Chapter 3596, 3608: [Curaçao: Uzo User Manual]

Sonoko Suzuki ruffled Ai Haibara's hair, then, under her intense gaze, laughed and said, "Why is it you who came this time? Are you bunch of elementary school kids planning to take turns standing next to Jiang Xia?"

Ai Haibara: "..." You really were half right by accident...

Fortunately, the high school girl was just joking and didn't really care why Conan didn't come.

She pulled out chairs with Ran Mouri, ordered coffee, and then muttered to her two classmates, "I asked Officer Takagi, and the bloodstains found on that clothes hanger really were the shop owner's wife's... How come Ms. Jodie didn't kill her to cover it up?"

"Cough cough...cough." Ai Haibara choked a little. She had only come over to sit down because she was bored and wanted to tell Jiang Xia to be wary of Conan. She didn't expect to hear such strange information as soon as she arrived.

She couldn't help but ask, "Wasn't that foreign teacher an FBI agent? Why would she kill someone to cover it up?"

Sonoko Suzuki was about to say something indignant, but after looking at the child who wasn't even as tall as her waist, she finally fell silent, shook her head, and said solemnly, "This is not something a child should listen to."

Ai Haibara: "..."

She thought for a moment, then stopped talking and instead kept a low profile, listening quietly.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the two high school girls, engrossed in their conversation, forgot about her.

The two started discussing it again. Ran Mouri hesitated and said, "Could it be that Mika's murder was just a coincidence, and that Jodie's purchase of that teacher-student comic was also just a coincidence?"

Sonoko Suzuki frowned: "But if that's the case, it's too much of a coincidence. Murder is one thing, but those... those kinds of comics, how could you buy them just by chance? I remember they're usually kept in a separate area, with unique markings on the curtains—even if Ms. Judy is a foreigner and doesn't understand these things, and thinks it's just a regular section, shouldn't she understand everything once she goes inside and sees those strange covers?"

Ran Mouri recalled Ms. Judy's explanation yesterday: "She said that the clerk helped her choose the books when she made the call, and she didn't even look at what the books were about."

Sonoko Suzuki snorted: "Even if someone else picked them out for her, surely she wouldn't be so busy as to not even have time to glance at the covers? — In my opinion, she's just a pervert who likes students, so she deliberately bought those books and then blamed everything on the shop assistant!"

Ai Haibara bit her straw, looking down at her reflection in the juice, trying to process what the two high school girls had said, her pupils trembling slightly.

That FBI agent actually has this kind of hobby?! So, for a period of time, that FBI agent did frequently appear in news related to Jiang Xia, meaning she must have had frequent contact with Jiang Xia during that period. This…

"But why haven't I heard Jiang Xia mention something like this?" Ai Haibara suddenly thought of something and glanced at Jiang Xia, pondering, "Is there some misunderstanding that Jiang Xia noticed but didn't take it seriously... or is it that Jiang Xia has seen too much in the organization and thinks this is just a small matter, so he didn't take it seriously?"

Ai Haibara shifted her body, unable to resist asking a question.

Jiang Xia didn't join in the conversation between the two high school girls; his attention had somehow shifted to the street outside.

...

One street away.

Attorney Shirai, dressed in a neat uniform and carrying a briefcase, walked harmlessly on the sidewalk.

Beside her was a middle-aged company president in his forties, who was chatting with her casually—this was her current client, a guy who didn't like sitting in an office and insisted on taking her to a romantic café to discuss things.

Although Curaçao tried to disguise her face and make herself look ordinary, the obvious features brought by her mixed heritage were not so easy to hide. Coupled with her well-proportioned features... no matter how much she tried to appear "ordinary," she would still receive some inexplicable offers of favors while working.

However, for an intelligence operative, this was clearly not a drawback. Without Curaçao having to make a fuss about getting close, the client came to her door and delivered the intelligence right to her nose—just minutes earlier, when leaving the café, the client had made an excuse about having something to do in the afternoon and asked her to come to his home that evening for a more detailed discussion.

“I’ve already searched the office, but I didn’t find anything. In that case, the list should be at his house.” Curaçao stroked his chin.

"That saves me the trouble of breaking down the door. Once the door is closed, it's easy to silence him... But if he doesn't have that information, wouldn't killing him too early alert him?"

As she pondered this, Curaçao glanced at the shop window next to her.

The next instant, she suddenly met a pair of eyes.

—Beside the wooden table, Jiang Xia stirred his coffee, as if he had known she would pass by, his eyes fixed on her.

Their eyes met, and he smiled warmly, a slight upturn to his lips.

"..."

Curacao's heel twisted, and she almost tripped.

"Ms. Shirai?" The company president next to her was startled and reached out to help her with delight. But before he could touch her, the aloof lawyer had already steadied herself and strode forward. Her high heels seemed to be equipped with air boosters, and in the blink of an eye, she flew past the coffee shop next door and quickly took her out of the street.

The middle-aged company president was stunned, and quickly jogged to catch up: "Ms. Shirai? Why are you walking so fast all of a sudden?"

Curaçao stopped at the traffic light intersection, took a deep breath, and came to his senses.

She took 0.1 seconds to compose herself and smiled calmly: "It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered that I have something to do this afternoon—let's leave it at that for today, and we can talk again tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" The client thought it wouldn't work. He said with a straight face, "The court hearing is the day after tomorrow. We don't have time to waste. Since you have something to do this afternoon, let's do as we agreed and talk at my house tonight—you have to come."

Curaçao glanced at him, as if she had thought of something, and murmured, "President..."

The client responded, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Curaçao stroked his chin, a barely perceptible arc of light flashing across his non-prescription glasses. "Let's do as you said, see you tonight."

...

In the coffee shop.

Ai Haibara glanced at Jiang Xia, then looked out at the street through the bright shop window, feeling a brief moment of bewilderment.

Just now, she suddenly felt a chill down her spine, as if something terrifying had passed by the window.

He was shivering as he pulled up his hood, intending to remind Jiang Xia, but when he turned around, he saw that Jiang Xia was looking out the window, seemingly in a good mood.

December 7th marks the fifth anniversary of the book's publication and the seventh anniversary of writing Conan fanfiction—a day worth commemorating!

I was planning to start writing two new books today, but I couldn't finish them despite my best efforts... Ugh, I'll just post this to pretend I tried.