The Black Detective of the Detective Conan World

It was the passenger ship chartered by the Hatamoto family.

Kogoro Mouri, along with Ran, Conan, and Naoto Hayashi, boarded the passenger ship after giving their names.

This luxury cruise ship can carry hundreds of passengers, but this time, apart from the Hatamoto family who chartered the ship, there were only a few crew members, who all stayed obediently in their cabins and rarely came out.

So after Naoto Hayashi and the others boarded the ship, they saw an empty deck and terrace, a huge swimming pool in the middle, and beach chairs and parasols placed on the side.

Kogoro Mori scoffed, "Is this what rich people are like? It's outrageous! They've chartered the entire ship, but nobody gets to enjoy any of these amenities!"

Conan gave a half-moon glare, speechless: "Heh, they've had their fill of these things long ago. It's only you, Uncle, who's still envious and jealous."

Naoto Hayashi found a beach chair and lay down to rest. At the same time, he secretly released a golden dragonfly, which hovered over the passenger ship to conduct wide-area surveillance.

In addition, he released a small golden spider to stay by his side and guard it.

Naoto Hayashi feels that he hasn't developed enough of his spiritual beings yet.

Aside from surveillance and reconnaissance, the little creatures have almost no other use.

If these things had offensive capabilities, it would have been much easier to rescue Kogoro from the female assassin Tachibana Maya last time.

"When I get back this time, I'll visit Professor Agasa and get some good stuff from him!"

Naoto Hayashi made up his mind.

Of course, he wouldn't dare use drugs that are too dangerous, such as cyanide, which is frequently seen in the media and is considered fatal if ingested, leaving no chance of rescue.

He didn't want to kill anyone and create a mountain of sins for his soul.

Suddenly, a dignified old man dressed in traditional Japanese haori hakama emerged from the cabin.

This man had disheveled gray hair and a sharp, piercing gaze. He exuded the aura of a powerful figure who had long held the power of life and death, commanding respect without even raising his voice.

He is none other than Hatamoto Gozo, the head of the Hatamoto family!

The old patriarch was furious that several strangers had suddenly appeared on his chartered boat.

Then several members of the clan took turns appearing, but apart from a granddaughter named "Xia Jiang" who was not scolded, all the others—sons, daughters, sons-in-law, and grandsons—were all sprayed with insults by the clan head!

A brutal, scathing attack! Fierce and merciless!

Lin Zhiren was immediately startled by the murderous aura emanating from the crowd.

Holy crap, forget about it! That old man who's so good at planting flags, he's definitely going to die today!

He immediately sent a little bee to follow the old man and take photos.

In addition, a small spider was sent to lurk in the open area of ​​the passenger ship to monitor these murderous family members.

Xia Jiang, the granddaughter of the old patriarch, is the bride at this wedding. She is young and beautiful, gentle and kind, and gets along well with Xiao Lan.

The two talked about the members of the Hatamoto family on the ship, which finally made Naoto Hayashi, who had been listening quietly, understand the complicated relationships within this large family.

The head of the family, Mr. Hatamoto Gozo, has two sons, one daughter, two granddaughters, one grandson-in-law, two grandsons-in-law who married into the family, and one son-in-law who married into the family.

The eldest son and daughter-in-law passed away a year ago, leaving behind two granddaughters, named "Miss Qiujiang" and "Miss Xiajiang".

Their husbands are "Mr. Longnan" and "Mr. Xiaowu";

An eldest daughter named "Hatamoto Mariko", her husband who married into the family "Kitarou-sensei", and their son "Hatamoto Ichiro";

Finally, there was the old patriarch's second son, named "Hatamoto Shoji".

This family is rife with conflict. You can tell from their conversations that, apart from the newlywed Miss Xia Jiang and Mr. Xiao Wu, almost everyone else is short of money and has their eyes on the old patriarch's vast wealth.

However, the old patriarch just revealed that he plans to make a will after returning to Tokyo this time, leaving all the assets of the Hatamoto Group to Natsue alone!

