The Overconfident Conan

~

"Lord Yunwen, a-are you all right?" Matsushita Heisaburo hurried out of the driver's seat and rushed over to Shu Yunwen, asking deferentially.

Tsukamoto Kazumi ran back from across the street, her face full of concern. "Yunwen, how are you feeling?"

"Uh... I'm fine." Shu Yunwen reached down and rubbed his still-sore backside.

Actually, physical pain was nothing to him now. It was the emotional blows that were practically crushing him.

"I'm glad you're all right..." Tsukamoto Kazumi was much more at ease.

Miwako immediately thanked Tsukamoto Kazumi. "Hello, ma'am. I'm sorry for all the trouble today. But thanks to your help, we were able to catch these criminals."

"Hmph! There's no need to thank me." Since Shu Yunwen had been knocked down, Tsukamoto Kazumi was still pretty annoyed, especially with the police, who had let the criminals escape. She didn't think much of them at all.

Just then, some customers inside the café stood up to leave. Sato and Takagi were too busy to pay Shu Yunwen any attention. They stopped the customers and asked them to leave their contact information. Since the police had apprehended the criminals here, those customers were witnesses who might need to provide statements later.

Conan had also crawled under another empty café table. Using a handkerchief to cover the pistol, he picked it up and said to a police officer, "Officer, there's a gun here that belonged to that man..."

The officer took the gun from Conan, about to scold him. But when he saw Conan's innocent smile, all he could do was force a smile. "Little boy, this is dangerous. You mustn't touch it, understand?"

Conan nodded. "I understand. By the way, officer, are those three men members of the Italian Bandit Group who are wanted by the police?"

"Hm?" The officer paused, then waved a hand. "That's not something you need to worry about, little boy. Your friends are over there, right? You should sit quietly with them..."

What the officer meant was: Kid, you're annoying. Get the hell out of here!

Conan seemed oblivious to the fact that he was getting on the officer's nerves. "They must be members of the bandit group, right? I watched the news on TV today! The police said that there was a Japanese man in the Italian Bandit Group. That means there's one Japanese man in the group, and the rest are Italians..."

As Conan spoke, Shu Yunwen, Tsukamoto Kazumi, and Matsushita Heisaburo noticed what was happening and hurried over.

Shu Yunwen ruffled Conan's hair, then turned to the officer. "Sorry about this. The little guy's bothering you."

The officer bowed. "Not at all. We're the ones who've caused you trouble..."

Conan spoke up again. "Officer, if those three men are members of the Italian Bandit Group, you should take this piece of paper too. It might be a treasure map showing where the fifteen thousand gold coins are hidden!"

Shu Yunwen glanced down, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

This kid's powers of observation were sharp! From just those few clues, he'd figured out what the paper really was.

Matsushita Heisaburo was surprised too. He glanced down at Conan, remembering Shu Yunwen's comment at noon that the little boy was no ordinary child. Now it seemed he really wasn't.

Tsukamoto Kazumi frowned and stepped in front of Conan. "I'm sorry, officer. This child has been playing treasure hunt all afternoon. The paper he's holding is their treasure map, so that's why he's saying things like this..."

The officer nodded. "That's all right."

Conan continued, "I'm not playing a prank! If you don't believe me, officer, you can show that paper to the two bandits over there. They've already been caught, so if you ask them, they'll probably tell you everything."

The officer hesitated, but still took the "treasure map" and showed it to the two foreigners, asking them something in English.

The two foreigners merely snorted and didn't answer, but the officers weren't stupid. Judging by their expressions, they guessed the paper was indeed connected to the case. They took out an evidence bag and put the paper inside.

"Ahhh! The officer took our treasure map!" Kojima Genta looked as if the sky were falling.

Mitsuhiko said dejectedly, "I wanted to use the treasure money to buy a spaceship and go to outer space..."

Ayumi said, "Was the treasure on that map really the fifteen thousand Maple Leaf Gold Coins that were stolen? Ayumi's so disappointed."

Conan rolled his eyes again.

Just then, Sato Miwako came over and bowed slightly to Shu Yunwen, Tsukamoto Kazumi, and the others. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. Could I get your names and contact information? We may need you to give statements..."

Still not over the blow of being called "old man," Shu Yunwen pursed his lips, but answered anyway. "My name is Shu Yunwen, and I'm the owner of Keqin Exorcist Agency. If you need to contact me later, you can reach me through the agency or call me directly. My number is..."

Tsukamoto Kazumi introduced herself too. "My name is Tsukamoto Kazumi. I'm a third-year student at Teitan High School..."

Kojima Genta came over as well. "My name is Kojima Genta. I'm in Class 1-B at Teitan Elementary School."

Mitsuhiko added, "I'm Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko!"

"I'm Yoshida Ayumi!" Ayumi grabbed Conan while she was at it. "And he's Edogawa Conan. We're..."

"...the Detective Boys!"

"..." Conan covered his face with a hand in despair. So much for my reputation!

Eight o'clock that evening.

In the car, on the way home.

Matsushita Heisaburo drove steadily. Genta and Mitsuhiko sat in the front passenger seat, while Shu Yunwen, Tsukamoto Kazumi, Conan, and Ayumi sat in the back. Tsukamoto Kazumi held Ayumi and talked softly about the afternoon. "...The kids are all so lively! They love running around. Edogawa especially—he's the most energetic one. He had us walking back and forth around Tokyo Tower six times this afternoon!"

