Phantom Thief of Heart!but conan

Chapter 987 Opportunity and Luck

"Won't it alarm people if we just go there directly?"

"It's okay... Since you doubt them, just go and check it out. The three of them should all live alone, not far away."

"Well, that means, if there was a crime, it was committed by only one person?"

"Don't assume that he's a criminal!"

Listening to the conversation behind him, Tang Ze glanced at a few people, lowered his head and pressed a few buttons on his phone.

If there is nothing wrong with his judgment, their cousin is probably fine.

But after all, there is a case involving human life here, and we shouldn’t take it lightly... Let’s ask someone to go and take a look.

"Where are Chiba and Yumi?" Takagi Wataru took a step closer to Sato Miwako and whispered, "Isn't it a bit dangerous to let them sleep in the car?"

"Mr. Maori's car is pretty safe." Thinking of the two people who were drunk and unconscious, Sato Miwako couldn't help shaking her head, "Really, it was Mei who suggested the social gathering, but she got drunk so quickly..."

"Eh? Aren't you here to meet Officer Hagiwara?" Takagi Shigeru was stunned for a moment.

"How could I come all the way to the social gathering to meet you? Yumi invited me, so I said why not meet here tonight..." Sato Miwako turned to look at him alertly in the middle of her explanation, "Why are you asking me? You also came to the social gathering, and I haven't asked you about the situation yet."

"I, I didn't want to come either. It was Chiba who insisted on dragging me along, saying that he wanted to make up the number or something." Takagi Wataru coughed.

"Ha, so you dressed so formally?" Sato Miwako looked at his jacket and curled her lips in displeasure.

Takagi Wataru does have a very handsome appearance. If he doesn't wear that cookie-cutter suit that you won't find anywhere else in the police station, he'll really be eye-catching standing in the crowd.

If he hadn't been sitting with them, there would definitely be girls coming over to chat with him, right?

"I just heard that the restaurant is very famous, and I wanted to go there for a meal. Then I thought that if I were to have a meal with strangers, I should be more formal..." Takagi Shizu scratched his hair and said uncomfortably, "Didn't I call you too and want to invite you to join me..."

"What you said was..." Thinking of that erroneous phone call, Sato Miwako's expression froze for a moment and she turned her head away.

Both of them seemed to recall the somewhat awkward phone call and fell silent for a moment.

Mao Lilan, who was following behind them, couldn't help but clear her throat: "You guys, attending a social gathering like this, and bringing your family members with you, isn't that a bit provocative...?"

"Ah?" It took Miwako Sato a while to realize what she meant, and she soon stuttered, "W-what family members? Don't talk nonsense..."

"Hey, weren't you dating Officer Takagi in the park before? I thought..."

"What?! I just... forget it!"

Miwako Sato cleared her throat and looked at Masashi Emoto and Kogoro Mori who had already walked to an apartment. She quickly quickened her pace and stopped talking to them.

Mao Lilan smiled for a while, then seeing that Takagi Wataru was still walking in a daze, she reached out and patted his arm: "Officer Takagi, come over quickly? Aren't we going to conduct an interrogation?"

"I, oh, oh..." Takagi Wataru came back to his senses, faced her teasing gaze, scratched his hair embarrassedly, and quickened his pace.

"What is your relationship with this Rokuda Takuji?" Maori Kogoro frowned suspiciously as he watched Masashi Emoto bend over and check the last names on the mailboxes of the apartment. "Haven't you been to his house?"

"Rokuda, Rokuda... Oh, here, 203." Having found the house number, Masashi Emoto straightened up and shrugged, "I've definitely never been here. He and I were childhood friends, and after he came to Tokyo, he rented a house here, but he never invited me over."

"Then you still trust him so much?"

"Oh, I'm good at judging people. I believe he doesn't have any bad intentions. I often went to his house to play when we were young," Masashi Emoto answered casually as he led a few people to 203. "He has wanted to be a musician since high school. He even invited me to join his band. He is still persisting. Someone who can pursue his ideals for so many years can't be that bad."

