Chapter 34: The Friendly Inspector Megure
The IRS was efficient—the helicopter arrived in Tokyo that afternoon and landed at the agreed-upon location in the suburbs.
Natsukawa and Franky went together to deliver the body to international waters to feed the fish.
Franky couldn't fly a helicopter, and it wasn't appropriate to let the IRS handle this particular task. Fortunately, Natsukawa had nothing else scheduled for today.
There was no news from Tequila today.
After delivering the items to the Beika Library last night, he'd driven his pickup truck out of Tokyo, and his GPS signal hadn't been restored yet.
"Seriously, don't you want me to enroll you in a driving school in Hawaii?"
In the GTR, Natsukawa drove with one hand, speeding along the highway.
He glanced back at the sullen Franky.
He'd been recommending Hawaiian driving schools to Franky the entire trip.
Cars, tanks, planes, helicopters, boats—you name it, they taught it.
Even Conan said it was great after training there.
"How could such a driving school possibly exist? You must be joking." Franky was gloomy. He was genuinely terrible at driving—he couldn't even handle a car, and could only get by taking cabs everywhere.
The main reason was that Natsukawa had encouraged him to try driving when they were kids, and he'd ended up driving straight into a river. After that incident, he developed a phobia of operating vehicles.
He remembered it was around their first year of middle school.
Natsukawa had secretly taken him for a joyride in the orphanage director's car. At first, Natsukawa drove, but later Franky felt that driving didn't look so difficult. With Natsukawa constantly encouraging and egging him on, he couldn't resist giving it a try.
He didn't know what hit him until he tried it.
The car itself became the source of trauma.
It went straight into the river. He couldn't distinguish between the accelerator and the brake, and in his panic, he stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, reaching 120 kilometers per hour by the time they hit the water.
Fortunately, because of his nervousness, he hadn't moved the steering wheel at all, gripping it rigidly. Otherwise, with telephone poles and railings on the left, he probably would've been seriously injured if he'd crashed into them.
Luckily, Natsukawa was an excellent swimmer and managed to pull him out of the river.
Afterwards, the two of them nearly got expelled from the orphanage.
"It definitely exists."
Natsukawa firmly believed it.
Conan talked about Hawaii all the time—maybe there really were driving schools like that there.
After all, Conan could actually pilot a plane!
Time passed quickly, and evening arrived before he knew it.
Natsukawa was nearly bored to death all day with no news from Tequila.
He'd planned to pick Anya up from school in the afternoon, but she'd called ahead saying the Detective Boys were going to "study together."
Natsukawa took it as a joke.
He'd witnessed Anya's grades recently.
Her best performance was the entrance exam—it had been downhill ever since.
He'd tried tutoring her himself, but Anya was like a stone in a river—stubborn and impossible to teach, unable to absorb anything.
He had no choice but to give up and leave the problem to Ms. Kobayashi.
Anyway, she'd be in first grade for twenty years—even someone completely hopeless would eventually understand something.
It would just be a bit tough on Ms. Kobayashi.
Should he try to set Shiratori up with her sooner?
That was a question worth considering.
Natsukawa hadn't gotten to know the Metropolitan Police Department well yet, and Inspector Megure hadn't been bringing Shiratori Ninzaburo on cases, so he probably hadn't transferred to Division One yet.
He'd introduce Ms. Kobayashi when that happened.
That way, he could also help Takagi by eliminating a powerful and wealthy rival in advance.
The main thing was that he felt guilty toward Ms. Kobayashi for bringing her such a problematic student.
As Anya's parent, his heart ached.
Just as he was thinking about Anya, her call came through.
Natsukawa checked the time—it was almost six o'clock. Anya probably wanted him to pick her up.
"Papa, could you come to the Beika Library?"
Anya's words made Natsukawa grin knowingly.
Good grief, the Grim Reaper elementary schooler took my daughter to a murder scene again, huh?
So this was how she was "studying together."
Tamada Kazuo's body had probably started decomposing after two days of fermentation.
Anya sounded a little scared, and as her father, Natsukawa immediately said, "I know, Anya. Be a good girl and wait for Papa at the Beika Library."
About fifteen minutes later, Natsukawa arrived at the Beika Library.
Usually, the library would be closed at this hour, but today it was still brightly lit.
