In the dining car, Chi Feichi sat by the window, admiring the sunset view outside, waiting for the dishes to be served.
"Darcy, sit down and eat with me."
Darcy hesitated for a moment but still sat opposite him. "Alright."
The train restaurant strictly followed the serving order of French cuisine: appetizers, soup, fish, fruit jelly, entremets, roast, salad, dessert, coffee... Each course was paired with corresponding drinks. Although exquisite, it took a long time to finish a meal.
While waiting for the coffee to be served, Darcy, thinking Feichi was still in the room, proactively asked, "Young Master, do you need to bring some food for Feichi?"
"No need, just preparing some clean water for him later will be fine," Chi Feichi reached into his pocket, frowned slightly, and stood up. "I seem to have dropped my key card in the restroom. I'll go look for it."
"I'll go with you!" Darcy immediately stood up. He hadn't seen the documents in the room, but he knew very well that the value of something Chi Shinnosuke asked Chi Feichi to personally deliver to Hokkaido was definitely not low.
"No need, you wait here. I'll check the restroom. If I can't find it, I'll contact the train police directly." Chi Feichi pressed down on Darcy's shoulder.
At a table near the entrance, Mouri Ran caught a glimpse of someone hurrying past out of the corner of her eye and turned her head in confusion. "Eh?"
"What's wrong?" Conan followed her gaze and saw a somewhat familiar back leaving the dining car. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "That person... couldn't be Brother Chi, right?"
Mouri Ran shook her head hesitantly. "I didn't see clearly either."
"Alright," Mouri Kogoro focused on dealing with the food in front of him without lifting his head. "Maybe you were mistaken."
Conan recalled the figure, thinking it looked more and more like Chi Feichi, and felt an urge to investigate.
What was that guy rushing off to do?
Should I... sneakily follow him and take a look?
"Ran-neechan, I..."
"No," Mouri Ran stopped him decisively. "Finish your dinner first."
"Uh, yes..." Conan responded helplessly.
After leaving the dining car, Chi Feichi didn't rush to the restroom. First, he went to the rear carriage, found a single room far from the 'vortex', knocked on the door, and stepped aside.
"Who is it?" A young man opened the door. As he poked his head out to look around, he glimpsed a flash of electric light beside him and then fainted.
Chi Feichi caught the man, carried him back into the room, took the key card, and then went to the restroom. Avoiding people, he moved Asama Anji into the room, tied him up, gagged him, and stuffed him into the closet.
Feichi had inhaled ether earlier and was also still unconscious. Chi Feichi left him in the closet as well, placing the remaining small capsule of ether beside him.
It was now 8:09 PM. Before the train stopped at the station tomorrow morning, if either of these two woke up, they would likely be discovered prematurely.
Leaving Feichi there was also for surveillance. If push came to shove, he would just have to wrong Feichi and let him faint again...
When Chi Feichi returned to the dining car, the passengers inside were already chatting.
"Mouri Kogoro? You are the famous detective Mouri Kogoro, right? I'm so excited! Can we take a photo together later?"
"Mouri..."
"Kogoro?"
Except for the passenger asking for a photo, everyone else's expressions changed slightly.
Kudo Yukiko was wearing a wig, sunglasses, and a hat, making her completely unrecognizable as the formerly famous Japanese actress. She stood at the door with her arms crossed, laughing, "Yes, what a coincidence..."
Eh?
Conan turned to look and saw a person dressed entirely in black walking in behind the strange woman. His attention shifted immediately; the person who had hurriedly left earlier really was Chi Feichi.
Mouri Ran was also stunned for a moment. "It really is Mr. Chi..."
Conan had been holding back his curiosity for a long time. seeing Chi Feichi, he couldn't help it anymore. "Brother Chi, what were you rushing off to do just now?"
"Lost my key card," Chi Feichi said.
Mouri Ran asked with concern, "Did you find it then?"
"Found it," Chi Feichi looked at Darcy, who was walking over. "I thought I dropped it in the restroom, but I found it in the corridor."
"Young people are so reckless," Mouri Kogoro muttered.
After Kudo Yukiko curiously sized up Chi Feichi, she realized she seemed to be ignored...
Yes, ignored...
She had intended to make an entrance as a 'mysterious woman' to catch her son's attention and give him a warning.
As a result, she did attract a lot of gazes initially, but why did everyone's attention shift to someone else the next second? Hey...
Seeing Mouri Kogoro exchanging pleasantries with an acquaintance, the others turned back to their own conversations. Mouri Ran also invited Chi Feichi to sit with them, leaving Yukiko standing alone on the side.
