Chapter 1325 The Belated Client

Although I don’t know why that person or Rum wrote and acted in such a big drama, but if the FBI, CIA and even the Japanese Red Party represented by Mouri Kogoro and Conan are brought together, something very interesting should happen. Bar?

Strange changes are taking place around the world, but Mouri Kogoro, who is at the center of the whirlpool, still knows nothing about it.

JUKE Hotel·Restaurant

Mouri Kogoro drank his eighth glass of wine today and sighed with satisfaction: "Although the high-end red wine is not enough, it tastes really good."

"Uh-huh!"

Maori Lan took the wine glass from Maori Kogoro's hand, handed it to the waiter politely, and signaled him not to bring any more drinks.

"What are you doing, Xiaolan?"

"Dad, have you forgotten our agreement with the client? Are you going to meet the client so drunk?"

"Ah." Mouri Kogoro waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "It doesn't matter, I'm very awake now!"

Mao Lilan was helpless and was about to say something more when she saw Conan pointing in the direction of the door and saying, "The client seems to have arrived."

Um?

Maori and his daughter looked at Conan at the same time, and sure enough, they found a figure looking around at the door.

The man had a Western face. After asking the waiter, he walked directly in the direction of Mouri Kogoro.

"Oh, I have admired you for a long time, you must be the famous detective Mr. Mouri Kogoro!!" The man stretched out his hands very excitedly, and seemed to have regarded Uncle Mouri as his idol.

Mouri Kogoro drank too much and smelled of alcohol when he spoke. However, the client seemed to have no sense of smell and did not dislike the smell of alcohol at all. Instead, the two brothers put their arms around Moori Kogoro's shoulders and introduced themselves. :

"I'm Rick Hawkins, you can just call me Rick." Rick spoke fluent Japanese, even with a bit of Kyoto accent. Just by listening to his voice, you wouldn't think of him as a foreigner. "I work here in the United States. My logistics business encountered some minor troubles not long ago, so I came to you for help out of desperation."

"It's a small thing!" Mouri Kogoro had already begun to guarantee the commission without asking clearly about the specific content of the commission. "As long as the money is in place... ahem, I mean, I've committed to your friend, no matter how troublesome the commission is. It doesn't matter."

After hearing this, Rick beamed: "That's great. In fact, I have received a lot of death threats recently, not just myself, but also my family and friends."

Rick sat down opposite Mouri Kogoro and next to Conan. He took out many copied pictures from the document bag and handed them to Mouri Kogoro.

There are many photos, including death threat emails, blood-stained envelopes, dead frogs in the mail, bullets attached to the letters, etc.

Seeing these things, even Mouri Kogoro, who had just been drunk and was not quite sober, couldn't help but become serious.

It is normal for men, especially successful men who are pursuing careers outside, to be jealous or even threatened by others. It's just that the threats this man named Rick Hawkins received were more exaggerated.

However, once the threat goes beyond the person and affects family and friends, it is absolutely unforgivable!

Just as Mouri Kogoro can accept being hated by the prisoners, but will never allow those people to hurt Xiaolan and Eiri, he will not tolerate such a coward who only spreads his incompetent anger on innocent people!

"Why did he threaten you?" Mouri Kogoro asked in a deep voice.

Rick pulled out the bottom photo: "This is the email I received half a month ago. The other party threatened me to give up my business on the West Coast. If I didn't withdraw from the West Coast, he would make my family pay the price.

"Later, my wife's parents in her hometown also received several threatening calls. Sometimes the calls came in the evening and sometimes in the early morning. There was usually no sound from the other side, and sometimes scary music was played."

"Has the reason for the threat not changed?"

"No."

"How long has the threat been going on?"

Rick thought for a while and replied: "I can't remember the exact time. It's been about three months since I started collecting evidence."

Conan asked curiously: "Since the other party has begun to threaten your family, why have you still not given up the business on the West Coast?"

Mouri Kogoro's face changed slightly, and he was about to scold, but Rick smiled generously: "Because for us businessmen who are well-known in the industry, threats have long been commonplace. Occasionally, competitors will use this method to disturb me plan, or simply to make me uncomfortable. If it weren't for the length of time this threat was going on and the fact that it was causing some real distress to my family, I would not have contacted the Māori detectives."

