"What? Keiji Aso has been dead for over ten years?"
"Who sent me this letter?"
"Could it be… Keiji Aso's ghost?"
"......"
After leaving the village office, Mouri Kogoro shivered as he lit a cigarette, startled by his own thoughts.
He looked down at Conan, swallowed, and said, "Conan… tell me, is it still not too late if we return the commission fee now?"
Seeing this thirty-seven-year-old middle-aged man actually afraid of ghosts, Conan couldn't help but roll his eyes. He finally understood why Ran was so afraid of ghosts... it was probably because she learned it from Mouri Kogoro!
He said irritably, "Uncle Mouri! There's no such thing as ghosts in this world!"
"The client's meaning is very clear, they just want you to investigate the cause of Keiji Aso's death!"
"Uh…" Mouri Kogoro paused, then laughed and patted Conan's head, saying, "Actually, I knew all along, I was just testing you!"
"Not bad, not bad, your brain works quite fast!"
"Heh heh…" Conan was already used to the other party's shamelessness.
Mouri Kogoro didn't mind, and immediately said with full energy, "Let's go ask around about Keiji Aso now!"
The big and small pair started inquiring for information on Moon Shadow Island. After hitting many dead ends, they arrived at Asai Clinic.
The beautiful female doctor immediately attracted Mouri Kogoro's attention. He put out his cigarette, tidied his clothes, and walked over like a gentleman, starting to inquire, "Excuse me, beautiful lady, have you heard of Keiji Aso?"
"Hmm?" Asai Narumi was a little surprised. She looked at the big and small pair, not understanding why they were asking about her father. She asked doubtfully, "Why are you asking about Keiji Aso?"
"I am a Detective from Tokyo, Mouri Kogoro." Mouri took out his business card, introduced himself, and said, "I was entrusted to investigate the cause of Keiji Aso's death."
"May I ask… who entrusted you?" Asai Narumi couldn't help but ask. She was really curious who else besides herself was investigating her father's death.
"I'm sorry, I cannot answer that question. We have to protect our client's privacy!" Mouri Kogoro shook his head righteously.
This made Conan nod, thinking that Uncle Mouri was a bit useless, but his professional ethics were still quite good.
Just as he was thinking that, the next second he heard Mouri Kogoro say, "But then again, I don't know who the client is, so it doesn't matter if I tell you!"
"......" Conan felt that he had overestimated Mouri Kogoro's shamelessness.
Mouri Kogoro still had his professional principles. He didn't take out the letter, but just said, "I received a letter of commission to investigate the cause of Keiji Aso's death."
"Is that so?" Asai Narumi was secretly disappointed. She thought for a moment and decided to give them some clues to prevent them from running around like headless chickens.
She said, "I've heard about Keiji Aso from the elderly people who come here for treatment—"
Mouri Kogoro and Conan finally learned about Keiji Aso and repeatedly expressed their gratitude to Asai Narumi.
After saying goodbye to the beautiful doctor, time had unknowingly reached the afternoon.
The two walked along the path by the sea, organizing their thoughts.
"Since Keiji Aso and his family were all killed in the fire 12 years ago, the letter of commission must have been sent by a friend or relative who was close to him."
"He wants to know the real cause of Keiji Aso's death!!"
"But… why wait 12 years to investigate? Isn't that too late?"
As he spoke, Mouri Kogoro couldn't help but complain.
Conan retorted, "That might not be the case that they waited 12 years to investigate. Perhaps the client had already sent someone to investigate back then, but they didn't find any results."
He paused, thinking about the content of the letter of commission, "On the next full moon night on Moon Shadow Island, shadows will start disappearing again," and slowly said, "This is likely a crime pre— hmm?"
"Keep talking? Why are you saying 'hmm'?" Mouri Kogoro was a little dissatisfied that Conan was keeping him in suspense!
"Uncle Mouri, look… look over there!!" Conan excitedly pointed his hand, his voice rising by more than ten decibels!
"What happened?" Seeing Conan's nervous look, Mouri Kogoro turned his head with unease.
Then, he saw two people on the beach, Baishi Hui and Ran!
"Oh, I thought it was something. Aren't they just playing by the sea? What's the big deal?" Mouri Kogoro clicked his tongue and started to light a cigarette for himself.
"Uncle Mouri! Look closely!!" Conan shouted, his hands trembling slightly, "Shirashi… Shirashi is applying sunscreen for Ran!"
Speaking of which, he was so full of hatred!!
He had never applied sunscreen for Ran in his life, and this guy just did it?
Damn it!!!
"If he doesn't help, Ran can't reach her back either." Mouri Kogoro exhaled a puff of white smoke, his eyes filled with a bit of relief.
It wasn't that he thought Baishi Hui was that great, but at least Ran was no longer just staring at Shinichi!
Seeing that Mouri Kogoro didn't care, Conan decided to take matters into his own hands!!
Immediately, he charged forward with a face full of anger!
Arriving in front of the two, Conan was about to speak, but Baishi Hui spoke first, "Oh, isn't this Conan? Do you want to try it?"
"Huh? Me?" When Conan heard this, his anger instantly vanished.
He pointed at himself with his finger, his face couldn't help but reveal some wild joy!
Let me apply sunscreen for Ran?
You… you're actually quite nice!
Conan forcefully suppressed the corners of his mouth and said pretentiously, "This… wouldn't this be bad?"
"There's nothing bad about it, come here." Baishi Hui smiled and waved at Conan.
"Then… then I'm coming!" Conan walked over grinning.
Then, he was pressed down on the beach towel by Baishi Hui and was directly smeared with sunscreen all over his face.
"What… what are you doing?" Conan said somewhat blankly, not understanding what the other party was up to.
"Applying sunscreen for you, what else could I be doing?" Baishi Hui said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He spread the sunscreen on Conan's face and said, "You've been running around all day. If you don't pay attention to sun protection, it will be troublesome if you get sunburned."
Only then did Conan realize that what the other party meant by "try it" was to help him apply sunscreen, not to let him apply sunscreen for Ran!
He was very angry and felt that he had been tricked!!
Baishi Hui saw Conan's unhappy face and immediately teased, "You wouldn't happen to want to apply sunscreen for Ran, would you?"
"Uh…" Conan was speechless for a moment and didn't dare to say "yes".
If he said it, wouldn't he become a perverted kid in Ran's eyes?
Looking at Conan's hesitant look, Baishi Hui laughed inwardly. It was simply easy to handle this kind of shy young man who cared about his image!!
He said, "If you want to apply sunscreen for a girl, wait until you grow up a bit! Kids should act like kids and shouldn't think about these lewd things!!"
Conan inexplicably felt like his thoughts had been seen through and was a little guilty for a moment, but then he thought of Ran being taken advantage of by him and was quite resentful!
He immediately said, "Then why can Shirashi apply sunscreen for Ran?"
Baishi Hui said matter-of-factly, "Well, it's not like we can let a stranger apply it for Ran, right?"
Conan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in anger: You brat… you're quite sharp-tongued!