Arriving at the Mouri Detective Agency, Shinichi Kudo and Ran found the Office door tightly shut, with a note left by Ran's father, Mouri Kogoro, saying, "Out investigating a case tonight."
Ran couldn't help but feel a bit helpless about this, but then a better idea suddenly struck her, so she took Shinichi Kudo to Kisaki Eri's Law Office.
"Hey, Ran, this is…"
Shinichi Kudo said, looking at the name of the Law Office with some trepidation.
"What's wrong? Shinichi, did you forget? This is where my mom works."
Ran said, looking a bit confused.
"No…"
Shinichi Kudo sensed something amiss. "Why did you suddenly think of coming to see your mother, Kisaki Eri?"
"What's wrong, Shinichi? Do you have a problem with that?"
Hearing the resistance in Shinichi Kudo's words, Ran spoke to Shinichi Kudo with a hint of accusation.
"Ah… this… no, not at all."
Shinichi Kudo quickly changed his tune, looking a bit awkward.
"Really?"
Ran looked at Shinichi Kudo suspiciously, while Shinichi Kudo just smiled helplessly.
"Honestly. It's all because of Shinichi's mom that I missed my own mom. It's rare that my dad isn't home today, so it's a good time to come over and see her."
Ran explained, and Shinichi Kudo couldn't say much more.
The two entered the Law Office, and led by the secretary Kuriyama Midori, they arrived at Kisaki Eri's Office.
At this moment, Kisaki Eri, the undefeated queen of the legal world, who was over thirty but still beautiful, was dressed in formal attire, with slightly curly brown hair, wearing a pair of glasses, sitting at her desk, concentrating on some materials in her hand, exuding an air of aloofness that kept people at a distance.
But this demeanor vanished the moment Ran walked into the Office and called her "Mom," replaced by the loving expression of a mother, very pleased to see her daughter bring a friend along today.
So, Kisaki Eri canceled her upcoming work, and took Ran and Shinichi Kudo back to her residence, preparing to cook a grand meal for the two of them herself.
Hearing such a result, Shinichi Kudo couldn't help but turn his head away, showing an expression of utter despair.
Night fell, at Kisaki Eri's residence.
Kisaki Eri had changed into home clothes and had already prepared many dishes, laid out on the dining table, looking very happy.
"Don't be shy, eat more!"
Kisaki Eri stood at one side of the dining table, looking at the two high school students sitting opposite her.
Shinichi Kudo and Ran both wore awkward smiles, reluctantly picking up their forks and poking at the spaghetti in front of them.
"Ran, are you on a diet lately? You're not eating much of my cooking."
Seeing the two of them not eating for a long time, Kisaki Eri said with a slight complaint, "It makes me lose my motivation."
"Mom, that's not it!"
Ran immediately retorted, and then Shinichi Kudo quickly followed, "Thank you, I will definitely eat more."
After saying that, Shinichi Kudo twirled a forkful of pasta and ate it.
Kisaki Eri was very satisfied watching their actions.
"Good, please."
After the two took their first bite, she eagerly asked, "How is it? Is it delicious?"
Shinichi Kudo forced himself to swallow the first bite, which was, as expected, terrible, causing his expression to subtly change, but he still forced a smile and put down his cutlery.
"Actually, I'm also on a diet recently."
Helplessly, Shinichi Kudo found such an excuse.
Upon hearing this reply, Kisaki Eri's expression became a bit subtle, and Shinichi Kudo and Ran, noticing this, couldn't help but feel a bad premonition.
Fortunately, the doorbell rang at that moment, breaking the awkward atmosphere in the room.
"Mom, we have a guest."
Ran quickly and eagerly changed the subject.
"Oh? Who could it be now?"
Kisaki Eri felt a little strange, but still got up to open the door.
While Kisaki Eri was gone, Shinichi Kudo immediately dumped the pasta from his plate into the trash can, then let out a long sigh of relief.
Just then, the guest who rang the doorbell was led in by Kisaki Eri, and the two turned to look, only to find it was Suzuki Sonoko.
"Sonoko?"
Ran said with some surprise.
"Ran, I'm here!"
Sonoko walked in with a smile, then her gaze turned to Shinichi Kudo, "Hello, Kudo. Being chased by reporters, hiding here, huh? You're still so popular."
"It's all because of that old hag, now I can't even go home."
Kudo said with a hint of helplessness.
"Well, that's perfect."
Sonoko said, "Though it's a bit sudden, why don't we all go to Fifteen Nights Village?"
"Fifteen Nights Village?"
Hearing the place name, Ran was a bit confused, and Sonoko immediately explained.
"My dad's acquaintance built a villa there and invited me to visit!"
"Your father's acquaintance, it couldn't be…"
Kisaki Eri asked upon hearing this, and then received Sonoko's affirmative reply.
"That's right, it's Chairman Wakura of the Wakura Group, Japan's largest izakaya chain, whom you serve as legal counsel, Auntie! Uncle Wakura also said to be sure to come along, Auntie."
Meanwhile, Takato had already finished writing the code for the "crawler software" and started letting it search for ways to make money online. A vast amount of information was quickly extracted, processed, and presented to Takato in a very concise form.
Soon, Takato found a commission among a pile of information. Although it wasn't a case-solving commission, just an engineering reward problem, it was simple and came with a reward of 100,000 yen.
Moreover, rather than an engineering problem, it was more of a physics problem—how to make a manhole cover thrown into the air maintain a stable posture and eventually fall back to its original position.
This was a forum post, and Takato quickly contacted the poster through the forum and offered his suggestion: use the conservation of angular momentum by installing a brushless motor similar to a gyroscope on the manhole cover to maintain its posture in the air.
However, this commission was clearly not that simple. Takato soon received more specific details. The poster provided the exact style, dimensions, and weight of the manhole cover, asking Takato for more specific content. So Takato, with the focus he had during his university days doing mathematical modeling, provided the solution.
The satisfied poster asked Takato to leave an address, saying the reward would be mailed to him. After careful consideration, Takato left the address of a nearby post Office.
It was already late at night. The "crawler software," after searching a large amount of information, finally found something Takato was looking for—a "Detective Intermediary Office," a well-reputed Detective Intermediary Office located in Tokyo.