Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 158 The Suzuki Family Treasure Vault, The Egg of Memories
next morning.

Xiao Ai yawned, tied on her apron, and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She glanced at the bedroom several times but did not hear Gao Mo get up.

I was on the phone with that Miss Sonoko all day yesterday, no wonder I couldn't get up.

I don't even know what kind of case it was, but it was solved over the phone.

Ai couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

While Gao Mo is a detective, he differs greatly from traditional detectives, as he is not keen on bringing criminals to justice.

He's not a detective... yet he possesses astonishing detective abilities.

These days, they can solve cases remotely, and they're still using an ordinary high school girl as an eye double.

"call!"

At the same time that Gao Mo was fast asleep.

After a night of wind and rain, the weather in Izu cleared up. In front of the Suzuki family villa, Officer Yokomizo stared at Sonoko Suzuki, who was talking eloquently.

Yesterday, that high school girl who always dared to approach the crime scene without permission actually started investigating and reasoning—her tone was no less than that of famous detectives, and her logic was sound.

Are kids these days too amazing?

"That's right, the murderer is the eldest son, a novelist—Tomizawa Taichi!"

Sonoko Suzuki walked past the crowd and pointed to the eldest son among the three brothers, who had a small mustache.

Although they are called the eldest son, the three brothers actually look almost identical, making them a very rare pair of triplets.

"None of you three, including Xiong San, have alibis, but your statement is completely unreliable..."

"Where is she unreliable?" The eldest son with the mustache shook his head and laughed. "Are we really going to play detective games with a little girl here? She's just spouting nonsense after learning a few smatterings from somewhere. Didn't I leave a message on the phone after the murder yesterday?"

"The message also mentioned the baseball game and its result. If I were the murderer lying in wait here, I couldn't possibly know all that..."

"Why isn't it possible?"

Sonoko glanced at the contents of her phone, her confidence bordering on arrogance.

"You said you were listening to the game on the radio at an Osaka video game store, so you weren't here when the murder happened... Don't you know that video game stores only stay open until 11 p.m. at the latest?"

"what?"

Tomizawa Taichi was startled and broke out in a cold sweat.

"I...I made a mistake. Actually, I heard it in the taxi on my way home...Anyway, as long as I wasn't here when the incident happened, it's fine. There's no radio broadcast here, and only our two families can watch it with satellite TV, and my TV is broken..."

"I think you broke the TV on purpose."

The garden interrupted.

"You wanted Uncle Tomizawa to come to our house to watch TV, and then attack him when he came home at 11:30, and frame Brother Yu San. As for why you knew about the match... I'm afraid it's because you planted a bug on Uncle Tomizawa."

"Yes, it's the watch that the murderer deliberately took!"

Before Tomizawa Taichi could refute, Sonoko delivered her fatal blow against the sea breeze.

“There was a listening device in the watch, right? Uncle Tomizawa only started wearing that watch recently. We can find out where it came from by checking. You gave him the tampered watch in advance to find out his whereabouts. You took it away after the crime because you were afraid of the police checking. If it was Brother Xiong San who committed the crime, there would be no need to do such a thing.”

Tomizawa Taichi's lips trembled, and he no longer looked at Sonoko with the same disdain as before. After a long silence, he laughed self-deprecatingly: "It seems I played a trick of 'protesting too much.' If I hadn't taken the watch, you probably wouldn't have thought so much... It was all unnecessary."

“Even without the watch incident, you made a huge mistake.”

With a hint of pride, Sonoko continued her explanation.

“There was a power outage for about 10 minutes when the incident occurred yesterday, and your message happened to be left during that time. Didn’t you know that you can’t leave messages during a power outage? You changed the answering machine time while leaving the message… This evidence is much stronger than the watch.”

"Truly worthy of being the daughter of the Suzuki family."

Tomizawa Taiichi's face showed even more bitterness.

"Compared to this, I, as a novelist, am truly a failure... This mystery novel, 'Reality,' is a complete mess of my writing, riddled with so many errors..."

"Big brother?" Tomizawa Yuzo exclaimed in disbelief, "It really was you who took Dad..."

“Just think of me as being bewitched, Yuzo,” Tomizawa Taichi turned his head away. “I’m actually quite jealous of you. Ever since you got together with the eldest daughter of the Suzuki family, Dad has only talked about your painting, but he’s used every trick in the book against me.”

Honestly, I've been having a really tough time lately. My dad has been putting pressure on the publishing house, driving me to the brink of despair... I really don't want to give up writing novels and inherit the family business as he plans, but if I continue like this, I won't even be able to survive. So I'm thinking of just taking the inheritance..."

