Stay away from Conan.

"Manager Matsumoto, it's been a long time. How has Sayuri-sensei been lately?"

Ran stepped forward and politely greeted Matsumoto, the manager at the front of the crowd. Because of the incident that happened at Matsumoto Sayuri's wedding ceremony, Ran couldn't help but ask this question.

Upon seeing Ran approaching to greet him, Manager Matsumoto turned his gaze, paused for a moment, then seemed to remember who Ran was, and said:

"Oh, it's Mori's daughter! My daughter's still the same as always... Well then, Mori, I look forward to you solving the case perfectly and catching the suspect, just like before!"

After responding to Ran, Manager Matsumoto turned to Kogoro Mouri, attempting to ingratiate himself with him. Kogoro Mouri, in turn, saluted Manager Matsumoto with great interest and said somewhat obsequiously:

"Yes! I, Kogoro Mouri, will certainly not fail to meet your expectations, Manager Matsumoto!"

After saying this, seeing that Manager Matsumoto nodded at him and then turned to leave, Kogoro Mouri didn't forget to add a final "Thank you for your hard work."

Clearly, being valued by Manager Matsumoto like this made Kogoro Mouri very happy, especially after almost being overshadowed by Takato in the meeting just now.

It's clear that, comparatively speaking, Matsumoto, the management officer, trusts him more!

Just then, as Manager Matsumoto followed Inspector Megure toward the stairs, Eisuke Hondo happened to come out of the lounge and head toward Ran. Naturally, he ran into Kiyonaga Matsumoto and the others and passed by them.

As they passed each other, out of politeness, Hondo Eisuke bowed slightly to Matsumoto Kiyonaga and the others, made a courteous gesture, and stepped aside to make way for them.

After Matsumoto Kiyonaga and the others had passed, Hondo Eisuke walked towards Ran. Just then, as Hondo Eisuke brushed past him, Matsumoto Kiyonaga seemed to remember something, turned his head slightly to glance at Hondo Eisuke, but quickly looked away and continued walking forward.

This scene was witnessed by Gao Yuan, who was in the crowd.

—Hondo Eisuke looks very similar to Mizunashi Rena, and Mizunashi Rena lost contact with the organization after the incident with Tsuchimon Yasuharu. If Matsumoto Kiyonaga is the same member of the organization as in the original work, what would he think if he saw Hondo Eisuke?
As a codenamed member of the organization, even if his purpose in infiltrating the Metropolitan Police Department was not to find out where Rena Mizunashi was, it would be impossible for him not to take any action when he saw someone who looked extremely similar to Rena Mizunashi, especially when Rena Mizunashi was still nowhere to be found. Even if he did not directly use his current disguised identity to test the waters, it did not mean that he would not report the matter to other members of the organization so that they could investigate.

Therefore, thinking of this, Gao Yuan smiled faintly, then stepped out of the crowd, came to Xiao Lan and the others, greeted them, and asked:

"Xiaolan."

"Ah, Mr. Akechi, the meeting has ended. What was the result?"

Seeing that Gao Yuan had taken the initiative to strike up a conversation, Xiao Lan naturally responded.

Faced with Xiaolan's polite question, Gao Yuan sighed with a hint of helplessness, rubbing his forehead, and replied:

"Not so good. This case we've been assigned to investigate has just too many suspicious points, and it's proving too difficult to investigate. As a detective, there's really only so much I can do. I'm afraid we'll have to wait for the police to have more findings before we can make any progress..."

As he said this, Gao Yuan calmed down a little, paused the topic, and turned to look at Hondou Eisuke, who was walking towards Xiaolan.

Looking at him, Gao Yuan said somewhat naturally:
"Speaking of which, this student's name is... Hondo Eisuke, right?"

"Ah! Yes!" Taken aback by Gao Yuan's sudden question, Hondo Eisuke was taken aback for a moment, then answered somewhat flusteredly. After saying this, Hondo Eisuke was clearly puzzled, wondering if Gao Yuan had something to ask him.

Then, Gao Yuan continued:
"I was in a bit of a rush because of the meeting, but actually... I have a question I'd like to ask you..."

"What is your relationship with that female host named Rena Mizunashi?"

Thus, when Gao Yuan asked this question, Matsumoto Kiyonaga, who was the first to leave, had not yet completely left the corridor. Therefore, he obviously heard the question. As a result, Matsumoto Kiyonaga, who seemed to care about the topic, secretly looked at Hondo Eisuke and the others when he reached the elevator entrance on the corridor of that floor.

Because Takato took the initiative to ask this question, both Ran and Hondo Eisuke, who were already used to being asked this by Hondo Eisuke, couldn't help but show a bit of helplessness, as if they knew that this question would probably be asked every time they met someone.

Therefore, somewhat resigned, Hondo Eisuke could only awkwardly reply:

"This...should be fine..."

"Really? But I think you look a bit like that female host... Is there really no connection? For example, don't you have any relatives like an older sister that you don't see every year?"

Looking thoughtful, Takato seemed somewhat dissatisfied with Hondo Eisuke's answer and pressed for further details.

Upon seeing Gao Yuan inquire about his sister's situation, Hondou Eisuke's expression turned slightly somber. After a moment's thought, he decided to speak:
"Sister? Now that you mention it, I do have a sister, but I haven't seen her for a very, very long time..."

Thus, upon hearing this, Matsumoto Kiyonaga, who was waiting for the elevator at the far end, Ran, who was right next to Hondo Eisuke, and even Conan and Ai, who hadn't yet made their choices in the lounge, were all inevitably drawn to this answer—

"Huh? I've never heard you mention that before?"

Ran seemed surprised that Hondou Eisuke had an older sister and asked him about it.

In response, Hondo Eisuke replied helplessly:
"Because...no one has asked about this before..."

Seeing that Hondou Eisuke really did have an older sister, Ran couldn't help but ask another question:
"But if that's the case, since you haven't seen your sister for so long, haven't you ever doubted that the female host named Mizunashi Rena is really your sister? By the way, do you remember your sister's name?"

"Of course I remember, she's my older sister, her name is Hondo Emi, I can't be wrong about that."

"Huh? The names are different... It seems it really isn't..."

Xiao Lan said regretfully.

"But who knows, maybe Rena Mizunashi is actually a stage name? After all, she's a host..."

Gao Yuan, as if digging for answers, listed even more possibilities.

This analysis was clearly something that "Matsumoto Kiyonaga," who was waiting for the elevator, was also concerned about. Although he was trying his best to appear normal, his attention was secretly focused on this area... (End of Chapter)