"Here you go."
Matsuda Naoya handed the phone to the boy, who took it with a deep sense of apology: "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting."
"It's okay, I didn't have anything else to do anyway."
While waiting for the boy, he had gone back home and picked up his car keys. After returning the phone, he planned to drive around the outskirts.
"Are you little Conan?" Matsuda Naoya crouched down, "I heard from your sister that you went after the criminal. How did it go?"
"Huh?" Conan was taken aback.
He examined the man in front of him, with disheveled medium-length curly hair, black-rimmed glasses that covered almost half of his face, and only a pair of bright green eyes that were full of spirit.
Unbeknownst to him, Matsuda Naoya was also sizing up the little boy in front of him: "Ah, I suppose that question was a bit abrupt. I have some understanding of the sniper incident, but these matters should be left to the police. Children shouldn't get involved, it's very dangerous."
As he spoke, he reached out and ruffled Conan's hair, giving him a strange hairstyle.
Conan silently fixed his hair and was about to speak when the phone rang.
"Hello? Sister Sera?"
Matsuda Naoya stepped a little further away to make sure he wouldn't overhear Conan's conversation.
After Conan hung up the phone, he saw the uncle still not far away.
"Let me drive you home. It's getting late. If you don't go back, Miss Mouri and Mr. Mouri will be worried, right?"
Feeling somewhat bewildered by the uncle's unexplained kindness, Conan still refused Matsuda Naoya's offer.
Matsuda Naoya didn't insist and said goodbye to Conan, but then quietly followed him in his car.
Watching Conan meet up with a somewhat familiar high school student, Matsuda Naoya guessed that they were going to investigate privately.
He watched as Conan and the others found something with delight, but their confident smiles turned to horror when the lead was sniped from a distance!
Sera Masumi and Conan immediately deduced the possible location, and Matsuda Naoya stepped on the gas to follow closely behind.
Upon reaching the bottom floor, Sera Masumi and Conan immediately got on the elevator. Matsuda Naoya didn't rush to follow; he first observed the lobby to make sure there were no Western-looking individuals before heading to the rooftop terrace.
Sera Masumi and Conan, hearing footsteps, turned around to see a curly-haired man in a black leather jacket standing behind them.
When had he arrived? They hadn't noticed at all!
"It's the uncle who returned my phone!" Conan exclaimed in surprise. "Why are you here?"
"I just couldn't stop worrying about you, a little kid running around outside all by yourself at night. What if something happened?" Matsuda Naoya said, looking down at Conan.
Conan could only give an awkward chuckle.
"Anyway, let's call the police first," Sera Masumi pulled out her phone and dialed with practiced ease.
Matsuda Naoya crouched down to examine the spent cartridge and dice, asking Conan, "This is where the perpetrator was sniping from?"
"Yes, and not only that, but empty cartridges and dice were also found on the rooftop of the Asakusa restaurant. It seems the perpetrator is using a countdown method, and I suspect there might be more victims," Conan said.
"Impressive, little one," Matsuda Naoya chuckled lightly.
Uh-oh. Conan thought to himself, then tried hard to act like a child.
Matsuda Naoya didn't seem to mind and just marveled at the child's intelligence, taking out his phone to snap pictures of the empty cartridge and dice.
Twenty minutes later, Inspector Megure arrived at the scene with Officer Takagi.
"Matsuda, what are you doing here?" Inspector Megure was somewhat surprised.
"I was just a bit worried about these two kids, so I followed to check on them."
"Well, then come with me and give a statement," Inspector Megure led everyone downstairs.
Unfortunately, it was Miwako Sato who took Matsuda Naoya's statement. Sato had a stern expression and was silent.
Conan and Sera Masumi noticed the odd atmosphere between them before entering the conference room.
"Officer Sato, long time no see," Matsuda Naoya said awkwardly as he sat down in the chair.
Sato Miwako slapped the notebook down on the table with a "thud," "Long time no see."
"Tell me about the case, you should be familiar with the procedure."
"I was returning the phone to the kid, but it was getting late and I was worried about him, so I followed in my car. Then I happened to witness someone being sniped. I followed that girl to the restaurant. Didn't the perpetrator supposed to be a foreigner? I kept an eye out for anyone who looked Western in the lobby." At this, Matsuda Naoya shook his head, "Unfortunately, there was no one."
"I was also worried the perpetrator might come down the stairs, after all, it's conspicuous to carry a large bag in the elevator, so I went up the stairs, and those two were already there by then."
Sato Miwako wrote furiously, only looking up after finishing the last stroke, "That's it?"
Matsuda Naoya shook his head, "That's it."
"Alright, we'll stop here then," Sato Miwako said, frowning as she stood up, "If you remember anything else, call me anytime."
"Will do." Matsuda Naoya, aware that he was in the wrong, his medium-length curly hair drooping.
What an awkward atmosphere...
When Conan came out of the conference room, he found only the strangely standing uncle leaning against the wall and Sato Miwako, who didn't look too well. Takagi, who was taking Conan's statement, was startled when he opened the door.
"What's wrong, Officer Sato?" Takagi whispered.
Seeing Takagi, Sato Miwako's expression slightly improved, "Let's go and report to Inspector Megure."
