Yuji Kudo, the manga artist behind Detective Conan.

"I never imagined that Ms. Aishima Yasuko from yesterday would actually kill her friend because she couldn't bear the thought of her boyfriend, who was in a band, being photographed by a passerby."

Sitting in the back seat of the old Crown, Higashino put his hands behind his head, looked at the blue sky outside the car window, and told Sayoko, who was sitting in the passenger seat, about what happened in the restaurant the night before.

"But Aunt Lan is still not planning to go out with Uncle today, as always, Sayoko-neechan."

"Mom said she has to help Grandma prepare for her lawsuit these days, so she can't come with us..." The girl put her hands together in front of the man driving the car, closed her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Dad. I promised you I would bring Mom."

"Never mind, it's her loss if she doesn't come." Old Kudo held the steering wheel with his left hand and took out a box containing a gemstone necklace from his pocket with his right hand, stuffing the item into the storage compartment.

"I think I'll just find some random woman at the banquet and send her off. Anyway, he doesn't care about wedding anniversaries or anything..."

"Don't say that, Mom got up early to make you a bento box." Sayoko said, holding up a bento box wrapped in a blue background with red bow patterns. "It's all your favorite dishes, Dad."

"Idiot, that's a super luxurious cruise ship, how could it not provide me with food!" Old Kudo curled his lip: "What a fuss. If I'm full from the bento box, how am I supposed to eat the luxurious dishes in the cruise ship's restaurant?"

[After all this complaining, you still have to eat...]

Higashino secretly rolled his eyes, then nudged Conan next to him with his elbow and whispered, "This is the first time you've seen Uncle acting so awkwardly, isn't it?"

"...I guess so." Conan twitched his lips in disgust. "What an unlikable adult."

"Alright, you two brats who were sitting in the back talking nonsense, we're here!"

After the car entered the port specially prepared for the cruise ship, Old Kudo stopped in front of a man dressed as a servant, got out of the car first, threw the keys to the man, and urged the three children to quickly unload all the luggage from the car.

"I need to go get my signature from the statistics office." He walked with his hands in his pockets, observing the cruise ship, which was a full sixty-four meters high and completely obscured by shadows. Many people had already boarded the ship after signing their names, so from his position he could still see some dark spots peeking out from the edge of the deck—presumably people enjoying the view.

"It's spectacular, isn't it? This Star Cruises was designed by Suzuki Shipyard twenty years ago, but they later decided to withdraw from the shipbuilding industry and sold the cruise ship to its current owner at a low price."

A man who looked rather composed but had a certain air about him walked out from the autograph area wearing a black striped suit. He calmly extended his hand, and only smiled when he shook hands with Old Kudo.

"I've been waiting for a long time, Mr. Kudo. The boss is very much looking forward to working with you."

"Are you his secretary?" Shinichi Kudo stared at the somewhat overly eccentric man. "You shouldn't be."

"Oh? Could you please tell me about it?"

"The cruise ship owner... Segawa Masakazu is a rather serious man. I think if he really values ​​me, he should choose someone he can trust."

“That’s interesting. I thought reasoning and fortune telling were similar.” The man placed his hand on his chest.

“My name is Segawa Taikei, and I am Mr. Shoichi’s younger brother.”

He gave a barely perceptible smile: "I just got back from studying in the West Asia Alliance. I have to say, the technology there is so advanced that I almost thought I was living in a different century from everyone else."

"After all, Japan's situation is quite serious right now, and there's no time to do these things." (End of Chapter)