Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

Before he could react, there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the door, and another nurse in charge of that floor came in hurriedly and went straight to the nurse who was making rounds.

"Senior Shiraki, the police are here!" she said anxiously.

The nurse who was taking care of Miwa Kazuya: "Calm down, why are they here this time? A bomb? Someone was attacked and sent to the hospital? An insider was found to be reselling drugs? Which director's medical paper was plagiarized? A murder case? Or did they find out which patient is actually a wanted criminal?"

Miwa Kazuya's hand holding the phone trembled slightly. He no longer paid attention to what the editor-in-chief said. They both looked at the nurse who broke in.

"No, it's not an accident in our hospital." The nurse denied, "It was President Kawai... It is said that he was killed at home not long after he was discharged from the hospital last night. Now the police brought his son here to inquire about the situation..."

This time Sanlunhe was also completely stunned.

——What the hell, it’s only been a few days?! Why did the people he knew suddenly go down and go in? ? ?

……

Meanwhile, on the other side of Tokyo.

Aoyagi Binkou was walking in a corridor wearing a suit with an ID card hanging on his chest.

The window glass in the corridor gleamed in the sunlight. He only took a quick glance to confirm that they were all made of the strongest bulletproof material, and at least double-layered.

He walked forward, and occasionally someone looked at him with strange eyes, but when they saw the ID card he was wearing and the people around him, they quickly looked away.

"This place is not that big, not as big as the British Embassy. Their area is at least three times ours, but we have more staff, and... Oh, this must be kept secret. The underground security measures are also confidential. Don't tell anyone else."

"Our working hours are from 8 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, with a one-hour lunch break at noon. In case of special circumstances..."

"As for the holidays..."

Next to Aoyagi Akimitsu, Robert Otto was introducing him to the newcomer diligently, like a kind senior who was helping him get familiar with the environment.

Since Aoyagi Akimitsu arrived in Japan early, today is his first day reporting to the embassy and officially taking up his post.

Robert Otto, a former Navy SEAL and headquarters agent who had come into contact with him in last year's case, is another FBI police liaison officer sent to Japan, who arrived half a year earlier than him.

After meeting his immediate superior, he took him to familiarize himself with the internal structure of the embassy and the staff he needed to know.

"We have a long vacation. We take Japanese statutory holidays and American holidays. Plus our annual leave, it's about 40 days. If you want to take a vacation on a non-holiday, it's best to discuss it with me in advance. We have to take our vacations separately so that at least one person can be on duty..."

Robert Otto said as he led him to the fourth floor.

The FBI's office in Japan - the most visible and formal one - is on this floor.

The office is not big, but considering there are only two people, it is spacious. There are two desks facing each other, two filing cabinets next to them, and a coffee machine on a storage cabinet near the window.

Aoyagi Binguang glanced at the small TV on one of the desks: "Is it busy here?"

"not busy."

Otto sat down at the desk, turned on the TV, and picked up a mug of hot coffee. There were only a few documents on his desk.

"Our job is to make contacts, so we don't need to travel every day. If an American encounters trouble in Japan, such as disappearance, murder, or being detained as a suspect by the local police, we can decide whether to intervene based on the situation."

He took a sip of coffee and looked at the small TV in front of him, which was playing the news.

It was all sorts of ordinary homicides.

The female anchor calmly described a dismemberment case in which the murderer cut the victim into several pieces and stuffed the head into the belly to move... Otto's tone was also one of habitual calmness.

"However, this situation is rare. I don't know what has happened in Japan in recent years. The number of murders has soared, and explosions have become even more frequent. The explosions I saw in Mika are almost more than those in the Middle East... There are far fewer ordinary Americans coming to Japan to travel or settle here than a few years ago."

Aoyagi Binguang did not sit down opposite this colleague, but also turned his eyes to the small TV.

After the dismemberment case, the female anchor began to introduce another murder case involving a mystery novel editor. When the murderer spoke to the reporter and the camera, the corners of his mouth suddenly curled up.

Otto noticed this and looked at him strangely, then looked at the murderer on TV: "What's wrong? What's wrong with this guy?"

Aoyagi Binguang didn't expect him to be so perceptive, and explained with a smile: "This gentleman's voice is very similar to someone I know, both are very nice."

Otto looked at him in confusion, but after a few seconds chose to pass over the matter and get back to business.

“We don’t have much work on hand at the moment.”

He said this, thought for a moment and added, "By the way, when you first arrived in Japan, did you tell me that you were going to contact a wealthy businessman who stayed in Japan? How is the situation? What exactly is he going to do?"

"He planned to revise his will and asked me, his friend, to be a witness," Aoyagi Akimichi said. "Now that the revision is complete, I will no longer..."

At this moment, a sudden ring of a bell interrupted his next words.

Chapter 263 What is a Perfect Crime

Mihua Central Hospital, 9am.

Conan Edogawa, who was supposed to go to school, was sitting in the orthopedic outpatient ward. He took off his shoes and socks, revealing his slightly swollen ankle, and asked the doctor to check it.

Ran Mao Li stood beside him in her school uniform and carrying her schoolbag, watching the doctor's movements together.

After examining the ankle, the doctor picked up the X-ray and asked, "How did he get hurt?"

