The next morning. Mouri Detective Agency.
"Coming, coming!" Ran ran in from outside with a newspaper, rushed to Kurosawa Hoshino, and pointed to the huge headline and photo. "Hoshino, look! The news that you forced Kaito Kid to jump into the sea on the cruise ship last night is in the paper—and it's on the front page!"
Kurosawa nodded calmly.
"Come on, give me a bigger reaction." Ran pouted.
"But I don't think it's a big deal. I really can't get excited."
Ran fell silent. She turned and walked to the desk, handing the newspaper to her father. "Here, Dad. You can look at it yourself."
Conan desperately wanted to see it too, but because Kurosawa was there, he didn't dare show too much interest. He could only wait until Kogorō had almost finished reading before quietly leaning over.
"Let me see yesterday's winning numbers." Kogorō's first concern wasn't the news—it was the lottery.
Ran looked around at the three lazy men in the room and said helplessly, "You're all so leisurely. Didn't you say you were going to the Nagato family's house? Aren't you going yet?"
"No rush. We'll go this afternoon," Kurosawa said.
Afternoon.
Kurosawa Hoshino and Kogorō Mouri arrived at the Nagato family's villa. The butler, Musashinosuke, was already waiting.
"Kurosawa-kun, Mouri-san, you've arrived. Please follow me."
"Wow, the greenery is so nice!" Ran walked through the yard, her eyes drawn to the surrounding scenery. Beneath their feet was a lush green lawn. On both sides of the yard were rows of large, leafy trees and neatly trimmed grass. Not far away was a manicured pond, but the water wasn't very clear—the bottom couldn't be seen. It probably hadn't been used for a long time.
Even so, the lush greenery was pleasing to the eye. The air felt very fresh.
"Hey, why are there so many craters by the pond?" Conan pointed to the large holes and mounds of earth as they passed.
Musashi chuckled. "Actually, we're planning to plant some new trees here next week."
Kurosawa stood by the pond, staring at the water below. On the cruise ship, he'd thought this was just an ordinary case. But now, seeing this familiar scene, he finally remembered—this was from the anime. Not something outside it.
He thought for a moment, recalling some of the case's plot. Someone had been thrown into this pond. Another reason he remembered it so clearly: Hattori Heiji had appeared in this episode.
Let me see if there are any changes from the original story—
Kurosawa activated his superpower, Scene Rewind. The scene before him began to change. He used the rewind function, and the timeline quickly reversed.
In a short while, the scene froze on yesterday morning. A man and a woman carried a body wrapped in a bedsheet to the pond. They dug a hole and buried it in the soil. A body buried without air contact decomposes at one-eighth the normal rate. And since the pond was surrounded by pits and mounds of earth, even if the ground had been disturbed, it wouldn't arouse suspicion.
"Hoshino, what are you looking at?" Ran came over, stared at the water for a while, but saw nothing.
"Nothing." Kurosawa smiled, bumped her shoulder, and walked toward the villa's gate.
"That's weird." Ran muttered, quickly catching up and bumping into Kurosawa with her shoulder as well.
The bump startled him, making Ran let out a cheerful "Hahaha."
After fooling around for a while, the two followed Musashi's footsteps at a leisurely pace to the villa's foyer.
The first thing they saw were guards standing in every corner—the security was impeccable. And there was a man, looking imposing yet with narrowed eyes, questioning the guards.
Kurosawa knew who he was—Hattori Heiji's father, the Osaka Prefectural Police Chief, Hattori Heizo.
At the same time, Hattori Heizo slowly turned, looked at them, and walked directly over.
"Kurosawa-kun, hello. I'm Heiji's father," Hattori Heizo greeted.
"Hello, Mr. Hattori." Kurosawa replied.
"What? Hattori's father?" Ran and Conan were startled. Kogorō was also taken aback.
"So that means you are—" Kogorō already knew who Hattori Heiji's father was. He became a little nervous.
"Yes, that's me." Hattori Heizo's voice was calm.
"Inspector Hattori, I didn't expect it to really be you. What are you doing here?" Kogorō asked, puzzled. This wasn't Osaka. It seemed unusual for the Osaka Prefectural Police Chief to be here.
"Hey, Kurosawa, Ky—cough, Conan—what are you guys doing here?" Hattori Heiji, who had just finished using the restroom, arrived and looked at Kurosawa and the others with great surprise.
"Gentlemen, how about we go upstairs to talk?" Musashi suggested.
Everyone nodded and followed Musashi upstairs.
Hattori Heiji approached Kurosawa and whispered, "You're here because you received a request. How about a match?"
Conan, eavesdropping, rolled his eyes at Hattori. Hattori hasn't been discouraged enough. If he'd been discouraged as many times as I have, he wouldn't have such thoughts.
Kurosawa's expression didn't change. He said calmly, "I don't know what the request is about yet."
"Huh? Didn't they tell you when you accepted it?" Hattori asked, puzzled.
"It was probably a spur-of-the-moment thing. I attended a banquet on a cruise ship yesterday." Kurosawa briefly explained what had happened last night.
Hattori was incredibly envious. He took off his hat and scratched his head in frustration. "You actually forced Kaito Kid to jump into the sea? Your fame will probably rise to another level. I didn't read the newspaper today—I only just found out. Damn it, why didn't the Suzuki family invite me?"
Kurosawa shook his head and quickened his pace. Better go chat with Conan slowly.
Soon, the group arrived at the door of the Nagato family head's room on the third floor.
Before they could even knock, they heard voices from inside.
"Brother Nagato, consider my proposal. You know your family's situation best. If you want the Nagato Group not to collapse in the future, cooperating with me is the right choice."
"Brother Koyama, although your offer is very tempting, if I really agree, will the Nagato Group still be called Nagato?"
Kurosawa raised an eyebrow. There was no "Brother Koyama" in the original story. It seemed the plot had changed slightly.