Chapter 2756-2768 [Detective in Osaka]
The editor touched the child's head in surprise and said, "Little friend, you are very careful."
Jiang Xia glanced at his hand and said, "I remember that your magazine's proofreading is always quite strict. This shouldn't be an ordinary printing error."
"Of course not!" The editor waved his hands repeatedly, "We originally wanted to correct it to make the format more uniform. But before the story was officially serialized, Mr. Xinming emphasized many times that the expressiveness of words is the life of a novel and must not be changed without authorization.
"He even said that if we didn't publish it according to his original text, he would stop serializing it immediately, and he even wrote this into the contract.
"Although correcting a typo should not be considered an 'alteration', we wanted to contact him to inquire about it out of caution, but we were unable to do so. So after weighing the pros and cons, we finally did not make the correction."
——Otherwise, what if they change it and the great writer gets angry and refuses to write? These authors have strange tempers and often have some stubbornness that is difficult for others to understand. In comparison, it is easier to accept a little error in the format.
After extracting everything he knew from the editor, Jiang Xia nodded: "Can you really serialize this novel to the end?"
The editor was stunned: "What do you mean?"
Jiang Xia pointed at Conan who was holding the manuscript up to the light source and said, "There are now seven manuscripts submitted, each with the author's autograph. The signatures on the first to sixth manuscripts are slightly different, but the signatures on the sixth and seventh manuscripts are exactly the same."
"This..." As expected of a mystery novel editor, the editor suddenly understood and his face changed. "The signature on the seventh copy is a reprint of the signature on the sixth copy... Could it be that when the seventh copy was sent, Mr. Xinming was no longer able to sign in person?"
“?!” Shinname Kaori stood up in shock, “Could it be that my father has already…”
The editor jumped up, even more excited than she was: "I'll call the police right now!"
As he said this, he turned around and strode towards the phone.
Shinname Kaori was stunned. She looked at the editor who was calling the police, then looked at Jiang Xia blankly. She couldn't help but whispered, "He didn't seem like this when I came last time."
...What kind of magical power does this detective have that can make an editor who has been perfunctory to her countless times change his temperament and take the initiative to care about her father's safety?
Conan: “…” Ha, woman, this is the power of evidence.
As he muttered to himself, he took two pieces of paper, overlapped them, and held them up to the light.
Sure enough, the signature was perfect, without any deviation.
"I just happened to put the two manuscripts together and noticed their abnormality... But didn't Jiang Xia just flip through the pages? There was a difference of two minutes between the two manuscripts. How could he be so sure that the two signatures on them were not the same?"
Faced with this strange situation, Conan frowned slowly... and then a sense of urgency and a bit of competitive spirit surged in his heart.
"Sure enough, my observation and memory still need to be improved." Conan sighed inwardly, "I used to think that only my dad could compete with me in this area, but I didn't expect Jiang Xia to... Never mind, I won't compete with him for now. At this stage, I just need to consistently beat that dark-skinned guy from Osaka."
…
Conan was flipping through several manuscripts, trying to find out more information.
A police car stopped in front of the editorial office. Inspector Megure went upstairs to inquire about the situation, then sighed and gave a regrettable answer.
"It's hard to pass the public search application with only one signature - because Mr. Xinming might just be too lazy to re-sign, so he copied the screenshot of the signature on the previous manuscript to the next one."
Halfway through his speech, Inspector Megure looked at Jiang Xia: "..." Having said that, he couldn't help but give face to brother Jiang Xia. After all, countless experiences have proved that this detective's intuition is terrifyingly accurate. Since he has accepted this commission, the writer might really be in trouble.
"Let's put it this way." After a moment of hesitation, Inspector Megure suddenly had an idea:
"I remember the last time I came here, the editor said that new manuscripts would be delivered every Saturday morning? Today happens to be Saturday, and it's only a few hours away from midnight. When Chapter 8 arrives, we'll take a look at the signature on it. If it's the same as these two times, I'll try to apply for a search."
"Thank you so much!" Although Xin Ming Xiang Bao Li was anxious, she also knew that this was the best result at the moment. Compared with the previous times when she was alone seeking help and encountered many setbacks, today's progress was so great that she almost wanted to cry.
"They didn't lie to me..." Shinname Kaori felt grateful and for the first time felt that attending those tea parties with the ladies was very useful: if she hadn't heard them talk about this detective many times, she would not have been able to think of who to go to if she encountered such a thing.
"It's a pity that they were talking more about this detective...other things. If they had mentioned more about his ability to solve cases, I would have come here a long time ago." Shinname Kaori felt heartbroken when she thought of the two repeated signatures. She prayed silently in her heart, "I hope Dad is okay."
…
Although Inspector Megure was unable to lead people for a large-scale search, his trip was not in vain - before leaving, he picked up the diligent Officer Takagi.
After all the hard work, Officer Gao Mu had made a lot of money. He wiped his sweat and found Jiang Xia: "I have printed out all the suspicious lines as you said. The author's guest appearance appeared 4 times in total - take a look."
Conan stood on tiptoe: "Let me see it too!"
Officer Takagi smiled to himself: He knew that this kid would say that. He is indeed a young reasoning student who has been deeply influenced by Jiang Xia.
"Here." Officer Gao Mu took out another copy and handed it to him. "I printed out several extra copies. By the way, Jiang Xia, aren't your other assistants here?"
Jiang Xia sighed: "They have their own careers to take care of, and detective work is just a hobby. What a pity."
Conan: “…” It’s a pity indeed. The more they appear, the more chances we have to catch them… Forget it. If we want to bring down that terrible organization, we can’t be hasty. We must be patient and take it step by step.
Thinking of this, he looked down at the manuscript in front of him and decided to hone his skills first.
"By the way, give Hattori a call as well." Conan stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "That guy goes to Tokyo every day, but I rarely go to Osaka to see him... This is not good, I'll take Jiang Xia over to play with him when I have time."
It was really hard to chase Jiang Xia alone. For a good opportunity like this to learn from one's mistakes and then to be brave again... it would be better to share it with a brother.
(End of this chapter)
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