Ai Haibara looked back at Ayumi, but didn't speak, continuing to walk forward on her own.
You watched Ayumi and Mitsuhiko chase after Haibara and try to strike up a conversation, then whispered to Conan, "Those two really are overly friendly, they just love to make fools of themselves!"
"You, isn't that a bit harsh?" Conan frowned.
"Um, Haibara-chan, you just moved here, right? Where do you live?" This was Mitsuhiko.
"Don't be shy, we'll walk you home," This was Ayumi.
"2 Chome, 22 Beika Town," Haibara secretly chuckled in Conan's direction, "I live there now."
"This is really interesting, Shinichi. My apologies, I won't expose Haibara for now, so let her play her tricks on you!" You noticed Haibara's chuckle and knew she was going to trick Conan, but since it wasn't a big deal, You didn't plan to warn Conan.
Indeed, Conan's expression was confused. "22 Beika Town? Isn't that near my house? But I don't remember anyone named Haibara living there!"
Genta, who was boasting about the Detective Boys to Haibara, suddenly found a note in his shoe. A boy named Toshiya needed their help to find his older brother.
"What? Disappeared from home!" Genta asked in surprise.
"Mm," Toshiya nodded. "My brother suddenly disappeared a week ago in the evening. He just said he was going to a friend's house and never came back. The police are helping us look for him, but they haven't found him yet, so I wanted to ask for your help..."
Conan said with a solemn expression, "Anyway, let's go to his house and see. You should come too, right?" Conan turned his head and glanced at the excited You.
"Of course," You smiled. "Kidnappings must be very interesting. Of course, I have to check it out."
Conan's face twitched. "You!"
Ayumi also forcefully pulled Haibara along.
Led by Toshiya, the Detective Boys arrived at his house. Just as they reached the doorstep, they saw two police officers walk out of the house. "Well then, Madam, we'll be heading back. Please contact me if there's any news."
Toshiya's mother nodded wearily. "Thank you for your hard work!" Seeing Toshiya bring in a group of children, she asked, "Toshiya, are these all your friends?" Seeing Toshiya nod, she continued, "Oh, do you want anything to eat?"
"No thanks, Auntie, please go about your business. We'll be leaving soon," You interjected.
Conan whispered to Toshiya, "Let's go check your brother's room first."
Arriving at his brother's room, You felt that this incident probably wouldn't require Batman's intervention, so he found a chair and sat down, pulling out his phone to play a game.
"Conan, there's nothing to find here, no matter how much we look!" Genta searched for a while and found nothing, so he complained to Conan, "I think this must be a runaway!"
"No!" Pulling open a drawer, Conan found a wallet inside. "This wallet belongs to your brother, doesn't it?" Toshiya nodded.
"If he ran away from home, he would at least take his wallet. So it must be an accident. He hasn't been back for a week and didn't take his wallet, so he was probably involved in some incident." You interjected.
Conan nodded. "That's right. No money on him, and no news for a week, so the probability of kidnapping is high. And if there's no ransom call, it's definitely not for money. It's also possible that something happened to your brother. Has your brother called home or sent any messages during this time?"
Toshiya thought for a moment. "Brother once called home, but my grandmother happened to answer. She's hard of hearing, and my brother talks fast, so she couldn't hear what he said at all. The only thing she heard was that he seemed to be with someone who looked a lot like Soseki Natsume."
"Soseki Natsume?" Conan rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
"Conan, there are a lot of paintings under the bed!" Ayumi pulled out a stack of paintings from under the bed.
"These paintings are so strange!" Ayumi said, holding up a painting.
"Picasso," Haibara suddenly spoke.
"Wow! It's true, it's an imitation of Picasso's 'The Weeping Woman'," Mitsuhiko recognized the painting's name.
"Van Gogh, Monet, Gauguin..." You rattled off the original artists of the paintings, which made Haibara look at You in surprise. She didn't expect an elementary school student to know so much.
"These are all painted by my brother. My brother is famous in his high school art club for being good at imitating famous artists' paintings," Toshiya explained.
"Hey, so does that mean he was kidnapped to paint?" Genta asked in surprise.
You looked at the paintings and shook his head. "Although they're quite similar, the color usage and brushstrokes are too different. No one would buy paintings like these..."
Conan continued, "The purpose of kidnapping your brother definitely isn't for money, because your family doesn't look like one of those particularly rich families. And if it really was for ransom, kidnapping you might be more suitable than your brother." Conan looked at a portrait painting. "However, what's interesting is this painting."
Ayumi looked at the painting and said, "Huh? I think I've seen this person somewhere?"
Toshiya explained, "It's Soseki Natsume. My brother is a fan of Soseki Natsume, he really likes this painting and even took it to the town to exhibit it. However, this painting is an imitation of a photograph, so everyone who went to see the exhibition criticized it, except for one strange woman who praised it."
"Strange woman?" Conan asked.
"Mm, she wore a large hat, and was dressed in all black from head to toe," Toshiya described.
Conan's nerves immediately tensed up.
Seeing Conan's nervous expression, You sighed. "Conan, not everyone who wears black clothes is a member of the Organization, okay? Like me, for example!"
Conan nodded, relaxing. "When did this happen?"
Toshiya thought for a moment. "About ten days ago?"
Conan continued to ask, "Besides the woman in black, were there any men in black?"
"Let me think, it seems there were two other people who followed, yes, two men in black!" Toshiya said with certainty.
"What!? Could it be..." Conan's pupils constricted. He immediately pulled Toshiya and ran out. "Your brother must have been called outside and taken away. Quickly take me to places nearby where your brother might have gone!!" Conan said to Toshiya while running.
"Do you have a black-clothes sensitivity, Shinichi?" You really wanted to tease Conan.
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