Chapter 106: That Damn Madman!
Not only Ichiro, but it would be best if Natsue died soon too.
This was Hatamoto Akie's truest thought.
What's wrong with thinking this way about her own sister? Their grandfather was so biased—what's wrong with her feeling this way?
She could only blame her grandfather for not treating everyone equally.
Natsukawa and Mouri Kogoro exchanged a glance, both looking somewhat helpless.
The Hatamoto family was truly something else—cold-blooded, greedy, and utterly devoid of humanity.
"Don't worry, we'll go look for him," Natsukawa replied.
If Hatamoto Gozo were still alive, Natsukawa would definitely recommend he find a fortune teller to examine the family's feng shui. With this family dynamic, their ancestors were probably rolling in their graves.
However, speaking of Hatamoto Ichiro, Conan had something to say.
Breadcrumbs had been left at the scene of Hatamoto Gozo's death. Among everyone present, apart from the chef's second son, Hatamoto Shoji, only Hatamoto Ichiro would likely use something like an eraser while drawing.
Hatamoto Shoji had been in the kitchen at the time and had an alibi. The only possible culprit who left breadcrumbs at the scene was Hatamoto Ichiro.
While the entire cruise ship was searching for Hatamoto Takeshi earlier, Conan had found Ichiro's sketches in his room.
It wasn't unusual for an artist to draw anything, but drawing his own cousin was highly suspicious.
Moreover, there were at least twenty sketches all featuring Hatamoto Natsue, which was incredibly telling.
Conan's imagination ran wild, combining this with Hatamoto Gozo's angry rebuke of Ichiro that evening about his "unrealistic fantasies and delusions."
The answer was obvious: Hatamoto Ichiro was in love with his cousin's wife.
The final piece that confirmed Conan's suspicion was Ichiro's familiar way of entering the kitchen to retrieve that briefcase containing knives.
Conan had checked it—two knives were missing from the briefcase.
One was the knife Ichiro had just taken, and the other missing one was likely the murder weapon that had been disposed of.
This explained everything.
The reason Hatamoto Tatsuo died was probably because he witnessed Ichiro throwing away the kitchen knife.
As for Hatamoto Hokuro's death, Conan deduced that Butler Suzuki was the culprit. This was because Hatamoto Mariko's wounds were nearly identical to Hokuro's—clearly from the same short blade, the very one Suzuki had used to hold Hatamoto Shoji hostage.
The case was almost solved, but at this point, no one had time to listen to Conan's deductions.
Furthermore, without the tranquilizer dart in his watch, he had no means of putting his uncle to sleep for a "Sleeping Kogoro" performance.
As for using something else to knock his uncle unconscious—that was absolutely out of the question.
The video Anya had filmed of him last time still traumatized him. He really didn't want a repeat of that incident.
The three of them returned quickly.
Ran looked anxious and immediately said, "Dad, the communication system in the control room has been sabotaged, and the cruise ship's propulsion system has been shut down. Without the password, we can't get moving again."
"So we're just stuck at sea now?" Mouri Kogoro's face darkened as he looked over the corridor railing.
The cruise ship had slowed to almost a complete stop.
Now, the luxury vessel was like a helpless boat adrift on the vast ocean.
Without communication equipment and too far from land, their mobile phones couldn't get a signal. This isolated and helpless situation chilled everyone to the bone.
Based on this, Conan confirmed his suspicion: Butler Suzuki was about to make his move.
Natsukawa considered for a moment, then pulled out his phone.
"I'll make the call. My phone is connected to a satellite network—it can communicate even at sea."
"I'll contact the Metropolitan Police Department," Yor said, stepping forward.
Natsukawa nodded and handed over the phone.
Yor's name would undoubtedly carry much more weight.
"Papa, when I was in the control room, I heard a noise coming from below the deck. Like someone was down there," Anya said cutely, adjusting her sunglasses in imitation of Conan.
"A noise?"
The group exchanged glances.
Especially Yor and Ran, who hadn't heard anything.
But seeing Anya's confident expression, could it be that they simply hadn't noticed?
That wasn't actually the case.
Anya possessed the superpower of telepathy—she could read thoughts within an 8-10 meter radius, as long as the person was actively thinking about something.
Therefore, Anya sometimes used this ability like radar, and it proved quite effective.
"Really!" Anya said seriously. "There's movement—a faint, intermittent sound."
Whether it was Butler Suzuki or Ichiro, no one knew.
