Chapter 30 Deep into the Tiger's Den

Based on Ms. Horii's diary, Shinichi could roughly deduce that the prisoners possessed sufficient technical skills to perform a series of procedures from conception to childbirth, and that there should be a dedicated facility for this purpose.

This place is certainly not legal or compliant; it must be disguised as other business operations.

Furthermore, no transportation card or similar item was found among Ms. Horii's belongings. Instead, there was a sentence in her diary that read, "It would be nice to have a bicycle, but I'd better save some money."

"So that place shouldn't be too far from Ms. Horii's residence; it should be within walking distance."

Therefore, Shinichi decided to conduct a thorough search.

However, he was more cautious before taking this action.

"If I try to inquire as a regular high school student, it would be bad if I got caught."

“That blond man already knows me. Once I get close to their hideout, they'll definitely be ready to take action.”

In order to achieve a surprise effect, Shinichi decides to disguise himself a little to get away with it.

As the son of famous actress Yukiko Kudo, although he doesn't have his mother's disguise skills, he can still dress himself up without any problem.

Shinichi rummaged through his closets looking for clothes, choosing his outfit for the day.

—Mom's sunglasses?

Hmm, he looks pretty handsome!

—A wig?

The hair seems a bit long, but the more different it is from the original, the better!

—A special cat-themed short-sleeved shirt for the Nagano Winter Olympics?

Oh, I think my mom bought this for me, but it's so flashy I've never worn it...

Shinichi hesitated for a moment but still put on the flamboyant cat costume.

Unlike Inuya Neko, which has white fur, blue eyes, and a tuft of golden fur on its head, the Winter Olympics mascot is a brightly colored six-colored cat.

Although the Winter Olympics are still more than six months away from opening, there have already been many promotional activities, and this cat has become a new internet celebrity.

Pair it with shorts and sandals...

It looks pretty good!

It was the height of summer, and Shinichi's outfit made him look like he had just returned from a beach resort.

"But it feels like something's missing?"

Shinichi was pondering when he suddenly had an idea when he saw a toothpick.

The moment he put a toothpick in his mouth, his student-like demeanor vanished.

His smile even gives him a slightly roguish look.

Shinichi was quite satisfied with his new look, and then hung a replica of the Mazda car key in the image of the blond man on his waist.

Alright, everything's ready!

Shinichi took a big step, full of fighting spirit, and began a door-to-door, carpet-style search.

After running around several streets without success, his eyes suddenly lit up:

There's a maternity and baby supplies store up ahead!

"That's strange, why isn't it marked on the map?"

Shinichi observed his surroundings and found no one following or tailing him.

He took two deep breaths and prepared to go into the store to find out what was going on.

The shop was small and deserted; apart from the sales staff, there seemed to be no one else there.

However, the decor is extremely exquisite and very new.

It must be a new store.

"Sir, what would you like to see? Is it for your wife or for your child?"

As soon as customers entered the store, the sales staff immediately began to greet them with great enthusiasm.

"My cousin ordered a stroller here before. She already paid for it last time, and I'm here to pick it up."

Shinichi casually answered with his hands in his pockets, his eyes secretly glancing around behind his sunglasses.

"Although it's decorated warmly, this shop is really lifeless."

The sales clerk looked confused and asked uncertainly, "Sir, are you sure this is the place? We don't accept reservations!"

"They don't even have a reservation function?"

Shinichi cursed himself for his miscalculation, realizing he had overestimated the new store's business potential.

However, how could an Oscar winner for Best Newcomer possibly lose his composure because of this?

Shinichi frowned impatiently, feigning anger as he snapped, "Am I mistaken or are you? My cousin is your boss's friend! Get your boss out here and say something!"

The sales clerks looked at each other, then replied awkwardly, "Sorry, the boss never comes to the store."

"Then call him!"

Shinichi's tone was sharp, and he realized that the other person was lying.

"I'm so sorry, the boss doesn't answer the phone on weekends. Sir, why don't you leave your contact information first, and we'll confirm with the boss next Monday and then personally deliver the stroller to you, how about that?"

Shinichi was disappointed and thought that these vague sales clerks probably didn't know the truth either.

His tone softened slightly, and he asked jokingly, "Is your boss that busy? What if the shop catches fire on the weekend and he doesn't care?"

The sales clerk maintained a professional smile and didn't reply, handing Shinichi a form and saying, "Please fill in your contact information here."

It was this reaction that confirmed Shinichi's suspicion that the sales clerks were definitely trained: they were quite wary of any small talk.

Moreover, information is collected using only single-page forms, eliminating the need for costly rosters or computer system input.

Besides the fact that there were few customers in the store, the more important reason was that they probably didn't want to see other people's information, and also, was there something wrong with the pen?

Shinichi glanced at the form and, with a wicked thought, didn't write down his real identity. Instead, he wrote down Officer Takagi's name and phone number.

After finishing writing, he pretended to have accidentally dropped the pen, then quickly and discreetly wiped away his fingerprints.

Under the somewhat surprised gaze of the sales clerk, Shinichi, with a toothpick in his mouth, said, "Excuse me, I'll take my leave now!"

Shinichi slipped out of the store, suddenly breaking out in a cold sweat.

He didn't know why, but he felt that something was off about the atmosphere, and even the sales clerk's standard polite smile seemed to hide a murderous intent.

"This store is definitely suspicious!"

"But even the low-level henchmen are so tight-lipped, how am I supposed to investigate?"

