Detective Conan: Is Miss Haibara planning to assault a police officer again today?

If she had known earlier that Conan, even when shrunk, was still deeply involved with the police, or if she had understood this sooner, she wouldn't have left yesterday.

It's fine to stay at Higashino Ning's house.

While trying to find ways to fight against the organization, I can also tease this silly guy and banter with him to spice up my life.

Perhaps it's natural for girls to have a basic liking for people who have helped them, or perhaps Higashino Ning just happens to fit her aesthetic and his personality suits her love of teasing and joking.

In short, despite only spending less than half a day together, Ai Haibara found Higashino Ning particularly pleasing to the eye.

Just when the two were unable to find a topic to talk about, Ayumi suddenly pulled out a pile of framed paintings from under the bed.

It was at this moment that Conan snapped out of his deductive thinking and realized that there were two outsiders in the house.

It's one thing for Ai Haibara to be like this, but it's perfectly normal for her not to want to get involved after she's reverted to her cool and aloof persona.

But what about you?

Officer Higashino!

You're a police officer!

Just stand there and watch us kids haphazardly search other people's rooms?

If it were Megure... no, even if it were Inspector Takagi here, they would have all been eliminated by now!

We agreed to investigate together, but you just stood by and watched, didn't you?

Conan blurted out a lot of complaints in an instant.

Higashino Ningya immediately understood Conan's look and slowly said, "Hmm... I think your investigation is quite impressive."

"Since we can't help, not causing trouble is also a form of kindness, isn't it?"

Conan: "..."

What you said makes so much sense, I can't refute a single point!

How can you, an adult, so openly admit that you can't even help a child and accept it so readily?

Conan has never felt so desperate to vent his emotions as he does now.

"We need to get to know this previously unremarkable officer, Higashino."

Conan looked intently at Higashino Ning and secretly made up his mind.

After all, he himself desperately needed a police "insider" so that he could use connections to investigate cases when they came up.

Officer Takagi is a bit simple-minded and sometimes tries to stop people. He thinks Officer Higashino is a perfect match!

Why does a person's gaze shift from being full of complaints to being full of appreciation?

Higashino Ning had roughly figured out the answer in his heart.

Hmm...it seems like someone wants him to be their dog.

Of course, he's just a dog in a certain sense, but Higashino Ning still doesn't want to be called "Higashino Police Dog" one day in the future.

Wow~~ I have to say, "Higashino Police Dog" looks much more imposing than "Takagi Police Dog" or "Megure Police Dog".

But... it's still there!

Higashino Ning put aside his thoughts and stepped forward to Ayumi's side. "Picasso's 'The Weeping Woman,' Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers,' Monet's 'Water Lilies'... These are all masterpieces. Although they are not fakes, they are still quite well painted."

The reason he recognized it was not because he had any in-depth understanding of the artwork, but simply because it was in his art textbook when he was in school.

As someone who is intermittently illiterate despite being literate, Higashino Ning can only read books with pictures when he is illiterate.

Therefore, brand-new art books and geographical atlases became his two favorite collections.

I've never seen the original, but I've seen photos of it.

I haven't been there in person, but I've seen photos.

Higashino Ning's casual and natural attitude inspired admiration in the three children, because the feeling of freely displaying unfamiliar knowledge was really cool.

Those who are still willing to think for themselves, whether adults or children, love the feeling of knowledge overwhelming the brain without leaving any trace.

I don't understand it, but I find it impressive; I don't really like watching it.

Ayumi's smile was incredibly healing. Pointing to the last drawing, she asked, "Officer Higashino, what about this one?"

"Natsume Soseki," Higashino Ning and Conan said in unison.

This is a sketch by Natsume Soseki.

Jun, standing to the side, said with some pride, "These were all drawn by my older brother. He's famous at school for his ability to imitate famous paintings!"

Mitsuhiko quickly chimed in, "Then your brother wasn't kidnapped and forced to paint, was he?"

Conan shook his head. "It's unlikely. As Inspector Higashino just said, although Junya's drawing is very good, it's far from being a perfect imitation."

But Higashino Ning raised an eyebrow and pointed to the sketch, "What if the prisoner only asks him to draw this one? I think this one is already a perfect replica."

My dear, there is more to come after this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. There will be more exciting chapters later!

