Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

"Brother, it's no use saying anything now that things have come to this. Let's find the necklace first!" another voice interjected. "We can figure out what to do about that girl once we find the necklace."

After a brief discussion, the group decided that the fake security guard from before would continue to go back to the fourth floor to keep Yukiko occupied.

The rest of the group went to the mall's security guard room to interrogate the real security guards they had tied up about the whereabouts of the necklace, and also to see if they could find any other valuables.

The fake security guard returned to the fourth floor as planned, but when he got to the fitting room, he found it empty. Yukiko was gone!

He panicked and rushed to report the situation to the bandit leader.

……

It turned out that after Yukiko overheard the group's conversation, she was so frightened that her face turned pale and her body went cold.

The person who had been following him earlier wasn't a security guard, but a thief!
The girl suppressed her fear and told herself not to panic.

Fortunately, she has been involved in many cases with Lin Xiuyi in recent months, and has even seen dead people, so she is much bolder than before.

Yukiko knew that the most important thing now was to find a way to escape or call the police.

The fake security guards and their accomplices were right below the stairwell; if they tried to escape down the stairs, they would definitely be discovered.

Although there is an elevator on the other side, it makes noise when it runs, which could easily be noticed by thieves.

When the time comes, as long as they block the elevator exit, they will have no way to escape.

Just as she was wondering what to do, Yukiko suddenly remembered what had happened that afternoon.

While she was browsing in the luggage section on the third floor, she saw a landline phone hanging outside a shop on the third floor.

That must have been an emergency phone set up by the shopping mall. It was still in use at the time, so it was definitely working properly.

Thinking of this, Yukiko took a deep breath, suppressed her fear, and tiptoed along the wall of the stairwell to the third floor.

Reaching the third-floor stairwell, she peeked out and discovered that the group of thieves were actually hiding in the stairwell on the second floor.

While they were arguing about whether or not to let her into the mall, Yukiko quietly pushed open the door on the third floor and slipped inside.

The mall was pitch black, and she could only rely on her memory to find her way. Fortunately, the store was not far from the stairwell, and she soon found the phone hanging on the wall.

Yukiko picked up the phone with trembling hands. In her panic, instead of dialing the police, she instinctively pressed the number of the izakaya (Japanese pub).

The phone rang a few times before being answered. A girl's clear voice came through the receiver: "Hello, this is Maori Izakaya. Who are you looking for?"

Upon hearing Midori Orikasa's voice, Yukiko suddenly remembered that Hayashi Shuichi had been dragged to a summer camp in America by the girl with glasses, and he probably hadn't returned yet!
The girl's heart sank instantly, but since she had already made the call, Yukiko wanted to tell Midori Orikasa about the situation and ask her to call the police.

Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard the door to the third-floor stairwell being pushed open forcefully, accompanied by the thief's shout: "Search separately! That girl must be on one of these floors! She can't have gone far!"

Realizing that the thieves had already started looking for her, Yukiko didn't dare to say anything. She could only casually throw the receiver aside, turn around and run deeper into the mall to find a place to hide.

A short while later, the leader of the thieves arrived at the place where Yukiko had just been, accompanied by one of his men.

Seeing that the telephone receiver on the wall was not put back in its original place and was still dangling there, the leader of the thieves immediately realized that someone had just used the phone!

His expression changed, and he quickly picked up the receiver and pressed the redial button.

The thief leader was already prepared; if the call was to the police, he would immediately lead his men to retreat to avoid being surrounded by the police.

But when the call was connected, a boy's voice came through the receiver, saying, "Hello, who are you looking for?"

"Damn it! I worried for nothing!" the subordinate next to him cursed angrily.

The thief leader was relieved and put the receiver back in its place, coldly ordering, "Catch her quickly!" Yukiko, who was hiding behind a shelf not far away, heard everything clearly, and her heart was in her throat.

She knew she couldn't just sit and wait to die; she had to find a way to lure the thieves away.

The girl quietly crept to the stairwell door, took a deep breath, and suddenly pushed the door open with all her might. The loud "bang" was particularly jarring in the quiet mall.

After doing all this, she immediately turned around and returned to the corner on the third floor, holding her breath and trying to slow her heartbeat.

Sure enough, upon hearing the commotion at the stairwell entrance, the thief leader assumed Yukiko had escaped through the stairwell and immediately led his men inside.

"Quick, chase her! She's running downstairs! Don't let her get away!"

Yukiko listened to their footsteps gradually fading away before she dared to slowly peek out.

After confirming that no one was in the stairwell, she quickly ran back to the fourth floor, found a secluded corner, curled up behind the mannequin, and hugged her knees tightly with both hands.

This was the safest place Yukiko could think of. After that, she could only pray that Midori Orikasa would notice something was wrong as soon as possible and call the police to rescue her.

……

Lin Xiuyi ran all the way to the department store and saw that the mall's doors were tightly closed, and the iron roller shutters were already shut.

He tried to push it, but it was clearly locked from the inside and he couldn't open it at all.

Lin Xiuyi anxiously scanned every possible entrance to the mall.

The windows on the first floor of the mall were right next to it, but they were all closed at the moment.

Lin Xiuyi gritted his teeth, and just as he was about to smash the window open with a stone to go inside, he suddenly heard Tomizawa Chikage's voice behind him.

"Hehe, do you need my help now?" Tomizawa Chikage put her hands behind her back with a smug smile on her face.

"Why are you here?" Lin Xiuyi turned around in surprise.

"Of course I'm here to help you,"

Tomizawa Chikage smiled and took something that looked like a pen from her pocket.
"This is one of my treasured possessions; it can easily cut through glass."

"Diamond glass cutter?"

Lin Xiuyi was overjoyed when he saw the glint of light from the pen tip.
"Quickly open the glass, let's go in and take a look."

"What diamond? This is a genuine diamond,"

As Tomizawa Chikage spoke, she asked another question.
"Are you sure something really happened inside? If nothing happened, it'll be hard to explain to the police if we cut the glass like this."

"Hurry up and get to work," Lin Xiuyi urged impatiently. "Don't forget, I'm a member of the police force."

"Right!"

Tomizawa Chikage patted her head and then took a suction cup out of her pocket and stuck it to the glass.

She pressed down firmly to make sure it was secure, then held the diamond glass cutter and slowly slid it across the glass.

Soon, Chikage Tomizawa drew a circular mark along the edge of the window. Then she put away the glass cutter, grabbed the suction cup with both hands, and pulled hard.

With a soft "click," the circular piece of glass was completely removed, revealing an opening just large enough for one person to pass through. (End of Chapter)