Chapter 36: Mother—A Truly Heavy Topic
At the elevator entrance, Sato Miwako covered her nose, lost in thought for a long time.
"Inspector Megure, could Director Tsujimura be the murderer?"
Without waiting for Inspector Megure's answer, Sato Miwako quickly confirmed her own judgment, nodding to herself. "We couldn't find Director Tsujimura today. He must have killed Tamada Kazuo and fled to avoid being discovered."
"Report!"
Inspector Megure was interrupted for the second time. An officer rushed up the stairs. "Drugs were found hidden in Tsujimura Hideharu's house, along with tens of millions of yen in cash of unknown origin. Given Tsujimura Hideharu's profession and financial resources, the source of this cash should be related to drugs."
After a pause, the officer continued with slight disappointment. "However, we still haven't found any trace of Tsujimura Hideharu. Yesterday, all the library's surveillance cameras were shut down for maintenance, so we can't confirm where he went."
What a shame!
Natsukawa sighed internally. If he'd known there was cash at Tsujimura's house, he should have had Franky take it yesterday.
It wasn't much, but who wouldn't want free money? It's just a matter of picking it up, right?
"Okay, I understand."
Inspector Megure waved for the officer to leave.
"It seems I was right. Tsujimura Hideharu's drug trafficking was discovered by Tamada Kazuo. To keep it a secret, Tsujimura killed Tamada and hid his body in the elevator. Feeling unsafe, he fled."
Sato Miwako's reasoning wasn't unreasonable, but Natsukawa knew the truth—Tamada Kazuo was clearly an accomplice in the drug trafficking.
"Not necessarily. It's also possible that the deceased and Director Tsujimura had a dispute over splitting the profits. I suggest searching Tamada Kazuo's home and investigating his financial situation."
Natsukawa pointed to the clothes on Tamada's body. "This suit is from a well-known international brand—it costs several hundred thousand yen. If the deceased was just an ordinary library employee, he probably wouldn't have bought such expensive clothes."
"Now that you mention it, that's certainly a possibility, but it's also possible he saved up to buy it." Inspector Megure shook his head in rebuttal—it was too hasty to conclude.
Sato Miwako suddenly remembered that after Tamada Kazuo's wife called the police, she was the one who'd gone to meet her. The woman's bag had been a new Chanel design from this year, and its price wasn't any cheaper than the suit Natsukawa mentioned.
"Inspector Megure, Tamada Kazuo's wife's bag is also quite expensive, and her clothes and shoes aren't cheap either. It's likely that Tamada Kazuo really was involved in drug trafficking."
If that was the case, then Tamada Kazuo very likely had issues.
Inspector Megure's eyes immediately sharpened as he looked at Sato Miwako. "Sato, go apply for a search warrant."
Sato Miwako was extremely efficient—she nodded and immediately took action.
"Natsukawa-kun, thank goodness you pointed that out. We almost overlooked Tamada Kazuo's involvement."
Inspector Megure was very grateful to Natsukawa.
The daughter discovered the body, and the father helped them confirm the relationship between Tamada Kazuo and Tsujimura.
This wasn't the first time Natsukawa had helped—once yesterday, plus the previous case at the Tsujimura residence, this was the third time.
"No, these things would've been figured out with a little more time. It's nothing, really—not worth mentioning."
The two exchanged pleasantries until a knock came from the glass door, at which point they stopped their mutual praise.
"Papa, can we go now~"
Anya pressed her face against the glass door, her voice coming through the gap.
"Don't you think that's very unladylike? How can a girl do that!" Natsukawa nodded apologetically to Inspector Megure, then walked over and sighed helplessly.
Ayumi nodded frantically—Anya was so ungirly!
"No way! Anya is obviously very cute!" Genta blushed and looked at Mitsuhiko. "You agree, right, Mitsuhiko?"
"Yeah." Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko also nodded vigorously.
Natsukawa turned and stared at the two of them for several moments. These two brats—don't corrupt my little one. Could they have taught her to press her face against the glass like that? Anya never used to do that.
His gaze gave Genta and Mitsuhiko goosebumps, but considering there were two girls present, they gritted their teeth and didn't show their discomfort.
