Heiji Hattori's First Love? / The Antiques Market

But facing these Kyoto police officers whom he had never dealt with before, he could only force a smile and greet them before changing the subject and asking about what had happened.

After learning that Jiang Hang had just subdued a robber who was robbing people on the street, Heiji Hattori wasn't too surprised.

Back when the Sherlock Holmes fan case happened, Jiang Hang had already shown his skills when he subdued that extreme Sherlock Holmes fan.

Although it was only a brief exchange, it was clear that an ordinary robber could not possibly be a match for Jiang Hang.

"Not bad at all, you've solved another case as soon as you arrived in Kyoto." Watching the police officers take the criminal into the police car and leave, Heiji Hattori Jiang Hang on the shoulder.

Jiang Hang shrugged, indicating that it was just something he did on a whim.

"You know, even though Kyoto and Osaka are next to each other, you wouldn't just come here unless there's something important, would you?"

Hearing Jiang Hang's question, Heiji Hattori seemed a little surprised. "You didn't know? That case also happened in Tokyo, right? Aren't you an advisor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department there? They should have told you about this."

Heiji Hattori had clearly been keeping an eye on Jiang Hang's situation. The police hadn't publicized his position as a consultant to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and not many people knew about it. Heiji Hattori probably found out about it through the police's internal intelligence network.

It seems that the case Heiji Hattori is a serial murder case, and the killer appears to have committed crimes in both Tokyo and Kyoto.

Jiang Hang shook his head. "My role as an advisor only allows me to participate in some cases in a more legitimate way. I can't possibly pay attention to all cases. Inspector Megure and the others will only contact me when they encounter a very troublesome case."

Seeing that Jiang Hang was indeed unaware of the case, Heiji Hattori Jiang Hang began to explain the recent serial murder case to him.

"Just a few days ago, a shrine in Tokyo reported to the police that three bodies had been found inside. Then, a murder occurred at a sushi restaurant in Osaka, and later, in the early hours of the morning, someone was murdered at a bar in Kyoto." Heiji Hattori first revealed the identities of the murdered individuals and the locations of the murders.

"According to the police investigation, the five dead were all members of the notorious thief group 'Genji Fireflies'. This organization had been operating mainly in the cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto for the past ten years, targeting famous works of art or Buddhist statues in shrines."

"I think this series of murders is probably caused by some kind of internal conflict within this thief group," Heiji Hattori said, then looked around. "They all address each other as 'Minamoto no Yoshitsune' and the names of his retainers. Kyoto was Minamoto no Yoshitsune his lifetime, and it's also where this thief group operates most frequently. So I wanted to come to Kyoto to investigate and see if I could find any clues."

After explaining his main purpose, Heiji Hattori rubbed his nose, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Of course, I also came here to look for my first love from back then."

Chapter 349: Chapter 347: Heiji Hattori Love?

Having spent several months in Japan, Jiang Hang has gained some understanding of famous figures from ancient Japan through various channels.

Jiang Hang was naturally familiar with Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a famous general of Japan's Heian period. If one were to rank famous Japan generals, there would be very few who could surpass Minamoto no Yoshitsune fame.

Furthermore, there was a childhood version of this character in a pay-to-win game that Jiang Hang played before he transmigrated.

Hearing that a modern gang of thieves would use Minamoto no Yoshitsune's name as their gang name, and that their members would address each other as Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Jiang Hang couldn't help but feel a strange unease.

However, Jiang Hang himself felt nothing about cases where internal conflicts and contradictions within criminal gangs led to mutual killings.

To be honest, when Heiji Hattori explained the case to him, Jiang Hang had absolutely no interest in investigating it.

Who knew that Heiji Hattori would suddenly change the subject and talk about his first love.

Jiang Hang immediately perked up when the topic of first love came up.

"First love?" Not only was Jiang Hang curious, but even Shizuka Sakaki, who was standing next to Jiang Hang, became curious.

After all, people are naturally gossipy.

Heiji Hattori didn't try to hide anything and told Jiang Hang directly about what happened several years ago.

