Chapter 18: I'll File a Complaint
Frank's Residence.
Natsukawa and Frank chatted for a long time.
Mainly, Natsukawa needed to learn about the underworld—especially figures like assassins active in Japan.
"By the way, do you know about Phantom Thief Kid?"
"What about him?" Natsukawa didn't answer directly, but asked instead. "He's a jewel thief. He shouldn't have anything to do with us, right?"
He wondered if the second Phantom Thief Kid had appeared in this world yet.
However, Frank's question meant he had information about him.
"It seems he's recently resurfaced. He disappeared from the international scene eight years ago, and only recently started appearing on the dark web again."
"Did he buy information from you?"
Natsukawa's question wasn't without reason.
Frank, as a top expert in dark web intelligence, had cooperated with more than just Natsukawa, but Natsukawa was his closest contact.
"Yeah."
Frank nodded and continued, "He's also inquiring about a black organization on the dark web, but they seem a bit different from the Black Organization we've been dealing with. Though they're also a mysterious organization that's left no trace in the underworld."
"If it's not related to jewelry, don't tell him anything. You've already messed with the Black Organization—it wouldn't be good to mess with another mysterious organization too."
The second-generation Phantom Thief Kid, also known as Kuroba Kaito, had been dedicated to finding the truth behind his father's death.
His father seemed to have died at the hands of a mysterious underworld organization. All the gems he stole were to check if they contained a special element called Pandora, hoping to expose this mysterious organization.
This organization shared the same goal as the Black Organization: immortality.
The common ailment of the wealthy and powerful was the desire for eternal life.
Even ancient emperors had pursued immortality throughout history.
Compared to the Black Organization's APTX4869, the longevity substance Pandora pursued by this other organization didn't seem to have proven its effectiveness.
At least, no one had shrunk like Conan.
Uh... no, maybe there were cases.
It just hadn't appeared before Natsukawa's knowledge.
Or perhaps APTX4869 contained the longevity substance extracted from special gems by that organization.
This could explain why Haibara couldn't develop a true antidote after escaping—it was very likely related to the longevity substance it contained.
Moreover, the longevity substance Pandora was probably placed there without Haibara's knowledge. If the boss of the Black Organization wanted to, Haibara would most likely not have noticed such a small addition.
After escaping from the Black Organization, all of Haibara's research relied on materials she purchased herself, and it was very likely that she failed because she lacked this substance.
The phone rang in the villa—it was Natsukawa's flip phone. Anya was calling.
Looking at the time, it should have been some time since school ended.
Something must have happened, otherwise Anya wouldn't have called him. Recently, Anya had started going to school with Conan, which made things much easier for Natsukawa.
"Papa~"
There was a sob on the other end of the line, and the voice was very loud. He couldn't help but hold the receiver a little further away.
That was the good thing about flip phones—like old-fashioned phones, the sound was super loud, and you couldn't adjust the volume.
Normally, Natsukawa could tolerate it, but Anya's voice was really loud right now.
"What happened? Is Conan next to you?"
If Conan were next to her, he would choose to listen to Conan's explanation, as Anya's speech was indeed somewhat incoherent.
The crying on the other end of the phone stopped, indicating that someone else had taken over. After four or five seconds, a different voice came through.
"Hello, is this Mr. Natsukawa? This is Inspector Megure from the Metropolitan Police Department. Do you have time to pick up your daughter?"
It was Inspector Megure from the Metropolitan Police Department. Hearing the voice, Natsukawa roughly knew that a case had occurred, and he immediately calmed down.
Inspector Megure's tone was okay—it didn't sound like Anya was injured or anything.
After a two-second pause, Natsukawa asked, "What happened? Is Anya alright?"
Confirmation and belief were two different things. As a guardian, he should ask.
"She's fine. You should come over as soon as possible."
"I understand."
After hanging up the phone, Natsukawa gave Frank a few more instructions.
Basically, he was only to provide information about gems, and not to get involved in anything else.
