Conan: Privileged Dog, Pah!

"Is that guy playing a trick on us?"

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Genta became anxious and looked impatient.

"No way?"

Ayumi hesitated and said, "Mr. James seems like a nice person."

"That's hard to say."

Ai Haibara, on the other hand, took it all in stride. "He just helped get rid of the reporters. As for the dinner invitation, it was probably just talk. He's already gone by now."

"Then he could have simply not brought it up."

Conan retorted, "Wouldn't it be strange to agree to something and then break it?"

"I think something must have happened that delayed him..."

"It's also possible that they changed their minds halfway through."

Ai Haibara doesn't expect to meet any good people. She's used to human nature. "It's like when you blurt out a promise, but then you realize you can't do it and can't refuse, so you can only run away to avoid an awkward situation."

"I think it's better to go and take a look."

Mitsuhiko suggested, "It would be terrible if something happened to Mr. James."

"Um."

Ayumi nodded. "Ayumi thinks so too!"

"..."

Fujino, standing to the side, glanced at the group with a hint of helplessness.

The saying "something can happen at any time" applies here; even a child understands that in Mikasa, one could die unexpectedly at any moment...

The children were worried, so they took Fujino to a nearby parking lot.

"Mr. James, where are you?"

The little ones called out and searched for James, while Ai Haibara silently followed behind.

Fujino, with his hands in his pockets, sized up the group of people of various appearances and could understand Ai Haibara.

She didn't want to waste her time, because in her opinion, the other person was more likely to have already left, which was the most rational possibility.

If it were him, he would probably think the same way.

But this time, it seems that the old FBI agent really has been kidnapped...

"This looks like Mr. James's car!"

At that moment, Mitsuhiko noticed something and suddenly pointed at a van, shouting to everyone, "Look, there's White Lion Doll in the passenger seat!"

Genta leaned forward to take a look. "But there's no one in the car..."

Conan then went to the driver's seat, took a look, and noticed that the car door was open and the key was still in the ignition.

"If it were a normal departure, it would be impossible not to remove the key."

Fujino suddenly appeared behind him and whispered, "The only possibility is that he was taken away by someone, and the situation was so urgent that he didn't even take the key out of the lock, right, Little Brother Conan?"

"That's right, that's what I think too."

Conan was startled by Fujino's sudden appearance, but nodded in response.

But he always felt that something was off.

Why does this feel so familiar...?

"Hey you guys, are you looking for a bearded man?"

Just then, a little boy with two companions noticed the group and walked over, saying, "They just left with two people wearing coats."

Which way are they going?

Conan turned around and asked the two of them repeatedly.

The man pointed to the alleyway beside him. "It's in the alleyway right across the street."

Conan looked over, his expression immediately darkened, and he quickly ran over.

"Hey, big brother!"

At that moment, the little boy holding the soccer ball looked at Fujino and asked, "You wouldn't happen to be that Great Detective Fujino, would you?"

"It was definitely me."

"Could you please sign your autograph?"

The boy handed the soccer ball to Fujino, naturally, was generous to his fan. He reached into his pocket, took out a pen, signed his name, asked a couple of questions, and then followed him.

By the time Fujino up, the little ones had already spotted James's lion pendant.

"The Lion Pendant was left here?"

Fujino lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, "He left in a hurry without removing the car keys, and the lion pendant fell here. The child just now said that he left normally and there was no coercion. It seems that someone lured him here when he opened the car door and then forcibly dragged him into the car. The pendant fell down at that moment."

Ai Haibara added, "He looks exactly like that Randy. The kidnappers probably mistook him for someone else, which is why they kidnapped him and intend to demand a high ransom."

"Yes, I think so."

Conan showed the pendant to everyone. "And there are bloodstains on the P&A on this pendant. He must have anticipated that we would come looking for him, which is why he did this. It seems that this should be the code left by Mr. James."

"If that's the case, wouldn't Mr. James be in danger?"

"Let's call the police quickly!"

The children were a little frightened upon hearing this. Although they were used to kidnappings, they were still a bit nervous about encountering it again.

Meanwhile, Fujino was presented with System Task:

System Task: Rescue the Kidnapped Old Man

Mission Summary: An American has been kidnapped. Although he appears to be an old man, he is actually a senior FBI agent, but his hidden identity is still that of an international friend.

—As an agent, being kidnapped in a foreign country—if this got back to the US, he'd be laughed out of the room.

Mission objective: Rescue the kidnapped old man by any means necessary.

Mission Rewards: 5 Detective Coins, 2 million Yen, 500 Detective Reputation Points

Fujino casually accepted the task, then asked Conan, "Ayumi's Detective Badge was taken by James when it was being displayed. I remember that your Detective Badge should all have tracking capabilities, right?"

"Yes!"

Conan suddenly remembered this as well, and quickly activated the tracking function on his glasses. "Found him! He's currently located to our northwest, about 16 kilometers away, heading north along the Mutsu River towards the Imamo Highway. Judging by his speed, he's probably driving! Now that we know his direction..."

Conan took out his pendant phone and dialed his old friend Takagi's number.

After receiving the news, Takagi chuckled awkwardly, "To ask us to set up a checkpoint on the Ikumo Highway, which borders Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo, based on such unrealistic intelligence is simply impossible..."

Conan frowned. "..."

Takagi, are you implying that kids aren't important enough?!

No wonder you're the Inspector General!

You can't even seize promotion opportunities!

"Give me the phone."

Fujino snatched Conan's phone away. "Takagi, set up a checkpoint there immediately."

"Fujino- kun?"

Takagi paused, stunned. "You're with them?"

"In short, set up a checkpoint there immediately."

Fujino didn't waste any more words and went straight to the point. "The thugs are currently heading towards Gunma with a kidnapped old man. If they capture him inside Saitama, it will be troublesome."

"Oh!"

Takagi was impressed by Fujino's decisive tone, and for a moment he seemed to see high-ranking officials from the Metropolitan Police Department giving him orders, so he nodded repeatedly. "I understand!"

Conan: "..."

My words don't carry as much weight as yours, do they?

With just a few words, they got the other side to set up a checkpoint.

Privileged dogs, I spit on them!