Chapter 20: Kids These Days, I Really Don't Know What They're Thinking
Of course, Conan wouldn't explain anything about this—there was no need. This was the effect he wanted to see.
He was now officially dead from the Black Organization's poison, and hiding under Kogoro Mouri's wing to secretly search for clues about the Black Organization was the best option.
If his identity were exposed, he would inevitably be targeted by the Black Organization again, and next time he might not be so lucky.
"Alright, now that the case is solved, we'll be going, Inspector Megure." Natsukawa nodded to Inspector Megure.
"Okay, then please take the children home, Mr. Natsukawa."
Natsukawa nodded and left with the children.
He had a premonition that his GT-R might become the Detective Boys' personal shuttle bus in the future.
On the ride, Natsukawa thought about the whole case. In his opinion, this case actually had many plot holes.
The first hole was that the police couldn't tell that Tanaka Kazuyu, who was sitting in a chair, was already dead when they went upstairs to investigate.
The second hole was the timing of the answering machine. Logically speaking, from dialing to ringing, with the communication technology of this era, it should take at least three seconds. Even waiting for the answering machine to automatically respond without answering takes at least ten to twenty seconds.
The wait between Genta knocking something over and the answering machine responding must have been far too long, yet no one seemed to notice anything amiss!
The third flaw was the source of the sound. With so many people around, how could no one realize the sound was coming from the phone in the first-floor entryway instead of from the second floor?
The fourth flaw was the lack of luminol testing in the bathroom. Luminol had been used in forensics since the mid-19th century, and it was now the late 20th century—why didn't the Japanese police use it? He really didn't understand what Japanese forensic personnel were doing.
No wonder they were always being led by the nose by detectives...
Actually, the biggest plot hole here was how Tanaka Tomofumi managed to do so much in the fifteen minutes it took for the police to arrive.
He cleaned the bathroom, removed the bloodstains from the body, carried it to the second floor, fixed it in position, and disguised it to resemble Tanaka Kazuyu.
It seemed like only three things, but there were many details involved, and any mistake would give him away. Therefore, fifteen minutes was absolutely impossible!
After dropping Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta off at their homes, Natsukawa glanced back at Conan.
What was this guy still pondering? The case had already been solved.
"Uncle Natsukawa, did you know from the beginning that Tanaka Tomofumi was the murderer?"
As a renowned detective-in-training, Conan naturally possessed exceptional investigative abilities.
Today, Natsukawa's words were clearly leading, as if he already knew Tanaka Kazuyu was dead. How did he figure that out?
He was the last to arrive, yet he guessed the answer after hearing only a few of their conversations.
Was he former police? Was that last guess really correct? If so, what kind of country would have police with such terrifying deductive abilities?
And why didn't Natsukawa solve the case himself, instead prompting him?
Conan was very curious about this. Had he been discovered? That shouldn't be the case.
So far, only Professor Agasa knew his identity—even his parents were still kept in the dark.
"Of course I don't know. I just had a slight suspicion." Natsukawa glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror and exchanged a look with Conan. "I was just making a wild guess. He wouldn't let me go upstairs, so I thought Tanaka Kazuyu might be dead."
"Then why didn't you just tell Inspector Megure directly, instead of making me explain?"
"Did I? I just glanced at you."
Natsukawa naturally wouldn't admit it—he just glanced at him and let Conan figure it out himself.
This is Conan's own deduction, it has nothing to do with me...
Conan: "..."
Silence fell in the car. Natsukawa focused on driving, while Conan looked at him with a strange expression.
This man definitely has a problem.
"Conan, remember to take your medicine on time when you get home. You'll grow taller when you're better!"
Anya said this as Conan got out of the car.
Conan: "???"
"I know everything!" (^_^)☆
What does she know?
Before Conan could speak, Natsukawa had already turned and driven into his own parking garage.
Conan was left bewildered.
What does Anya know? Could it be about me shrinking?
But why did she say to remember to take my medicine on time, so I'd grow taller when I got better? Was she trying to remind me of something?
Are Natsukawa and Anya members of the Black Organization?
A barrage of thoughts flashed through Conan's mind, but there were no clues, no evidence, nothing to reason with.
Anya's words were incoherent, and Conan couldn't deduce anything meaningful.
That evening.
At the Natsukawa family's dinner table.
Natsukawa said, "Anya wasn't very good today. She cried the whole time at someone else's house. You're a six-year-old young lady—how can you still act like a little crybaby?"
"Anya was just scared by that murderer uncle!" o(￣▽￣)d
Strange child.
Natsukawa clearly remembered that after he arrived at the Tanaka family's house, Anya acted very boldly, not at all like she was scared.
"If Papa were there, I wouldn't be scared!"
"Even if I'm not there, Anya shouldn't cry. Look at Ayumi—she's a girl too, and she didn't shed a tear. You're crying so loudly. Be careful, or Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Conan won't play with you anymore."
