Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

At Longye's soft call, Xiaolan opened her eyes, yawned, and then closed them again.

Seeing Ran's languid appearance, Ryuno smiled gently: "Sure, but it's already ten o'clock~ Didn't you make plans with Toyama Kazuha?"

Upon hearing Longye's words, Xiaolan sat up abruptly.

She almost forgot that she and Kazuha had made plans to go shopping together at noon today.

Thinking of this, Xiaolan immediately opened her eyes and groggily walked towards the bathroom.

Seeing Ran's appearance, Ryūno smiled wickedly and reminded her, "Ran, your pajamas~"

Upon hearing this, Xiaolan looked down at herself.

The next moment, she immediately woke up, her face flushed, and walked back to bed, putting on her pajamas.

……

Two hours later

Longye and Xiaolan sat on the sofa watching TV.

Xiaolan looked up at the clock and asked in confusion, "It's already twelve o'clock, why hasn't He Ye made a move yet? We agreed to meet at eleven-thirty."

After saying that, Xiaolan picked up her phone and dialed He Ye's number.

Strangely, no one answered the phone.

Seeing this, Xiaolan asked worriedly, "Could something have happened?"

"Kazuha seems to have mentioned that Hattori Heiji is going to Dad's place. Could they have already arrived there? Tatsuno, let's go check on them."

Upon hearing this, Longye nodded.

The two turned off the TV and prepared to head to the Mouri Detective Agency.

same moment

In a dimly lit attic.

Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama stood back to back.

"Oh no! The safety pin has fallen into the crack in the floor."

"Heiji, what are you doing... How are we going to open these handcuffs without the safety pins?!"

"Kazuha, do you have any other similar safety pins?"

"That's it, I only had that one safety pin on me..."

"hateful…"

……

Shortly after

Maori Detective Agency.

"Dad, haven't Kazuha and the others been here?"

"Yeah, that brat Heiji Hattori... He clearly said he'd be here a little before 1 a.m. What an unpunctual guy!"

"We can't get through to Kazuha either. Has something urgent happened to them?"

"Hmph, if you ask me, they've probably already forgotten about it and are probably sleeping at home!" After saying that, Kogoro Mouri picked up the newspaper in his hand and started reading the horse racing column.

While watching, he took notes on the horse racing information.

After hearing Uncle Mori's words, Conan said, "It shouldn't be like that~ I just called Heiji's mother, and she said they have already boarded the 8 o'clock morning flight."

After hearing Conan and Uncle Mori's words, Tatsuno narrowed his eyes.

If these two hadn't spoken, then Hattori Heiji and his companion would likely have been safe and sound.

But since these two have already spoken, then…

Blackie, good luck!

At this moment, Conan seemed to have thought of something and spoke again:

"Oh, right, Heiji-nii said they're going to see someone named 'Kusukawa' first. Apparently, he used to be a subordinate of Kazuha's father."

Like his uncle Mori, he quit his job as a policeman and joined a detective agency.

Upon hearing Conan's words, Uncle Mori immediately asked, "Could it be Mr. Kusukawa from the Beika Detective Agency?"

Upon hearing this, Longye and the others all turned their gazes toward him.

"Uncle, do you know him?"

"Hmm. Horse racing, car racing, boat racing, he seems to really enjoy gambling."

After hearing Kogoro Mouri's description, Ryuno and the others stared at him silently, without saying a word.

Noticing the stares from the crowd, Uncle Mori immediately stood up: "Hey! What kind of looks are those?! I don't know him at all! Besides, I don't like gambling at all!"

Upon hearing this, Xiaolan clenched her fist and slowly said, "Dad...you should put down your pen first before saying such things!"

Seeing his daughter's forced smile, Uncle Mori immediately put down his pen and newspaper, scratched his head, and chuckled foolishly.

Seeing this, Longye and the others looked at him with even more strange expressions.

Uncle Mori immediately changed the subject: "How about this, I'll make a call to Beika Detective Agency!"

"Hello, this is Kogoro Mouri... What? Kusukawa is investigating a major case?"

"Two teenagers asked you for your address and then left? Could you please tell me their address as well?"

"Okay...I understand!"

After hanging up the phone, Uncle Mori picked up the note in his hand and stood up.

Then, he proudly glanced at everyone and said, "I've got the address. Let's go take a look."

……

Beika Town 4-chome - Ariji-sho

Longye and his group arrived at room 202, where Mr. Nanchuan was staying.

As soon as they reached the door, everyone's attention was drawn to the note on the door.

"I should be back before noon. If there is any registered mail, please deliver it to the landlord."

After reading the contents of the note, everyone noticed the mark next to it.

Upon seeing the mark, Conan exclaimed, "Look, isn't that the symbol on the hat that Heiji always wears?"

After saying that, Conan pointed to the bottom of the door: "There are the same marks here too!"

When everyone looked down at the marks, they suddenly noticed a piece of transparent tape stuck in the crack of the door.

Upon seeing the tape, Kogoro Mouri rubbed his chin: "Isn't this a common plot in detective dramas? When you leave the house, you just need to put tape on the door to know if anyone has sneaked into your house!"

But at this moment, everyone looked at the obviously loose and dusty transparent tape in front of them and showed serious expressions.

Since the tape has turned out like this, it means that Mr. Nanchuan's house seems to have been trespassed on by some person.

——"Click"

At that moment, Conan, unable to contain himself any longer, simply turned the doorknob and opened the door.

The unlocked door further confirms the theory that someone had broken in.

Longye and his group entered the room and examined its condition. There seemed to be no signs that the room had been ransacked.

As everyone was observing the situation inside the room, Conan climbed directly onto the computer desk: "Huh~ what's this? Come and see!"

Upon hearing this, Longye and the others stepped forward and looked at the computer desktop.

There was a very obvious pencil mark around the table.

It looks as if something that was originally placed here has been rubbed with a pencil.

Seeing this, Longye tore off a piece of white paper from the side and placed it in the center of the circle of pencil marks.

The size of the white paper perfectly matched the blank space within the pencil marks.

Seeing this, Conan immediately picked up a pencil and started drawing on it.

A moment later, two lines of text appeared on the white paper.

Uncle Mori leaned closer, then exclaimed in sudden realization, "I see! It uses the principle of pen pressure—rubbing the paper with a pencil makes the writing on the next sheet appear!"

"Let me see... this is—'the Ito family in Xianqiao Town'?"

Chapter 136 What the cat sees isn't necessarily the guest.

Xianqiao Town

Longye and his companions found the place based on the address and surname on the note.

To everyone's surprise, there seemed to be many families with the surname Ito here.

So everyone had to go door to door asking if they had seen the high school duo speaking with a Kansai accent.

During the questioning, Longye slowly recalled the events.

In his memory, Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha seemed to have indeed been kidnapped.

It seems to involve some kind of code that can be cracked using dice.

As he slowly recalled the events, the group had already arrived at the last house in the vicinity, the "Ito House".

Uncle Mori went up and knocked on the door.

Not long after, a slightly overweight woman came out carrying a cat.

Upon seeing the woman's appearance and figure, Longye smiled slightly.

He remembered; this must be the prisoner.

Although he couldn't remember her motive, the scene when Conan visited her left a deep impression on him.

—Through a cat's eyes, Conan's large head, coupled with his sincere and innocent gaze, is undeniably adorable.

……

Uncle Mori explained the reason for his visit to the lady who opened the door.