Shinichi walked around the shop for a short while and found that there were many snack shops and restaurants on the adjacent street, making it very lively.

The warmth of the smoke and fire calmed him down a bit.

"If this is the place Ms. Horii is referring to, then I should be able to see some medical equipment or something, right? But that shop is so small, it doesn't look like it would have that kind of thing..."

"And what exactly did Ms. Horii mean by 'we shouldn't have come out'?"

Shinichi looked back at the baby and maternity store and thought: Could it be on the second floor?

He circled around a quarter of the way again, trying to find a way to climb up.

However, Shinichi was surprised to discover that there was a hidden secret behind that store.

"Judging from the width of the two adjacent streets, besides the space occupied by the shops, there should be a large area here, right?"

"Could it be behind this wall?"

Shinichi carefully explored and pondered where the breakthrough point should be.

Then, to his delight, he discovered a very narrow path behind the baby store, only wide enough for one person to pass through.

Walking along the road, Shinichi soon saw an old door, but the two locks were new.

"Could it be that Ms. Horii went out from here and happened to run into Mr. Shintani, who was having dinner nearby?"

"Perhaps the lock was broken or old, which is why Ms. Horii was able to walk out from here."

Shinichi felt inexplicably angry because, for such a ridiculous reason, the criminal had taken two lives for no reason!

"So what if there are two locks? I can pick ten for you!"

Shinichi's lock-picking master had warned him not to use it for bad things. But in this situation, Shinichi felt that what he was doing was undoubtedly a good thing.

Shinichi gently pushed open the heavy door.

He tried his best not to disturb the people inside, but found that there was no one inside at all!

The landscape was desolate and overgrown with weeds.

A scene of decay and decay.

It's hard to imagine that a baby would be born here.

At first glance, you might mistake this place for a cemetery.

"The lock is new; this place must not have been abandoned."

"But how strange, where did everyone go?"

Shinichi was puzzled.

Just as Shinichi was worrying, a large man dressed in all black suddenly came into his line of sight.

And there is no doubt that Shinichi has also come into the other party's sights.

"Who goes there?" the man shouted as he lunged at Shinichi.

Shinichi immediately took off running, but in his panic, he bumped into someone while turning a corner.

Upon closer inspection, Xin discovered that the other person was a young girl.

The footsteps behind them drew closer, and without thinking, Shinichi grabbed the girl and said, "Quick! Come with me!"

Shinichi led the girl to an unlocked warehouse, which seemed to be full of medicine.

The new girl made a gesture to the girl, indicating that she should be quiet and go check the situation herself, but the girl stopped her.

"Huh?"

Shinichi looked at her, puzzled, and found that the girl's expression showed no panic or fear. Instead, she stared at him without saying a word.

Shinichi didn't know if the girl was too calm or if he was too impulsive.

He felt uncomfortable under the other person's meaningful gaze, completely bewildered, as if he were an actor in some kind of farce.

Shinichi looked the girl up and down:

With short brown hair and fair skin, she looks like she's of mixed race.

She was tall and slender, wearing a white lab coat, and exuded a cool and aloof aura.

"Wait, why is she wearing a white coat?"

Shinichi belatedly realized that a terrible thought had surfaced in his mind.

Is it possible that they are in cahoots?

The girl seemed to see through Shinichi's thoughts and nodded silently.

In an instant, Shinichi felt as if he had fallen to the bottom of an abyss and was filled with despair.

"Help! Why do I assume that anyone who sees a young woman is a victim like Ms. Horii? What am I doing?!"

Shinichi was truly at his wit's end. He looked at the girl and realized that she didn't seem to have any intention of harming him.

Shinichi quickly apologized, "Sorry! I came in by accident. I wanted to pick up the ball that fell in, but I didn't expect someone to chase me as soon as I came in..."

Shinichi spoke quite sincerely, and the girl seemed to believe his lies, nodding and saying, "You stay here for now, I'll lure him away. Go on, this isn't a place for you."

"Thank you! But are you alright?" Shinichi meant that he was a little worried that he would be implicated if the girl ran away.

"I'm fine, please don't come here again."

The girl calmly straightened her clothes and then walked out.

Shinichi peered through the crack in the warehouse door, listening intently to the conversation between the girl and the man.

"Shirley, what are you doing here?"

"Sorry, Vodka, this is my first time here and I'm a little lost."

"Sherry? Vodka?"

Shinichi frowned upon hearing this.

Sherry is at least a fairly common name, but vodka is just too fantastical, isn't it?

Even Russians, who are known for their love of alcohol, wouldn't name their children that! Just like Chinese people probably wouldn't name their children Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor).

"Could it be a code name?"

Shinichi then heard Vodka ask, "Sherry, have you seen a man wearing sunglasses?"

"You're probably the only one wearing sunglasses here!"

This statement left Vodka speechless.

Then, Shinichi heard them leave.

"That girl doesn't look much older than me, yet she has such a high status?"

Shinichi was taken aback, recalling that the blond man also had a rather youthful face.

He couldn't help but begin to reassess the prisoners.

"Is this organization run by teenagers?"

"The younger the age, the higher the status?"

"Based on this logic, could the leader be a cute little boy or a little girl?"

Shinichi became increasingly puzzled; this place was too dangerous, and he probably couldn't stay any longer.

Therefore, he plans to withdraw this time and then go back to make further plans.

"It seems we'll have no choice but to rely on the Metropolitan Police Department."