A hidden cave lay at the foot of the mountain. From the three children's vantage point, it was difficult to spot the entrance.
But after Conan walked over and quietly slipped inside, the mysterious place was immediately exposed to the children's eyes.
Yoshida Ayumi and Kojima Genta went over to Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko. Recalling the small figure that had flashed past just now, they were both surprised and delighted. "It really was him! Why is Conan here?"
"Maybe he sneaked out to play without telling us, or maybe..."
Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko stared at the cave Conan had entered, his adventurous heart stirring. "He really noticed something strange about Uncle Kamekura and followed him here."
"I see!" The other two children suddenly understood, their own hearts beginning to stir. "Then we... ahem, what should we do?"
They wanted to rush into the cave at once, join Conan's team, investigate that suspicious uncle together, and display the Detective Boys' prestige.
But when they remembered that Jiang Xia was nearby, their steps toward the cave immediately slowed.
Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko was equally conflicted. After hesitating for a moment, he recalled Jiang Xia's encouraging attitude in the previous case and said uncertainly:
"Brother Jiang Xia does like teaching bad guys a lesson, and he doesn't like bad children. But I think that by Brother Jiang Xia's standards, children who love solving cases count as good children?"
—He vaguely remembered Brother Jiang Xia liking to hand out Business Cards everywhere and suggesting that people switch careers to become Detectives. Besides, when they had investigated the case yesterday, some of their actions had actually danced along the edge of being bad children. Yet Brother Jiang Xia had not only failed to stop them, but had seemed pleased to watch them grow through solving the case.
Putting all that together,