"An online chatroom?" Conan tilted his head, looking at Akemi.
The letter Tsuneo sent contained the answer to the cold joke, so what did that have to do with an online chatroom?
"Well, it was a netizen in Dr. Agasa's online chatroom who brought it up."
"They're willing to pay 50,000 yuan for an autographed photo of that radio host." Akemi smiled and nodded.
She hadn't expected that a certain Repairman would actually send a letter to the radio station.
"Hehehe…" Conan gave a helpless laugh. It certainly sounded like something Tsuneo would do...
"Come on, let's eat. I've made a lot of delicious food."
Akemi pushed Conan towards the dining table.
"You…" Conan had just sat down when he wanted to ask a question.
He had a belly full of questions he wanted to pin Tsuneo and Ai down for answers.
"Later, after we've eaten."
Tsuneo, holding his rice bowl, glanced sideways at the Detective, interrupting him.
No matter how big the matter, it could wait until he had filled his stomach.
Conan: …
…
After dinner, everyone sat on the sofa and started a meeting.
"You rescued her from that Organization?" Conan looked at Tsuneo.
"I just picked her up from your doorstep." Tsuneo sat to the side, still eating his after-dinner dessert.
"My doorstep?" Conan didn't understand why she would be there.
Ai, flipping through a magazine in her hands, slowly spoke.
"The Organization dispatched investigators to your house twice, because you were the only one who had taken that drug whose death hadn't been confirmed."
"As the inventor of this drug, I naturally went along."
"However, your house was covered in dust, with no signs of anyone having lived there."
"The first time, we just went back."
Conan's eyes widened upon hearing this. He hadn't expected the Black Organization to have investigated his house.
Fortunately, he had been staying at Ran's house all this time. Otherwise, even a slight trace of life would have aroused suspicion.
Tsuneo waved his hand in front of Conan's eyes, finally calling the Detective's soul back.
"The second investigation was a month later."
"There was still no change in the house. At that time, even I thought you were dead."
Ai said, a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth, "But when I noticed the subtle changes in the closet, I got goosebumps all over."
"A month ago, all your childhood clothes that were clearly there were gone."
"Combining this with the results of the APTX4869 experiment, where the mice successfully shrank."
"I deduced that Shinichi, whose whereabouts were unknown, had likely turned into a child."
Conan's voice trembled slightly as he heard this, "Then, what about the people in your Organization?"
If others found out he was still alive…
Ai lowered her head, focusing on her magazine, "I already changed your information to confirmed dead."
"As for the reason, as someone said, you are a very valuable mouse for research."
She said, turning to look at Tsuneo, who was eating dessert with Dr. Agasa.
"Shiho." Akemi gave her sister a reproachful look.
Mice, or whatever...
How could she say such a thing in front of Conan?
"Since it's the drug you invented." Conan paused, a look of anticipation on his face.
"The research data for the drug is enormous, and I can only remember a small part of it, and…" Ai reached under the magazine on the table, pulled out a newspaper, and handed it to Conan.
"After I escaped, everything related to me within the Organization has probably been completely erased."
Conan took the newspaper, frowning.
A news report about a pharmaceutical company catching fire for unknown reasons occupied the front page.
"It's this company. I passed by it once before." Tsuneo stood behind the sofa, looking down at the newspaper as he spoke.
"When?!" Conan immediately turned and asked.
"That night I picked her up. I even saw Gin's Porsche there." Tsuneo said, smiling at Ai.
This time, it was Ai's turn for her expression to change.
She looked as if she had seen a ghost.
Her panic was even greater than Conan's when he learned her true identity.
Ai hurriedly pulled out the car emblem Tsuneo had given her earlier from the drawer under the table.
Dr. Agasa and Tsuneo hadn't explained it clearly before, so she hadn't taken it seriously, thinking he was just fooling a child with it, but she hadn't expected!
"Porsche 356A…"
Conan rubbed his temples.
Another one…
"You, why did you give me something like this?!" Ai held it like a burning hot coal, trembling uncontrollably.
Although she usually seemed calm, her inner fear was stronger than anyone else's.
"What's wrong with her???" Seeing the huge contrast in Ai, Conan turned to Tsuneo.
"You have persecutory delusion; she probably has some after-effects too." Tsuneo tapped his head with his finger.
Perhaps it was because of excessive fear that she could activate a strange radar system…
Ai threw the car emblem onto the table, looked at her sister, took a deep breath, calmed down again, and said, "Professor Hirota."
Tsuneo and Conan simultaneously turned to look at Akemi.
"Professor?" Akemi didn't understand why her sister suddenly mentioned her university professor.
"Sister, do you remember me asking you about the floppy disk yesterday?" Ai asked Akemi.
"I remember." Akemi nodded.
Those floppy disks containing travel photos were all made by Professor Hirota. She had sent them to her sister to see, and after her sister sent them back, she returned them to the Professor.
"After I sent the floppy disks back to you, I found that a floppy disk containing some drug data also went missing." Ai said, looking at a certain Detective.
"So, it's very likely that the Professor has a floppy disk that you accidentally sent out!" Conan's eyes lit up again.
"Indeed, that possibility cannot be ruled out." Ai nodded.
"Akemi, you should know Professor Hirota's phone number and address, right?" Conan asked Akemi.
"Yes." Akemi said, standing up and walking back to her room to find her phone book.
"We need to use a public phone to ask." Ai sat on the sofa, crossing her legs, and reminded him.
Because it was someone related to her sister, the person was likely under the Organization's surveillance.
"Right, if we have to go there to get it…" Conan paused here, then exchanged glances with Ai.
Both of them looked at Tsuneo simultaneously.
"Huh?"
Tsuneo tilted his head, looking utterly bewildered.
"I charge a lot…"
📖 Enjoying the story? By joining my Patreon, you'll gain early access to new chapters and exclusive content available only to supporters.
🌐 Find me here: pat*eon*com/DaoistRoeoNQ
I, Tomoya Aki, Will Not Be a Simp (45 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Summoning Furina and the Genshin Gang to Reality (33 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd: Stranded in Another World, Surrounded by Valkyries (33 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: I Refused the Path of Betrayal and Chose to Rewrite Fate (66 Chapter)
I Only Wanted to Fix Machines, Not Help Conan Solve Murders (63 Chapter)
One Piece: I Brought Piltover's Tech to the Pirate Era (75 Chapter)
From Diablo to Marvel: The Barbarian Who Crushes All Heroes (96 Chapter)
Resident Evil: Ethan's Epilogue Is a Road Trip With a Dead Girl (65 Chapter)
Date A Live: Kurumi Rebuild (65 Chapter)
Harry Potter: The Lion of the Serpent House (76 Chapter)
I Just Wanted a Quiet Life... So Why Am I an Uma Musume Trainer?! (145 Chapter)
The Irregular at Magic High School: Everyone Loves My Brother?! (130 Chapter)
Runeterra: Prince of Demacia (17 Chapter)
Love is War: What If Kaguya Ha (10 Chapter)
Blue Archive: One Last Memory (36 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it.