Conan: The Romantic Daily Life of a Ghost Detective

"Who...who would like you?"

"If you were a little gentler, maybe I'd consider it..."

As the two were talking, a white apartment building came into view.

The address provided by the woman was 204. The two arrived at the room and knocked on the door several times, but unfortunately no one answered.

Wen Shui looked at Ai Haibara: "Come on, it's up to you this time."

"What do you mean?" Ai Haibara asked, puzzled.

Wen Shui: "Just like you can come into my house so easily, open the door and let us go in and investigate."

Ai Haibara stared at the door lock with a serious expression. After a few seconds of silence, she shook her head: "No, it's too dangerous to transform into a magical girl here."

"Give me a more respectable reason!" Wen Shui couldn't help but complain.

Ai Haibara smiled, indicating that she was powerless to do anything about the lock.

Wen Shui thought that if she wasn't mistaken... her wall-penetrating magic might be a "backup key".

Since warm water won't pick the lock, using external force to break it would easily attract the attention of the neighbors, which would defeat their original intention of secretly investigating.

Wen Shui thought for a moment, then suddenly her eyes lit up: "Let's go check the back; maybe there's another entrance."

The two went around to the back of the apartment building.

Behind the building is a small green belt, the grass on the lawn is sparse and almost withered, and no one takes care of it.

Wen Shui looked up towards the second floor and indeed saw a small square window, just like the one in his house.

These types of apartments are usually built a long time ago, and the construction companies often came up with architectural designs that were trendy at the time but are now completely useless.

This small ventilation window is one of them.

Wen Shui pointed to the window: "It's a bit small, but you should be able to squeeze through if you try."

"What?!" Ai Haibara's eyes widened as she pointed to the tip of her own nose.

Wen Shui shrugged: "I definitely can't get in. You still have a glimmer of hope. If all else fails, you'll just have to wait for them at the door."

Ai Haibara glanced at the height of the window; there were a few places she could use as leverage. But then she looked down at her high-heeled strappy sandals: "How am I supposed to climb up in these?"

"Just take your shoes off."

Ai Haibara subconsciously took a step back, but looking into Wen Shui's pure eyes, she felt that she might have been overthinking things.

"Then let's give it a try." Haibara sighed.

She then took off the pink cardigan she was wearing and handed it to Wen Shui, then, holding his shoulder, bent down and took off the strappy sandal on her left foot.

Delicate, soft bare feet are exposed to the air.

The fair skin on the instep showed faint marks from the leather straps, and the small, delicate toes were as translucent as cardamom pods. The neatly trimmed nails reflected a diamond-like brilliance in the sunlight.

"I...I suddenly feel a little regretful."

After feeling the scalding gaze of the warm water, Ai Haibara's cheeks flushed slightly, and her tiny toes, suspended in mid-air, couldn't help but curl up slightly.

Wen Shui: "Don't worry, we have connections in the Metropolitan Police Department. Even if we're discovered, nothing will happen."

Ai Haibara: "I'm a little worried about you."

"That kind of worry is unnecessary." Wen Shui said with displeasure.

Finally, through a combination of coaxing and cajoling, he managed to get Ai Haibara to take off her other shoe. She nimbly climbed to the second-floor window, opened the unlocked ventilation window, and slipped inside without any trouble.

After waiting for a while, Ai Haibara confirmed that no one was home, then went back to the window and sent a signal to Warm Water.

Wen Shui then picked up Ai Haibara's shoes and walked towards the main entrance.

As she walked, Wen Shui suddenly looked at the shoes in her hand.

These cool, strappy sandals are perfect for summer and have a high-quality look. The slightly faded leather soles give off a pleasant fragrance and a subtle leather scent.

After being exposed to sunlight, the arch area of ​​the shoe soles faintly shimmered with glistening watermarks.

"That Haibara actually doubts her own companion. What an insecure woman," Wen Shui thought to himself as he walked to the door of the second-floor corridor, only to find it still closed. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Ai Haibara's voice came from behind the door.

Wen Shui: "It's me, open the door."

After a few seconds of silence, Ai Haibara asked again, "Who is it?"

Wen Shui's face showed a helpless expression: "He is Princess Ai's loyal servant."

The door opened, and Ai Haibara stood barefoot in the entryway. She immediately snatched the sandals from Wen Shui's hand, and even brought them to her nose to smell them before putting them on.

"It doesn't smell bad," Wen Shui said.

"You...you smelled it?!" Ai Haibara exclaimed in shock, feeling as if she might drop her sandals onto the warm water in her face at any moment.

Wen Shui complained, "Who would willingly smell that kind of thing? But if it really had a smell, I would feel it if I held it in my hand."

Ai Haibara seemed relieved: "I see. Then come in."

Wen Shui walked into the entryway and casually closed the door. When she turned around, she found that Ai Haibara had already put on her shoes, but the blush on her face hadn't completely faded yet. She really didn't know what was there to be shy about.

"Let's just take a look around for now," Wen Shui said, taking out her investigation gloves.

