Chapter 318: I’ll Leave Heiji to You

Hattori Heiji flinched, then relaxed once he realized the "familiar person" standing there wasn't Mouri Ran or Toyama Kazuha—it was his mother.

...If it had been those two high school girls, he'd be dealing with a death combo like: "Where are you going?" "We're coming too!" "Oh, and bring Jiangxia!"

Hattori Shizuka gave her son a look, then flicked her folding fan against his back. "Stand up straight."

Heiji quickly straightened, adjusting the bag in one hand and the child in the other. His mom stared at the pair for a moment, then asked—just the slightest confusion in her tone, "You are...?"

"I'm off to work a case. That Ogasawara one I mentioned earlier." Heiji knew his mother seemed cold, but she actually doted on him. Glancing at his watch, he added smoothly, "I'm heading out now. Don't tell Kazuha or Mouri until after noon."

Though she didn't understand why he was hiding things from those girls, Hattori Shizuka still nodded.

The Hattori household operated on a sort of traditional structure: a strict father and a benevolent mom. Shizuka rarely meddled in Heiji's decisions.

And Heiji definitely counted on that. He slung his bag, hoisted Conan a little higher, and left confidently.

As long as his mom didn't spill the pot, by the time Mouri Ran and Kazuha realized something was off, the boat would've already sailed—and those three wouldn't be able to hop on.

Yes, three. Because based on Heiji's spiritual instinct, if either Mouri Ran or Kazuha found out about the trip, those two moles would immediately tell Jiangxia.

As for Kudo... well, Kudo was also a mole, but more of a passive one. Heiji thought it over calmly. Unless Conan was caught making a phone call red-handed, he probably wouldn't rat him out in front of Jiangxia.

Conan, being dragged along by Heiji in full sprint mode, turned his head as they approached the end of the hallway. "Are you sure your mom won't say anything?"

"Totally. She's very reliable. She promised—so she won't tell Kazuha or the others." Heiji was completely confident.

Conan nodded, but... he still had a bad feeling in his gut.

Also, honestly, while solving cases was fun and all, he wouldn't have minded a relaxing cruise with Mouri Ran... Now that he thought about it, bringing Jiangxia wouldn't have been bad either. It was just a case, not a murder...

Conan sighed. Next time, I'm definitely inviting Ran secretly.

...

After Heiji and Conan left, Hattori Shizuka watched her son's back disappear down the corridor, still feeling a bit uneasy.

It wasn't that she doubted Heiji's survival skills, but... from the look of things, her son was actually planning to bring that child along on the case.

...And her son could barely take care of himself. If he lost someone else's kid, that'd be a major sin.

After a brief pause, she unzipped her handbag and began rummaging through it.

Last night, after the Shibata family mess wrapped up, she had revealed her true identity and intentions to Jiangxia and the others.

Though Jiangxia had to step away for something, the owner of the Jiangxia Detective Agency had stayed behind to talk with her—politely, patiently answering her questions.

That's when she learned Jiangxia was quite skilled at looking after children. Apparently, he once escorted two first graders by himself and got them to their destination safe and sound.

So now, she thought: if her son didn't want to bring his two female classmates, and couldn't be trusted with childcare, maybe Jiangxia could step in.

If Jiangxia found the case interesting, he could join the cruise too. He and Heiji could exchange case notes... and maybe avoid a few accidents.

Her hand paused in the bag. She found what she was looking for.

A business card.

Jiangxia had handed it to her the day before, on the way from the agency to the Shibata residence. It had the agency's address, landline, and Jiangxia's personal mobile number.

Shizuka looked over the simple design and nodded to herself: a diligent, precise, and serious young man.

These days, most high school detectives thought carrying business cards was "too commercial" and killed the mystery vibe. Jiangxia clearly wasn't most detectives.

The more she thought about it, the more she liked him. She also began to understand why Heiji tried to avoid Jiangxia—maybe Jiangxia's straightforward, proper way of doing things made her own son uncomfortable, being an unconventional detective.

After this Tokyo trip, she decided—when it came to matters involving Jiangxia, she'd side with her husband over her son.

—Hattori Heizo was right. Jiangxia had a lot worth learning from.

...

A few minutes later, at the port several kilometers away, Jiangxia's phone buzzed.

He tugged his scarf higher, pulled his hat brim down, took out his phone, and glanced at the screen.

The number was unfamiliar. First-time sender. But the message began with a clear ID: Hattori Shizuka, whom he'd met yesterday.

After a polite hello, she got straight to business:

[A while ago, Heiji received an anonymous letter inviting him to Ogasawara to investigate a case.

There were no details, only ten old 10,000-yen bills. The note said to bring the bills to Tsumizu Port at noon. If he showed them to the ship's crew, they'd let him aboard.

I'm not too worried about Heiji—but he's brought a young child with him... If you're available, would you be willing to take a commission to look after the child? Once Heiji starts investigating, he forgets everything around him. I'm genuinely afraid he'll lose the boy.]

Jiangxia skimmed it and pieced things together quickly.

He responded right away, expressing his willingness to take the commission, throwing in some praise for Heiji (as a gesture of goodwill), and hinting that she shouldn't hesitate to call him next time something like this came up.

After putting his phone away, he pulled out the old banknotes he'd found earlier and joined the long line at one of the docks.

A few days ago, Jiangxia had seen a bizarre newspaper quiz promotion. It claimed that if you brought an "important item owned by almost every Japanese citizen in the Showa era" to the port on this day, you could win a free dolphin cruise to Ogasawara.

Apparently, the person behind that quiz... was the same person who anonymously wrote to Hattori Heiji.

*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.

Progress: 36/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.

Progress:2/10*