"Only this one?" Conan was stunned, suddenly feeling a strong sense of déjà vu about the painting in front of him.

At that moment, Ai Haibara walked closer with her arms crossed and said calmly, "The portrait on the 1,000 yen note."

"That's right!" Conan suddenly realized. "This is indeed the portrait on the banknote, but... could the criminal have kidnapped him to make him draw counterfeit money...? It doesn't seem like it would be that casual."

"The task of drawing counterfeit money requires a high level of skill and is usually done by very experienced people."

Ai Haibara stretched and yawned, "I was just mentioning it casually, since there really is a counterfeit money gang operating in Tokyo recently."

As she spoke, she glanced at Conan provocatively, "What, doesn't Edogawa-san usually watch the news?"

You little detective who loves to pretend, what are you doing trying to steal the spotlight?!

Conan, however, only sensed provocation and couldn't help but want to roll his eyes.

He hadn't been reading the newspaper during that time, because his uncle's family didn't subscribe to a daily newspaper; they would only go downstairs to buy a copy when they wanted to read it.

At that time, Kogoro Mouri didn't want to know about current events; he only wanted to know which izakaya (Japanese pub) owner was pretty.

Seeing that the topic had already come to this point, Dongye Ning simply nodded, "Yes, I have indeed been following up on a counterfeit money case these past few days, and we even caught a suspect last night."

"The suspect has been caught?!"

Conan asked in surprise, "Did you find out anything?"

Ai Haibara asked in surprise, "You're not hurt, are you?"

Higashino Ning: "......"

His decision to insist on adopting Ai Haibara was definitely the right one!

Chapter 14 Higashino Ning: Getting angry is bad for your kidneys

"All we know is that this counterfeit money case is most likely backed by a woman codenamed Silver Fox in the industry."

"You're not injured, don't worry."

After answering the two people's questions in turn, Higashino Ning looked at Junya and asked, "I wonder if your brother has been approached by any people in society who have expressed something like 'I admire you very much'?"

"Especially regarding this sketch."

Junya was almost completely bewildered by the back-and-forth banter between Higashino Ning, Conan, and Haibara Ai.

Now that he had a clear question, he thought for a moment and gave his answer, nodding firmly, "Yes!"

“My brother took this painting to an exhibition before. Because it was a portrait, everyone was not very interested. Only one strange woman praised my brother for painting it very well.”

Conan pressed, "How strange is it?"

Junye recalled and described, "She was wearing a hat with a very deep brim, and she was dressed in all black from head to toe. Oh, and she also had blonde hair."

Conan's eyes widened instantly.

Goodness, if you were a different gender, I would have thought you were describing Gin!

Dressed all in black, with a code name, and making counterfeit money... that's the organization!

The other party is definitely from that organization!

Although gin and vodka are both alcoholic beverages, silver fox is an animal.

But there is a Silver Fox winery in Bordeaux, France!

This woman might be a level above Gin and Vodka!

Excited heart, trembling hands.

Conan is now completely tense and excited!

The long-awaited reunion is finally here today!

But all Higashino Ning wants to say is that if you approach a brewery with this kind of thinking, you might end up losing your life.

Conan grabbed Shunya's shoulder, his voice urgent, "When did you meet her?!"

"It was about ten days ago..." Jun was also a little frightened, and confirmed that in addition to the woman in black, there were two other men dressed in black.

And there were exactly two of them.

This made Conan even more certain of his guess.

That's right, absolutely right!

Finding Junye's brother is the same as finding the group of men in black.

He is currently accompanied by a police officer, and if the evidence is conclusive, arresting them would be perfectly justified!

Without hesitation, Conan said, "Take me to the place your brother frequents. He didn't have any of his identification or wallet with him, so he can't use public transportation. His bicycle is also parked in the yard. It's highly likely that he was kidnapped nearby!"

"Come on, let's go now. We must find your brother as soon as possible!"

Otherwise, he might die!

Conan no longer cared whether Higashino Ning was human or not, and directly pulled Junya out of the room, with the three little ones following immediately.

Higashino Ning felt a headache coming on. He glanced at Ai Haibara and said with feigned emotion, "Conan is really a strange kid who loves to show off. I always feel like he's not a normal kid."

Ai Haibara still had a smile on her lips. "I don't know if it's him, but it's definitely not me."