Outside the villa.
"Inspector Megure, your police force is really something. Turning a homicide into a suicide."
Faced with Eri Kisaki's words, Inspector Megure wore a bitter expression and replied weakly, "Attorney Kisaki, I wasn't the one handling that case. It has nothing to do with me."
"Aren't you from the Metropolitan Police Department?"
"Um—" Inspector Megure was speechless. He turned to Kogorō for help.
Kogorō pretended not to see him, looking up at the sky above, admiring the morning clouds.
Not bad. It was still morning. Kurosawa had resolved things far too quickly. It barely took a few minutes. The most time-consuming parts were just waiting outside the door for the police and the journey to the villa.
"We're all out now. Why don't we go shopping? What do you think?" Sonoko asked Ran and Kurosawa.
Kurosawa nodded. "Let's grab some breakfast while we're at it. We haven't eaten yet."
"Mom, are you coming with us for breakfast?" Ran asked her mother.
"Sure." Eri smiled. She hadn't seen her daughter in a long time and naturally wanted to spend more time with her.
Inspector Megure breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Without a word, he called over one of his subordinates to drive Kurosawa and the others. As for Conan, he shamelessly followed along.
Scene change. Beika Town 2-Chome. Inside an old-fashioned Western-style breakfast shop.
Eri ordered quite a lot of food, handed the menu to the waiter, and said to the children beside her, "The first time I ate breakfast at this shop was in high school. For those few years, I could say I ate here all the time. I wonder if the taste has changed."
"Mom, you've never told me before. And you've never taken me here to eat." Ran pouted.
Eri explained, "Actually, a friend brought me to this shop."
Sonoko's eyes gleamed with gossip. "Hehe, was it Uncle Mouri?"
"No."
Sonoko and Ran were quite surprised. They both knew that Kogorō and Eri were childhood friends. It was a bit odd that someone else had brought Eri here for breakfast in high school.
Kurosawa asked, "Aunt Kisaki, was it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl," Eri smiled.
Ran immediately breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a boy, it was fine.
"You still remember this place?" A cheerful voice came from behind everyone.
Conan, in particular, almost spat out the water he was drinking when he heard the voice. He turned around with everyone to see a very beautiful woman.
She had long, fluffy brown curly hair with natural curls at the ends—a neat style that combined sweetness and competence. Her oval face was delicate and petite. Her eyes were clear blue, curving into crescent shapes when she smiled. She wore a light-colored knit sweater and jeans, highlighting her vitality and youthful charm.
"Yukiko, when did you get back?"
"Aunt Yukiko~"
The woman before them was none other than the once-nationally famous actress, Shinichi Kudō's mother, Kudō Yukiko.
"I came back last night. I woke up this morning starving, so I came here for breakfast." Kudō answered with a smile, winking at Conan.
Conan's lips twitched. He lowered his head, not wanting to acknowledge his mother for the time being.
Seeing her son ignore her, Yukiko pouted. "Conan, aren't you going to say hello to me?"
Cold sweat instantly beaded on Conan's forehead. He hurriedly said, "No, no, Yukiko—"
Yukiko seemed to have heard something terrible. A threatening sound came from her nose.
Conan froze, then quickly changed his words. "Good morning, Yukiko-neechan."
"That's a good boy." Yukiko picked up her son and pinched his cheek hard, making Conan feel extremely embarrassed, wishing he could just bang his head against the table.
Eri couldn't help but laugh at the scene.
"So Conan and Shinichi are related after all. No wonder he always gets calls from Shinichi." Ran whispered to Sonoko beside her.
Sonoko nodded. "Yeah, judging from how familiar Aunt Yukiko and Conan are, they must have met often before."
Kurosawa thought of something else. In the anime, the next case after the one they had solved that morning seemed to be related to Kudō Yukiko. But if Kudō needed help, she would probably only ask her son, Shinichi—not him.
Forget it. That case happened in Gunma Prefecture. I'd better not go that far to join the fun. Kurosawa thought to himself. It's only one Origin Point anyway. I might as well miss it.
Because while in Tokyo, he felt he had already missed many Origin Points, but it didn't affect him. Anyway, he had already earned one Origin Point today. He might encounter another tomorrow. There was no need to go all the way to Gunma Prefecture.
After a while, Yukiko stopped bothering Conan and started chatting with the others. Among them, she chatted the most happily with Kurosawa, constantly asking him to call her "older sister." Unfortunately, she was suppressed by Eri next to her and ultimately did not succeed.
Kurosawa said, "So, it was Aunt Kudō who brought Aunt Kisaki here back then."
"Yes." Kudō was quite elegant and dignified when she was serious. "I never thought that after so many years, we could still sit here together. It's really nostalgic."
Eri nodded in agreement and then asked, "By the way, is there something you need to do this time?"
"Yes. I need to take Conan somewhere." After Yukiko finished speaking, she rubbed her son's head, messing up his hairstyle.
I knew it. Kurosawa thought. Even in the original episode, I really wasn't invited.
"Huh? I don't want to go." Conan didn't know what it was about, but refusing was the best he could do.
"Is that so?" Kudō smiled and whispered in her son's ear, "It might be something unusual. Are you sure you don't want to go?"
Hearing this, Conan's curiosity was piqued. If his own mother said it was unusual, then it definitely was. Thinking about how long he hadn't solved a case, he felt like ants were crawling all over him. He nodded decisively. "Okay. I'll go with you."
"That's right." Yukiko ignored her son and started talking to Kurosawa again. "Hoshino, your deductions are even better than Shinichi's. Is there some secret?"
"Probably from watching a lot of anime."
"Anime?"
Except for Eri and Yukiko, Ran and the others knew very well that Kurosawa was about to start spouting nonsense again. Wait—it's definitely something. His deductions were all learned from anime. But if you asked him to name the anime, he'd make up an excuse that he forgot it and couldn't remember it. He really loved to tease people.
Read advanced chapters and support this book on my p a t r e o n.[1]
[1] patreon.com/WangLing338