Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Lin Xiuyi glanced at her watch; it was already past eight o'clock in the evening.

"Are the department stores in the shopping street still open at 8 pm?"

"It won't open."

Orikasa Midori shook her head and said definitively,

“Mihua Department Store usually closes at 7 p.m., and the staff leave around 7:30 p.m. after cleaning up the premises. There’s no one there after 8 p.m., so why would they call at this time?”

"Something's wrong, something must have happened."

Lin Xiuyi's face darkened further.

"Go back to the izakaya right away, call the Metropolitan Police Department, find Inspector Megure, and tell him to take some men to Beika Department Store immediately. Tell him there might be an emergency there, and I'll go check it out first."

Although Midori Orikasa was worried about Hideichi Hayashi's safety, she also knew that the most important thing now was to notify the police.

She nodded and immediately turned and went back to the izakaya.

Lin Xiuyi ran quickly towards the commercial street, a bad feeling creeping into her heart.

At this time, the department store should be empty. What exactly is the meaning of the "arrest" on the phone?

Was a thief breaking in, or did something more serious happen?
Besides that, what he cared about most was the first person to call.

If something really happened at the department store, then the other party must have called to ask for help, but for some reason, they didn't speak.

……

Meanwhile, Midori Orikasa ran back to the izakaya, immediately picked up the phone and dialed the Metropolitan Police Department's number. After finding Inspector Megure, she anxiously explained the situation.

Although Inspector Megure had some doubts, he trusted Hayashi Hideichi and agreed to lead his officers to Beika Department Store immediately.

"What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?" Kogoro Mouri asked curiously, leaning closer. "Where's Shuichi? Why isn't he back yet?"

"The unfamiliar phone call just now came from the department store."

Midori Orikasa hung up the phone, panting as she answered.
"Something seems to have happened over there. Senior has already run over there."

"Department stores?" Kogoro Mouri thought for a moment. "I seem to have seen a news report somewhere about several department stores in Tokyo that have been burglarized at night recently. Could it be that the department store in Beika has also been targeted by thieves?"

"That group of thieves seems to be working as a team. It would be too dangerous for Shuichi to go alone!"

Upon hearing the word "danger," Eri Kisaki immediately panicked and turned to walk towards the shop entrance.

Seeing this, Lingzi called Wangcai over, ready to go and help.

"Wait a minute, Eri! Reiko!"

Kogoro Mouri quickly stepped forward to stop the two girls, one big and one small.

"Get out of the way!" Eri Kisaki shouted. "You said it yourself, Shuichi is too dangerous to be alone. I can help out if I go over there."

Reiko looked anxious as well: "We have to go help Onii-chan!"

"Woof," Wangcai barked back.

"Don't rush! Since we're going to help, we should bring something to defend ourselves," Kogoro Mori advised. "If we go empty-handed and encounter thugs, we might actually be doing more harm than good, and we'll only distract Shuichi from protecting us!"

Eri Kisaki thought it made sense and quickly asked Kogoro Mouri to go to the warehouse to get some wooden sticks.

Orikasa Midori took out her wooden sword from her skirt, while glancing at the bar with a puzzled look.
"Strange, where's Sister Qianying? How come she just disappeared like that?"

Only then did everyone realize that Tomizawa Chikage had disappeared without a trace.

Her backpack was still on the bar, indicating that she hadn't been away from the izakaya for long.

"She probably went to the restroom. Never mind her, let's go to the department store to find Xiuyi!"

Without hesitation, Eri Kisaki, along with Reiko, Kogoro Mouri, and Midori Orikasa, quickly ran towards the shopping street, with Wangcai following closely behind them.

...At the same time, at Mihana Department Store.

It was well past closing time, and all the lights in the five-story department store were off, making the entire mall pitch black except for the faint green light emanating from the emergency exit indicator lights.

On the fourth floor, in the women's clothing section, a girl in a beige dress was nervously huddled behind a mannequin, her hands tightly wrapped around her knees, even her breathing was deliberately quiet, for fear of making a sound and revealing her location.

By the dim light of the emergency lamp, I could see her face clearly; it was Yukiko, who had just returned to Tokyo that morning.

Her usually smiling eyes were now filled with terror, and her carefully styled hair was disheveled and stuck to her sweaty forehead.

The beige dress stood out starkly in the darkness, forcing her to try her best to hide herself in the shadows cast by the model.

Damn it, this girl with glasses is going to laugh herself to death!
Yukiko groaned inwardly, wishing she could disappear into the ground when she thought of Eri's ambiguous smile after learning about this.

But the awkwardness at that moment was quickly replaced by an even stronger fear.

The faint sound of footsteps approaching from afar felt like each step was pounding on her heart.

Shuichi, come save me!

Yukiko cried out silently in her heart, her face contorted with grief.

……

This morning, Yukiko returned to Tokyo to attend the film's press conference.

Seeing that she still had some time, she went to the department store to browse around, but accidentally lost the necklace that her mother had given her.

This necklace was given to Yukiko by Mrs. Fujimine after she successfully auditioned.

The necklace is quite valuable, but Yukiko usually keeps it at home and doesn't wear it much.

She only brought out this necklace today for the movie press conference.

But I lost it after only wearing it for half a day.

After discovering that her necklace was missing, Yukiko rushed back to the department store, but she was too late; the store had already closed.

The girl pounded on the glass door in frustration, hoping someone would hear her.

However, the mall was completely dark inside, and no one responded.

Yukiko leaned over the door and knocked hard for a while.

Just as she was about to give up, she suddenly glimpsed figures moving around in the mall through a window on the first floor.

Yukiko's hope was rekindled, and she rushed to the window, pounding on the glass.

When the other person approached, Yukiko saw that he was wearing a security guard uniform, so she quickly explained her situation.

"That necklace means a lot to me, and it's worth tens of millions of yen. Please help me find it."

The security guard initially frowned, muttering, "The mall is already closed; regulations prohibit outsiders from entering..."

But when he heard "worth tens of millions of yen," his expression clearly changed, and the hesitation vanished instantly.
"Wait a moment, I'll open the door for you right away."

Yukiko was overjoyed and quickly thanked him, but she didn't notice that the security guard didn't go to the mall entrance, but instead went around to the window and opened an inconspicuous little window.

The window was so small that only one person could pass through sideways; it was clearly not a normal entrance or exit.

"Come in quickly, don't let anyone else see you." The security guard lowered his voice and gestured for Yukiko to crawl in through the window.

At that moment, Yukiko was preoccupied with the lost necklace and didn't think much about the unusual behavior. She simply assumed that the security guard was taking a shortcut for his own convenience.

She bent down and squeezed through the window. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she said impatiently, "Security guard, I remember I last tried on a white dress in the women's clothing section. My necklace probably fell out there!"

The security guard nodded and led the way with a flashlight.

"Okay, let's go check out the women's clothing section first. Think back, have we been to any other places?" (End of Chapter)