Conan's Ego Was Getting Out of Hand~

Conan's Ego Was Getting Out of Hand~

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

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

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

To him, physical pain was nothing. It was the emotional damage that was killing him.

"I'm glad you're all right..." Tsukamoto Kazumi said, much relieved.

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

"Hmph! Don't mention it." Since Shu Yunwen had been knocked down, Tsukamoto Kazumi was still in a bad mood. She especially disliked these police officers, who had let the criminals get away.

Meanwhile, inside the café, some customers 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 suspects there, everyone in the café counted as a witness and might need to provide a statement later.

Conan had ducked beneath another empty café table and used a handkerchief to pick up the pistol. He held it out to a police officer. "Officer, this is the gun that man had..."

The officer immediately took it from Conan and was about to speak, but when he saw Conan's innocent smile, he could only force one of his own. "This is dangerous, little boy. You mustn't touch it, all right?"

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

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

What the officer really meant was: Kid, you're a pain. Get lost!

Conan didn't seem to realize he was annoying anyone. Instead, he continued, "They are members of the bandit group, aren't they? I watched the news today. The police said one of the members of the Italian Bandit Group was Japanese. That means there's one Japanese man in the group, and the rest are Italian..."

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. "I'm sorry. This little guy is causing you trouble."

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

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

Shu Yunwen glanced down, surprise flashing in his eyes.

The kid's powers of observation were sharp. With only these simple clues, he'd figured out the paper's true "identity."

Matsushita Heisaburo was also rather surprised. He glanced down at Conan, remembering that Shu Yunwen had said at lunchtime that the little boy was no ordinary child. Now it seemed he really was something else.

Tsukamoto Kazumi frowned and stepped in front of Conan. "Officer, I'm sorry for the trouble. This child spent the whole afternoon playing a treasure hunt game, and that paper is their treasure map. That's why he said all that..."

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

Conan continued, "I'm not playing around! If you don't believe me, Officer, you can show that paper to the two bandits over there. They've already been caught. If you ask them about it, they'll probably tell you everything, right?"

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

The two foreigners only gave a grunt and didn't answer, but the officers weren't stupid. Judging from their expressions alone, they could tell the paper was connected to the case. They took out an evidence bag and placed the paper inside.

"Ahhh! The officer took our treasure map!" Kojima Genta cried, looking as if the sky had fallen.

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

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

Conan rolled his eyes beside them.

At that moment, Sato Miwako came over and bowed slightly to Shu Yunwen, Tsukamoto Kazumi, and the others. "I'm sorry to bother you, but could you leave us your names and contact information? We may need to take your statements and ask you to provide some testimony..."

Shu Yunwen still hadn't recovered from the earlier blow of being called an "old man." He pursed his lips, but answered anyway. "I'm Shu Yunwen, president of the Keqin Exorcist Agency. If you need to contact me, you can reach the agency or call me directly. My number is..."

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

Kojima Genta came over as well. "I'm Kojima Genta, a first-year student in Class One at Teitan Elementary School."

Mitsuhiko added, "I'm Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko!"

"I'm Yoshida Ayumi!" Ayumi grabbed Conan as she introduced him. "He's Edogawa Conan. We're..."

"...the Junior Detective League!"

"..." Conan covered his face in dismay. There goes my reputation!

Eight o'clock that evening.

They were on their way home in the car.

Matsushita Heisaburo drove smoothly. 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 softly recounted the afternoon's events. "...The kids are so energetic! They love running around everywhere. Edogawa especially—he's the most active one. He led us around Tokyo Tower six times this afternoon!"

Well, Tsukamoto Kazumi was really complaining about Conan.

To adults, that behavior could be summed up in one word: troublemaking!

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

After the slap, Shu Yunwen felt fantastic.

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

Conan gave Shu Yunwen a dead-eyed glare, then went back to mulling over what had happened.

The whole bandit group had been caught this time, but something still seemed strange to him.

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

Kazumi smiled slightly. "Yunwen, don't be rough with the 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 realized 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 were. One Japanese man and two blond foreigners—once you remembered the news report on TV, it was natural to suspect they were 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 watching what was going on around us. Those three had been following us the whole time. We're just ordinary kids, so there must have been something else they were after. For example, the paper in our hands that looked like a joke of a 'treasure map.'"

"...This afternoon, I looked it up at the bookstore. The word 'oro' written on the treasure map means money, gold, or riches in Italian. Italy, money, gold, riches, and three foreigners wearing sunglasses—once you put all the clues together, you have enough evidence to prove that those three were bandits. Their target was the paper in our hands with 'oro' written on it..."

"Ah..." Kazumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi all stared at Conan in surprise. Even Matsushita turned to glance at him from the front.

Shu Yunwen merely glanced at the kid, unimpressed.

Still, wasn't he acting a little too pleased with himself? That was some incredibly logical reasoning. Was something wrong with him?

Come on, you're just a little kid!

After a pause, Ayumi finally spoke. "Conan, don't you realize..."

"Realize what? Are you asking if I've figured out the right location marked on the treasure map?" Conan continued on his own. "If you mean how to properly interpret the map, I figured it out when I saw Tokyo Tower from the café. The patterns are actually showing the neon lights! You start beneath Tokyo Tower at night, then follow the neon patterns shown on the map. The place marked with 'oro' on the map is where you'll find the gold coins."

"...I was going to tell the police, too. But they've already caught all the bandits and obtained 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 Conan said that, everyone else was even more surprised.

"No, that's not what Ayumi meant!" Genta said.

"What did you mean?" Conan still had his chin in his hand, looking like a thinker. "Oh! You're asking why the leader of the bandits used these patterns to mark the hiding place instead of something else?"

"That's easy to explain, too! The news said the leader of the bandit group was Italian. He came to Japan after the robbery so he could keep all the gold for himself. That means he knew nothing about Japan—not the surroundings, the language, the customs, the culture, or anything else. He'd just arrived in an unfamiliar place and wanted to hide the gold somewhere unfamiliar, without letting his accomplices find it. He wouldn't feel safe marking the location with words or a map. Then he discovered that the neon lights could form special patterns, so he drew a treasure map using those neon patterns—one that only he could understand."

"My guess is that 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 listen any longer. He rolled his eyes and smacked Conan on the head again. "Kid! They're asking why you're acting like you know everything. You're being such a show-off, you know that?"

"Huh? Huh? Huh! Hahaha!" Conan finally caught on. Seeing everyone around him staring as if he were an alien, he quickly waved his hands and protested, "I-I don't know everything! I-I was just imitating Uncle Mouri! Wasn't I doing a good impression?"

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

Ayumi patted her chest. "You scared me, Conan. I thought you were some kind of monster."

Genta asked, "Who's Detective Mouri?"

Mitsuhiko covered his face with one hand. "Detective Mouri is Big Sis Ran's father. Don't you remember his brilliant deduction in Ono Yoko's room that day?"

The kids were easily fooled by Conan. Tsukamoto Kazumi was a little puzzled, but she didn't suspect a little boy, so the matter was forgotten.

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

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

"Forget about him. His business 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 and casually waved a hand before going inside.