Chapter 232
Edogawa Conan was extremely confused, and before he could even ask, the police officers started chatting among themselves.
"Squad Leader Date was beaten to solving that case before, right? That guy claimed to be the famous Detective Conan, wasn't he?"
"Right, colleagues in Osaka also said they encountered a detective claiming to be Conan."
"Wasn't there that cult that made quite a fuss two years ago? That case was also solved by a detective named Edogawa Conan."
Takagi Wataru was hearing about this for the first time and was somewhat moved: "Wow, so many detectives named Conan!"
Date Wataru sweated: "Might be the same person."
Hagiwara Kenji said: "That's quite possible, but if they're different people with the same name, considering they're detectives, it doesn't seem very strange. After all, Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is too famous—embarrassed to call themselves Holmes, so they edge around it a bit..."
Matsuda Jinpei complained: "But this is too many! Can't they pick a different character to milk? Why doesn't anyone call themselves Poirot!"
"I have seen a café called 'Poirot'..."
Edogawa Conan: "............"
So not only was he not the first detective named Conan, he might not even rank second or third!
Although he had come up with this fake name in a panic when Ran suddenly discovered him and asked his name, he was actually quite satisfied with it afterward, thinking it was full of detective atmosphere—but it turned out to be this common!
For a moment, Edogawa Conan's heart was filled with disappointment.
Hagiwara Kenji noticed Edogawa Conan's suddenly deflated mood and consoled him with high emotional intelligence: "But we can't be sure about the others—maybe they're just fake names, but yours is your real name. You don't need to compare with others."
Edogawa Conan, dealt another blow: "............"
Thanks for the comfort, but mine's also a fake name.
If this were a game, I'd probably have to register as EdogawaConan12345.
Edogawa Conan forced a smile, trying to change the subject and stop discussing this sad matter: "Are you all detectives? Have you been watching these people? You came so quickly."
Takagi Wataru, who was tying up criminals: "Eh? No, Matsuda-senpai is from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit, just happened to come looking for Hagiwara-senpai..."
Hagiwara Kenji said casually: "Anyway, since we're all here, we came together... Alright, Conan-kun, you should go down with the other children too. I'll take you to Sato downstairs and have her send you home..."
"Ah, wait! Wait a minute!"
Edogawa Conan suddenly remembered something very important and hurriedly interrupted urgently: "That person just said he found a [Consultant] to help decode the cipher, and that [Consultant] sounds quite suspicious... Do you know what that's about?"
At this moment, among the four police officers, three simultaneously showed very subtle expressions, while only Takagi Wataru looked completely confused.
"Consultant? What consultant?" Takagi Wataru said, completely out of the loop. "I only know our Metropolitan Police has consultants..."
Edogawa Conan sweated.
No, that's completely different... How could Metropolitan Police consultants be connected to this kind of criminal!
Hagiwara Kenji felt there was no need to explain this to a child—this was an internal understanding among Criminal Investigation Division One, so he said dismissively: "Don't know—alright, alright, it's already very late, you really should go home."
Edogawa Conan noticed the strange behavior of those police officers, his gaze immediately became sharp, but he changed his tone to sound like he was acting cute: "Hey, you really haven't heard of it? That [Consultant] seems really amazing—supposedly can solve ciphers with just one glance, in one second!"
Hagiwara Kenji unconsciously followed that line of thought: "Mm, if it's that guy, he really is good at decoding ciphers..."
Edogawa Conan: "...???"
This police officer not only knew that [Consultant], but his reaction...
—In your opinion, solving ciphers in one second is actually normal?! Is that [Consultant] really so amazing it's like cheating?!
"So you do know about [Consultant]! Tell me about it!" Edogawa Conan struggled and twisted his body, trying to stare at Hagiwara Kenji who was pushing him forward.
Hagiwara Kenji helplessly continued deflecting: "If children don't go home, their families will call the police... Eh?"
Because Hagiwara Kenji had unconsciously walked to a place where the moonlight was brighter, illuminating Edogawa Conan's face, this face immediately made Hagiwara Kenji fall into thought.
"Mm... why do I feel like you look familiar..."
Edogawa Conan: "...!!! Ha, haha, must be your imagination. I have a pretty common face..."
"Not imagination, really familiar..."
Matsuda Jinpei had finished tying up the criminals and came over curiously to look: "Eh, really, does feel very familiar..."
