Ms. Moriarty wants to save Beika Town today too.

At this time, Shiratori received a call.

The portrait of Miss Winnett worked, and the police found a suspected person in the sixth district of Shinagawa City. Takagi and Shiratori could judge based on the portrait, saving a lot of effort.

Megure called Takagi and Shiratori for support, but Takagi was dithering, checking his manual and gun. In a hurry, they learned that he had forgotten to bring handcuffs, and he was just as careless as he was when he let the suspect go last time. He also said that the fortune-telling in the magazine said that he had good luck today.

Sato was a little stunned when she heard this. She remembered that her father said something similar 18 years ago, when he forgot to bring handcuffs when he went out. Thinking of this, she stopped Gao Mu and lent him her father's handcuffs.

Seeing how they were ready for battle, Xiao Ai said:

"That's a bit strange. We're just trying to catch an arsonist. Is it necessary to be so cautious and bring a pistol?"

"I remember that Officer Sato, you are investigating injury cases," said Winnett.

Sato replied:

"Because the police discovered that someone had been stabbed. The body of that person was found near the scene of the fourth arson. Although there is no definite evidence yet, it is very likely that he witnessed the arson and tried to stop it, and was killed by the criminals. That's why we were mobilized. Listen carefully, don't leave Miss Winnet and me later."

The three little ones agreed.

Miss Winnet was regarded as a reliable adult, which made her very satisfied. She could easily deal with an arsonist in a few moves. Afterwards, she could take credit for it to Xiao Ai, and then they could go out to play together, and perhaps even get some rewards.

They went to the place where Ayumi saw the suspect as planned. It was the alley of a commercial street, with a department store and a barber shop next to it. There was a Kamen Rider Gachapon machine in front of the alley. Ayumi was drawing the Gachapon when she saw the vicious arsonist.

While Sato was recording, her phone rang. It was Takagi on the other end, who said he knew the identity of the robber from 18 years ago.

Winette stood beside Ai, looking at Sato's shocked expression. Just before the mystery was about to be solved, Takagi's phone call was suddenly disconnected, and Sato's heart could not calm down for a long time; not long after, the phone rang again, this time it was Takagi's mobile phone. This erratic behavior was confusing. He first said that he knew the meaning of "Chou Si Lang" and "KON O", and then advised Sato that the statute of limitations had expired. When he was about to reveal the identity of the suspect——

A scream.

Sato hurriedly called his name, but there was no response. After calling several times, the phone was hung up; it was not Takagi who hung up.

She called Shiratori to inquire about Takagi's location and asked him to report his last location to the headquarters. They could all tell from the phone call that Takagi had been attacked; she deduced that the murderer was an arsonist.

Mitsuhiko inferred:

"By the way, Officer Takagi wanted to tell you on the phone just now that the robber was attacked eighteen years ago. So, the criminal is..."

She said it was absolutely impossible, and then, pretending to be relaxed, she said:

"The statute of limitations for this case expired three years ago. And we're not sure whether Officer Takagi's reasoning is correct."

"Perhaps it was God's guidance that told him to embark on this path and discover the dusty past." Winnet said softly.

"What do you mean?"

Winette mentioned that Takagi was going to Shinagawa District 6, where the station was nearby, and the Nanakuma Tavern where Sato's father's friends were going was located in front of the station.

She knew this because the izakaya that Mingmei took her to was in that area.

She confessed:

"A kind person doesn't think about how to punish a person who has made a mistake, but rather persuades him to return to the right path. Ms. Sato, I believe you know your father better. What do you think?"

Sato tilted his head, his pupils trembling, as if he thought of the meaning behind her words.

"You mean..."

"If the robber that Officer Takagi mentioned in the phone call just now is among those four people, and this robber happened to appear at Shinagawa Station at the same time as Officer Takagi and heard the content of the phone call, it would not be surprising that this person attacked him in order to silence him. Of course, there are too many coincidences."

Xiao Ai explained, and she glanced at Winnett out of the corner of her eye. She continued:

"But if, as Winnett said, the criminal was an acquaintance of your father and he wanted to persuade his friend to repent, it would make sense for him to arrest him alone and not leave his name."

Conan closed his open mouth and someone spoke for him.

Sato said he would rush to the pub in front of Shinagawa Station to check it out.

