Phantom Thief of Heart!but conan

Chapter 738 A Big Drunkenness

The aftermath of the explosion at the twin skyscrapers is still lingering.

Mio Tokiwa and other senior executives of the Tokiwa Group were afraid that they would be purged by the organization, so they went to the police station crying and turning themselves in, and were eventually thrown into prison. A group of guests who were marked that night were taken away by the police and registered as missing.

The explosion that collapsed the entire building, the person who was lying in the guest room before the explosion, and the investigation into the illegal activities of the entire Tokiwa Group...

In addition, Mio Tokiwa's dinner party was already crowded with guests, and she did her best to invite all the celebrities in her network. This made the evidence collection work of the Investigation Section even more difficult. Even with the cooperation of several different departments, it still took several days.

Conan, Kogoro Mori and others did not show much abnormality that night. The most abnormal part was that Conan, the elementary school student rescued by the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, had his statement taken very late.

Tang Ze's own statement was completed the day after the incident using the identity of Kitagawa Yusuke to accompany Kisaragi Minemizu. He just came along today to join in the fun.

——The main purpose is to ambush Sato Miwako.

Although her interactions with Jinpei Matsuda have already been broadcast in the plot in the form of flashbacks, Karasawa, who is familiar with the case, naturally understands this, but since this information is now going to be used to revive Jinpei Matsuda, Karasawa still hopes to perfect the details as much as possible.

No matter how you look at the case, it is not as reliable as listening to the parties themselves introduce it.

Given Tang Ze's current relationship with several police officers in the Investigation Section, it is not difficult to find a suitable entry point.

So, when Sato Miwako finished taking statements from several elementary school students and walked out exhausted, she saw Takagi Wataru and Karasawa chatting together.

Gao Mu, this guy, everyone is so busy, but he still has time to slack off here...

If I had known earlier, I should have just thrown the task of taking statements from elementary school students to him!
Oh, their record time should really be arranged together with Kitagawa-kun. The out-of-control elementary school students are just like a group of husky puppies...

As she walked quickly towards Karasawa and Takagi Wataru who were sitting at their desks, she heard Karasawa explaining his recent experiences at school.

"Do you have that feeling, Officer Takagi? It's the illusion that someone who has long left you appears around you again..."

"...Are you talking about your parents, Tang Zejun?" After a moment of hesitation, Takagi Wataru reacted quickly.

Although he didn't know why he was just politely concerned about the recent situation of Karasawa who was sitting in the hall waiting for someone, things inexplicably turned into him and Karasawa sitting here having a conversation. After being controlled for more than ten minutes, Takagi Shigeru still attached great importance to what Karasawa expressed.

The police officers of the First Investigation Section have been paying close attention to the trial that happened to this child and nearly destroyed his life since they came into contact with Karasawa.

He also learned about Tang Ze's life experience that was publicly displayed, and quickly understood who Tang Ze was referring to.

In his short eighteen years of life, the child had very limited interpersonal relationships, and the only people he had truly lost were his parents.

...Moreover, since the two had been participating in research projects abroad for a long time, the cause of their death was only recorded as a simple traffic accident. There was no specific explanation of the accident, nor any specific information such as the responsible party.

When he learned the news, Tang Ze had already been sentenced for injury. He even needed special review and application to leave Kyoto and come to Tokyo, let alone go abroad to collect the bodies of his parents.

Several months had passed, but the child still couldn't even get his parents' ashes, and he didn't know whether his parents' remains were still frozen in a funeral home somewhere...

Thinking of this, Takagi Shigeru couldn't help but push the paper cup of warm water towards Tang Ze, indicating that he should drink some hot water to calm down.

Tang Ze took the water cup without hesitation, and then sighed: "Yes, the new psychologist in our school is very similar to my father."

"Are you talking about appearance?" When Takagi Wataru heard the word "psychologist", he straightened his back and asked seriously.

It's not that he is prejudiced against psychologists. It's just that something happened to Kyosuke Fudo, a psychologist who has served in the police station for a long time. He murdered many of his colleagues. This has brought a huge psychological shadow to the entire investigation department, and he cannot ignore it.

"...That's not the case." Tang Ze put on a reminiscing look, "In fact, his style is very different from my father's. I look a lot like my father, especially the facial features. If it weren't for the big difference in hair color, I would look younger, and many people would have difficulty telling them apart. Oh, about the same level as that Kudo Shinichi and his father."

Conan, who had sneaked past them and was trying to get access to the information of the Tokiwa Group, suddenly stiffened his back and looked in the direction of Tang Ze suspiciously.

What was Tang Ze talking about with Officer Takagi? Why did he mention him for no apparent reason...

"Then they should indeed look alike." Takagi Wataru, who had met Kudo Shinichi and also seen Kudo Yusaku in news reports, nodded suddenly.

"This new psychologist actually has a face that is quite different from my father's. His eye shape is very different, and his face is a little longer. If you really compare their photos, you can definitely tell the difference." At this point, Tang Ze sighed sadly, "But when I see him, I can't help but think of my father. I'm starting to doubt my eyes."

