Phantom Thief of Heart!but conan

Chapter 831 Playing Music

"Oh, my client is Shitara Choichiro's granddaughter, Ms. Shitara Renki." Maori Kogoro unfolded the invitation in his hand to confirm the name, and replied, "Yesterday, at Mr. Kisaragi Minemizu's banquet, we talked about some issues. She hopes that I will come over today to take a look at the situation."

The Shitara family's residence is also some distance away from the city. After finishing the procedures for the previous case in the morning, he rushed back home almost non-stop, and then brought a few children here, and it was already afternoon.

Faced with the same stereotype of a rigid butler, Kogoro Mori's patience could not help but run out, so he immediately threw out a meaningful name.

"Mr. Kisaragi Minemi's banquet..." After repeating the name, Jinqu Hongsheng's expression immediately softened, "It was indeed the master and his party's itinerary yesterday. Then I will take you to the annex to meet Miss Lianxi."

"Thank you for your help." Mao Li Ran finished the honorific for her father, pulled Mao Li Kogoro's sleeve, and quickly followed the woman's pace.

Perhaps Tsukuro Hongsheng sensed Maori Kogoro's hidden displeasure, and he explained as he led the way: "I'm sorry, it's not my intention to embarrass you, Mr. Detective. It's mainly because Miss Renxi has an important performance recently, and she shouldn't be disturbed recently. I haven't received any similar notice."

"A very important performance, participating in a competition? I haven't heard her mention it." Kogoro Mouri touched his chin.

"No, tomorrow is the master's 72nd birthday party. Hmm? Didn't the lady tell you?" Jin Quhongsheng frowned, gradually realizing the true nature of this invitation, shook his head, looking helpless.

If everyone else who attended the party was aware of the invitation, then it should have been just a personal invitation from Renki Shitara.

Of course, as the only third generation in the family, Renxi Shitara still has the right to hire a private detective to help her solve some of her troubles. So although Tsugaku Hongsheng looked disapproving, his pace of leading the way did not change.

Hearing her say this, Conan's expression became strange for a moment, and he looked up at Tang Ze who had the same subtle expression.

Although the birthday of an elder in the family is indeed a very important event, there is no need to make it seem like an international competition or something.

"Not much ability, but a lot of style." Tang Ze complained in a very low voice.

"I felt it yesterday..." Conan shrugged, not too surprised.

It is obvious that the only one who can support the family now is Yuga Kyosuke, the son of the second branch of the family. However, when this group of people went to greet old man Kisaragi, they still had an arrogant and conceited attitude, which shows the style of this family.

"It's really an important performance." Mao Lilan pinched Conan's wrist and reminded him in a low voice, "Stradivarius..."

If we were to say what the Shitara family's most impressive thing is, it is not their musical talent or outstanding talents, but this violin that has had many outstanding achievements internationally and has been passed around for many years before finally falling into their hands.

This violin is said to be worth hundreds of millions of yen, but don't forget that this was the price that the second son of the Shitara family bought it for, and that was thirty years ago.

The purchasing power of hundreds of millions of yen thirty years ago is completely different from what it is today.

"Oh, you're right." Conan nodded, still looking a little disapproving.

It’s not that he looks down on Qin, he just looks down on this family’s style of doing things.

Just by looking at the attitude and appearance displayed by their housekeeper, combined with what he saw and heard yesterday, he already had a premonition that this would not be a very pleasant commission.

Fortunately, the lively and lovely Renki Shitara is a client who is easy to get along with.

After hearing the butlers' explanation, she hurriedly put down her instrument while playing the violin in the piano room, ran over in two steps, and approached Maori Kogoro with an expectant look on her face: "Oh, you really came! I saw you were so busy yesterday, and I thought you wouldn't be interested in such a small commission of mine."

"Since you have sent a formal letter, I certainly have reason to help you, beautiful lady." Kogoro Mori had no resistance to such a young girl, but because of his daughter's gaze, he didn't dare to get too close to her. He politely took half a step back and maintained a social distance.

Shitara Renxi nodded happily, glanced at the housekeeper's expression, and became annoyed: "I didn't go to greet you myself, which was so rude. I really troubled you. You should have called me first."

