The Library Case Solved
No — he couldn't let him be taken away like this. This was definitely not the truth of what happened!
But it was painfully obvious that this was his opinion alone; everyone else had already accepted that Tsugawa Junya was the culprit. Before Conan could run over and put a stop to it, someone grabbed him by the collar and hauled him clean off his feet.
Sonoko looked down at Conan with a warning glare. "Heh, I knew you little brat wouldn't sit still. The case is closed, so behave yourself and stay put. The moment I get my book, we're leaving."
That was right — even after everything that had happened, Mona hadn't forgotten her plan to sell the books for money. After all, that money might well be her food budget for the foreseeable future.
On the way back, Conan kept replaying the incident in his head. He seized handfuls of his own hair in frustration — argh! He still couldn't figure it out. How had anyone gotten into the study without opening the door? Or had it really been Tsugawa Junya after all? For the first time, Conan found himself doubting his own judgment.
The next day, unable to let go of what he'd seen yesterday — Mona and Noelle wearing beads identical to Lisa's — Conan decided to stop by Xiangling's restaurant first and feel out the situation, to see whether she knew them.
He never expected to walk straight into Noelle inside the restaurant. She was dressed in a maid's uniform, the bow at the small of her back still adorned with that so-called "glass bead," and she was beaming as she carried dishes out and waited on the customers.
Conan entered, found an empty seat, and sat down. When Noelle came over to take his order, he seized the chance to ask, "Noelle, how come you're working here? Weren't you working as a maid at Mona's place just yesterday?"
"Because of what happened yesterday, Miss Mona has to spend a great deal of extra money to replace her books, and the compensation from Director Tsugawa wasn't nearly enough — she no longer has the means to pay my wages," Noelle explained with a smile. "I told her I was perfectly willing to work without pay, but Miss Mona wouldn't hear of it. She said she couldn't bear for me to share her diet of mushrooms and vegetable salads every single day, so she introduced me to another job where I'm needed even more."
Conan was half speechless. You've got to be kidding — that much money, gone in less than a day!? And she was apparently still living on vegetable salads every day; if anything, things looked even harder than before.
But at least this confirmed that Xiangling and Mona were connected. He'd come to the right place, and Conan's spirits lifted.
Then another thought struck him. Xiayu was also close with Xiangling and Lisa, yet she didn't have one of those beads. Could it be pure coincidence that she knew them all?
"Miss Noelle, do you know Xiayu?"
"Oh yes, of course I know her — I mean, Xiayu," Noelle replied, her face lighting up. "She's amazing, and she's helped me so much. I'm truly grateful to her."
Conan had only asked in passing, never expecting Noelle to know Xiayu as well — and her reaction to the name was remarkably earnest; she really did seem deeply thankful. What on earth had Xiayu done to move Noelle like that?
And Xiayu knew Noelle too. Was that another coincidence? Or did she have ties to all of them? Then why didn't she have a bead?
Conan traded a few more words with Noelle afterward. She showed not a trace of impatience at a small child pestering her with questions, answering each one patiently, but beyond that he didn't really turn up anything new.
At last, seeing how swamped the restaurant was, Conan reluctantly let Noelle get back to work.
A week later, at the Tsukikage Island docks.
"Lisa, you really did find that director's transaction records?" Xiayu asked, gazing out at the sea where Lisa stood beside her.
"But of course. It took your big sister a tremendous amount of effort to sneak into the director's office, you know — I only managed to dig up the records of his dealings with the village head of Tsukikage Island because a fresh shipment had just come in and the paperwork hadn't been destroyed yet." Lisa arched an eyebrow, then seemed to remember something and laughed. "By now the police should have found that little stash of his. I left an anonymous tip with them before I departed, you see. I do so wonder what face the director is making right now. Though it is a shame — I was one step behind that little cutie in the end. Ah well. The Tsukikage Island case had already happened by then."
At that same moment, in the children's section of Beika Library.
His investigation into Xiangling and the others had hit a wall — no matter how he looked at it, they were ordinary people, their only link being a matching accessory. But his understanding of the drug in his own body had made real progress.
Just yesterday, a dark-skinned fellow who called himself Hattori, from Osaka, had shown up out of nowhere and made him take a sip of baijiu — and for a little while, the drug's effects had worn off, letting him turn back into an adult.
So if he drank the whole bottle, he should be able to return to his old high-school self completely, shouldn't he?
Conan looked around at Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi, and felt a pang in his chest. This might be the last time he got to hang out with them. He had already decided: the moment he got home, he was going to drink that entire bottle of baijiu and become himself again.
Suddenly, the wail of sirens drifted in from outside the window. Conan opened it and looked out — several police cars were parked in front of the library.
Heads popped up beside him. "It's the police!" Ayumi exclaimed. "Maybe some case broke out?"
Conan and the others were about to head downstairs to see what was going on when, to their surprise, Inspector Megure and his men came marching straight up to the children's section and ran right into them.
The director, who had been in the area only moments before, stepped forward to block their path. "Officers, please — wait. There are children here. Whatever business you have, could you discuss it outside?"
But Inspector Megure paid the man's obstruction no mind. He had Takagi hold the director back and strode inside with a grave expression, not even pausing to greet Conan and the kids.
Strange. Why did the director look so nervous?
Conan watched as Inspector Megure walked to the window and pulled from the crate below the imported foreign books — the very ones Conan himself had discovered, their contents hidden inside repackaged book covers. Megure opened one, confirmed what was inside, and immediately ordered the director's arrest.
The director had tried to slip away the moment Megure approached that crate, but Officer Takagi blocked his escape, and with the other officers closing in around him, all he could do was watch in despair as the police uncovered the drugs he had hidden away.
The instant Conan saw Megure and his men in motion, he had guessed that something must be concealed in those foreign books — guns or drugs, one or the other. Now, seeing the evidence, he had his answer.
What puzzled him, though, was how Inspector Megure had known exactly where to look the moment he arrived.
Seeing Megure prepare to leave, Conan hurried over to ask.
Only then did the inspector realize Conan was there. He managed a brief reply — someone had phoned in an anonymous tip to the precinct — before hurrying off; with a sudden break like this on his hands, there was bound to be a mountain of work ahead.
Thank goodness Matsuda was about to transfer into the Violent Crimes Unit of their First Division — he should be a tremendous help during a stretch like this. Inspector Megure didn't know why Matsuda had so abruptly requested the move, but an extra pair of hands was an extra pair of hands. Lately, for reasons no one could explain, cases had been springing up one after another, and his team was stretched nearly to the breaking point. One more man meant one more ally.