Outlaw in the World of Conan, Tokisaki Kurumi

Aso Narumi had taken Tokisaki Kurumi's words to heart: 'You absolutely must be careful of Conan.'

Hearing Aso Narumi answer his question with another question, Conan, not understanding Kira Yoshikage's reference, put on an innocent, wide smile and replied in his childish voice, "Uncle asked me to help him find something, but I didn't expect to run into you here, Doctor!"

The reason Conan was here wasn't actually that; it was merely a pretense using Mouri Kogoro's name.

In truth, he felt a strange, indescribable sense of unease about the person he now saw as Asai Narumi. This feeling, coupled with the events unfolding on Moon Shadow Island, kept reminding him of the murder that had occurred at the art museum not too long ago.

It felt as though someone was deliberately orchestrating everything from behind the scenes.

For some reason, Conan suddenly thought of the girl who called herself Tokisaki Kurumi.

Furthermore, Conan had already asked the innkeeper earlier, and he had indeed found Kurumi's name on the registration book.

Conan recalled his conversation with the innkeeper when he had asked if any tourists had checked in recently.

"Uncle Innkeeper, is this Miss Tokisaki Kurumi very beautiful, and does she have one wine-red eye?" Upon learning from the innkeeper that Kurumi had indeed been there, Conan became excited.

"Yes," the innkeeper sighed, speaking of Tokisaki Kurumi. "That young lady is absolutely the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." He then looked at the child suspiciously, "Kid, why are you suddenly asking me about this?"

As a professional, the innkeeper knew he absolutely could not reveal his guests' privacy.

Sensing he was under suspicion, Conan quickly explained, "Because my sister knows her, and she helped me before!"

"Is that so?" Hearing Conan say this, the innkeeper let down his guard. But this didn't mean he would proactively share guest information.

With a regretful tone, the innkeeper said, "If you're looking for her, you're too late. She checked out this afternoon and seemed to have gone back to Tokyo." He sighed helplessly, "But thinking about it, with Mr. Kawashima missing, it's only natural for a girl traveling alone to want to go back in such unstable times."

"What? She's already gone back?"

"Yes!"

End of flashback.

Returning to the present.

Kurumi had left yesterday afternoon, nearly twenty-four hours ago from the incident that had just occurred.

'Could the mastermind this time not be her?' Conan wondered, though based on the information he had gathered, Kurumi, who had returned to Tokyo yesterday afternoon, clearly couldn't have attacked the police officers and placed the gift box in the piano room just tens of minutes ago.

But that was assuming Kurumi had truly left the island and wasn't hiding somewhere on it.

"Oh right, Doctor, do you know Tokisaki Kurumi?"

Feeling that Asai Narumi was suspicious, Conan asked casually.

48 Aso Narumi: "Let's have a good meal tonight."

Although Conan's question surprised Narumi, it was still within their plan.

"If I know her... I suppose I do," Narumi replied. While Aso Narumi didn't understand how Kurumi had predicted Conan would ask her about her, she still followed Kurumi's previous instructions to distance herself from her as much as possible.

Hearing that Aso Narumi knew Kurumi, Conan immediately perked up.

Ever since Kurumi had outsmarted him at the museum not long ago using some unknown method, leaving him with a deep psychological scar, Conan couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful, dark-haired girl.

He had even started to suspect that Kurumi might be an accomplice of the Black Organization members who had turned him into this form at the amusement park. Otherwise, how could she have known he was Kudo Shinichi?

Since Conan couldn't find the two Black Organization members from back then, he had no starting point for his investigation.

Kurumi's appearance, however, gave Conan a glimmer of hope.

Therefore, Conan decided to focus all his attention on Kurumi for now.

Conan hadn't entirely dismissed the possibility of investigating Director Ochiai, the killer of the owner Manaka, but no matter how he questioned him, Conan only received the response, "Miss Tokisaki merely came to discuss that matter of Divine Punishment with me; I'm unaware of anything else."

Director Ochiai's statement clearly didn't satisfy Conan.

However, he worried that persistently questioning Director Ochiai about Kurumi might alert the culprit. Reluctantly, Conan had to put Director Ochiai aside for the time being.

"Then, Doctor, do you know where Miss Tokisaki went? I wanted to thank her for helping me!"

Unaware that the beautiful physician before him was already in cahoots with Kurumi, Conan thought his fabricated reason was quite good. Little did he know that in Aso Narumi's eyes, Conan's story only made her more wary and annoyed.

"Well..." Despite her internal annoyance, Aso Narumi pretended to ponder before saying, "I recall Miss Tokisaki left by boat yesterday afternoon. She specifically told me before she left that she wanted to go out and have fun with me."

"After all, we were both born in Tokyo, we're from the same hometown."

