Chiba Kazunobu drove the police car back along the street and encountered a child in a red dress by the roadside. He immediately stopped the car.
"Conan!"
He shouted at the child, and the child by the roadside paused, so it seemed he had called the right name.
The child looked at the police car and saw who the officer driving was, so he quickly approached.
"Officer Chiba, why are you…"
"Get in the car first."
"Mm."
Edogawa Conan did not refuse and got into the car.
"The case has been resolved. Miwako found the exact location of the two kidnappers, and the two members of Two-Mix have been rescued."
"Miwako…"
Conan was clearly stunned when he first heard that name.
"Ah, she is a beautiful female detective from Investigative Division One who was just promoted to police inspector. It was Miwako's efforts in the previous major bombing case that kept the seriousness of the situation to a minimum, otherwise the Mihana Municipal Building would have been in terrible trouble."
Chiba saw Conan's dazed expression and smiled as he explained to the very intelligent child.
The bombing case by Moriya Teiji?
Conan truly had not expected that the problem in that incident was resolved by a detective.
That incident occurred very suddenly, and he and Heiji were also thinking about the situation of that case. But they were outsiders at the time and had no way to intervene through any identity, so they did not know much about the situation.
They only knew that the case had been resolved, one aspect being the several bombs on the Tokyo Loop Line tracks, and also the large number of bombs hidden within the Municipal Building.
Moriya Teiji did not provide much information in the latter two instances, which made Conan curious. Who exactly behind the scenes could have known that such a large number of bombs were installed in those places?
Suddenly realizing what he had said, Chiba repeatedly slapped his own mouth.
"Conan, do not tell anyone else what I just said."
"It is not suitable for too many people to know about Miwako's matters, otherwise she might be targeted by a lot of trouble. It was also due to safety concerns that her involvement in the previous case was not overly exposed."
Hearing this, Conan thought of his own situation and then nodded slightly.
"Mm, I understand. I will definitely not talk carelessly about Miwako's matters."
"That is good."
Chiba smiled and nodded. No wonder Conan was such a smart child; he listened to reason.
Then he remembered what Inspector Megure had instructed him.
"Oh, by the way, do you know the whereabouts of Ayumi and those children? When you replaced Ayumi to deliver the bag, those children disappeared."
"Eh?"
Conan was clearly stunned, and after realizing, cold sweat slowly seeped down his back.
He thought about it from a child's perspective for a moment and then understood the reason for Ayumi and the others' disappearance.
Those brats… did not give my glasses to Inspector Megure?
Thinking this, Conan knew that his actions this time had almost been ruined by those children.
The reason he had put himself in danger was entirely because Ayumi was just a simple child, and also a girl.
If Ayumi had been responsible for delivering the bag, she would most likely have been dealt with by the kidnappers.
Considering this, he chose to handle the matter himself.
He carried the locator made by Professor Agasa and gave the glasses, which were used to find his location, to those children, hoping they would tell Inspector Megure and allow him to provide support from behind.
Good heavens, those children actually took matters into their own hands to such an extent.
This move almost got him killed.
In the future, such matters should not be handled by those children.
Conan's heart gradually developed some vigilance toward them.
He could not force his thoughts onto true elementary school students. Their personalities and age determined their instability.
Instead of letting these children cause trouble for him from behind, it would be better to tell Inspector Megure his plan directly and have him follow from behind more reliably.
"Mm, I probably know a bit."
Saying that, Conan held up Takayama Minami's bag, pointing at a sticky locator on it.
"This is a toy Professor Agasa made for us. It can be used as a personal locator. The tool to find the locator is my glasses, so I thought of delivering the item in place of Ayumi and having them take my glasses to Inspector Megure, so he could find my location."
"Locator?"
Chiba was a bit dumbfounded. He calmed himself down.
"That Professor Agasa really made some incredible things for you. It is a good thing you are children."
Something like a locator already had a bit of a criminal flavor to it.
However, considering that Professor Agasa most likely just made this as a toy for children to play house with, he did not think too deeply about it.
At the same time, he also understood the reason why those children had disappeared.
Chiba gave a few wry smiles, then ruffled Conan's hair with one hand.
"Conan, next time, tell us police directly about such matters. You cannot rely on children for such actions. Some things still depend on us police."
"Your action of replacing Ayumi was good, but children's behavior is uncontrollable. They are not as smart as you, and their thinking is biased toward children."
"Fortunately, Miwako arrived early this time. If you had arrived earlier, what do you think would have happened to those children? And what would those kidnappers have done to you in the end?"
Conan naturally understood the meaning of Officer Chiba's lecture and also understood that giving his glasses to those children this time was a wrong choice.
"Sorry."
This time, Conan was truly a bit regretful.
"It is okay."
Chiba continued to ruffle Conan's hair, then withdrew his hand.
"Conan, you need to clarify your position in the future."
"You are a very smart child, and in many things, you appear different from ordinary children. But you need to know that the children you are with are not as smart as you. They are, after all, still children, and you cannot treat them as if they are like you."
"In the future, if you encounter trouble, you need to think about involving us police."
Speaking of this, Chiba also realized something. He found a pen in the car, wrote a series of numbers in his usual notebook, and handed it to Conan.
"Conan, this is my contact information."
"If you encounter some things that are difficult to handle on your own in the future, contact me."
"Although I am not as capable as Miwako, compared to some children, I should be much more reliable."
Conan did not refuse, taking the paper with the phone number written on it.
At this moment, he deeply realized a problem. He indeed needed some help from the police, and Officer Chiba was a very good support point. He could seek Chiba's help for some matters.
"Hmm, I understand."
(To be continued.)