Mao Lilan, who finished the record first, was originally sitting on a stool on the other side waiting for Mao Li Kogoro. When she heard Tang Ze's description, she couldn't help but come over.

She was also very curious about Tang Ze's thoughts on the psychiatrist.

"If the face isn't similar, then is it the voice or the clothes?" Takagi Wataru asked in confusion.

"The clothes are indeed somewhat similar, but it seems normal for a doctor to wear a white coat. Well, if I must say..." After holding his chin and thinking for a while, Tang Ze said in an uncertain tone, "Hairstyle? And, glasses?"

When the topic came to this point, the Junior Detective Team brought by Kogoro Mouri and Ran Mouri had already gathered around the two of them.

On the other side, as Sato Miwako stood a few steps away from them, intending to listen to their conversation, several familiar police officers from the Investigation Section also came over.

The timing was perfect.

So Tang Ze scratched his hair in a distressed manner: "I don't know how to say it...Um, Officer Takagi, do you mind if I demonstrate it?"

"Huh?" Takagi Wataru was stunned, having no idea why the topic suddenly turned to him.

When he wanted to express his opinion again, Tang Ze had already stood up and walked over the table without saying a word, and started to randomly grab his neatly combed hair.

Takagi Shigeru's vision was blocked by Tang Ze's approaching body, and Tang Ze's movements were so quick that before he could even struggle, he had already been forced into a different hairstyle.

Mao Lai has mastered the art of disguise, and having used it frequently for several months, Tang Ze has already become an expert in styling. Ten seconds is enough for him to change his costume, so it is naturally easy for him to take care of Takagi Shigeru's hairstyle.

"Glasses, glasses...well, let's use these." Pretending not to notice Conan standing behind him wearing black-framed glasses, Tangze picked up the sunglasses that Shiratori Rensaburo had placed aside and put them on Takagi Wataru's nose.

After styling Takagi Shigeru's hairstyle according to Matsuda Jinpei's, Tang Ze looked up and down at Takagi Shigeru's current style with a critical look.

To be honest, Takagi Wataru doesn't really look like Matsuda Jinpei. There is indeed a difference between him and Kiharagawa and Karasawa Ikawa. Karasawa was a really good choice for the analogy.

Tang Ze, who had met Jinpei Matsuda in person in the Hall of Rei Furuya, felt that, not to mention that Jinpei Matsuda was indeed a handsome guy, and Takagi Shigeru was at best a little handsome, which was a basic difference in appearance, the two people's eye shapes, skin colors and temperaments were completely different, and it was really difficult to distinguish them regardless of whether they were familiar with each other or not.

He guessed that it was probably because the sunglasses covered the eyes, the subtle similarity in facial shape and the similar hairstyle would cause some visual impact to someone like Sato Miwako who had an overly deep memory of Matsuda Jinpei's death.

"Well, that's about it. My father..."

Just as they were thinking this, they heard the harsh sound of tables and chairs colliding from two steps behind them.

Everyone's attention couldn't help but be drawn over there.

Sato Miwako bumped into a chair next to another desk, but she didn't care about the noise she made, and stared at Takagi Wataru's current appearance. At the desk of the Investigation Section 1, a curly-haired man was sitting at his seat with a cup of water, talking and laughing casually, with a nonchalant attitude...

"…Sato, Sato? Are you okay?"

----

"...I completely understand how you feel, Tang Zejun." Sato Miwako sat in the corner of the table with a wine glass in her hand, murmuring in a distraught manner.

When seeing Takagi Wataru on a normal day, no one would confuse him with Matsuda Jinpei.

Jinpei Matsuda, at least the Jinpei Matsuda she had come into contact with, was a free and easy, arrogant yet humorous person, who was both firm and gentle enough inside.

Takagi Shigeru is a reckless and hot-blooded person who is completely different from everyone else in every aspect.

However, this afternoon, she was completely captured by her own trance illusions, and could not help but flash back to those scenes that were still vivid in her mind three years later. Some scattered fragments kept passing through her mind, and in the end, they all ended with the flames and flames of an explosion.

Another three years have passed...

"Do you also miss some of the people who left?" Tang Ze withdrew his gaze from the table and asked Sato Miwako softly.

"... Leaving is actually inevitable. We are police officers, and this is a dangerous profession. It is inevitable to fall on the front line, fall under the knife of criminals, fall in accidents and regrets." After taking a sip of wine, Sato Miwako sighed, "Working in the Investigation Section 1, the casualty rate is already lower than many frontline departments, but every year, we still have to hold several memorial services. I'm used to it."

For example, in the cases related to Fudo Kyosuke, several colleagues died of heart attacks or were shot by Fudo Kyosuke in revenge, such as Officer Date who died in a car accident due to fatigue a year ago, and even, such as her father...

Before she entered the industry, she understood the meaning of sacrifice more deeply than many people, but she still came without hesitation.

She experienced the death of her father when she was young. The reason why she chose the police profession unswervingly was to inherit her father's legacy, to fulfill her childhood ambitions, and to prevent more tragedies and sacrifices.

However, Jinpei Matsuda is different.

