

“OK, OK, that’s no problem!” James Black didn’t seem to mind at all. He waved his hand and said, “We can just take my rented car. I’ll go get it now, you guys wait for me!”

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the parking lot.

However, after walking only a few steps, James Black suddenly turned around, shrugged somewhat helplessly and embarrassedly, and looked at Professor Agasa: "But my driving skills are not as good as yours. Could you please drive for me later?"

Under Professor Agasa's puzzled gaze, he shrugged and explained, "I'm just not used to driving on the right!"

"Uncle, you're not used to driving on the right side yet, which means you don't live in England right now, right?" Before Professor Agasa could say anything, Conan suddenly asked.

James Black, who had already turned and was walking towards the parking lot, stopped abruptly after hearing Conan's words.

The next second, he silently turned his head, squinted at Conan, and replied calmly, "Actually, I was born in London and grew up in Chicago, which is where Capone lives."

He spoke the first half of the sentence in Japanese with an odd accent, but the last sentence suddenly switched to English.