"However, it is also possible that, as you thought, the person who attacked him was the arsonist. Although there is a portrait of Winnet, the suspect is not aware of this. Ayumi is a witness, and he may appear at any time to capture her and silence her." Xiao Ai added, giving Winnet a wink.

The idea is to satisfy their curiosity and the detective's curiosity, and to nip the possibility in the bud. Although Winette is capable of protecting them, she can't always be by Ayumi's side. Ai is determined to end this matter quickly, and she teases Conan:

"What's wrong, great detective? Are you so upset that I stole your limelight?"

"Ha ha……"

"I'll leave her case to you. As for the arsonist, Winnet and I will figure it out. Don't worry, in the entire Eastern Metropolis, except for the brown bear in the zoo, no one should be able to match her."

Miss Winnett curled her lips.

Is she some kind of gorilla?

Conan kept twitching his lips. Indeed, he thought that they didn't need to worry as Winette was watching over them. Her ability was far superior to Xiaolan's. With that guarantee, he could investigate the case with confidence. As soon as they arrived, Conan sneaked out of the car while they were not paying attention and went into the bar that Sato was going to investigate.

Winette simply persuaded Clyde to go in and eat some skewers. She squeezed into the Mazda and wanted to sit next to Ai, but she didn't expect that she was squeezed in between Ayumi and Mitsuhiko. She poked her head out, looking pitiful, but she didn't say a word.

Ignoring Winette who needed urgent attention, Ai took out the travel brochure from the storage bag on the back of the front seat and looked through it.

The goal is to include a map of the locations of arson fires.

"Haibara-san, what are you doing?" Ayumi asked.

"I have nothing to do anyway, so I thought I might as well reorganize the places where the arson happened in the past."

Ai turned to the map, spread it out on her knees, and pulled out a ballpoint pen from the pocket of her cropped pants to collect the locations of the arson they knew. Miss Winnet raised her hand. She had learned the details of the arson case through the radio while in the car, and listed five locations including the one Ayumi witnessed: Ikebukuro Station, Asakusa Bridge, Tabata Station, Shimokitazawa Station, and Yotsuya.

Xiao Ai marked the location on the map.

Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta all poked their heads out.

"If we connect them with straight lines, we can only draw a trapezoid." Xiao Ai pondered.

"But from where I'm standing it looks a bit like a ladle," Yuan Tai said.

Mitsuhiko said it looked like a spoon, while Ayumi said it looked like the Big Dipper.

As the puzzle-solving activity was going on, they finally thought of Conan, but he had disappeared and was replaced by Miss Winnet who was playing dumb.

Then came the repeated “He’s gone,” “He slipped away again,” and “What a deceitful act.”

Miss Winnet couldn't see why either.

Yuan Tai angrily speculated that Conan had gone into the store. This was not the first time he had taken credit for something, but he was not the only one complaining. He suspected that Conan had secretly ordered something to eat in the store. It was almost dark, and the children were still hungry, which was understandable.

Mitsuhiko complained that Genta's head was full of eel, chicken and pork.

Xiao Ai also took up the topic.

"If you don't eat some vegetables, you will die very quickly."

Talking about vegetables, Ayumi suddenly remembered what the arsonist had said. He said there was only one vegetable left and it would be over.

"Vegetables?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"Well, it's vegetables or an appetizer or something."

Xiao Ai's expression froze when she heard this, thinking that Ayumi was actually talking about the festival eve, and that the arsonist treated his "masterpiece" as a grand day. This meant that he only needed one position, and his celebration would begin.

She gave Winnet a stealthy look, then quietly opened the car door while Yuan Tai was complaining. When they noticed her, she was already standing outside the car door, about to close it. Before she left, she told them to stay in the car and wait for her to come back.

Winnet, who was following beside them, smiled awkwardly and said that she would treat them to dinner later, whether it was eel or roast chicken or roast pork.

"Is it really fire?" Winnett caught up with Xiao Ai and asked.

Xiao Ai looked back at her in surprise:

"You already knew?"

Winnett said she was not sure, because this kind of marking was a bit childish and could not express any information. Even if it was just revenge on society, it was just like a child's prank. However, most strange behaviors can be explained by mental problems, and this arsonist is one of them.

"Yes, you speak Chinese fluently." Xiao Ai said, "If you think in terms of Chinese characters, it won't be difficult to figure it out instantly once you know the number of strokes."

