Haibara Ai, who had been waiting on the side, stepped forward and whispered to Conan, "Thanks for your hard work."
Conan felt gratified instantly. Getting a word of concern from Haibara was truly rare and easily touching. "It was nothing, really."
Haibara Ai nodded, her voice cool and clear. "He has exams tomorrow, so I'll be troubling you more."
Conan: "..."
Give me back my gratitude!
However...
Haibara was rarely this polite, and if Chi Feichi had exams, it was no big deal for Conan to handle the main narration and let Chi Feichi rest more...
"There's only plain water, make do with it," Takagi Wataru poured water for Chi Feichi and Haibara Ai, and poured a cup for himself before returning to his seat and smiling. "Actually, for the Scorpion case last time, we originally wanted you to give a statement too..."
Conan and Chi Feichi looked at Takagi Wataru.
Suddenly, they didn't want to drink this water anymore...
"Ahem," Takagi Wataru felt guilty under their stare and laughed dryly. "But that case was a bit complicated, involving Kaitou Kid, and the person who arrested Scorpion was somewhat special. Plus, Scorpion herself is an internationally wanted criminal with multiple offenses, so there's no need for a statement on that one. We just need a statement for the Morizono family incident."
The person who arrested her was somewhat special...
Conan couldn't suppress his curiosity. "Officer Takagi, was the robber from the bank robbery three days ago also arrested by July?"
Takagi Wataru hesitated. Although July's matters weren't strictly confidential, they were only known internally within the police force.
Solving cases already relied heavily on detectives. If arresting criminals also relied on a bounty hunter, the public would think the police were useless.
Although cases solved by detectives and July were only a part, the police still had to dispatch, monitor, ambush, and arrest every day. Even on vacation, one phone call meant returning to duty. But the public didn't care about that; the shining halo of individual heroism easily overshadowed much of the effort behind the scenes.
Therefore, the police wouldn't insist on denying it, but they wouldn't mention July to the public or news reports either.
Since they paid the bounty, the fame in this aspect should go to them. July only occupied that part within the bounty hunter circle, which was reasonable...
"This... Conan, how do you know about July?"
"He's the one who arrested Scorpion, right?" Conan avoided the topic and turned to pull Chi Feichi next to him. "Brother Chi should know too, right?"
"July?" Chi Feichi's expression remained calm. "Who?"
Conan broke a sweat. He almost forgot; the MPD wouldn't disclose this to the public. Sensing Takagi Wataru still looking at him, he scratched his head and laughed. "I heard Scorpion was caught by him. I accidentally overheard when Inspector Megure called Uncle Mouri later!"
"So that's how it is," Takagi Wataru breathed a sigh of relief. Since his superior leaked the news, he couldn't help it. Besides, he believed Mouri Kogoro, having been a police officer, would consider the difficulties of the police and wouldn't blab randomly. "Conan, about this matter..."
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I haven't even told Ayumi and the others. Haibara won't gossip either. As for Brother Chi... he's had contact anyway, so he'll figure it out sooner or later," Conan continued to act like a child, automatically ignoring Professor Agasa whom he had told long ago. Anyway, Professor Agasa knew what was important. After reassuring Takagi Wataru, he revealed his true purpose. "Officer Takagi, there are many opened cardboard boxes outside the MPD today. Were they all wanted criminals sent by July?"
Honest Takagi Wataru felt lying wasn't good. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Many wanted criminals were sent over, but officially we say the MPD is replacing unusable chairs..."
"Then was Asama Anji, the culprit of the serial robberies related to the Hokutosei train a few days ago, also caught and sent over by July?" Conan pressed.
That day, Kaetsu Toshinori was knocked out directly by Chi Feichi. After waking up, his dad and others reasoned with Kaetsu Toshinori to turn himself in.
But when asked why Kaetsu Toshinori didn't kill Asama Anji and frame him as written in the novel plot, Kaetsu Toshinori said Asama Anji had disappeared, and he didn't know where he went.
His dad suspected that either Asama Anji sensed Kaetsu Toshinori's intentions and fled early, or Asama Anji fell into someone else's hands.
The former possibility was higher. Unless Asama Anji was tricked off the train, someone should have noticed something unusual whether he was killed or kidnapped.
However, nothing could be confirmed.
The mystery of Asama Anji's disappearance kept both father and son curious until now...
"Asama Anji?" Takagi Wataru whispered. "He was indeed sent over by July."
"How was Asama Anji caught? When was he caught? Does he remember any clues?" Conan threw out a barrage of questions. "The Hokutosei is a direct train to Hokkaido. Although it stopped midway due to the murder, there were police all around at that time. Taking Asama Anji off the train would risk discovery with the slightest mistake, right?"
Chi Feichi listened quietly from the side. Conan seems interested in my bounty hunter persona. Is he planning to uncover my identity?
Takagi Wataru was dazed by Conan's barrage of questions. "Conan..."
"Uh, Uncle Mouri was on the train that day too. He's a bit curious, so I wanted to ask for him if I got the chance!" Conan decisively shifted the blame to Mouri Kogoro.
He knew the police were unlikely to tell him specific details. He got a bit carried away just now, but it was truly regrettable.
If he knew the details, maybe he could find some clues. After all, acting on such a direct train easily leaves flaws.
"No, no," Takagi Wataru believed Conan's lie and explained. "July's matters are handled by the National Police Agency. Interrogation details cannot be told to Mr. Mouri. Besides, Asama Anji is very confused. He was unconscious the whole time after being caught and didn't see anyone at all. Now his mental state isn't quite normal either..."
Chi Feichi: "..."
Asama Anji's mental state isn't normal?
What happened?
Did I buy fake or shoddy ether that caused brain damage to Asama Anji?
"Not normal?" Conan asked.
"Maybe he couldn't accept being caught just like that," Takagi Wataru whispered. "I didn't participate in the interrogation, but I heard Asama Anji is emotionally unstable, and his description of events gets more and more chaotic."
Conan didn't overthink it; this reason made sense. "Then could July be a group of people? His efficiency in catching people is a bit too high. Not only criminals but also some physical evidence was sent over today, right? At least he must have an intelligence gathering channel."
"I thought so too, but the specific investigation is unclear. Actually, when he drove the delivery truck over this morning, I saw him. He even gave me the truck keys," Takagi Wataru recalled and smiled. "He was a very thin, middle-aged man with a weathered face. His voice was very deep and raspy. However, July knows disguise, so that might not be his real appearance. Also, he wore gloves. Only the original delivery driver's fingerprints and traces were found on the keys and in the truck..."
Conan pondered. "A meticulous and very careful person."
The two fell into silent thought for a while before Takagi Wataru remembered he still had work to finish. "Ahem, let's take the statement first!"
Conan's eyes turned into dots. He was so engrossed in thought he almost forgot the main business. "Uh, right..."
"Next is the Morizono family incident..." Takagi Wataru looked at Chi Feichi.
For this case, the deduction was given by Hattori Heiji, but Hattori Heiji had returned to Osaka and said to ask Chi Feichi.
Uh, never mind, better look at Conan. Conan was there too...