Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

Sunday morning, in a corner of Beika-cho.

"gentlemen……"

"...Wake up, sir, it's daybreak..."

"We're closing... sir?"

The urging voice came again and again. Kawai Koichi was sleeping soundly. In a daze, his shoulder was pushed by someone with increasing force.

"gentlemen!!"

With a shout that was almost in his ear, Kawai Koichi finally opened his eyes. He struggled to raise his head, feeling dizzy and his brain throbbing with pain.

"Where... where is this?" he asked blankly.

The bartender who called him heaved a sigh of relief, put away his phone that had habitually pressed 110 and was about to dial out, and put on a friendly smile of a waiter.

"Sir, this is a bar. You got drunk last night and slept until morning."

Koichi Kawai was just drunk, he didn't lose his memory. After calming down a little, he remembered that he had entered the bar last night and quickly left his chair at the bar.

The bar was empty, with neatly arranged tables and chairs. There was only him and the waiter in front of him. The door a few steps away was open, and the sunlight poured in from outside, stinging his eyes slightly.

It’s already morning...

Kawai Koichi pressed his temple, feeling very hungover: "How much is it?"

"The bill has been paid." said the waiter politely.

...got married?

Kawai Takashi was in a trance.

He had no memory of taking out money at all. In fact, his consciousness started to blur after his second drink last night. He had no recollection of what he drank or who sat next to him.

However, Kawai Koichi did not think about it, and just thought that he had paid for it when he was halfway through drinking. He often did this when he went to dinner with his subordinates in the company. He waved to the waiter and walked out of the store.

His footsteps gradually faded away, and his back disappeared in the sunlight. The boss who had gone to the warehouse to check the inventory came back and found that there was one person missing in the store.

"Is the guest awake?"

"Yes, I almost thought he was dead or poisoned, and I almost called the police." The waiter breathed a sigh of relief.

The boss also breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down at the seat to the right of Kawai Koichi, raised his hand and stroked the bar counter, stopping at a place where he had placed the wine glass last night.

"Hey, his friend is a bit irresponsible. He just paid the bill and left the person behind..."

The boss complained casually but didn't take it too seriously.

As long as he got the money and nothing happened to the customer in his store, it was good enough. As a rice flower businessman, there was no need to worry about other things.

……

Koichi Kawai was walking on the street.

As the sun shone and the wind blew, his brain, which had been paralyzed by alcohol all night, began to work slowly, allowing him to gradually recall what happened yesterday.

Because the landlord was in a hurry to get the money, he didn't dare to go back to the apartment and went to the hospital to see his father again.

His father hated alcohol, and he went there drunk, and the result was predictable.

——"How could I give birth to something like you?!"

——"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I'm not even dead yet, and you want to give orders to the company? You have no ability at all, and you still want to transform the company? Huh? Didn't you fall badly enough last time?! What kind of crappy thing did you make?! Everyone else is laughing at you!"

——"I'm telling you, if you keep harboring those messy thoughts, I'll kick you out completely! I'd rather throw the money to the dogs than give you a penny!"

——"I don't need you to pick me up when I'm discharged from the hospital tomorrow! Get out of here!!"

Even if I closed my eyes, those curses still echoed in my ears, every word was so clear.

At that time, Kawai Koichi was facing everyone's gazes of watching the fun. He was so angry that his face turned from white to blue, and then from blue to red. His teeth were grinding, but he didn't say a word in rebuttal.

Because he didn't dare.

He was afraid that if he cursed back on the spot, all the support and money would be gone.

Recalling the scene again, anger and intense shame filled Kawai Koichi's entire chest.

So shameful.

Being surrounded by so many people whom he once looked down upon, his father actually didn't give him any face at all, embarrassing him in public, letting so many people point fingers at him...

Koichi Kawai didn't care where he was going. The anger caused his brain to ache. He held onto a tree nearby and vomited with a "wow".

When he vomited, some dirt got on his collar and he felt the urge to urinate as he had drunk quite a bit of alcohol last night.

Perhaps because he had vomited everything, Kawai Koichi felt his stomach and mind were much clearer. He looked at the filth on his chest with disgust, turned his head to look at the shop next door, wanting to use the bathroom.

