Yuji Kudo, the manga artist behind Detective Conan.

"What? You didn't pick that kid up from school today?"

Stepping out from behind his desk, the man casually picked up a bag of mineral water from the floor next to Conan, tossed a bottle to his daughter, and then started drinking it himself.

"Ah, I'm so lucky to have a drink as soon as I get back, thank you, little one." The girl smiled at Conan, then glanced at the trash on the desk and sighed helplessly, looking like she was about to start cleaning it up.

"No way, Dad, you've made the second floor so dirty again..."

"You don't need to clean today." The man put all the other mineral water into the refrigerator, then pouted at Conan: "Isn't there a new brat? Hurry up and go upstairs to cook, my stomach is growling."

"If you're hungry, go downstairs to Polo Market and buy something to eat. You're always waiting for me to come back. I'm not your cook..."

The girl stood with her hands on her hips, defiantly confronting her father: "I think you'd better hurry up and coax Mom back. I heard she's been confirming the lineup for the next Tokyo Karate Tournament with a referee. That referee is pretty handsome."

"Wh...what?! Cough cough..."

The man immediately looked at his daughter in a panic, but then noticed her mischievous gaze. He immediately retorted, "Let her be, I don't care."

“It’s all been exposed, detective.” The girl stuck out her tongue. “Sanseki is staying at Dr. Sawada’s house today and won’t be back tonight.”

"What? That brat didn't even call back!"

"Alright, alright, he's just a child."

The girl left the second floor, while the man sat on the sofa. Seeing Conan turn his gaze over, he pointed to the desk as if it were the most natural thing in the world: "Why aren't you tidying up yet? You should be pretty used to it by now."

"What are you saying! Don't you know why I'm used to this?!"

Conan had no habit of cleaning for this guy, so he plopped down opposite him and asked as soon as possible, "What time is it now?"

"Compared to your time, it will be thirty years from now."

Old Kudo took a coffee-flavored chewing gum from the coffee table, then pulled out several packs of cigarettes from the drawer under the coffee table. He stuffed one pack into his pocket and threw the rest onto his desk.

"How could you have become like this... this..."

"You feel just like an old man, right?" Old Kudo lit a cigarette, leaned back on the sofa in a relaxed manner, and gently massaged his temples with his left hand.

"Times have changed. The nationwide surveillance system has taken over all the murder cases. There's no longer a need for detectives to assist the police. Detectives can only support themselves and their daughters by investigating infidelity."

"You're using your real name now, so we did defeat the organization, right?" This offered Conan some consolation for the future.

"So your business isn't doing well? I think even if I only relied on catching cheaters, I, Shinichi Kudo, wouldn't be in this situation. Besides, I'm confident that Ran won't leave Uncle like Aunt Eri did. Our relationship won't be this torturous." Not to mention his wealthy parents, Conan looked at the silent old Kudo and changed the subject: "Professor Sawada, you're Hiroki, right? What's this 'Third Generation' thing?"

"A seventh-grade kid who was fostered in my house. He suddenly appeared one day, named Higashino III, and he's always inexplicably nervous about guys dressed in all white." Old Kudo flicked his cigarette ash: "This plot sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

"I……"

Before Conan could finish speaking, the yellowed white landline phone on his desk started beeping. He instinctively rushed over to answer it, and just as the elementary school student realized something was wrong and was about to hand the receiver over, he heard the other end explain the situation.

[Detective Kudo, Miss Kano Akira is dead.]
"That's what he said. Who is Kanao Min?" Conan watched as old Kudo walked to the desk with a cigarette in his mouth, reached out and pressed the answer button on the landline, and the landline immediately switched from receiver mode to speakerphone mode.

"I understand. Do you need me to go to the scene, Inspector Takagi?"

"Hi, please make sure to come over. The address is 7-30 Beikacho, room 507 of an apartment building."

"I'll drive out right now."

After hanging up the phone, Old Kudo stubbed out the cigarette he was smoking in the ashtray, and in front of Conan, took a pair of scissors from the drawer and cut off the cigarette butt, then stuffed the rest back into the cigarette case.

"Even though it's only half smoked, there's still half left to smoke."

The man took a broom from the corner and poked the ceiling five times with the handle, repeating this three times, before turning to Conan to tell him about the deceased.

“Kana Akira is one of my clients recently. To be honest, I have never met her directly, nor have we even spoken on the phone. The entire process of commissioning her was handled by a man named Yamada.”

"You dare to take on a request like this? It's obviously a trap." Conan questioned old Kudo's mind.

“They were very generous with the commission fee,” Old Kudo continued. “After accepting the commission, this Ms. Kano Akira sent me an email asking me to investigate whether her lover, Mr. Sakon Yusuke, had any other women with whom he had unusual relationships.”

"Another cheating investigation?" The girl, who hadn't heard the conversation, stood at the door and wailed, "This is so boring, Dad."

"This time it's a murder case, you'd better keep a close eye on this kid, he's just as annoying as that other one."

[Hey, is it really okay to talk about your past self like that?]

Conan rolled his eyes, and as the girl approached, he immediately stared at her with some excitement.

"Don't mind this strange old man. My name is Kudo Sayoko. Little brother, what's your name?"

"Conan, Edogawa Conan!" (End of Chapter)