Chapter 11

"What? You were almost killed?"

Kogoro Mouri was shocked and stood up directly from his chair. He leaned over with his hands on the table and stared at the expressions of Hoshikawa and Ming with his sharp eyes.

Hoshikawa Kazuaki on the opposite side was also prepared. He looked at Maori Kogoro calmly without any change in his expression.

After confirming that Hoshikawa and Ming were not lying, Maori Kogoro said in disbelief: "Since someone wanted to kill you, why didn't you call the police?"

Hoshikawa and Akira answered as a matter of course: "That's because there is no evidence."

Maori Kogoro frowned in displeasure and retorted: "Since you have already discovered it, how come there is no evidence?"

Xingchuan and Ming answered calmly: "It is because I discovered it in advance that there is no crime scene, no witnesses, no victims, and of course no evidence left behind."

Maori Kogoro was a little dizzy. He touched his head and sat back in his chair, and said blankly: "Is... is that so. Then why did you come to see me today?"

"Of course I asked Detective Maori to investigate because I wanted to find evidence."

Hoshikawa and Ming sighed helplessly, but they felt emotional in their hearts. With the professional qualities of Kogoro Mori, if it weren't for his future son-in-law Conan Edogawa supporting him all the time, his small detective agency would have collapsed long ago.

Conan, on the other hand, was as reliable as ever. He pretended to be a curious child and came closer, carefully observing every expression of Xingchuan and Ming with his cute big eyes, and asked in a cute way:

"But, if there is no evidence, how did Xingchuan know that someone wanted to kill you? Were you attacked?"

"They didn't use force, they poisoned my food."

Hoshikawa and Akira looked down at Conan, who had been standing next to them, with a serious and focused expression on their faces. It didn't seem as if they were being perfunctory at all because of the other person's child status.

"I have been recuperating at home for the past few months. I started going out for exercise only after I felt better these two days. I went out as usual today because I felt I had recovered well. I bought some fruits and snacks when I came back. But I was suddenly poisoned when I was having lunch... Ahem, I mean I found out that I was poisoned, so I came here."

Fortunately, the two detectives present did not seem to care about Xingchuan and Ming's little mistake, but were more concerned about other things. Conan was anxiously half-lying on the table in front of Xingchuan and Ming, his eyes wide open, and asked curiously:

"Wow, that's amazing! Brother Xingchuan can actually tell if the food is poisoned just by taking a look at it?"

"Just because I didn't notice it doesn't mean my body didn't notice it either."

Xingchuan and Mingmian continued to remain calm. Despite the three people's looks as if they were crazy, they continued to make up stories:

"Because of my illness, my body is always more sensitive than an average person's. When I was having lunch before, although I hadn't eaten the poisoned food, my body had already sensed the danger, so I immediately started vomiting and having diarrhea, and that's how I discovered I was poisoned."

"Are you kidding? Do you think your body is some kind of poisonous radar?"

Before he could finish, Maori Kogoro immediately retorted loudly. Maori Ran and Edogawa Conan on the side also grinned dryly. Although they didn't say anything, it was clear from their expressions that they must think that Hoshikawa and Akira were talking nonsense.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe it.”

Xingchuan and Ming were not surprised by this, they just smiled helplessly and suggested:

"I know this sounds incredible, but it's true. So, Detective Maori, could you please come to my house and help me investigate?"

He took out his wallet, hesitated for a moment, then took out a thick stack of money he had prepared in advance and handed it over.

"Here is 10,000 yen. I will pay you another 10,000 yen as a reward once you find the poisoner."

Conan observed Xingchuan and Ming's cheap clothes, then looked at his face which was obviously much paler and thinner than before, and asked hesitantly:

"Brother Hoshikawa's financial situation doesn't seem to be very good. I heard... ahem, it was Brother Shinichi who said that Brother Hoshikawa has been relying on part-time jobs and drawing comics to earn living expenses and tuition fees. Now he is sick and can't go out to work. Does he really have extra money to hire a detective to investigate such an outrageous matter?"

Hoshikawa Kazuaki raised his eyebrows, turned to Maori Kogoro with an interested look and said:

"This is actually the second reason why I came to find Detective Maori. You know, I am actually a mystery cartoonist. I am planning to change my style recently and add some realism to my comics in addition to the mystery. So I would like to ask Detective Maori to cooperate with me and use the wonderful cases you have handled as materials to draw in my comics. At that time, I can also spread your name to more readers. I think you won't mind, right?"

Maori Kogoro immediately became complacent upon hearing this, and laughed loudly while holding his waist:

"So that's how it is. Of course there's no problem! Don't worry, I will tell you all about my wisdom and might!"

Mao Lilan, who was standing by, turned her head away in embarrassment, feeling that her father was so ashamed.

Conan, who was held in her arms, curled his lips when he heard this. He looked at Xingchuan and Ming with a more thoughtful look, and thought secretly:

Could it be that Senior Hoshikawa deliberately gave such an outrageous commission just to get close to Uncle Mori?

