"What took so long?" Mouri Kogoro asked, a little puzzled.
Conan frowned, feeling something was very wrong.
Just then, Koleda's phone rang. She took it out and saw it was a call from an unknown number.
She answered the phone and put it on speaker.
On the other end, Tachibana Maya's voice came through, laced with a smile, showing no trace of the stomach pain she had supposedly suffered earlier.
"Sorry, Little President, and Detective Mouri. I lied to you."
"What?!" Mouri Kogoro exclaimed.
Tachibana Maya continued, "That Yoshida Taro isn't cautious at all. He paid the final installment by direct bank transfer, not an offline transaction. I received the final payment a long time ago."
"Then why did you..." Koleda asked calmly.
"It's simple."
Tachibana Maya chuckled lightly,
"I was afraid you'd burn the bridge after crossing it. Especially Detective Mouri, since he's a famous detective with a reputation.
What if, after I told you everything I knew, you turned around and sold me out to the police? I needed to leave myself a safe escape route, didn't I?"
"So, when you suggested taking a photo and said you'd take us to find him, it was all to gain our trust and then find an opportunity to slip away?" Conan asked in his childish voice.
"Smart little brother."
Tachibana Maya praised him,
"But don't worry, I'll tell you Yoshida Taro's location now. Consider it a reward for cooperating with the photo and helping me get the final payment."
She gave the name and address of an izakaya."He's currently there, drinking and celebrating. I wish you a pleasant 'chat'."
After she finished speaking, the call was hung up, leaving only a dial tone.
Mouri Kogoro, Koleda, and Conan stood rooted to the spot. The night wind blew, and they were all momentarily speechless.
They had been tricked by an assassin, using the lamest excuse of going to the bathroom.
Conan's eyes narrowed Sure enough, none of the professional assassins were simple.
"What do we do now?" Mouri Kogoro looked at Koleda.
Koleda put away her phone and laughed, "Now that we know his location, the rest is our business."
She raised her hand and made a simple gesture in the air.
Immediately, the black Mercedes that had brought them quickly pulled up in front of her.
Ben got out of the driver's seat and looked at Koleda. "President?"
"The assassin Tachibana Maya provided the location. Yoshida Taro, who hired her, is at Sanpei Izakaya."
Koleda spoke concisely,
"Let's go settle accounts with him now."
"Wait, Koleda-neechan!"
Conan quickly looked up, reminding her in a worried, childish tone,
"He's a dangerous person who hired an assassin, after all. Shouldn't we call the police first? It would be safer for the police to handle it."
Although he said that, Conan glanced at Ben, who looked very fierce, and was actually worried about Yoshida Taro.
Koleda looked down at Conan and spread her palm.
"Call the police? And then what? Wait for procedures, and listen to the lies he's prepared? No need. Before confirming all the facts, I don't want the police to get involved too early and tip him off. It's more efficient for us to question him directly first."
Her tone carried an undeniable decisiveness.
Conan had no choice but to back down, muttering to himself that Koleda, despite her young age, was indeed capable of being a President.
Mouri Kogoro, however, didn't think that much. He felt Koleda's words made a lot of sense and clenched his fists, full of energy.
"That's right! Let's go meet that scoundrel who dared to insult people with two million! Let's go!"
Ben opened the car doors for the three of them, and the car started again, heading towards the address Tachibana Maya had provided.
Sanpei Izakaya was located in an alley behind a slightly noisy commercial street. With its old sign and dim lighting, it looked like a typical small shop where salarymen relaxed with drinks after work.
The car stopped at the alley entrance.
As soon as the four got out, they heard noisy finger-guessing games and drunken singing coming from inside the izakaya.
"It sounds lively in there..." Mouri Kogoro muttered.
Just then, the fabric curtain of the izakaya was suddenly pulled open, and a man of medium build, wearing a wrinkled suit, stumbled out.
His face was flushed, his eyes glazed over, and he was still clutching a small sake cup. He was humming a tune incoherently, clearly drunk.
Conan's eyes narrowed, and he immediately lowered his voice, "Uncle, Koleda-neechan, look at that man!"
Mouri Kogoro and Koleda looked in the direction Conan was pointing—The drunken man's face was identical to the photo Tachibana Maya had provided. It was Yoshida Taro!
"It's him!" Mouri Kogoro whispered.
Yoshida Taro seemed to want to walk to the roadside to hail a taxi, but he was too drunk. His steps were unsteady, and he walked in a zigzagging S-shape.
Perfect timing!
Mouri Kogoro darted forward, blocking Yoshida Taro's path, and said sternly, "Yoshida Taro-san?"
Yoshida Taro, with his blurry, drunken eyes, looked up at the stranger who had suddenly stopped him, a little impatient, "Huh? Who are you? You're... you're blocking my way... get out..."
"We have some things we'd like to ask you about." Mouri Kogoro didn't move.
At this moment, Koleda also walked forward and stood beside Mouri Kogoro. Her petite figure was particularly clear in the dim light.
When Yoshida Taro's gaze fell on Koleda's face, a large part of his drunken stupor instantly vanished in fright. His eyes widened, his mouth opened wide, and the sake cup in his hand clattered to the ground, shattering into pieces.
"You... you, you, you...!"
He looked as if he had seen a ghost, his finger trembling as he pointed at Koleda, his tongue tied, unable to complete a single sentence,
"You're that kid... the President of Belobog Heavy Industries?! Impossible! You shouldn't have already... already..."
Extreme fear instantly sobered him up. His survival instinct overpowered his drunkenness. He let out a strange cry and turned to flee deeper into the alley.
But as soon as he turned around, he seemed to hit an iron wall.
Ben had silently appeared behind him at some point.
Yoshida Taro was scared out of his wits and tried to squeeze past, but Ben's large, fan-like hand had already reached out.
The next scene left both Mouri Kogoro and Conan dumbfounded.
Ben easily grabbed Yoshida Taro by the back of his collar with one hand, lifting him off the ground like a small chicken.
Then, Ben's arm began to rotate at high speed!Yes, rotate!Yoshida Taro was spun around in the air by Ben, revolving rapidly with Ben's arm as the axis.
One rotation, two rotations, three rotations... The speed was so fast it almost created a whooshing sound.
"Waaahhhhhhhh—!"
Yoshida Taro let out a pig-like, shrill scream, his limbs flailing wildly in the air.