"Yukiko-san?"
Takato walked to the door and opened it for Kudo Yukiko.
"That's right, it's me!"
Yukiko said with a kind smile, "From your voice, you must be Detective Akechi who called me that day to ask about Hanada Shochi, right?"
"Yes. There was a reason for it at the time, and I apologize for the abruptness."
Takato said, feeling a little embarrassed.
"When Shin-chan told me that the new neighbor who moved next door was a Detective named AkechiTakato, I wanted to come and see. I didn't expect it to really be you!"
Yukiko laughed and said, "We really are destined!"
Then, she suddenly looked at Takato with a puzzled expression.
"By the way, isn't Akechi-san going to invite me in for a sit?"
"Ah? Oh! My apologies! Please come in."
Takato was a little slow to react to Yukiko's sudden request, but he still invited her into the house.
"Speaking of which, this villa has probably been vacant for about ten years, but the renovation looks quite new and elaborate."
Entering the house, Yukiko looked around the interior and remarked.
"Perhaps, precisely because it was vacant, it looks this way now."
Takato replied, "By the way, is there a reason for Yukiko-san's sudden return to Japan?"
"Oh, let's not be so formal between us, just call me 'older sister'!"
Yukiko smiled warmly, "After all, I, your older sister, helped you out a lot!"
"Yukiko... older sister!"
Takato was a little hard to accept at first, but after thinking about it, he agreed. However, after saying it, he suddenly realized something.
"Has Yusaku-sensei already found out?"
"Eh?"
Yukiko was surprised by Takato's sudden question, then covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Yes. Yusaku roughly knew what it was about after hearing the purpose of that call from Japan that day. Moreover, this villa next to our house, which originally belonged to that wealthy person, has now been transferred to the Detective who called that day, so it's almost certain."
As expected of the ceiling of reasoning ability in this world—Takato couldn't help but praise in his heart.
"However, since little Takato has already moved in here, it means things went smoothly, right?"
"Mm."
He really couldn't say no to this, and the difficulties involved couldn't be expressed at the moment.
"Mm-hmm, very good. With little Takato as Shin-chan's neighbor, Yusaku and I can rest assured! From now on, my Shin-chan might need your extra care!"
Yukiko patted Takato's shoulder and then looked at his face, suddenly leaning in close and examining him with a somewhat serious expression.
This made Takato somewhat confused, breaking out in a cold sweat, forcing a smile, unsure of what Kudo Yukiko in front of him had seen.
"By the way, little Takato, are you learning Art of Disguise?"
Yukiko looked at Takato's face and wiped some black paint from his eyebrow with her hand, saying.
"Uh... I guess so."
A little embarrassed, and with some helplessness, Takato replied—he almost forgot, compared to the Art of Disguise he had just started practicing, the person in front of him was the true master in this area!
After hearing Takato's answer, Yukiko suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
"Oh my! You've certainly met the right person! I, your older sister, am a master in this field! What, not satisfied with your eyebrows? Come, let me help you!"
"Then... I'll trouble you."
Takato said with a forced smile, but he was actually quite looking forward to it—it was a good opportunity to observe up close, which could be considered practical instruction.
So, Yukiko used the tools and materials Takato had just bought to re-shape his eyebrows. Following her own preference, she transformed Takato's original thick and murky, upward-sloping, sharp-knife-like eyebrows into silkworm-like eyebrows, appearing as two gentle curves, with dark, lustrous color, resembling a silkworm lying down.
"Alright, it's done."
Putting away the tools, Yukiko looked at her masterpiece with satisfaction.
"Before, those eyebrows looked impatient and impulsive, which really didn't suit your temperament, little Takato. This is much better! You look both righteous and intelligent."
Looking at himself in the mirror now, although his face shape hadn't changed, ever since he had trimmed and dyed his original fashionable brownish hair, and now changed the style of his eyebrows, at a rough glance, his entire demeanor was almost completely different from the original self in the photos.
This is great! As long as it's not someone extremely familiar with the original self, even without wearing The Hermit's trench coat now, no one would probably recognize the original self's identity! Yukiko, my older sister, came at just the right time!
"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Are you free tomorrow, little Takato?"
Yukiko asked, as if she had suddenly remembered something.
"I don't have anything going on."
Takato said truthfully, as although he considered himself a Detective now, without fame and without receiving requests, he was essentially unemployed.
"That's perfect. Tomorrow at the Beika City Hall, at Fusae's new product launch, accompany me to take a look!"
Yukiko extended an invitation.
"Eh?"
Takato was a little confused.
"Didn't you ask me why I came back before?"
Yukiko explained, "Actually, after receiving that rare call from Japan, I wanted to find a day to come back and see. Coincidentally, yesterday Yusaku received a request concerning Fusae's new product launch. He was going to Los Angeles to attend a mystery novel writers' banquet and couldn't get away, so he sent me."
Seeing Takato's disbelieving expression at the moment, Yukiko continued to explain with a slight pout.
"Don't look at me like this, I'm still the 'Dark Night Baroness', a household name female Detective in America!"
Being called the "Dark Night Baroness," wasn't it because she would repeat Kudo Yusaku's daily newspaper criticisms verbatim on American TV special programs, and these words just happened to hit the crux of the cases?
Of course, this was just Takato's internal monologue, but he roughly understood why he needed to go tomorrow—Shinichi Kudo would obviously be at school tomorrow, so wouldn't he be the only available Detective left to rely on?
"Then, what was the request Yusaku-sensei received?"
Takato asked.
"Ms. FusaeCampbell, the founder of the 'Fusae' brand, contacted Yusaku through a friend. It's said that Miss Yamahara Akisato, the brand spokesperson for 'Fusae' who is scheduled to attend tomorrow's new product launch, received a threatening letter. The content of the letter roughly states: if she attends tomorrow's new product launch, her life will be taken. That's pretty much the gist of it."
Yukiko explained, deep in thought.
"If that's the case, wouldn't it be better for Miss Yamahara not to attend? And why go to the trouble of entrusting Yusaku-sensei from so far away?"
Takato was a little confused.
"I'm not sure about Miss Yamahara's reason for insisting on attending. However, entrusting Yusaku is because Ms. FusaeCampbell Kinoshita just happened to be in America these past few days."
Yukiko explained.