"Detective Maori, you don't have to follow." Sato Miwako reached out and pulled his sleeve. "You are quite famous, and you might be recognized by the other party, which would alert them. If anything happens, we will notify you to come and respond as soon as possible."

"Why don't you high school students wait here for a while?" Takagi Wataru suggested, "You don't look like the kind of people your age who would show up at a social gathering. It's less likely to arouse suspicion if it's just the two of us and we take Conan with us..."

The temporary team was decided quickly. Kogoro Mori put his hands in his trouser pockets and watched Masashi Emoto walk up the stairs, without commenting on his previous evaluation.

It is a good thing for the young man to have hope for friendship, so he will not be disappointed at this time.

If you ask him, the more paranoid an idealist is, the more likely he is to go astray when he is at his wits' end, because compared to his ideals, other principles may have to be abandoned.

Masashi Emoto still had some basic experience. When he pressed the doorbell and the intercom, his voice was very steady, without any fluctuations.

After a short wait, the apartment door was quickly opened, and a young man in casual clothes looked at the people standing at the door, a little stunned.

He looked at the young couple and a child with uncertainty, quickly glanced at Sato Miwako's beautiful face, and finally turned his gaze to Emoto Masashi.

"It's really Emoto... What are you doing so late?"

"Oh, it's not a big deal." Jiang Ben waved his hand and made an excuse with a smile, "Didn't I hold a social gathering today? I mentioned you at the social gathering. Some friends are interested in your..."

"...I'm more interested in your music!" Conan seemed to have remembered something, and suddenly he grabbed Sato Miwako's wrist and said in a very childish tone, "Brother Emoto said that you are great at making music, and he played us the songs you wrote. My sister knows a great musician, and we want to listen to the songs you wrote!"

Sato Miwako was stunned for a moment, took back the words that were about to come out of her mouth, and looked down at Conan.

How could she know any great musicians? Finding an excuse to go into his house to check it out was not the same as suddenly becoming a judge.

Although Rokuda Takuji is the most suspicious, if he is indeed not the criminal, it would be a bit too much to give him hope and then let him down...

Conan winked at her and mouthed "Kitagawa".

Even if you don't know him, there's always someone who does! Don't you guys in the Investigation Division 1 often interact with Kitagawa Yusuke? Why don't you ask him to introduce you to Yuga Kyosuke? Besides, they just came here to find an excuse, just to listen to some songs! I don't know if Sato Miwako understood or not, but anyway, when she turned around, she had a smile on her face again.

"Yeah, yeah, and we're also planning to form a band. I heard from Mr. Emoto that you've been making music for a long time, and I admire you very much."

"...Emoto." Rokuda Takuji turned around and looked at Emoto Masashi, his expression clearly moved, "You, you actually introduced my song to others..."

Jiang Benshangshi scratched his hair and pursed his lips.

He had just seen something, so at this moment, looking at the expression on his childhood friend's face, his feelings were equally complicated.

How should he evaluate this? The police already know about this and have intervened in this matter. Can today's incident still be resolved?
Looking at Rokuda's thin, uncared-for face with a lot of stubble on his chin, he sighed slowly, "...Yeah. I can't just watch you spend your hard-earned money on lottery tickets all day, can I?"

At the same time, while Mori Ran and Mori Kogoro were chatting, Karasawa, who was standing downstairs, quietly turned on the hidden halo, then quietly reached out and took out a few letters from the mailbox marked Rokuda, which was completely overflowing with mail.

"Hey, Tang Ze-kun, this isn't good..." Hondou Eisuke, who had been following behind and silently observing them, was the first to notice his movements. He reached out and pulled his elbow, "Although I suspect him, he's not the criminal yet."

The Mori father and daughter turned around and found that Karasawa had already started to look through Rokuda's letters very rudely.

"Even if he is really the criminal, this kind of thing should be handled by the police. Reading other people's letters privately is a bit..."

Before Maori Ran could finish her persuasion, Maori Kogoro had already stood next to Tangze and raised his hand.

Not only did he not stop Tang Ze, but he also took out a few letters from the bulging mailbox and opened them to examine them.