Only after Takagi and Sato Miwako's figures completely disappeared from sight did Matsuda Naoya withdraw his gaze.
Someone tugged at his sleeve, and Matsuda Naoya looked down to see Conan.
"Uncle, did you offend Officer Sato somewhere?" Conan asked out of curiosity.
"Well, it's been two years, just some old bad habits," Matsuda Naoya thought wistfully about having a cigarette, but refrained when he remembered the child in front of him.
Seeing that Matsuda Naoya didn't want to talk about it, Conan didn't press the issue and changed the subject: "Why hasn't Sera come out yet?"
"It's normal, that guy Date is probably scolding Miss Sera right now."
"So, you're close with Officer Date?"
"You sure ask a lot of questions, little one," Matsuda Naoya said, looking down. "Not just close with Date, I should say I'm familiar with everyone in the First Investigation Division!"
It was more of a one-sided familiarity, as his colleagues in the First Investigation Division weren't particularly fond of him.
"I used to be a criminal detective, and now I'm a novelist. I was partners with Date, who may seem tough but is actually a very gentle person," Matsuda Naoya crouched down to make eye contact with Conan, "Let me tell you in secret, Officer Date is a henpecked husband... Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
He was slapped on the back of the head, and Matsuda Naoya turned around, rubbing his head and looking discontentedly at the culprit.
"I'm sorry for being a henpecked husband," Date Tsutomu had appeared behind him at some point, and Sera Masumi was hanging her head behind Date, looking deflated.
Matsuda Naoya stood up and muttered quietly, "It is what it is..."
Conan watched this dramatic scene, and the mysterious persona he had just built up for Matsuda Naoya in his mind collapsed in an instant, his mouth twitching.
"The record has been taken, and I still have to report, so I'll leave it to you to take them back," After a few brief greetings, Date Tsutomu instructed Matsuda Naoya.
After finishing the statement, Matsuda Naoya, as if returning to his own home, led Sera Masumi and Conan to the underground parking lot. He changed from his previous gloom, cheerfully greeting anyone he recognized or was familiar with. Unfortunately, almost everyone seemed to have seen a ghost, either pretending not to see him or hastily nodding before quickly disappearing as if very busy.
What's going on? Why are all the police officers avoiding this man?
Sera felt that the curly-haired man walking ahead was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.
The elevator reached the underground first floor, and the footsteps of the three echoed in the spacious parking lot. Sera Masumi couldn't help but ask,
"Mr. Matsuda, how did you recognize that I'm a girl? Have we met before?"
The short-haired, efficient girl with canines stopped and looked seriously at the man in front of her.
Conan, who had been lost in thought about the case, looked up at the two when he heard Sera's question.
But the man seemed not to hear and continued to walk forward, even going all the way to his car not far away. Seeing Sera and Conan still standing in the same place, he called out to them, "Get in the car quickly, I'll take you home."
"Hey! I was talking to you!" Sera felt a bit speechless.
"Ah?" Matsuda Naoya seemed to react only now, "Sorry, I'm getting old, my eyes and ears are not good."
Faced with the other party's evasive answer, Sera and Conan had several black lines on their foreheads.
Seeing that the question could not be resolved, Sera Masumi looked at her watch, and she had to go back. After all, there was someone waiting to be fed at the hotel, so she patted her beloved motorcycle: "I don't need it, I have a motorcycle to go back by myself."
"Alright, drive safely," Matsuda Naoya did not insist on keeping her.
Sera Masumi left on her motorcycle, and Matsuda Naoya started the car.
"Conan, where is your home?"
"Mouri Detective Agency in 5-chome, Miyanoshita." Conan sat upright in the back seat.
"Ah? Mouri Detective? The famous sleeping Kogoro!" Matsuda Naoya drove onto the main road, glancing at Conan in the rearview mirror, "No wonder you are so smart."
Conan could only give an awkward laugh in response: "No, it's not..."
The blue Mazda RX-7 drove steadily on the road, and Conan, supporting his chin in the back seat, was still thinking about the case.
"Sometimes I really don't think you are like a child." Matsuda Naoya, heading towards the main road, glanced at the serious child in the rearview mirror.
Conan came back from the case and dryly laughed, passing the buck to Mouri Kogoro: "It's all taught by Uncle Mouri."
After observing for half a day, Matsuda Naoya found that this child was really too smart.
"By the way, if there is any investigation tomorrow, can you take me with you?" Matsuda Naoya also changed the subject, "To be honest, I am a bit interested in this case. After all, I was once invited by the Metropolitan Police Department to become a sniper."
Conan looked at him in surprise behind his thick lenses, "But don't you wear glasses for nearsightedness?"
"Well, I had an accident two years ago, which injured my eyes." Without glasses, Matsuda Naoya was blind as a bat, unable to distinguish between people and animals within ten meters.
I see, in this case, it's impossible to continue being a police officer. He has heard this timeline of two years many times today, and he is curious about what happened.
Compared to the mysterious man in front of him, the current sniper incident is more important.
After weighing the pros and cons, Conan chose not to delve deeper for the time being.
"You're home, Conan-kun." Matsuda Naoya stopped the car steadily, and Conan stopped thinking, thanked him, and said goodbye before running upstairs.