Stay away from Conan.

Mihana Pharmacist Clinic -

As information about the new serial murder case was gathered by the Metropolitan Police Department, the department began to focus its attention on this new murder case due to Matsumoto Kiyoshi's concern. However, Officer Shiratori, who was not present at the Metropolitan Police Department today, was at Beika Pharmacy Hospital, as usual, registering for a psychological appointment and going to see psychiatrist Kyosuke Kazato.

Seeing that Inspector Shiratori had come to see him again today, and looked quite tired, Kyosuke Kazato was somewhat puzzled as to why Inspector Shiratori would come specifically for him at this time.

After all, what happened at Officer Shiratori's sister's engagement party last night led to the arrest of the suspect in the series of police shootings. However, the case is not yet closed, and the police have not yet determined that the other party is the murderer. Therefore, at a time when the investigation should still be in its final stages, Officer Shiratori's visit to him made Kazato Kyosuke somewhat worried.

However, it must be said that the other party made an appointment with me through the outpatient clinic, and as a doctor, this is a situation I will eventually have to face.

Therefore, when Officer Shiratori came to his clinic for a consultation, Kyosuke Kazato remained as usual. As Officer Shiratori's attending physician, he went straight to the point and asked the normal questions about Officer Shiratori's visit:
"Officer Shiratori, you don't look too good. Have things not been going well at work lately?"

Since Officer Shiratori had mostly come to him for consultations due to psychological issues stemming from work-related matters, he asked briefly.

Officer Shiratori sat on the sofa in the counseling room, looking somewhat helpless. He rubbed his forehead wearily, shook his head slightly, and sighed:

"That's right..."

"Huh? How could this be? A while ago, you were in a really bad mood because of that incident... But yesterday's matter was resolved, wasn't it? Why are you still upset?"

Seeing that Officer Shiratori did not deny that the psychological problems were caused by work, Kyosuke Kazato naturally followed up with further questions.

Faced with this situation, Officer Shiratori sighed helplessly and explained:

"Dr. Kazato, you know that as police officers, we often can't predict when we'll encounter a case, right..."

"Regarding this... I completely understand."

In response, Kyosuke Kazato gave a rather natural reply, saying:
"Actually, we doctors are the same. Not all patients we see have appointments. Most of the time, patients just show up unexpectedly, and we have to see them. So, Officer Shiratori..."

"Yes, that's exactly it. We thought things would finally be easier at work after yesterday's resolution, but... who would have thought that another very troublesome incident would happen recently, leaving us completely exhausted..."

Officer Shiratori said this with a heavy sigh.

Therefore, Kyosuke Kazato then said:
"Is that so...? There's nothing I can do about it. As always, I can only help you relieve some of your stress. But... if I may ask, has the new issue been resolved? If it hasn't, then coming to me isn't a good choice, since the problem will keep haunting you..."

"Just like last night, your troubles recently, compared to the counseling I've provided, are somewhat less significant than what happened last night..." Kazato Kyosuke tentatively wanted to inquire about the police's response to last night's events, and was about to smoothly transition into discussing the situation when he noticed that Officer Shiratori was becoming somewhat irritated before he could finish speaking—

“Dr. Kazato, speaking of last night…you heard it too, about me…”

Thus, Officer Shiratori, sounding somewhat embarrassed, suddenly began to talk about the possibility that Officer Sato might not be her first love.

Upon hearing Officer Shiratori bring up this matter, Kyosuke Kazato clearly remembered that this was the analysis made last night by the detective named Akechi Takato, who judged that Officer Shiratori's long-held first love might not be Officer Sato.

Therefore, mentioning Officer Sato made Kyosuke Kazato inwardly scoff, seemingly disdainful that Officer Sato had escaped unscathed the previous night. A flicker of murderous intent even crossed his face, but he quickly recovered and began counseling Officer Shiratori about the matter. Towards the end of the conversation, Kyosuke Kazato offered the following suggestion—

"If you cannot, and find it difficult to, determine directly whether the other person is your first love through questioning, perhaps you can try to introduce Officer Sato over. I can try to use a little hypnosis to help her recall and confirm whether the girl who did that thing in your memory is that officer."

Faced with Kyosuke Kazato's suggestion, Officer Shiratori said he would consider it. Just as he was about to end the counseling session, his phone rang. As he was leaving Kazato's office, Officer Shiratori answered the phone, listened to the message on the other end, and immediately reverted to his usual demeanor as a police officer, responding:

"Is that so? So you still haven't found the gun that was used as the murder weapon at Chengzhen's place? Hmm... in that case, the evidence is still insufficient..."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

With a slightly apologetic expression, Officer Shiratori said goodbye to Kyosuke Kazato. Before leaving, he glanced around the counseling room, where an empty umbrella stand stood, and then departed.

After Officer Shiratori left, Kyosuke Kazato, who had initially appeared calm, suddenly became serious.

After all, as a psychologist, and especially as Officer Shiratori's former attending physician, after some probing questions, Kazato Kyosuke was certain that Officer Shiratori's visit today was not so simple; it wasn't just for work or romantic troubles.

Furthermore, the final phone call revealed that the police had not completely accepted Yoo Sung-jin as a criminal after arresting the suspect the previous night. Due to the lack of crucial evidence, the matter seemed to be far from over.

After finishing his consultation with Officer Shiratori, Kyosuke Kazato returned to his desk and called the registration staff via the internal phone to say that he had something to do that day and would not be seeing any new patients, asking those who wanted to come for a check-up to come another day.

Having done all this, Kyosuke Kazato, his expression grave, closed the door to the counseling room. After much hesitation, he finally dialed a number on his phone.

"I agree..." (End of Chapter)