i lied to the whole world

"Recently there have been more cases of missing persons."

On his way to work at the detective agency, Kunikida overheard a patrolling policeman say so.

He didn't take it to heart, because he fed the entangled cat when he just went out, and he walked downstairs 2 minutes later than usual, so he had to speed up his pace to catch up with the usual progress.

In the end, standing in front of the detective agency 30 seconds earlier than usual, Kunikida glanced at his watch, took a deep breath in front of the door to relieve the fatigue caused by the fast pace all the way, straightened the neckline, and finally finished with the same precision as usual At the right time, push open the door of the detective agency.

"Good morning, Mr. Kunikida."

"Good morning."

Atsushi Nakajima passed by with a pile of documents in his arms, and he did not forget to say hello to his senior. Kunikida nodded, then returned to his seat and began to tidy up the table and arrange the documents as in the schedule. An office environment that makes people feel comfortable physically and mentally. Before starting a busy day of work, you can also think about the work to be done today and organize your thoughts.

Okay, everything is going as planned, make another cup of coffee, and start a perfect morning amidst the rising aroma.

Hmm... isn't today too perfect?

Kunikida held the coffee, feeling a little dazed.

"It's very quiet today."

"Yeah, because Ranpo-san hasn't come back from a business trip, Dazai-san missed work again today."

No wonder I didn't hear his nasty limp voice or see his troublesome behavior in the morning.

Kunikida took a sip of coffee knowingly, and then spit it out in the next second: "That guy Dazai missed work again?! He clearly agreed to receive a client today!"

"Uh." Atsushi Nakajima raised the tray awkwardly, "Dazai-san said that he was in a bad mood after failing to commit suicide yesterday, and he wanted to find the woman he liked and solemnly ask her to go into the water together. He said it was the most important thing in his life." matter, and then flew out."

"Dun...why didn't you stop him?"

"Yes, sorry qwq"

"Forget it, you can't do anything to that man who is too free," Kunikida covered his face with his hands and waved.

At this time, a loud laugh suddenly sounded at the door of the detective agency.

"Ranbu-kun, we have finally finished writing a new mystery novel! Today we will have a showdown..."

"Huh? Where's the person?" Poe looked around.

"I'm not here today, Ranbu-sang will come back in a few days."

"Huh?? Didn't he say that he would be the first to read this work after I finish writing it—"

"Posang... what date do you think it is today?" Atsushi Nakajima couldn't help asking.

"Needless to say, of course it's the 18th!" Pointing at the calendar with a circle on the 20th, Edgar Allan Poe suddenly realized, "Huh?"

"Ranpo-san set off yesterday, and left you this note."

[To Mr. Po, I knew you were procrastinating again, and I will read the new novel when I come back. ] Behind it is a simplified picture of an expression.

"Why is this orz, I've been looking forward to the contest for so long, and I missed the date..." Edgar Allan Poe lost all color.

At this time, the door of the detective agency was pushed open again, and the middle-aged woman with a sad face looked around the door with some anxiety: "Sorry, I made an appointment before."

"It's Ms. Maeda, please come here." Hearing this, the clerk stepped forward and led him to the reception area.

Kunikida and Atsushi Nakajima sat across from the client, and the former took out his notebook: "What is your request?"

"It's my younger brother." Maeda put a photo in his bag on the table with a tired face. The photo shows a non-mainstream young man with exaggerated green hair. Lip studs, ear studs, face studs and tattoos, raised the middle finger to the camera.

"He has been missing for a week, and the police always say they are looking for him, but there has been no further progress..." Ms. Maeda grabbed the silk scarf with tears in her eyes, "Please, please find my brother, this is my brother. commission fee, if you can find me, there will be a huge reward."

"No, you don't need to do this, we will try our best, you go back first, and we will come to investigate later."

After finally persuading the client away, Kunikida sighed and looked at Atsushi Nakajima: "Then just the two of us will conduct the investigation, the others also have other jobs..."

"Wait a minute!" Poe, who was silent because there were strangers before, raised his hand, "Since you are short of people, I can help you a little... Anyway, I still owe you a favor from your detective agency."

Edgar Allan Poe was brought back by Ranpo, but he was not a member of the detective agency, and was invited simply as a friend of Ranpo.

