Little Detectives

ᑕᕼᗩᑭTᗴᖇ 24 : ᒍᗴᗩᒪOᑌՏY

Ryoko sheds a tear which drops on the paper "This isn't good... Mamoru-chan" she screams out of the devastation

"This isn't good. If we don't quickly figure out who the kidnapper is, Mamoru-kun will be killed" Conan grabs Kana by her shoulders

"Chill man. I know that. And stop squeezing my shoulders!" she wriggles out of Conan's hold "All we know is that the kid is still in third grade. Even if he had fought back, the room wouldn't be this messed up"

Conan saw a game while inspecting the room "This is Onimaru Quest...the game that was recently released. But there is nothing inside. A child being kidnapped wouldn't be able to take it with him"

"Now that you're mentioning that, didn't Genta and Mitsuhiko say that the hero died in the middle of the game and you won't be able to finish it unless you resurrect him?"

"Resurrect!" Conan exclaims at Kana's face. He takes out the paper and decides to play the game to confirm something "So it's true. Mamoru-kun named the main character after himself. The name on that paper is about the main character of the game"

"Who is that Naoki?" Kana point at the screen "We know who Mamoru, Hide, and Ryoko are... but who is this Naoki guy?"

"Wait for a second, Hide and Naoki" Conan seems to have remembered something "Uemura Naoki, the guy who joined the spirits with Hide last year. And if these two dots on this letter... if the character that he wrote was a "ki"..."

Kana secretly smiles seeing how focused Conan is in this case.

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"I know where Mamoru-kun is"

"Really?! Is that true, Shinichi-san? Where is he?"

"Before we get to that, do you know a person named Naoki Uemura?"

"Of course! He's Hide's best friend. He lives real close by!"

"Tell me, does he come by often to play with Mamoru-kun?"

"Yes, Naoki-san knows a lot about video games... But why do you ask?" Ryoko asks in confusion

"Mamoru-kun wasn't kidnapped!" Conan finally reveals "The scratches on the front door lock and the ransacked bedroom... The culprit did these intentionally. All to make it look like a sinister kidnapping..."

"You can't be serious!" the look of shock replaces the look of joy on her face

"The entire message of Mamoru-kun's letter probably went like this: I'm going to Naoki's house so he can bring Mamoru back to life. The kidnapper tore and used only that one part of the message!"

"Then you're saying the one who took him was..." Ryoko stutters

"That's right. The one responsible is Naoki Uemura. Mamoru-kun is most likely at his house-" he is cut off when there is suddenly a knock on the door

Outside that door, Ran is smirking with an unreadable expression on her face "I finally found you, Shinichi!" Hearing her, Conan is praying to the Gods Kana is there to save him "Shinichi! Come out! I know you're in there!" Ran is already trying to open the locked door

"I'm using the toilet right now, I can't just come out!"

"Oh, really now? I see" Ran grits her teeth before getting into position to knock the door down