Just as the president and secretary had paused midway through their argument, the sound stood out sharply, and everyone inside and outside the room froze at once.
Kinoshita Yoko was stunned at first, then her heart began pounding violently. She had never expected her first time secretly acting like an outlaw would end in an accident like this. For a moment, she stood rooted to the spot.
Just then, Jiang Xia shoved the towering sculpture beside him. Amid the clattering sound of the stone statue swaying, he set Conan down on the floor, then grabbed Kinoshita Yoko and whisked her into the nearest room.
The instant the room door closed, Takei Katsuhiko stormed out of the study next door. "Who's out there?!"
In the corridor, Conan had barely climbed to his feet when he met the gaze of the ferocious-looking middle-aged man.
Meanwhile, the two companions behind him had abandoned him at some point and vanished without a trace.
Conan: "..." Jiang Xia!! Why didn't you take me with you?!
Takei Katsuhiko's expression was rather frightening. Conan panicked for a moment out of guilty conscience, but he quickly understood Jiang Xia's intentions—someone had obviously been eavesdropping outside, so the two people in the study would definitely come out to investigate. To keep them all from being caught, they could only throw out a child who would not be held accountable to take the blame first.
...Besides, they had been discovered because Conan had touched the window, so he did not exactly deserve to feel wronged about taking the blame.
Conan: "..." Fortunately, President Takei and the others would at most restrict his movements temporarily because they were afraid he would leak the news and alert the kidnappers. They would not silence an innocent child who had merely wandered past.
And