Edogawa Conan was scared into a cold sweat. As Kudo Shinichi, he didn't seem to have met them much—could it be through newspapers...
"Ah, looks a bit like Kudo-san." Hagiwara Kenji was first to remember, and the more he looked the more similar it seemed. "Look at these glasses, feels like the same style as Kudo-san's."
Edogawa Conan: "...?! Um, I suddenly remembered, it's so late and I haven't gone home yet, my family must be worried. Um, I can go down by myself, goodbye police uncles!"
His dad unexpectedly dragged him down at an unexpected moment. Edogawa Conan was scared and quickly made excuses to leave.
Fortunately, Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei didn't think much of it, just simply marveling at how much this child looked like someone they knew.
Takagi Wataru and Squad Leader Date first woke up the criminals and escorted two of them down, while Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji were responsible for escorting the remaining Italian.
Taking advantage of the Italian not understanding Japanese, Matsuda Jinpei started complaining.
"Samukawa really knows how to pick timing, always suddenly calling in the middle of the night to make us work overtime."
Hagiwara Kenji: "Today wasn't bad, just after nightfall... His schedule has always been headache-inducing."
"Otherwise he wouldn't have resigned." Matsuda Jinpei pondered. "But I think he resigned quite well—doing this consultant work obviously makes him happier."
"...Because criminals deliver themselves to his door for him to toy with."
Hagiwara Kenji thought of those criminals who were deceived badly and even after going to prison couldn't figure out that Samukawa Shinryu had called the police, and couldn't help but have a headache: "How to put it, at this point, no one has ever suspected he was the one who betrayed them... Little Shinryu's temperament is just too good at deceiving criminals' eyes..."
Matsuda Jinpei chuckled: "After all, not everyone who consulted him ended up inside... Those who didn't go in will always speak well of him."
Although Samukawa Shinryu's side always attracted guys with very dangerous ideas, quite a few of those potential criminals actually gave up crime after talking with Samukawa Shinryu.
Matsuda Jinpei had been curious about how Samukawa Shinryu managed this for a long time. After all, based on his understanding of Samukawa Shinryu, that guy's words would only add fuel to fire—he couldn't imagine words of persuasion toward goodness coming from that guy's mouth... Just imagining that scene made him want to vomit.
He definitely had to observe if he got the chance.
After Edogawa Conan was sent home, he was first held and comforted by a worried Mouri Ran, then knocked on the head by Mouri Kogorou, who scolded him for "making Ran so worried."
Coming back to his senses from the excitement of decoding ciphers and catching criminals, as well as contemplating the new mystery called [Consultant], Edogawa Conan also felt somewhat guilty.
Only after making several vows was he finally let off.
The next day when he woke up, Edogawa Conan was still thinking about that [Consultant].
Considering that Mouri Kogorou was formerly a police officer and now worked as a detective—though not very successfully—his information should be more well-informed, so Edogawa Conan carefully approached Mouri Kogorou, who was reading the newspaper, and asked:
"Hey, Uncle, have you heard of [Consultant]?"
Mouri Kogorou absent-mindedly: "What consultant?"
"Well, some criminals might go consult for problems..."
"Oh, a crime consultant."
Edogawa Conan's eyes lit up: "Uncle, you really know?!"
"What's not to know about that? Professor Moriarty from 'Sherlock Holmes'..."
Edogawa Conan's eyes immediately died: "Not that one..."
Just then, the phone suddenly rang. Mouri Kogorou was too lazy to answer and signaled Edogawa Conan, who was right next to him, to pick it up.
Edogawa Conan reluctantly picked up the receiver. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a voice that had obviously used a voice changer:
"I am Aso Keiji from Tsukikage Island... There are still two days until the full moon night. The money has been transferred to your account. Please be sure to come..."
Tsukikage Island?
What's this about, all mysterious and using a voice changer!
Edogawa Conan puzzledly relayed this to Mouri Kogorou, who suddenly understood.
"Oh! The one who sent that letter before... I almost forgot." Saying this, he rummaged around and found a letter.
All the text on the letter was cut out from newspapers, making it impossible to see personal handwriting habits—completely done to disguise identity.
The letter said they hoped Mouri Kogorou could come to Tsukikage Island to investigate a case before the full moon night.
"There was no money sent at the time, so I thought it was just a prank letter. Didn't expect them to suddenly send money this time... Tsukikage Island... Good!"
Mouri Kogorou perked up: "We'll go to Tsukikage Island in two days!"