Maori Kogoro began to understand everything

"It's troublesome."

Outside the building is a VIP observation elevator. Secretary Sawaguchi takes everyone on the elevator. As the height continues to rise, the view becomes wider and wider, and almost the entire Nishitama City is in sight.

Except for a taller building right in front, all other buildings are flat and look quite small compared to the Twin Towers. You can even see the rolling mountains in the distance.

"so beautiful!"

Ayumi and the others threw themselves at the transparent elevator from beginning to end, refusing to leave: "The view is so great, it's like getting closer to heaven step by step!"

"It's too exaggerated, just a little bit high..."

Although he had overcome his fear of heights to a certain extent, Mao Li still leaned against the elevator door behind him with his eyes closed.

"What's the matter, uncle?"

Conan asked curiously.

"No, it's nothing."

Mao Li waited until the elevator reached the 75th floor before he breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped the sweat off his face and walked into the banquet hall which was still being set up.

The spacious conference hall is transparent on all sides, with floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides. Even though the interior has not been fully decorated, it looks magnificent. The green patterned carpet looks quite fresh. There is also a rostrum under construction in the front, with red curtains hanging on both sides.

"We're currently preparing for a banquet, so it's a bit chaotic," Secretary Sawaguchi said embarrassedly.

"Mori-senpai!" A short-haired woman who was talking to someone turned around and said happily, "I'm so sorry to have you come all the way here."

"No way," Mao Li said embarrassedly, "I should have come here alone, but..."

"I am his daughter, Mao Lilan, and my mother asked me to give you her regards."

Xiaolan squeezed forward and introduced everyone, "This is my classmate, Suzuki Sonoko, and the inventor Dr. Agasa, and this is Edogawa Conan, Haibara Ai, Yoshida Ayumi, Madoka Mitsuhiko, and Kojima Genta."

"Hello, everyone," the woman said with a friendly smile, "I'm Tokiwa Mio, and I'd like to introduce myself. This is my painting teacher, the Japanese painter Kisaragi Minemizu..."

The woman had short blond hair and was wearing a red professional suit. She looked like a strong woman and was somewhat similar to Shi Kaobing that everyone had seen before, yet she was still gentle and beautiful.

The daughter of a big consortium...

Conan looked at the people behind Tokiwa Mio.

An old man with a pointed nose, silver-gray hair and beard, his hair tied behind his head, his brows furrowed together, looking like someone who owes him money and looking at him coldly. Even his clothes are very different from others, he is wearing a kimono with a serious temperament.

"Kusugaminesui, could it be the master who is famous for his paintings of Mount Fuji?"

"Yes," Tokiwa Mio smiled and continued to introduce a bald fat man who reeked of alcohol, "This is Mr. Oki Iwamatsu, a member of the Nishitama City Council. When we were building this building, it was thanks to him that he ran around and helped us."

The bald fat man had narrow eyes and a big nose. The remaining hair on both sides of his forehead was blown outwards, which made him look quite funny. He listened to Tokiwa Mio's introduction, burped, straightened his body proudly, and pointed at Maori: "I have heard of you. Isn't your name Confused Kogoro Detective?"

"It's Kogoro Akechi of the Heisei era!" said Maori with a frown.

"And this is the designer of this building," Tokiwa Mio continued, introducing the tall man next to her, "architect Hidehiko Kazama."

The man's face looked as if it had been cut by a knife, and his eyes were hard and aggressive.

"Actually, I have some relationship with you, Mr. Maori," Fengjian Yingyan said, looking directly at Maori, "because I am a disciple of Moriya Teiji."

"Hmm?" Maori's face changed slightly, "Moritani Teiji?"

Fengjian Yingyan smiled and said: "Don't worry, I am different from my teacher. I will not blow up this building."

"Because you're not as paranoid as he is?"

Maori secretly wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Because he, Conan, and the kids from the Junior Detective League were all here, he was a little sensitive...

"But this building is really nice. I really want to live here every day."

Ayumi looked out the French window.

Through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the entire majestic Mount Fuji. The scenery is stunning and charming, as if you are watching a giant 3D stereoscopic movie up close. Of course, it is much better than the movie.

Tokiwa Mio smiled and said, "This is an office area, so of course I can't live here for long. But there is a hotel in Building B next door..."

They all walked to the large floor-to-ceiling windows on the other side, where they could see the roof of another building.

"The roof and the dome seem to be..."

"Building B is a commercial building. There are shops below and restaurants above. There is also an indoor swimming pool on the top floor, which is on the roof of the dome. The roof can be opened."

"very impressive!"

"By the way, Mio," Councillor Oki asked, breathing down his lungs with alcohol, "can I stay at that hotel this week?"

“But it’s not open yet…”

"Does that mean it's not possible?"

"I understand. I will prepare a suite on the 67th floor for you."

Councillor Oki's expression turned from gloomy to cheerful, and he leaned over to Tokiwa Mio and whispered, "If possible, I would like to have dinner with you..."

"Mio!" The painter Kisaragi Minemizu snorted and left, "I want to go back!"

"Ah!" Tokiwa Mio ran after the old man as if she had been saved, "Then I'll take you downstairs..."

"No need!"

"He looks very unhappy." Conan said, looking at the old man's back.

"He was a little angry because Miss Mio was buying up Mr. Kisaragi's paintings everywhere and then selling them at high prices," Kazama explained.

Maori looked at everyone present silently.

Behind the glamour, things aren’t always so beautiful. Owning such luxurious twin towers, there must be a lot of worries, right?

Well, I just hope that the arrival of Conan and I, two detectives with the fate of the god of death, won't bring any accidents to the building's opening ceremony...

