Conan, I'm an actor

If nothing is found, that's fine. But if something is found, then it's troublesome.

Given Kogoro Mouri's personality, he would be too quick to draw conclusions, and in the end, he might very well wrong an innocent person, just like he has done before.

"Didn't you already call Aunt Eri Kisaki and ask her for help?"

"But Mom isn't a detective."

“Your mother’s reasoning ability is much stronger than that of the average detective.” Conan rolled his eyes. He had witnessed her reasoning ability firsthand at the restaurant.

"But knowing Dad's personality, if I make a phone call, he'll most likely storm off in anger," Xiaolan said, still worried.

"Well, Uncle isn't that kind of arbitrary person, is he...? Probably." Conan's tone was also somewhat uncertain.

After dinner, Ran and Conan hurriedly returned to the Tsukumo family home with Fumino. Fortunately, Kogoro Mouri had not yet solved the case.

"I'll probably have to investigate this case thoroughly. I'll ask the police for some case files later." After saying goodbye to his wife, Kogoro Mouri left with Ran and Conan.

They arrived in his wife's car, but now that it was getting late, Kogoro Mori declined her offer to see him off in order to show his gentlemanly manners. Of course, the price was that the three of them had to walk back.

"Uncle Mori, have you found something?" Conan asked curiously. "You must have discovered something special about the scene, right?"

Kogoro Mouri looked at Conan in front of him, then slowly squatted down, removed Conan's glasses, and asked with a serious expression, "What is your relationship with Shinichi Kudo? Why do you look so much like that kid?"

Conan and Ran's expressions changed instantly. They hadn't expected Kogoro Mouri to discover Conan's identity so quickly. Fortunately, they had already exchanged statements.

“Conan is Shinichi’s distant cousin. Didn’t Shinichi mention that before? Have you forgotten, Dad?” Ran said with a smile, though the smile seemed somewhat forced.

"Really?" Kogoro Mouri put Conan's glasses on him.

"Yes, Uncle Shinjo was there too..." Conan said, then suddenly realized the problem.

"You weren't there at the Twilight Villa incident, how did you know?" Kogoro Mouri's eyes suddenly sharpened.

Ran's face showed a look of despair. Shinichi, why did he have to ruin his own chances?!

Just as the three of them were staring at each other on the road, a car pulled up to the side of the road, the window rolled down, and a familiar face appeared inside.

"Hey, Kogoro, what are you doing here?" Shinjo asked with a smile.

"It's Shinjo!" Kogoro Mouri immediately grabbed Conan and asked Shinjo, "You're saying this kid is Shinichi Kudo's cousin?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Shinjo asked matter-of-factly, seeing Conan and Ran's pleading looks. "Her mother, Fumiyo Edogawa, is Yukiko's aunt. You can ask Yukiko if you don't believe me. Don't you have her phone number? I remember having her in the address book back then. What's wrong? Were you being naughty at the crime scene again? I have Ms. Fumiyo's phone number. If you find it troublesome, have her come stay with me for a few days. I'll have her mother find another family to foster her."

"No, no, how could that be?" Kogoro Mouri quickly waved his hands, then suddenly remembered something, "What are you doing here?"

"The detective agency in Koshimizu is being renovated and is now available for rent. She's been staying at my place lately, in the villa area up ahead." Shinjo pointed to the villa area. "I plan to renovate it into an agency, catering specifically to wealthy clients. But what are you doing here?"

"Are you a resident here? Do you know Motoyasu Tsukumo?" Kogoro Mori asked immediately. "Do you know what enemies he has? And..."

"Wait, didn't Kujuro Motoyasu commit suicide? Is there something fishy about this case?" Shinjo pulled the handbrake. "Tell me in detail."

Kogoro Mouri recounted the whole story, including the clues he had discovered, and then took out the pair of playing cards.

Shinjo picked up the playing cards, glanced at them, and then laughed, "The evidence is inside the telephone. Isn't this the copy button on the phone? If Tsukumo Motoyasu couldn't escape from the locked room and the phone line was unplugged, then he would have left a message on the phone. The telephone covered by the playing cards could be a trick used by the murderer to cover up the crime, or it could be a clue from Tsukumo Motoyasu."