Inherit the family business?
Sonoko suddenly realizes that after her older sister gets married, the future of the Suzuki family will all fall on her shoulders.

She had never thought about this before, but now...

Will she still be able to get married?

How to do?
Kido will definitely not give up his detective career to inherit the Suzuki family business.

My mother would definitely not agree to an outsider taking over the Suzuki Group.

……

"Thank me?"

Tokyo.

On this day, Gao Mo received another call from Yuanzi.

"Yes, thanks to you, Xiong San was able to clear his name. My older sister even gave me a gift. Now everyone calls me a high school detective!"

Sonoko, who had become quite the star at school, blushed with excitement, her cheeks turning as red as apples.

"To thank Kido-san, I'd like to prepare a special gift..."

"No special gift needed."

Gao Mo turned around and glanced at the Treasure Appraisal skill, which was stuck at level 3, in the notes panel.

"If you'd like, let me see your family's treasure trove. I've been learning about antique appraisal lately."

"An antique appraiser?" Sonoko was taken aback. "Do-san wants to be an antique appraiser?"

"Just out of interest; a detective needs to know a little bit about everything."

"All right……"

Sonoko was slightly disappointed, but she quickly came up with something to cheer herself up.

It's a good thing that Kido-san has taken a liking to antique appraisal.

Perhaps in the future we can hire Kido-san as the Suzuki Group's exclusive appraiser.

……

Suzuki Residence.

Gao Mo followed behind Sonoko under the glaring eyes of two rows of bodyguards, feeling uneasy under their scrutiny. Beside him, Ai let out a soft snort and began to observe the Suzuki family while holding the black cat.

"Why come here to appraise treasures? There are plenty of museums outside."

"You can't touch the things in the museum, and..."

Gao Mo followed the garden all the way into the villa.

At this time, the Suzuki family had not yet established a museum; almost all the good stuff was kept in a vault, and even the Suzuki couple themselves did not know exactly what their collection consisted of.

That Suzuki family advisor who travels all over the world—Suzuki Jirokichi, the old man who was squeezed into the corner of the news last time—is like a spendthrift, buying up all sorts of good things.

How can any ordinary museum compare to the Suzuki family's home?
"Where are my parents?" Sonoko asked the butler.

"Master and Madam have gone out to attend the Tomizawa family's funeral." The butler subtly observed Gao Mo as he bent down.

If the eldest young lady is taken in, will the second young lady be conquered as well? But compared to the young master of the Tomizawa family, this person in front of her seems to be just an ordinary person, and he is also a bit too old for Miss Sonoko.

She also had a child with her...

Perhaps he's overthinking it?
The butler lowered his eyes, took out the key, opened the treasure vault door, and before he could say anything, he stared at the gardener as she pulled Gao Mo inside.

They seemed to have a very close relationship.

Second Miss!
"Kido-kun, this is our family's treasure trove."

Yuanzi pressed a switch next to her, and several crystal chandeliers immediately illuminated the room.

The first thing that catches the eye is the collection of famous paintings on the walls, followed by rows of glass cabinets displaying a dazzling array of treasures from all over the world.

It's basically a small museum.

Unfortunately, there aren't many jewelry pieces in the collection; only the Suzuki family's most prized "Black Star" is kept in the central safe.

Kaito Kid's greatest skill is jewelry appraisal.

After looking around the garden, he said nostalgically, "I used to come here to play a lot when I was a child. Back then, things were often messy and there weren't so many safety measures."

Gao Mo's attention was completely drawn to the collection.

The items preserved here are all exquisite, many of which could become the museum's prized possessions. Just handling one piece feels like a great gain.

"Wow!"

A glint flashed in Gao Mo's eyes.

With Eagle Vision activated, all the collectibles come into view, and by referring to the explanatory information on the display cases, one can quickly absorb appraisal experience.

“There’s more inside,” Sonoko said happily when she saw Gao Mo’s reaction. “A lot of things that weren’t sorted out are inside.”

Passing through the main hall, there is a warehouse-like room on the side, with items casually placed on shelves.

Gao Mo's gaze was drawn to one of the egg-shaped collectibles.

Like an ostrich egg, it has an emerald green shell with silver engraved patterns...

Although its origin is unknown, the details and techniques used are quite extraordinary.

“This is a toy from when I was a child, not some kind of treasure,” Sonoko explained. “It’s not inlaid with gemstones, just ordinary glass. The little gold figure inside is quite interesting though; it can move on its own after being wound up.”

Gao Mo opened the eggshell; it was empty inside, except for a gold micro-carving on the bottom.