Next to him was a sushi restaurant, the door was closed, and in front of him was a coffee shop. When he looked over, the waiter just came out and put a small billboard with recommended dishes at the door.

As soon as Kawai Takashi came over, he asked, "Is your store open?"

"Yeah, just started...Uh, sir, do you need any help?"

The clerk's polite smile paused when he saw his clothes.

Kawai Koichi felt ashamed again. He wanted to turn around and leave, but a more urgent problem was in front of him, so he had to nod: "I want to use your bathroom."

He said, and then added: "Don't worry, I will order something in the store."

"...Okay." The clerk replied hesitantly.

After Kawai Koichi finished using the toilet and washed himself… he didn’t wash himself, so he just took off his coat and rinsed off the dirt. Fortunately, his inner clothes were not dirty, so he put his coat on his arm and left the bathroom.

The waiter handed him a large bag in due time. Kawai Takashi put his coat in it and sat down by the window.

He took the menu, ordered a few random things because he was distracted, and sat down.

My phone ran out of battery long ago, and the clock in the coffee shop showed that it was 9 a.m. There was no one else in the shop except the busy waiter on duty and Kawai Koichi who was sitting there, and it was quite quiet.

Koichi Kawai drank the water slowly, forcing himself not to care how much the meal would cost. The window seat allowed him to see the street view outside and let the warm sunlight fall on his body.

But maybe he had too many things on his mind, and yesterday's experience was like a sting stuck in his throat, and he couldn't feel any warmth.

It was impossible for him to give up. The more people scolded him and looked down on him, the more unwilling he became and the more he wanted to turn the tables on this matter. He was not trying to prove himself, but to crush those people in the face and trample them hard.

...But, what should he do?
He needed money, lots of money, to remake the detective game, but his father didn't support him...

Anger, shame, confusion, helplessness, all these complicated thoughts filled his brain like a ball of cotton soaked in bitter water, making it impossible for him to think clearly.

——"The relationship between father and child is actually much more complicated than that between mother and child... Only when the child is born will they try to become a father. They will not love the child naturally, they will always love themselves more."

A light voice easily penetrated all obstacles and pierced into his brain again.

Kawai Takashi was stunned, and before he could savor it, another voice rang out.

——"He brought you into this world, but he was unwilling to take responsibility for it. Because he was busy, he didn't accompany you when you were the most lonely. He gave you some money to get rid of you casually, but now that you are beginning to need money, he still won't give it to you..."

——"What do you want, but he won't give it to you. Every time you ask for it, you act like a dog... No, even more humble than a dog... Are you really his child? Or are you just a pathetic puppet, not even as good as a pet...?"

Kawai Koichi knew who said this.

Yesterday he left the hospital and went to a bar to get drunk. Halfway through his drink, someone sat down next to him. He had a lot of resentment in his heart but had no place to vent it, so he started complaining to the other person.

He couldn't remember the man's face at all, but for some reason his words were so clearly engraved in his mind.

Koichi Kawai stared out the window blankly.

He really doesn't want to give up.

He even began to hate other people, those who didn't understand him, and everyone who...hated him.

"Hello, this is Poirot's signature sandwich." The waiter brought him the dish he ordered casually.

Kawai Koichi came back to his senses: "Poirot?"

The waiter smiled and pointed to the shop name sticker on the window: "This is Poirot Cafe. The name is taken from a famous mystery novel. Speaking of which, there is a detective upstairs..."

Kawai Koichi didn't listen to what was said next, his thoughts were completely attracted by the word "Poirot".

As a mystery novel fan, he certainly knew the name of Poirot, and his admiration for the mustache detective was second only to Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes.

His favorite book is "The Final Problem", which is a duel between Holmes and Moriarty. If it weren't for the efforts of book fans (throwing bricks, carrying coffins, sending curse letters, and the Queen's urging for more updates) to make Conan Doyle finally give in, Holmes would really have died under the Reichenbach Falls.

However, Poirot was not so "lucky".

"Curtain" was kept by Agatha Christie for nearly thirty years before being published. Not long after its publication, the queen of reasoning died. It was Poirot's last case.

