Chapter 147: Catching the Culprit
"Editor-in-Chief, weren't you worrying about this all day yesterday? You even complained that I wasn't taking it seriously enough," Charlotte explained, her eyes darting around the room. "I thought about it and decided you were right—it's not good to just let things slide. So, I asked a detective friend of mine for help... and, well, this is what happened."
To be honest, the situation was more than a little awkward. She never imagined her own editor-in-chief would make the exact same choice she did, let alone that they would all run into each other like this.
Sure enough, the moment Kogoro Mouri learned that Charlotte had also hired a detective, his competitive instincts flared. Any appreciation he'd just felt for the young reporter vanished, replaced by the immediate suspicion of a rival encroaching on his turf.
'Heh,'Conan thought dryly,'a minute ago, the old man was just admiring how pretty she is.'
Oblivious to Conan's silent jab, Kogoro Mouri fixed Charlotte with a slightly disgruntled look. "Well then, I wonder who this detective friend of Miss Charlotte's is? Perhaps I know them. We could even exchange a few ideas when the time comes."
Hmph. I'd like to see just who thinks they can steal my commission, he fumed internally.
Charlotte, however, quickly shook off her unease, her expression blooming into a vibrant smile. She didn't seem the least bit offended by Kogoro's challenging tone. Instead, her eyes sparkled with what looked like genuine admiration.
"Actually, Detective Mori, you most certainly know my friend," she began, her voice full of warmth. "She's mentioned you to me before. She said that Detective Mori is remarkably agile and a man of hidden depths..." A former police academy sharpshooter, whose marksmanship was rumored to surpass even Furuya Rei's—a fact few people knew.
"...gifted with extraordinary talents and incredible endurance..." A man tough enough to withstand over a thousand tranquilizer darts and still be perfectly fine.
"...and possesses an unmatched instinct for solving cases." Indeed, at any crime scene, whichever suspect Kogoro Mouri pointed to was guaranteed not to be the real culprit.
"She called you a Great Detective worthy of the name!" Charlotte concluded with a flourish. "Before today, I thought she might be exaggerating. But seeing you in person, I realize she wasn't wrong at all—in fact, I think she was being a bit conservative in her praise."
Conan stared, utterly speechless. He never thought he'd live to see the day someone laid praise on Uncle Kogoro so thick, and with such apparent sincerity. Was this Miss Charlotte for real?
Ran, on the other hand, was beaming, clearly delighted to hear someone speak so highly of her father. As for Kogoro himself, Charlotte's words completely deflated his irritation. He puffed out his chest and let out a booming laugh.
"Hahaha! Your detective friend has quite the eye for talent! That's right, I, the Great Detective Kogoro Mouri, am indeed a man of extraordinary gifts!"
He was, after all, the famous 'Sleeping Kogoro,' a man who could solve cases in his sleep! Hahaha! The more he thought about it, the more he decided that Charlotte and her friend had excellent judgment.
"By the way, Miss Charlotte, you still haven't told me the name of this insightful friend of yours." When he asked the question again, his tone was significantly friendlier, all traces of displeasure gone.
"Oh, her name is Natsume Natsuki. Detective Mori, you should know her, right?"
The name dropped like a stone in the quiet apartment. Kogoro, Ran, and Conan all froze, their expressions a mixture of shock and disbelief. They never would have guessed that Charlotte's detective was Natsume.
Upon hearing her name, Conan's mind kicked into high gear. He subconsciously began to scan Charlotte's outfit, searching for the familiar, glowing gem of a Vision. But to his surprise, he found nothing. To be certain, he "accidentally" stumbled, using the moment he bent down to get a full view from every angle. There was definitely no Vision on her.
That was strange. Conan had assumed that since Charlotte knew Natsume and possessed an aura that felt different from an ordinary person's—a feeling similar to what he got from Xiangling and Lisa—she must be a Vision holder.
Was he overthinking it? Was Charlotte just another person who happened to know Natsume, like Nahida?
"Mhm, it's Natsume. Detective Mori should know her, right?" Charlotte repeated, noticing their stunned silence.
"We do know her," Ran said, breaking the spell. "I just didn't expect you to be Natsume's friend, too. Beika feels so small sometimes; you run into acquaintances everywhere."
"By the way, Miss Charlotte..."
"Since we're both friends with Natsume, Ran, you don't need to be so formal. Just call me Charlotte."
"Then... Charlotte," Ran amended after a moment's hesitation, "since you commissioned Natsume, where is she now?"
"Oh, Natsume is currently tailing the suspicious person who handed me the threatening letter," Charlotte replied as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "She's planning to find the mastermind through him."
A collective gasp echoed through the room. This time, Charlotte's editor-in-chief, Takeuchi, joined the Mouri trio in their shock.
"Didn't I mention it?" Charlotte asked, blinking. "I was with Natsume earlier. When we spotted the guy, we both gave chase. But Natsume said she could handle this kind of thing alone, so she sent me back here first."
Four heads shook in perfect unison, confirming that she had, in fact, not mentioned it.
Once Takeuchi Koichi processed her words, his face creased with worry, and he immediately began to lecture her. "Charlotte! How can your friend be just as reckless as you are, doing something like that alone! That Miss Natsume can't be very old, can she? What if something happens to her while she's chasing him by herself?"
As he fretted, a hand clapped firmly on his shoulder. He turned to see Kogoro Mouri looking at him with an exceptionally serious expression.
"Don't worry," Kogoro said, his voice low and confident. "If it's the Natsume Natsuki I know, then the one you should be worried about right now is that suspicious person."
Takeuchi stared, completely baffled by the detective's statement. He looked at the others for clarification, only to see Ran, Conan, and even Charlotte nodding in solemn agreement.
Conan let out a small, dejected sigh. 'He's right. With Natsume's skills, she'll have no trouble tailing that guy without being seen. She'll find his accomplices, if he has any. And if he doesn't, she can easily take him down herself.'
It looked like there was nothing left for him to do.
Conan sighed again, a wave of familiar disappointment washing over him.
And sure enough, not ten minutes later, as the group rested in Charlotte's apartment, her phone began to ring.
It was a call from Natsume. The news was simple and direct: the culprit who sent the threatening letter had been caught.
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