The two then split up to search for clues in the room.

The layout of this rental apartment is similar to Wen Shui's; both are small in size but have all the necessary amenities.

As soon as she arrived, Wen Shui found the landlord's name, Yoshinaga Midori, in the ramen shop's questionnaire.

The two exchanged a glance, and their faces simultaneously lit up with surprise.

Surprisingly, they actually found the right place.

What followed was a thorough search, but unfortunately, Matsuzaka Ume seemed to be deliberately trying to conceal her identity, and they found no photos or anything that could prove her previous identity.

Judging from the dust on the furniture and floor, she hasn't been back here for several days, and it's unclear whether she has changed her hiding place.

However, it's not that we haven't found any clues at all.

Ai Haibara held a stack of advertising leaflets in her hand and slowly said, "This covers all the consumer venues that young women might come into contact with, including restaurants, beauty salons, luxury goods, and so on."

"Did you find anything?" Wen Shui asked.

Ai Haibara: "Judging from the dates, these were high-end places a few months ago, but about half a month ago, the consumption level suddenly dropped a lot."

She even had to fill out a survey at a ramen shop to get a better deal.

Wen Shui's eyes lit up: "So, she's recently started to run out of money?"

Ai Haibara nodded slightly: "That's right, it fits the situation where Midori Yoshinaga takes revealing photos to make money."

"Did you find anything?" Ai Haibara asked again.

Wen Shui smiled and opened a transparent bag, which was full of lighters: "I collected these from under the sofa and under the refrigerator. They were all out of gas, and judging from the wear and tear, they must have been used before."

It had the phone numbers of many Kabukicho shops in Shinjuku printed on it; I guessed she probably frequented those places.

After Wen Shui finished speaking, he took out a stack of business cards from behind him: "The people on these business cards are mostly employees and middle-level managers of some companies. Some of them even have lipstick marks on them."

Ai Haibara: "It seems that Ume Matsuzaka must have worked as a hostess in a Kabukicho."

She paused, then said, "But these clues alone seem to be too few."

Ai Haibara is right; the clues they discovered only prove that their previous assumptions were correct.

It is indeed possible that Matsuzaka Ume was involved in the Slit-Mouthed Woman murder case and then hid in this rented house under an assumed name. After running out of money, she chose to become Hiroki Kakutani's model, and was eventually discovered by Nukumizu and the others.

However, these clues cannot be considered conclusive evidence.

There was no way to find Matsuzaka Ume's whereabouts.

Just then, Wen Shui suddenly smiled mysteriously and pulled out a tattered business card.

This business card clearly shows signs of being torn and then taped back together. Judging from the curled edges, it must have been handled and played with frequently.

The document contained the contact information for a person named "Professor Mashima".

Warm Water: "I found this in the lining of her pillow; it must be something very important to her."

“If we have a way to contact him, Officer Sato should be able to find out the owner’s identity,” Ai Haibara said.

Wen Shui nodded.

The two then checked to make sure no clues had been missed.

After putting everything back in its original place, they left Yoshinaga Midori's rented house through the front door.

As soon as they arrived on the street, Wen Shui noticed several missed calls from Ran on her phone. Wen Shui and Ai Haibara had silenced their phones earlier in preparation for their infiltration and investigation.

After reconnecting with Xiaolan, Wenshui learned that she had already returned from Yuxian and was now near the Kanda River.

Five minutes later, the two arrived near a convenience store.

From afar, Wen Shui and Ai Haibara saw Ran standing at the entrance of the convenience store, holding three ice cream cones and eating them in small bites.

Ran ran over anxiously after seeing Wen Shui and Ai Haibara.

Wen Shui: "You're not planning to perform the 'eat five ice creams in a row' trick in public again, are you? That would scare the kids."

"I'm not that bored. These two are for you." Xiaolan said, handing the ice cream to the two of them.

Wen Shui and Ai Haibara took the ice cream and, like Ran, stood by the roadside and ate it.

At that moment, Ran suddenly noticed that Ai Haibara's outfit seemed a little different from usual.

Although the clothes weren't particularly expensive, the overall look was incredibly well-coordinated and perfectly complemented Ai Haibara's personality; it was definitely the result of careful selection.

Xiaolan scrutinized the two of them with a detective-like gaze: "What were you doing just now?"

"Didn't I tell you that we found an important clue and went infiltrate to investigate?" Wen Shui shrugged.

"Really? You didn't go anywhere else on the way?" Xiaolan looked at Wenshui suspiciously, then glanced at the love hotel next door out of the corner of her eye.

Wen Shui met her gaze with a calm expression.

Ai Haibara, standing next to me, was eating ice cream, but her fair little feet, clad in high-heeled sandals, instinctively curled up slightly.

Just then, a familiar voice rang in Wen Shui's ear: "Hey, have you found that girl yet?"

Wen Shui turned around and saw that it was the woman in the floral shirt who had provided the information earlier. She was carrying a vegetable basket containing scallions and sliced ​​winter melon, so she must have come to buy vegetables nearby.