Chapter 146: Another Detective
Hearing the question come from a small child, Takeuchi Koichi paused, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. Though he found it odd, he answered with complete seriousness.
"None were delivered today. To be honest, I find it strange, too. The letters have almost always arrived in the morning, but I haven't received anything at all."
"Could it be that the culprit gave up?" Kogoro Mori mused aloud.
Conan mentally shook his head. 'Unlikely,' he thought. From what Editor-in-Chief Takeuchi had said, the journalist, Charlotte, hadn't been the least bit intimidated by the threats. The culprit's goal remained unachieved, so there was no reason for them to abandon their campaign now.
"I doubt it," Takeuchi said, his thoughts clearly mirroring Conan's. "Charlotte has no intention of stopping her investigation, so..."
"Then why no threatening letter today?" Kogoro scratched his head, unable to puzzle it out. "Did the guy just forget?"
"Or maybe," Conan piped up, proposing a new hypothesis, "they sent the letter directly to Miss Charlotte's home instead."
Takeuchi's eyes widened. "That's entirely possible!" he exclaimed, a jolt of alarm running through him. "No, I have to go find Charlotte right away." He shot to his feet, his chair scraping against the floor.
"Detective Mori, could I trouble you to come with me? If the culprit really did send something to her residence, I might need your help."
"Ah? Of course," Kogoro agreed without a second thought. It was, after all, his only active commission.
A short while later, Takeuchi, Kogoro, and the others found themselves standing before an apartment building in Haido Town.
Kogoro eyed the structure before shooting a sideways glance at his daughter. "Honestly, Ran, why did you have to tag along? The client only called for me, the Great Detective."
"What does it matter?" Ran retorted, unfazed. "I'm worried about Miss Charlotte, too. Besides, if the culprit decides to skip the letters and take direct action, you'll all need my skills to protect you."
"Then why did this brat follow us?" Kogoro's gaze shifted downward to Conan.
Conan offered his uncle a fawning, innocent smile. "Maybe I can be of help!"
'Please,'he thought with an inner sigh,'if I don't come, how could you possibly find the culprit on your own?'
Kogoro rolled his eyes, clearly dismissing the boy's words. "Fine, fine. Since you're already here, we might as well go up together."
After Kogoro gave Ran and Conan a few last-minute, grumbled instructions, the group followed Takeuchi into the building and up to the fourth floor, stopping before the door to Room 406.
The editor-in-chief pressed the doorbell. The chime echoed, but the silence that followed stretched on. He pressed it again, more insistently this time. Still no answer.
Takeuchi's nervousness became a tangible thing, his fingers drumming anxiously against his leg.
"Strange, why is no one home?" he said, his voice tight with worry. "It's her day off. Charlotte usually spends it at home organizing her materials."
His anxiety was contagious. Kogoro and the others began to feel a growing unease about the journalist's situation.
Finally, Kogoro made a decisive suggestion. "We should break the door down."
In his haste, Takeuchi readily agreed. The two men exchanged a determined look, squared their shoulders, and prepared to charge the door in unison.
"Editor-in-Chief, what are you doing?"
A sudden female voice cut through the tension, stopping Kogoro and Takeuchi just in the nick of time and saving Charlotte's front door from certain destruction.
The shout, however, came a fraction of a second too late. The laws of physics are a cruel mistress. Unable to halt their combined momentum, the two men slammed into the solid wood door with a resounding THWACK.
Though they'd managed to pull back at the last moment, the impact was still significant. Both Kogoro and Takeuchi stumbled back, clutching their foreheads and seeing stars.
"Dad!" Ran rushed forward to steady her father, her face etched with concern.
Charlotte, the source of the voice, also hurried over, her expression a mixture of alarm and worry for her editor-in-chief.
With the adults preoccupied, Conan found himself with nothing to do. He used the opportunity to properly observe the woman at the center of this whole affair.
Honestly, Miss Charlotte was not what he had pictured. He had imagined a cool, intellectual journalist, a fearless crusader for the truth who wouldn't bow to power. The woman before him, however, seemed anything but steady. Her energy was bright and almost flighty, her movements quick and animated. It was hard to believe she was the one behind such sharp, incisive writing.
"Charlotte, where were you?" Takeuchi asked, finally catching his breath and shaking the dizziness from his head.
"Ah! I was organizing my research materials when I heard a suspicious noise at the door," she explained. "I peeked out and saw a stranger stuffing a letter into my mailbox. When I opened the door, it startled them, and their hand slipped, dropping the letter. I picked it up and chased after them." As she spoke, she held up a white envelope she'd been clutching.
"Charlotte! How many times have I told you? Be careful! Pay attention to your safety!" Takeuchi's concern for the letter was instantly forgotten as he launched into a lecture. "It's like my words go in one ear and out the other! How could you just chase after a suspicious person like that? What if it was dangerous?!"
Seeing that his editor-in-chief was on a roll and wouldn't be stopping anytime soon, Conan took the initiative. He stepped forward and gently took the envelope from Charlotte's hand to examine it. Her attention was focused on placating her boss, so she let it go without a second thought.
Conan noted that the envelope was sealed with glue and remained unopened. He carefully tore it open and slid out the paper inside. Just as he'd suspected, the material of both the envelope and the letter was identical to the three threatening notes Takeuchi had brought to the agency.
Just as he was about to open the letter fully, he felt two heads crowding in beside him. He shot an exasperated look upward. Kogoro and Ran had leaned in, their curiosity piqued.
Though a little speechless at their lack of personal space, Conan didn't say anything. He paused for a beat before continuing to unfold the paper.
Scrawled across the page were five stark words:
THIS IS THE LAST WARNING!!!
The three exclamation marks at the end were a startling, bright red, as if written in blood.
The sudden sight made Ran flinch back with a small gasp.
Before Conan could offer a reassuring word, Charlotte had already steadied Ran with a hand on her arm. "Don't be afraid," she said calmly. "That isn't blood. It's just red pigment."
Conan brought the paper closer to his nose and sniffed. Indeed, there was no metallic tang of blood. Charlotte was right.
He cast a questioning glance at her. 'How did she know it wasn't blood from that distance?' He filed the question away in his mind for later.
By now, Takeuchi had finally exhausted his lecture and let Charlotte off the hook. He took a moment to formally introduce Kogoro and the others.
When Charlotte heard that they were detectives her editor-in-chief had hired to solve the case, a somewhat awkward smile touched her lips.
"What is it? Is there a problem?" Takeuchi asked, puzzled by her unnatural expression.
Charlotte hesitated, her gaze flicking between the faces of the Mori family. "Well..." she began in a low voice, "the thing is... I already hired a detective to solve this matter."
"Ah?" Takeuchi's eyes went wide with astonishment.
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