"When we started working, we were prepared to make sacrifices, but, but he..." Sato Miwako, whose cheeks were already a little red from drinking, took a breath and raised her hands to cover her eyes.

It was not just a simple matter that a guy who was still alive and kicking and joking with me just a few minutes ago died in the blink of an eye. It was not an accident, it was not something that was caught off guard...

It was a malicious calculation, a policeman's tragic sacrifice step by step towards death in order to fulfill his oath.

Countless times, Miwako Sato imagined what it would feel like for Jinpei Matsuda to sit in front of the bomb, watching the countdown go by second by second, as if he was watching his own life slip away with his own eyes.

She couldn't imagine it, but after receiving the last call and text message from Jinpei Matsuda, she could never let it go.

Tang Ze raised his hand and gently patted Sato Miwako's bent back. He glanced at Conan who was approaching and said in a gentle voice, "Do you mind chatting? Maybe you'll feel better if you talk it out."

Conan moved slightly to Tangze's side with the juice in his hand and looked at him strangely for a moment, then looked at the noisy dining table strangely for a while.

Perhaps it was the chain reaction caused by Tang Ze's confession in the afternoon, or perhaps it was Sato Miwako's emotional fluctuations that aroused the concern of the police officers of the Investigation Section 1...

In short, for some reason, they clearly came to the police station to take statements and could go back after that, but now it somehow turned out that Kogoro Mouri and his group and a group of off-duty policemen got together to eat and drink.

Taking into account the whole process, he felt that Tang Ze played an indispensable role in it. If he had not talked to Takagi Shigeru, nothing that happened next would have happened.

I just don't know if this was intentional or just a coincidence...

The instigator, Tang Ze, was still speaking softly.

"I understand how you feel, Officer Sato. I also know that it's not polite to look for the shadow of the deceased in others, and it's disrespectful to both parties. But sometimes, it's hard to avoid feeling this way. It feels terrible to be trapped in the fantasy of the past and have no place to turn for help. Officer Sato..."

It was not known what Tang Ze said that touched her nerves, but Sato Miwako drank the wine in her hand in one gulp.

Then she put her arm around Tang Ze, who was patting her shoulder, in a weird arm-in-arm posture, and slowly began to speak.

"I can tell you now. The time is getting closer. If only Detective Maori could... Never mind. That was three years ago..."

----

On the other side of Tokyo, in the same night, in the same noisy izakaya, people were talking about similar topics.

"I heard from that brat that you lost track of where you went after graduation... Never mind. I'm an old man, so I don't need to ask about this kind of thing."

"…It is true that I have some missions to complete. So I am sorry that I have waited three years to visit you." With his hood pulled up, Keimitsu Morobushi added more wine to Jotaro Matsuda's glass and continued speaking in response to what the other person said.

Jinpei Matsuda and Kenji Hagiwara had already chosen their career paths before graduation. Several of their friends from the police academy went to different positions after graduation, and everything that happened after that was so unpredictable.

It would be awkward to say that he was unable to come to pay his respects to Matsuda Jinpei because he died earlier than the other party. Morofushi Kagemitsu could only continue to persuade Matsuda Jotaro to drink and wait for him to give the information he needed.

"What's rude about that?" Matsuda Jotaro downed half a glass of wine in one gulp, hissing at the spicy taste. "If you still remember to come here, it won't be in vain that you served as a policeman."

"He's a very good police officer."

"Humph, I'd rather he was more ordinary and not take on so many things..." Matsuda Jotaro shook his head. "Forget it, the person is gone. There's no point in talking about this. Let's drink, drink."

Under the influence of alcohol and dim light, his eyes looked straight ahead in a somewhat dazed manner, his face full of old age that could not be concealed. The ravages of time, coupled with his decadent and tortuous life experiences, had been more ruthless to him than to others.

Jotaro Matsuda has been a typical frustrated middle-aged man since Jinpei Matsuda was still a child.

Like Kogoro Mori before him, his life was smooth sailing in his youth, but due to some accidents and tricks of fate, his life took a sharp turn for the worse after a turning point. He finally chose to numb himself with alcohol, detach himself from real life, and spend his days drinking.

Matsuda Jinpei mentioned this when explaining why he became a policeman. Now, having lost his son, Matsuda Jotaro's life is probably even more hopeless. It is no exaggeration to describe his future life as difficult and hopeless.

So Morobushi Kagemitsu also adopted a similar strategy as Karasawa and went to have a drink with Matsuda Jotaro.

With glasses clinking and cups passing around, at the dinner table, as long as there is enough space for conversation, every adult will have endless topics to talk about.

This is a good strategy, and Tang Ze also uses it to obtain information related to himself.

The pain of life can only be experienced so concretely at this moment, and only in the moment of unconsciousness can everyone find a fleeting gap to pour out the many words that are weighed down in their hearts.

Zhu Fu Jingguang shook the wine in the glass twice and drank it all in one gulp.

He was not worried about any accidents that might happen after drinking too much. Noah was responsible for collecting specific information, and his teammates who came to support him were sitting nearby to keep an eye on his safety. Zhu Fujingguang had nothing to worry about.

After all, who doesn't need to get drunk?

(End of this chapter)