Getting Ono Yoko as a Client

~

Inside Ono Yoko's room.

A few officers were still examining the scene. After entering the room, Shu Yunwen curiously glanced around.

A beautiful young woman stood there with red-rimmed eyes and her head lowered. Mori Kogoro was hopping around like a monkey, full of energy, while Ran stood beside him, gently comforting Ono Yoko. Yunwen glanced around again and, sure enough, spotted Conan, Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko crouched behind the sofa.

Inspector Megure stood by the door, looking at Yunwen, Tsukamoto Kazumi, and the others with a headache. He asked Takagi Chosuke, "Officer Takagi, I thought I only asked you to bring Ms. Ikezawa Yuko to the scene. But... why did you bring so many unnecessary people?"

When Inspector Megure said "unnecessary," his gaze lingered pointedly on Yunwen.

Inspector Megure had mixed feelings about detectives who regularly showed up at crime scenes. On one hand, thanks to their keen observation skills, the police could solve cases and arrest criminals more quickly with their help. On the other hand, the fact that these detectives could solve cases so quickly while the police could not only made the police seem incompetent, which left Inspector Megure feeling rather unhappy.

Takagi Chosuke explained, "Inspector Megure, when we found Ms. Ikezawa Yuko, all of these people were with her, so I thought they might be connected to the case and brought them along too. Also, that high school student with the middle-aged man's face seemed certain that a murder had taken place here. I thought he might know something..."

"Shu-san?" Inspector Megure immediately looked at Yunwen with a grave expression.

Yunwen had already walked over with a smile and greeted Mori Kogoro and Mori Ran. Then he went over to Conan and the others, first giving Genta a pat on the head. "Genta, why aren't you going home after school? What are you doing here? Does your mom know you're here?"

Genta quickly held his schoolbag in front of himself. "Brother Yunwen, we just happened to run into the case while we were looking for Conan to play with. Besides, the police officer already called home..."

"Hmm, all right. Get ready, and we'll go home together in a bit."

After speaking to Genta, Yunwen looked down at Conan, who was resting his chin on his hand in thought, and asked with a smile, "Edogawa Kid, have you figured anything out?"

Conan was still thinking. He gave a slight nod. "I've got a few clues, but I still can't be sure who the culprit is. I'm certain that Ms. Ono Yoko and her manager, Yamagishi Eiichi, both know something. And Ms. Ikezawa Yuko left an earring at the scene, which is suspicious too..."

"Is that so?" Yunwen smiled and patted Conan on the head.

Conan finally came back to his senses and hurriedly tried to cover his tracks. "Haha! I'm playing a deduction game! You're the culprit! Hahahaha..."

Honestly, when Conan tried to cover something up after becoming a little kid, he seemed like a complete goofball!

Yunwen patted Conan on the head again and said with a smile, "Well, enjoy your game! If you find anything, be sure to tell me, okay?"

"Y-yeah, okay!" Conan grinned innocently and scratched his head.

As soon as Conan finished speaking, a fist suddenly came down on his head, making stars dance around him. "You little brat! Don't cause trouble for everyone here, got it?"

Conan was on the verge of tears.

Damn it, he'd been quietly hiding behind the sofa!

Yunwen turned his attention away from Conan and looked around. Inspector Megure was questioning Ikezawa Yuko and had basically concluded that she had sneaked into Ono Yoko's room. She was now a major suspect.

This was Tsukamoto Kazumi's second time at a crime scene, and she still seemed a little afraid. After taking a few glances around, she excused herself to Yunwen and went over to join Ran.

Yunwen murmured a Sorcerous Curse and cast "Ghost Sorcery: Ghost Eye." The scene before him changed at once. A cloud of smoke clung firmly to the wooden floor, as if drawn to something. Right in front of it, a forensic officer was investigating something, his face almost touching the cloud.

Yunwen narrowed his eyes slightly.

Ghosts, especially newly formed ones, could be harmful if someone accidentally came into contact with them. Prolonged exposure could leave a person tainted with ghostly and yin energy. They might get sick, and having nightmares was practically guaranteed!

"Officer crouching on the floor..." Yunwen called out. The officer immediately turned to look at him in surprise. "Oh, it's Yunwen-san! What can I do for you?"

Yunwen froze for a moment—well, would you look at that! It was Detective Tomi! The world he lived in was different from the manga; he had seen Tomi at the scene of both of the previous murders.