However, Xingchuan and Ming were thinking that if they wanted to get more likes on the forum, they would need to attract more readers to increase the reader base in the early stages. Is there a better way to attract readers than to use the fame of the protagonists?

You can tell by the continuous sound of likes that have been coming since the beginning.

Besides, although I can draw comics, my style is different from that of Hoshikawa and Akira. So I might as well take this opportunity to get in touch with the detectives, and then I can say that I was inspired by the detectives' case-solving process and change my style accordingly.

Xingchuan and Ming rented a tower apartment not far from here. It was relatively small, but fortunately there was an elevator installed, so the group quickly reached the floor where Xingchuan and Ming were.

Standing in front of the door, Hoshikawa and Ming took out the key and were about to open the door, but were suddenly stopped by Kogoro Mouri, who had been following them.

"Wait! Mr. Xingchuan, has your home been robbed recently?"

Maori Kogoro, who was half-believing and half-doubting before, now looked solemn and spoke in a serious tone, showing some of the experience of a famous detective. Xingchuan and Ming were stunned for a moment, and also realized the seriousness of the question, and answered honestly:

"No. I've been recuperating at home recently. If someone breaks into my house and steals, I'll find out immediately."

Hearing this, Maori Kogoro looked more serious. He pointed to the obvious pry marks on the door lock and continued to ask:

"Then do you know when these marks of picking the lock were made?"

Hoshikawa Kazuaki thought about it carefully, and then answered affirmatively:

"At least there were no traces of these until yesterday. My health has just improved a little in the past few days, so I spent the whole day cleaning up yesterday, even cleaning the outside of the door. So I am sure that the door lock was still intact."

"That means someone broke into your house today by picking the lock... Wait, could it be that someone really poisoned you while you were not paying attention?"

Maori Kogoro turned his head and looked at Hoshikawa Kazuaki with a look of disbelief. Hoshikawa Kazuaki just smiled politely, with a hint of helplessness in his gentleness.

Maori Kogoro immediately felt a little guilty. After all, he was paid and asked to investigate, but he just wanted to do it perfunctorily. Now he was accidentally discovered by his employer. This really affected his image as a detective.

So he immediately cheered up and prepared to show his real skills, but he saw Xingchuan and Ming didn't even think about it. They just took out the key and inserted it into the key hole and tried it a few times. With a "click", the lock was opened.

Xingchuan and Ming frowned: "The feel is no different from before. It seems that the opponent has high skills."

Conan also thought about it and said, "Then we can't be sure whether the traces were left by Brother Xingchuan when he went out to buy groceries or when he went to the office just now."

Upon hearing this, Xingchuan and Ming glanced at Conan. This kid really forgets to cover up completely when he encounters a case.

The little face full of kind comfort flashed through his mind. He did not take the opportunity to scare Conan, but opened the door directly.

"Wait! Let me go in and take a look first to prevent any sneak attacks." Kogoro Mouri stopped him and went in first.

However, no one had ambushed them in the room, and the items were arranged just as they were before Xingchuan and Ming left. The window was half open, half of the food was left on the table, and the potted plants at the door were covered with pollen.

"The house is a bit simple, and I'm not sure what other food and drinks have been poisoned, so I won't entertain you. Please don't mind." Xingchuan Heming said to them with a smile.

After seeing the pry marks on the door lock with their own eyes, Maori and the others were no longer so sure whether the poisoning was true. They all smiled and thanked him, then began to check the room.

"Hey, Brother Xingchuan, is this your lunch?"

Conan was lying on the edge of the dining table, pointing at the half portion of Japanese sweets and half a plate of side dishes that Hoshikawa and Ming had deliberately left on the table, with a look of curiosity on his face.

"That's right, children must not eat secretly, be careful of poisoning." Xingchuan Heming threatened with a smile.

"But there is so little rice here. Could it be that Brother Hoshikawa secretly ate it? But Brother Hoshikawa is not poisoned?" Conan blinked innocently.

Maori Kogoro noticed what was going on here and was surprised when he saw the marks on the table:

"There are traces of wiping it? I mean, did you clean it up after you found out it was poisonous?"

Xingchuan and Ming took a quick look and saw that it was because they had not rearranged the bloody food after handling it, causing a piece of the neatly arranged food on the plate to be missing. So they pretended not to care and replied:

"Well, I accidentally got some of the food dirty, so I threw away the parts that looked poisonous."

"Throw it away? But if we call the police, wouldn't this be the best evidence?"

Kogoro Mouri was a little crazy, but he couldn't lose his temper in front of his client, so he had to continue checking the room.

Conan glanced at Hoshikawa and Ming's expressions obliquely and did not believe a word of his explanation.

Not to mention that Hoshikawa Kazuaki himself is drawing mystery comics, it is impossible for him not to know the basic common sense that the scene and evidence need to be protected.

Based on the brief cooperation in the cafe a year ago, Conan can be sure that this person also has a talent for solving cases far beyond ordinary people.

Would such a person just throw away such decisive evidence because he didn't care? How could it be possible!

So, what secrets did this senior Xingchuan hide? What was his purpose in using this half-truthful excuse to lure Uncle Maori home?