In the hotel lobby, the moment the power went out, everyone knew the rescue plan had begun.
Endo Keigo clasped his hands together, praying for divine protection.
Finally, the lights came on. Everyone held their breath and looked toward the elevator.
Time passed slowly. They saw the indicator light above the elevator—an elevator was coming down. When the light turned to "1," the elevator doors opened. Inspector Megure stepped out carrying a child, with people escorting a man and a woman.
"Keita!" Endo Keigo shouted, rushing over and taking the child from Inspector Megure.
"Dad! You came to pick me up!"
"Keita, thank goodness. I'm so glad you're alright." Endo Keigo was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. He looked at the woman among the two captives and exclaimed in shock, "It's you, Ms. Otomo!"
Otomo Michiko lowered her head, not daring to look at Endo Keigo.
Inspector Megure asked, "Mr. Endo, do you know her?"
"Yes." Endo Keigo said angrily, "She used to work for me, but then she quit. I never expected her—she actually—"
"Alright, I understand." Inspector Megure waved his hand and had his subordinates take the two away.
"Thank goodness, the child is alright."
"Yes, it's good that he's alright." Ran and Sonoko came over and pinched Endo Keita's cheeks, making the little boy laugh out loud.
"Kurosawa-kun, thank you so much. Thank you for helping me find Keita." Endo Keigo saw that Kurosawa had also come over and was about to kneel down and kowtow to express his gratitude. Kurosawa had no choice but to help him up with Kogorō's assistance.
The task was successfully completed, and Kurosawa received one Origin Point, bringing his total to 23. He still needed 17 more to reach the next stage—a long and arduous journey indeed. However, this also showed that he had solved 23 cases from the original story. Cases outside the original story were not included.
"What happened?" At that moment, the elevator doors on the other side opened. A woman in pajamas stepped out and asked Kurosawa and the others.
Kurosawa raised an eyebrow. "Ms. Jodie, what are you doing here?"
Ran and Sonoko were also shocked. They hadn't expected to encounter their school's English teacher here.
Jodie adjusted her glasses and explained, "I haven't found a place to live yet, so I've been staying at this hotel lately. I'm on the 23rd floor. I heard someone on the 24th floor say there was a fire, but when I went out, there was no fire. Then the power came back on, so I came down to check. Can you tell me what happened?"
"Excuse me, teacher." Kogorō straightened his coat, walked over with a smile, and said very politely, "I think it's still early. How about we go have some beer and talk about it later?"
"Dad!" Ran, her face dark, came over and grabbed her father's arm, forcefully pulling him away, leaving Kogorō powerless to resist.
"Hoshino, can you tell me?" Jodie came to Kurosawa's side. Her pajamas were slightly open, revealing a charming white cleavage. As if noticing, Jodie naturally tugged at her pajamas, covering up the alluring view, and even thanked Kurosawa: "Hoshino, thank you. If you hadn't covered me up, I would have accidentally exposed myself."
Kurosawa strongly suspected that this woman had done it on purpose—deliberately showing herself to him.
"Ms. Jodie, here's what happened—" Kurosawa began, recounting the events of the evening. After all, it wasn't a big deal, and the two kidnappers had already been caught.
After listening, Jodie nodded in understanding. "That's a really good idea. Pretending to be a hotel staff member would arouse the kidnappers' suspicion. Forcing the door open would lead them to take hostages. Only something that endangers everyone's lives would subconsciously make them believe it."
"Alright, Ms. Jodie, I've said what I needed to say. Goodbye then." Kurosawa waved and walked toward the door toward Ran and the others.
Jodie crossed her arms and quietly watched them leave. Only after they were out of sight did she enter the elevator and press the button for the 23rd floor.
Upon reaching her floor, she stepped out of the elevator and saw Shuichi Akai leaning against the corridor wall.
"Shuichi, why didn't you stay a little longer?" Jodie walked up to him, wanting to invite him back.
"I'm leaving." Shuichi Akai said casually, tugging at his knitted hat.
"Oh, I see—" Jodie murmured, tightening her pajamas. After a moment, she added, "Why did you cut your long hair? I think you looked better with long hair."
"Nothing. I just felt long hair was a bit of a hindrance—inconvenient to move around." Shuichi finished speaking, but his mind drifted to the missing Akemi Miyano. He was convinced that she had been secretly murdered by Gin. Otherwise, how could a living person disappear without a trace? Why couldn't they find any information about her? This was clearly the work of the Black Organization.
Outside the hotel.
"Hoshino-kun, I—" Inspector Megure was about to speak as usual when his gaze fell upon a luxury car that pulled up beside them. The driver got out and respectfully greeted Sonoko, "Miss."
His words caught in his throat. He silently shut his mouth.
"Inspector Megure, what's wrong?" Kurosawa looked at him strangely, wondering why he had stopped halfway through his sentence.
"Nothing, nothing." Megure said awkwardly. "I was originally going to take you back, but since Sonoko's driver is here, I won't bother you any longer."
After saying that, he waved to his subordinates who were still watching the show and led a group of people back to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Ran muttered, "I feel like Inspector Megure seems quite disappointed that he didn't take Hoshino home."
"Really? I didn't feel that way." Kogorō shrugged, then got into the luxury car with a look of delight. After sitting down, he hummed comfortably and said narcissistically, "As expected, only riding in a car like this is worthy of my status."
"What status? The number one detective investigating extramarital affairs?" Ran retorted.
Hearing this, Kogorō felt no shame. Instead, he proudly said, "Ran, no matter what it is, being number one is skill. Right, brat?"
"That's right." Kurosawa smiled, casually lifting Conan into the passenger seat while he himself got into the back.
Conan clenched his fists, remaining silent. He told himself not to get angry. He was no match for Kurosawa. There would be plenty of opportunities for revenge later.