The next day.
Shin-Osaka Station.
"Mr. Hattori, so it was you who invited me here?" Kurosawa Hoshino asked, somewhat surprised. He glanced at Heiji Hattori beside him, whose expression was unnatural.
"Yes." Heizo Hattori also glanced at his son and said slowly, "When I first mentioned the idea to him, he said he'd invite you for me. But it turned out he didn't tell Shizuka, which caused that misunderstanding."
"So it was because of what happened yesterday?"
"Correct. Because I realized two people had already died by the same method, I thought there might be more victims. We couldn't find any clues at the time, and then I happened to see news about you, so I wanted to invite you to try. Kurosawa-kun, I'm truly sorry for not telling you in advance."
"Uh, it's fine." Kurosawa Hoshino waved his hand. The Source Points had already been earned anyway, so whether Heiji Hattori or Heizo Hattori had invited him didn't really matter.
Feeling the conversation had gone on long enough, Heizo Hattori went to talk with Kogoro Mouri.
"Ran, Hoshino, come visit again next time!" Kazuha finally got a chance to speak and couldn't wait to say it.
"You too. Come to Tokyo when you have time." Kurosawa Hoshino smiled.
Ran stepped forward, pulled Kazuha a little farther away, and whispered something to her. Before long, happy laughter rang out.
Heiji Hattori bent down and said quietly to Conan beside him, "Kudo, this one doesn't count. Next time you come to Osaka, I'll show you a proper good time."
"Sure~" Conan replied listlessly.
"Didn't sleep well last night?"
"No, I just feel like Kurosawa solved the case too easily yesterday, and it made me feel the huge gap between us again."
"Sigh—" Hearing this, Heiji Hattori also sighed, losing the mood to chat.
Before long, Kurosawa Hoshino and the others left.
Only Heiji Hattori and Heizo Hattori remained.
And the atmosphere between them was somewhat oppressive.
After a while, Heizo Hattori opened his narrowed fox-like eyes and stared at his son with a sharp gaze. He said calmly, "Yesterday I gave you face and didn't call you out. Why didn't you tell the truth from the beginning yesterday, or when you called Kurosawa-kun? Why didn't you explain the real reason?"
"I—" Heiji Hattori knew it was his fault. He lowered his head and said weakly, "Actually—I felt it wasn't good to ask Kurosawa for help right away, so I planned to show them around Osaka first before bringing it up. Also, a case happening in our Osaka—we could solve it ourselves. There was no need to ask an outsider."
"So a third victim appeared."
"But that victim had already been dead for over a day. Even if Kurosawa had known in advance, the person would still have died."
"Heiji, you disappoint me." With that, Heizo Hattori turned and strode out of the station.
Heiji Hattori followed, taking off the hat on his head. "I know I was wrong. I won't do it again. Next time, if there's something, I'll say it directly."
"Words alone are useless. I want to see you change." Heizo Hattori sighed inwardly. He understood his son was still immature, and he only hoped those words weren't just talk—that he had truly realized his mistake.
Around ten thirty.
Kurosawa Hoshino and the others arrived at Tokyo Station.
"Dad, it's already this late. Let's go back a bit later. We can walk around outside, have lunch, and then head back," Ran said. She had finally come here and didn't want to leave so early.
Kogoro Mouri looked at his daughter and said helplessly, "Ran, I didn't bring much money in my wallet. We should just go back."
"Don't worry, I'm just browsing. I won't buy anything. We'll go back after lunch."
"Come on, you brat, do you believe what women say?" Kogoro Mouri asked Kurosawa Hoshino.
Kurosawa Hoshino saw Ran's light purple eyes gazing at him pitifully, with a delicate, pleading expression on her face, and was about to speak.
The next second, a hand blocked the space between their line of sight.
Kogoro Mouri said irritably, "Ran, stop playing that game with me. And you, brat, answer honestly. Do you believe it when a woman says she's just browsing and won't buy anything?"
Kurosawa Hoshino walked forward while thinking about how to answer. After a moment, he came up with a good response. "Mr. Mouri, you might not believe a woman's words, but Ran isn't a woman yet. She's a girl—you could say a young lady."
Hearing this, Ran felt a little embarrassed and her cheeks flushed slightly.
She naturally knew she was a woman, but she also understood what Kurosawa Hoshino meant by "woman"—it was a term for married women.
"You—" Kogoro Mouri was left speechless. He simply turned his gaze to Conan, who was following along.
Conan: "..."
How would Conan dare get involved in something like this? He couldn't afford to offend anyone. He simply pretended not to see and looked around at the passing crowd.
"Hoshino, wrong way." Ran suddenly reached out and pulled Kurosawa Hoshino, pointing in another direction. "There's an exit this way too."
Kurosawa Hoshino felt a little embarrassed. He glanced at Kogoro Mouri and Conan beside him, who also hadn't reacted in time, and couldn't help but laugh.
Tokyo Station really was like that—even locals could easily take the wrong path.
Kogoro Mouri naturally noticed Kurosawa Hoshino's look and expression, and said stubbornly, "I didn't go the wrong way. There's more than one exit. There's another one up ahead."
Conan thought that excuse was pretty good and chimed in, "Yeah, if Ran-neechan wants to go shopping, the exit up ahead has the most stores outside."
"What are you two talking about? I didn't say a single word." Kurosawa Hoshino smiled. Stubborn, huh? He could be stubborn too.
There wasn't much else to say after that.
They exited the station.
They accompanied Ran around shopping. Since they had already decided to eat lunch outside and not return to Beika Town for the time being, they might as well enjoy themselves and experience the area—otherwise it would be a real waste.
But they hadn't gone far from the station when Kurosawa Hoshino spotted two police officers—or rather, two traffic police officers. He recognized one of them: Yumi Miyamoto.
When Kurosawa Hoshino saw Yumi Miyamoto walking toward a black Porsche 356A parked on the roadside up ahead, he was completely speechless. He complained inwardly, "No way, Yumi Miyamoto, do you have to be this brave? Are you really about to give Gin a parking ticket?"
As for Conan, he still didn't know that the Porsche 356A was Gin's car, so he didn't react much.
"It's Officer Yumi. I'll go say hi." Kurosawa Hoshino said to the others, then quickly ran toward Yumi Miyamoto and the other officer, calling out loudly, "Officer Yumi, long time no see."
He didn't notice that as he ran over, he happened to pass a man pulling a suitcase, limping with every step.
When the man saw Kurosawa Hoshino rushing toward the Porsche 356A, his expression changed slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he endured the pain in his leg and quickened his pace.