Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 254: Sprinkle some salt on the Maori slug (Reward +1 for the unjust personality boss)

"Tsk, what is Kudo doing? He really shouldn't know about this."

Yingsheng quickly took off his headphones to prevent his eardrums from being punctured by the loud noise. In comparison, the cheers in the stadium seemed much gentler.

After the sound faded away for a while, Hotaru put on his headphones again, and all he could hear was the argument between Kudo Shinichi and Mori Kogoro.

Kudo Shinichi righteously accused Mouri Kogoro of being shameless. He dared to look for a prostitute while lying in the hospital with a broken leg!

"Are you worthy of Aunt Xiaolan and Aunt Eri?!"

Kudo Shinichi screamed!

Maori Kogoro was a little lacking in confidence, but he immediately changed the subject and said angrily: "Who let you in? Didn't you know to knock on the door? And Amuro, you, don't you know you have to pay for breaking the door? Besides, didn't I let you go? Why are you meddling in other people's business!"

Toru Amuro shrugged and stepped aside. This situation was just right for him.

Mr. Mizuki, it’s not that I don’t want to help, it’s your classmate Kudo who is causing trouble.

Seeing his expression, Maori Kogoro's tone softened:

"Amuro, Amuro-san, please don't tell Xiaolan about this. I'll pay you double the commission she gave you! And for the Kudo family, I know I was wrong. Please don't tell Xiaolan. I don't want her to worry."

"Ugh……"

Amuro Toru put on his headphones just in time, and at this moment he heard a soft sigh from Yingsheng in his headphones:
"Ask him for 100,000, it's all yours."

Toru Amuro readily followed suit and made an offer. Kogoro Mori and Shinichi Kudo, who were arguing, were stunned and looked at each other, unable to speak for a long time.

I didn't expect that a guy like you with thick eyebrows and big eyes would be this kind of person!
Toru Amuro looked calm. For the sake of tonight's events, he had to maintain his persona.

Yingsheng sneered in the headset: "Tell Mr. Mao Li to pay immediately, otherwise call lawyer Fei, and because he is not sincere, he now wants 200,000 yuan."

"........."

Although he has to maintain his character, Toru Amuro is still a little hesitant. Isn't this a bit too much?

Yingsheng added: "Don't worry, he won't starve to death. I'm paying for his food now. I just want him to remember this lesson."

In this case, Amuro Toru no longer hesitated and said it out loud, and Maori Kogoro's face was immediately filled with horror:
"Don't tell Yingli, I'll give you the money right away!"

He hurriedly reached under his pillow to get the passbook, and Kudo Shinichi's anger immediately shifted to another target, looking at him coldly:
"Mr. Amuro, you are blackmailing me!"

"Tsk, is this guy an idiot?" Yingsheng was speechless, "Mr. Amuro, tell him what I mean, and ask him to take 200,000 as well."

"........."

Toru Amuro spread his hands, walked straight over, leaned over to Shinichi Kudo's ear and told him what Hotaru had just said.

Kudo Shinichi thought about it and realized that it was true. It seemed that Uncle Maori's medical expenses were all paid by Suigetsu, and Miss Aida was also invited by Suigetsu. So he immediately became serious, looked up at Maori Kogoro, who had expectation in his eyes, and said in a deep voice:

"I want two hundred thousand too, or I'll expose you right away."

He planned to return the money directly to Shuiyue later.

But Maori Kogoro didn't know this. When he heard this, he immediately panicked: "Kudo family, you can't do this to me, I want..."

Kudo Shinichi said coldly: "Do you dare to tell my father? Uncle Maori, you really went too far this time. You need to learn a lesson."

Maori Kogoro certainly didn't dare to say this, but he rolled his eyes, and a plan came to his mind. He said with a sad face: "I already know that I was wrong, but I really can't take out so much money. There is also Xiaolan's living expenses in it."

The ward suddenly fell into silence.

In the headphones, Yingsheng was also silent.

Although, isn't Kogoro Mori really too much of a bastard?
Hotaru sighed, "Mr. Amuro, why don't you go to Kyoto to find Xuesong Nami and send Mr. Mori to prison. It seems like this man is hopeless."

Toru Amuro nodded in agreement. At first glance, Kogoro Mori seemed like a decent guy, but why did he seem like more of a jerk the more he looked at him?
With a lot of disappointment, Amuro said: "I will give this money to the client in the form of liquidated damages. You don't have to worry about Miss Lan's living problems."

Kudo Shinichi nodded: "Me too."