Natsukawa and Kogoro exchanged a glance and decided to investigate.
After signaling the others not to leave the restaurant, the two departed together.
Natsukawa didn't particularly care if Ireland killed everyone in the Hatamoto family, but he was worried Ireland might go completely insane and sink the cruise ship.
The Organization was full of lunatics—there was nothing they wouldn't do.
The control room was on the first deck.
If the noise was coming from below, it had to be from the cabin on the level beneath that.
Natsukawa and Mouri Kogoro each gripped steel pipes, standing at the doorway below the control room.
They'd picked them up from the deck—when facing armed criminals, having some kind of weapon made them feel safer.
Natsukawa had originally wanted to find another fire axe, but time was of the essence. He needed to quickly pinpoint Ireland's location and determine his intentions.
At the doorway, Natsukawa and Mouri Kogoro positioned themselves on either side, exchanging glances and nodding.
Mouri Kogoro would open the door while Natsukawa raised his steel pipe, ready to deliver a blow to any potential Irish threat that appeared.
Around the corner behind them, Conan's expression was serious, his power-enhancing shoes glowing brightly, a metal bucket in his hands ready to serve as ammunition.
"Conan, kick this when the culprit appears!"
The voice startled Conan, who turned to see Anya standing beside him, carrying a wooden stump nearly half her height.
"I finally managed to drag it here." Anya set down the wooden stump, her eyes widening slightly. "Be a good boy—you don't want Uncle Mouri to find out about this, do you?"
Anya wanted to contribute to the capture operation. She couldn't let Conan steal all the glory.
Conan silently accepted the stump and prepared his kicking stance.
The door swung open, but the worst-case scenario didn't materialize—only a gust of cold wind hit Mouri Kogoro's face.
The room was empty. The observation window's glass had been removed at some point, and cold wind and sea fog poured through, spraying salt water across Kogoro's face.
"Nothing here. Did Anya hear wrong?"
Mouri Kogoro closed the door and wiped his face with his sleeve.
The seawater was salty, fishy, and sticky—wiping it only made things worse.
"Looks like he heard us coming and escaped. The observation window was removed—he probably left through there."
Conan, still around the corner, sighed. This was definitely a professional killer—someone who'd dare climb along a cruise ship's exterior through observation windows.
"Conan, I'm hearing something again!"
Anya whispered in Conan's ear. "Should we go down and look together?"
"Go down?" Conan immediately grasped the implication. Was Butler Suzuki on the second floor of the ship's cabin?
But he clearly hadn't heard anything just now.
Considering that Anya's first tip had been accurate, Conan chose to trust her.
He hesitated.
Should he tell Uncle Mouri and Uncle Natsukawa about this?
No!
He didn't want to get punched by Uncle Mouri again. He'd better investigate on his own—after all, he had his power-enhancing shoes.
However, just as he turned to look for the stairs, his path was blocked.
Natsukawa and Mouri Kogoro appeared around the corner at some point, staring at him with dark expressions.
"Let me explain!"
BANG!
Conan squatted in the corner with a massive bump on his head, drawing circles in despair.
Anya was caught in Natsukawa's arms.
"Papa, let me go! I know where the bad guy is! I heard him!"
Natsukawa ignored her protests and headed straight upstairs.
If it weren't for the fact that little girls shouldn't be scolded too harshly, he would definitely have given Anya a proper lecture.
"Don't you know how dangerous this is? You actually snuck down here when Yor and the others weren't watching."
On the stairs, Natsukawa suddenly felt something was wrong—the handrail was trembling!
What was happening?
Before he could figure out the answer, a violent tremor erupted from below.
BOOM—
A massive explosion echoed across the sea. The calm surface was disturbed by surging waves, and the ship swayed violently from side to side from the impact.
Natsukawa tightened his hold on Anya and sprinted toward the stairs leading to the first floor.
"So exciting!" Anya's enthusiastic cheer almost made Natsukawa stumble and fall.
Damn it, this daughter of his really didn't know when to keep quiet.
A few seconds later, Natsukawa arrived at the first floor, breathing heavily.
Mouri Kogoro and Conan also appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
"What the hell happened?"
There was no answer—Natsukawa had the same question.
The next instant, the sea breeze howled past, carrying a greasy, acrid smell.
Combined with the unsettling noise from moments ago, Natsukawa had a terrible premonition.
Damn you, Ireland! I'll definitely kill you when we get back to shore!!
End of Chapter 106
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