Detective Conan: The Ultimate Growth Space

"And they're all people connected to Uncle Mori," Conan added.

Everyone was taken aback when they heard this.

"Who could the culprit be?" Kogoro Mouri pondered.

"If it's related to cards and involves someone who has a grudge against Mori, I remember one person. This criminal should be Murakami Takeshi," Inspector Megure said after a moment of contemplation.

"Murakami Takeshi?" Officer Shiratori asked, puzzled.

"Who is Murakami Takeshi?" Zhiyong asked, pretending not to know.

“He’s a lone poker dealer. Ten years ago, when Mori was a policeman, he was arrested by Mori and me for killing someone. He was just released on parole a week ago for good behavior in prison,” Inspector Megure replied.

“If it’s him, he certainly has reason to hate me,” Kogoro Mori nodded.

"Isn't it a matter of course for the police to arrest criminals? He made a mistake himself, why blame Dad?" Xiaolan said angrily from the side.

“The criminal also thinks that it’s only natural for him to kill, so why should the police arrest him, Xiaolan? Bad people don’t think that they should be arrested for doing bad things; they only think that it’s all someone else’s fault,” Zhiyong replied.

"I've heard some things about that case..." Inspector Shiratori was interrupted by Inspector Megure before he could finish speaking.

"Whether it's Murakami or not isn't the most important thing right now. The most important thing is for Uncle to quickly think of someone whose name contains the number eleven. The prisoner's next target is someone Uncle knows whose name contains the number eleven." Zhiyong quickly tried to smooth things over.

“That’s true. His name contains the number eleven. Let me think…” Kogoro Mouri said, bowing his head in deep thought.

“It’s Professor Agasa,” Conan replied.

"Professor Agasa? Does his name contain the number eleven?" Inspector Megure asked, puzzled.

"Professor Agasa's name is Professor Agasa, and the character '士' (shi) is composed of '十' (shi) and '一' (yi)," Conan hurriedly said.

"Conan is so smart," Ran praised.

Conan was just pretending to be cute and smiled.

Officer Shiratori rushed out after hearing this.

While everyone was discussing this case.

Officer Shiratori returned and said, "We're too late. Professor Agasa has already been attacked."

"What? How is Professor Agasa?" Conan asked hurriedly.

"Professor Agasa only suffered some injuries and is not in any life-threatening danger. Fortunately, he was about to turn around and lock the door when someone shot him in the buttocks with a crossbow," Officer Shiratori replied.

“It seems we need to hurry. Among Uncle’s friends, are there any whose names contain the character for ‘cross’? We must be quick this time, otherwise, we might be a step behind again,” Zhiyong said.

“Tou? Tou…” Kogoro Mouri suddenly remembered and said, “Oh right, Touwako-san.”

"Who is this Miss Towako?" Inspector Megure asked, puzzled.

"Okano Towako is the owner of a nightclub in Ginza, and I go there often."

Inspector Megure was utterly speechless at Kogoro Mouri's antics.

Inspector Megure is a doting husband; he would never go to a place like this.

The case now has a direction.

Kogoro Mouri and Inspector Megure went to Towako's nightclub.

Officer Shiratori was responsible for taking Ran, Tomoyuki, and Conan home.

……

Chapter 164 Why Did Dad Shoot?

On the way, Xiaolan suddenly asked, "When we were at the hospital earlier, when you were talking about Murakami Takeshi, Officer Shiratori, what did you seem to be saying?"

"Well..." Officer Shiratori hesitated for a moment before saying, "This isn't a secret. You'll find out if you investigate. I'll be frank, I heard it from a senior student..."

Ten years ago.

When Kogoro Mouri was still a policeman, he and Inspector Megure worked together to solve a case and caught the murderer, Joe Murakami.

When Murakami Takeshi was taken to the police station to give a statement, he suddenly said that he needed to use the restroom.

Inspector Megure then sent someone to take Murakami Takeshi to the restroom, while the two of them waited at the entrance of the interrogation room.

Unexpectedly, after Murakami entered the toilet, he attacked the policeman and stole his service weapon.

Murakami ran out of the toilet.

Just then, Eri Kisaki brought Ran to the police station to deliver clothes to Kogoro Mouri.

Murakami Takeshi captured Kiyoshi as a hostage.

Fortunately, Ran was rescued by Kogoro Mouri.

At that time, Murakami threatened Inspector Megure and his team, demanding that Inspector Megure prepare a car for him, or he would kill Eri Kisaki.

Kogoro Mouri fired a shot that hit Eri Kisaki in the leg, and a second shot hit Joe Murakami.

Then he stepped forward and grabbed Murakami Takeshi.

After listening to Officer Shiratori's account, Ran also remembered what had happened.

At this moment, Xiaolan thought of something else.

Shortly after this incident, his father resigned from his job, and his mother also left home.

This made Xiaolan feel very down.

"So, Uncle shot Aunt?" Conan asked curiously.

"That's true. I had forgotten about it, but now I've remembered it again," Xiaolan said dejectedly.

"That's probably a memory you don't want to recall," Officer Shiratori explained.

"But why did Dad shoot back then?" Xiaolan asked, feeling both sad and puzzled.