Turning the spring inserted on the outside, the golden miniature sculpture slowly rises, and the golden figure begins to turn the pages of the book in its hand, just like a parent reading with their children.

Judging from the child's appearance, he is not Asian; he is probably from a European or American country.

"Can I take this back and have a look?" Gao Mo asked Sonoko. "This thing might not be an ordinary toy."

"If you like it, Kido-nii, I'll give it to you." Sonoko said readily, with a hint of secret delight.

Now I finally know what Kido likes.

"No, no need."

Gao Mo had a slight sweat on his forehead.

This thing is too valuable.

Even the most worthless items in the Suzuki family's treasure trove are valuable, let alone this one that gave him a special feeling.

"воспоминание, memories."

Xiao Ai, who had been quietly following behind, suddenly spoke up, explaining in Gao Mo's puzzled gaze.

"During the Romanov dynasty of Russia, 50 Easter eggs were made. They were gifts from the Russian emperor to the empress on Easter. This is the 51st one that has never been seen before - the Egg of Memory, which is worth at least 8 million yen."

"The Egg of Memories? 8 million?" Sonoko was stunned for a moment, then bent down suspiciously to meet Ai's gaze. "How would a brat like you know this? You're making this up, aren't you?"

"8 million?" Gao Mo almost lost his grip.

“If you don’t believe me, you can contact the Russian Kremlin Museum,” Ai said with a smile, looking directly at Sonoko. “Are you still going to give it to Kido?”

"Why do you always call him Kido-nii?" Sonoko said irritably. "So what if he's really worth 8 million? Dad gave it to me a long time ago. I can give it to whomever I want, anyway..."

"Anyway what?"

Mrs. Suzuki appeared outside the warehouse at some point, with short hair and a powerful aura. She glared at her daughter Sonoko and then smiled as she greeted Gao Mo.

"This must be Mr. Kido, whom my daughter has been talking about. I didn't expect you to be knowledgeable about antique appraisal. Would you like to come work for us?"

“I’m just interested in this,” Gao Mo shook his head and laughed. “I’ll pass on the job.”

Tomoko Suzuki has a completely different personality from her two daughters. She is strong-willed and confident, and seems to be the true manager of the Suzuki Group and the true head of the family.

"What a pity."

Mrs. Suzuki glanced at the garden again.

"This time, the Tomizawa family case should be handled by Detective Kido, right? I know my Izuko's character very well. She has no reasoning ability whatsoever. This child doesn't understand anything. I don't even have any hope for the future of the Suzuki family."

"What?!" Sonoko retorted indignantly. "I don't plan to inherit the family business either!"

"That's not up to you," Mrs. Suzuki said firmly. "Your future husband will be chosen from among people of equal social standing and education to inherit the Suzuki family business!"

"I don't care," Sonoko retorted, equally assertive and unyielding. "It's my freedom to choose who I marry!"

"You girl..."

“Alright, Auntie,” Gao Mo quickly interrupted the mother and daughter’s argument, “Yuanzi is still young, it’s too early to talk about these things.”

Why does it seem like we're guarding against him?

He indeed lacked both academic qualifications and family background.

He entered the entertainment industry right after graduating from high school, and he's all alone now.

Currently, he only owns a small detective agency, and his total net worth, including his luxury apartment, is less than 2 million, which is less than an egg...

"I'm worried about her too. That brat always likes to go against me."

Mrs. Suzuki felt a headache coming on as she looked at her stubborn daughter. After taking a deep breath, she turned to the "ostrich egg" in Gao Mo's hand.

"But Mr. Kido, is this toy egg... really the Russian Easter egg?"

8 million yen is nothing to the Suzuki family; she cares more about the meaning behind the treasure and the attention it brings.

"This one……"

Gao Mo glanced at Xiao Ai out of the corner of his eye.

The things Ai Haibara certified should be correct, after all, Ai Haibara comes from the future.

"I need to check the information to see if it's genuine... Judging from the workmanship, it shouldn't be fake."

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Mr. Kido,” Mrs. Suzuki promised with a smile. “If you can successfully authenticate it, I will pay you 2000 million yen as a reward.”

"How come it's only 2000 million?" Sonoko said, dissatisfied.

She knew she couldn't give it to Gao Mo.

"This is already the highest appraisal fee!" Mrs. Suzuki gritted her teeth inwardly.

That brat! They have no relation whatsoever, yet she's already siding with outsiders!
No, we need to select some excellent son-in-law candidates in advance.

Sonoko just likes handsome guys, right? There's never a shortage of handsome guys in this world; there are always a few who are a good match.

(End of this chapter)