"Can you take me with you?"
Just then, Ai Haibara, who was on the bed, suddenly spoke.
Putting on the appearance of a little girl.
"Huh?"
Fujino voiced his surprise.
He then looked at Ai Haibara, momentarily stunned.
"I want to see how detectives solve cases too!"
Maintaining the little girl facade.
Fujino: "..."
Fujino watched Ai Haibara's expectant expression, his eyebrow twitching.
What... is she up to?
His mind raced.
"Is that not okay?"
Just then, seeing Fujino hadn't responded for a while.
Ai Haibara continued maintaining the little girl act.
Adding a pair of pleading little eyes.
"..."
Being stared at by the little girl made his scalp tingle.
Fujino took a deep breath, paused, then finally spoke: "It's possible, yes, but you just woke up. You should still be very weak, right?"
"Absolutely no problem!"
Ai Haibara stood up from the bed.
"If that's the case... then you can come along... It doesn't really matter anyway..."
Although Fujino had seen collections of Ai Haibara's disguised pouting acts before.
But experiencing it firsthand...
He didn't understand it, but he was greatly shaken.
If Fujino didn't know she was an eighteen-year-old otaku who had shrunk after taking a drug, he would genuinely believe the little girl before him was really under ten years old.
One could only say the Miyano family truly deserved their reputation as master actors.
With acting skills like these, it was a pity not to stock up on Oscars.
After getting Fujino's reply, Ai Haibara ran off to the bathroom to change clothes.
Inside the bathroom.
Ai Haibara looked at her slightly aloof reflection in the mirror, sighing softly: "This kind of acting is really tiring..."
Her actions just now were all part of a strategy to stay at Fujino's house.
Honestly, she didn't quite understand why she was doing this, why she wanted to stay here so badly.
Maybe it was because of Fujino, or maybe because of Fujino Akemi...
Alright, the main reason was still Fujino Akemi.
Fujino Akemi really resembled her sister too much.
That meticulous care reminded her more than once of the past.
She cherished this feeling deeply. Although it was just a false facade, she still wanted this illusion to continue.
Wanting to stay here clearly couldn't bypass Fujino.
Although Fujino was a good person, he was extremely calculating when it came to benefits...
If she could demonstrate some value, her chances of staying would definitely increase significantly.
Perhaps, tagging along could allow her to be helpful.
Life isn't easy, Ai-chan sighs.
...
Soon, Fujino drove Miyano Akemi, Ai Haibara, Niina Kaori, and others to the publishing company for Detective Samonji.
As for Miyano Akemi tagging along.
One could only say, she felt that the child Ai Haibara needed someone to look after her.
To avoid disturbing Fujino's work.
This reason felt somewhat familiar.
The Ford Taurus slowly came to a stop.
Fujino pushed open the car door. What greeted his eyes was a tall building with a few lights still on.
At the top of the building stood an illuminated 'Daigakukan' sign.
"Daigakukan?"
Looking at the sign on the roof, Fujino murmured.
This Daigakukan wasn't a university library or any university building.
It was a famous publishing house in the world of Conan Science.
If Fujino remembered correctly, when watching the anime in his previous life, he often saw the name 'Shogakukan' at the beginning of novel adaptations.
He initially thought it was some elementary school, but it was actually a Japanese publishing company.
This Daigakukan likely corresponded to that Shogakukan.
"That's right, this is the publishing house for my father's Detective Samonji series."
Niina Kaori heard Fujino's murmur and responded.
"Time is of the essence, let's go in quickly."
Fujino nodded, then entered the Daigakukan publishing house with the three girls.
...
Inside the elevator, Fujino looked at the two pretty girls and the one little loli around him, feeling a bit strange.
Why did it inexplicably feel like a big family outing?
Thinking this, he suddenly recalled the classic trio.
Speaking of which, had he formed a trio of his own now?
The classic trio was childhood friends plus her dad and one unlucky elementary school student.
His side was the Soul Lotus tricked into being a sister and the Soul Lotus's younger sister...
Conan: Crap, I've become a substitute.
Just then, Ai Haibara, standing at the front, suddenly turned her head.
She seemed to have noticed Fujino's gaze.
A puzzled expression appeared on her cool face, and she tilted her head slightly.
Fujino cleared his throat lightly, immediately averted his gaze, then looked towards the flashing elevator indicator.
...
Soon, the elevator reached the fifth floor. This was the office of the editor responsible for Niina Jintarou's Detective Samonji.
Publishing houses in this era were notorious hotspots for overtime and late nights.
So even though it was past seven in the evening, the office was still brightly lit.
