Chapter 44: The Library Incident Resolved
"No! I can't let him be taken away just like that! This definitely isn't the whole truth!"
Conan Edogawa's voice cracked with desperation, his small hands balling into tight fists. But his protests fell on deaf ears. Looking around the room, it was painfully clear that he was the only one still harboring doubts; the rest of the crowd had already accepted the neat, tidy conclusion that Junya Tokitsu was the sole culprit.
Before the shrunken detective could sprint forward to intercept the police, a hand clamped down firmly on the back of his collar, hoisting him right off the floor.
His legs kicked empty air as Sonoko Suzuki glared at him, her free hand resting on her hip. "Heh, I knew you'd try to stir up trouble, you little brat," she warned, giving him a slight shake. "The case is already closed, so just stay put and behave. I'm getting out of here the second I get my book."
Off to the side, Mona Megistus was entirely unfazed by the dramatic arrest. Despite the unexpected murder that had just derailed the afternoon, the astrologer hadn't forgotten her primary objective: selling books to make a profit. After all, her next few meals depended entirely on this income.
The walk back home offered Conan no peace. His mind churned, replaying the sequence of events on an endless, agonizing loop. He frantically tugged at his own hair, his brow furrowed so deeply it ached.
Ah! I still can't figure it out!
How exactly had they bypassed a locked door to enter the study without opening it? Was it a trick of the architecture? A hidden wire? Or had Junya Tokitsu really acted alone? For the first time in a long while, Conan Edogawa found himself genuinely doubting his own deductive reasoning.
By the time the sun rose the next day, Conan's frustration had pivoted to a new mystery. He simply couldn't let go of the strange, glowing accessories he had spotted on both Mona and Noelle yesterday. Those gem-like ornaments looked exactly like the one Lisa wore. Determined to find a connection, he decided his first stop would be Xiangling's restaurant. If anyone knew the truth about Mona and Noelle, it would be the energetic chef.
Pushing open the doors to the bustling eatery, Conan stopped dead in his tracks.
There, weaving gracefully between the crowded tables, was Noelle. She was dressed in her immaculate maid uniform, carrying a massive tray of steaming dishes with effortless ease. Pinned securely to the bow at her waist was that exact same 'glass bead'—a Geo Vision—gleaming softly in the restaurant's warm lighting. She offered a bright, welcoming smile to the patrons, her presence alone seeming to elevate the mood of the entire dining room.
Conan quickly slipped into an empty seat at a corner table. It didn't take long for Noelle to approach with a menu, her posture perfect.
Seizing the opportunity, Conan put on his best innocent, childlike voice. "Big Sister Noelle! Why are you working here? I remember you were working as a maid at Big Sister Mona's house just yesterday, weren't you?"
Noelle paused, a slightly apologetic smile touching her lips. "Ah, well... because of the unfortunate events yesterday, Miss Mona had to spend an exceptionally large sum of money to purchase those books. The compensation provided by Mr. Tokitsu simply wasn't enough to cover the deficit." She neatly arranged the silverware on Conan's table as she spoke. "She didn't have a single coin left to pay my wages. I tried to tell her that she didn't need to pay me at all, but Miss Mona absolutely refused to listen."
Noelle let out a soft, fond sigh. "She said she couldn't bear the thought of me eating nothing but mushroom and vegetable salad with her every single day. So, she introduced me to this restaurant, saying they needed my help much more."
Conan stared at her, utterly speechless. His eye twitched.
Are you kidding me? She blew through all that money in less than twenty-four hours?! And they were reduced to eating plain vegetable salads every day? If anything, Mona's financial situation sounded even more disastrous than before.
Still, his detective instincts flared. There was a direct connection between Xiangling and Mona. He had definitely come to the right place. Energized by the confirmation, Conan leaned in a little closer.
Suddenly, a new thought struck him. Natsume was also incredibly close with Xiangling and Lisa, yet she didn't wear one of those mysterious glass beads. Did she just happen to stumble into their social circle by chance?
"Big Sister Noelle," Conan asked, tilting his head curiously. "Do you happen to know Big Sister Natsume too?"
Noelle's amber eyes immediately lit up, her polite smile blooming into an expression of deep reverence. "Yes, of course I know the Traveler, Natsume! She is incredibly capable and has helped me more times than I can count. I am deeply grateful to her."
Conan had only thrown the question out as a wild guess, but Noelle's reaction caught him entirely off guard. The sheer excitement and absolute respect in her voice when mentioning Natsume were impossible to fake. What exactly had Natsume done to earn such unwavering loyalty from someone as capable as Noelle? And why did Noelle call her 'the Traveler'?
The web of connections was growing tighter. Natsume knew Noelle. Was this just another coincidence? If Natsume was truly part of their inner circle, why was she the only one without a glowing bead?
Conan tried to pry a bit more, chatting with Noelle as she took his order. True to her nature, Noelle showed absolutely zero impatience with a child asking a barrage of questions. She answered every inquiry politely and thoroughly, yet somehow, Conan walked away from the conversation having learned absolutely nothing of substance. Her answers were perfectly pleasant deflections.
Finally, seeing the line of hungry customers forming at the door, Conan had no choice but to let the hardworking maid return to her duties.
A week later, the salty sea breeze swept across the Tsukikage Island pier, carrying the cries of distant gulls.
"Lisa, did you really manage to find that Curator's transaction records?" Natsume asked, her gaze fixed on the rolling waves crashing against the wooden pylons.
Standing beside her, Lisa let out a soft, melodic chuckle. She adjusted the brim of her witch's hat, her emerald eyes gleaming with quiet amusement.
