One... Two... Three Steamed Eggs?!

"Strange behavior?"

The lady in the gift shop thought for a moment, then recalled, "If anything, Saori has been looking scared for the past week."

"Fear?"

Hattori Heiji's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

He thought this would be a lot of trouble, but to his surprise, a simple question to the old lady at the gift shop yielded some results...

Suppressing her excitement, she eagerly asked, "Is someone threatening her?"

Well...

The lady at the gift shop glanced at Hattori Heiji.

She didn't quite believe the dark-skinned man in front of her.

However, since even that fair-skinned Criminal Consultant is here, then logically speaking, this dark-skinned guy shouldn't be a bad person either.

I don't know what Criminal Consultant is, but he must be someone from the police, right?

After a slight hesitation, she explained, "Every year during our island's Dugong Festival, three Arrow of the Dugong are randomly given to tourists. Saori won one last year, but she lost it a week ago. Because of this, she's been worried about some kind of punishment from the mermaids..."

"Arrow of the Dugong?"

Everyone was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

"It must be a souvenir from this island, right?"

Fujino, who was standing nearby, picked up the conversation. Having done his research beforehand, he explained, "It's said to be an arrow with magical powers; possessing that arrow grants immortality or something..."

How do you know all this so clearly?

Hattori Heiji and Conan looked at Fujino curiously upon hearing this.

"Isn't this just basic common sense?"

Hattori Heiji glanced at Fujino speechlessly. "Didn't you do any research on this island before you came here?"

"Well..."

Hattori Heiji's face darkened.

His mind was entirely focused on finding his client, which meant booking a hotel, calling Kudo Shinichi, and getting excited all night about it.

As for investigating the legends on the island, he hadn't really done any thorough research.

After all, who would have thought that the client would be kidnapped and get involved with mermaids or something?

"Officer Fujino is right."

The shopkeeper nodded and chimed in, "'Arrow of the Dugong' is a unique Omamori on our island, believed to grant immortality. All the tourists who came today are here for this Omamori..."

Ran Kazuha, standing nearby, exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be that Miss Saori lost her mermaid Omamori and was kidnapped by a mermaid?!"

"You two shouldn't be thinking such nonsense. If that arrow were so magical, everyone else who got it would have been kidnapped long ago... I think it's just a coincidence."

Although Hattori Heiji was somewhat puzzled as to what connection was there between losing the arrow and being kidnapped, he didn't really believe in any strange legends.

Even though it's pretty overpowered that Kudo Shinichi has become Conan, he still chooses to believe in Conan's teachings.

"This is definitely not a coincidence."

At this moment, a woman with a black mushroom haircut and wearing a black sweater walked out of the storeroom behind the gift shop, looked at the crowd, and said in a deep voice, "The Arrow of the Dugong is tied with a strand of hair from a spirit who has eaten mermaid flesh and gained Life Lord. Arrow of the Dugong with a strand of Life Lord hair will also grant ordinary people the ability to live forever..."

"The ability to live forever?!"

Ran and Kazuha were both taken aback upon hearing this, a glint of light flashing in their eyes.

The idea of immortality and eternal youth is quite tempting for girls.

Even though it's just something impractical...

But if they could get something for free, the two of them would be happy to give it a try.

What if it succeeds?

Of course, if they knew that Conan had reversed his aging process, I wonder what their expressions would be like.

"On the contrary, if the Arrow of the Dugong is lost, there will be retaliation... She must have been kidnapped by a mermaid."

After glancing at everyone behind her, the mushroom-headed woman spoke, then left the gift shop without looking back, without lingering any longer.

"What a strange person..."

Hattori Heiji narrowed his eyes as he sized up the slightly melancholy-looking woman.

"She is Saori's best friend who grew up with her, and her name is Kuroe Naoko."

The woman in the gift shop sighed, "She's also an employee of our gift shop, but ever since Saori was kidnapped, she's been acting all erratic."

"So that's how it is..."

Conan for a moment, then looked at Naoko with suspicion before turning to Fujino: "The Life Lord' she mentioned... Brother Fujino, you don't know what it means either, do you?"

"Ah, I found that out too."