Chapter 109 Gin: My dictionary is full of Shirley

"Ok?"

While Maori was thinking about this and that, his eyes noticed Haibara who was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window with his hands behind his back, looking at Mount Fuji.

As usual, Haibara was silent and no one knew what she was thinking, which was completely different from the lively Ayumi and the others.

But Maori always felt that her silence at this moment was not completely the same as usual...

"What's wrong, Ai?"

"Nothing." Huihara shook her head.

"Don't give me that," Maori rubbed Huibara's hair and looked at Mount Fuji. "I don't know what you're thinking, but you just need to remember that you are no longer alone. I, Xiaolan, and Eri are all your backers."

"Backing?"

"Yeah, isn't family the so-called support?"

Maori laughed.

Huibara looked at Maori's smile, feeling a little dazed.

"Hmm," Sonoko sighed as she sat at the podium. She glanced casually at Haibara who was talking to Maori, then looked at the photo in her hand. "The problem must be with the hairstyle, right? I might as well get a perm too..."

……

In the evening, in the Beika-cho commercial street, after returning from Nishitama City, Ayumi privately met Xiaolan at a dessert shop.

"Sister Xiaolan," Ayumi said softly, holding her little hand, "I like Conan so much, but Conan already has someone he likes..."

Xiaolan sat opposite with a little embarrassment: "Are you talking about Xiaoai?"

"No, it's you, Xiaolan," Ayumi said to Xiaolan, "Conan must have fallen in love with Xiaolan, so I hope Xiaolan can tell Conan that you already have a brother Shinichi..."

"This..." Xiaolan laughed dryly, not knowing what to say.

"Otherwise, Conan would be too pitiful." Ayumi said sadly with her head down.

"But I'm not sure Conan really likes me," Xiaolan said with a wry smile, "right?"

"I am very sure!"

"Eh? Why?"

"Women's intuition!" Ayumi affirmed.

"Y-really?"

Xiaolan stared blankly at Ayumi who looked serious.

Kids nowadays are so horrible!

……

The next day, the Metropolitan Police Department searched the meeting room of Section 1.

Xiaolan, Sonoko, Professor Agasa, Mori and Conan were all called over.

Seeing that everyone was present, Megure nodded to Maori and said in a deep voice, "I asked you all to come here for no other reason than that a body was found stabbed to death in a suite in the Twin Towers this morning. The deceased was Oki Iwamatsu, a city council member of Nishitama City. I heard that you were all there when he asked Tokiwa Mio for accommodation."

"This is……"

Conan looked at the photo posted on the whiteboard in shock, "It's indeed that congressman!"

"The time of death was probably between 10 pm and midnight last night. The murder weapon might have been a knife, but it was not found at the scene. The only clue was the small wine glass in Oki's hand that was split in two."

Officer Shiratori placed the broken pieces of the wine glass wrapped in the evidence bag in front of everyone.

It is called a small wine glass, but in fact it looks more like a small cup, and it would be more appropriate to call it a wine cup.

"This small wine glass is a high-priced item. Oki likes to drink a lot, so he probably brought it with sake. We think it is very likely related to the suspect."

"Because the scene was a new building that had just begun to open to the public, there were five suspects."

"Painter Kisaragi Minemizu, Tokiwa Mio, architect Fuzama Hidehiko, Tokiwa Group director Hara Yoshiaki, and Tokiwa Mio's secretary Sawaguchi. We have subpoenaed all five of them, but only Hara Yoshiaki has an alibi."

Maori listened quietly to what Inspector Megure said and slapped his forehead with a headache.

It just so happened that a case happened at this time. I thought that since he and Conan had left, nothing would happen...

……

After leaving the Metropolitan Police Department after the meeting, Maori, Haibara and Xiaolan got on the return train, but unexpectedly they did not see Conan and the others.

"Those kids went to investigate on their own again..."

Maori shook his head helplessly.

Huiyuan glanced at Maori in surprise: "Uncle, aren't you going with them?"

"The police have done all the necessary investigations, and I don't think the shot glass proves anything."

Maori leaned back on the train seat and looked towards Nishitama City.

"I have seen the photos of the evidence collection at the scene with Officer Shiratori, and the autopsy report also clearly stated that the deceased died on the spot. In addition, the bloodstains on the wardrobe at the scene were very neat. The bloodstains were originally taken away by the murderer after the murder... The small wine glass was probably left there intentionally by the criminal..."

"Why did the prisoner go out of his way to leave behind the broken shot glass?"

Xiaolan asked in confusion.

"Who knows? Maybe he wants to mislead the police, or maybe he wants to show off... In any case, Conan and the others won't get any results if they investigate. At most, they can only see if there's a chance to get something out of the suspect..."

As he was talking, Mao Li suddenly thought of the black Porsche he heard about from the Tokiwa Foundation member yesterday.

"Hey, Ai-chan, do you think that the murdered Councillor Oki could be a member of the Black Organization?"

While Xiaolan wasn't paying attention, Maori secretly whispered to Haibara.

"Are you trying to say that he was silenced by the organization?"

Haibara looked straight at Maori.

Mao Li nodded slightly: "Well, I guess so..."

"It's not impossible," Huibara said softly, "They have always recruited some young people with great future prospects from the political, economic, medical and chemical fields. Once they join the organization, the organization will ruthlessly punish those who want to quit the organization or betray the organization with death... Just like they want to kill my sister and me..."

Hearing Huibara mention her sister again, Maori immediately interrupted and said, "It's just my guess, maybe it's just an ordinary murder. That Ohki looks like someone who is hated... and Gin and the others seem to kill people with guns or poison..."

……

The next day, at the home of Tokiwa director Hara Yoshiaki.