Chapter 3541-3553 [Sudden Appearance]
Vodka's face remained tense as he looked at the pretentious riddle-maker, but he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Although the organization's cadres are not safe either, someone who knows about Uzo's existence is much better than those tools who might suddenly turn on you at any time."
"Besides, Vermouth is a member of the Passersby Mutual Aid Association. Although we don't seem to have helped each other much... but in any case, we are allies. They shouldn't betray each other when we are facing Uzo together."
Thinking about it that way, Vodka suddenly found Vermouth much more pleasing to the eye.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.
“He was just targeted by Uzo, and now he’s sitting in the same room as Uzo… What is Vermouth thinking?” Vodka admired but didn’t understand. “If it were me, I would be submitting a report requesting to be transferred out of Tokyo by now.”
Beside her, Vermouth's mood did not relax in the slightest despite seeing Vodka.
Compared to the idiot next to her who seemed to be brooding over nothing all day, her attention was clearly focused on the other side.
"When I came over just now, I actually saw Angel and the cool guy..."
Vermouth crossed her arms, her fingertips silently tapping her elbows as she pursed her lips in thought: "This is definitely not just a simple coincidence... What is that child trying to do?"
...
In the shopping mall next door.
Sonoko Suzuki picked up a handheld game console, about to talk to Ran Mouri, when she turned her head and found Conan next to her looking serious for some reason, and suddenly turned his head and sneezed—as if he wasn't shopping, but undergoing a tribulation.
"That's weird."
The high school girl shook her head, but remembering how strange this elementary school student had always been, she stopped thinking about it and ran off to find Ran Mouri with the things she had chosen.
"Xiao Lan, look! How about this? I remember Ms. Judy said she really likes Tokyo games."
Ran Mouri, for some reason, was a little distracted. Suddenly hearing Sonoko Suzuki's words, she turned to look at the gift her childhood friend had chosen for the visit, and smiled helplessly:
"Ms. Judy probably prefers arcade games, not this kind of game. But speaking of preferences..."
Ran Mouri's gaze flickered as she looked at the shelf next door—there was a male student in a high school uniform shopping with his elementary school-aged sister.
Seeing this scene, Ran Mouri couldn't help but think of the huge pile of secretly taken photos behind the mirror at Jodie's house—the people in the photos included Conan, Ai, herself and Sonoko... and Jiang Xia, who was photographed but whose eyes were covered by a black pen.
"If I really had to choose a gift based on personal preference," Ran thought subconsciously, looking at the adorable brother and sister, "then Ms. Jodie might prefer this kind of gift..."
The thought flashed through her mind, but the next instant, Ran Mouri jolted awake. She slapped her face hard: Wait, what was she thinking?! To think of someone as a gift—that's terrifying!!
"But thinking about it rationally, I was just speculating about Jodie-sensei's preferences." Ran Mouri shuddered. "In other words, what's more terrifying than my thoughts seems to be Jodie-sensei's actions..."
"Why did she do all this? And who tied her up and took her to that basement?"
Thinking about all this, Ran Mouri's mind was filled with questions. She sighed and comforted herself, "Don't rush, and don't make wild guesses. What if Ms. Jodie is actually innocent? Anyway, I can visit her tomorrow. When I get to the hospital, I can just ask Ms. Jodie."
Beside her, Sonoko Suzuki, seeing her classmate still lost in thought, waved her hand in front of her eyes in confusion: "Ran? Ran! What are you thinking about?"
Ran Mouri snapped out of her reverie and shook her head: "I was just thinking about what Jodie-sensei would like, um... how about this?"
She reached out and picked up a Kamen Rider figure.
"Oh! I remember this character, he's that policeman." Sonoko Suzuki stroked her chin. "But Kamen Rider is for kids, isn't it a bit too childish to give this to Jodie-sensei?"
"No, that's not true." Ran Mouri took a deep breath and tried to tell a lie that she wasn't good at. "Kamen Rider is an iconic anime, and for foreigners like Jodie, it's a special memento worth remembering."
Of course, this is only the superficial reason.
The deeper reason is that having a police officer figurine nearby might deter some lawless individuals from taking on dangerous ideas. Of course, if Ms. Judy isn't a lawless individual, then the police officer figurine might also reassure the teacher who has just escaped from kidnappers.
Sonoko Suzuki didn't understand, but after hearing Ran Mouri say that, she suddenly felt that it made a lot of sense.
“Then let’s add this to our shortlist. When Jiang Xia arrives, we’ll see what he wants as a gift.” Sonoko Suzuki stretched and chuckled. “Since we’ve already chosen the gift—and we’re already here—let’s use the remaining time to buy some clothes!”
Beside him, Conan snapped out of his reverie and sighed silently.
"Now is not the time to leisurely stroll around. I haven't fully figured out what happened on the night of the full moon. Although I can ask Ms. Judy, she may not know the whole truth... I can't just wait passively like this. I have to take the initiative."
After pondering for a moment, Conan glanced towards the elevator entrance, thinking to himself, "Maybe I should go for a walk around the neighborhood. Even if it's just my imagination, I have a feeling the air around here is incredibly dangerous, and..."
Besides, accompanying two high school girls to buy clothes was incredibly boring.
Ran and Sonoko both have normal figures and look good in any clothes. Why do they have to spend so much time picking and trying on clothes?
Thinking about the tedious time he'd be dragged into being an advisor, Conan quietly took a step back: "Um, Ran-neechan..."
Ran Mouri, who was about to head towards the clothing section with Sonoko Suzuki, thought: "Hmm?"
Conan: "It's a bit stuffy in the mall, I'll go find Uncle Mori in the parking lot."
Perhaps because Ran Mouri had just been kidnapped, Kogoro Mouri had finally started paying more attention to his daughter's whereabouts lately. Hearing that they were going to the department store to shop, Kogoro Mouri also came over, planning to play some pachinko while waiting to take the group of high school students home.
Just now, when I went upstairs, Ran Mouri received a phone call informing her that he had arrived.
Hearing Conan say this, Ran Mouri realized that it was indeed inconvenient to try on clothes with a child, so she nodded in agreement: "Then after you meet with my dad, go to that pasta shop together and wait for us. Sonoko and I will go over after we've bought our things."
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