This made Kogoro Mori feel relieved. It was just a matter of transferring money from one hand to the other. As long as the matter was not exposed to others, it would be fine.

The only trouble is...

Maori Kogoro scratched his head awkwardly and showed the two people his passbook: "I only have tens of thousands left. I really can't take out 400,000."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Yingsheng was completely speechless, his tone became a little irritated: "Ask him where the money is, has he spent it on eating, drinking, gambling and whoring?"

"Absolutely not!"

After Amuro Toru asked, Maori Kogoro hurriedly shook his head: "My main source of income is the rent of the coffee shop on the first floor, commission fees and so on..." He turned his head and looked at Kudo Shinichi, "It's all because of you that I can't get any business!"

Kudo Shinichi was almost laughing out of anger. He used to give Xiaolan some face, but now he spoke without any courtesy:
"Uncle Maori, most of the commissions you receive are about catching cheating, right? Can you blame me for that?"

"And even catching the cheating was a mess."

Amuro Toru spoke with a strange look on his face, repeating what Yingsheng said in the headset: "You once secretly filmed an R-rated scene and successfully proved that a lady was cheating on you.

As a result, the next day, she came to your house with her husband who had commissioned you to investigate, saying that you had committed a crime of privacy invasion and that you must pay compensation, or else she would call the police. In the end, the matter almost became a big deal, but it was Inspector Megure who helped you solve it.

Mr. Maori, why don’t you change your career.”

"hiss--!"

Kudo Shinichi was shocked. The case that Mizuki had mentioned before actually had this kind of follow-up?

Maori Kogoro was even more shocked. He raised his finger and pointed at Amuro Toru. He was speechless for a long time. He finally stammered out a sentence, but the result was:
"How do you know this? Did you deliberately frame me?!"

Amuro Toru shook his head. "I am indeed a detective, but I have never lacked commissions. I would not use this method to frame my colleagues. Anyway, can you collect your rent for next month in advance? Pay first and we can talk about other things later."

Maori Kogoro gritted his teeth and said, "Okay!"

The location of Mori House is in the middle of Beika-cho. Although it is not a particularly prosperous commercial street, it has a high flow of people. The rent is 8,000 yen per square meter. The tenant downstairs, Polo Coffee Shop, has a total area of ​​about 80 square meters and can collect 660,000 yen in rent per month.

When Hotaru heard the rent collected by Kogoro Mori on the other end of the phone, he suddenly realized why Kogoro Mori could live such a fulfilling life without doing anything all day. It turned out that he was a new-age landlord.

"You and Kudo each add another 150,000." Hotaru added quickly. With such a great opportunity, of course they had to squeeze Kogoro Mori dry in one go.

Toru Amuro also felt that instead of leaving the money in the hands of someone like Kogoro Mori, it would be better to hand it directly to someone who was more reasonable, so he immediately told Kudo Shinichi, who also thought it made sense, so he raised the price at the same time as Toru Amuro.

Anyway, Hotaru and Ran would not let Kogoro Mouri starve to death, they both thought so.

Kogoro Mori thought the same thing, so he gritted his teeth and agreed. He called the bank and quickly completed the transfer.

Now, he only had a pitiful 20,000 yuan in his savings account.

Although it has not been updated yet, looking at the numbers on the passbook, Kogoro Maori still looks worried. The only thing to be thankful for is that the two people in front of him do not really want money, and it seems that they will not spread this matter.

This made him let out a long sigh and look at the woman who had been standing in the corner trying to reduce her presence.

"I'm sorry to have caused you trouble, Kanako, please go away."

The woman took the handbag from the bedside table without hesitation and left. Only then did Kudo Shinichi look at her.

She was probably in her early twenties, about 1.6 meters tall, with a good figure, not perfect, but with a tight black skirt, she was definitely eye-catching. Her face could only be described as delicate, but her eyes were quite bright, especially when she smiled, which made her face lively.

Kudo Shinichi discovered that she had seen this woman before.

Kanako Mie, one of the hostesses who accompanied Kogoro Mori to drink in Ginza more than a week ago, also handed Kogoro Mori a problematic cigarette.

The detective's vigilance immediately surfaced in his mind. Kudo Shinichi asked from behind her: "Ms. Kanako, how did you know that Uncle Mori was here?"

Mie Kanako turned around and said coldly: "This is not a secret. Everyone in the nightclub doesn't know it. Do I know there is something wrong with me?"

Kudo Shinichi frowned slightly: "Many people know about this?"

