✔ | DETECTIVE TENNIS 1: The Targeted Tennis Player Of Seigaku

8: A Tragic Night From A Year Ago

The next day, at the Professor's house, 4:30 in the morning...

Kourin woke up early because she still needed to finish researching that could give some help for her project. But this wasn't just about her project.

She obtained the compiled information about the members of the Dark Rose Agency when it was sent to her thru e-mail by the family butler of the Shinomiya mansion. She called yesterday to her house and asked the butler to open the database of the Miyuzaki family for him to retrieve the required file.

Since the butler was also a member of the Miyuzaki clan, he had an access to the database.

She printed the file and handed it over to Conan. More than anyone, she trusted him as to how she trusted the Miyuzakis. She knew that Conan could solve the case.

She went down to the kitchen but she was surprised to see people in the living room. And she was even more surprised to see the guests talking to the professor.

"Oji-sama! Oba-sama! Why are you here in Japan?" Rina exclaimed when she saw Yuusaku and Yukiko, both smiling at her when she approached them.

"Surprised?" Yukiko said with a cheeky smile.

Kourin nodded. "When did you arrive?"

"Thirty minutes ago. We're here because Agasa-hakase gave us a call about your current case. We wanted to know what's going on right now," Yuusaku explained.

"I-is that so?" She spaced out for a while but she returned when she heard Conan enter the house which made the others glance at him and Conan was surprised when he saw the professor's guests.

"Kaa-san! Tou-san!"

"Shin-chan!" Yukiko approached her son and hugged him.

When his mother let him go, he stared at her. "What are you doing here? I thought you're doing some business in New York."

"If it wasn't for Agasa-hakase, we wouldn't know that your cousin is already facing a danger," his father said.

"And he even said that a middle school student is involved in it, as well. We want to know who he is and why are they chasing after him," Yukiko added.

Conan sighed and sat on the couch. "As much as I want to know the answer to that question myself, Echizen-kun couldn't provide anything for that. He doesn't have any idea why those men were chasing him."

"But you said that you found a coded message on a murder related to this case," Professor Agasa said.

Kourin frowned. "What coded message?"

He decided to forget what Doctor Yanai had said regarding his warning not to tell Kourin about the coded message. "There's a coded message left by the man who was found dead at an alley three blocks from here. It was written on two pieces of paper that he inserted one inside his mouth and he held on tight onto the other. It was written by someone codenamed "Ares". The message was quite complex, though. That's why I'll be having a hard time decoding it."

'Ares? The one who betrayed the Miyuzaki clan five years ago?' Yuusaku asked himself. 'Why was he found dead? I know that he's a martial arts expert just like Ryuuki and Shouko. But how did he end up dead?'