And what was this supposed to be? Tomi had quite a bit of yin energy and ghostly aura mixed in with his own.

It was all weak, but wouldn't an ordinary person in this state already be having nightmares night after night?

Yunwen waved a hand and smiled. "It's nothing. Um... if you start having nightmares night after night after you get home, Detective Tomi, please contact Keqin Exorcist Agency. I'll take care of it for you. Matsushita-kun, please give Detective Tomi a business card."

"Yes, Lord Yunwen." Matsushita quickly replied, then took a business card from his pocket and bent down to hand it to Tomi.

Tomi paused, then took it and thanked Yunwen and Matsushita Heisaburo. "Thank you."

Inspector Megure walked over with a dark look on his face. "Yunwen-san, have you found anything?"

As he spoke, Inspector Megure glared at Yunwen.

You can show up at a crime scene if you want, but what's with trying to drum up business from the police officers here? Don't push your luck, kid!

Yunwen smiled as if he hadn't noticed Inspector Megure's expression. "Sorry, Inspector Megure, I haven't found anything."

Inspector Megure turned and walked away. Yunwen looked around again, then suddenly asked Matsushita Heisaburo, "Matsushita-kun, have you never really believed that ghosts exist?"

"No, of course not..." Matsushita Heisaburo hurriedly denied it.

"Would you like to see one?" Yunwen asked with a smile, turning to him.

Matsushita Heisaburo shuddered, then stammered, "C-can I? It won't be too much trouble?"

"It's no trouble. It's just a simple spell. People like us call it opening the yin-yang eye. It's easy."

Matsushita Heisaburo hesitated before finally gritting his teeth. "Of course, if you can..."

He wanted to see for himself whether ghosts really existed in this world! More importantly, he wanted to confirm whether Yunwen truly had that strange ability. If not... he wasn't the sort of person who would willingly bow to a green kid who hadn't even grown up yet!

Yunwen waved his hand and cast a simple "Ghost Sorcery: Ghost Eye" on Matsushita Heisaburo.

In an instant, Matsushita Heisaburo felt the scene before his eyes shift. It was slightly different from before, and what caught his attention most was the misty cloud in front of Detective Tomi. It was only faintly visible, but he could clearly sense that a human face seemed to form on its surface from time to time...

"Ah..." Matsushita Heisaburo let out a low cry.

Several people nearby looked over. Inspector Megure asked gravely, "Mr. Matsushita, have you found something?"

"N-no, nothing," Matsushita Heisaburo hurriedly replied.

After the others looked away, Yunwen spoke quietly. "Matsushita-kun, there's no need to make such a fuss. It's just an ordinary newly formed ghost. It poses no real threat to people..."

Matsushita Heisaburo nodded, then suddenly asked, "Why does Detective Tomi seem to have some on him too...?"

"Oh, that." Yunwen replied casually. "He accidentally picked up some ghostly and yin energy. He'll definitely have nightmares when he sleeps tonight. If he's unlucky, he might even come down with a serious illness..."

Wait a minute—hadn't Yunwen just said the newly formed ghost posed no real threat? How had nightmares and serious illness suddenly come into it?

Was he messing with him?

Yunwen smiled. "Matsushita-kun, don't worry. The reason Detective Tomi has so much ghostly and yin energy on him is mainly because he often shows up at crime scenes like this. Ordinary people don't have that kind of exposure."

As he spoke, an officer happened to walk right through the newly formed ghost, and the cloud suddenly dispersed a little.

At the same time, Yunwen's expression turned surprised. "Strange. It hasn't moved at all?"

As he spoke, Yunwen left Matsushita Heisaburo and walked straight over to Detective Tomi. He carefully examined the floor, then finally spotted something on it—

A strand of hair.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Yunwen's mouth as he thought, No wonder it hasn't moved at all. It has an obsession and is waiting for something. Wait, this hair seems to belong to...

Yunwen recalled some details from the story.

The hair seemed to belong to Ono Yoko. Before the man killed himself, he had clutched it tightly in his hand, trying to frame her.

It looked like his obsession was attached to this strand of hair...

Ghosts with obsessions like this could be very dangerous. If no one intervened and they somehow survived, newly formed ghosts like this might become powerful evil spirits. They would be much harder to deal with then.

However, given that Detective Conan had run for more than seven hundred episodes and Ono Yoko still appeared from time to time, it seemed the man had never actually become an evil spirit. If he had, Ono Yoko would have been killed long ago.