"Then why didn't you call the police?" Conan was confused.

"Call the police?" Rick laughed. "This kind of non-substantive threat will not attract the attention of the police. It would be even worse if you accidentally alert the enemy and anger the other party."

Oh, that's right too. Conan almost forgot that they are now in the United States. The United States does not have the kind of ultra-dedicated policemen who are always on call like the Search Division. Conan is unwilling to admit that in fact, the dedication of the Tokyo police is entirely due to the high crime rate led by Yoneka Town. Forced out.

Mouri Kogoro glared at Conan disapprovingly, and took the initiative of the conversation back to himself: "Do you have anyone you doubt, such as a competitor who has just suffered a setback recently?"

"Well, a doubtful candidate..." Rick looked embarrassed, "I'm ashamed to say that since I became rich, I have been surrounded by jealous people."

Then, Rick began to tell the history of his fortune.

For example, he was originally just an ordinary person who was born in a slum. He had no qualifications or abilities. He would be disliked by his boss if he worked with his brothers. But later, I don’t know if it was because of his overwhelming luck and riding the east wind. He had no choice but to start a business. It actually grew bigger and bigger, and later became a leader. For another example, after Rick was abandoned by his first girlfriend, he found a model to marry who was better than his ex-girlfriend in every aspect. After the marriage, the couple lived happily and gave birth to a bunch of children. There are countless counterattack stories like this.

After hearing this, even Mouri Kogoro began to feel slightly sad.

Ah, really, how could there be such a lucky winner in life!

Rick rubbed his head in embarrassment: "That's it. In short, there are definitely more people who hate me than friends. For a moment, I didn't know who to suspect."

Mouri Kogoro sighed: "Anyway, please write down all the people who are suspicious, and I will eliminate them one by one."

"Then it's up to you!"

…

After Rick Hawkins left, most of the confident self-confidence on Mouri Kogoro's face suddenly disappeared.

"Dad, is there really no problem? After all, we are in the United States, a place we are unfamiliar with, and there is nowhere to start the investigation." Even Mao Lilan asked worriedly.

"I don't know either, but I always have a strange feeling in my heart that this matter will get bigger and bigger."

Mao Lilan was helpless: "What kind of premonition is this?"

"Oh, let's call it Kogoro's premonition!" the uncle said, waving his hands irritably.

Conan's eyes hidden behind the lenses flickered slightly, because he had almost the same premonition as Mouri Kogoro.

Rick Hawkins may have more problems than just jealousy.

…

Downstairs of the JUKE Hotel, he waved down a taxi calmly and casually gave an address to Rick Hawkins, who had just met Kogoro Mori.

In the taxi, he was talking on the phone as if no one was around, not caring whether the driver would overhear him.

"Yes, I have met him. He is a very interesting person, but for the time being, I don't know if he has the strength to match his fame." A smile appeared on the corner of Rick's mouth, but his expression showed a sense of restraint and respect. "Don't worry, I will reveal his true identity within three days."

"Besides..." Rick paused.

"What's wrong?" A slightly cold voice came from the receiver.

Rick was shocked and said quickly: "Beside him was a little boy who looked six or seven years old and was extremely smart."

He's just a smart kid, not worthy of mentioning it specifically.

But Rick felt a sharp edge in the boy. That was definitely not the feeling that a "slightly precocious" child could bring him. Even in the organization, there were few people who could make Rick so fearful.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that he has been involved in peripheral activities of the organization all year round and has almost no dealings with codename members.

A restrained Edogawa Conan made him so nervous. When he saw Gin... he would probably be frightened and have some normal physiological reactions, right?

After listening to his report, the person on the other side of the phone seemed to be interested and asked a few more questions about the boy, and Rick answered them truthfully.

"Follow the plan, but don't interfere with the detective's actions."

Rick responded respectfully: "Yes, I understand."

…

At this time, Rum was sitting leisurely in the car at the ruins of the TENSE building. There was a computer in front of him, and a photo was displayed on the screen - "Edogawa Conan" was written underneath the photo.