As expected, a police car with flashing red and blue lights was parked at the entrance.
Conan must have discovered Tamada's body and the man's corpse in the elevator.
"Sir, you can't go in."
At the entrance, a police officer stopped Natsukawa. He didn't recognize this officer—he seemed to be new and didn't match the one he'd seen at the Tsujimura residence.
It seemed a new recruit had been brought into the fold.
"What happened? My daughter is still inside," Natsukawa said, just as another officer came out.
The officer spotted Natsukawa at the entrance, and his eyes lit up instantly.
This officer was the one Natsukawa had met at the Tsujimura house.
"Officer, could you let me in?"
Natsukawa raised his hand to greet the officer, ignoring the rookie trying to enforce protocol.
"Oh, Natsukawa-san! Inspector Megure just said that if you arrived, you could go right in. They're in the children's book section on the fourth floor."
Natsukawa looked at the officer with some surprise. What was up with Inspector Megure today? Why was he being so accommodating? Had his personal charm won him over?
That's right—he was already in Inspector Megure's brother's contact list.
Watching Natsukawa enter the library, the new officer at the entrance looked at his colleague with confusion.
"Didn't Inspector Megure say just yesterday that unauthorized personnel aren't allowed at crime scenes?"
He remembered another officer being reprimanded—why was this one still acting like this today? Hadn't he learned his lesson?
The senior officer shook his head. "Natsukawa-san's daughter is inside, and apparently there are some things she'll only tell her father."
Following the directions, Natsukawa headed to the fourth floor.
Glancing back at the elevator, Natsukawa felt something was off.
The elevator wasn't sealed off—the bodies probably hadn't been discovered yet, though the stench of death was beginning to permeate the elevator shaft.
On the fourth floor, Natsukawa knocked on the glass door of the children's section before entering.
The once-orderly book section had been ransacked by the officers. All the books were stacked on the floor, and some transparent plastic wrapping—presumably the original packaging—had been torn off. Even the bookshelves were basically empty.
Standing next to Inspector Megure was a short-haired woman with an impressive figure, dressed in a light-colored business suit. The skirt fell to mid-thigh, and she wore heels. Her sleeves were rolled up, revealing slender, fair arms—she looked extremely capable.
If he wasn't mistaken, this should be Miwako Sato, a detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division.
Besides her, several other officers were making preparations at the desks in the reading area.
Anya, Conan, and the other members of the Detective Boys stood to the side, whispering amongst themselves.
"Inspector Megure."
Natsukawa greeted Inspector Megure first, then nodded to Sato Miwako, who was looking at him curiously, before continuing, "What happened? Why is this place torn apart like this?"
Inspector Megure patted Natsukawa on the shoulder familiarly and explained, "Conan-kun called the police, saying they found traces of drugs hidden in the Beika Library."
"Drugs?"
Natsukawa feigned surprise and sighed, then asked somewhat curiously, "Isn't Inspector Megure from Division One? Aren't drugs usually handled by the Organized Crime Division?"
In the original story, Inspector Megure handled this case because of a murder, but now that Tamada and the male corpse at the top of the elevator hadn't been found yet, why was Division One still here?
Did the Metropolitan Police Department only have Division One?
In his memory, matters concerning drugs should be handled by the Drug Enforcement Division under the Organized Crime Department of the Metropolitan Police.
"Hehe, Natsukawa-kun, you seem to know quite a bit about our Metropolitan Police Department's structure." Inspector Megure seemed eager to build rapport with Natsukawa, his smile making Natsukawa frown slightly.
What's going on? When did Inspector Megure become like this?
This wasn't like Inspector Megure at all.
He wasn't Uncle Mouri—there was no need for this kind of attitude.
"Actually, we were investigating the disappearance of Tamada Kazuo, an employee of the Beika Library, when Conan-kun called us over saying he'd found drugs. The Organized Crime Division was busy, and since we were already here, we took over the case."
So what?
What does this have to do with your friendly attitude?
Seemingly noticing Natsukawa's confusion, Inspector Megure pointed to Anya beside him. "Little Anya-chan said she has something very important to tell me, but she'll only speak when her father, Natsukawa-kun, arrives."
Huh?
Is that so?
Natsukawa turned to look at Anya.
(End of Chapter 34)
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