"Too bad he killed himself. If someone had murdered him... tsk tsk... that would've been another delicious meal for me."

As Yunwen pondered this, he was just about to casually disperse the man's soul when he suddenly seemed to think of something and turned to look at Ono Yoko, whose eyes were still red.

Hmm, if he could turn this lovely young woman into his next client, that would be pretty great~

With that thought, Yunwen turned to Matsushita Heisaburo again. "Matsushita-kun, please give Ms. Ono Yoko a business card."

Matsushita Heisaburo paused, then replied and hurriedly pulled a card from the holder in his pocket. He handed it to Ono Yoko. "Ms. Ono, please take this."

"Huh? Oh..." Ono Yoko took the card, looking confused, and read what was printed on it: Keqin Exorcist Agency...

Could someone tell her what on earth this was?

Yunwen stepped forward with a smile and explained, "Ms. Ono Yoko, I'm Shu Yunwen, the director of Keqin Exorcist Agency. You may encounter some strange things over the next couple of days. But don't be afraid. If you need help, contact our agency, and I'll take care of whatever's troubling you."

"Ah... thank you," Ono Yoko said, her expression bewildered.

Inspector Megure came over again with a dark expression and asked, "Yunwen-san, are you really sure you haven't found anything?"

As he asked, Inspector Megure raged inwardly. Hey, hey, you little rascal! Don't push it! First you hand out business cards to police officers, and now you're giving one to Ono Yoko! This isn't your agency, you know!

Yunwen looked embarrassed and scratched his head. "Sorry, Inspector Megure, I haven't found anything yet. I'm no great detective. For something like this, shouldn't you ask Detective Mouri over there?"

Inspector Megure slapped a hand to his forehead, ignoring Yunwen's mention of Mori Kogoro. "Is that so? But you've helped us solve two murder cases before, Yunwen-san, so I thought you were good at deduction too..."

Before Inspector Megure could finish, the mobile phone in Yunwen's schoolbag rang again.

Yunwen gestured apologetically to Inspector Megure, then fumbled for his phone and answered it. After greeting the caller and hearing who it was, he immediately said, "Is that Aunt Mie? I'm really sorry, there's been a bit of trouble at the agency today, and I was unlucky enough to get caught up in another case. Oh, I saw Genta here too... Hai! I understand. I'll be back as soon as I can. Sorry for the trouble, Aunt Mie."

After hanging up, Yunwen thought only of solving the case quickly. He immediately said to Inspector Megure, who was still standing there, "Officer, I've noticed something. This person seems to have killed himself, right?"

Inspector Megure's face darkened even further. In his mind, a little figure was grabbing Yunwen and slapping him back and forth across the face. Yunwen-san, you just said you hadn't found anything at all!

Yunwen froze, then scratched his head awkwardly. "Huh? Did I say that? Maybe you misheard, Officer?"

Inspector Megure's mouth twitched twice. He couldn't be bothered to argue about it, so he asked seriously, "Then, Yunwen-san, you say he killed himself. Do you have any evidence?"

"Evidence?" Yunwen's memory of this case was already hazy. He only remembered that it had been a suicide; he couldn't recall anything more specific. "Well... I can only guess that he killed himself. As for evidence, I think Detective Mouri is more qualified than I am, right?"

"G-guess?" Inspector Megure felt an urge to give Yunwen a beating right there. "Yunwen-san, please take this seriously! This is a murder case, not a game!"

Mori Kogoro joined the conversation. "Shu-san, how could this be a suicide? What normal person could stab himself in the back? Actually, I already know who the real culprit is. That's right, it's Yamagishi! You're the one!"

Just as Mori Kogoro pointed at Yamagishi Eiichi, an ashtray suddenly flew from behind and struck him on the back of the head. Mori Kogoro gave a couple of grunts as he fell, landing on the sofa with his head drooping slightly.

Yunwen froze at the sight.

An ashtray to the back of the head? And that pose... Was this Sleeping Kogoro?

Come to think of it, every time Mori Kogoro collapsed, he managed to grunt a couple of times before going down, and he always landed against a wall or on a sofa, stool, or chair.

Was this guy cheating?

As Yunwen's thoughts wandered, a voice came from where Mori Kogoro sat:

"Inspector Megure, please allow me to retract what I said earlier. Just as Yunwen-san said, the real culprit who killed the victim was the victim himself! In other words, the victim..."

"...committed suicide!"