The Invitation Letter
Conan watched the group walk away, itching to chase after them and dig into this new lead on the Organization—but before he could take so much as a step, someone grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him clean off the ground.
"Didn't I say you were just going to return something?! You've been gone forever—Ran was worried sick something had happened to you! What a troublesome little brat!" Mouri Kogoro bellowed.
"Old man, put me down! Put me down right now!" Conan squirmed frantically, desperate to give chase, kicking and wriggling until Kogoro finally relented and set him down.
He looked up—only to find that the people who'd been just ahead of him had vanished without a trace.
Unwilling to let such a promising lead slip through his fingers, Conan ran a few steps further down the street, scanning every face. Nothing. He had no choice but to give up, gritting his teeth in frustration.
By then Kogoro had caught up, and he landed a solid knuckle-rap on Conan's head. "Honestly! I told you not to go running off, and what do you do?"
Conan could only clutch his throbbing head and mumble an apology.
A little way past the street corner, Kaeya caught the commotion behind them and allowed himself a small smile. Right under Amuro's nose, he quietly used the System to message Alhaitham.
Though the two of them were chatting away merrily through the System, in the real world—in front of Amuro Tooru—the entire walk back to the car passed in total silence. Amuro would drive Kaeya and Klee back to their hotel first, then return Bourbon to the Organization's base.
With a small child in the car, Amuro drove both quickly and smoothly. By the time they pulled up to Kaeya's hotel, Klee had already drifted off to sleep.
Watching Kaeya carry the sleeping girl out of the car, Amuro considered for a moment, then got out, retrieved a blanket from the trunk, and tucked it gently around her to keep off the chill. Consider it building goodwill with a partner of the Organization—that was all.
The next day, around noon, at Xiangling's restaurant.
"Conan? Is it just you today?" Noelle was helping out around the restaurant when she spotted him walking in alone, and she couldn't help finding it odd. Hadn't he always come before with the Mouris, or with the other kids from the Detective Boys?
But Noelle didn't dwell on it and greeted him as usual. "What would you like to eat today, Conan?"
Conan ordered two dishes at random, then tugged at her sleeve. "Noelle-nee-san, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"Whatever it is, I promise I'll do everything in my power to answer you!" Noelle declared solemnly.
Conan broke into a faint sweat. There's really no need to go that far.
"Noelle-nee-san... do you know Kaeya?"
That was right—the whole reason Conan had come to the restaurant today was to pump Noelle for information. He had no idea whether she'd actually know anything useful, but with no better options, it was worth a shot.
Besides, in the time he'd known her, he'd learned that Noelle was a kind, obliging girl who genuinely wanted to help people—which made her a far easier mark than most. And he was a small child, to boot. People naturally let their guard down around kids.
He still hadn't told Haibara about what happened after the performance yesterday. If she found out that someone with ties to the Organization might be lurking that close by, it would only terrify her more.
So Conan had decided not to add to her burden. He'd look into it himself first.
"Mr. Kaeya?" Noelle tilted her head. "Of course I know him. I met him back when I was working as a maid."
"Then could you tell me who he is?!" At the news that Noelle actually knew Kaeya, Conan's heart leapt, and he seized her hand in breathless urgency.
"Huh?" Though her expression flickered with confusion, this hardly seemed like a secret, so Noelle told Conan what she knew—that Kaeya was the adopted son of the Ragnvindr family of Country H.
Country H. The Ragnvindr family.
With a lead in hand at last, Conan didn't rush off. After all, he'd already ordered, and Xiangling's cooking really was delicious. He decided he'd finish his meal first, then get in touch with his parents overseas and ask them to dig up everything they could on the Ragnvindr family.
He made no attempt to question Xiangling as well. Honestly, he found her harder to read than Noelle—and asking too many questions at once risked arousing suspicion. That would be worse than useless.
Then again, he hadn't actually expected Noelle to know Kaeya personally. That she did only cemented his conviction: the people who wore those bead-like ornaments were connected to one another.
Several days later, at Professor Agasa's house.
Conan finally received the results of his parents' investigation into the Ragnvindr family.
All in all, the results were disappointing.
Going by what they'd dug up, the Ragnvindr family was nothing more than an ordinary noble house whose fortune rested on its wine business. The dandelion wine that Xiayu had poured for Kogoro the other day came from their Dawn Winery. As for Kaeya himself, the information was even thinner—only that he had been adopted by the family's previous head. Beyond that, nothing.
In short, there was nothing in any of it to suggest the slightest connection to the Black Organization.
Still, the case had inched forward, however slightly. That was all Conan could tell himself.
And the truth was, he still had no idea what those beads actually meant, or what wearing one signified. The known bearers came from every walk of life—a chef, a maid, a librarian, a noble—and some of them were even little kids.
Could it be a badge of some organization? But then what was Klee's deal? What kind of organization recruits a child? And what about Xiayu? She didn't carry a bead, and yet she knew all of them personally. What, exactly, connected them?
The more Conan turned it over, the more tangled the threads became, until he had no choice but to set the whole thing aside for now.
Haibara was still buried in her research on the temporary antidote, so Conan decided not to disturb her. He said his goodbyes to the Professor and headed back to Ran's place.
He arrived at the Mouri Detective Agency just as Ran was coming through the door herself. Humming a little tune, she fished the mail out of the downstairs mailbox and handed it up to her father.
But the moment she saw the envelope, her expression turned uneasy. The sender had written Mouri Kogoro's name in white ink on an envelope that was pitch black from edge to edge—and it did not look auspicious.
Kogoro paid it no mind whatsoever. He tore the envelope open to find a check for two million yen and an invitation to dinner. And the signature read—
An invitation to dinner is enclosed herewith,
along with a token of our esteem in the amount of two million yen.
From the Phantom of the Son Forsaken by God
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, an identical invitation had just arrived in Xiayu's hands.