"It's so good to have you back, Chen. Before, getting Ai to come out for meals was really difficult, but now that you're here, you called her out so easily."
Akemi smiled as she spoke.
It had been difficult to get Ai to come out for meals before. Akemi had needed to call her several times before Ai would finally come out to eat.
Now that Chen was back, he could handle getting Ai to come out for meals from now on.
Chen smiled lightly, then sat down at the table, only to suddenly realize that a few people seemed to be missing.
"Where are Yukiko and the others?" Chen asked.
Yukiko, Eri Kisaki, and Chikage Kuroba were all absent from the dining table. When he had returned earlier and not seen them, he had assumed they were in their rooms.
"Mom had something to deal with, and Sister Yukiko and the others went along to join in the fun," Ran said to Chen.
Unlike Chen, Ran had gone to Eri Kisaki's room after sitting for a while upon returning. When she failed to find Eri Kisaki, she asked Akemi and learned what had happened.
Eri Kisaki had originally intended to give herself a long vacation, but a friend had come to her with a case. Unable to refuse, she had returned to the law office.
Still, they would be back that evening.
Early the next morning, Chen received a call from Conan.
"How does this guy know my number? Did he get it from Ran?" That was Chen's only guess.
Otherwise, how could Conan possibly know his number? But this was not the time to dwell on that.
"They should be done with the examination by now, right?" Chen asked bluntly after answering.
"Send all the information to my