The great detective fell in this case, and his opponent was...

Kawai Koichi's thoughts were stuck. He couldn't remember for a moment.

Because that name is very common.

——It was really ordinary and did not leave any impression on the proud Kawai Koichi.

Just as Kawai Koichi was trying hard to recall, he caught a glimpse of a figure on the street across from the coffee shop from the corner of his eye. The person kept looking around and his eyes did not meet his.

It was like a basin of cold water poured over his head, and Kawai Takashi suddenly woke up.

He remembered who it was.

A few days ago in the afternoon, Kawai Takashi went out and heard a loud noise coming from a building next door. He was in a bad mood and cursed loudly inside. Then the noise stopped and a man ran out, just passing him by.

Afterwards, he watched the news and learned that there had been a fifth home invasion targeting the elderly in that building, and this was the only survivor.

Koichi Kawai realized that he might be a witness, but he did not call the police: first, he did not want to get involved, and second, he hated the police.

However, when time returned to the present, Kawai Takaichi stared at the man in a daze. The cold feeling spread from his fingertips to his limbs, and he felt a sense of regret in his heart.

Yesterday he suddenly fell down on the side of the road. After thanking the FBI agent, he accidentally glanced at the crowd and saw this man standing there!

Even without the influence of Beihua's massive criminal cases and mystery novels from various countries, Kawai Koichi realized that the other party was definitely coming for him! He wanted to silence him as a witness!
A huge fear enveloped Kawai Koichi. He fumbled for his cell phone, then realized that it had run out of battery, so he looked to the waiter for help...

But before he could speak, he suddenly stopped.

An idea, a crazy idea, started growing in his mind.

……

In front of the Poirot Café, Edogawa Conan got out of a taxi with a pale face.

He had a very fulfilling day and a half.

On Saturday, he and Xiaolan went to attend Sonoko's sister's college reunion. They originally thought it was an ordinary party, but it turned out to be a dismemberment case and Xiaolan was attacked by the murderer again... It was not until this morning that the Metropolitan Police Department came to pick them up.

After he finished taking the statement, he and Xiaolan returned to the office. As soon as they entered the door, they saw two people from the publishing house visiting them.

They claimed that they were attacked. A friend of the editor was stabbed to death a few days ago and his body was found in Mika Park. A mystery novelist he was responsible for contacting was also attacked and is currently in the hospital.

Then Conan spent a whole morning finding out that the editor directed and acted in the film.

He didn't sleep well last night, and he was busy for so long today that he missed breakfast and lunch. Edogawa Conan was struggling over whether to catch up on his sleep or eat first.

Fortunately, Mao Lilan made a decision for him: "Dad, Conan, let's just have a meal at Poirot. I'm a little tired and don't want to cook today."

Maori Kogoro had heard about the dangers of last night when he was taking notes, so he naturally agreed: "Okay." Then he rubbed Edogawa Conan's head again, "Conan, order whatever you want to eat later. This time, thanks to you for saving Xiaolan."

Conan Edogawa cheered up and smiled, then followed the Mori father and daughter into the Poirot Café.

It was just past lunchtime and there weren't many people in the coffee shop. The two seats by the window were already occupied by customers, so they sat down at the next table.

As soon as Edogawa Conan sat down, he almost covered his ears with his hands, because the drunk uncle next to him was talking on the phone at a very loud volume.

"My dad was discharged from the hospital today... That old man, what's the point of having so much money? He just keeps it at home..."

"Yes, he doesn't like to deposit money in the bank. Maybe the frequent bank robberies in Mihua make him feel that it is not safe there. It is better to keep it at home..."

"Answer it? ... No, he hates me so much, why should I go? Let that old man go home by himself..."

Maori Kogoro frowned unhappily and muttered in a low voice: "What kind of guy is that? So loud, aren't you afraid of disturbing others?"

Edogawa Conan complained in his mind that sometimes you yelled even more excessively than he did, and when his eyes swept over the third table of guests present, he stopped in confusion.

——The guests at that table were very strange. They didn’t seem to be unhappy about being disturbed. Instead, they seemed to be… listening carefully to what the other party was saying. (End of this chapter)