"No, Xiao Ai, you have to figure it out faster than me." Winnet said.

"Let's tell the female police officer about the situation first." Ai stood in front of the sliding door first, as if to greet Winnet. The two went inside and saw Sato and Conan discussing the arsonist. "It should be Shinagawa. The arsonist's next target is Shinagawa District."

She spread out the map and drew the Chinese character "火" (fire) on them while introducing the locations. The fact that the graphic resembled the Chinese character "火" was not convincing enough, but the key point was that the arsonist committed the crime strictly according to the strokes, which made it easier to understand.

……

517 The Ghost Behind the Butt

Sato stammered and speculated:

"Then... could it be that the one who attacked Officer Takagi was..."

Ai expressed her affirmation that if Takagi happened to be at the scene of the fire and witnessed the arson process, the result would most likely be like the fourth arson, with a dead body lying on the ground.

Her blunt words struck Sato's heart.

Winnet seemed to see her soul trembling with pain, and she couldn't even hold the police manual she was using for the investigation, and it fell to the ground.

Sato picked up the manual and adjusted his status.

Only action.

Sato walked to the store entrance, passed the sliding door, and opened the car door. She greeted people as usual, but her heart was obviously not so calm. It was not until she opened the door that she realized that the children who were supposed to be in the car were gone.

Just now, Xiao Ai told them not to run around.

At this time, Shiratori happened to appear by car.

Sato asked him if he had seen the three children.

"Ai, do you have the detective armband?" asked Winnett.

Xiao Ai reacted and quickly took out the detective badge in her pocket. They also called her at the same time, but the name they called was Edogawa. He was still the backbone of this young detective team.

Xiao Ai said sternly:

"Didn't I tell you to stay in the car? Where are you now?"

"Haihara-san, keep your voice down, or the criminals will hear you."

"Rogue?"

At this time, Mitsuhiko's voice came from the other side of the badge, saying that the arsonist suddenly passed in front of the Qiqu Tavern, so they followed him.

He reported his location, which was in Warehouse Street in the sixth district of Shinagawa City.

Suddenly, she heard Yuantai say that the criminals poured something on the newspaper.

Conan, who squeezed over, also overheard it.

It's kerosene.

"He hasn't set the fire yet?" Conan was stunned.

"So, the person who attacked Officer Takagi was not the arsonist," Ai analyzed.

She deliberately raised her voice, mainly for Sato to hear. In this way, although he was not completely out of danger, he avoided an established death crisis. Little Ai pulled Winnet's sleeve, motioning her to follow her to find the children.

Conan asked Shiratori why Takagi behaved strangely at that time.

"I remember he was staring at the sign in front of Shinagawa Station."

His answer made Conan shudder.

Winnett guessed that he had another flash of inspiration and, like Takagi, found the truth to solve the incident eighteen years ago.

Xiao Ai picked up the badge and told Yuan Tai and the other three:

"Don't act rashly now, we'll be there soon."

Conan suggested taking Shiratori's car.

Sato was puzzled, "Can't I just give you a ride?"

"No, Officer Sato," he said with a triumphant smile, "that's not where you're going."

"Ok?"

"You must settle the case from eighteen years ago," he said. "I think this case is not over yet."

Time for reasoning.

"I remember that Warehouse Street was right next to this commercial street, and it was too slow to drive there."

Winnet interrupted Conan for a moment. Then, she picked up Xiao Ai beside her, put her neck and thighs on her arms, smiled and said, "Let's go first," and ran.

"Is it really okay?" Bai Niao, who was watching her leave, wiped his cold sweat.

Conan thought that was right, he also had to tell Sato the meaning of "Chou Si Lang" and "KON N".

"In fact, it's just like what Miss Winette said. Officer Sato, your father hopes that the criminal can turn back to the right path. 'Chou Si Lang' is not a certain person's name. What he said at the time should be 'Go and surrender yourself.' As for the katakana of 'KO·N·O', it can actually be read as 'KO·NO' in romanization, just like the two characters Shinagawa at Shinagawa Station can be divided into 'SHI·N·A' and 'SHI·NA' in romanization. This is a very simple word game. Officer Takagi should have thought of the identity of the real murderer through it. That's right, KO·NO is - Shikano."

"You may not be able to arrest him now, but you may be able to learn the truth about the incident eighteen years ago."