Chapter 236
At this time, Asai Narimi, as an acquaintance, stepped forward to speak for Samukawa Shinryu.
"No, Samukawa-san is a police officer..."
Usuha Izuki happened to slowly walk to the scene, and the first thing he heard was Asai Narimi explaining on his behalf.
What a joke! How could he let the other party explain clearly! What about his suspicion values?
So he decisively stepped forward to interrupt Asai Narimi and coldly, carelessly took over the conversation himself.
"Not anymore."
Everyone else: ".................."
This statement sounded rather ominous... They wanted to ask why he wasn't a police officer anymore, but didn't dare.
Edogawa Conan was also stunned for a moment.
He wouldn't stubbornly stick to his theory either. When he discovered new evidence that seemed to conflict with his speculation, he would flexibly change his thinking.
For example... if this person wasn't the [Consultant], then the conversation he'd felt was full of provocation earlier might have just been simple bickering between acquaintances.
...Could it be like this?! So the acquaintance he mentioned referred to these two police officers?!
There was no transaction partner here?! Had he been overthinking earlier?!
"Ah, Little Shinryu." Hagiwara Kenji raised his hand in greeting. "You come take a look too."
Edogawa Conan: "............???"
Everyone else: "............?!?!?!"
Edogawa Conan's neck creaked as he looked toward Hagiwara Kenji, then creaked again as he looked toward Usuha Izuki, who hadn't responded but was indeed walking inside following this call.
So that nickname "Little Shizuka" that almost sounded like it was for a girl was actually referring to this guy?!
Edogawa Conan was greatly shocked and developed respect for Hagiwara Kenji, who could call out such a nickname to this kind of person with a straight face.
At the same time, his brain was rapidly analyzing.
Officer Hagiwara had said this was his partner, but the partner of Officer Hagiwara that he'd seen didn't look like this. Dr. Asai obviously also knew this... Little Shizuka, and since this Little Shizuka was no longer a police officer, that meant he was the former partner of Officer Hagiwara who had come to Tsukikage Island to solve cases several years ago.
No wonder Officers Hagiwara and Matsuda became so calm after hearing his description—they were probably used to this former partner constantly being reported...
Edogawa Conan quickly constructed a reasonable and logical conclusion.
If Samukawa Shinryu looked slightly more ordinary, Edogawa Conan would have accepted this conclusion that wasn't far from the truth.
The problem was that Samukawa Shinryu's aura was simply too outrageous. Edogawa Conan couldn't accept that he was a normally retired police officer and always felt there might be something fishy.
Mouri Kogorou thought the same way.
In recent years, Mouri Kogorou's detective agency had mostly been handling business like investigating affairs and finding people, with relatively few criminal cases. He had no connection with Samukawa Shinryu at all. Only recently, after inexplicably becoming famous as "Sleeping Kogorou," had he encountered more murder cases. But because Edogawa Conan was unbeatable as his substitute, there had been no situations requiring consultation with the [Consultant] so far.
This meant Mouri Kogorou had no concept of Samukawa Shinryu. Plus he knew that being a police officer didn't necessarily mean being a good person, so he said alertly: "I think three people are enough. More would make the scene chaotic."
Hagiwara Kenji was startled and was about to say something: "Mouri-san, actually..."
"Then I'll leave this to you all."
Usuha Izuki hadn't planned to get involved anyway. He glanced at the scene and nonchalantly avoided the troublesome matter: "Does anyone have a phone charging cable?"
Edogawa Conan immediately said: "I brought one!"
Since he estimated it would go on until very late, Edogawa Conan had brought one just in case, not expecting it would actually come in handy.
What a great opportunity! Could he finally talk to the other party?!
Usuha Izuki wasn't polite about it, but his tone was quite courteous: "Please let me borrow it."
Edogawa Conan: "...O-okay."
Although he was the one being asked for a favor... but why! Why did this person use polite language even with children! It felt like this guy was more suited to the kind of rude tone those men in black used! The sense of discord was off the charts!
Edogawa Conan absent-mindedly pulled out the phone charging cable from his pants pocket, feeling like he might have fallen into some kind of misunderstanding.
Making judgments based on first impressions was a rookie mistake, right? He should observe more carefully before making judgments...
But honestly, since Edogawa Conan often used passersby to train his observational skills, what he had now was less a first impression and more feedback from his subconscious collection of intelligence. It usually didn't differ much from conclusions reached through rational observation. If even his subconscious was warning him like this... was there really no problem?
