Chapter 12

Since he had doubts about the true purpose of Hoshikawa and Akira, Edogawa Conan immediately began to investigate carefully.

He quickly found a few drops of blood on the inside of the table leg near the floor that were overlooked by Xingchuan and Ming. His abnormal observation skills and tricky search techniques simply amazed Xingchuan and Ming.

Facing Maori Kogoro's suspicious gaze, Xingchuan and Ming explained calmly:

"After I got sick, my health became very unstable, and sometimes my blood pressure was a little high. I just had a nosebleed, and it dripped everywhere. These bloodstains might have been on it at that time."

He looked at the location of the bloodstains and thought it would be safer to get the people out of the way so that these imaginative detectives wouldn't think of the time when he was poisoned and vomited blood. So he suddenly reminded:

"Detective Maori, have you found any clues about the poisoner?"

Maori Kogoro smiled and touched the back of his head and said, "Well, well... I think the murderer must have pried open the lock while you were out exercising and put poison in your cup..."

Just as Kogoro Mouri was struggling to solve the case by guessing, Conan's voice suddenly came from the bedroom.

"Oh my, Uncle Maori, this computer is so weird!"

When they arrived at the bedroom, they saw Conan standing in front of the desk, pointing at the laptop on it and saying in a baby voice:

"The indicator light here just kept flashing and changing color. Uncle Maori, is this computer broken?"

Maori Kogoro immediately walked forward angrily, pulled Conan over, and lectured him:

"It's just a warning light, of course it will light up. You little brat, don't make trouble in the client's house and affect my work." After saying that, he raised his hand and threw Conan out.

Conan got up from the floor miserably. As soon as he looked up, he saw Xingchuan and Ming looking at him with an expression that was hard to describe. So he kept hinting at them frantically:

"Brother Xingchuan, I heard from a doctor I know that if the indicator light on his computer changes color, it means that the system has an important prompt that needs to be handled immediately. Is this laptop the same?"

Hoshikawa and Ming immediately understood what Conan was hinting at.

"Are you wondering if there are any clues in my computer? How is that possible? I haven't used a computer for a long time... Never mind, just take a look if you want."

Although he felt that Conan's focus was a bit off, he wanted to use the wisdom of this great detective to find the poisoner, so he would naturally cooperate. So he walked forward and was about to flip up the screen, but his fingers suddenly stopped when they touched the metal shell.

"Strange, why is it warm? Has it really been opened by someone?"

As he said this, he activated the screen to check, but before he could see the content clearly, he heard a "beep" alarm from the computer, and countless garbled characters quickly scrolled across the screen before it shut down.

Xingchuan and Ming were embarrassed for a moment, then turned around and explained to the others:

"Sorry, I forgot. Actually, I have never been able to handle electronic products. I don't know why, but any electronic product I use often will suddenly have some strange failures, or even break down. So in order to avoid additional expenses, I rarely touch these unless I have to use them."

"Eh? But just now Senior Xingchuan also said that he hadn't used the computer recently, but now the computer is not only turned on, but also gave a prompt message, so who turned on the computer?"

Mao Lilan helped to analyze the situation, and then she thought of the marks of picking the lock on the door, and was suddenly shocked:

"Could it be that the guy who broke into the room did it? He wanted to get the important files in the senior's computer, so he sneaked in and opened the computer?"

Xingchuan and Ming burst out laughing when they heard this, and quickly apologized before Mao Lilan got angry:

"I'm sorry, Maori. I just want to say that there is no way I can have any important files in my computer. Because I don't need to store files in it at all. All my study materials and all the comic stories I designed are saved in paper form. As for the computer, I just use it occasionally to search for information on the Internet."

Mao Lilan was a little embarrassed and a little shocked, and said with a dry smile:

"Oh, so that's how it is. I was just curious, actually, there are people who would rather use paper documents than save them on the computer."

Xingchuan and Ming smiled nonchalantly and said, "There's nothing I can do. After all, the computers I've used always break down very quickly."

Conan tugged at Ran Maoli's sleeve and explained in a low voice:

"Sister Xiaolan, if the person who broke into the room was really after the laptop, couldn't he just take it away? There's no need to risk being discovered and stay here to do this."

Xingchuan and Ming just happened to hear what Conan said, and immediately nodded in agreement: "Well said, Conan is really smart!"

Conan was startled and immediately forced a smile to get over it. However, he was shocked in his heart. He didn't expect that Senior Hoshikawa's hearing was so good.

Xingchuan Heming didn't care what Edogawa Conan was thinking. He tried to reopen the computer, but failed as expected. He sighed and said calmly:

"I used to be like this a lot. Once I turned off the computer, it was hard to turn it on. That's why I like to keep my computer in standby mode. As long as you don't pay attention, it's actually not much different from turning it off."

As he said this, he closed his computer, but a look of disappointment was inevitable on his face.

It was obvious that there must be something wrong with this computer. I didn't know whether it was related to the house being broken into or to the fact that I was poisoned. Unfortunately, I couldn't see it now.

It seems that the trouble I encountered this time is not that simple.

"Hey? What is this? It looks like fun!"

It was Conan's voice again. He found the medicine that Xingchuan and Ming had been taking, as well as a stack of medical reports and doctor's instructions from the hospital. Unexpectedly, his hand shook and a receipt for a donation to the welfare home fell out.

"Uh, I'm sorry, Brother Xingchuan."

