Lucky Mutual Aid Society (18)

Qian Xiaoyi walked out of the warehouse building, holding the jade pendant in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth. He looked up at the setting sun and thought to himself, "They don't even have cameras inside. I changed my clothes for nothing today. But then again, if there were cameras, Matsui wouldn't have put that stuff here. Still, I feel a little bad for the young man inside. I hope he has a strong psychological capacity and doesn't lose his job because of what just happened."

With that thought, he retraced his steps back to the station and took the train back to his office. As soon as he got downstairs, he saw Inuyama Heita waiting by the entrance.

"Mr. Qian," Inuyama Heita greeted him when he saw Qian Xiaoyi.

"Have you been waiting long?" Qian Xiaoyi asked casually, taking out his keys and glancing sideways.

Inuyama Heita shook his head. "Not really." His eyes flickered, and it was clear he had a lot he wanted to say.

The two arrived at the office, and before Qian Xiaoyi could even sit down to pour himself a glass of water, Inuyama Heita eagerly said, "Mr. Qian! I..."

"Hold on a moment," Qian Xiaoyi interrupted him. He went into the storage room with his messenger bag, fiddled with something inside, and after a while, came out with the empty bag, closing the door behind him. He then asked Inuyama Heita, "Just got back, I'm a bit thirsty. Cola or juice?"

"Uh... juice, please," Inuyama Heita replied dazedly.

Qian Xiaoyi, as usual, took a can of beer and a drink from the refrigerator, handed the drink to Inuyama Heita, and then slumped onto the sofa. He took off his baseball cap, pulled the tab, and took a long swig of ice-cold beer, letting out a satisfied sigh. "Ah~ That's better... Alright, Heitaro, tell me about your findings this time. Did you gather any useful intel?"

"I was just about to tell you. Matsui told me..." Inuyama Heita began his story from when Matsui took him to a private room in the 'Blue Note' bar.

"You can skip this part. I'm not interested," Qian Xiaoyi interrupted him. He glanced towards the door and continued, "It's all just those messy, deceptive tricks, no need to elaborate. It's not important. So, just tell me who the people present were. That's the information we need to bring down the Lucky Mutual Aid Society."

"Okay, I understand." Inuyama Heita took out his phone and started playing a recording of his conversations with others.

"You are Miss Maria, right? Thank you all for your help earlier. Otherwise, I don't know what those two would have done to me."

"Hee hee hee~ Bullying such a young boy, unforgivable! Of course, this big sister will help! Also, don't call me Miss Maria, just call me Little Maria. Let me tell you..."

As the recording played, Inuyama Heita, not being professionally trained, couldn't memorize the information of over a dozen high-ranking members all at once. So, he resorted to this clumsy method: record first, then extract useful information.

After a few minutes of the recording, Qian Xiaoyi quietly got up from the sofa, put his index finger to his lips, and made a "shushing" gesture to Inuyama Heita. He then tiptoed to the office door, gently grasped the doorknob, and suddenly yanked it open.

"Ah!" With a flustered yelp, a small figure tumbled in from outside.

Suzuki scrambled to her feet, a bit disheveled, adjusted her crooked glasses, and silently stared at the two people inside.

"Suzuki-san?!" Inuyama Heita was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly got up and pressed pause on his phone, asking in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Qian Xiaoyi looked at Inuyama Heita teasingly. "Heitaro, it seems you have a little tail following you~"

Then he turned to Suzuki and asked, "Miss, may I ask why you were eavesdropping outside my office?"

Suzuki remained silent, seemingly conflicted about whether to flee or say something.

"Alright, let me rephrase that," Qian Xiaoyi said. "Miss, may I ask if you have been acting like a stalker towards my client, Inuyama Heitaro? Like a pervert?"

"I have not!" Suzuki immediately retorted. "I'm not a pervert, and I'm not a man, so I should be a pervy girl... Wait, client?" She noticed a word in Qian Xiaoyi's sentence.

Qian Xiaoyi moved aside and made an inviting gesture. "It seems you can speak after all. Come in, let's have an open and honest discussion to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings."

Suzuki hesitated for a long time, then gritted her teeth, took out her phone, and flashed the screen. "Just a discussion, right? Don't do anything suspicious. My message is already drafted; I just need to press send to call the police immediately. Got it?"

"Yes, yes, yes, as you wish, Detective Conan," Qian Xiaoyi said helplessly.

She nervously walked into the office, suspiciously eyeing her surroundings, and finally sat down restlessly on a sofa chair by the coffee table.

"Please, have some," Qian Xiaoyi said, taking a can of juice from the refrigerator and placing it in front of her. He then sat on the sofa opposite her, crossed his legs, clasped his hands, and asked, "So, tell us, you are Miss Suzuki, right? What is your purpose, and why are you following my client?"

Inuyama Heita also looked at Suzuki with curiosity.

Suzuki glanced at the juice on the coffee table but didn't pick it up. She carefully chose her words and said, "I warned Inuyama-kun before not to trust those Lucky Mutual Aid Society guys. I didn't expect to see him at the party just now. Listening to their conversation, I realized it was because he was being extorted by thugs, and these people happened to rescue him. It was obviously a trap. So, when the party ended, I wanted to come out and remind him, but I saw him making a call to someone as soon as he came out, and then heading in a direction away from the station. Out of curiosity, I followed him all the way here. Okay, my part is done. Now it's your turn. Inuyama, it seems you weren't fooled by those people at all~ Inuyama-kun, and this unknown person, what exactly are you plotting?"

As Suzuki finished speaking in one breath, Inuyama Heita was about to come up with an excuse. He couldn't exactly say he was targeted because he was a psychic, could he?

Just as Inuyama Heita was racking his brain, Qian Xiaoyi sighed and said seriously, "A very smart young lady. You were eavesdropping at the door from the beginning, weren't you? In that case, I have no choice but to tell you the whole truth. Actually... we are righteous psychics, preparing to thwart the opponent's scheme to harm others through dark magic..."