Chapter 15: The Second Kidnapping
Something was off.
It wasn't this simple.
Conan's brow furrowed as he went back over every detail of the case.
"Sir, sir—this is bad."
"Another call from the kidnapper!"
A servant rushed in, clearly alarmed.
"Another call?"
President Tani looked at Butler Aso in bewilderment.
"It's not me—it really isn't!"
"I never asked for a ransom—I was just playing along with the young lady's game!"
Aso waved his hands in frantic denial.
"Hello—who is this?"
President Tani drew a deep breath and picked up the phone.
"Please, I'm begging you—don't hurt Akiko. I'll have 1,000,000,000 yen ready, I promise."
A moment later, he sank to his knees, face drained of color.
"P-President?"
"Sir?"
"What's happening?"
"Is there another kidnapper?"
◇◇◇
Everyone stared at President Tani in stunned silence.
"A second kidnapping!"
"This is a second kidnapping!"
Conan called out.
But no one was paying attention to an elementary schooler.
Instead, every eye turned to Higashino Makoto.
It was him, after all, who had just cracked the first kidnapping.
"It's likely that while Butler Aso and Akiko were staging their kidnapping, someone stumbled onto it by chance."
"That person saw an opportunity and kidnapped Akiko herself—that became the second kidnapping."
"Which is what we're dealing with now—a genuine kidnapping, with a 1,000,000,000-yen ransom demand."
Makoto explained.
"Ah, of course!"
Kogoro slapped his palm, and it clicked in an instant.
"How did it come to this?"
Ran's expression filled with worry.
"Unbelievable! Unbelievable!"
"What are we supposed to do now?"
President Tani pounded the floor with his fists, venting his anger.
"Higashino-san—please, save the young lady!"
"It's all my fault, all of it—please, save her, I beg you!"
Butler Aso pleaded through tears, prostrating himself.
"Dad, it's a school storeroom—from the window there's a huge smokestack outside!"
A small girl's voice suddenly came through the phone.
It was President Tani's daughter, Tani Akiko.
"A school storeroom—a huge smokestack?"
"Schools with a smokestack visible from there—there are only five!"
Conan scanned a paper map, then jumped on Tani Akiko's little tricycle and blazed off at full speed.
"Conan! Conan!"
"This kid, honestly!"
Ran called after him, but it was no use.
"A place in a school where you can see a smokestack…"
Kogoro was also bowing his head, turning over every possibility.
"A grown man kidnapping a child who won't sit still—he risks being spotted at any moment."
"The location for the second kidnapping can't be too far from the hotel where the first fake one was staged."
"So…"
Makoto opened Google Street View on his phone and shifted the angle.
The tall Hilton Hotel building, seen from the side, looked exactly like a tall smokestack standing upright.
"This—this is…"
"Of course—that's it!"
"Akiko mistook the side of the hotel building for a smokestack!"
Even Kogoro, looking at this scene, understood it all at once.
"So where is my daughter?"
President Tani seized his shoulder, pressing him with desperate urgency.
"There's only one school near the hotel that fits."
Makoto took out his car keys and clicked the fob.
The engine roared—the Ferrari at the entrance was already running.
"Makoto, I'm coming too—I'm a karate black belt!"
Ran fell into step right behind him.
"You're going nowhere."
"This kind of dangerous business—leave it to your father!"
"I used to be a police detective, after all!"
Kogoro grabbed her back and climbed into the Ferrari's passenger seat himself.
◇◇◇
"Not this one either!"
"Wrong again—not here either!"
"Still not it!"
"This was the last smokestack—where is she?!"
Under the night sky, a deserted street corner.
A small boy in a blue suit, hands braced on his knees, dragging in ragged breaths.
He'd been circling on the tricycle again and again—at least two or three kilometers by now.
His body had long since hit its limit.
Soaked through with sweat, back completely drenched.
'Damn—if only he were still a high schooler!'
Conan leaned one hand against the wall, struggling to get back to his feet.
And found he had absolutely no strength left.
"Roar!"
With a roar of a V12 engine, a blazing red sports car screamed past.
"That's…"
"Higashino Makoto!"
Conan bit down and squeezed his little fists.
Beat him to dating Ran.
Beat him to finding the suspect.
And now he was going to beat him to saving Tani Akiko, too?
Conan looked at his own small body and let his head drop.
If only he had a sports car—if only he could drive.
He'd have caught the culprit already.
◇◇◇
"That tall building ahead—that's the Hilton, isn't it?"
Makoto asked as he drove.
"That's right—the Tokyo Hilton in Nishi-Shinjuku. Quite something to look at."
Kogoro tilted his head back at the skyscraper and sighed.
He wanted that lifestyle too—wine, fine dining, all of it.
But his wallet wouldn't allow it.
"Well then."
Makoto steered straight into the hotel's entrance, and at the same moment tapped [Check In].
[Ding! Congratulations, Host—Check-In at the Tokyo Hilton Hotel successful. Reward: 100% Shares of the Tokyo Hilton Hotel!]
"Phew—"
Makoto let out a long breath.
Another one earned.
…
…
Aso — Tani family butler. Series: Detective Conan.
Edogawa Conan — Shinichi's alternate identity. Series: Detective Conan.
Higashino Makoto — Protagonist. Transmigrated.
Mouri Kogoro — Ran's father. Series: Detective Conan.
Mouri Ran — Shinichi's childhood sweetheart. Series: Detective Conan.
President Tani — Tani Akiko's father. Series: Detective Conan.
Tani Akiko — President Tani's daughter. Series: Detective Conan.
…
…
Translated by CheapBiscuit.
...
...
Don't forget to check out my other translation works.
Give them a try!
...
If you want to read advanced chapters or just want to support me, you can join my…
🍪 P∆TRΞON.c0m/CheapBiscuit
🔥 Instant access to 100+ total advanced chapters! Upgradeable~
💎 Early access to "Preview" novels!
...
Your support lets me jump 10 floors higher.
It gives me the motivation necessary to clench my buttcheeks and translate every day.
Thank you ❤ for reading and support.
Enjoy!