Chapter 84

“Is this… sequins?”

Kenji Hagiwara picked up a scattered branch from nearby, reached into the rotten leaves and fiddled with them gently.

"It looks like someone accidentally dropped some glitter on their body when they were walking by here."

Conan, who loves to join in the fun, also came over and looked at the sequins that Kenji Hagiwara was fiddling with, and made a guess.

"Yes, that's true."

Hagiwara Kenji nodded in agreement. Then he turned to look at Conan and said in surprise:

"Conan, you have a very good observation ability and your analysis is very accurate. This is rare in a child as young as you. Is it a natural talent?"

"Ah? Ahahaha, I, I learned this from Uncle Maori. He usually analyzes things like this."

Conan immediately acted shy, put his hand behind his head, and spoke obediently.

When Hagiwara Kenji heard him say this, he narrowed his eyes to show that he understood.

He had not had much contact with Kogoro Mori before. Apart from knowing that the other party was once a sharpshooter who was praised by Instructor Onizuka, all he knew was that the other party quit his job as a police officer and opened a detective agency in Beika City.

At least in Hagihara Kenji's opinion, quitting such a stable job as a police officer and becoming a detective with an unstable source of income is not a wise move.

In the brief encounter before, he really didn't see that this senior Maori had any detective style. Could it be that the excellent insight that he was proud of would automatically fail when facing a detective?

Ancient trees sound magical, but they are no longer interesting after seeing them. The ordinary traces of rotten leaves do not arouse people's interest. In addition, it is almost noon now, so Lihua leads everyone to the cafeteria.

On the way from the ancient tree to the cafeteria, you will pass by a staff dormitory. It is quite small and can only accommodate three or four people.

"To the south of the cafeteria is the study room, and to the north is the children's dormitory, which occupies the largest area. Further east are the dormitories for teachers, deans, and vice deans. As for the dormitories for other teachers in charge of logistics, they are divided in the middle by the ancient trees. One half is the one in front of us, and the other half is on the other side of the ancient trees."

Lihua introduced the group while leading them to the cafeteria. Along the way, they could hear the sound of reading coming from the study room.

The canteen is large, but there aren't many seats. Perhaps because it's still some time before lunch, there aren't many people here, and the chef isn't busy in the kitchen, but is drinking tea in the front hall.

Perhaps because the welfare home is too large and has too few employees, the chef does not have many opportunities to chat with people. Xingchuan and Ming walked at the back from the beginning, and when they sat down, they deliberately used Date Kou to block themselves, so the chef did not recognize the identity of their group.

So, after the two police officers took the initiative to talk to him, he seemed to finally have the chance to open up, and once he started talking he couldn't stop.

"Are you asking about Nagata Ryo? That guy has been gone for three years. I didn't expect someone would come here to look for him."

The chef turned the simple teacup in his hand and tilted his head back as if reminiscing.

"Ryo Nagata worked as a temporary worker in the welfare home for several years, and resigned about three years ago. However, he was too arbitrary during his temporary job. He usually came only after the children went to school during the day, and left at the end of the day.

Moreover, he did not come every day, but only every three or five days. However, considering that he had just become an adult and his salary was not much, the dean agreed.

I remember that Ryo Nagata, like you, always liked to ask me about things in the orphanage, especially about the children younger than him. He would ask me every time he came.

But he usually doesn't interact with these children. Only Kitajima Shinichi is familiar with him. Oh, by the way, Kitajima later stayed in the welfare home and is now the accountant here. "

After hearing this, several people looked at each other and had the same idea in their minds:

Judging from the way Nagata Ryo behaved, it was very likely that he came to the welfare home regularly to monitor someone.

Only do temporary work and come every three to five days. This is to minimize the frequency of contact and monitoring of the target to avoid being discovered.

If they choose to work during students' school hours, it is possible that the target of their surveillance is among the students at that time.

He stopped coming three years ago, which means that the other party's surveillance target was also the one who left the welfare home three years ago.

With such an obvious time node, plus the fact that this time they were mainly investigating the connection between Ryo Nagata and the apartment poisoning case that Kazuaki Hoshikawa encountered, it was already very clear who the person being monitored by Ryo Nagata was.

Date Kou took a deep breath and patted Hoshikawa Kazuaki's shoulder soothingly. Hagiwara Kenji skillfully pushed Kagano Satoshi, who was about to get angry again, back to his seat.

Conan looked at Hoshikawa and Akira with worry in his eyes. Although he had not had time to compare the fingerprint he had just obtained, he had actually already believed in the authenticity of Hoshikawa and Akira's identity.

Only Kogoro Mouri was oblivious to all this, and he and Ran Mouri listened with boredom, really treating this conversation as just idle chat.

Xingchuan and Ming accepted their kindness with a smile, but they were not surprised by the result. After all, according to what the hooded vest said, Nagata Ryo was originally a spy sent by the other party to be by his side, and it was normal for him to monitor his behavior all year round.

Although Xingchuan and Ming would feel a little disgusted every time they thought about how they were under surveillance, since it was already in the past and the order was given by their own vest, they had no choice but to let it go.

After hearing the news, everyone was secretly speculating in their hearts, but Ida Kou was the only one who was as reliable as ever. He immediately asked the key point:

"But there's something strange. Since Ryo Nagata has been trying to avoid leaving too many traces, why would he take the initiative to approach Shinichi Kitajima? Is there something special about this person?"

