Solving cases with Detective Conan's science? No, I'm a cultivator!

"Home-cooked meals are so nice, let me help you!" Miyano Akemi followed Ran into the kitchen.

Xiaolan waved her hand and said, "Miho-nee, don't worry about me, I'll be there soon!"

But Akemi Miyano had already washed her hands and started picking vegetables.

"Ran, don't be shy!" Miyano Akemi smiled.

……

Hearing the commotion outside, Kogoro Mouri and Conan came out of the room.

"Brother Kitagawa!" Kogoro Mori greeted him warmly.

Conan, on the other hand, had a deadpan expression. He felt a dull ache in the back of his head whenever he saw Ai Haibara, all because of the Black Organization.

"My brother and I are definitely going to have a good drink together at noon today!"

Kogoro Mouri took a bottle of liquor out of the cabinet.

Conan chuckled, saying that with Uncle Mori's alcohol tolerance, he would only be completely outdrunk by Kitagawa Taki.

"Brother Kitagawa, take a look at this wine. It was a gift from one of my clients. I heard it's very potent!"

Kogoro Mouri handed the sake to Taki Kitagawa.

Kitagawa Taki looked at the label and realized, "Isn't this Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor)?"

“Baijiu, huh? That’s definitely potent.” Kitagawa Taki nodded.

As a result, after it was served, Kogoro Mouri drank half a bottle and then collapsed on the table.

Xiao Lan said helplessly, "Dad, really!"

Kitagawa Taki downed the rest of his drink in one gulp, chuckling, "Let him sleep for a while, let's eat!"

Kogoro Mouri is the type who drinks more alcohol than food, so it's no wonder he can't drink much.

Such a huge table of food!

"Ran, your beef and potato stew is delicious!" Kitagawa Taki praised.

Akemi Miyano also joined in the praise, saying, "Yes, I think Ran's cooking is amazing!"

The quietest people at the entire dinner table were Conan and Ai Haibara.

Chapter 169 Demon Dog

After the meal, Ran and Akemi Miyano cleaned up the dishes together.

Kitagawa Taki carried Kogoro Mouri into the room, but when he returned to the living room, he found two more people.

It was Osaka Black Chicken and Toyama Kazuha.

Upon seeing Kitagawa Taki, Hattori Heiji exclaimed, "Kitagawa, you're here too! That's perfect!"

Kitagawa Taki sat down next to Haibara Ai. "What? Did you need something?"

"Demon Dog, are you interested?" Hattori Heiji didn't believe Kitagawa Taki wouldn't be interested in this.

Kitagawa Taki was indeed very interested. "Oh? What is it?"

Hattori Heiji said, "A demonic dog is killing people."

Kitagawa Taki pressed further, "So what exactly does that demonic hound look like?"

"Don't rush, let me explain slowly."

"About five years ago, a very wealthy man named Inubushi Tsuneo passed away. It is said that when he was young, he was a womanizer and had many women around him."

"Shortly after his death, many people came to his door, all claiming to be Chairman Inubushi's children."

“They all brought photos of their mothers and Chairman Inubushi to claim their relatives.”

"The key is that the chairman's wife, Inubushi Sasomi, actually took them in as her adopted children. There were eight of them in total."

"Now that Lady Sushin is seriously ill and bedridden, the murder case begins!"

Kitagawa Taki asked, "Are we fighting over the inheritance?"

Hattori Heiji continued, "That's right. The inheritance that Mrs. Sumi inherited from the chairman was originally intended to be divided equally among eight people, but two people have already died."

"An adopted son who fell off a cliff left a last message before he died. He said that the one who pushed him off was the incarnation of a monster, a dog-like demon with a body entwined in crimson flames!"

"The Crimson Lotus Flame?"

Kitagawa Taki's lips twitched; he didn't believe it for a second.

And doesn't this sound a lot like "The Hound of the Baskervilles"?

However, the dogs inside were covered in phosphorus powder, making them look like ghost dogs.

Conan also became interested, "So, Heiji-nii, you were asked to go to the Inubushi family?"

Hattori Heiji shook his head. "No, it's one of the adopted sons who knows Kazuha's mother."

Kazuha Toyama interjected, "This person seems to believe that the two people who died were due to a curse. According to him, one of the eight adopted children harbored a deep grudge against the Inubushi family and used the demonic dog to cause the Inubushi family to be wiped out!"