Edogawa Conan scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

Beside him, Mao Lilan frowned, and glanced at the worrying child beside her with both worry and helplessness, without any intention of covering up for him——

"He missed a step when he was going down the stairs."

……

Edogawa Conan was in a very depressed mood.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. He had good motor skills and was a good football player. He was also gradually getting used to his body. But today he missed a step on the stairs.

It would have been fine if he had stepped on nothing, but he also twisted his ankle. When Mao Lilan found out, he was sent to this hospital directly, and they couldn't stop him...

When the doctor heard that it was an accident and not violence, he did not ask any more questions and directly gave his judgment:

"Edogawa-kun's foot is not obviously swollen, and there is no fracture. Judging from the fact that he can stand and walk slowly, there is no damage to the soft tissue... It's not a big problem."

"Great."

Mao Lilan just breathed a sigh of relief, but then she remembered something and frowned again:

"Doctor, he also sprained his foot once on Saturday. Because the condition was not serious at that time, I did not bring him to the hospital. If he injured the same foot twice in a short period of time, will it become a habitual sprain in the future?"

She practices karate on a daily basis and is more concerned about various physical injuries than ordinary people.

The doctor smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's not that serious. As long as you take good care of it and apply the medicine diligently in the next few days, you will recover soon."

Mao Lilan finally smiled and thanked the doctor again. Edogawa Conan also had to thank the doctor in a childish tone.

The ankle was bandaged again and the nurse brought a pair of children's crutches. Edogawa Conan tried it and soon stood up on his own.

He said to Mao Lilan in a rather embarrassed manner: "Sister Xiaolan, please go to school now. I can go back by myself."

If Uncle Maori hadn't suddenly received a commission to investigate an affair last night and had gone out early this morning, it shouldn't have been Xiaolan who accompanied him to the hospital as she also had classes today.

Mao Lilan said worriedly: "No, even if you don't want me to carry you, I have to send you back."

Conan Edogawa did not refuse this kindness. He leaned on his crutches and walked towards the elevator with Ran Maoli. His steps were a bit slow, and Ran Maoli slowed down her pace to cooperate.

The elevator arrived soon, and he, Mao Lilan, and several medical staff went in together.

He pressed the button for the first floor and was about to ask Mao Lilan how the others would get back later when he suddenly saw one of the nurses who came in with them approaching the other one mysteriously.

She whispered very quietly, but he could hear it clearly:

"Have you heard? A patient who was just discharged from the hospital yesterday was killed not long after returning home. I heard that he was the president of a large company..."

Edogawa Conan: "......?"

Mao Lilan sent a message to the teacher to explain why she was late. Because there was no signal in the elevator, she put down her phone temporarily. As a result, when she looked down, she saw Edogawa Conan looking up in another direction.

"What's wrong with you, Conan?" she asked curiously.

Edogawa Conan did not reply. He was very curious about what they were saying, so he approached the two nurses who were whispering loudly and paying no attention to him at all.

"Nurse, what are you talking about?"

"?!?"

The nurse who spoke first shuddered. She almost thought that the floor suddenly spoke and was startled. When she came to her senses, she found that it was a very short child.

She patted her frightened chest and said unhappily, "Little brother, it's not good to eavesdrop on other people's conversations casually!"

Conan Edogawa smiled like a child: "I'm sorry, nurse sister, I overheard it... What happened to the patient who was discharged from the hospital that you mentioned being killed?"

The other nurse was more patient. She bent down and touched his head, then began to tell him the news:

"It's the recent home invasion and murder case in 10-chome." She sighed, "The patient was just discharged from the hospital yesterday, and was killed by the criminals at night."

Edogawa Conan was stunned for a moment, and his mind quickly retrieved relevant information.

This was a series of crimes, the first of which occurred before he became smaller. In the previous cases, the criminal did not leave any clues. The police believed that the criminal only dared to target elderly people living alone, so they believed that there was only one person on the other side, not a gang.

Mao Lilan heard her story and showed pity and fear: "This is the sixth case, right? Hasn't the criminal been caught yet?"

Conan Edogawa frowned, also worried about the police's efficiency in solving the case.

As a result, the next second, the nurse who spoke first slapped her face directly -

"No, the criminal was caught last night."

"Ah?" Mao Lilan didn't expect the reversal to be so quick.

"Although the president lives alone, his son lives in a nearby apartment. He went to visit his father with a few friends last night and happened to run into the criminal running out. The group caught him on the spot," the nurse added.

"..."

Edogawa Conan's frown did not relax.

He felt vaguely that something was odd.

With a ding, the elevator arrived at the first floor and the door slowly opened. Edogawa Conan turned his head and looked outside, and saw an acquaintance at first sight.

It was Inspector Megure. He was talking to a young male police officer and a front desk nurse whom he had not seen before, and there was another young man beside them.

When he saw the man's face clearly, Edogawa Conan widened his eyes slightly.

——It was the man who was drunk and talking loudly on the phone whom he saw in the Poirot Cafe yesterday afternoon.

The man who had no sense of public morality and was disgusting yesterday was now wiping away tears, and the young male police officer was comforting him.

The two nurses completed their task of providing information and turned to walk in another direction. Conan Edogawa suppressed the strangeness in his heart, walked out of the elevator with Ran Maoli, and greeted the familiar police officer.