Hearing Narumi say the same thing as the innkeeper, Conan began to doubt if he was overthinking things. Could the events on Moon Shadow Island really have nothing to do with her?

Even so, Conan didn't want to give up this great opportunity to find Kurumi.

Completely engrossed, Conan's tone became somewhat impatient, "Do you know where she lives in Tokyo?"

In his haste, Conan forgot that he currently looked like a primary school student.

Growing increasingly displeased with Conan, Narumi shook her head. "Even though you're the child of the Mouri Detective Agency, that doesn't give you the right to be so rude when speaking to adults!"

Frowning, Aso Narumi admonished Conan with a look of disapproval.

Hearing this, Conan, realizing he had been too impatient and angered her, quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. Because Sister Ran also wants to find an opportunity to chat with Miss Tokisaki, I got a bit anxious. We don't know where Miss Tokisaki lives, so we can't just visit her."

Being very pragmatic, Conan began to act subservient to avoid angering Aso Narumi.

Seeing Conan's sincere apology, Aso Narumi could only sigh and choose to forgive him.

"Honestly, I don't know where Miss Tokisaki lives either. She just said she would find me; she didn't leave me any address or phone number," Narumi said with a hint of helplessness.

"Is that so? That's a shame..." Conan observed Narumi closely. Based on her expression and tone of voice, she didn't seem to be lying.

"Could I really be overthinking this?"

Ignoring Conan, who seemed lost in self-doubt, Aso Narumi put on a show of picking up a box of tissues from the shelf. "Alright, little brother, I'm heading back now."

"Remember to turn off the lights and lock the door after you find what you're looking for!"

With that, Aso Narumi left the warehouse.

A moment later, Aso Narumi, who had expected Kurumi to be slacking off at home, didn't see her on the second floor.

After placing the white paper she brought from the warehouse on the table, Aso Narumi suddenly noticed a note.

[Don't panic! I'll be back tonight!]

Seeing the elegant handwriting on the note, Aso Narumi knew without a doubt that it was left by Kurumi.

"So mysterious..."

Tearing the note into pieces and throwing them into the trash can, Aso Narumi began to consider what to eat with Kurumi that evening.

Hmm... Kurumi worked so hard, I should make something delicious for her tonight! Aso Narumi thought happily.

Having never invited anyone to eat at her place before, Aso Narumi opened the refrigerator and found that there was only enough food for one person.

"Ah! I almost forgot I live alone!" She felt a sense of relief that she had checked the fridge, otherwise, by the time Kurumi returned tonight, there wouldn't be enough food for two.

Entering the bedroom, Aso Narumi found her wallet, preparing to buy some groceries from the village vendors.

Confident in her cooking skills, and wanting to reward Kurumi for her hard work in helping her, Aso Narumi decided not to buy the simple meals she usually made for herself, but to splurge on some slightly more expensive, high-quality ingredients.

Stuffing her wallet into her pocket, Aso Narumi, feeling quite happy, hummed a tune as she skipped downstairs.

Right, I almost forgot Kurumi said to lock the doors and windows!

Suddenly remembering Kurumi's warning about certain people who liked to rummage through things, Aso Narumi efficiently locked all the windows on the first floor before leaving the clinic.

Meanwhile, hidden on the second floor of the Community Center, Kurumi, using a listening device, had heard every word of the conversation in the piano room downstairs.

Initially, Kuroiwa and Nishimoto, who had been summoned by the police, tried to quibble under Inspector Megure's questioning. However, once Mouri Kogoro turned on the tape recorder and began playing the tape, the two finally admitted in panic that they had colluded to murder the Aso family years ago.

Their firsthand confessions, even more so than Kawashima's voice on the tape, incited greater anger in those present.

Although she desperately wanted to send these two scumbags to prison immediately, the dangerous fugitive was still at large. If they were taken away rashly, who knew what more desperate actions the brutal criminal might take to keep them around.

49 Let Them Fight Each Other

Through the listening device, Kurumi, on the second floor, sat on a sofa, casually flipping through a magazine while listening to the conversation downstairs through her earpiece.

The situation unfolded almost exactly as Kurumi had predicted. With Kawashima's testimony from the tape recorder, Inspector Megure and Mouri Kogoro barely needed any further questioning. They simply stated the facts, and Kuroiwa and Nishimoto, who had been stubbornly denying everything, immediately panicked.

Especially Nishimoto, who firmly believed in Aso Keiji's Curse. This usually taciturn man, upon hearing that Kawashima had another hand sent to him, lost his nerve and collapsed on the floor, having wet himself out of sheer terror.

Slowly, an unpleasant odor began to fill the room.

"Enough, I don't want to hear your excuses anymore!" Inspector Megure, his voice booming with anger, slammed the packaged white powder, previously found under the piano, onto the instrument.

