Ke Xue: I picked up a bottle of sherry at the beginning.

"Hehe... What does it matter? Miss Qiangtian is an M, so Miss Qiangtian will be happier this way!" Bai Quanyi chuckled.

"I'm not an M! Also, call me Ikumi!"

"Yumei..."

……

Later, Ikumi Gunda also said that she would quit her detective job in 900 and return to the Metropolitan Police Department to work as a forensic doctor.

Upon hearing this, Shiraizumi Yi was naturally happy to help. The Metropolitan Police Department was in serious need of forensic doctors, and he welcomed Ikumi Gunda's willingness to return to the Metropolitan Police Department both publicly and privately.

……

In the morning, Bai Quanyi saw a very beautiful woman in the surveillance footage played on the computer in the office, and found Takagi Shigeru to report the case.

Shiraizumi Masu came out of the office and sent Takagi Wataru away:

"Takagi, leave this to me, can you do something else?"

"what?"

"Don't you understand?"

"Yes, Inspector Bai."

Takagi Shigeru had no choice but to step aside and let Shiraizumi Masushi take over the case in his place.

The woman looked at Shiraizumi Masu in confusion as he drove Takagi Wataru away.

"Hello, miss. I'm Shiraizumi Masaru, a superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Department. I'll be handling your report."

"Yes."

The woman quickly took out a business card from her small bag and handed it to Quan Yi.

"My name is Shinna Kaori..."

"Shinnai Kaori?" Shiraizumi looked at the woman; she was very beautiful. He immediately understood. This was the case of the missing detective novelist from the anime. The woman in the incident was still fresh in people's memory. Shiraizumi had seen her in the surveillance video and thought she looked familiar. "Shinnai Namitarou-san is your father, right?"

"Yes, the new name Rentaro is my father." The woman nodded. "This time I came to the Metropolitan Police Department to report the case, it was actually because of my father. To be honest... my father has been missing for two months!"

"Mr. Niina is missing?" Shiraizumi Masu knew all this, but he couldn't show it. "But didn't his Detective Sawamonji series just come back to life two months ago?"

Really! I'm telling the truth! My father is missing from home, and so is my mother! Miss Xinming said with certainty.

How come—your mother is missing too?

The day my father and mother disappeared was exactly one week before the series you mentioned began! Miss Xinming lowered her head and sobbed, saying, "That day, he left only a note saying I was going out for a while and then left. I've asked all my relatives and friends, and they all say they haven't seen him!"

"Then why hasn't the serialization of Detective Samonji stopped?" asked Shiraizumi Masu.

"I heard from the publishing house that my father's manuscripts are faxed to the publishing house! Every Saturday, at midnight, the manuscripts are sent over!" Miss Xinming said with a frown.

Then, didn't the fax paper include the sender's phone number or other information? Bai Quanyi asked.

No, no! It's as if they deliberately set it that way because they didn't want it to be displayed! Ms. Xinming sighed.

Could it be? Your father and mother must have gone on a trip somewhere. They might have faxed it from the hotel they were staying in! Bai Quanyi said.

To be honest, I thought so at first, but why haven't they contacted me in the past two months? This has never happened before, so I have to wonder if something happened to them! Miss Xinming was a little excited. She closed her eyes tightly, as if trying not to think about something painful.

I understand. I will send out the search request immediately, Bai Quanyi said.

"Thank you so much!" Miss Xinming said with emotion.

Shiraizumi Masu immediately called Takagi and asked him to issue a search request to search for the new celebrity Taro.

Then, Bai Quanyi continued to ask Miss Xinming for more information.

Up to now, I haven't received any blackmail calls! Moreover, the publishing house still regularly sends manuscripts to me! These are the only clues I can think of. Miss Xinming was worried.

Bai Quanyi said, "Anyway, since your father regularly sends manuscripts, let's go to that publishing house. They should have some clues there." Quanyi stood up and said, "Without further delay, I'll set off now to accompany you in the investigation."

"Thank you, Officer Bai!" Miss Xinming's worried face finally put on a smile.

Shiraizumi Yi accompanied Miss Xinming out of the Metropolitan Police Department and drove her to the editorial office.

Shinna Kaori, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was deeply moved by Shiraizumi Masu's eagerness to help and regretted not seeking help from the police sooner...

University Hall.

This is the publishing house that Mr. Shinmei Rentaro submitted his work to.

Thanks to Shinname Hōri's presence, the editorial staff warmly welcomed the two guests.

After explaining the situation, the other party was more cooperative.

However, rather than Shinna Kaori's concern about her parents disappearing, the editorial staff believed that the teacher might have been so absorbed in writing that he temporarily forgot to contact his daughter.

But how is it possible for parents to not contact their daughter for two consecutive months?

A staff member from the publishing house looked at his watch and said, "Teacher Xinming's manuscript arrives on time every week. Today is Saturday, and I think his manuscript will be here soon!"

Are you sure those manuscripts were written by Mr. Xinming? Quan Yi asked.

Yes! Although it was printed on a word processor, the font is exactly the same as the teacher used in the past! And, the teacher always signed his name in front of the title! Well, how about this, let me show you the manuscript he sent me before! The staff member took out the manuscript he sent me before.