When the group changed its plan and Francis went to invite Orihara Rinya instead, Poe did not follow the plan of the group boss, because he was more interested in Ranpo, and continued to happily propose to the detective after getting permission. After the challenge, the group ran away because they failed to catch up with the white whale landing. At this time, the detective agency sheltered him.

To be precise, Ranpo sheltered him, as a friend that Ranpo recognized.

But Poe is not a person who does not know how to repay favors. He knows that because of his status as a member of the group, the detective agency has experienced more or less criticism from the superiors before, and was finally settled by the president and Ranpo, but no matter what I owe a favor to the detective agency.

Now that Luanbu is gone, it is not impossible to help the detective agency.

Kunikida was in a bit of a dilemma. The main reason was that Ellen Poe was not yet a member of their detective agency, so he could not be commissioned. But now that bastard Dazai was absent from work, there was no Mr. Ranpo who could be consulted.

If it is a difficult matter, he may need his help, and he is a person who is sheltered by Luanbu, so he should be trustworthy in terms of character.

Kunikida thought it over and nodded, "Then I'll leave it to you."

So a group of people moved to the client's home.

The client who opened the door received Kunikida and the others with a worried expression.

"So, what did the police say, the time and place of the disappearance?"

"The police judged that he should have left by himself, and my younger brother... is usually idle and has a record of going out and never returning, so the group of police judged that this time should be the same as the previous few times," the client's eyes wandered, but very Quickly calm down, "But as a family member, I don't think so. Even if Chongshi can do whatever he wants on weekdays, he will at least talk to my sister after going out for so long!"

"So it's strange that there's not even a message this time..."

Kunikida took notes: "I see, so where is the specific time and place of disappearance?"

"I remember it was around 7 pm last Friday, because he usually went home for dinner at this time, but he didn't come back on time that day. I called the convenience store manager he worked part-time, but he said that Chongshi started from the afternoon I skip work at four o’clock and don’t know where to go.”

Kunikida continued to take notes: "I see, so can we go to his room?"

"Of course."

The three of Kunikida moved to the room on the second floor. At first glance, it was quite a non-mainstream room. The wallpaper in the entire room was painted black, and there were various fluorescent green patterns, which seemed to be the name of the band. Poe opened the closet , desks, personal belongings are still there, and the whole room is messy. It can be seen that the owner of the house doesn't clean up the room very much.

Poe looked at the table and picked up a lottery ticket that had not yet reached the date of announcement: "There is no sign of packing up and leaving, and there is no sign of being suddenly disappointed in life."

"Didn't it just simply run away from home..."

"Go and see where he works."

Takami Maeda works at a convenience store not far from home. Kunikida and Atsushi Nakajima questioned the staff working here.

Hearing the name Maeda Takami, several staff members on duty showed disgusted expressions in unison.

It gives people a feeling, wow, this person's reputation among colleagues is too low.

This is indeed the case. When talking about this person, even colleagues can't help talking bad things about him.

But thanks to their desire to complain, Kunikida and Atsushi Nakajima were able to harvest a lot of clues.

The two walked out of the convenience store. At this moment, Poe was squatting in front of the store and feeding Carl with ham.

Atsushi Nakajima: "...Well, it's almost like feeding a wild cat."

Poe raised his head when he heard the sound, and handed the last piece of ham to Carl's short paw: "Carl is not a wild cat, he is my companion."

"So, how's the news going?"

"So why don't you come with us..."

"No, I'm not good at dealing with strangers."

Kunikida: "...In short, according to the survey results I got, Takashi Maeda didn't go to college after graduating from high school, and he became a gangster on the street with some bad friends, either to play or to harass other Student, was called over by the police several times. At the age of 28, I still live with my divorced sister. Recently, I couldn’t stand my sister’s nagging, so I finally agreed to work in a convenience store, but I also spent three days fishing and two days posting online. look."

Holding a notebook, Atsushi Nakajima added: "The relationship between this person and his colleagues is generally poor. It seems that because he often eats the food in the store without saying hello, skips work at every turn, and speaks bad words to other colleagues, so we are sorry for his disappearance. Most people say nothing."