Fujino pondered for a moment, "Life Lord, it should be the shaman on this island. It is said that she gained the power of immortality after eating mermaid flesh, and no one knows how old she is..."

"This officer seems to know a lot about what's going on on our island. That's right, that Life Lord is the high priestess of our island's festival—the great-grandmother of the Shimabukuro family. She's said to be 180 years old, or even over 200... Actually, no one on our island knows exactly how old that Life Lord is."

The gift shop lady behind him glanced at Fujino and said, "If you're interested in things like the Life Lord, you can go to the shrine that's hosting this festival. The lady who lives with the Life Lord is Saori's childhood friend, so she might be able to provide some clues."

"Forehead..."

Hattori Heiji sighed upon hearing this, sensing that things were getting a bit complicated.

He thought the investigation would end here, but he never expected it would continue, and now they even want to go to a shrine...

The shrine belonging to Shimabukuro Kimie's family is called the America Shrine.

To be honest, Fujino seemed a little sensitive to the word "America".

The America Shrine is located on a high point on the island.

Walking up the stone stairs, you can see a spacious courtyard through the torii gate, with a wooden shrine standing in the very center of the courtyard.

The design of the shrine makes it impossible to discern which deity is enshrined.

A stone path extends from the torii gate all the way to the entrance of the shrine.

Along the stone-paved road, a few passengers had come early to visit and prepare for the evening's festival.

Standing at the entrance of the shrine was a woman dressed in a red and white Miko outfit, with her long, soft black hair half-tied up.

The woman was tapping her shoulder with the banner from time to time, looking rather bored, as if she were deep in thought.

"Miss Junhui?"

Fujino was walking ahead, recognized the other person at a glance and went up to greet him.

"Detective Fujino?"

Shimabukuro Kimie turned around, looking somewhat surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"You two know each other?"

Hattori Heiji Fujino a suspicious look.

The same thing happened last time; that woman with very large breasts recognized Fujino at first glance.

This time, the lovely Miko maiden recognized him at a glance...

Why does it feel like every pretty girl he meets knows Fujino?

"Know."

Fujino did not deny it, and explained, "She and Kadowaki Saori came to Tokyo together and asked me to do it."

He was actually a little puzzled by Hattori Heiji's suspicious gaze.

After all, he can't read minds, so how could he possibly know what others are thinking?

But thinking about it, you can guess it's not a good thing.

"That?"

Shimabukuro Kimie suddenly interjected, "Excuse me, is there any news about Saori? I haven't received any contact from the Metropolitan Police Department since I returned from Tokyo last time..."

"Not yet. Although we've tried our best to investigate, we haven't found much..."

Fujino turned around and glanced at Shimabukuro Kimie.

The red inner lining and long skirt, paired with a white outer layer, create an exceptionally beautiful look.

To be honest, the Miko outfit is really pretty.

When will you find something for Ai to cosplay?

If this were in Ooka Momiji... well, the Miko outfit actually accentuates the bust size quite a bit, and you can already picture some kind of unhealthy and terrifying scene.

It would actually look quite good on Ran too.

Fujino shook his head, dismissing the strange thought.

"How so."

Upon hearing this, Shimabukuro Kimie was slightly taken aback, and a hint of melancholy appeared on her fair face.

Originally, she intended to kill Kadowaki Saori herself after seeing the dentist to avenge her mother, but before she could act, Kadowaki Saori was kidnapped by some unknown guy.

With Kadowaki Saori kidnapped, her Murder Plan could no longer proceed... Her original plan was to kill Saori, hide her in a warehouse, impersonate her to commit the murder, and then set the warehouse on fire, making it look like the way she killed her mother back then.

The Murder Plan was aborted due to an accident, but she didn't give up on it. Of course, the original plan was no longer feasible. In fact, she had been thinking about a new Murder Plan for the past few days, but no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't come up with a plan that would allow her to extricate herself from the situation and operate the same way as before...

It would be great if that person dressed entirely in black could also kidnap the other two.

That way, she wouldn't have to take revenge herself.

"Um, Ms. Shimabukuro."

Hattori Heiji didn't notice Shimabukuro Kimie's expression, but asked curiously, "I remember that Ms. Saori Kadowaki Saori was kidnapped when she went to Tokyo to Fujino for help. You should have been there at the time, right?"