Quan Yi arranged the faxes: the theme of this novel is at the top of the 1/2, and it does have his signature! He picked up a page, looked at it carefully, and then asked Miss Xinming: "Are you sure this handwriting is really from Mr. Xinming?"

Yes, I checked it when I came here before! Miss Xinming said affirmatively.

Don't worry, Ms. Kaori. I think he must have been so engrossed in his writing that he forgot to call you! There are actually quite a few writers like him! The staff member reassured Xinming.

But his wife is with him, he wouldn't forget her too, right? Bai Quanyi said.

That's true! The staff member crossed his arms in a gesture of embarrassment.

"Based on your observation, do you feel there's anything unusual about him?" Quan Yi asked methodically.

Something unusual? The staff stared in confusion.

"Yeah! You should meet regularly, right?" Bai Quanyi said.

"Yes, we discussed this before his novel began serialization! But I don't think there's anything wrong with it!" the staff member said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.

Even if it's a small, insignificant thing.

If there's anything wrong, it's that it's time for the Detective Samonji series to be re-serialized!

Bai Quanyi's eyes lit up, and he spotted Watson from his blind spot.

297. Help Shinna Kaori find her father

"Oh, what's wrong?" Bai Quanyi asked.

We actually asked our teacher to write this story four years ago, but his answer was always the same: Saemonji was already dead, and there was no way he could be brought back to life! With that being said, we had pretty much given up hope. But then, two weeks ago, he called and said he wanted to rewrite Saemonji's story! He asked if we could publish it in the magazine Soundspace. Of course, that was exactly what we wanted, so we immediately stopped writing the new series and resumed the Saemonji series!

Okay, anything else?

The staff member thought for a moment and said, "Oh, I remember!" But this has nothing to do with the teacher himself! Indeed, he had written these words at the beginning of the story: Attention detectives everywhere! If you want to outsmart me, try solving this mystery!

"That's quite a challenge..." There was an inexplicable light flashing in Quan Yi's eyes.

That's right! Because of this, we received calls and letters right after the first issue, with comments like "so-and-so is suspicious" and "what's the murderer's method?" From a publisher's perspective, we were delighted! However, I still find it unusual for someone as gentle as Mr. Shinmei to act this way! But this time, mystery fans have waited ten years for the latest work, so it's no surprise that it's receiving such a huge response!

"That's true. Are there any other strange things?" Quan Yi asked the staff member to tell him all the puzzle pieces of the case bit by bit!

Oh, speaking of unusual things, that reminds me of something else! The teacher himself appears in the novel! This time, he appears as an old friend of Samonji, but the story portrays him as a relatively unsuccessful novelist living in France! This series of novels, which totals over 40, is a first for the teacher! I imagine the stories will all end with the remark that the teacher heard all these cases from Detective Samonji—if I were to be Sherlock Holmes, I'd be Watson!

"Can I see that scene?" Quan Yi asked.

Of course! The staff member stood up and walked to the desk, picked up a stack of papers on the desk and handed it to Quan Yi.

"The story mentioned that we needed to consult with a mystery novelist living in France, so we called France. That's when Mr. Niname first appears! The story portrays the teacher as a dull old man, which is quite interesting!" Izumi read the manuscript while the staff member introduced it.

Do you think it's strange?" Quan Yi smiled.

"What's so strange?" Shinname Kaori was puzzled.

Bai Quanyi pointed the manuscript to Xinming Xiangbaoli and said, "The 12 here is a Chinese character, but here, you see, the 1 at 1 o'clock is a number! As far as I know, Mr. Xinming would never make such a mistake, so..."

"It's really strange..." The staff member came over and frowned when he saw this.

"Also, look at these signatures. From episode one to episode six, each signature is slightly different, but from episode six to episode eight, the signatures are exactly the same..."

"I think it's not because you don't want to sign... maybe it's because there's no other way..." Quan Yi said in a low voice.

The staff member had already heard the hidden meaning of Quan Yi's words, and he exclaimed in surprise: Officer Bai...you mean, if it cannot be signed, it means that Teacher Xinming may be dead now!

"What?!" Miss Xinming looked horrified.

"It's too early to draw conclusions." Quan Yi shook his head. "Besides, I've already discovered something."

"Officer Bai, what else have you discovered?" Miss Xinming looked excited.

"Mr. Rentaro, like all detective fiction writers, enjoys readers challenging themselves—but in other words, do his novels contain certain messages themselves? As I read on, it becomes clear that Mr. Niina's words, which appear in this novel, are actually a code that leads us into this mystery!

"I see!" Shinname Kaori looked at Baiquanyi with anticipation. So, Officer Bai, have you deciphered the content of this code?

Yes, I've already deciphered all the ciphers from the beginning! The key to the first episode is the title of the novel, the apex of 1/2! Quan Yi pointed to the manuscript. You can see that the top character of all the lines is 1/2, which means that two characters can be combined into one word!

Two words combined into one?! Shinna Kaori's eyes widened.

