in2ebook Chapter 1334 Suicides
Chapter 1334 Suicides
Chapter 1334 Suicide
He went out alone, but came back as two.
However, when the children saw that it was Tang Ze standing next to Conan, they did not show any surprise. They simply greeted him politely and then continued to pick up their things.
Uncle Shirota's description was not an exaggeration at all. His thick stack of lottery tickets was scattered everywhere, and the children couldn't just stand there helplessly watching him, so they ran around picking up the tickets for him.
"I got the bag back. Where's the robber? Did he get away?" Ayumi Yoshida stood up and asked, looking at the bag in Conan's hand.
"Uh, he got kicked by Tang Ze-gege—" Conan, who hadn't even thought of this, turned his head to look in the direction of the alley entrance.
"Oh, then that's a punishment for him." Ai Haibara, who had witnessed Tang Ze send someone flying on the spot, nodded knowingly.
"Anyway, the bag is back! The zipper has been opened, sir, please check if anything is missing."
Conan chuckled twice, changed the subject, and handed back the small, square leather bag he was holding.
Judging from the style of the bag, it is a set with the briefcase the man took out. Although the leather is not brand new, it feels very good to the touch, so it should not be a cheap product.
"Thank you." Overwhelmed with gratitude, Shirota took the items, carefully checking each one. As he searched, he muttered to himself, "Wallet, keys, notebook—and the soccer ticket and glasses case—hmm, they're all here!"
Yoshida Ayumi, who was neatly gathering her lottery tickets, happened to walk up to him. She looked up, saw what was on his glasses case, and immediately laughed: "Uncle, you wear photo booth pictures too?"
In stark contrast to Shirota's typical business attire, or rather, his corporate slave uniform, his neat and simple glasses case was adorned with a brightly colored sticker. The rough material and exaggerated colors made it stand out, clearly the kind of sticker that children would like.
"This? This is my granddaughter, she's 7 years old, isn't she cute?" Shirota smiled as he looked at the sticker on the box. "These glasses were a birthday present my granddaughter chose for me, they're my most precious treasure."
"Seven years old, that means she's the same age as us?" Ayumi Yoshida became excited when she saw the smiling, cute girl in the photo booth picture. "Could she also be from Teitan Elementary School?"
They had only just left school and hadn't even reached the crossroads where they were supposed to say goodbye yet, so it's not surprising that they immediately thought of these things.
"Ah, no. I can't quite remember which school she's in now—" Shirota smiled awkwardly, shook his head, and carefully put the glasses case back into his bag, arranging it neatly.
Seeing his cautious yet reluctant expression, Conan nudged Tang Ze with his elbow.
He used the excuse that he felt the owner of the bag needed some help to intercept Tang Ze and bring him here. This was another instance of him sensing something was subtly wrong and wanting Tang Ze to pay attention.
Tang Ze observed the person for a moment, then looked down at the children, each holding a small stack of papers in their hands.
"I found six!"
"I found five, here they are!"
"And mine too!"
Shirota bent down, smiling as she took the pieces of paper from their hands one by one, her tone even gentler and kinder than before.
"I'm so sorry to have troubled you all. Thank you so much for getting my bag back and recovering all these lottery tickets."
It wasn't some great act of kindness, but the innocent, unthinking reaction from the children could still bring a genuine smile to anyone who came into contact with them, and it was even more so for him at that moment.
"Of course! No need for thanks!" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya patted the detective badge on his chest, making his red scarf shine again.
"We are the Junior Detective League!" Ayumi Yoshida patted her chest as well.
"We want to help people in need!" Genta Kojima clapped twice as well.
"That entrance speech was quite impressive," Ai Haibara commented, taking another half step back.
"The Detective Boys?" Shirota's expression froze. "Detectives?"
"Yes, we're detectives who've been in the newspapers and even received commendations from the police! No joke!" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya declared proudly. "We've solved countless cases and even know some police officers!"
"I see—" Shirota lowered his head, looking at the pile of lottery tickets in his hand, now creased and no longer pristine from being thrown around so much. "Well then, as a thank you gift, I'll treat you to dessert. Do you have time?"
"Yes, yes!" Yoshida Ayumi, whose emotional value was at its peak, jumped up immediately.