The group of people had different expressions and heavy breathing, clearly indicating that they all knew that time was running out!

If you want to do something, you'd better take advantage of these last ten or so hours...

Chapter 40 Taking Orders? Mr. Mori!

evening.

Miss Xia Jiang invited the Mao family to dine at the restaurant.

Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Hatamoto family also came to the restaurant, each one looking preoccupied and troubled.

They were clearly worried about how to get money from the old man.

If they wait until the old man returns to Tokyo to formally announce his will, leaving all his assets to Xia Jiang, then they will have absolutely no hope.

It would be wonderful if the old man suddenly died at this moment...

At this moment, Xia Jiang looked at Kogoro Mouri and asked with some curiosity, "You're Ran's father, right? You look familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?"

Kogoro Mouri immediately became smug and boasted, "Maybe it's because I've been in the newspapers and on TV a lot lately? Ahem, I am Kogoro Mouri, a famous detective!"

The moment the name was uttered, the entire restaurant fell silent. Everyone turned to look at Kogoro, their faces filled with shock!

Kogoro was a little confused by their stares and asked guiltily, "W-what's wrong? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Xia Jiang was also somewhat puzzled and said, "Perhaps they haven't seen such a famous detective as you before..."

Suddenly, a few people started whispering, and Lin Zhiren quickly had Little Spider come closer to eavesdrop.

Eldest daughter Mariko: "Is it that 'Master Detective Mouri' that everyone in high society talks about?! I heard that he'll take any job as long as he's paid, even murder, framing, and tampering with evidence, and he'll never leave any loopholes!"

Second son, Shoji Hatamoto: "I've also heard from customers who dine at my restaurant that he has cleared several clients of suspicion, exonerating them from the murders. He can even come up with reasoning like 'the victim committed suicide by being stabbed in the back,' and no one suspects it!"

Eldest granddaughter Qiujiang: "I also heard from my classmates at the medical university that this famous detective's wife is a lawyer, known as the 'Queen of the Legal World,' who is in charge of clearing his name of suspects involved in cases!"

Eldest daughter Mariko: "Also, he has a very good relationship with the high-ranking officials in the Metropolitan Police Department. Even the criminal investigators in charge of the cases call him brother. And when investigating crimes, those police officers listen to his every word..."

The group exchanged glances, a certain unspeakable ferocity flashing in their eyes.

Someone whispered, "It's too late to hire an assassin from outside now. I wonder what Mr. Mori will do..."

This time, no one responded. It seemed that they had suddenly become a dignified family, disdaining to commit such despicable acts.

However, the group was somewhat restless, their eyes frequently drifting towards Kogoro Mouri.

At that moment, Kogoro Mouri got up to go to the bathroom, and his eldest daughter, Mariko, immediately followed suit, forcing a dry laugh and saying, "I suddenly remembered something."

Ignoring the strange looks from others, he hurriedly followed behind Kogoro Mouri.

After he left the restaurant and reached a secluded corner, his eldest daughter, Mariko, immediately called out to Kogoro Mouri and whispered, "Mr. Mouri, I heard from a friend that you can take on some 'special' commissions?"

Kogoro was taken aback for a moment, then patted his chest and laughed, "Whatever the request, just give it to me, Kogoro Mouri! Do you want to investigate and find someone's whereabouts? Or is someone following and threatening you?"

The eldest daughter, Mariko, looked at him and tentatively said, "It's something a little more 'special'... Money is not a problem."

Kogoro Mouri scratched his head slightly: "Something more unusual? Oh, you mean... suspecting your husband of cheating?"

The eldest daughter, Mariko, was speechless. She suspected that this guy was pretending to be ignorant when he knew the truth!

But the other party refused to respond directly, and she was at a loss. After trying a few more times, she could only leave empty-handed.

Mariko, the eldest daughter, returned to her seat in a huff, gritting her teeth.

The second son, Shoji Hatamoto, said thoughtfully, "He refuses to accept your commission?"

The eldest daughter, Mariko, angrily retorted, "He's pretending to be confused! Does he not trust us?"