Did she have so little presence?
A waiter entered. "Are you Miss Akechi who ordered dinner? Your seat is inside."
Finally, someone noticed me...
"Sorry, I want to cancel today's table reservation. Just send dinner to my room." Kudo Yukiko smiled and stole a glance at Conan, only to find her son wasn't paying attention to her at all, chatting enthusiastically with that Mr. Chi.
"Brother Chi, who is this big brother..."
"My father's driver."
"Hello, my name is Darcy." After Darcy greeted the three, he stood aside.
"Hello," Mouri Ran asked curiously, "Are you of mixed heritage?"
"Yes." Darcy nodded.
Mouri Kogoro also joined the catching-up team. "Are you also planning a trip to Hokkaido?"
"No, I'm helping my father deliver a document there," Chi Feichi said.
"If it's a document, wouldn't a fax machine work?" Mouri Ran asked in confusion.
Conan explained, "It's probably an original document that requires the chairman's signature, right? Such important documents sometimes must be delivered personally. But taking a train instead of a plane might also mean giving Brother Chi a chance to relax."
Kudo Yukiko looked at Conan's confident demeanor with black lines dropping down her forehead.
Can you hold off on showing off your knowledge? Look at me first! I still have things to say... No, I can't wait for others to take the initiative. I must find a chance to pull the attention back myself!
"So that's how it is," Mouri Ran smiled understandingly. "But what a coincidence to meet you here."
Kudo Yukiko was just about to speak to draw attention, but Conan beat her to it.
"Brother Chi," Conan tugged on Chi Feichi's shirt, completely oblivious to the resentful gaze behind him. He glanced at Izumo Keitaro, the jewelry store owner who was no longer paying attention to them, and asked, "A robber robbed a jewelry store but was driven away by the owner. Before leaving, the robber left a sentence saying 'This is different from what we agreed'. Has a similar case happened before?"
Chi Feichi felt a ghostly gaze staring at his back, but he answered Conan's question first. "No."
"Is that so?" Conan was confused. Then why did he feel this development was so familiar?
"Brat, stop overthinking," Mouri Kogoro said. "Maybe you saw a similar plot in a detective drama recently."
Conan asked Chi Feichi, "Have there been similar detective dramas recently?"
"No."
"Then what about earlier ones?"
"No."
"It doesn't have to be a detective drama. Maybe a movie or a detective novel..."
"No."
The waiter stepped forward and noticed Kudo Yukiko still standing aside. He asked, "Miss Akechi, do you need anything else?"
Chi Feichi and the others turned their heads.
Conan was puzzled. Why hasn't this strange woman left yet? Why is she standing next to us all this time?
Kudo Yukiko somehow understood the meaning in Conan's eyes. She turned around with a cold face. "Nothing, I just feel this trip will be very interesting!"
Chi Feichi was silent. This...
He remembered that in this part of the plot, Kudo Yukiko was supposed to be acting out a mysterious persona. Was there such a grim and fierce part in her performance?
Kudo Yukiko left the room, tapping her chin with her finger in distress.
Even if Conan didn't intentionally drive her away, she still felt so wronged.
Why did she stand there for so long? Wasn't it to make Conan more vigilant?
However, after being ignored for so long, suddenly getting noticed and realizing her son thought she should leave, the momentary excitement mixed with dissatisfaction made her overact a bit...
At the table, Mouri Ran was stunned for a long time. "That Miss Akechi... what happened? Why did she suddenly get angry?"
Mouri Kogoro put on a 'been there, done that' expression and sighed with emotion. "Women, they look gentle, but in reality, when they get angry, they are all tigresses. The key is that they get angry inexplicably, leaving you unable to find a reason. It's completely unreasonable!"
Conan pondered while nodding in agreement. Yeah, women really are strange sometimes...
"Dad!" Mouri Ran's gaze gradually became dangerous. "Conan..."
"Of course, my daughter is so understanding, she's an exception!" Mouri Kogoro hurriedly changed his tune.
"Yeah, yeah," Conan nodded. "Ran-neechan is very gentle, not that kind of unreasonable woman!"
Mouri Ran felt a bit embarrassed. "No, I lose my temper sometimes too..."
Mouri Kogoro and Conan quietly breathed a sigh of relief, side-eyeing Chi Feichi, who acted as if nothing had happened. This traitor to men!
Chi Feichi: "..."
Why are they staring at me?
He just noticed that Conan and Mouri Kogoro were sometimes very in sync; even their movements and expressions of relief were identical. Is it wrong to watch the show?