"That's perfect!" Genta Kojima immediately chimed in.
"Genta, you can't eat this. You have to see the dentist tomorrow," Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya immediately and bluntly contradicted him.
Genta Kojima tilted his head back, his face filled with a resolute determination that said, "Since I have to see the dentist anyway, I might as well eat as much as I can today—"
"Alright, let's go to the nearby cake shop then." Daida smiled as he looked at the children, his gaze following behind him to Tang Ze.
He hesitated for two seconds, then looked at Tang Ze's intelligent-looking face and his school uniform before extending an invitation.
"Young man, would you like to come along? Thank you for stopping the thief for me."
He certainly didn't think that Conan, an elementary school student, could gain anything by chasing an adult, and naturally understood why this middle school student was here.
"It was nothing." Tang Ze stepped forward naturally and patted Ai Haibara on the back. "I was just here to pick up my sister from school. Thank you."
Hearing Tang Ze say that, Daida relaxed even more. Looking at the children who were already running ahead, he slowed down and walked to Tang Ze's side.
"She's your sister. You two look so alike."
"Yes, that's what everyone says."
"There are two children in the family, that's really great, they won't be lonely—"
"Actually, we have an older sister—"
Conan followed closely behind Tang Ze, his gaze towards Tang Ze becoming increasingly subtle.
A simple excuse was enough to relax this tense middle-aged man.
It's usually hard to doubt Tang Ze's situation, but his ability to lie without batting an eye and without batting an eye does have a familiar feel to it.
This place is very close to Teitan Elementary School, and the children are naturally familiar with the nearby shopping street.
Soon, the group sat down in a cake shop on the street, ordered cakes and drinks for the children, and set up a table in a lively atmosphere, sitting around the table.
With their appetites satisfied, the children became even more excited, and when they inquired about Shirota's situation, they became much more affectionate.
Through their back-and-forth conversation, Conan learned more about the man.
His full name is Kyozo Shirota. He is 62 years old this year. Before retiring, he had already worked as a junior manager in the company. Now that he is retired, he has more free time and has started to wander around the neighborhood whenever he has nothing to do.
"Oh, so the game you're going to watch tomorrow, Uncle Shirota, is against the Superstars!" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya's eyes widened. "You're going all the way to Osaka just to watch the game?"
"Yes." Shirota pulled out the soccer ticket from his wallet and showed it to the group, specifically pointing to the seat number and the corresponding information on the ticket. He boasted, "This is a great spot on the inside of the field; you can see the whole stadium clearly. I even put on my glasses so I won't miss any details. Uncle also really likes Aei and Higo; they're both exceptionally good players. I'm really looking forward to their match!"
"Hmm?" Kojima Genta, who was engrossed in eating with a fork in his mouth, looked up.
He and Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya exchanged glances, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.
They had just discussed this topic a little while ago. Both of their respective team's star players were out of tomorrow's finals for different reasons, so the scene that Daida was hoping for was obviously impossible.
Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya glanced at Ai Haibara, realizing that Daida was in a similar situation, having not followed the previous match proceedings and therefore unaware of the upcoming arrangements. He then began to explain, "However, those two—"
He had barely begun speaking when Shirota Kyozo's phone rang.
Shirota took out his phone, glanced at the caller ID, looked at the children on the table, and answered the call.
"Oh, it's Wei Jian. What's up? Tomorrow's a rare opportunity, we have to drink until we drop! We're going to have to drink until morning—oh? You said you're going home before 10 pm? Seriously, that means we can only drink for an hour? You're retired, and your wife still keeps such a fuss about you—since everyone's free, let's meet at 7 pm, it's better to meet earlier—it's okay, I'll call the shop and change the time, it won't affect anything—okay, okay, see you tomorrow! Don't be surprised when you see me all old!"
Until he hung up the phone, his face was beaming with a smile, and the intimacy in his tone was genuine. It was clear that his statement that he was looking forward to meeting tomorrow was not an empty promise.
As soon as he hung up the phone, Shirota took out his small notebook from his bag, flipped to the last page, and carefully wrote down what he had just said.
"Hmm, let's change the drinking time to 7 pm —"
However, the children at the table noticed something amiss and started exchanging glances.