"What else? Mr. Maori's affairs are spread every day in the nightclub." Sanjiang Kanako sneered, "Including the night before last, Mr. Maori killed another person, but nothing happened. Everyone in the nightclub knows it."

"What?!"×2
Kudo Shinichi and Maori Kogoro were both speechless with shock, Maori Kogoro even hurriedly defended himself:

"I didn't kill anyone, it was someone else who framed me!"

Mie Kanako nodded, with a look of sudden enlightenment on her face: "So that's how it is, those people are really bad guys, Mr. Maori, of course you are innocent." After saying that, she looked at Kudo Shinichi, "Can I go now, Mr. Detective?"

It was so obvious that she didn't mean what she said that Kogoro Mouri was so excited that he almost jumped up.

Toru Amuro watched coldly, wondering whether for the sake of the police's reputation he should send Kogoro Mori to prison for a while.

Although he had read the previous files and experienced what happened the night before, he was quite inclined to believe that Kogoro Mori was framed.

But since there is no solid evidence, it doesn't seem a good idea to let Kogoro Mori stay outside all the time.

Kudo Shinichi asked again: "Where is the source of the information?"

"Everyone is talking about it. How would I know the specific source? If you want to investigate, just go to the nightclub." Kanako Mie said casually.

"Where did you know that?"

"It was Ryoko in the early morning, A-Ling last night, a foreign guest named Li yesterday evening, and the day before yesterday..."

Kudo Shinichi's skin jumped and he quickly interrupted, "Why did you come here?"

"After this incident, everyone who went to the nightclub wanted to ask for Chiyoko, and her price tripled. I've been ignored these days, so I wanted to come here to take advantage of the popularity."

Kanako Mie glanced at the stunned Kogoro Mori and suddenly smiled contemptuously:
"For the sake of money, I have endured it for a long time. I originally thought that it was just a little bit unworthy of the reputation, but now it seems that it is more than just a little bit, it is completely garbage."

She lowered her eyebrows and sighed deeply:
"It's a pity that you came here and I spent all this time smiling for nothing. I didn't earn a penny and even lost a fruit basket. I'm so unlucky."

She looked up at Kudo Shinichi who had a serious expression on his face and smiled gently:
"I was angry for a moment and accidentally said what was in my heart. I really need to change my personality.

Mr. Detective, if I am killed in the future, it must be Mr. Maori who did it. Anyway, he will not pay for the murder. I hope you will do justice for me when the time comes.

Although it seems unlikely.”

Because of her words, Maori Kogoro jumped up and down excitedly, but Kudo Shinichi still had the same expression and continued to ask:
"Since you knew the risks and have endured it for so long, why don't you continue to endure it?"

"Because a good idea suddenly occurred to me."

Kanako Mie's long eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she was flapping her wings excitedly because of her sudden inspiration.

She said: "Customers are now rushing to order Chiyoko, simply because they are curious about the person in the rumor, but they naturally cannot have much respect for Mr. Maori.

At the same time, men like to prove that they are better than others.

If I go back and expose Mr. Maori's true face in the nightclub, saying that he is just a coward with a false reputation, maybe many people will like him.

My business will improve then.

Moreover, I will tell everyone that if I am killed, it must be Mr. Maori who did it. Wouldn't I be safe then?"

After she said this, the ward fell silent again.

But it didn't take long before Kudo Shinichi spoke again in a deep voice: "Is that what you were laughing at just now?"

"Is there any problem?" Kanako Mie asked back.

Without waiting for an answer, she added, "I'm still laughing at the two of you. You rushed in with such momentum, but in the end you just raised it high and put it down gently. Who can be scared by this? It's just a joke.

Especially you, Mr. Detective.

You are really capable. Instead of causing trouble for Mr. Maori, you come to show off your power to someone like me who is easy to bully.

What? Are you going to accuse me again, saying that Mr. Maori was just bewitched by me before, and as long as I don’t come, he will become a saint and gentleman?

Oh, you might as well just make me die of laughter.

Ugh……

Although I have never met Lawyer Fei and Miss Lan, they are really unlucky to have a slug.

That's it, I have to go now, is there anything else you want to ask me, Mr. Detective?"

Kudo Shinichi was silent for a few breaths: "Last time you didn't seem to be so quick-witted and didn't talk so much."

Kanako Mie covered her mouth with a smile and pointed to her right ear: "There is a military advisor in here who is guiding me. Mr. Detective, do you want to come over and confirm it?"

(End of this chapter)