Chapter 24

How do I know he is much older than me?

Xingchuan and Ming's hearts skipped a beat.

I was careless, and he caught the flaw in my words right away. If I don't explain this well, will I be labeled as someone with ulterior motives?

Hoshikawa Kazuaki quickly thought of a countermeasure in his mind, but on the surface he wiped his hands slowly, then looked sincerely into Amuro Toru's eyes and explained:

"Although Mr. Amuro does look young, and the waiter's work clothes will cover up most of the information about your clothes, but I noticed that you didn't change your shoes. It is a brand that highlights adult charm. I remember that the main consumer group is successful men between the ages of 25 and 35. So Mr. Amuro's age should not be as young as he looks."

Xingchuan Heming deliberately acted like a real teenager while speaking, and seemed very proud of his own reasoning. But after he finished speaking, he suddenly smiled embarrassedly and added:

"Of course, I was just guessing. If I guessed wrong, please don't mind, Mr. Amuro."

He looks like a mature teenager who has learned some of the social etiquette of an adult. Although he still retains the sharpness of a teenager, he has learned restraint and humility from the hardships of life.

He was thinking that the better a person is at reasoning, the more he would believe that reasoning is omnipotent. He should be able to get away with this by using observation and reasoning to cover up the previous flaws, right?

It’s so dangerous.

From the first sentence, the rhythm of the conversation was unconsciously controlled by Amuro Toru.

He even took the opportunity to counsel himself so that he could relax his guard towards this stranger whom he met for the first time.

And he succeeded.

If I hadn't said the wrong thing accidentally, which alerted him and led to his probing words; and if I hadn't noticed his probing and used reasoning to get around it, I might have been screwed on the spot this time.

However, Hoshikawa and Ming could also feel that even though the rhythm of the conversation was controlled, Toru Amuro treated them with kindness and respect.

He even tried to guide me from the perspective of a tolerant elder, instead of taking advantage of my uneasy state of mind to extract more information from me.

However, even knowing this, I still unconsciously have a good impression of him.

Is this the power of an intelligence expert? It's really amazing.

On the other hand, Amuro Toru was also secretly criticizing Hoshikawa and Mingzan.

As an undercover agent with a sensitive identity, how could he allow someone he didn't know to enter his territory at will?

Therefore, as soon as he got the news that Xingchuan Heming was going to return to work, he had already asked his subordinates to investigate his information.

At the age of 18, he is gentle but too introverted. Not only did he work part-time to go to high school, but he also used part of his income from drawing comics to support the welfare home that once took care of him. There is no doubt that Hoshikawa Kazuaki has good character.

Coupled with their already excellent grades, as well as their outstanding observation and reasoning abilities, such an outstanding child will surely become an outstanding talent in Japan in the future and accomplish something remarkable.

What's more, the class monitor has always been good at judging people, and today he clearly expressed his intention to protect this boy in front of him, so Amuro Toru's impression of Hoshikawa and Akira is even better.

Of course, this child will occasionally show the boldness and confidence that belongs to a teenager, but isn't this a very normal thing?

Protecting such a confident smile is what police officers like us strive for even at the cost of our lives.

So Toru Amuro praised him respectfully:

"You have excellent observation skills, as expected of a detective manga artist who became famous at a young age. You are right, I am much older than you. So to appear more intimate, you can call me Amuro-sama, just like you call Officer Date."

Hoshikawa Kazuaki suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Amuro Toru was so friendly to him from the beginning. It turned out that he was thanks to Date Kou that he had such a good initial impression of Amuro Toru.

Does that mean that it's okay even if I just jump around in front of him in a small area?

Hoshikawa Kazuaki raised his eyebrows provocatively at Amuro Toru and said jokingly:

"Then how did you know, Amuro-sama, that besides being a high school student, I'm also a mystery manga artist?"

That look was not so much a provocation as it was the unbridled laughter of a young man showing off his true colors with a new friend.

Toru Amuro looked at the occasional sharpness of the boy in front of him with amusement, and couldn't help feeling emotional.

Although Xingchuan looks gentle and easy-going, is he still such a stubborn person inside?

This made Toru Amuro admire him even more, after all, he himself is such a person.

So, he also imitated Hoshikawa and Ming and raised his eyebrows, then narrowed his eyes and showed a cheerful smile that belonged to Amuro Toru, and answered confidently:

"That's because, besides being a waiter, I'm also a detective."

Xingchuan and Ming also smiled knowingly, but they were thinking in their hearts:

So that's how it is. I now know how to get along with Toru Amuro.

At this moment, the wind chime hanging on the door suddenly made a pleasant and crisp sound.

The shop door was opened and Azusa Enomoto walked in. Seeing Hoshikawa Kazuaki, whom she hadn't seen for a long time, appear in the cafe again, she immediately came over to greet him in surprise.

After another round of greetings, the day's business began.

Dr. Agasa's house.

Conan had another day off today. So after saying goodbye to Ran Mouri in a cute way, using the excuse of "going to the professor's house to play games", he and Professor Agasa sat in front of the computer and began a large-scale screening of the surveillance cameras near the tower apartment on the day of the crime.

They have been working on this in private for several days.

During this time, he had to keep an eye on Haibara Ai's lab and make sure she didn't hear what he and the doctor were saying. Over the past few days, he was exhausted.