Frank, clearly understanding the implications, nodded knowingly.
He needed to focus on gathering intelligence on the Organization's affairs, and his focus would gradually shift from Europe and America to Japan. It was best to ignore this newly appearing organization for now.
Tanaka Residence, Beika Town.
"This must be it." Natsukawa closed the car door and walked towards the entrance.
There were police officers guarding the entrance, and quite a few neighbors watching—it seemed to be a murder case without a doubt.
"Hello, Inspector Megure asked me to come," Natsukawa said to the police officer outside the cordon.
The officer must have known beforehand, nodding and opening the cordon to let Natsukawa through.
Before even entering, Natsukawa could hear faint sobbing. Considering Anya's tone on the phone, it must be her voice.
The little girl's sobs sounded extremely pitiful and helpless, which made his father's heart ache. His previously calm expression softened, and his steps quickened.
"Anya, what's wrong?"
Entering the entryway, Natsukawa saw several people standing in the hallway: Inspector Megure, the Detective Boys, and a middle-aged man in a brown suit.
His gentle yet firm voice drew everyone's attention. Anya's teary green eyes immediately brightened, and she ran to Natsukawa, hugging his leg tightly.
"It's nothing." Natsukawa stroked her soft pink hair, pulling her into a tight embrace, before looking at Inspector Megure, waiting for an explanation.
"Are you this child's parent?"
Before Inspector Megure could speak, the middle-aged man asked impatiently.
"Yes."
Natsukawa glanced at him calmly. Was this the guy who made Anya cry? With this attitude, the probability of him being the culprit was greater than ninety-nine percent.
"Hmph, you'd better hurry up and take this crybaby out of my house. It's so noisy, my brother will start complaining again."
Natsukawa ignored him, instead looking at Inspector Megure, his meaning clear: he needed an explanation.
"Ahem, it's like this..."
Inspector Megure explained to Natsukawa in a rather unusual manner, completely disregarding any principle of case confidentiality. However, this might be because Anya was involved, and as a father, Natsukawa had the right to know the details.
Inspector Megure then began to explain.
It turned out that the Detective Boys, while searching for a lost cat, discovered what they believed was a murder in the bathroom of the Tanaka family's house. They called the police, but when the officers arrived, the body was nowhere to be found.
The family consisted of two people—twins.
The older brother, Tanaka Kazuyu, who had initially greeted them, was rather short-tempered and had gone upstairs to sleep halfway through the investigation. The younger brother, Tanaka Tomofumi, was the man now in front of them, having just returned from work.
"Where would I get a body from? This kid keeps saying there is one. The search is finished now, please leave quickly. My brother is still sleeping upstairs," Tanaka Tomofumi said impatiently, urging the police and the children to leave.
"Officer, I'm starting to doubt your competence. You actually listened to a child's story and ransacked my house like this? Just wait—I'll file a complaint."
The man's attitude wasn't actually wrong. A perfectly good house, ransacked by the police, and with children insisting there was a dead person in the house—no one would be happy.
But something was off about the Tanaka family.
As soon as Inspector Megure finished explaining, Natsukawa remembered this case.
The case was about a younger brother killing his older brother in the bathroom, then impersonating both people after the children discovered it, covering up the truth about his brother's death.
His brother should be lying dead in his room on the second floor right now.
To be honest, Natsukawa was also very curious. Inspector Megure had gone upstairs, yet he hadn't noticed that Tanaka Kazuyu was dead.
The tatami mats on the first floor were all torn up, and a corpse was right there on the second floor, yet he couldn't recognize it.
Normally, a person's face turned pale after death, especially after excessive blood loss—it shouldn't be hard to tell.
"Since Mr. Natsukawa is already here, could you please take these children home?" Inspector Megure's tone wasn't very friendly either. After all, anyone would be upset to be tricked, especially since he had trusted a few children.
Now he was starting to regret trusting Conan so easily when he'd called earlier.
[End of Chapter 18]
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