As he listened, Inspector Otaki's expression gradually turned serious.
Then he nodded firmly and hurried across the street to the Police Headquarters to mobilize more personnel.
Toyama Ginshiro, meanwhile, watched the travel group vanish into the crowd. He took out his phone and called Hattori Heizo. "Our guess was right—those bloody cases that have been buried for years will soon be brought to light."
Cold rain pattered down, and in the shadows around Osaka Castle, something utterly terrifying seemed to be hiding.
This was entirely unlike the grim, cops-and-robbers atmosphere on the other side.
In the dining room, several people were studying the menu and cheerfully ordering the house specialties.
After chatting with a few classmates, Mouri Ran habitually flipped the menu to the "Children's Set" page and pushed it toward the seat beside her. "What do you want to eat?"
As soon as she spoke, she turned her head and suddenly discovered that "Conan" beside her had grown larger—on closer inspection, this was not an elementary school student wearing glasses at all, but Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia had been looking elsewhere. Hearing Mouri Ran speak, he lowered his head and saw the cute illustrations on the menu before him. He fell silent for a moment, unsure whether he should politely order one.
Fortunately, Mouri Ran came to her senses on her own. Startled, she abruptly stood up. "I actually forgot Conan!"
Jiang Xia: "..." "Actually" wasn't the right word here. After all, Conan's presence really did suddenly fade at times. Forgetting to bring him along should have been normal; otherwise, Conan would not have had so many chances to run around everywhere.
As he thought this, he casually reassured her, "It's fine. Hattori is looking after him, and there are so many police officers around. It shouldn't be