Conan didn't expect that he would find such private things when he was just flipping through the book, so he quickly apologized.

Xingchuan and Ming sighed, knowing that this must be the little detective's protagonist halo at work again, triggering passive skills such as other people's inner secrets. So he didn't get angry, but took the initiative to help pack the things into the data box, and comforted him:

"It's okay. It's not a big secret. Ever since I started drawing comics, I have been using my royalties to donate to the children's welfare home that once helped me. After all, the welfare home is not doing well now. Many children can only be supported until junior high school and then have to drop out of school to make a living on their own. Since I can make money myself, I will help them."

Halfway through sorting, Xingchuan Heming's hand suddenly stopped. Conan, who was standing by, saw that he was holding a letter from a reader.

The envelope had been torn open, and one side of the letter had a frayed edge, looking like it had been torn from some random piece of paper. The contents of the letter were filled with words of dissatisfaction and abuse, and the entire piece of letter exuded a tone of contempt and perfunctoriness.

This was obviously a letter sent by a malicious anti-fan to deliberately annoy Xingchuan Heming.

This time, Conan felt even more embarrassed as he had completely exposed someone's privacy in front of the person involved.

However, as a party involved, when Xingchuan Heming saw this abusive letter full of the flavor of the case, the familiar routines of hundreds of episodes he had watched flashed through his mind, and he suddenly had a very bad premonition.

Sure enough, in the next second, a sharp scream rang out in the corridor. Upon hearing the sound, several people in the room immediately ran to the next door. Xingchuan and Ming also stood up and went out. However, they didn't expect that as soon as they stood up, their eyes went black and they almost fell down due to dizziness. He then remembered that he had not eaten anything since he vomited blood at noon.

After holding onto the wall for a while, he followed her out. By the time Xingchuan and Ming arrived, Mao Lilan had already called the police. Mao Li Kogoro was protecting the scene and checking the body, while Edogawa Conan had already run away.

Xingchuan and Ming simply leaned against the wall in the corridor and watched them work expertly. A hint of fatigue appeared on their faces unconsciously, and they were thinking in their hearts:

It was such a coincidence that I had only met Kudo Shinichi twice, and both times there were murders. The first time, I was the target of the deceased's bullying for many years, and this time I became the deceased's next-door neighbor.

So, is it that Kudo Shinichi's halo of the god of death is so bright that it is black, or is it that the comic book is playing tricks on him in his daily life?

Thinking of the very bad premonition they just had, Xingchuan and Ming sighed, thinking that their bad luck must be related to the comic book.

The police arrived very quickly. Seeing the fat Megure again, Hoshikawa Kazuaki suddenly recalled the incident in the dungeon where this enthusiastic police officer, without knowing it, cooperated with the then very proud Kudo Shinichi to trick him. He immediately found Edogawa Conan who appeared out of nowhere in the crowd and glared at him fiercely.

Conan was stared at in confusion.

"Brother Maori, it's you again. Wherever you go, there are cases."

After arranging the police force at the scene, Officer Megure sighed out of habit. Then he turned his eyes and saw Hoshikawa and Akitoki leaning against the wall, with a look of surprise on his face.

Xingchuan and Ming knew that he must have recognized him, so they pulled themselves together again, and put on their usual gentle smile. Just as they were about to say hello, they heard a familiar rough voice accompanied by footsteps from the other side of the corridor:

"Xingchuan? So you live here."

Hearing this voice, Xingchuan Heming was stunned for a moment. What came to his mind before the memory was a strong sense of security that made his heart burn. His smile suddenly became much more genuine. He turned his head to look at the visitor, and with some emotion of being a survivor of the disaster, he greeted:

"Officer Ida, long time no see."

Of course, this "long time" only applies to Date Kou, while in the eyes of Hoshikawa Kazuaki, he had just rescued him from the copy.

Therefore, Hoshikawa Kazuaki has not yet completely gotten over the shock of surviving the disaster and the emotion of being protected by Date Kou at the cost of his life, while Date Kou has long since suppressed the shock and gratitude he felt a year ago and turned it into the joy of meeting an old friend.

However, after seeing the pale and exhausted faces of Xingchuan and Ming, Date Kou frowned, and when he spoke again, his tone was filled with worry:

"Xingchuan, why do you look so bad?"

Xingchuan Heming finally realized why Inspector Megure was surprised when he recognized him. It seemed that he was worried about his physical condition which was much worse than a year ago. He smiled soothingly and said:

"Don't worry, I just had an illness before and have been recovering for the past few months, so I look a little bit worse."

Date Kou still looked a little worried, but when he passed by Hoshikawa and Akira, he whispered "Let's talk later" and walked towards Inspector Megure.

"Reporting to Officer Megure! The preliminary investigation has been completed."

Ida Kou immediately got back to work and reported with a serious expression:

"After checking the elevator surveillance and comparing the people in the building, we found a total of three suspects. They are the residents across the street from the deceased, Masaru Kimura and Kyoichi Ichikawa..."

He turned his head and glanced at Xingchuan and Ming with a little worry, then continued speaking in the same tone:

"And there's also the person who lived next door to the deceased - Hoshikawa Kazuaki."

The author has something to say:

I suddenly realized that there aren't many articles about Date Kou in the articles about the police academy group. Many of them are just used to make soy sauce and then sent on dates. Is this the price of being a popular character?