Antique Shop Owner Genda Takanori—the man who had spent the afternoon humbly promoting his shop at the Morozumi Residence—now stood among the onlookers, staring fixedly at the burning house, his face full of terror and remorse.
Two hours later.
The blaze was finally extinguished, and firefighters and police officers began entering the house to search it.
A police officer guarded the entrance. Jiang Xia walked up to the Morozumi Residence's courtyard gate and looked up at the charred roof.
Before he could say anything, the other two Detectives beside him had already skillfully moved closer, trying to slip into the crime scene.
This time, however, the officers guarding the entrance were also from Investigation Division 1, but not the Investigation Division 3 officers who usually dealt with Detectives. Sneaking in had suddenly become much more difficult.
Conan had just crept to the entrance and was about to quietly slip inside when he was ruthlessly hauled back—the courtyard gate was simply too narrow, and his low presence when needed had unfortunately failed him.
Trying to get in by face recognition would not work either. They were not familiar with these officers.
Just as the three Detectives huddled together, plotting whether to sneak in or find a higher spot—such as the attic of the lady next door—to observe in secret, an eight-foot-tall burly man suddenly appeared behind them.
The unfamiliar inspector, broad-jawed and square-chinned, had a cigarette in his mouth. After sizing them up for a moment, he joined the conversation. "Since when did fire scenes become a Detective's territory?"
Jiang Xia gave him a look that said you lack common sense and replied righteously, "Detectives can do anything."
Conan and Hattori Heiji, who had also been about to retort: "..."
That was true, but something about it still felt off...
"Haha,