"About eight years ago, I came to Kyoto with my family. I went to play in a temple nearby and accidentally bumped into a window and passed out. When I woke up, I saw a little girl in a kimono who was about my age, or maybe a little older than me, through the window."

Heiji Hattori recalled the story from that year, "The little girl was humming a song made up of the streets of Kyoto while bouncing a ball, but unfortunately, by the time I came out of the temple to talk to her, she had already left."

As he said this, Heiji Hattori took out a small sachet from his pocket and took out the contents, which was a crystal bead about the size of a fingernail.

"I just found this thing at the scene. It should be something she left behind. Over the years, I have come to Kyoto once or twice a year, hoping to meet that girl from back then in the same place."

Jiang Hang carefully examined the crystal bead in Heiji Hattori's hand. With his forgery skills, he quickly made a judgment. "This should be made of mutton fat jade, and it looks like it has a long history. I think it fell off some antique artifact."

"As expected of you, I even had someone appraise this crystal bead before, but they still couldn't figure out its origin," Heiji Hattori handed the crystal bead to Jiang Hang, seemingly wanting Jiang Hang to take a closer look and see if he could find any clues.

"It is indeed top-quality mutton fat jade. It looks to be over four or five hundred years old. This thing can almost be considered an antique. It's just a bit too small." Jiang Hang examined it carefully. In terms of value, this thing wasn't that expensive. Although mutton fat jade is not cheap, this thing only weighs one or two grams. It can't be that expensive.

Jiang Hang still believed that this was an ornament that had fallen from an antique, but Jiang Hang couldn't tell from such a small bead what kind of antique it originally came from.

He returned the bead to Heiji Hattori Heiji Hattori sighed softly, seemingly wondering when he would meet his first love again.

Seeing Heiji Hattori's expression, Jiang Hang seemed to suddenly remember something.

He remembered that Heiji Hattori should have a childhood friend in the anime, and the two of them had a pretty close relationship.

In other works, there's a saying that childhood sweethearts can't compete with newcomers. In fact, in most works, the status of childhood sweetheart is almost equivalent to being a loser, someone you can tell at a glance has no chance.

But Conan is different; almost all the main characters in it are childhood sweethearts who win big.

Conan and Ran go without saying, as do Heiji Hattori and his childhood friend, and it seems that Kogoro Mouri and Eri Kisaki have also known each other since childhood.

Meanwhile, Kaito Kid, who plays the lead role in another film and occasionally makes cameo appearances in Conan, also has a childhood sweetheart.

In addition, childhood sweethearts often appear in various cases.

So when Jiang Hang heard from Heiji Hattori that he had come to Kyoto not only to investigate the murder case by the gang of thieves, but also to find his first love, his first thought was: who exactly was this so-called first love?

"I remember you should have a childhood sweetheart, right? Does she know about this?" Jiang Hang asked in return.

Hearing Jiang Hang's question, Heiji Hattori scratched his head. "Kazuha should know, right? After all, I talked about this in an interview a while ago, and it was even published."

Jiang Hang's lips twitched. You actually said this kind of thing during an interview? Aren't you afraid your childhood sweetheart will get jealous?

However, it's clear that Heiji Hattori had realized this, he wouldn't be searching for his first love now.

"Doesn't your childhood sweetheart mind?"

"Why would she mind? When I came here, she told me to do my best," Heiji Hattori said, looking at Jiang Hang with some confusion. "After all, I travel to Kyoto several times a year, but I just haven't been able to find her yet."

Heiji Hattori has said so, Jiang Hang has nothing more to say.

He then shifted the topic back to the case.

"It seems there aren't any new leads on your first love's side for the time being. How's your case going?"

Heiji Hattori spread his hands with a hint of helplessness. "There are no new clues. The police are still investigating the crime scene. Apart from knowing that the murderer is proficient in archery and swordsmanship, they can't deduce anything else, such as height, weight, or even gender."

"I just wanted to come and help with the investigation. Kyoto is so big, it's not easy for me to find clues. I can't possibly investigate each of those experts who are proficient in archery and swordsmanship."

