Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

Just then, the police arrived at the scene.

After a brief interrogation, they took the two people who were tied up in the living room away.

Uncle Mori wanted to continue solving the mystery with Miss Nakamura, but his phone suddenly rang.

After hanging up the phone, his expression immediately changed: "Longye, Xiaolan! It seems another client's husband has been kidnapped! Let's go right away!"

After saying that, he shouted into the house again, "Conan! We should go!"

Before leaving, Ryuno glanced at Miss Nakamura and gave her a final hint: "To solve the mystery, it's best to wait until tonight."

After saying that, Ryuno and Ran immediately followed Uncle Mori's steps toward the car on the side.

After the car started, Conan ran out of the house.

After getting into the car, he appeared visibly distracted, as if he was still pondering the puzzle from earlier.

……

three hours later

Longye and his companions drove through a grove of trees and arrived at the residence of their client, Mrs. Hirano.

Looking at the enormous mansion before them, everyone thought to themselves, "No wonder they're a family that can afford to hire a detective for five million."

Surprisingly, despite the size of the mansion, no one, not even a steward, came to greet them.

Longye and his group walked to the front of the mansion and rang the doorbell.

The doorbell had just been rung when the door opened, and a pale-faced noblewoman poked her head out.

Before anyone could greet her, she put a finger to her lips, signaling Longye and the others to be quiet and come inside quickly.

Although everyone was a little confused, they followed the lady's instructions and quickly went inside.

As soon as everyone entered, the door was closed.

A dozen or so men dressed in moving company uniforms appeared before the crowd.

Upon seeing Longye and his group enter the room, the dozen or so people immediately turned their heads toward them.

Before Uncle Mori could shout out, a very familiar-looking man with a pointed beak walked over, rubbing his hands together.

"Mr. Mori, it's been a long time! Do you remember me? I'm Yamamura Misao!"

After recognizing the man's face, Uncle Mori breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he had completely forgotten he was in Gunma Prefecture. The Gunma Prefecture police officer was this clumsy guy in front of him…

Thinking about this, Uncle Mori sighed: "What are you doing?"

"Hmm? Of course, it's to catch that kidnapper!"

Upon hearing this, Longye and the other two roughly guessed the situation at the scene.

ten minutes later

The group entered the study.

Officer Yamamura explained the current situation to everyone.

Just this afternoon, Ms. Misa Hirano received a ransom note on her fax machine.

The fax bore her husband's fingerprint and a line of text: "Prepare 50 million by today. Once I have the money, I will release your husband. Follow my instructions and do not call the police!"

According to Ms. Hirano, her husband went out for a social event yesterday afternoon and did not return home. At first, she did not pay much attention to it.

This kind of thing happens frequently, after all, her husband is the owner of a large construction company.

Around noon today, the extortion letter arrived via fax in the study.

After receiving the extortion letter, she immediately called her husband, but his phone was switched off.

Only then did she realize that her husband had indeed been kidnapped!

Completely bewildered, she had no choice but to call the police.

Upon receiving the information, Officer Yamamura immediately led his men, disguised as moving company workers, to infiltrate the mansion.

After hearing the whole story, Longye and the others covered their faces, not knowing what to say.

If the prisoner was indeed monitoring the mansion, and saw the moving company suddenly appear, and then saw a dozen or so people enter the house and never come out again…

Who... came up with this "burying one's head in the sand" plan?!

Thinking of this, everyone looked up at the excited Yamamura Misao in front of them and fell silent.

Just then, the fax machine in the study beeped again.

"Officer Yamamura! Something else has been delivered!"

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly walked towards the fax machine.

The fax machine printed out a blank sheet of paper with two lines of large characters written on it: "Divide the fifty million into two portions and put them into separate bags. Go alone into the woods outside the house and wait for me to contact you."

Upon seeing the contents of the note, Officer Shancun immediately instructed his subordinates to pack up the cash and prepare to deploy police forces into the woods. Everyone busily got to work.

Just then, the fax machine beeped again, and another sheet of white paper was sent out.

This time, only one line was written on the blank sheet of paper: "If I see anyone else, you know the consequences!"