If you remember this rule and start reading from the beginning, you'll see that -力- plus -目- is 助 (Assist), -十- plus -一- is 十 (Ke), -c- plus -一- ㄟ (Te), and finally, -ノ (N0) plus -1- forms the character (ㄥ) (Re). I'm not sure about the previous -く (Ku)- and -他-, but if you think of -他- as meaning "I don't want to have -他-" in the 900th chapter, I think it makes sense! Putting these characters together means: Please come and save me!

"Please come and save me quickly?!"

Shinna Kaori almost fainted after hearing these words, "Officer Bai! My father... "

"Don't be nervous, Miss Niname." Quan Yi gently stroked Niname Kaori's shoulders and comforted her gently, "Since Mr. Niname's novel is still being serialized, it proves that his life is not in danger."

"Please find my father and mother, Officer Bai!" Miss Xiang Baoli's eyes were filled with tears of worry. She couldn't help but hug Bai Quanyi and cry.

And Shiraizumi Yi could actually feel the gentle body of Shinname Kaori.

"Cheer up, Miss Xinming, now is not the time to give up, we must work hard together!" Bai Quanyi encouraged.

"Yes!" Shinname Kaori wiped her tears with her sleeves and cheered herself up again.

"The rest of the content won't make sense with the solution I just used. There must be more information in the novel manuscript. As long as I look for clues carefully, I will definitely find Mr. Xinming!"

"Okay!" Ms. Kaori wiped away her tears and nodded.

Shiraizumi Masu and Shinna Kaori sat in the empty seats in the editorial office and worked together to search through the manuscripts.

298. Shinna Kaori brings Shiraizumi Masaru home

After spending most of the day, Shinname Kaori finally found the answer with the help of Baiquan Yi.

"Officer Bai, I found it!" Shinname Kaori excitedly grabbed Baiquanyi's arm and said happily.

"Oh?" Shiraizumi feigned curiosity, but he hadn't really been looking carefully. He'd spent most of the day admiring Shinna Kohara's beauty. A beautiful girl, no matter how many times you looked at her, you never got tired of it.

Look, the spelling for humor is HUMOUR, but there's an H missing! At first glance, it looked like Dad had made a mistake trying to write it in French. But after seeing the word actually pronounced, I knew why! Shinname Kaori gave a sly smile. This is another key word in the code! It means that even though there's an H at the beginning, it's silent, a unique French idiom.

This is called silent H! Baiquanyi suddenly realized.

"That's right!" Shinname Kaori nodded happily, "So all the letters that begin with H, that is, the letters in the eight (sound HA) rows! Remove all of these letters HA, HI, HU, HE, and HO! Then, based on each letter that can be paired in the 1/2 apex, if we remove the letters in the HA row, we can immediately remove the word - he at the beginning -! The 1/2 apex, combined with the formula of silent H... If we interpret Mr. Shinname's conversation in the second scene, 私 and 他 together are still 私 (我 and 他 together are still 我), ぃ and カ together are が (I and KA together are GA), へ and 今 together are 今 (HE and 今 together are 今), 居 and 白 are 居, レ and ノ together are ル (LE and NO together are RU), 所 and 犯 together are 所, 人和わ is わ (人和WA is WA), if we connect them all, it means - the place where I am now is -, and this sentence refers to where he is!

"Amazing! You can actually string together a sentence!" Shiraizumi Masaru said, following Shinna Kaori's words.

That's right! If we interpret Mr. Niname's words in the third scene this way, it would be the Kido City Hotel! Of course, we can't use that interpretation here, we need to use Japanese romanization! Kaori took over Izumi's words and said, "If it's like this, then...FU shouldn't be written as HU, but as FU. In other words, the initial "不" (no) shouldn't be removed. 木 and 不 (no) together form 杯 (Kei)! That's the 杯 (Kei) City Hotel! Plus, the one that appeared in episode four should be his room number! Room 2407!"

(The riddles in Conan are all thought up by the screenwriter on the spur of the moment, and no one can solve them except the characters related to the plot.)

"I see! Let's act without delay! Let's rush to Beihu Municipal Hotel as quickly as possible!" Quan Yi said.

"Okay!" Shinname Kaori's bright eyes were full of hope.

……

After receiving the call, Inspector Megure brought his fellow police officers, Shiraizumi Masushi, and Shinna Kaori to meet downstairs of the hotel, and then went to Room 2407 together.

When they reached the 24th floor, the elevator stopped, and Shiraizumi Masu and Megure rushed out first. Megure tiptoed to the outside of room 2407 and said, "This is it! You're right! Be careful! The criminals may be armed, so everyone should be vigilant!"

Officer Takagi and others have their guns in hand and are ready to fight!

Just as Inspector Megure was about to reach out to open the door, the doorknob turned on its own, and the person inside was about to come out! The people outside were so frightened that they dared not breathe, and more than a dozen pairs of eyes shot towards the slowly opening door.

"Excuse me, is there anything I can do for you?" An elderly woman, about 50 years old, came out, rubbing her eyes wearily.

"Mom?!" Miss Kaori screamed as she emerged from the police line.

Xiang Baoli, why are you here?! Mrs. Niname was also surprised.