He hasn't been able to find his first love after eight years, and there are no valuable clues from the murderer's side either. It seems like Heiji Hattori was just wandering around aimlessly.

Jiang Hang didn't offer any help; he was only thinking about getting back to the travel group as soon as possible. However, Shizuka Sakaki seemed quite interested.

"A group of thieves connected to Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and Hattori's first love... This sounds interesting. Jiang Hang, let's help them out!"

Hearing Shizuka Sakaki say that, Jiang Hang quickly pulled her aside and whispered to her, "We're still on vacation right now. Investigating a case that sounds so unrelated is bound to be troublesome. If we go and help him, we might not get any rest for the next few days."

Jiang Hang wanted to discourage Shizuka Sakaki, but Shizuka Sakaki Jiang Hang the exact opposite idea in mind.

To be honest, she doesn't seem to have investigated any cases with Jiang Hang much. Everyone else is following the tour guide to visit the attractions, while she's just hanging around Jiang Hang. It seems like this is a pretty good opportunity.

As for tourism, although it's a bit of a pity that she can't visit those attractions, it's not like she'll never come to Kyoto again in her life. If she really wants to travel, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

Moreover, during the investigation with Jiang Hang, we might be able to visit things that are not seen in ordinary tourist attractions, which would be much more exciting than normal tourism.

Therefore, Shizuka Sakaki answered Jiang Hang directly, "It's okay, let's help Hattori. I'm quite interested in his first love and that gang of thieves, and this is also a good opportunity to make our detective agency famous in Kyoto!"

I don't want to travel far every day; no matter how famous I am in other places, it won't do me any good.

Jiang Hang mentally complained, but seeing that Shizuka Sakaki seemed quite interested in the case, he sighed and agreed.

Anyway, he wasn't really interested in traveling. He was just slacking off with the tour group, so it wouldn't matter if he slacked off in a different place.

"You guys want to help? That's great! I was just worried that my investigation was too slow on my own," Heiji Hattori said without hesitation when he learned that Jiang Hang was going to help.

After all, he had met Jiang Hang twice before, and each time Jiang Hang's abilities amazed him. If Jiang Hang was willing to help, he might be able to find some key clues soon.

Of course, deep down, Heiji Hattori also had thoughts of comparing himself to Jiang Hang.

Driven by this competitive spirit, Heiji Hattori Jiang Hang everything he had investigated over the past period.

"Genji Fireflies is a gang of thieves who specialize in stealing cultural relics and antiques. They started their operation ten years ago and have committed dozens of thefts without being arrested by the police. In a sense, this gang can be considered a phantom thief. Apart from the five who have already died, the police don't even know how many members are left in this gang."

Heiji Hattori took out his phone, opened a photo, and handed it to Jiang Hang to look at. "This is the only clue the police have found in all these years of investigation."

"Gikeiki?" Looking at the title of the book in the photo, it's not hard to guess that the book's contents are a record of Minamoto no Yoshitsune's deeds.

"According to the investigation, this book was published a long time ago and the circulation was not large at the time. Moreover, most of the stories in it are folk tales rather than historical facts. It is said that all members of the Genji Fireflies clan carry this book with them."

"I think investigating the source of this book might lead us to some clues related to the criminal."

With that, Heiji Hattori sent Jiang Hang a list of the antiques and artifacts that Genji Fireflies had stolen over the years.

"These are things they stole before. Some of the police found wealthy people who took them on the black market, but unfortunately, those wealthy people didn't know the identity of the person who sold the artifacts to them. If you are interested, you can investigate later."

Jiang Hang glanced at the information provided by Heiji Hattori and then copied it and sent it to Shizuka Sakaki.

In his view, the police had investigated for so many years without finding any clues, and he estimated that they probably wouldn't find anything from these places either.

"I'm planning to go to the antique market nearby to do some research. Would you like to come with me?" Heiji Hattori suggested to the two of them.

Since he was planning to slack off, Jiang Hang glanced at Shizuka Sakaki, who was also very interested in the antique market, and nodded.