Various people in professional suits bustled around the office, clearly working overtime.
Led by Niina Kaori, Fujino approached a portly middle-aged man.
"Excuse me, are you..."
The man looked at Fujino, who had arrived with Niina Kaori, finding him somewhat familiar, and asked curiously.
"My name is Fujino. I'm a detective."
Fujino extended his hand and politely shook the man's hand.
"Fujino?"
The man held his hand, thought for a moment, then asked in surprise: "Could you be that high school detective, Fujino?!"
"Yes. I came this time... Ms. Niina, is it alright to state the purpose of the commission?"
Fujino paused, looking towards Niina Kaori.
Niina Kaori nodded understandingly.
After receiving Niina Kaori's consent, Fujino continued: "I've accepted Ms. Niina's commission to investigate her father's disappearance. I have some questions I'd like to ask you."
"Oh, so it's a commission regarding Mr. Niina..."
The man glanced at Niina Kaori, then at Fujino. "In that case, please feel free to ask any questions you need answered."
"Does Mr. Niina Jintarou send manuscripts to your publishing company every week?"
"Yes, Mr. Niina's manuscripts arrive on time every week."
The man raised his wrist, checked the time. "Tonight is the due date. I expect the manuscript will be sent over shortly."
"Could I see those manuscripts?"
"That shouldn't be a problem..."
Saying this, the man walked aside, found several stacks of manuscripts held together by paperclips, and handed them to Fujino.
Fujino took the manuscripts, glanced through them, remained silent for a long moment, then asked Niina Kaori: "These signatures, are you sure they're your father's?"
Fujino was pointing to the signature under the title on the right side of the manuscript cover page.
In Japan, generally, the author's signature is left on the manuscript.
"Yes, those are all my father's signatures."
Niina Kaori nodded. "I already confirmed them the last time I came."
"Ms. Kaori, you don't need to worry too much."
The man offered a simple, honest smile. "If you ask me, Mr. Niina must be so engrossed in writing that he simply forgot to contact you."
"I don't think so."
Just then, Fujino suddenly held up the manuscripts, saying: "Haven't you noticed? The signatures on the sixth and seventh installments are almost identical."
"The sixth and seventh installments..."
Niina Kaori took the manuscripts, looked closely. "It seems so. These two signatures are practically identical."
"But what problem could that indicate?"
The honest man looked puzzled. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."
"It can't be a coincidence."
Fujino's voice lowered slightly: "Everyone's signature is more or less unique, especially an artistic, flowing signature like this. Even with much practice causing signatures to become similar, this is a brush pen... It's impossible for the brush strokes to be identical twice."
"Identical signatures are clearly printed. If it was to save effort, they should have used one signature from the first installment. Why start printing only from the sixth?"
"Could it be because..."
Niina Kaori's face filled with worry. "After the sixth installment, my father couldn't sign anymore?!"
"That seems likely."
Fujino nodded.
Nearby, Ai Haibara, watching this unfold, had a hint of doubt in her eyes.
If she remembered correctly, less than ten minutes should have passed since they entered the building and obtained the manuscripts.
In just ten minutes, this guy Fujino had discovered the anomaly.
It was as if he already knew there was a problem with the manuscripts...
How did he do it...?
Thinking this, Ai's eyes narrowed slightly, feeling things weren't simple.
"Are you sleepy?"
Miyano Akemi noticed Ai Haibara's squinting eyes. "If you're sleepy, I can take you back first... It looks like this case will take a long time."
"No."
Ai Haibara shook her head. "I find this kind of work very interesting."
"Is that so?"
Miyano Akemi smiled gently. "It seems you have the talent to become a detective in the future."
"A detective?"
Ai Haibara lowered her head, lost in thought.
"Then, in that case, my father..."
Just then, a choked sob came from the side.
Niina Kaori's eyes reddened, tears welling up.
"Before things are investigated thoroughly, being sad is useless..."
Fujino comforted Niina Kaori, then asked the man, "Has Mr. Niina shown any abnormalities recently? Your publishing company should have conversations with authors when starting a new series, right?"
"Yes, our publishing company did meet with Mr. Niina several times before starting the series."
Now aware that the situation wasn't simple, the honest man's expression turned serious. "As for abnormalities, perhaps it was the restarting of the Detective Samonji serialization itself..."
"After all, we asked Mr. Niina to restart the series four years ago, but the reply was that Detective Samonji was already dead... People cannot come back from the dead."
"We had basically given up on the series, but two months ago, Mr. Niina called again, saying he wanted to restart the Samonji series..."
"After receiving the news, we immediately stopped another ongoing novel serialization to make layout space for Detective Samonji."