"A phone call? What clues could a phone call possibly provide?"

“The number nine key can convey a lot of information. You can connect the numbers to form English letters or… Hey, what are you doing?” Shinjo looked at Kogoro Mouri getting into the car. “Get me in the car. I need to go to the Tsukumo family now. If we’re late, the evidence might be destroyed by the murderer.”

"I want to go too!" Conan was already in the back seat.

Shin-joo glanced at the three people in the car, sighed helplessly, and then started the vehicle.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Kogoro Mouri and Conan jumped out, startling Ran.

"Aren't you getting out of the car?" Xincheng asked, looking at Xiaolan in the rearview mirror.

"Uncle Shinjo, what are the side effects of that medicine you gave me last time? Shinichi..."

“Yes, taking too much can lead to drug resistance, so it’s best to avoid it if possible.” Xincheng yawned. “It’s for critical moments, like when facing a death threat. Once you take too much and develop drug resistance, you may never be able to go back to normal.”

"Did Shinichi send you? He said he didn't want to take the exam..." Ran looked at Shinichi suspiciously.

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this. If you don’t believe me, you can try it yourself. If it’s not enough, I’ll give you another course of the drug, which should make this pill completely ineffective.” Shinjo took out a cigarette. “This is very valuable experimental data.”

"sorry, I……"

"By the way, your mother introduced this case, it must have been your doing, right?" Shinjo lit a cigarette. "This isn't how you ease the tension between your parents."

"Huh?"

"Your dad has a ballot in his pocket, have you seen it?"

"I've seen it. It was in his pocket before, but it got washed out of the washing machine, so the writing on it is no longer legible."

“This note is a ballot. Just ask your mom if she knows anything about the ballot. Tell her that her name is on it, so she came to ask. After that, don’t say anything else.”

"what?"

"What do you mean 'ah'? Get off the bus!"

Watching Ran get out of the car, Shinjo took out his phone, deleted a text message signed Kudo Shinichi, and then sent a text message: "Remember to delete the text message, she seems to have guessed it."

Chapter 196 Parent-Child Meeting and Search Conference

After seeing the text message on his phone, Conan breathed a sigh of relief; he finally didn't have to take the high school exams. However, he also began to wonder what reason Shinjo had used to convince Ran; ordinary reasons wouldn't have worked.

Just then, Kogoro Mouri obtained the clue, and the case was solved.

Faced with the clues provided by the deceased, Miyoshi Asako readily confessed to her crime and explained her motives.

The case of the Kujuku family has been solved. Kogoro Mouri only charged a token fee. With the family losing its pillar of support, the Kujuku family will likely have a hard time going forward, so he was too embarrassed to ask for more money.

But when he reached the spot he had just been standing, Kogoro Mouri suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Ran Mouri asked nervously.

"Something's not right, something's still not right. I feel like you guys and Shinjo are lying to me," Kogoro Mouri said seriously.

"Dad, what's wrong with you today!" Xiaolan said, hands on her hips. "I think you just drank too much this afternoon and are hallucinating."

"Really? Hahaha, maybe so." Kogoro Mouri laughed loudly.

Conan, however, wore an expression of utter bewilderment. Why was Uncle Mori so sharp-witted today? Had he taken some kind of smart drug?

However, he had to tell his mother first to avoid her letting it slip, but to his surprise, he couldn't get through to her on the phone.

He didn't dare to make too many calls. Uncle Mori was being too sensitive today, and it would be bad if he did anything "suspicious" that aroused his suspicion.

"Hey Conan, what do we do now?" Ran asked worriedly.

"I'll remain unchanged no matter what. If all else fails, I'll go hide at Professor Agasa's house for a while," Conan said through gritted teeth.

He believed that Uncle Mori's "burst state" was time-limited, and after that period, he would revert to being the dull Uncle Mori again.

Just then, there was another knock on the door of the Mori Detective Agency.