"I'll contact them first and tell them about this."

Koharu Yoshino and Miyano Shiho about the case he encountered and how he went to investigate it with Shizuka Sakaki. Then, after thinking for a moment, Jiang Hang sent a message to Conan.

"We ran into your buddy in Osaka here. There's a rather interesting case. Do you want to come over?" Jiang Hang also attached an address at the end of the email, indicating where they were going.

Since he can't avoid it, he naturally has to drag Conan into it too.

Then he watched as Conan and Heiji Hattori, these two crime-solving tools, diligently gathered evidence and investigated the case, while he slacked off and acted as a strategist, which was quite nice.

If the case is solved, he can get a reward. Even if it isn't solved, it's not surprising that a third-rate detective like him can't solve a case that two famous high school detectives from Kansai Kanto couldn't solve together.

Soon, all three people replied.

Miyano Shiho's answer was the simplest, consisting of only an ellipsis, making it impossible to discern her intended meaning.

Jiang Hang could imagine that Miyano Shiho probably sent this email with a blank expression.

Although Jiang Hang felt that if he were to do a reading comprehension exercise, he should be able to write an 800-word argumentative essay from the ellipsis, he would just take it as Miyano Shiho telling him that she had read it.

As for Koharu Yoshino's replies, there were many more.

First, she asked if she needed help, and Jiang Hang replied that he didn't need it. Then she sent Jiang Hang a few photos, showing where they were visiting. She also sent him a smiley face emoji, encouraging them to keep up the good work on the case.

Conan's reply was the most direct, and his reaction was exactly what Jiang Hang expected.

"What case is it? I'm on my way now."

Chapter 350: Chapter 348: Antique Market

When Heiji Hattori saw Conan approaching, his gaze couldn't help but linger on Conan for a moment.

Regarding Conan, Jiang Hang had previously managed to fool Heiji Hattori quite a bit, leaving him still wondering about Conan's true identity.

On one hand, he felt that no matter how he looked at it, Conan's demeanor was too mature, unlike that of a six or seven-year-old child.

On the other hand, he was too embarrassed to ask Conan if Jiang Hang's claims about "human experimentation" were true, so he could only continue to question Conan's true identity in his mind.

Since Heiji Hattori Jiang Hang didn't need to explain further and simply told Conan about the case.

Unlike Jiang Hang, who spends all his time completing cases and slacking off, Conan pays close attention to cases that appear in the news.

After sneaking away from the tour group and hearing about the Genji Fireflies Firefly gang from Jiang Hang, Conan quickly recalled the cases committed by the gang over the years.

"I investigated this thief group before I shrunk, but the members of this group are very meticulous in their actions. After investigating for a while, I didn't find any clues and had to give up," Conan said to Jiang Hang in a low voice.

"The members of this thief organization all seem to be quite skilled, and they work together very well. It's just unexpected that the police didn't catch them, but instead, they had this problem within their own ranks."

It's clear that Conan really wants to arrest this group of thieves himself.

To be precise, it wasn't just this group of thieves; Conan had investigated and tried to capture almost all the phantom thieves who had been active in Japan and had some fame.

However, Kaito Kid, Arsène Lupin III, and the Cat's Eye sisters, who would send advance notice to the police and their targets before taking action to make things more difficult, are still a minority.

Unless the thieves left important clues at the scene, it is not an easy task to deduce their identities through reasoning.

After all, detectives are just ordinary people; they can't conjure up criminals out of thin air.

In most cases, when encountering such thieves, one can only rely on modern criminal investigation techniques to meticulously search for clues, examining every footprint, fingerprint, and even shed hair left at the scene.

This is the level that Jiang Hang can achieve after using Eagle Eye.

With Eagle Eye's abilities, anyone can become a famous detective by simply learning a little relevant knowledge and showing off a few skills when facing clients.

However, Jiang Hang can't go to those crime scenes to check now, and several days have passed since the incident, so there probably aren't any useful clues left at the scene.

Therefore, they can only use the most basic methods to gather intelligence, and at this time, Eagle Eye cannot play a very important role.