Seeing this, the village police officer frowned and began to think hard.

It should be noted that the woods outside the mansion are quite large, and it would be extremely dangerous for Mrs. Hirano to walk in alone.

They had no idea what the kidnapper was going to do!

Uncle Mori and Conan, who were standing nearby, were also nervously trying to think of a solution.

“Um…I’m willing to go!” Misa Hirano said, looking at the silent crowd.

"I have no choice but to do this to save my husband! Money can be earned again, but I only have one husband!"

Everyone trembled at the sight of Mrs. Hirano's resolute expression.

Shortly afterward, Officer Yamamura agreed to Ms. Hirano's suggestion.

But just to be on the safe side, he followed Uncle Mori's advice and decided to set up manpower at fixed points around the perimeter of the forest.

Furthermore, to ensure Ms. Hirano's safety, everyone suggested that she drive there.

Uncle Mori and Officer Yamamura prepared to hide in the car and wait for the right moment to make their move.

This was done both to catch the criminal and to protect Ms. Hirano's safety as much as possible.

After everything was ready, the fax machine rang again.

This time, the message was even shorter, just a few words: "Come over now."

After seeing the contents of the fax, Uncle Mori and Officer Yamamura nodded to Ms. Hirano.

Since all the police officers had been deployed to the outskirts of the woods, Longye, Xiaolan, and the others had no choice but to stay in the study and keep an eye on the fax machine so they could get information as soon as possible.

……

Ms. Hirano drove to the edge of the woods.

After stopping the car, she took two handbags out of the trunk.

As she passed behind the car, she quietly nodded to Uncle Mori and Officer Yamamura, who were hiding under the back seat.

Then, she took her handbag and walked to a spot fifty meters away from the car.

Three minutes later, Ms. Hirano still hadn't seen the culprit.

Five more minutes passed, and there was still no movement.

Now, not only Ms. Hirano, but also Mr. Mori and his companion in the car couldn't hold back any longer.

Just then, Uncle Mori's phone vibrated, and a text message came through.

He turned on his phone and opened the text message.

The text message was sent by Longye.

"You can come back now. Mr. Hirano has perished."

Chapter 150 Fax Machines Are a Thing of the Past

twenty minutes later

Uncle Mori and his two companions returned to the Hirano residence.

Everyone fell silent as they looked at the fax that Ryūno handed over, and Officer Yamamura's face turned even paler.

The fax was brief: "There are police in the woods, right? Do you think I'm stupid?! Deal over, say goodbye to your husband."

Upon seeing this, Mrs. Hirano burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably on the sofa.

A moment later, Officer Yamamura walked up to Mrs. Hirano with his head down and bowed deeply.

"I'm so sorry, madam! I'll call the station right away and ask them to send more men. We'll definitely be able to find the criminal in the woods!"

Uncle Mori also stepped forward and bowed, indicating that he would definitely catch the criminal and rescue her husband.

"Shut up! I'll never trust you again! My husband was practically killed by you!"

Mrs. Hirano, her face streaked with tears, roared at the two of them.

Seeing this, Officer Yamamura and Uncle Mori stopped talking and stood aside with their heads down, knowing that it would be pointless to say anything now.

After standing there for a while, Officer Yamamura, following Uncle Mori's advice, called his subordinates and ordered them to search the woods thoroughly.

Since the prisoner knew there were police officers in the woods, it means he had been observing their every move from the surrounding area.

Based on this, it's highly likely that the culprit is in the woods.

At this moment, Ran, who was standing to the side, felt a little sorry for Mrs. Hirano when she saw how sad she was.

After all, his father was indeed partly to blame for this situation.

Just then, Tatsuno whispered, "There's something wrong with this Ms. Hirano."

These words not only reached Ran's ears, but also Conan, who was standing nearby.

Both of them looked at Longye in surprise, waiting for him to continue.

"Do you remember what request Mrs. Hirano made to Uncle Mori?"

Upon hearing this, Xiaolan was taken aback. After recalling for a moment, she hesitated and said, "About my husband... an investigation into his affair?"