Dr. Agasa was almost unable to bear it. He took off his glasses and wiped them gently, then rubbed his sore eyes tiredly and complained:

"Shinichi, why don't you change the direction of your investigation? You've seen the surveillance over the past few days. We can't find any clues about the hooded man in black. If we continue like this, it will be a waste of time."

Conan also looked shabby and said with a sigh:

"It's a pity that although Mr. Akai has been undercover in the organization for many years, he has only heard that Baifu always wears a black hood, but has never seen his true face. Now we know that Baifu was sent to Japan to find clues about Shirley, and we are helpless about it. This feels terrible."

"Didn't Mr. Akai tell you that Baifu was once very close to the organization's laboratory? And he also said that another person might have more information about Baifu. You can also start from here." The doctor suggested.

"In fact, if possible, I still don't want Huiyuan to be directly involved in the organization's affairs. She is too easily frightened and always thinks too much. Knowing this will not do her any good."

Conan turned around and looked at Haibara Ai's laboratory warily. After confirming that she didn't hear the conversation here, he turned back and continued to talk to Dr. Agasa:

"As for the other person Mr. Akai mentioned, I also know who it is. But it is not easy to get information from him. And Mr. Akai also said that although the other party may know more information, it is not certain whether he is willing to tell it. Because it is very likely to involve other bigger secrets."

At this point, Conan reached out to grab his hair irritably, and couldn't help but say:

"Ahhh, damn it! What kind of secret is that? It makes me want to know even more!"

Dr. Agasa laughed when he saw this:

"Perhaps this is why Mr. Akai specifically told you this."

Conan also complained with a depressed look:

"Really? I thought it was because I happened to be following a hooded man who looked like Baifu, and Mr. Akai happened to receive the information that Baifu was sent to Japan. He even reminded me to be careful of that man at the time."

He took a look at the video on the computer screen, which had been studied repeatedly but still yielded nothing, and his expression became even more depressed.

"Mr. Akai said before that Baifu is extremely sensitive to electronic equipment such as surveillance and eavesdropping, and even to the point of not allowing anyone to make phone calls near him. At first I didn't understand what he meant by saying that, but now I finally understand that this person is basically a humanoid surveillance detector! Otherwise, how could he avoid it so perfectly?"

Dr. Agasa then suggested:

"Aren't the FBI also investigating? Why don't you wait for news from Mr. Akai? Or, why don't you just change your approach?"

An hour later, Conan finally stood outside the door of Haibara Ai's laboratory, hesitating about how to speak. Then he saw the door of the laboratory suddenly opened.

"You are standing here like an idiot. What bad things are you planning to do, Detective?"

Ai Huihara, wearing a white coat, walked out from behind the door with a tired look on her face and yawned slightly. She ignored the stupid Conan and went to make a cup of coffee.

Conan suddenly lost interest in choosing his words.

"What? Why are you staying up late to do experiments again?"

"I suddenly had some ideas, so I experimented with the possibility of inducing special proteins to affect the immune system." Haibara Ai answered tiredly.

Conan was somewhat surprised by this answer.

"Haven't you been doing experiments on promoting cell proliferation? Why are you suddenly studying this?"

"I've been researching this off and on before, but I suddenly had an inspiration, so I decided to give it a try."

Huiyuan stared at him with sad eyes.

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Conan chuckled and thought that it was rare to find a science geek like you. He then asked:

"Habara, when you were in the organization, did you ever hear about a member of the organization codenamed Baifu Wine?"

Unexpectedly, when Huihara, who had a calm expression on her face, heard this name, she suddenly stopped drinking coffee.

Her expression was blank for a moment, and a complex emotion flashed in her eyes. Her breathing unconsciously became short and rapid, and her fingers tightly grasped the handle of the coffee cup, so hard that her fingertips turned white.

It took a long time for Huibara Ai to get out of that complicated emotion.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully, then skillfully changed the subject and asked back:

"Why do you mention him suddenly? Did you do something dangerous recently that attracted the organization?"

"Him?" Conan immediately grasped the point, "So, Baifu is indeed a man, right? It seems that you do know this person. What kind of person is he? What are his characteristics?"

Unexpectedly, Huiyuan suddenly put down the coffee cup and said without raising her head:

"I've been up all night and I'm very tired now. Let's talk about it tomorrow."

After saying that, he left Conan, who was looking surprised, and walked straight towards his room with a cold face.

"Hey, wait, don't change the subject..."

Conan chased after him without thinking, but Haibara Ai slammed the door shut. A voice came from the room:

"Don't come in, pervert!"

Conan touched his nose which was almost flattened, turned away with an embarrassed look on his face, and felt more depressed.

Huihara must know something. But what's strange is, why does she have this attitude when Baifu is mentioned?

It's different from the fear they have towards members of other organizations, as if they were their natural enemies, but that reaction can't be described as friendly either.

Sure enough, that Baifu must have some big secret.

I really want to figure it out more and more.

But now it seems that I really can only go to Café Poirot to ask Mr. Amuro for help.

I don't know what Mr. Akai meant when he said "it is very likely to involve a bigger secret."

Could it be related to what Huibara is hiding?

At this time, he could never have imagined what kind of terrible revenge he would encounter when he went to the Poirot Cafe this time.

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Xingchuan Heming successfully got the trick of brushing through