That Was Quick

That bastard Rye!

Tooru Amuro clenched his fist, pulling his glove taut.

The organization did not place absolute trust in Bourbon, so Amuro had expected them to send another team to lie in wait in secret.

But he had never expected that team to be led by Whiskey, or that they would use violence against Tang Ze Zhao.

Hatred churned in his chest, along with concern for Tang Ze Zhao's circumstances.

To target a single high school student, the organization had already deployed two code-named members. The information he possessed was clearly of extraordinary importance.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Amuro sternly lectured Tangze. "Did you think I wasn't capable of handling this trouble? Hmm?"

Obviously because you stalkers are way too good at your jobs, and I never noticed you!

Tangze could not talk back, so he could only lower his head with an obedient expression and admit his fault. "Sorry for making you worry. It won't happen again."

Amuro sighed and tried persuading him from another angle. "There are serious issues with your cases. If this blows up, everyone who handled those cases will go down. You need to watch your safety."

"I understand. Sorry, I acted on my own." Tangze still wore that obedient expression.

Seeing him like that, Amuro could not bring himself to say anything harsher. He shook his head and turned toward the counter. "I hope you really do understand. What do you want for lunch? I'll make you some sandwiches."

"Sure—" Seeing that Amuro had finally let the matter go, Tangze hurriedly played along.

Two Band-Aids were tossed over the counter and landed in front of Tangze.

"Put these over the cuts on your face. Even small wounds can leave scars."

If you knew they could scar, then you shouldn't have pulled so hard just now! Tangze, being in the wrong, did not dare say it aloud.

The café fell quiet, with only the sizzling oil from Amuro's frying pan to be heard.

The midday news came on television.

Tangze turned his head to watch, hoping there might be news of another murder case.

Now that Sleeping Kogoro had made his debut, he needed to pay closer attention to related news so he would not miss an opportunity to approach the main characters.

Traffic accident... famous singer dead... violent crime... violent crime... murder... murder...

After listening to seven or eight brief reports, Tangze was starting to feel numb. Why was public safety in Tokyo like Gotham's?

Just as he was silently judging it, the next report cut in.

"We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news. Half an hour ago, Maru Group president Mr. Maru Denjirou urgently convened a press conference, declaring that he wished to 'repent to the public for his years of wrongdoing.' At the conference, Mr. Maru Denjirou released evidence of the group's involvement in illegal financial lending operations. He admitted to having long used collateral loans, violent debt collection, and other methods to illegally seize dozens of antique collectibles..."

Tangze sat up straight and listened intently.

Well, Maru Denjirou might have been scum, but his ability to take action was still pretty impressive. He was efficient, at least!

Beaten flat in the morning, confessed by noon. He did not waste even a minute.

"...Next, please watch our reporter's live coverage of the press conference..."

The sweet and elegant news anchor's faint smile vanished the next second, replaced by Maru Denjirou's elderly face, framed by a full beard and topped with a bald crown.

"Driven by greed, I committed grave sins," Maru Denjirou said beneath the relentless flashes of cameras, tears streaming down his aged face. "I hurt too many people. Some even took their own lives because of my persecution. I know my sins are too grave to ever be redeemed, but I hope to return my ill-gotten gains to their rightful owners."

"If any of the collectibles have already been sold on, I will do everything in my power to retrieve them. Please believe in my determination." Maru Denjirou bowed deeply to the camera. "For all the pain I have caused, I am truly, deeply sorry..."

Tangze touched the Band-Aid on his face and smiled with narrowed eyes.

"What are you smiling about?" Amuro set a plate in front of Tangze, then looked up at the television as well and shook his head. "What use is an evil man's repentance in old age? The harm has already been done."

"It just feels like the world is becoming a little better." Tangze kept smiling. "That's enough."

Unfortunately, Mr. Mori upstairs had probably just lost a very lucrative case.

Tangze's regret lasted only until dinnertime.

Mori Kogoro sat at the counter of Polo Cafe with Ran Mouri and Conan, his face glowing as he bragged to Amuro. "...I have no idea what suddenly got into Maru Denjirou. A few days ago, he hired me to investigate whether his wife was cheating on him. We even had a meeting scheduled for yesterday, but before he paid the remaining balance, he suddenly went and confessed at a press conference. I thought I'd worked for nothing. What a guy who loves causing trouble for others."

"So the job was canceled?" Amuro asked, fiddling with the bubbling coffee pot as he played along with Mori Kogoro.

"Yeah, but everything has a turning point." Mori Kogoro puffed out his chest proudly. "I only meant to try asking for the remaining payment, or maybe a breach-of-contract fee, but Mrs. Maru Inako bought every photograph and piece of evidence I had!"

"Dad..." Ran Mouri had a headache just listening to him. "That's not something worth bragging about..."

Mori Kogoro waved dismissively. "If I hadn't been so capable and gotten all those photos, that money would have gone down the drain."

"Anyway, Maru Denjirou is definitely going to prison now. The evidence is far too complete. The group will fall into Mrs. Maru Inako's hands afterward. If the board got hold of my evidence, it would be bad for her, so she paid three times the price to buy it all."

Mori Kogoro let out his signature smug laugh. It gave not only Ran Mouri and Conan half-lidded eyes, but also made Tangze shoot him a disdainful sidelong glance.

"Uncle Mori, it's not good to publicly talk about a client's privacy..." Conan sighed weakly.

"It was Ms. Maru Inako who asked me to go around talking about it more," Mori Kogoro said. Naturally, he was a private detective with professional ethics. "The evidence is in her own hands anyway. More unstable rumors will help drive down the stock price, and she's still waiting to acquire more shares!"

Ran Mouri's feelings were complicated. Thinking of Maru Denjirou, then of the beautiful young wife Maru Inako, she said with indescribable difficulty, "Is this what adult marriage is like?"

"That's just how rich people are. Who cares? Amuro, bring us three seafood pastas!" Mori Kogoro waved grandly, looking like he intended to enjoy himself now that he had money.

Tangze took a sip of hot cocoa, his gaze drifting.

So his calling card had been that timely?

If it had been one day later, Maru Denjirou would have been skewered like a candied hawthorn...

He really could not let his guard down around the gods of death.

Conan withdrew his half-lidded stare and propped his chin between his thumb and forefinger.

Maru Denjirou's sudden confession was strange no matter how he thought about it. The man had committed evil for decades, yet after turning fifty, he had suddenly repented overnight...

Could it have something to do with that calling card?

The group calling itself the Phantom Thieves of Hearts had said in the calling card that Maru Denjirou would pay the price today, and he had actually apologized to the public and confessed today.

Threats? Vigilante justice?

How had they done it?

Tangze, sitting on the other side, choked on a mouthful of hot cocoa and could not help sneezing.