"Right now, I just want to know if you guys were really doing this! And even killing the Aso family to cover up your crimes!" Megure felt a rage he had never experienced before, glaring at the two scoundrels before him.

If Japan didn't have such a complicated process for the death penalty, he would have gladly executed them on the spot.

However, as an officer of the law, he could only indulge in such fantasies in his mind.

Faced with the irrefutable evidence before them, the two knew that no amount of arguing would help.

"Officer, I admit, we did do such things." With the situation as it was, Village Chief Kuroiwa decided to shift all the blame onto Kawashima, who was now missing and possibly dead.

"But it was all Kawashima's idea!"

Hearing Kuroiwa say this, Nishimoto, who was already terrified, also stood up abruptly. So fast!

Although his legs were still trembling, he put on a fawning expression and cooperated with Kuroiwa's excuses: "Yes, buying and selling the white powder was also Kawashima's idea. Otherwise, where would he have gotten so much money!"

At this point, whether it was Mouri Kogoro, Inspector Megure, or even Mouri Ran standing beside them, all three saw the shameful way these two scoundrels were still trying to shirk responsibility, and their faces grew increasingly indignant.

"Alright, the matter of your drug trafficking and murder will be dealt with at the police headquarters," Inspector Megure said. "However, we have received a warning from the perpetrator who kidnapped and injured Kawashima. Their next target is one of you."

Hearing that they might suffer the same fate as Kawashima, Kuroiwa and Nishimoto fell to their knees.

Cowardly and afraid of death, they were terrified of legal judgment.

But compared to being brutally murdered, at least they could stay alive in prison.

They would only lose their freedom.

"No! I don't want to die!" Nishimoto wailed shrilly. "It was Kawashima! It was all Kawashima's doing! Why would the perpetrator want to kill me!"

Upstairs, hearing Nishimoto's words through the earpiece, Kurumi chuckled, already deciding that he would be her next target.

"Inspector Megure, since we need these two to lure out the perpetrator, I think we can protect them from the shadows. When the perpetrator makes their move, we can catch them, right?" Mouri Kogoro tried to devise a plan that would ensure the two scoundrels' temporary safety while also successfully capturing the criminal.

"Wait, are you saying you want to use us as bait!?" Kuroiwa immediately jumped up in protest upon hearing Mouri Kogoro's suggestion.

"Kawashima's whereabouts are still unknown, and even if he's alive, with his hands severed, who knows what he's become?"

The thought of Kawashima possibly being disfigured by the brutal criminal made Kuroiwa's fear overshadow his fear of the police.

Seeing Kuroiwa dare to yell at them, Megure and Mouri were taken aback.

"You scoundrel! After doing such heinous things, you still have the audacity to speak like this!" As Inspector Megure was a police officer, there were certain things he couldn't say directly, no matter how angry he was.

But Mouri Kogoro was different.

He was a detective, and even if he lost his temper and beat the two of them up, his old superior, Inspector Megure, certainly wouldn't say anything about him.

Therefore, Inspector Megure, who was well aware of this, naturally let Mouri Kogoro vent his anger on his behalf.

"But shouldn't you police guarantee our safety?" Nishimoto joined the fray at this point.

The two of them completely forgot that they were the culprits, and instead started complaining about the police's inaction.

Hearing these two scumbags twist the story, Inspector Megure was so angry his mustache almost bristled.

Kurumi, amused by the spectacle downstairs, covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.

These two were so idiotic that Kurumi didn't even know how to send them on their way.

'Wait a minute!'

Kurumi suddenly had a brilliant idea.

'Since these two love a dog-eat-dog fight... why don't I just throw some oil on the fire?'

Having made up her mind, Kurumi just needed to wait for the police to set the stage for her.

At night, to facilitate the guarding and 'protection' of Kuroiwa and Nishimoto, the two decoys, Inspector Megure specifically locked them in a room on the second floor of the Community Center, the same empty room Kurumi had been in before.

Inspector Megure had considered detaining Kuroiwa and Nishimoto directly in the village chief's office on the first floor, but thinking that the assailant might use the first-floor windows to forcibly kill them, he ultimately decided to house them on the second floor of the Community Center, with police officers guarding the entrance 24 hours a day.

Not only that, but besides the police officers on duty, Mouri Kogoro also volunteered to guard the hallway, bringing bedding with him, clearly determined to stay there.

However, those keeping a close watch were unaware that Kurumi, whom they considered the assailant, was enjoying a delicious dinner with the beautiful doctor on the second floor of Aso Narumi's clinic.

Hamburgers, sukiyaki, salmon.

It was clear that Aso Narumi had spared no expense, preparing a whole table of delicacies for Kurumi.