"Interesting, really interesting." After staring at the photo for a few minutes, Rum suddenly burst out laughing.

Although Rum was in a very wrong state at this time, the subordinate responsible for driving did not dare to show any abnormality. He had already closed his ears and would never listen to things that he should not know.

"Edogawa Conan." Rum read Conan's name word by word. "A distant relative of Kudo Yusaku? Their names are too random. It's hard to imagine Mescal Ley and Belmod." There will be no suspicion.”

Rum lowered his head and stared at the lines on his palm very seriously, his expression gradually becoming gloomy: "Kudo Shinichi, the prey that escaped from me seventeen years ago, now it seems it is time to get it back."

At the same time, Conan, who was far away in the JUKE Hotel, shuddered.

"Put on your coat, the restaurant is too air-conditioned." Mao Lilan handed the coat to Conan with concern.

"Well, thank you, Sister Xiaolan." Conan sniffed hard and obediently took the clothes and put them on.

Mao Lilan stared at him blankly, but her gaze was not entirely on Conan, but rather as if she was looking through him at someone who was not here.

Conan met Mao Lilan's gaze and suddenly felt guilty: "Sister Xiaolan, is there something on my face?"

Mao Lilan came back to her senses and smiled sheepishly: "No, I was just wondering...where is Shinichi now and what is he doing?"

"Uh..." Conan froze and subconsciously explained for Kudo Shinichi, "Brother Shinichi must be helping the police solve the case again. He is very busy."

"Yes, he is very busy." Unexpectedly, Mao Lilan accepted Conan's explanation very easily, and even nodded seriously.

This reaction made Conan feel even more guilty.

"What? How could he, a high school student who is not yet an adult, have such great abilities?" Mouri Kogoro was extremely disgusted with a bastard who left his 'girlfriend' irresponsibly and ran away, "Even a really famous person like me The detective is not too busy not to show up!"

"Ahem. My uncle is so powerful. He can basically solve any case on the same day. But Brother Shinichi is different. He definitely needs more time to collect evidence and reasoning techniques."

Mouri Kogoro agreed: "What you said makes sense. Forget it, no matter what he thinks, our Xiaolan doesn't owe him one..."

In the latter sentence, Maori Kogoro's voice was very soft, obviously not wanting Maori Lan to hear it. But Conan heard it, even clearly.

"..."

Conan sighed in his heart.

He also wanted to become Kudo Shinichi immediately and return to Xiaolan's side.

But there is no way. Now that the organization has not been eliminated, and now that Haiyuan Ai's antidote has not yet been developed, he is not qualified to return to Xiaolan and protect her from the wind and rain as her boyfriend.

"Hey! Dad, look!" Mao Lilan suddenly patted Mao Li Kogoro's arm and said slightly excitedly, "Is that Mr. Asano? He is really in the United States!"

"Hiss——" Mouri Kogoro couldn't help but gasp in pain.

Mao Lilan suddenly realized: "I'm sorry, Dad, I forgot that you were still injured!"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Mouri Kogoro waved his hand in a pretense of coolness, but in fact he was in so much pain that he couldn't speak.

Acting cool and handsome sometimes does require paying a heavy price.

Nobushige, who had just walked into the restaurant, naturally saw the Moori father and daughter and the Conan child sitting by the window.

Meeting Mao Lilan's gaze, Nobuhiro knew that he should go over and say hello whether in public or in private. He said sorry to the people around him, and then walked towards Mouri Kogoro and the others.

"Mr. Mouri!" Nobutano's voice contained some just the right amount of surprise and surprise, as if he didn't know or expected that Kogoro Moori would appear here. "Why are you here? I remember that TENSE didn't invite the detective this time. .”

Conan stuck out his tongue secretly.

Mr. Asano is really getting better and better at acting, and even he was almost fooled by him.

"Hmph." Mouri Kogoro exhaled heavily through his nose, "Although I don't know what you TENSE are doing, but if you underestimate the detective too much, you will not end well."

There was a little smile in Xinfan's eyes.

"Ah, I thought so too."