A Woman's Competitive Spirit

"Besides you, our Suzuki family also hired the Great Detective Mori Kogoro, but my husband handled the negotiations with Mr. Mouri..."

Suzuki Tomoko paused for a moment, then continued, "Actually, the reason we hired you two detectives is because our family made a bet."

"Bet?"

"That's right."

Suzuki Tomoko nodded. "In terms of your ability to deal with Kaito Kid, Ayako, Ayako, and I are most Sonoko about you."

My husband, on the other hand, had higher hopes for Detective Mouri, so in the end he simply entrusted the entire task to him, and even made a bet... to see whose detective would be better at protecting the Egg of Memories this time.

"I see."

Fujino silently placed his teacup on the coffee table in front of him. "In that case, we should also talk about the commission fee."

"This time, the Suzuki family will pay a commission fee of five million yen to protect the Egg of Memories..."

As she spoke, Suzuki Tomoko smiled slightly, "However, Ayako and I wouldn't mind adding two million yen to the 'Black Detective's' commission, after all, your abilities are undeniable."

"An additional commission fee of two million yen?"

Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly. "In that case, I certainly won't let Mrs. Suzuki down."

Suzuki Tomoko's words were very tempting.

They even said they would need an additional two million yen in commission from an individual.

The purpose is self-evident.

It was all to ignite his fighting spirit and help him win this small bet.

Is this what women's competitive spirit is all about?

That's terrifying.

But he likes it as long as he can make money.

I discussed some details of the commission with Suzuki Tomoko.

After receiving the seven million yen commission, Fujino returned home.

This wave of requests from the Suzuki family directly boosted his bank balance.

With some money, he naturally did two cheap beginner ten-pull lottery draws.

Although nothing particularly good came out, the Enhancement Card were replenished in large quantities.

August 19th arrived in the blink of an eye.

That is, the day after Fujino accepted the Suzuki family's request.

Led by Nakamori Ginzo, Fujino arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department's conference room.

He glanced around at the surrounding conference rooms.

This conference room isn't particularly large; it can only accommodate a few dozen people.

A huge television screen, even bigger than the one in the Fujino family's house, was embedded in the wall in front of the conference room.

On either side of the television were lecterns placed at an angle, Nakamori Ginzo and Chaki Shintaro, who were in charge of this operation, sat.

Fujino turned around and glanced behind him again.

The seats at the back of the conference room were already full of people, all of them elite police officers with tired faces, unshaven beards, and fierce expressions.

Uncle Mori sat in the last row.

Upon seeing Fujino, he intended to wave and greet him.

But after glancing at the situation where he was surrounded by men, he felt a little awkward and put his hands down again.

Fujino looked away and then found an empty seat at the very back.

The meeting began.

Chaki Shintaro, who was sitting at the front right lectern, stood up and introduced the basic information about the meeting to everyone.

This meeting is about the "Special Operation to Investigate Kaito Kid".

The meeting mentioned Kaito Kid's impressive record of crimes since he started them, with a total amount stolen reaching an astonishing 38.7 billion yen.

On the large screen in the conference room, the contents of the Kaito Kid's advance notice were displayed.

The mere mention of Kaito Kid instantly dispelled the weariness of the police officers present, who gradually became more alert.

At this moment, Nakamori Ginzo stood with his arms crossed, appearing remarkably calm.

His calm and composed demeanor even made Fujino somewhat suspicious that this Nakamori Ginzo Kuroba Kaito in disguise.

With the basic details of Kaito Kid's operation now complete, Chaki Shintaro handed over the task of deciphering Kaito Kid's advance notice to Nakamori Ginzo.

As a veteran who had been hunting down Kaito Kid for many years, Nakamori Ginzo quickly deciphered the code.

First, there's the story of the lion at dusk and the maiden at dawn.

Leo is from July 23 to August 22.

Virgo's zodiac sign is from August 23rd to September 22nd.

Given that the Suzuki Museum of Contemporary Art will be exhibiting "The Egg of Memories" on August 23, he believes that Kaito Kid will appear between dusk on August 22 and dawn on August 23.

If a clock without a second hand reaches the twelfth mark, that should be the time of the crime.

For the time being, Nakamori Ginzo did not understand the meaning of this code.

Although the time could not be determined, he deduced that the location was the Tenshukaku based on the glowing sky tower.

In other words, Kaito Kid will set out from the direction of the Tenshukaku on the night of August 22nd and 23rd to steal the Egg of Memories.

Nakamori Ginzo's explanation immediately drew thunderous applause from the audience.

"This time, we will conduct a joint investigation with the Osaka police."

Chaki Shintaro stood up, took the microphone, and pointed in the direction of Fujino and Mori Kogoro: "Furthermore, at Mr. Suzuki's request, we have specially invited the Great Detective Fujino Mori Kogoro to participate in the investigation of the case."

All the police officers present turned their gazes toward Fujino and Mori Kogoro, following the direction that Chaki Shintaro was pointing.

Uncle Mori swallowed hard, startled by the group of menacing-looking police officers.

Although he was a policeman before, this situation is still extremely rare.

Fujino, standing to the side, stood up, nodded slightly, and then calmly sat down.

"You're that High School Detective named Fujino?"

The fierce-looking police officer beside him, who looked to be in his forties, was clearly taken aback and asked Fujino in surprise.

The nearby police officers also turned their heads at the same time, focusing their attention on Fujino.

They noticed Fujino as soon as they entered.

Since they were brought in by Nakamori Ginzo, they assumed he was a newly transferred colleague involved in the investigation...

"That's me."

Fujino nodded. "Please take good care of me during this operation."

At that moment, Chaki Shintaro's voice rang out again. "Just as Detective Fujino said before, our police force's mission is to protect treasures and stop crime."

He quoted Fujino's previous remarks to the media, and then loudly declared, "In this operation, we must protect the treasure to the death, even if it means letting Kaito Kid escape! Protecting it is victory!"

"How could we possibly let that bastard get away with this so easily!"

The usually composed Nakamori Ginzo couldn't hold back any longer. He suddenly grabbed the microphone from Chaki Shintaro and shouted at everyone present, "Treasures are secondary! We're betting our honor and pride on this, and this time, we're absolutely going to put that despicable bastard in jail!"

"Learn!"

The police officers who were originally seated in the hall all stood up, their emotions running high, wishing they could tear Kaito Kid to pieces.

Fujino watched the passionate expressions of the surrounding police officers and couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows.

It was supposed to be a special operations meeting, but he felt like it was a pre-war mobilization meeting.

There was very little useful information.

The atmosphere was quite exciting.