Anya jumped off the dining chair, stomped over to Natsukawa, and stepped on his slippers. "Ayumi and the others wouldn't stop playing with Anya! Papa is such a jinx, so mean!"
Returning to her chair, Anya suddenly seemed to lose her appetite, slumping her head against the table.
Natsukawa glanced at her but ignored her, continuing to eat. She always acted like this when she wanted peanuts or a new doll—he'd developed immunity to it.
Since coming to Japan, Natsukawa had mostly cooked for himself.
Having lived through so many years, it had been a long time since he'd cooked regularly, but luckily, the skills were ingrained in his muscle memory, and he quickly picked it up again.
The taste was still quite good—and this wasn't just Natsukawa boasting. It was genuinely excellent.
Seeing that Natsukawa ignored her, Anya finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"Papa, when are you going to get me a mama?!"
Anya's words were startling, causing Natsukawa's hand to tremble, and his chopsticks clattered to the ground.
"Are you alright, Papa?"
Anya obediently jumped off her chair and stood behind Natsukawa, patting his back.
Natsukawa pretended to cough lightly twice before touching Anya's pink hair and saying, "Why does Anya want a mama? Is there something Papa is doing wrong?"
"Of course not!" Anya, jumping up anxiously, scrambled onto her chair and looked directly at Natsukawa. "Because Papa is very busy! If there's a mama, she can help Papa share some of the pressure of taking care of me!"
Sometimes Anya was inexplicably thoughtful, and when Natsukawa heard this, he felt warmth in his heart. This little girl was becoming more and more like a comforting presence.
But there was definitely nothing that could be done about that.
It was already bizarre enough for a spy to adopt a daughter, let alone get married. At least, Natsukawa hadn't considered it before retirement, and even after retirement, it was something he needed to carefully consider.
After all, he was a spy—he couldn't guarantee he'd never be exposed.
If his wife was just an ordinary person, she would inevitably become his weakness. Adopting Anya meant Natsukawa would indeed face some danger.
This danger wasn't really that great, but rather the added vulnerability.
A spy with vulnerabilities had weaknesses, and if these weaknesses were discovered by enemy personnel, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Besides, all the other classmates have..." Anya tapped her index fingers together, her eyes full of hope.
"Nonsense! Look at Conan—he doesn't have a mother. No, he doesn't even have a father around. He still eats and drinks as usual. You already have a papa, so overall you're better off than Conan."
"Not the best, but better than the worst!" Natsukawa breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, he had Conan, who seemed to spring from nowhere, to compare himself to.
"But Conan said his parents are just abroad."
"Then he's living with Mr. Mouri now, which is no different from not having parents at all." Natsukawa waved his hand, picked up a piece of meat and placed it in Anya's bowl. "Don't mention this. I can take care of you by myself, don't worry."
He stroked the little cutie's pink hair and started cleaning up and washing the dishes.
Anya nodded thoughtfully, pondering the thoughts she had just heard from Natsukawa through her telepathy.
Did her papa mean that spies couldn't have ordinary wives?
If that's the case!
Anya must help her papa find an extraordinary wife.
And one who truly loves Anya.
Suddenly, it felt so difficult!
After dinner, Anya hid in her room, deep in thought.
However, the only woman she could think of was their homeroom teacher, Ms. Kobayashi.
Thinking of Ms. Kobayashi's strictness in class, Anya immediately rejected the idea!
She didn't approve of this marriage.
Let's think of someone else!
Ran-neechan?
But she seemed to have heard Sonoko-neechan mention that Ran-neechan already had someone she liked.
And Conan also likes Ran-neechan! She absolutely couldn't let her papa steal someone else's love—Conan was her best friend!
If that happened, where could she find a mama?
"Woof woof!"
Suddenly, Bond appeared out of nowhere, staring straight at Anya.
Anya suddenly jumped up excitedly. "I'm going to my room, Papa!"
She then pulled Bond and ran to her room.
Bang!
Anya's door slammed shut with a loud noise.
Natsukawa peeked out from the kitchen and looked towards the stairs. "Kids these days, I really don't know what they're thinking."
"Bond, tell Anya who her future mama is! Who will become Papa's wife!"
Inside the room, Anya tried hard to listen to Bond's thoughts, wanting to use Bond's ability to foresee the future to glean information about her future mama.
"Woof?"
Bond stuck out his tongue and licked Anya's cheek, then tilted his head cutely.
Bond didn't foresee anything about a mama or wife.
"Bond, hurry up and foresee the future, or I'll eat all your dog food!"
Anya's expression was somewhat determined.
For the role of her mama, she was going all out.
Although the dog food wasn't bad, it certainly wasn't delicious.
Don't ask her how she knew—the answer is she secretly ate some.
"Woof woof woof!"
She tried hard to listen to his thoughts, but still got nothing.
Okay, Anya decided she had to wait. Perhaps she needed a specific trigger.
"Bond, if you ever find out who Mama is, you must tell Anya immediately!"
The girl and the dog made a pinky promise.
[End of Chapter 20]
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01