"Of course, cutie," Lisa replied, her tone smooth and unbothered. "Though I must admit, it took quite a bit of effort to slip into the Curator's office undetected. I was looking for the hidden transaction logs between him and the Tsukikage Island village head. I only managed to secure them because he had just received a fresh shipment of goods and hadn't gotten around to destroying the paper trail yet."
Lisa raised a delicate eyebrow, a knowing smirk playing on her lips. "By now, his little 'shipment' should have already been intercepted by the authorities. I made sure to leave an anonymous tip with the police before I slipped out. I would pay good Mora to see the look on that Curator's face right now."
She sighed dramatically, brushing a stray lock of ash-brown hair from her shoulder. "However, it is a bit of a pity that I was still one step behind that little brat with the glasses. The main incident on Tsukikage Island had already run its course by the time I put the pieces together."
At that exact moment, back in Tokyo, the atmosphere inside the children's book section of the Beika Library was thick with quiet anticipation.
Conan sat at a small reading table, lost in thought. His investigation into Xiangling, Mona, and the others had hit a massive bottleneck. No matter how closely he observed them, they all appeared to be perfectly ordinary people who simply shared a taste for matching, glowing accessories.
However, he had made massive strides in a much more important area: the poison shrinking his body.
Just yesterday, a loud, dark-skinned teenager from Kansai named Heiji Hattori had practically kicked down the door to his life. During the chaos of their meeting, Heiji had given him a sip of a fiery Chinese liquor called Paikaru. The intense alcohol had somehow overridden the effects of the APTX 4869, temporarily restoring his teenage body.
His heart pounded against his ribs just thinking about it. If a small sip could turn him back for a short while, then drinking the entire bottle of Paikaru should permanently restore him to Shinichi Kudo, right?
Conan looked up, his gaze softening as he watched Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi bickering over a picture book nearby. A wave of bittersweet emotion washed over him. This might very well be the last time he ever hung out with the Detective Boys as 'Conan'. He had already made up his mind; the second he got back to the detective agency, he was going to chug that bottle of liquor and reclaim his stolen life.
His nostalgic thoughts were suddenly shattered by the piercing wail of police sirens echoing from the streets below.
Conan scrambled out of his chair and pushed the window open. Down below, several black-and-white police cruisers had aggressively mounted the curb, parking haphazardly right in front of the library's main entrance.
Three small heads immediately popped up beside his elbows.
"Whoa, police cars!" Ayumi gasped, her eyes wide. "Do you think a case just happened here?"
Conan didn't wait to answer. He spun on his heel, fully intending to sprint downstairs and assess the situation, with the Detective Boys hot on his heels. But before they could even reach the stairwell, the heavy double doors of the children's section swung open.
Inspector Megure marched into the room, his expression darker than a thundercloud, with Officer Takagi and several uniformed officers trailing closely behind him.
The Library Curator—a pale, creepy-looking man who had been hovering near the shelves just moments ago—hurriedly stepped into Megure's path, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.
"Officers, please, wait a moment!" the Curator hissed, a nervous sweat breaking out on his forehead. "There are young children present. If you have official business to discuss, I insist we step outside to my office—"
Inspector Megure didn't even break his stride. He completely ignored the Curator's attempt to stall, gesturing sharply to Takagi. The younger officer immediately stepped forward, using his body to physically block the Curator from interfering. Megure marched straight past them, his eyes locked onto a specific target, not even noticing Conan and the kids standing by the window.
Strange, Conan thought, his eyes narrowing. Why does the Curator look like he's about to pass out from panic?
Conan watched in silence as Inspector Megure walked directly to a specific bookshelf. Without a moment's hesitation, the Inspector pulled out a heavy book box from the bottom shelf, reached inside, and extracted a thick, foreign-imported hardcover that had been wedged in backward.
Megure flipped the book open. The pages had been hollowed out, revealing tightly packed plastic bags filled with white powder.
The Inspector snapped the book shut and turned around, his voice booming across the quiet library. "Arrest him!"
The Curator let out a strangled gasp. Seeing Megure holding the hollowed-out book, he spun around, desperately trying to make a run for the emergency exit. But Officer Takagi was already there, grabbing the man by the arm and slamming him against the nearest wall. Surrounded by grim-faced officers, the Curator's legs gave out, his face twisting into a mask of absolute despair as the handcuffs clicked shut around his wrists.
Conan watched the scene unfold, his mind racing. He had suspected that those foreign books were being used to smuggle something—either firearms or narcotics. Seeing the white powder confirmed his theory.
But what really bothered him was the precision of the raid. How did Inspector Megure know exactly which book to pull from which box the very second he walked into the room?
Seeing Megure turn to leave, Conan quickly trotted over, tugging on the hem of the Inspector's trench coat.
"Inspector Megure! How did you know the bad stuff was hidden in that exact spot?"
Megure blinked, finally noticing the boy standing by his knees. "Ah, Conan. You're here too?" The Inspector sighed, adjusting his hat. "We received a highly detailed anonymous tip at the station. The caller gave us the exact location of the contraband. Now, stay out of the way, boys. We have a lot of processing to do."
With that, Megure hurried out of the room, barking orders at his subordinates. The sudden bust meant hours of grueling paperwork and interrogations awaited them back at the precinct.
As he walked down the stairs, Megure rubbed his tired eyes. The workload had been absolutely crushing lately. Cases were popping up one after another like weeds.
Fortunately, relief was on the horizon. Jinpei Matsuda was scheduled to be transferred to their Violent Crimes Division of the First Investigation Division very soon. Megure had no idea why the brilliant bomb disposal expert had suddenly requested a transfer to homicide, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Right now, they needed every capable hand they could get. With Matsuda joining the team, they would finally have the extra firepower needed to tackle this endless wave of crime.
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