"He originally wanted to ask my dad for help, but my dad can't leave Osaka at all."

Kazuha Toyama's father is Ginjiro Toyama, the head of the criminal investigation department of the Osaka Prefectural Police.

Kitagawa Taki asked, "So where is this person?"

Hattori Heiji said, "He was smart. He chose to give up his share of the inheritance and now lives in Tokyo. He has also changed his name back to his mother's surname from Inubushi."

“We can visit him now, which will be a good opportunity to sober up Uncle Mori.”

Conan raised his hand and said, "I want to go too."

"can."

Heiji Hattori remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he chuckled. One of his purposes in coming here was to find out as much about Conan as possible.

Conan volunteered to go, which suited him perfectly.

So, Kitagawa Taki, Hattori Heiji, and Conan went to the adopted son's house together.

"Kudou... Shinki??"

Conan was stunned when he saw the name on the doorplate.

It sounds exactly like his name.

Hattori Heiji asked with a smile, "Isn't this name interesting? It's so similar to that of Kudo Shinichi, who's my equal."

That's so interesting.

Kitagawa Taki glanced at Conan, who was speechless.

When Hattori Heiji rang the doorbell, a woman answered the door.

The woman's name was Fune Abukawa, and she was the caregiver hired by Shinichi Kudo.

After explaining their purpose, Abukawa Funae led the group to Kudo Shinichi's door and knocked.

Seeing that no one answered the door for a while, Funee Abukawa simply opened the door.

Kudo Shinichi was lying on the bed, seemingly still fast asleep.

"Sleeping so soundly!" Hattori Heiji peered inside from the doorway.

"This room is way too hot!" Conan felt a wave of heat hit him as soon as he opened the door.

Abukawa Fune explained, "Because he has a bit of a cold."

"Let's wait until he wakes up before we talk about it!"

With that, Hattori Heiji was about to close the door.

"Hey, wait a minute." Kitagawa Taki stuck his foot out to stop the door. "Kudo Shinichi is dead."

He had already used his divine sense to investigate when no one answered the door after he had been knocking for a while.

"What?" Hattori Heiji was shocked and rushed into the room. He felt Kudo Shinichi's pulse with his hand and found that, just as Kitagawa Taki had said, the man was dead.

Moreover, his jaw was already stiff, indicating he had been dead for at least an hour.

Conan stood at the head of the bed, his gaze serious.

Only Abukawa Funae stood at the door, her expression shifting, at a loss for what to do.

All three of them turned their gaze to Abukawa Funae.

Abukawa Funae's pupils contracted slightly, and after a moment, she finally couldn't withstand the pressure and collapsed to the ground.

Abukawa Funae hurriedly protested, "I didn't kill Mr. Kudo. He was already dead when I arrived!"

He muttered to himself, "This is completely different from what the murderer said."

murderer?

Having caught the key words, Hattori Heiji rushed to the door and demanded, "Hey, ma'am, what exactly do you mean by that?"

Fumie Abukawa said, "I came over in the afternoon as usual, but there was no response when I rang the doorbell. I had to use the spare key to get in. After I got in, I heard the phone ringing non-stop."

"I answered the phone, and a terrifying voice said that Mr. Kudo was trapped in the closet in his bedroom."

"When I got to the bedroom, I found that the wardrobe was sealed with tape and there was a wooden board stuck in the handle, so I couldn't open it from the inside."

"I ripped off the tape, removed the wooden board, and found that Mr. Kudo had died in the closet."

Upon hearing what Abukawa Funae said, Hattori Heiji checked the wardrobe door and the inside of the wardrobe. "The inside of the door is indeed very sticky. It must have been because they used medicine to put Mr. Kudo to sleep first, and then put the lit charcoal stove inside."

As he spoke, Hattori Heiji brought out a charcoal stove that had already been extinguished.

"If that's the case, why didn't you call the police, auntie? And why did you put Mr. Kudo in bed and pretend he was fast asleep?"

“I… I had no choice… There was a picture of my son in the closet. The murderer threatened me that if I didn’t do what he said, he would make my son and Mr. Kudo suffer the same fate.”

As Abukawa Funee spoke, tears began to stream down her face.

"He also said that as long as I did what he said, I could fake it as a suicide, but before I could even do the next step..."

Funeko Ayakawa glanced at Taki Kitagawa; she hadn't expected to be seen through so easily.

Kitagawa Taki said, "Anyway, let's call the police first!"