Conan's corpse picker

Chapters 3745 and 3758 [Little Light Bulb Ai Haibara] Requesting monthly votes (づど)

Officer Shiratori choked on his words: "..."

Amuro Tooru: "I've been handling too many cases lately, and I'm not sure which one I offended. Luckily, those people aren't very strong, and I managed to shake them off—but I'm not sure if they're lying in ambush outside. Why don't you guys go on a patrol and come check it out for me?"

"..."

Officer Shiratori was at a loss for words.

Passing by and seeing Jiang Xia sleeping, then running over to touch his plush bear, is undoubtedly highly suspicious.

But if the plush bear contains someone Jiang Xia knows, then it doesn't seem so suspicious anymore—maybe Amuro is a bit strict and doesn't like his detectives sleeping soundly in broad daylight.

Alas, evil capitalists.

Although he still had some doubts, after listening to Amuro Tooru's words, Inspector Shiratori suddenly realized that from the detective boss's perspective, the plush bear's reaction of immediately running for its life when being chased seemed very reasonable.

"Well, forget about calling the police. We've already investigated; this should be a misunderstanding." Officer Shiratori tacitly allowed the other party to transform from a suspect into a witness.

"Do you remember two people in employee uniforms carrying a large box leaving the coffee shop just now?"

“I vaguely remember,” Amuro said. “They almost bumped into me in the coffee shop corridor. What’s wrong with those two?”

Officer Shiratori said sadly, "They've taken Jiang Xia away!"

Amuro Tooru put on an act, letting out a shocked voice: "What?!"

Officer Shiratori: "It's still uncertain whether this was a spur-of-the-moment decision or premeditated—I've already sent people to keep an eye on the amusement park's entrances and exits. Jiang Xia shouldn't have been evacuated from the amusement park yet, you..."

"I'll go find it right away." Amuro Tooru said like a reliable and helpful citizen. "Leave it to me."

"Good!" Officer Shiratori breathed a sigh of relief: Jiang Xia is so capable, his boss should be just as good... At least judging from his escape skills just now, Amuro Tooru is far beyond ordinary people. Hopefully, he also has this talent in finding people.

After hanging up the phone, Amuro Tooru tossed aside his plush uniform and excused himself from work with a perfectly valid reason.

Of course, he had no intention of helping the police find Jiang Xia.

“That bastard Wu Zuo always drags Jiang Xia into the stage, making him a link in the chain of revealing the answer.”

Although solving cases is a detective's job, this kind of exploitation is still unpleasant—he was determined to hide Jiang Xia until the last moment, do everything he could to sabotage Wu Zuo's stage, and also to prevent Jiang Xia from being used as expendable material for no reason.

However, before that, there is a rather crucial issue.

...Is Matsuda actually Usagi?

If so, how exactly did he escape from the Ferris wheel three years ago, and how did he suddenly become a ruthless cadre skilled in using people?

"...This process is too hard to imagine. Let's assume for now that Matsuda isn't Uzo. After all, the real Uzo wouldn't suddenly appear in front of me, much less push me out of the explosion's range."

Then comes the next, even more troublesome problem.

Who exactly is this Matsuda? Where did he come from?
Just thinking about it for a little while makes my head feel like it's about to explode.

Amuro Tooru re-listed countless possibilities he had already considered, then eliminated them one by one. After much deliberation, he brought back some of the eliminated options... Within minutes, he felt even more exhausted than when he was dealing with the group of people chasing him earlier.

“Forget it, without enough clues and evidence, even if we list 1 possibilities, we still won’t get to the truth.” Amuro sighed, realizing once again the importance of intelligence. “We still have to start with what we can see and touch.”

As for the specifics of the operation, Amuro Tooru already has a plan.

First, Jiang Xia, an important actor, was taken away and protected by him.

"Furthermore, the Metropolitan Police Department will certainly not turn a blind eye to Jiang Xia's kidnapping. A large number of police officers will be flooding into this amusement park—such a large number of people and such a sudden change are enough to further disrupt a complete stage."

"At that time, not only will it disrupt Uzo's plans, but if all goes well, we might even be able to capture Matsuda and take him back for questioning."

As he thought about it, Amuro Tooru couldn't help but smile.

However, speaking of Jiangxia...

He suddenly recalled that terrible time when he went out with Jiang Xia, and they would either get a flat tire, get lost, or get involved in all sorts of messy cases.

"...The event constitution should not be able to play any role when asleep."

A theoretical materialist muttered, "Those two informants should be able to do a good job of carrying and protecting Jiangxia, right?"

……

While Amuro Tooru was struggling with his decision.

On the other hand, Officer Shiratori was also very conflicted.

—Jiang Xia can't be ignored, the drug dealers can't be ignored, and Officer Sato's date... well, he can't be ignored either.

If it were just a regular date, it wouldn't be a problem, but this time, the date not only looked exactly like Matsuda from head to toe, but he even wore a ring!
Wearing a ring on a date is a sure sign that the other person has some ulterior motive.

Given how easily Officer Sato is fooled... cough, given Officer Sato's straightforwardness and his unwavering commitment, once the other party takes advantage of the situation and successfully proposes, it's practically the same as stepping into the hall of marriage, and there's no way to turn things around!
Of these three difficult options, the only consolation is that the drug dealer usually operates after nightfall, while it is still broad daylight, making it relatively safe for the time being.

"In other words, there are only two problems that need to be solved: Jiang Xia and Officer Sato!"

Taking a moment to check on Sato Miwako's situation, he saw the two of them chatting and laughing, with an adorable child beside them. The harmonious scene of this family of three made Officer Shiratori's vision go black.

"According to my plan, after giving the amusement park tickets to Professor Agasa and the group of children, and then introducing them to Inspector Sato, as long as I can find a way to trick Professor Agasa away, Inspector Sato will definitely not just watch the children be forced to leave as soon as they arrive at the amusement park—she will definitely take these children in and take them to the amusement park to avoid disappointing them."

"A perfectly good date is ruined by five chattering kids. This kind of occasion is definitely not suitable for a proposal either—meaning, with just six tickets, I can easily destroy this date."

"But now..."

In the blink of an eye, the most dangerous and mischievous kids had disappeared, leaving only the most well-behaved child beside Officer Sato and the curly-haired man.

Moreover, this child is unusually low-key, almost like a mute person—she's more noticeable than any light bulb, not even the little red light on the remote control.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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