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

“He’s quite busy,” Fujimine Yukiko said, sticking to her usual refrain.

Actually, apart from the first few days, she didn't stick to Kitagawa Taki all the time.

As someone who has been through it all, she knows the saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder," and that being too close together is not beautiful.

She didn't want to talk about Kitagawa Taki any further, lest she give herself away, so she changed the subject, saying, "How about we grab a coffee after you get off work?"

“Sure.” Eri Kisaki checked the time.

"I know a new coffee shop opened in Beika Town, and it's pretty good," Yukiko Fujimine said mysteriously. "Don't be too surprised later."

Eri Kisaki, naturally skeptical, laughed and said, "Is it really that exaggerated?"

Yukiko Fujimine winked playfully: "I guarantee you'll be very surprised."

Seeing that she spoke with such seriousness, Eri Kisaki also became interested: "Then let's go, let's go now, I've already taken care of the work."

……

The two arrived at Akiyoshi Minamiko's coffee shop together.

As soon as she entered, Eri Kisaki's attention was drawn to Minami Akiyoshi.

The same goes for Minami Akiyoshi.

The two do look alike, except that Minako Akiyoshi has short hair while Eri Kisaki has long hair, and Eri Kisaki is also more voluptuous.

"Eri, how are you?"

Yukiko Fujimine gently nudged Eri Kisaki's arm.

"Yukiko," Minako Akikichi greeted her as she came up.

Yukiko Fujimine and Minami Akiyoshi had already become close friends.

She stepped forward and took Minako Akiyoshi's hand: "Minako is the owner of this coffee shop."

Next, Eri Kisaki was introduced to Minami Akiyoshi.

The three of them quickly sat down together and started chatting.

"Ms. Minami was a designer for Yatsushiro Merchant Ships before?"

Eri was somewhat surprised. She had heard Ran mention the Yatsushiro shipwreck, which had caused quite a stir in the news.

Minamiko Akiyoshi said, "Yes, what's wrong?"

Eri Kisaki asked, "Does Ms. Namiko know Ran Mouri and Taki Kitagawa?"

"Yes, I know him. I was on the ship during the last sinking accident."

Eri's words cleared up her doubts.

No wonder Kitagawa Taki helped her.

However, she wasn't annoyed or anything about being used as a substitute.

From the moment she agreed to Kitagawa Taki's request, she found her place.

Yukiko Fujimine interjected, "Eri is Ran's mother."

Minako Akiyoshi was startled and almost choked on her coffee.

Although she had accepted the reality, this kind of relationship was something she had never expected.

She gasped, utterly astonished by Kitagawa Taki's audacity.

But she soon began to think that since Kitagawa Taki had ideas, perhaps she could do something to help him.

"Aren't you surprised? Eri doesn't look like she has such a big daughter at all!"

Yukiko Fujimine chuckled and pinched Eri Kisaki's waist.

Eri instinctively flinched and playfully slapped away Yukiko Fujimine's mischievous hand.

Chapter 403 KQJ Murder Case

Inspector Megure is injured.

Green Terrace Police Hospital.

A group of people surrounded Inspector Megure's hospital bed.

"Brother Mori, Brother Kitagawa, you've arrived!" Inspector Megure lay on the hospital bed, looking to be in relatively good condition.

Kogoro Mouri asked with concern, "Inspector, how's your injury?"

Shiratori Renzaburo replied, "Fortunately, no vital organs were injured, but he still needs to be hospitalized for observation for a few days."

"The killer likely used a hand-held crossbow, but it's unclear whether the killer was intentionally targeting the police inspector."

It turns out that Inspector Megure was attacked with a crossbow by a mysterious person while jogging this morning. After being injured and falling to the ground, the assailant did not continue the attack.

Uehara Yui interjected, "We found something very strange at the crime scene."

As she spoke, she took out an evidence bag containing a paper folding sword.

Conan, who came specifically for the case, was not paying attention to it at this moment.

The moment he saw Yui Uehara, he understood, and he realized that his previous deductions were correct.

Yui Uehara must have some kind of connection with Taki Kitagawa, which is why she came to Tokyo from Nagano Prefecture!