"It's already closed. We can talk about it tomorrow." Uncle Mori, wearing a nightcap and looking somewhat tired, opened the door and exclaimed in surprise, "Yukiko! What are you doing here?"

"Is Conan here? I've come to take him home," Yukiko said with a smile. "Professor Agasa said he lives at your house."

"Yeah, I'm here." Mori suddenly remembered something. "By the way, what's your relationship with Conan?"

“A distant cousin, I suppose. Strictly speaking, he should call me 'older sister',” Yukiko said after a moment’s thought. “What’s wrong?”

"It's nothing." Kogoro stepped aside for Conan, then suddenly asked, "By the way, what's his mother's name?"

"If I remember correctly, her name should be Fumino, right? Edogawa Fumino, what's wrong?" Yukiko asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Nothing, nothing," Kogoro asked with a smile. "Why did you suddenly decide to take Conan with you?"

"Fumino is taking him to a family gathering tomorrow, and since she can't get away, she asked me to come and take him with her."

"By the way, why does this child look so much like Shinichi? He looks exactly like him when he was a kid," Kogoro Mouri asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Does it look like him? Not at all. Shinichi is all about showing off. He's nowhere near as cute as Conan." Yukiko skipped over Kogoro Mouri and picked up Conan, who was wearing pajamas. "It's been years. This kid has grown so much."

Conan was held in Yukiko's arms, and although he wanted to struggle, he didn't dare to move at all because Uncle Mori was in front of him. As a result, he was thoroughly tormented by Yukiko.

Watching Yukiko and Conan leave, Uncle Mori stroked his chin, feeling that something was a little strange.

Conan finally broke free from Yukiko's embrace once they were in the car.

"How did you get back? It wasn't because you argued with Dad during the day, was it?" Conan glanced at his mother.

"Oh my god, is this how you talk to your savior?" Yukiko glanced at Conan, took out her phone, and said, "I remember that certain good-for-nothing kid called me several times and sent me text messages. Didn't you say that Mori is a bumbling detective? How did he discover your identity?"

"I don't know either. I just feel like Uncle Mori suddenly had a breakthrough today." Conan sighed. "Maybe I've given him too many hints before, which made him suspicious."

"I heard from Professor Agasa that you went to a hot spring with Ran," Yukiko said with a gossipy look, leaning close to Conan. "After Ran found out your identity, did she teach you a lesson with karate?"

"No." Conan rolled his eyes. "When my identity was discovered, I was injured, so she couldn't bring herself to hurt me. Once I recovered, her anger subsided. Let's not talk about that now. You should have talked to Dad before coming over, right?"

"Of course I didn't tell him."

"Hey! What are you doing...?"

"Don't worry, I can live with you without worry this time."

"Don't drag me into this."

"Living with such a tiny Shin-chan makes me feel younger," Yukiko said, picking up Conan and walking into the house.

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye, and Kogoro Mouri took Ran to the Metropolitan Police Department to participate in the investigation meeting.

He was stunned when he arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department's parking lot, because there were many police cars from different regions parked around him, which should belong to the prefectural police officers from various places who were attending the meeting.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Xiaolan asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It seems this case is quite serious. That guy must have killed a lot of people," Kogoro said with a serious expression. "You stay outside and don't cause them any trouble."

"Okay, okay, I'm not a child anymore."

Just as they arrived at the conference room door, they encountered Officer Sato and Officer Takagi. Led by them, Kogoro Mouri also arrived at the meeting place, and from them, he learned that another victim had been added, which made him feel quite urgent.

"I'm not late, am I?" Just then, two of Detective Mori's acquaintances appeared at the door.

"Shinjo, Koshimizu, what are you two doing here?" Mori looked at the two behind him with some curiosity.

“I’m here for the same reason as you, also invited by Supervisor Matsumoto. But I’m just an assistant, so I could only bring my detective.” Shinjo shrugged and asked Inspector Megure beside him, “Inspector Megure, where am I located?”

"This way." Inspector Megure led Shinjo and Koshimizu to their seats and then went to the podium to preside over the meeting.

Chapter 197 Intelligence from the Investigation Meeting