"Perhaps he was very confident in his marksmanship. He thought he could avoid the hostages and shoot the criminal. He just didn't expect that the bullet would hit your mother. I heard that at the time, there was a lot of controversy in the police station because he fired without regard for the safety of the hostages. It seems that Mr. Mori resigned from his police job after that," Officer Shiratori said.

Seeing Xiaolan's sad appearance made Zhiyong very unhappy.

“Actually, I don’t think it was a mistake by Uncle; it must have been something Uncle did on purpose,” Zhiyong said.

“How could that be? How could Mr. Mori possibly shoot his wife?” Officer Shiratori shook his head.

Officer Shiratori is also a policeman, and he doesn't think that Kogoro Mouri is the kind of heartless person.

“Yes, although I was very angry that Dad shot Mom, I believe that Dad did not shoot Mom intentionally,” Xiaolan also defended herself.

“Yes, Uncle Mori wouldn’t shoot Auntie, you must be mistaken,” Conan chimed in.

Zhiyong ignored Conan and said disdainfully to Officer Shiratori, "Officer Shiratori, after hearing your analysis, I know that you are the kind of person who got promoted by sitting in an office and lacks grassroots work experience. For an excellent police officer, grassroots work experience is very important. You need to study it again."

Officer Shiratori is the highest-ranking officer in charge of Sato Miwako's defense line.

He had designs on Miwako, so he didn't want to offend Chiyuki, who was nominally Miwako's younger brother.

Officer Shiratori asked kindly, "Brother Zhiyong, what do you mean by that? Did I say something wrong?"

"Your analysis is flawed from the start. If it were Inspector Megure, he certainly wouldn't have said that. Inspector Shiratori, let me ask you, do you know when hostages are in the most danger?" Chiyu asked.

“Well… if the hostage is caught by the criminals, the hostage will be in danger at any time,” Officer Shiratori replied.

"See? I wasn't wrong. You're one of those police officers who gets promoted just by listening to reports. You have no practical experience and only rely on your imagination to solve problems. That will only harm yourself and others. Let me tell you, hostages are most dangerous after the prisoners are freed," Zhiyong replied directly.

"Why?" Officer Shiratori asked, puzzled.

“Before escaping danger, the prisoner still needs hostages as shields, unless he has multiple hostages. However, after escaping danger, since the prisoner is already safe, there is no need to leave hostages. If it is a beautiful woman like Xiaolan's mother, then it is not just dangerous, it can only be described as tragic,” Zhiyong explained.

"Could that be the reason why Mr. Mori fired his gun?" Officer Shiratori asked, puzzled.

"Uncle Mori shot Auntie Fei in the leg, but it was only a minor injury. It didn't cause Auntie Fei much harm; at most, it would leave a small scar on her leg."

Zhi Yong continued, "However, at this time, time is of utmost importance to the prisoner. If he has to take a hostage with a leg injury while he is trying to escape, it will be a big problem for him and may even hinder his escape."

"I see, there's knowledge to be gained everywhere. And you can't just believe rumors. I've learned a lot today," Officer Shiratori nodded.

"Dad shot to save Mom. It seems Mom misunderstood Dad, which is why she ran away from home," Xiaolan muttered to herself.

Zhi Yong smiled slightly and said, "Xiao Lan, you may be mistaken. Aunt Fei is so smart, she wouldn't understand this. So, her leaving home has nothing to do with Uncle shooting."

"Then why did she run away from home?" Xiaolan asked, frowning in confusion.

Zhi Yong couldn't help but chuckle, so he coughed lightly before saying, "I have indeed heard a little about this, but I don't know if it's true."

"Really? What's the reason? Tell me quickly," Xiaolan asked anxiously.

"You must have eaten Aunt Fei's cooking before," Zhiyong asked instead of speaking directly.

"I've eaten it."

Xiaolan recalled the terrible dishes her mother made, and she felt a little horrified.

"Could it be related to Aunt Fei's cooking?" Conan asked, puzzled.

When Zhiyong watched Detective Conan in his previous life, he felt that the criticism of Eri Kisaki's cooking skills was a bit too exaggerated. No matter how bad her cooking was, it couldn't be that bad.

But after eating a meal cooked by Eri Kisaki.

Zhiyong was truly impressed; to cook food like this was simply beyond words.

After tasting it.

Zhiyong later pretended to eat, but in reality, he put all the food he ate into his spatial dimension.

Although Zhiyong only ate a little bit that time, it still caused him to have diarrhea for a whole day.

If I had eaten more that time, I probably would have lost half my life.

However, this also made Zhiyong never dare to eat her cooking again.

“I heard that Aunt Fei’s leg had just gotten a little better at the time, so she endured the pain in her leg and cooked a meal for Uncle. But how could Uncle dare to eat the food Aunt Fei made? He even complained to her. Aunt Fei felt that she had done something good, but this was the result she got. So they had a fight, and afterwards, Aunt Fei ran away from home.”

As Zhiyong spoke, he felt like laughing.

Zhiyong also found the result hard to believe.

Zhiyong strongly suspected that there was something hidden behind this.

However, this was the only answer Zhiyong could give to Xiaolan.

"Ah, how could that be the reason?" Xiaolan said in disbelief.