"What does this mean?" Kogoro Mouri stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Conan, however, asked something unrelated: "Torada-neechan, why did you come to Tokyo?"

“Little brother, from now on call me Uehara-neechan.” Uehara Yui patted Conan’s head and explained, “I wanted to live in a different environment, so I came to Tokyo from Nagano.”

Kogoro Mouri glanced at Conan, gave him a flick on the forehead, and said without any politeness, "Kid, don't interrupt my train of thought!"

Conan winced as he clutched his head in pain, glancing at Uehara Yui and then Kitagawa Taki. There was definitely a connection between the two, even though they didn't seem very close on the surface.

……

Fei Law Firm.

"Teacher, this is today's schedule. Also, this is an email I received."

Kuriyama Midori placed a beautifully packaged gift box on her desk, with a paper flower pinned to it.

Eri recognized it immediately and smiled, "It's Chicory chocolate!"

“Isn’t this your favorite Swiss chocolate, teacher?” Midori Kuriyama said. “It’s just that there’s no sender’s name on it.”

Eri Kisaki's first thought was that it was a gift from Kogoro Mouri, but then she shook her head. Why would that person give her a gift for no reason?

She picked up the gift box and looked at it. She took out a card from the back, which read "To Lawyer Fei".

"Hehe, I know who sent it."

As she spoke, she opened the gift box, revealing chocolates of various shapes inside.

She skipped the heart-shaped chocolate, picked up a regular round chocolate, and took a small bite.

As soon as she swallowed, Eri Kisaki felt a burning sensation. "Water, Kuriyama, give me water..."

She quickly spat out the chocolate from her mouth, but it was too late. She swayed and collapsed onto the desk.

"teacher!!"

Kuriyama Midori was so frightened she almost lost her composure. She quickly took out her phone and dialed the emergency number, and then she called Kitagawa Taki.

……

Dongdu University Hospital.

Upon receiving the news, Kitagawa Taki and the others rushed over immediately, and Ran also came from home.

The doctor said, "The patient is out of danger now; we have performed a thorough gastric lavage."

Kitagawa Taki asked, "Is it food poisoning?"

The doctor replied, "It's probably pesticides or something like that. Just to be on the safe side, the patient needs to stay in the hospital for observation."

Kogoro Mouri said solemnly, "Then I'll leave it to the doctor!"

Everyone went into the ward to visit Eri.

Eri Kisaki had woken up. With her glasses off and her hair down, she looked less sharp than usual.

"Mom, are you alright?" Xiaolan was undoubtedly the most worried person. She rushed to the bedside, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm fine now." Eri Kisaki held Ran's hand.

A moment later, Shiratori Ninzaburo asked, "Attorney Kisaki, did you collapse after eating the chocolate?"

"Yes, I just ate a little bit and then I felt something was wrong..." Eri Kisaki described the feeling.

"Oh, right, this is the chocolate packaging."

Kuriyama Midori took out a gift box from her bag.

"It's Ghibli chocolate!" Kogoro Mouri recognized it immediately; it was Eri Kisaki's favorite type of chocolate.

Yui Uehara murmured, "A paper flower..."

She felt that these two items looked familiar.

Shiratori Ninzaburo exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be that the same culprit who attacked Inspector Megure is behind this?!"

Kogoro Mouri nodded: "Absolutely. The key question is, what do the paper swords and flowers represent?"

Silence fell over the ward.

Suddenly, Uehara Yui exclaimed, "I know!"

“It’s a deck of cards!” she explained. “Isn’t that rapier on top of the King? And the suit is on top of the Queen.”

Kitagawa Taki said, "Inspector Uehara makes a lot of sense. Inspector Megure's name is Megure Juzo, which corresponds to K; Attorney Hime's surname Hime corresponds to Queen, which is QUEEN-Q."

Kogoro Mouri pondered, "So, the murderer used playing cards to kill people, then the next one would be 11?"

Yui Uehara speculated, "No, the murderer may not have intended to kill. He could have finished off Inspector Megure with an arrow when he fell to the ground, or he could have put a more lethal poison in Attorney Kisaki's chocolate, but the murderer did not."

Shiratori Ninzaburo said, "The most important thing now is to find the killer's next target! Maybe we can catch the killer!"