"So, Detective Senichi, what are you looking for?"
After Haibara explained the reason for their presence, Mitsuhiko, who was beside them, looked at the two with a smile and asked, "Shall we help you find it too? After all, the two of you have taken care of us a lot before. Now it's time for the Detective Boys to repay you!"
"We know, you know!" Genta boasted with a triumphant smile, then formed a rectangular shape with his hands. "You dropped something in the park, right?"
"Eh!?" Takagi was surprised at the words. "How do you know!?"
"Hehe, don't underestimate us!" Genta proudly declared. "We are the Detective Boys! Something like this can't escape our notice~"
"If you were searching for evidence, you would definitely need to wear gloves, right?" Conan smiled. "But neither of you brought gloves, which means you lost something nearby."
"If you can't find it, it will be troublesome, right?" Ayumi worriedly said. "It seems like Detective Takagi dropped it."
"That... of course it's troublesome...!" Takagi's tone sounded somewhat desperate. "After all, for detectives, that's something almost as important as life!"
"Eh!?"
Hearing Takagi's words, the kids were surprised, exchanging confused looks.
"Could it be that what you lost wasn't a wallet?" Genta and Mitsuhiko glanced at each other.
"So, it was a detective's badge that you lost?" Ayumi exclaimed. "That's a big problem!!"
Meanwhile, Senichi, who had been listening to the conversation, had long been helpless. It was clear that the two were talking about different things, but they continued chatting, and in the end, they fell into a trap...
Sure enough, impatience led to a loss of reason...
Later, Takagi recounted the conflict between the two people he had encountered in the park to Senichi, and the kids only understood the whole story after listening.
"No wonder, so you thought the detective's badge was in the park, and that's why you were searching here with Detective Senichi?" Mitsuhiko said after listening.
"But have you considered that maybe the two people who were arguing found your badge after you hastily left?"
Conan hugged his hands and said, "Given the circumstances at that time, it's quite likely."
"But I didn't ask for information from those two people." Detective Takagi sighed, "So trying to find them is like finding a needle in a haystack."
"Think carefully, Detective Takagi!" Conan encouraged him. "Recall their conversation at that time and see if there are any useful clues."
"Uh..."
Takagi pondered, rubbing his chin. Suddenly, he remembered that before intervening with the two men, the slightly older man in a suit had shouted "Hanzaki" to make the younger man believe in him.
Upon hearing this, the man called Hanzaki became even angrier, claiming that he had not been fired up until now and accused the older man of deceiving him.
The older man in the suit then reassured him, saying that singing requires some time to develop.
Upon hearing this, Hanzaki became even more furious, reaching the limit and demanding the return of the money and youth he had invested over the years.
After that, Detective Takagi rushed in to stop the altercation between the two.
"It's Hanzaki!!" Takagi excitedly clapped his hands together with his right hand. "I heard that the older man was trying to make the young man named Hanzaki believe in him!"
"Which means, this guy Hanzaki is a relatively unknown singer." Senichi looked at Takagi and said, "Think again if there are any other clues. Even the smallest details count. If you don't want to be scolded by Inspector Megure, then put in some effort."
"Uh..." Takagi thought of Inspector Megure's furious demeanor and shivered, then grabbed his hair and began to contemplate again.
Soon, under the pressure of terror, Detective Takagi came up with another crucial clue.
At that time, the young man named Hanzaki was wearing slippers!
This was indeed a very useful clue because if he wasn't wearing formal shoes, it indicated that Hanzaki's residence should be nearby.
So, when meeting the other man in the park, he wore slippers for convenience.
In other words, by spreading out from the park as the center, they might be able to inquire about his information.
Moreover, considering the profession of being a singer, even if not famous, there should be some local rumors about him in the vicinity of his residence.
However, there was always a gap between deduction and reality. Despite the efforts of the five kids, along with Takagi and Senichi, they ran to many places to inquire but never learned any information about the person named Hanzaki.
Whether it was the surrounding stores or nearby residents, no one knew of a singer named Hanzaki.
Unconsciously, time passed, and it was now noon. Senichi and the others bought some burgers and such, returning to the park to take a break.
"Sigh... I thought we could find out where this guy Hanzaki lives with these clues," Mitsuhiko lamented, taking a bite of his burger. "But it turns out no one knows."
"Tch! What kind of singer is he? No wonder he's not popular..." Genta commented while sipping on fruit juice. "He really has no fame at all!"
"Yeah, exactly. For a profession like a singer, there should be some rumors among the locals, no matter what," Ayumi added while eating fries, expressing concern for Takagi. "If we can't find him, Detective Takagi might not get his detective badge back... he'll get scolded, right?"
Ayumi's worried words made Takagi think of the impending anger from Inspector Megure, causing him to feel a wave of despair.
"Ah! You're the detective from yesterday!"
Just at that moment, a male voice suddenly sounded, and everyone turned to see a man in an orange jacket waving and greeting Takagi. "What are you doing here in the park? Helping the kids?"
"Ah!! You... you are..." Takagi was astonished when he saw the man in front of him. He excitedly ran up to him and said, "Great! You're the one from yesterday... Mr. Hanzaki, right?"
"Yes, that's me," Hanzaki nodded slightly. "I'm sorry for causing trouble for you yesterday, Detective-san."
On the sidelines, Senichi looked at Hanzaki with seriousness and a solemn expression in his eyes. His Super Sense of Smell was quietly activated.
No need to pretend; you're the culprit, for real! No room for rebuttal!
Senichi's confidence had its reasons.
In the Detective Conan cases, if there were only two relevant individuals, aside from the deceased, the other person naturally became the suspect. It was a somewhat redundant fact. Now that Mr. Hanzaki appeared in front of them, it implied that the slightly older man was very likely to have met an unfortunate fate.
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