Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

The dirty body of the van and the amulet hanging on the rearview mirror both indicated that Lin Xiuyi had not made a mistake.

Just as Inspector Megure was about to ring the doorbell, he was stopped by both Inspector Hayashi and Inspector Matsumoto.

“What if Kogoro and the other two girls are locked up here?” Lin Xiuyi warned in a low voice, “What if the woman reacts negatively and hurts them when the police come?”

Inspector Megure frowned upon hearing this: "But we didn't bring a search warrant either?"

Officer Matsumoto waved his hand impatiently, his facial muscles taut: "Go in and search!"

He lowered his voice, his tone carrying an undeniable firmness.
"Once we rescue the person, we can still get a search warrant from Inspector Samezaki."

"What if we can't find them here?" Inspector Megure swallowed hard.

Officer Matsumoto glared at him angrily, the veins on his temples visibly bulging: "Why are you asking so many questions? Hurry up and find a place to go inside!"

The three of them walked around the house. The exterior walls of this Japanese-style detached house were mottled and peeling, and the yard was overgrown with weeds, clearly indicating that it had not been maintained for some time.

They quickly found a suitable spot to infiltrate; the living room's floor-to-ceiling windows were open.

Officer Matsumoto made a gesture, and the three of them tiptoed over the low courtyard wall.

Lin Xiuyi landed almost silently, while Inspector Megure was much clumsy and nearly tripped over a protruding tree root, but fortunately, Inspector Matsumoto caught him in time.

Pushing open the glass door, a stench of decay and mold hit her, causing Lin Xiuyi to involuntarily wrinkle her nose.

The living room was a mess, with leftover lunch boxes, empty wine bottles and dirty clothes scattered all over the floor, and posters of naked male idols plastered all over the walls.

There were also a bunch of novels like "My Twenty-Four Intimate Hours with Prince Charming", "My Idol Fell in Love with Me at First Sight", and "The Tycoon's Son Forced Me to Marry into a Wealthy Family" lying around.

The most chilling thing was that there was a memorial tablet for Nami Furuya's mother placed in the center of the living room.

Officer Matsumoto raised his hand to signal, and Officer Megure nodded. He then carefully stepped upstairs, the old floorboards creaking slightly under his feet.

The remaining two stayed downstairs to check. They pushed open several doors, but the kitchen, bathroom, and storage room were all empty, with only piles of garbage and cockroaches crawling everywhere.

Lin Xiuyi's heart sank immediately, and her fingers unconsciously clenched into fists.

Just then, a loud "bang" suddenly came from the second floor, which was particularly jarring in the quiet house.

Lin Xiuyi and Officer Matsumoto exchanged a glance and immediately rushed towards the stairs.

Officer Matsumoto's hand was already on his sidearm.

However, when they rushed up the stairs, they only saw Inspector Megure standing awkwardly at the bottom, scratching his head sheepishly: "Sorry, I accidentally kicked a drink can."

"How's the situation upstairs?" Officer Matsumoto asked, barely suppressing his anger.

“We’ve checked everything, but we didn’t see anyone.” Inspector Megure shook his head. “There was only a pile of dirty clothes and some strange women’s… items in the bedroom.”

“Strange, there’s no one on the first floor either,” Officer Matsumoto said, stroking his chin in confusion. “But that truck is parked right in the yard.”

Inspector Megure looked out the window: "Could she have hidden him somewhere else?"

“That is indeed possible,” Lin Xiuyi thought for a moment. “This house is very small and there isn’t much room to store things. Nami Furuya’s mother used to deliver goods for a convenience store, so there might have been a place to store the goods.”

"How are we supposed to investigate?" Inspector Megure rubbed his temples, looking exasperated.

“Go ask the neighbors,” Lin Xiuyi said decisively. “The fact that Furuya Nami was able to drive the truck back to her yard means that the place where she stored the goods shouldn’t be too far away, and the neighbors around might know about it.”

The three left the old house and went door to door along the narrow street, asking questions.

Most of the residents were either not home or shook their heads, saying they didn't know. It wasn't until they encountered an elderly woman with a full head of white hair, who stood shakily on the porch, that they learned the three had come, and she sighed.

"Mrs. Furuya... she did indeed rent an old warehouse by the river before she died, not far away, only a five or six-minute walk. She worked so hard, but her daughter..."

The old woman shook her head and did not continue speaking.

After getting the exact address, the three of them immediately drove there.

Kogoro Mouri slowly awoke from his coma.

A sharp pain shot through the back of his head, causing him to groan involuntarily, only to find his mouth stuffed tightly with a musty-smelling rag.

His hands were bound behind his back with rough hemp rope, his wrists burned with pain, and his feet were also tightly bound.

It hurts, and... it smells awful!
This was Kogoro Mouri's first reaction.

He struggled to turn his neck, trying to see his surroundings.

Through the faint light streaming in through the cracks in the dirty window, he saw that he was in a small, damp space.

The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, and the corners were piled with rusty iron buckets and moldy cardboard boxes.

What shocked him even more was that not far from him lay two almost naked girls.

Normally, Kogoro Mouri would definitely take his time to admire the beautiful scenery.

But what he saw before him now only made his heart pound with fear.

The two girls were covered in shocking injuries: purplish-blue bruises, marks from whipping, blisters from burns...

One of them was vaguely recognizable; it was none other than Haruko Iguchi, who had been missing for several days.

The other girl's face was completely disfigured, her swollen and deformed features covered with scabbed wounds.

On the floor beneath the two girls, excrement, urine, blood, and an unknown liquid mingled, emitting a nauseating stench.

Whips, hammers, kettles, and other items were found discarded nearby.

The thought that the kidnapper had used these very things to torture the two girls to this state made Kogoro Mori feel a spasm in his stomach, and he almost vomited, but the rag in his mouth stopped him.

No, no, right?

Was I really kidnapped?
But... wasn't the person who asked me for help just a woman?

Kogoro Mouri's thoughts were in complete disarray, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

He recalled the scene from half an hour earlier: as he was about to leave after buying water at the convenience store, he heard a charming female voice coming from the truck next to him.

"Miss over there, could you help me move some things?"

The sound was coming from inside the truck bed, and because of the truck bed, Kogoro Mori couldn't see the person speaking inside.

With the intention of doing a good deed and incidentally meeting a beautiful woman, he didn't think much of it and walked over and climbed into the truck bed.
"What do we need to move..."

Before he could finish speaking, Kogoro Mouri was struck hard on the back of the head, and his vision went black as he lost consciousness.

Damn it, what on earth is going on?

Didn't Shuichi and the others say that the robber was a man?
Why was it a woman's voice calling out to him from inside the truck?
Could the other person also be a cross-dresser, and even be able to imitate a voice so perfectly? (End of Chapter)