Conan heard the topic and immediately focused on the real matter. A sudden thought struck him. "A car accident?"—perhaps President Takei had driven drunk and hit Secretary Hanai's younger brother four years ago, then fled in a hurry, disguising the accident as an accident and leaving no evidence behind... He seemed to have seen plenty of cases like that.
Secretary Hanai shook her head. "My brother was murdered."
Kinoshita Yoko's thoughts had just gone off in the same direction as Conan's.
Hearing the truth now, she froze. "..." There was no elaborate conspiracy—he had simply been murdered? Was it really that direct? Then again, who could bear to hurt such a young child?
Overcome with grief, Secretary Hanai did what she had wanted to do ever since earlier. "Let me hold you for a while." As she spoke, she crouched down and hugged Conan.
Jiang Xia quietly peeked out from beside the door and saw that Secretary Hanai's posture had tugged at her clothes, exposing part of her forearm. There was a faint white mark around her left wrist.
Conan had been feeling somewhat sorrowful, but when Secretary Hanai hugged him, her wrist happened to rest right before his eyes. He saw the mark too, and his expression changed.
Having gathered the clue, Jiang Xia quietly withdrew behind the door under Kinoshita Yoko's worried gaze.
Secretary Hanai did not linger any longer. She looked at Conan. "I'll go prepare your lunch."
With that, she released Conan, stood up, and left.
Secretary Hanai had originally planned to find Conan something to eat first, then go exchange the ransom for the hostage with the president that evening.
But the moment she reached the corridor, she noticed that Takei Katsuhiko had answered a call. Then the president frowned, picked up the ransom