Edogawa Conan watched with a conflicted heart as the youth with the terrifying aura actually crouched down to match his height to say thank you, then took the charging cable from his hand.
This... what kind of manga male supporting character setup was this!
The kind where everyone thinks he's a delinquent because of his usually cold and dangerous expression, but he actually secretly feeds cats!
Was the other party actually this type of character?! If so, no wonder Officer Hagiwara would call him "Little Shizuka (Shinryu)"—maybe because he knew the other party's gentle inner side...
"You're welcome."
Edogawa Conan responded absent-mindedly, his gaze still somewhat confused as he stared at the other party.
Suddenly, he noticed something from this face.
From this angle, the other party looked a bit like Usuha-nii, who had crouched down to talk to him on the shinkansen that day...
The thought flashed by, and Edogawa Conan didn't take this clue seriously.
He didn't even realize that these two faces weren't just similar—they were exactly the same.
But he wasn't alone in this. Even Date Wataru, who had also seen both people, still hadn't realized this fact—the influence of aura and hairstyle was just too great.
Even with the same actor playing different roles, some people can't recognize them and are shocked when they see the cast list saying "So it was him who played that!" Much less when the difference in temperament, hair color, and eye color was this extreme.
And Edogawa Conan wasn't actually that familiar with Usuha Izuki—he could only say he'd recognize him if he saw him. Under these circumstances, facing such plastic surgery-level influence from temperament and appearance, being able to feel familiar was already a heaven-defying level of observation.
Usuha Izuki was about to stand up, but Edogawa Conan's undisguised gaze made him ask directly:
"What's wrong? You keep staring at me?"
"Ah, ahaha..." Edogawa Conan laughed dryly twice. "It's just that... you look somewhat familiar."
The blue-haired youth raised an eyebrow: "What a coincidence, I also find you somewhat familiar."
Edogawa Conan: "...???"
"A bit like that high school detective who suddenly went silent recently." The youth looked thoughtful. "If I didn't believe in science, given how similar you look, I'd suspect he had become younger."
Edogawa Conan: "...!!!"
Help! What was wrong with Officers Hagiwara, Matsuda, and this former officer?! Were their imaginations this strong?!
"...Ha, haha, actually Shinichi-niisan and I are relatives, so it's normal that we look alike." Since the story about being Dr. Agasa's distant relative had failed with Usuha-nii last time, Edogawa Conan decisively updated his file with a more reliable explanation: "But are you very interested in Shinichi-niisan? You noticed I look like him so quickly."
"Mm, I'm relatively interested."
Edogawa Conan felt his back starting to sweat again.
He had just convinced himself not to be too fixated on that dangerous first impression and to draw conclusions from observation, but now... the other party's behavior made him feel cared for, yet the content of his words inexplicably made his wariness continuously rise.
"Why are you interested in Shinichi-niisan?" Edogawa Conan asked, pretending to be merely curious.
The youth's dark red eyes quietly observed him, as if penetrating through his disguising lenses and seeing through his soul with complete transparency: "Because it's interesting."
Edogawa Conan: "............"
He didn't think there was anything interesting about himself! He was just a high school detective! Although he had indeed been pleased with this title before, thinking about it now, it was nothing special—just taking advantage of his age. There was no reason for someone like this to pay attention to him!
For some reason, although he actually liked showing off, just thinking about this person seeing his smug face in newspapers made him feel inexplicably embarrassed.
The cases he'd solved might actually be very simple in this person's eyes... watching him might be like watching a joke, which was why he found it interesting...
"Any other questions?" The youth supported his knees, about to stand up. "If not, I'll..."
"Ah! Wait!" Edogawa Conan suddenly remembered something very important that he felt he had to confirm. "One more question!"
"What?" The youth stopped his movement, waiting for his continuation.
This consideration made Edogawa Conan's heart ache faintly... someone who was so serious and not dismissive even toward children couldn't be a bad person, right?
"It's just, um, do you know about the person called [Consultant] among criminals?"
When he asked Officers Hagiwara and Matsuda, they didn't seem inclined to tell him. Since this person seemed close to them, maybe he knew something.
What if he was willing to tell him?
"...Ah, I might know."
This non-dismissive answer made Edogawa Conan overjoyed: "Who is it? Where? What do you know?"
The other party blinked, his tone remaining calm and unruffled: "The person you're talking about is probably me."
Edogawa Conan: "...Hah???"
—Wait?! What's going on?! He admitted it just like that??? I just struggled to eliminate you as a possibility!!!