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Conan had been chasing the man in the baseball cap as fast as he could and finally caught sight of his back. He slowed down and quietly followed. He was convinced this guy was part of the Black Organization—there was no way he could afford to lose him...
"Conan, weren't we looking for Junya's brother? Why are we tailing that man instead?" Mitsuhiko asked, confused.
Conan replied, "The portrait on the 1,000-yen bill is Natsume Sōseki."As soon as he said that, the others suddenly understood—and immediately tensed up.
After a lot of twists and turns, they followed the man to a small unfamiliar town. Unfortunately, he was too fast and had already disappeared.
Well, that was true for Conan—but Hana Bumyo could clearly sense the man was on the third floor of the building right in front of them. He just didn't say anything. After all, saying you can track someone by their presence alone sounded way too bizarre.
Left with no other option, Conan crossed the street and walked into a real estate agency. After all, anyone printing counterfeit bills would definitely need to rent a quiet, hidden place.
"Excuse me, do you have any places where no one would notice no matter what you were doing inside?" Conan asked the shop owner.
The owner looked at him with a weird expression—it was pretty strange for a kid to be asking something like that. Seeing that Conan was getting nowhere, Hana Bumyo stepped in.
"Boss, do you know what's on the third floor of the building across the street?"
The third floor across the street?Everyone looked over. The building across the way turned out to be a police station—and the third floor Hana Bumyo mentioned was right next to it.
"Oh, that? It's a newspaper office. I rented it out two years ago," the owner replied.
Conan couldn't help but wonder why Hana Bumyo was asking this kind of stuff. But then he heard him follow up, "What kind of people usually go in and out of there?"
The owner thought for a moment. "They're always wearing black. The boss is a woman—always wears a hat."
After leaving the real estate agency, the group looked up at the building.
"You think that newspaper office might be…?" Ayumi asked hesitantly.
"But why would anyone print fake money right next to a police station?" Mitsuhiko said, completely baffled.
Hana Bumyo gave a little chuckle. "Sometimes the most dangerous place is the safest. That's an old saying from the Celestial Empire."
Since the police station was right next door, it made things easier. The Detective Boys walked right up to the cops and reported that someone on the third floor next door was printing counterfeit bills.
"Huh? Don't you kids have homework or something?" The officer on duty clearly thought they were just messing around.
Conan stood in the back, saying nothing, his eyes filled with disappointment.Of course the cops wouldn't believe a bunch of kids saying something like that out of nowhere. It looked like he'd have to find another way.
Without another word, Conan turned and ran off, shouting over his shoulder, "You guys stay right here and don't move! Got it? No messing around!"Then he disappeared around the corner.
Ayumi looked a little upset. "Ugh, why does him telling us not to move make me want to move even more…"
Hana Bumyo smiled calmly. "Well, if you're curious, why don't you come with me and check it out?"
"You're going up there?" Ai Haibara asked in surprise.
Hana Bumyo nodded slightly and walked straight into the building. He was planning to get in touch with the local criminal underworld—maybe even find a way to connect with the assassin organization.
Meanwhile, Conan had found a phone booth and was calling someone he trusted—Inspector Megure. If the local cops wouldn't believe them, he'd just have to report it as Shinichi Kudo, high school detective. That was the only way the police would take it seriously.
"What?! Counterfeit money?"Inspector Megure's shocked voice came through the line. "Is this for real, Shinichi?"
Using the bowtie voice changer Dr. Agasa had invented, Conan replied in Shinichi's voice, "Yeah. I haven't confirmed it for sure yet, but it looks like it.
Also, when the police move in, they need to be super careful. There's a good chance the suspects might try to use hostages. Got that?"With that, he hung up.
"....."