"Oh no, he's gotten into a taxi." Sonoko exclaimed as she saw the man flag down a taxi on the roadside.
"Let's follow." Kogorō also flagged down a taxi. Everyone got in, and he instructed the driver to follow the car in front closely.
And so they followed.
The taxi in front stopped in front of a private clinic. The man got out and went inside.
After waiting a while to make sure no one was around, Kurosawa and the others got out of the car and approached the private clinic, looking at the sign.
"Endo Dental Clinic," Ran read softly.
Kurosawa stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and said to Conan beside him, "Conan, fake a toothache. Yell loudly."
Conan was taken aback, but quickly realized what was going on. He immediately covered his mouth and chin and yelled loudly, "It hurts so much, Hoshino-nii! My tooth hurts so much!"
"Oh, I see." Everyone suddenly understood. The word "dental" on the sign explained everything.
"Conan, don't panic. I'll go get a doctor to see you right away." Kogorō, acting like a reliable parent, reassured Conan before ringing the clinic's doorbell.
Kurosawa chuckled and shook his head, saying nothing more, silently standing to the side.
The reason he'd had Conan pretend to have a toothache was because he remembered this was from an episode in the original manga. The plot was so ordinary that he didn't remember it well. But that didn't matter now. With his Scene Rewind superpower, these ordinary cases he didn't remember well were no challenge at all.
Now, he wouldn't dare say he did much, but kidnapping cases were practically free Origin Points to him.
He watched as Kogorō put on a good show, successfully luring the man inside and getting the group invited in to immediately check Conan's teeth.
As they entered the house, Conan stopped screaming. Kogorō went straight to the point. "Sir, we heard the phone call you received at the beer hall. Was your child kidnapped?"
The man, Endo Keigo, was startled. He stared at everyone warily and nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about. You must have misheard."
"Look here," Sonoko said, pointing to Kurosawa beside her. "Sir, don't you think he looks familiar? He's the fastest detective in Tokyo right now. Are you sure you don't want to talk to him?"
Hearing this, Endo looked at Kurosawa, scrutinizing his face for a moment. His eyes behind his glasses suddenly lit up. He became incredibly excited. He grabbed Kurosawa's hand and choked out, "You're Kurosawa Hoshino? The high school detective Kurosawa Hoshino? Please, Kurosawa-kun, save my Keita! I really can't lose him!" He even knelt down at the end.
Ten minutes later, everyone sat on the sofa in the living room, listening to the man across from them finish his story.
His name was Endo Keigo, a dentist who ran a private clinic. His son, Keita, was five years old. His wife had passed away last year, leaving him and his son to rely on each other. That afternoon, Keita had been playing alone in the front yard. When Keigo went inside to do something for a while and came back out, his son was gone. There was a note on the yard gate telling him not to call the police, otherwise his son would die, and that the kidnappers would contact him.
"Later, he called. It was a young man's voice. He asked me to prepare thirty million yen in old banknotes, put them in a box, and take them to the beer hall set up at the Starlight Hotel tonight. He said he would come to see me. I waited there, but he didn't come. Instead, he called and said the ransom exchange was canceled. He said he would contact me again tomorrow. That's all."
After saying this, Endo looked hopefully at Kurosawa.
"Well, so few clues." Sonoko looked a little embarrassed, feeling like she had tricked Kurosawa.
Kogorō stroked his chin. "There might be a problem with the kidnappers. Or maybe they just wanted to test you—to see if you really called the police."
Ran analyzed, "If that's the case, the kidnappers might have been watching Mr. Endo nearby. Otherwise, they definitely wouldn't have spoken so calmly when they found out you called the police."
Conan nodded, finding it very reasonable.
"You two talk. I'll go check the front yard." After Kurosawa finished speaking, he left the room and went to the front yard, immediately activating Scene Rewind.
In a short while, the scene rewound to the afternoon. A child was playing in the yard. Not long after, a short-haired woman wearing sunglasses appeared and successfully tricked Endo Keita out with a Kamen Rider doll. It seemed Keita recognized her.
Following the woman's figure, Kurosawa left the yard and found that she had led Keita to a motorcycle ridden by a man on the side of the road.
With a thought, Kurosawa paused the scene. He slowly walked up to the man and woman. After stopping, he canceled the pause. The video and audio resumed. Their conversation could be heard again.
"Where are we going?"
"The Starlight Hotel. I've already booked a room. Tonight, I'll have this brat's father come to the beer hall downstairs. I'll observe from upstairs to see if he calls the police."
"Shall we make the deal tonight?"
"No. Let's delay for a day and see if this kid's father behaves himself."
"Alright then."
After their conversation, the motorcycle sped away.
Kurosawa didn't chase after them. He turned off his superpower, looked at the road under the night sky, and thought to himself, Playing hide-and-seek.
Then he turned around and went back into the house. He saw Kogorō discussing tomorrow's strategy with Endo and said, "Mr. Endo, Uncle Mouri, I think the kidnappers might be playing hide-and-seek. They might be at the Starlight Hotel."
"Kurosawa-kun, did you discover something?" Endo asked excitedly.
"No." Kurosawa shook his head and explained, "There's a saying—'the most dangerous place is the safest place.' Mr. Endo, don't worry. I know people in the police force. They'll investigate in plainclothes—it won't be too conspicuous. By the way, do you have a picture of your son?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Endo didn't care about anything else. He hurriedly went to get a picture of his son.
"Alright. You can stay here." Kurosawa took the photo and turned to leave.
"Wait, let's go together." Sonoko grabbed Ran's hand and followed.
Conan was conflicted—wanting to go but afraid of getting beaten up. But soon, he stopped being conflicted, because Kogorō and Endo were also going. He had a reason to go along.