"Hey, Dad!"

"A detective needs to collect as much information as possible." Maori Kogoro shrugged nonchalantly and even praised Tang Ze, "You have learned a lot by following the detectives."

Tang Ze, whose methods of gathering intelligence were much more extreme than this, smiled modestly upon hearing this: "Uncle Maori taught me well."

"Dad, you look a bit like Shinichi now..." Ran Mouri put her hands on her hips and complained.

"Who looks like who? This is outrageous..." Maori Kogoro raised his eyebrows and continued to check the letters unhappily, "This guy's financial situation is very bad. There are so many bills for payment."

"Yes, there is also a letter rejecting his manuscript application." Tang Ze also opened an envelope and took out the contents to read. "He has indeed been insisting on making music, but it seems that the income is no longer enough to support him to continue living in Tokyo."

"Still buying lottery tickets. Lots of prize redemption information." The more he talked, the more it fits the stereotype. Maori Kogoro frowned, "The more I read, the more I feel that Masashi Emoto's judgment might be a bit... huh?"

Soon, he found a familiar name.

"A letter from Masashi Emoto. Not yet opened..." He carefully studied the letter for a moment, glanced at the other people, and slowly opened it.

"How is it? Doesn't it sound good?" Masashi Emoto sat in Rokuda Takuji's studio. After listening to him play the demo, he patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "This kid just doesn't have good luck. He has never had any chance to succeed. Just give him a chance, and he will definitely get better."

Rokuda Takuji turned his head and looked at his hand on his shoulder, pursed his lips and did not respond.

Sato Miwako and Takagi Wataru, who were not paying any attention to the music at all, seemed to have just come to their senses, withdrew their gazes from around the house, and responded.

"Yes, it's very well written, and I feel like it's not inferior to many singers!"

"Very suitable, uh, yes, very suitable for some OST style..."

Conan looked at the two of them who were praising him for no apparent reason, then he withdrew his gaze from the guitar and began to observe Rokuda Takuji.

Judging from this person's clothing and daily life, his financial situation is probably not so ideal. However, this place is not only filled with collected CDs and vinyl records, but also a considerable number of musical instruments and equipment needed for composing, and the speakers he uses are not cheap.

Considering the sound insulation conditions of this apartment building, in order to live here for a long time, he would probably have to spend a lot of money to install sound insulation to avoid complaints from neighbors.

Masashi Emoto's previous summary of him was indeed correct. This was a guy who was determined to pursue his musical dream. It could be said that he placed the focus of his life on these things.

"So, you should buy fewer lottery tickets." Masashi Emoto sighed, and did not raise his voice for the rest of his words. It was more like a very personal consolation, "I understand your thoughts, but you can't just rely on luck."

"…Why are you so serious?" Rokuda Takuji forced a smile, "Didn't I give you a lot of them too? I sent you a few at the end of the year. Can you check them carefully too?"

"There's nothing to be right about. You won't win anyway, right? You might as well save the money you worked so hard to earn, or even move to a better place to live." Jiang Benjiang tightened his grip on his shoulders and said earnestly, "My luck has always been bad, so it's no use sending it to me. The same goes for you... I see you haven't sorted your mailbox for a while."

"The mailbox downstairs? There's nothing much to sort out, it's just those things anyway." Rokuda Takuji smiled bitterly.

“What if your submission is accepted?”

"If they were really hired, they would call me. There's no need. It's just bills, it's annoying."

"… Let's take a look." Masashi Emoto patted him hard, "Take a look, maybe there will be good news."

Rokuda Takuji smiled and shook his head. He raised his eyes and was about to say something when he met Masashi Emoto's serious expression.

Inexplicably, the ridicule and self-mockery that he had originally wanted to blurt out, as well as more questions that he wanted to test whether Masashi Emoto had discovered something by coming over, all disappeared under this look.

"okay, I get it……"

Jiang Ben took Shi's hand away and stopped looking at him. Instead, he looked at the two policemen who were strolling around the room.

"How do you two feel about this?"

(End of this chapter)