The chef immediately shook his head and corrected him:

"No, no, no, it wasn't him who took the initiative to contact Kitajima. It was Kitajima who had always admired Nagata Ryo."

As the chef spoke, he turned the teacup with his hand, turned the rim of the cup in a different direction, and took another sip before sighing with satisfaction and continuing:

"Ryo Nagata also paid attention to the growth of several children in the orphanage, and Bei Dao was one of them. I remember that Bei Dao was bullied by gangsters at first, but was later saved by Ryo Nagata. Since then, I have admired him very much."

Several people looked at each other and saw disgust in each other's eyes for what Nagata Ryo had done.

Considering the purpose of Ryo Nagata's coming to this welfare home, they could easily understand that Ryo Nagata's so-called act of rescuing Kitajima from the gangsters was actually a trap.

The most likely truth is that those hooligans were originally found by Nagata Ryo. Then, when Beidao was helpless and was bullied, he appeared in front of him like a hero and drove the hooligans away for him. And Beidao naturally became close to him and trusted him, and eventually became a nail he buried in the welfare home.

The question now is, besides Shinichi Kitajima, how many other nails like this are there in the welfare home?

Hoshikawa and Akira hid behind the burly Date Kou, trying their best to avoid the chef's attention. Hagiwara Kenji took the initiative to take over the topic and asked:

"Do you remember which other children besides Bei Dao did Nagata Ryo pay special attention to?"

This question was obviously beyond the chef's memory. He narrowed his already small eyes into a slit, rubbed his shiny forehead with his shiny hands, and finally remembered:

"Yes, I remember there was another person, the famous Hoshikawa Kazuaki. Coincidentally, that kid also seemed to have been bullied by gangsters, right? But I heard that Nagata Ryo also wanted to save him, but he didn't make it, and was later rescued by someone else."

Is this really the case?

Good risk!

It’s really dangerous!

Kenji Hagiwara suddenly looked at Hoshikawa Kazuaki who was hiding behind Date Kou, and his purple eyes were filled with shock and fear.

Who could have imagined that the bullying incident in the abandoned factory seven years ago was actually a vicious conspiracy specifically targeting Xingchuan and Ming?

At this moment, Kenji Hagiwara suddenly felt extremely fortunate that he had accidentally chosen the road leading to the orphanage when he was racing. After Kagino Satoshi discovered something wrong, he rushed to the abandoned factory as soon as possible.

If there was a problem in any link, resulting in my failure to rush over to rescue people, the consequences would be disastrous!

Once Xingchuan and Ming really fall into the hands of Nagata Ryo, who knows how they will be twisted into shape by that sinister guy?

You know, Xingchuan and Ming were only twelve years old at that time!

Even Hoshikawa Kazuaki, who had already experienced the second dungeon, was very surprised. He did not expect that his experience in the dungeon was directly related to the past events in the main timeline. It can even be said that if Hagiwara Kenji had not arrived in time, his entire fate would have been rewritten.

This time, it was Kenji Hagiwara who saved me instead!

Suddenly, a feeling of fear and anger came over them, and Hoshikawa and Mingca realized that Kagano Tomo was communicating his concerns about himself and his dissatisfaction with Nagata Ryo through his consciousness.

Kenji Hagiwara was worried that Kagano Satoshi would say something inappropriate under impulse, so he kept suppressing his actions just in case, and covered his mouth once he opened his mouth. So at this time, Kagano Satoshi could only use this method to express his concern for Hoshikawa Kazuaki.

The chef was completely unaware of the veiled conversation between the people in front of him, and continued to twirl the teacup in his hand with his fingers, taking another sip with relish. I don't know if it was because he recalled too many past events, but he actually showed a nostalgic expression.

Maori Kogoro, who had been listening, suddenly interrupted and said,

"So, that guy named Nagata Ryo is actually a guy who likes to help others? Did he come back to help after he quit his job?"

The chef paused while turning the teacup and looked at him in surprise:

"How do you know that Nagata Ryo came back later?"

Everyone else looked at Kogoro Mori, and the two policemen present also showed admiration, and they all sighed in their hearts that Senior Mori was indeed a veteran in the police force, as he was able to find the loophole so quickly that even they had not discovered it.

However, Conan Edogawa was already familiar with Kogoro Mori's character and had guessed that he could not say anything good.

Sure enough, within five seconds, Maori Kogoro burst into laughter and said:

"That's easy to guess. In fact, you've all been fooled by this Nagata Ryo! This guy has to work for several days even as a temporary worker. He must be lazy and likes to take advantage. If he is so lazy, why does he have to climb such a long mountain road to work here?"

"Yes... yes, why?" the chef murmured.

Maori Kogoro smiled confidently and gave instructions:

"That must be because he wanted to gain benefits from the welfare home! If he didn't gain any benefits during his working period, then he would naturally feel unwilling to resign, so he would come back again!"

As he spoke, Maori Kogoro covered his mouth with one hand with a mysterious look on his face, pretending to whisper, but actually speaking in a voice that everyone present could hear clearly:

"Tell me, what did he come back for? I'll help you analyze it and see how he got some benefit from it."

The chef's eyes lit up and he became interested:

"Then I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else. He came back later and brought back a piece of news about Xingchuan and Ming!"

The author has something to say:

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-08-26 12:47:59~2022-08-26 17:59:53~

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 20 bottles of Susletrin; 1 bottle of Candy Girl;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!