"Uncle, you're going to be very busy tomorrow." Ayumi Yoshida nodded slightly and spoke first, "You're going to watch a game and go drinking. Won't you be tired?"
As she spoke, she took advantage of the seating arrangement to move closer to Shirota and look at his notebook.
"We're all retired now, it'd be so boring to stay home if we weren't busy." Shirota didn't mind her gaze and openly showed the contents of the screen, "Look, I'm planning to go to Akihabara to buy a washing machine today."
"Should we buy a new washing machine?"
"Yes, the one at home broke down. Lately, I've had to use the coin-operated washing machine, which is quite a hassle. But thankfully, I only have two shirts and a pair of pants to wash, so I can sit and read the newspaper while waiting, which is quite relaxing and comfortable."
Shirota's smile remained unchanged, still the same optimistic look that could find positivity in any detail of life.
However, Conan's eyes behind his glasses were already squinted into slits.
He had just mentioned his 7-year-old granddaughter, but now he says he only has two or three pieces of underwear to wash.
In other words, this retired man did not live with his family at all, but lived alone.
But when he spoke of his granddaughter with such tenderness, it didn't seem like he was distant from the child.
"Speaking of coin-operated washing machines," Conan cleared his throat, deciding to continue talking about tomorrow, "Detective Samonji's 'Coin-Operated Laundry Murder Case' is airing its finale tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to it."
"Yes, tomorrow is the final explanation chapter, right?" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya nodded. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."
Hearing them talk about this, Shirota crossed his arms and became quite talkative: "You guys like watching detective shows too? I've been following this series. I feel like the culprit is the guy I meet every morning, he seems like a really nice person—"
"I know, I know who the murderer is," Conan said.
"Huh?" Shiroda Kyozo was taken aback.
"He's the culprit in this story. This series is all adapted from novels, and I've read the original novels—" Conan said, drawing out the words.
This is of course not true. The screenwriter of this series is also the original author, but the plot is completely original and deviates from the novel. This is also a very important selling point of this series.
If the culprit in a mystery or suspense story is revealed too early, the motivation to keep watching will be much lower. The production team isn't stupid; they always have to weigh the pros and cons.
That being said, among this group of elementary school students, only Conan himself would actually be engrossed in reading detective novels one by one. Of course, the other kids didn't know if this was true or not, and immediately started shouting.
"Don't tell! You're not allowed to tell! I want to see for myself!"
"Yeah, just one more episode left, you're not allowed to spoil it!"
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything." Conan waved his hand, looking like he couldn't do anything about it. "Hopefully the last episode will be exciting; the story is still quite interesting—"
Seeing his unwavering conviction, Shiroda Kyozo hesitated.
He glanced at the small notebook in his hand and leaned closer to Conan.
"Could you secretly tell me who the culprit is? I've been wondering about this for ages and really want to know the answer."
"But it's going to air tomorrow, so it's better to watch it yourself, right?" Conan feigned doubt.
"Well, I'm very busy tomorrow. I have to watch a ball game and go drinking. I don't have time for that." Shirota Kyozo made up an excuse. "You record TV dramas that you really like to watch, right? Or, you can play them at the restaurant when you're drinking with your friends tomorrow. This drama is quite popular recently. Nobody would object to playing it at an izakaya." Conan, who was already completely confident, declined again.
"Okay, you have a point." Shiroda Kyozo smiled awkwardly and sat up straight again.
He didn't say anything, but the regretful expression on his face was obvious not only to Conan but also to the other children at the table.
He was clearly not as relaxed about the answer as he had made it sound; rather, he seemed to care a great deal about it.
It's certain that this uncle is in a certain situation.
Conan stuck his fork back into the cake in front of him, took a deep breath, and prepared to find a suitable opening line when he heard Tang Ze put down the ice cream cup that had been thoroughly cleaned, leaving not a drop of syrup, bite the spoon, and begin to speak.
"Actually, the statement that life insurance doesn't pay out for suicides is inaccurate. Generally speaking, if you purchase a major life insurance policy and still choose to commit suicide a year later, the insurance company will usually pay out. Are you aware of this unspoken rule?"