"Oh? Is that so?"

Upon hearing Shimabukuro Kimie regained her composure and asked, "May I ask who you are...?"

"My name is Hattori Heiji, and I'm a steamed egg!"

"That high school student is... Detective Hattori Heiji?"

Hattori Heiji gave a sassy self-introduction, but due to his accent, Shimabukuro Kimie misheard it as "steamed egg."

However, at this moment, Shimabukuro Kimie did not care about the issue of the statement, but focused her attention on the two detectives in front of her.

Although she had heard from Kadowaki Saori that she had hired several detectives.

But she never expected that this detective would also come to this island.

After all, she hadn't heard a reply from the other party before Kadowaki Saori was kidnapped...

"Ahem!"

At this moment, Mori Kogoro, seeing that the other party was actually a beautiful young woman, coughed lightly to attract Shimabukuro Kimie's attention. "Actually, I'm a detective too. My name is Mori Kogoro. Nice to meet you!"

"Steamed eggs again!"

Shimabukuro Kimie exclaimed in surprise, "That sleeping Great Detective?"

"That's right, it's me!"

Mori Kogoro became noticeably more enthusiastic upon realizing that the other person recognized him. "Is this lady also a fan of my detective work?"

Shimabukuro Kimie: "..."

It's completely over!

One steamed egg, two steamed eggs, three steamed eggs?!

How many steamed eggs did Saori secretly order behind her back?!

Shimabukuro Kimie felt a little dizzy and hot, and her face gradually turned a little flushed.

In short, the CPU is about to overheat...

Instinctively, she panicked.

After all, even if a potential murderer hasn't killed anyone yet, he'll still feel a bloodline-based pressure when facing a detective...

But then I thought... right, she hasn't killed anyone yet, what's the rush?

Even if Saori disappeared, it wasn't because she kidnapped her.

However, I can't say too much, otherwise I'll easily be suspected.

Having figured out the situation, Shimabukuro Kimie calmed herself down, managing a faint smile on her fair face. She unconsciously raised her hand and gently tapped her shoulder with her banner. "I never expected to meet three... detectives today. I'm so lucky! I'd only ever seen you in the newspaper before... If the three of you were here, Saori would surely be found quickly, right?"

"Well..."

Mori Kogoro was immediately rendered speechless.

"Um, Shimabukuro-neechan."

Seeing that the conversation was getting off-topic, Conan stepped forward and brought up the main point. "Could you tell me about the process of how Sister Kanojo was kidnapped, what happened, and did you get a good look at the kidnapper's face? Maybe Uncle Mori and Brother Hattori can discover something different."

"Saori was kidnapped four days ago. I was with her when I went to the dentist, and then I received a call from Detective Fujino. After that, we took the Shinkansen to Tokyo, but just as we were about to take the Shinkansen back, she was kidnapped... I told the police all of this at the time."

Shimabukuro Kimie shook her head regretfully and glanced at Hattori Heiji: "That person suddenly appeared and kidnapped Saori. I didn't get a good look at him. He was too dark-skinned. To be honest, his skin tone was even darker than yours. I couldn't see his face at all."

Hattori Heiji: "..."

Although the answer was indeed quite tactful, it made him feel a little better.

But... his skin tone is even darker than mine.

Damn it, Conan, why did you ask that question? Are you trying to mess with me?

"Alright, Heiji!"

Toyama Kazuha, standing to the side, couldn't help but chuckle, Hattori Heiji Shimabukuro Kimie, "Um, Ms. Shimabukuro, is your great-grandmother really over two hundred years old?!"

"Two hundred years old?"

Shimabukuro Kimie glanced at the curious little girl in front of her.

She could also tell that this girl, and that... girl with horns on her head?

These two women came with the detectives, but she didn't think of them as detectives.

The feeling of tension subsided a bit.

Actually, this wasn't the first time someone had asked her this question. She was so tired of hearing it that she almost had calluses on her ears. So she put down the banner in her hand, limped her hand slightly, and explained helplessly, "My great-grandmother isn't two hundred years old. She's only one hundred and thirty years old this year. If you check her household registration, you can easily see that. It's really making a fuss over nothing."