The eldest granddaughter, Qiu Jiang, said, "Aunt, should we ask someone we know to introduce her?"

The second son, Qi Benxiang, frowned and said, "Don't be ridiculous! How can we let outsiders know about this? It would be a huge problem if it gave us leverage!"

After a moment's thought, Shoji Hatamoto suddenly remembered something, turned his gaze to Naoto Hayashi, and whispered, "That's the detective's assistant, right? I remember those customers specifically mentioning that this assistant was in charge of all the orders and money... I understand! That guy is too cautious; he would never accept commissions or handle money himself, he always lets that assistant do it!"

The others also realized what was happening, and at the same time, they felt admiration and awe.

He is meticulous in his work, leaving no room for error; he is indeed a person destined for great things.

So, let's find an opportunity to get in touch with that assistant!

Naoto Hayashi, who eavesdropped the whole time: "..."

Kuso!

Where did you hear these rumors from?

"The Mastermind Detective"?

Murder framed, evidence falsified?

To exonerate a suspect and clear their name?

Is he on friendly terms with the police inspector and even gives orders to the police?

Um... the last one actually exists...

When did Kogoro Mouri become so discredited?

How could anyone believe such outrageous and exaggerated rumors?

Could it be that my pranks during the case got leaked? But in the end, the real culprit was caught.

Incredible.

Fortunately, the cases were brought in by Conan's referral program.

Otherwise, given Kogoro Mouri's reputation, he probably won't be able to get any serious commissions in the future.

Suddenly he was startled when a video came from another location, the bee that was monitoring the old patriarch.

It was Mr. Xiao Wu, Miss Xia Jiang's husband, who was summoned to the old master's room.

Then, as soon as the old patriarch spoke, Mr. Xiao Wu's expression changed drastically!

It turns out that Xiao Wu is actually the son of the chairman of a group that the old patriarch once bankrupted, and that chairman committed suicide many years ago!

The old patriarch suspected that Xiao Wu had come to take revenge on the Hatamoto family!

After a heated argument, Xiao Wu left dejectedly, a faint aura of murderous intent emanating from him.

The old patriarch sat there fuming for a while. After calming down, he prepared to go out for a meal. As soon as he opened the door, he saw his grandson, the son of his eldest daughter, Mariko, named "Hatamoto Ichiro".

The pockmarked, gloomy young man roared at the old patriarch, "Why did you marry Xia Jiang to that Xiao Wu?! Don't you know how much I love her?!"

The person from my hometown was furious: "She's your older sister!"

Ichiro Hatamoto drew his knife and stabbed him!

puff!

Blood splattered, and the old patriarch's face showed an expression of disbelief!

He staggered backward, not forgetting to close the door and lock it, then lay down on the ground and gradually fell silent.

died.

The young man, Ichiro Hatamoto, stood there stunned for a moment, looking at the bloodstains on the ground and on his body, and panicked.

He first took off his clothes, vigorously wiped the bloodstains on the ground, then wrapped the knife up and prepared to escape.

Suddenly he paused, then turned around and threw a corsage onto the ground at the entrance of his old home.

It's the flower the groom is wearing on his chest today!

Then he ran away without looking back.

Naoto Hayashi's eyes widened!

Holy crap! It's only been a few minutes, and he's already dead?

And the murderer was actually this seemingly cowardly and timid young man?

Really...

Moreover, after committing the murder, this guy didn't forget to casually produce a false incriminating document to frame the victim, clearly indicating that this murder wasn't a spur-of-the-moment act, but rather premeditated.

If Naoto Hayashi hadn't been prepared and set up surveillance cameras, he probably would have been fooled by this fabricated evidence.

Terrible.

Lin Zhiren snapped out of his reverie, still wondering whether he should pull off a stunt in this case, when he saw his tall second son, Hatamoto Shoji, approach him: "Lin-san, may I have a word with you in private?"

Chapter 41 You all want to kill the old patriarch? Fine!

Naoto Hayashi stared at him blankly.

He had overheard their conversation and knew what they were planning to do.