Maori Kogoro spread his hands and said, "I want to do the same, but your personal phone number was not written on the fax you sent..."

Shitara Renxi blinked twice blankly, then her face turned red and she clasped her hands together begging for mercy: "Yes, I'm sorry! I'm always careless..."

She is a cheerful and generous girl, and looks quite cute.

Several people immediately felt her youthful vitality, and their expressions softened.

Seeing them start to exchange pleasantries, Conan followed his detective instincts and began to observe the surrounding environment.

This is obviously a room specially used for practicing musical instruments. In addition to the violin next to Renki Shitara, there are also several other musical instruments such as the piano. Thick original music scores are neatly arranged on the bookshelf, which looks very traditional.

The interior decoration of the room is the same as the exterior, with gorgeous and elegant European style. It is very clean, but judging from the color, the weariness caused by the years cannot be concealed.

This is an old house, and it is an old house that has lost its glory and time has stopped many years ago.

And what remains in the past with it is obviously not just material things such as decoration and interior.

Conan looked around and then looked at the middle-aged man who pushed open the door on the other side and walked in.

The man wearing a well-tailored suit and with his beard neatly groomed didn't even look at the strangers who appeared in the room, but walked straight towards Shitara Renki who was still greeting Mouri Kogoro.

"Hey, Renxi, you can't do this. Now is not the time for you to be lazy." Shitara Gensaburo put on a smile, but the wrinkles on his face made his expression, which should have been kind, seem a little harsh. "Your mission tomorrow is very important. You have to replace your father to play for brother Choichiro, and you still have to use the same harp. If you don't perform well, your brother will scold you severely."

"Oh, yes, I just..."

"Mr. Genzaburo!" Tsukuro Hongsheng, who had been standing quietly at the door, frowned and strode over to stop suppressing Shitara Renki. "If you come back without informing us in advance, it will be very difficult for us!"

"You're being so harsh, making me feel like an outsider." Shitara Gensaburo looked disappointed, "I turned down a very important meeting and came back early."

"No, Mr. Genzoro, you should plan your schedule in advance, instead of changing your mind when the date is approaching." Butler Jinqu Hongsheng frowned and objected with a stern face, "If you do this, the orchestra will be unhappy."

The middle-aged man snorted and ignored her words, just waved his hand: "You didn't touch my room, did you?" "Of course not, it's still messy. I don't want to be scolded for tidying up the room like your deceased wife."

As if feeling the butler's protection of Shitara Renki, Shitara Gensaburo glanced at her, finally raised his foot and left the piano room.

The few people who were ignored the whole time looked at each other with different expressions.

"What is this, an artist's personality?" Maori Kogoro rolled his eyes. "Is he also a famous musician? It sounds like his schedule is quite full."

"Oh, as for Grandpa Genzaburo, he is now the conductor of the orchestra. He is considered a relatively well-known conductor." Shitara Renxi tilted her head and smiled apologetically, "He is just like this. He is not deliberately neglecting you."

Maori Kogoro didn't comment, but his purpose of coming here was not to curry favor with any musician, but mainly for the commission and remuneration, so he nodded and avoided the question: "Let's talk about the commission. You said yesterday that there was a strange situation in the family..."

Before he could finish his words, the door of the piano room was slammed open again.

This time, not only people came in, but also sharp shouts.

“Surrender, surrender!” the old woman with curly and slightly messy hair shouted at the top of her lungs, “Where are you? Why don’t you come out? I heard the sound of your violin. Don’t hide anymore. Come out!”

"Grandma!" Shitara Renxi looked a little flustered, and rushed over to hold her arm. "Grandma, wake up, Dad has been dead for a year, Dad is not here!"

"No, it's impossible. He, he still... I clearly heard it..."

The woman shook her head, obviously unable to accept what Shitara Renxi said. Just as she was about to push her away and continue to rush into the piano room to search, the old man behind her grabbed her clothes.

"Xuan Yin, wake up and stop embarrassing me!" The old man with a cane used a louder voice to suppress the woman's hysterical screams, "Our son Jiang Ren has been buried, don't chase after the dead man's shadow anymore!"

"Grandpa!" Shitara Renxi supported the shaky old man again, and became even more flustered, "Didn't the doctor say that you can't come out casually?"