"Alright, let's head back."
Natsukawa asked the police officer to open the door and led the children down the stairs.
"It stinks!"
Anya pinched her nose in disgust, running ahead without looking back. The other three members of the Detective Boys followed closely behind.
Only Conan kept turning back, his gaze frequently falling on the elevator's direction.
"Natsukawa-san, what's going on over there?" Conan couldn't resist his detective instincts and finally asked after a long pause.
Natsukawa glanced back at the elevator. "Drug dealers killed each other over a dispute about splitting profits, then one fled to avoid punishment."
"Could you tell me more about it?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself. You can check tomorrow's newspaper—maybe your Detective Boys will even get mentioned, since you helped solve a drug trafficking case."
Okay.
Conan went downstairs disappointed.
Natsukawa's explanation was too vague.
Sigh!
Ever since Natsukawa moved across from the Mouri Detective Agency and Anya joined the Detective Boys, he'd felt uneasy about cases involving them.
He hadn't even performed acupuncture on Uncle Mouri this week. If this continued, he was afraid Uncle Mouri's shoulder and back problems would flare up again.
The Detective Boys' GTR roared along the streets.
Anya sat in the passenger seat, with the other four children crammed together in the back.
"Anya, why can't I sit in the front? It's too cramped back here." Genta awkwardly shifted his position.
His weight made him the most suited for the passenger seat, but now, with everyone else in the back, the three children and one adult were all uncomfortable.
"This is Anya and Mama's reserved seat—no one else can sit here."
"Mama? We haven't met Anya's mama yet. She must be a beautiful woman with pink hair, right?"
Ayumi was extremely envious of Anya's hair color and her father's blond hair.
"Uh, yes. I'll let you meet Mama sometime." Anya waved her hand, not wanting to discuss this topic for the moment.
Mama—such a heavy topic.
Natsukawa glanced at Anya, feeling a sudden pang of emotion when he heard her explanation.
What's wrong with me? I only adopted Anya because of the mission, to infiltrate the Detective Boys.
But after raising her for a while, after she's called me "Papa" for so long, I feel like I've really developed genuine feelings for her.
Mother.
Wife.
Should I find a mother for Anya?
As he thought about it, a serene figure sitting in a coffee shop suddenly flashed through his mind.
That woman—she looked like a very suitable marriage partner.
"Natsukawa-san!"
"What?" Natsukawa looked at Conan through the rearview mirror.
"Ayumi's house—you should turn left at that intersection."
Anya: (￢_￢)
"Oh, sorry. I'll just turn around."
Grumble~
The rumbling of a stomach echoed through the car.
Because there was no music playing, the children were all relatively quiet, making Genta's rumbling stomach all the more noticeable.
"Hungry?"
Natsukawa glanced at the time—it was almost nine o'clock.
"Haven't you eaten yet?" Natsukawa had assumed they'd eaten dinner somewhere before going to the library, but now he realized they must have gone straight there after school, and dinner was still unresolved because of the case.
"No, Papa! I want something yummy!" The little girl tugged at his sleeve, looking pitiful.
The others remained silent, even Conan waiting for Natsukawa's answer.
They were undeniably starving.
"Then let's go to MOS Burger. It's probably hard to find a proper restaurant at this hour." Natsukawa didn't really know what good food was available at this time, so he decided on a burger joint—kids wouldn't refuse fried chicken and burgers.
"Okay!"
The Detective Boys all raised their hands in agreement—they only ever seemed this unified at times like this.
"Huh, even Conan raised his hand." Natsukawa smiled and confirmed. "Then it's settled—we'll eat there. You guys should call home."
Natsukawa had already called each family to say he'd take them home, and now that they were going to eat, he definitely needed to let their parents know to avoid worrying them.
Not everyone was like the Kudo family—even though Shinichi Kudo had disappeared, both parents were still happily living abroad in America.
Oh wait, Yukiko Kudo seemed to really enjoy Shinichi's Conan form—apparently it made her, as his mother, feel younger.
What a heartless woman.
(End of Chapter 36)
[+100 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01