Jangxia returned to his main body, pulled out his phone, and cautiously sent a message to Yoko Kinoshita: "Thank you."
Hours passed with no reply. Then finally:
"You liked it? ^.^"
…It was really her.
Yoko Kinoshita never asked for Jangxia's address.
But later, her agent showed up in person—with a hush fee.
Jangxia wasn't all that excited about the money, honestly. He was far more interested in cases involving celebrities. So he "accidentally" mentioned in their conversation that he'd recently switched careers to become a detective.
Whether the agent didn't catch the hint, or simply preferred to disappear whenever a case showed up, she never brought Jangxia the kind of juicy assignments he'd hoped for.
Ironically, the first entertainment industry-related case ended up being scooped by Suzuki Sonoko.
Thinking of his outrageously connected classmates, Jangxia made a silent vow to grip the detonator to this whole chain of cases and never let go.
…
After a day off, the Golden Retriever gang brought in some new cats and dogs the next day.
Jangxia split the commission fees from the previous pet owners, then took the new batch of animals to his detective agency.
There, he made himself a cup of tea and casually rua'd some of the cats while waiting for the clients to return for pick-up.
Murder cases were still hard to come by. The most popular services remained cheating spouse surveillance and pet care.
After nearly a week of nothing but fur and fluff, Jangxia finally received a different kind of job.
The client was an elegant woman in a kimono. At a glance, she looked like a well-off wife. But based on her request, that wasn't quite right.
She hired Jangxia to keep an eye on a piece of antique pottery—she'd mortgaged it six months ago when borrowing money from a private lender.
Now there was still a month left before the loan was due.
She explained that she'd be able to gather the repayment funds within a week.
However, she was worried the lender would sell off the pottery before then, using it as "interest"—he was a rich guy, sure, but with a rotten personality. He had a track record.
That said, the woman knew Jangxia was just a detective, even if somewhat famous now, and probably not equipped to wrestle with a local snake like this guy.
So her request wasn't unreasonable: she just wanted Jangxia to inform her the moment the pottery was about to be sold. And if that was already too late—at least tell her where the sale would happen.
Boring gig, on the surface.
But then Jangxia saw the photo of the pottery, the creditor's address, and most importantly, the name and logo on the creditor's business card…
"Rest assured," Jangxia smiled warmly. "I'll give this case my utmost effort."
The woman left in high spirits.
Jangxia gazed down at the business card, oddly at peace.
On it was the face of a Mediterranean-looking uncle named "Maru Denjiro." Jangxia thought to himself: Looks like this is going to be a tag-team case with my shikigami.
By now, it was evening—closing time.
After accepting the commission, Jangxia stuck around a bit, returned the final cat to its owner, then locked up the office and left. He planned to stop by Maru Denjiro's place before heading home.
…
Cupto-cho, some random intersection.
Vodka gripped the steering wheel, visibly uneasy.
The Organization hadn't had a peaceful year.
Five years ago, FBI ace Akai Shuichi had infiltrated them undercover and nearly caught Gin.
Fortunately, the Organization had a reliable second-in-command and Akai had a pig teammate. Thanks to their mutual incompetence, Akai blew his cover and had to flee.
Akai's entry into the Organization had come through dating someone—Sherry's sister, Miyano Akemi.
Naturally, after Akai's identity was exposed and he bailed, Miyano Akemi's position in the Organization became… tricky.
The Organization wanted to punish the person who let the FBI in but was hesitant because of Sherry.
So they got creative:
They told Miyano Akemi to rob 1 billion yen in cash. If she succeeded, they'd let her and her sister go. If she failed—well, goodbye.
Miyano Akemi agreed.
With two wild-card accomplices, she actually managed to pull off the heist.
Later, one accomplice tried to run off with the cash alone, but Conan and the others tracked him down… eventually both accomplices ended up dead, leaving Akemi with the entire billion yen haul.
Vodka was currently driving to meet Akemi Miyano for the agreed hand-off.
In theory: cash exchange for Sherry.
As he stared at a red light, Vodka sighed. "Can't believe she actually got the money. Now we don't have an excuse to execute her, do we?"
Gin smirked darkly. "You don't need an excuse to kill garbage."
But mid-sentence, his expression shifted. He stared out the window, brows furrowed. "Who's that?"
"Huh?" Vodka followed his gaze.
It was downtown, rush hour—pedestrians everywhere. Vodka scanned the crowd, overwhelmed.
With a heavy sigh, he pulled out a telescope and peered through it. At least that showed effort.
Gin continued watching. "Across the intersection. Second lane from the far left. Black motorcycle."
Vodka adjusted the scope and finally spotted the figure. Helmeted, but familiar—looked like Jangxia.
Before he could confirm, Gin yanked the telescope away and studied it himself.
After a few seconds, Gin's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
The light turned green.
As the car moved, Gin suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"No wonder Akemi Miyano pulled off her mission so smoothly. In just a few days, she tracked down her runaway accomplice in a city of millions and recovered the cash..."
"Wait…" Vodka blinked, gears turning. "You think—Jangxia's helping her?!"
Jangxia was freakishly good at finding people. That much was established. But—
Vodka remembered all those undelivered "health supplements" from Sherry and muttered, "Didn't he hate the Miyano sisters?"
"Emotions can be faked," Gin said grimly. "Even one-sided kindness is still a connection. And for someone Jangxia's age… hard to believe he truly hates two pretty women who've always been nice to him."
Gin hadn't thought about it before.
But seeing Jangxia here, at this time and place, raised his suspicions.
This intersection was close to the Beika City Hotel, where Akemi Miyano was staying.
And Jangxia was heading right in that direction.
Also, Akemi's "extraordinary competence" lately… felt suspiciously like Jangxia's handiwork.
If this wasn't Akemi's own hidden talent, but Jangxia's help—then everything suddenly made sense.
Now that he had a lead, Gin couldn't unsee it. The more he thought, the more suspicious Jangxia looked.
Sure, they'd run into Jangxia before.
But in Gin's memory, Jangxia was always clowning around with his little sidekicks.
Today, though, he was alone. Which meant whatever he was up to, he didn't want loose-lipped kids around.
Definitely suspicious.
Gin considered all this quietly, then pulled out his phone.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 23/60(approx)*
Glossary:
Throw the pot: Blame-shifting or passing the buck
Rua: Petting or squishing something cute, often a cat or dog
Local snake: A shady, powerful person with influence in a certain area