This is undoubtedly Shitara Renki's grandfather and the current head of the Shitara family, Shitara Choichiro.

They had not talked for a few minutes when they met and witnessed the chaos of the Shitara family. Kogoro Mori raised his eyebrows and obviously wanted to complain, but for the sake of Shitara Renki, he held back.

Tang Ze, who was playing the role of an invisible man with his hands in his pockets, shook his head. He was not surprised by this colorful appearance.

In addition to being an opportunity for the detectives to quickly get to know and understand the style of this family, it also fully demonstrates why Kyosuke Hanega was forced to this point.

I don’t know whether their big family has the clan’s spirit and advantages, but they have suffered from all the family diseases.

Growing up in such a family and losing the protection of his father, Yuga Kyosuke was taken away by his mother so early and had his surname changed. I think his mother had anticipated at the time that it would be difficult for her son to feel the warmth of family affection in such a family.

Now looking at Hanega Kyosuke's mental state, this is indeed the case.

Given the depressed mood caused by such an environment, coupled with the shock of learning the truth about his father's death, it is not surprising that Kyosuke Haga, who has the personality of an empathetic musician, would embark on a path of no return.

"I'm sorry, Detective Maori, I'll take my grandparents back to their room first. Aunt Jinqu, can you help me take them to my room?" Shitara Renxi weighed the pros and cons and instructed the housekeeper on the side, "I'll be back in a while and show you the things related to the commission."

Watching Renki Shitara leave, Kogoro Mori was a little shocked with sympathy.

As the only daughter of the eldest son in such a family, he could imagine what kind of life Shitara Renki lived. It must have been very hard.

"Please come this way, everyone." Tsukuro Hongsheng helped Shitara Renxi support grandpa and grandma down the stairs, and turned back to the piano room to lead the way for them.

She still spoke in a serious and old-fashioned manner, like an old nun, but Kogoro Mori's dislike for her had been reduced a lot.

Judging from her behavior just now, the housekeeper is obviously more partial to the young lady Shitara Renki among the main members of the family. Her actions and words are quite protective of her. This kind of rigidity and toughness is more like a protective attitude than self-righteousness.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you." After leaving the annex, Jin Qu Hongsheng explained the scene just now. "Last year, at Master Tiao Yilang's birthday party, the young master of Jiangren died in an accident. Everyone was very sad, and the atmosphere at home was not very good. In the past, Master Tiao Yilang's birthday party was still very lively. Not only would the family members perform, but they would also invite many like-minded colleagues. It's a pity that no one came to host this year."

Regardless of whether the reason she gave was true or false, Kogoro Mouri just listened to it. When the group walked to the front of the main street, they ran into two young men walking in from outside.

One of them looked familiar to them all. He was Kyosuke Haga, who was singled out by Kitagawa Yusuke yesterday and pulled out for a long talk. However, the other one was dressed a little bit out of the ordinary.

What he was wearing was indeed formal, a suit similar to a performance costume, but his shoulder-length hair was parted in the middle, with the left side dyed completely white, and he wore a pair of large sunglasses that covered half of his face.

The high emotional intelligence version is that every gesture and movement is full of the temperament of playing music.

Jin Quhongsheng's brows suddenly frowned, and his tone of voice was very helpless.

"Master Xiangfu, is this your guest?" Seeing this guy with a yin-yang-dyed hair and a strange temperament, whose gender was hard to determine at first glance, Jin Qu Hongsheng instinctively pushed up his glasses to hide the expression on his face, "I know you have dabbled in many fields in music, but..."

But no matter what, it is still a bit inappropriate to invite a visual band to the birthday of the head of a classical music family...

Yuga Kyosuke clearly felt the second half of her sentence that she didn't say.

He laughed dumbly, patted the shoulder of the person next to him, and took the initiative to introduce: "You misunderstood, this is Chao Ju Zhengsi, a pianist friend of mine. You may not be familiar with him because he rarely performed in Japan in the past. He used to follow his father to perform in Europe."

As he introduced himself, the young man took off his sunglasses, revealing a slightly neutral, but very sharp face.

"Nice to meet you." The pianist known as Asai Masaru nodded calmly.

(End of this chapter)