"Did the employees respond to his actions? Why didn't the store manager fire him?"

"This," Kunikida said with a subtle expression, "According to a certain employee, it seems that the store manager is pursuing Takami Maeda's sister."

"Oh," Poe said he understood, looking through the glass at the few employees who were busy in the store, "among these colleagues, which one has the worst relationship with him, or which one would be most interested in him if Takashi Maeda disappeared? best interests?"

Kunikida paused, and turned a page in his notebook: "...it's Kitayama Kuni, who was said to have been blackmailed by him. The relationship between the two is very tense. The store manager quietly told me this."

"But he had an alibi when Takashi Maeda disappeared."

"Well, are there any obvious scars or marks on his body, preferably more recently."

Kunikida thought for a while: "There are no scars."

Atsushi Nakajima: "Ah, do tattoos count? It seems to be near the collarbone. There is a flame-shaped black tattoo. Because it is quite rare, I took a second look, but he nervously covered it up."

Poe didn't say anything, and touched Carl with his fingers: "Apart from these people, does he have other social circles? Friends or something."

"Well, according to the client, Takashi Maeda has broken up with the people he used to hang out with, but according to the clerk, dubious people often come to the store to buy."

Poe was lost in thought.

When Kunikida and the others inquired in the convenience store, he didn't do nothing. He went to check the last place Maeda Takami passed by beforehand, but of course he didn't find any valuable clues.

It seemed to disappear out of thin air.

Why?Skipping work halfway, getting excited and planning to travel alone?No, if this is the case, I should go home to get some money and luggage.

There is also the option of going to a friend's house, but his sister must have called all his friends to confirm.

There is no fixed source of income, basically relying on his sister to support him, the farthest the money in his hand can go that day... Kidnapped by gangsters?That would at least leave some traces of the fight.

"Ah, by the way, can you call out the monitoring of these streets?" Poe asked.

"I'll try to ask Tayama." Kunikida took out his phone.

The phone rang for ten seconds.

"……Hey?"

"Tian Shan, you haven't woken up yet?"

"It's 34 o'clock in the middle of the night."

"It's 12 noon! Don't use your timing method!" Kunikida felt his temples throbbing again, and rubbed his hands, "I have something to ask you..."

"Yeah, monitoring, I see, you send that person's information, and I will give it to you later."

Kunikida waited another 5 minutes after sending out the materials.

The phone finally rang again, but Tian Shan's tone was a bit weird: "The monitoring sent you, but I found other interesting things, I think you should be interested."

Kunikida looked at the laptop when he heard the words. First of all, it was the surveillance video sent by Tianshan. The surveillance showed that Takami Maeda had indeed walked out of the convenience store that afternoon. He walked into an alley that was not monitored at all, as if he took a shortcut Home.

"The monitoring of other roads is a bit difficult. Ah, it's not that I can't do it, but I just need to have a little access to the police station."

"No, it's a crime."

"Hmm... I don't think you'll mind this if you read the next file."

Kunikida frowned, opened the next folder, and was shocked by the long list of missing person notices: "What is this?"

"The number of missing persons in the past month, including the entire Yokohama."

"More than 100 people... This is not a small number." Kunikida's face was ugly.

"Yeah, it's about five times more than before. Although recently, because of the resurrection incident, outsiders have entered Yokohama and disappeared soon... But the surge in the number of Yokohama local residents missing is something that happened recently. The police station has been established. The special task force is responsible for following up this matter, if you contact them, you should not mind sharing information with you."

"They originally planned to entrust Ranpo-san, but he went to deal with the previous entrustment first, so the entrustment can only be postponed."

Po's ears moved.

"I understand, let's do this first, I'll call you after the fee." Kunikida hung up the phone with a frown, and then greeted the uphill with eyes full of fighting spirit.

"What, what's wrong?"

"In the previous call, it was said that this is the commission that Mr. Ranbu is going to accept?"

"Yes."

"Just right," Poe felt that his fighting spirit had been ignited, "Since you can't duel with him when Ranbu is not here, then as long as I solve the case that originally belonged to Mr. Ranpo, when he comes back, he will be so angry that he will take the initiative to challenge us to a duel! "

"Let's go, let's go to the police station now!"