Well, Tsukamoto Kazumi was really just complaining about Conan.

To adults, that kind of behavior could be summed up in two words: troublemaking!

"Heh..." Shu Yunwen turned to look at Conan and gave him a smack on the head. "This little brat's a bit too energetic, isn't he? What a mischievous kid!"

Afterward, Shu Yunwen felt incredibly pleased with himself.

Yeah, smacking a famous detective on the head felt great!

Conan gave Shu Yunwen a dead-eyed stare, rolled his eyes at him, and continued thinking about what had happened earlier.

All the members of the bandit group had been caught this time, but Conan still felt like something was off.

It was as if someone else had been watching everything from behind the scenes.

Kazumi smiled faintly. "Yunwen, don't be violent with children! But speaking of which, Edogawa really is impressive. He figured out that the three people the police caught were wanted bandits. And he even worked out that the paper he was holding was a treasure map showing where the gold coins were hidden..."

"That wasn't a guess. It was proper deduction!" Conan rested his chin on one hand. He still seemed to be thinking about something else, having completely forgotten that he was supposed to be a little kid. "It wasn't hard to figure out who those three men were. One Japanese man and two blond foreigners—once you think of the news report on TV, it's only natural to suspect they might be bandits."

"...Of course, that alone wasn't enough to prove they were bandits. I had other evidence. While I was figuring out the treasure map, I was also keeping an eye on what was happening around us. Those three had been following us the whole time. We were just ordinary kids, so there had to be something else they were after. Maybe it was the so-called 'treasure map' we had with us."

"...This afternoon, I looked it up in a bookstore. The word 'oro' on the treasure map means money, gold, or wealth in Italian. Italy, money, gold, wealth, and three foreigners wearing sunglasses—all those clues came together as evidence, enough to prove that those three were bandits. They were after the paper with the word 'oro' on it..."

"Ah..." Kazumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi all stared at Conan in surprise. Even Matsushita glanced back from the front.

Shu Yunwen only glanced at the kid. None of it seemed particularly strange to him.

But wasn't Conan getting a little too pleased with himself? That was some pretty logical reasoning, but was it really okay?

Come on, you're just a little kid!

After a pause, Ayumi finally spoke. "Conan, have you noticed..."

"Noticed what? Are you asking if I figured out the correct location marked on the treasure map?" Conan went on without waiting for an answer. "If you mean how to interpret the map, I figured it out when I saw Tokyo Tower from the café. Those patterns are actually showing neon lights! You start beneath Tokyo Tower at night, then follow the neon-light patterns shown on the map. At the spot marked 'oro' on the map, you'll find where the gold coins are hidden."

"...I was going to tell the police, but they've already caught all the bandits and got the crucial treasure map. They should be able to find out where the coins are hidden soon, so there's no need for me to say anything!"

Well, after hearing that, everyone else was even more surprised.

Genta spoke up too. "No, that's not what Ayumi meant! Conan, she was trying to say..."

"Trying to say what?" Conan still rested his chin on one hand, looking like the Thinker. "Oh! Do you mean, why the bandit leader used those patterns to mark where he hid the gold coins instead of some other method?"

"That's easy to explain too! The news said the leader of the bandit group was Italian. He fled to Japan after the robbery so he could keep the gold coins for himself. In other words, he knew nothing about Japan—its surroundings, language, customs, or culture. He'd just arrived in an unfamiliar place and wanted to hide the coins somewhere unfamiliar, where his accomplices wouldn't find them. He wouldn't have trusted words or a map to mark the location. Then he noticed that neon lights formed unusual patterns, so he used those patterns to draw a treasure map that only he could understand."

"I figure he planned to wait until he'd settled down, then use the map to find the coins and cash them in..."

Shu Yunwen couldn't take it anymore. He rolled his eyes and smacked Conan on the head again. "Kid! They're asking why you act like you know everything. You're so full of yourself, you know that?"

"Huh? Huh? Huh! Hahaha!" Conan finally caught on. Seeing everyone around him staring at him like he was an alien, he hurriedly waved his hands and protested, "I-I couldn't possibly know everything! I-I was just imitating Uncle Mouri! Don't you think I did a good job?"

"Is that so? You were imitating Detective Mouri?" Mitsuhiko believed him right away.

Ayumi patted her chest. "You scared Ayumi! I thought Conan was some kind of monster."

Genta asked, "Who's Detective Mouri?"

Mitsuhiko covered his face with a hand. "Detective Mouri is big sister Ran's father. Don't you remember his amazing deduction in Ono Yoko's room that day?"

The kids were easily fooled by Conan. Tsukamoto Kazumi was still a little puzzled, but she didn't suspect a little boy. And so, that was that.

After driving everyone home, Matsushita Heisaburo finally dropped Shu Yunwen and Genta off at their home.

Genta went inside first. Matsushita Heisaburo spoke quietly to Shu Yunwen. "Lord Yunwen, that little boy, Conan..."

"Leave him alone. He has nothing to do with you." Shu Yunwen frowned and instructed him, "I'll leave it to you to decide what to do with those gold coins. Don't get me involved in this. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Matsushita Heisaburo replied.

Shu Yunwen turned around, waved casually, and went inside.