Tanaka Torofumi's wrap-up was a total rush job. The police found his murder tools and bloodstained clothes stuffed in a corner of the yard before he could even blink.
Once that surprise doorstep murder was handled, Jiangxia hadn't forgotten the other case he'd planted earlier.
Eh, whatever. One afternoon, one night, two fresh ghosts picked up—pretty good haul, honestly.
He didn't even have to bother catching the culprit himself. He just fed the cops the real murderer's M.O., and let the busy police take it from there.
…
The next morning, Jiangxia rolled into the police station early, banged out his witness statement, and casually retrieved two shikigami, and promptly made like a titty and bounced out of the station.
Higashida, the poor guy who got falsely arrested, had already been cleared and was safely en route to his daughter's wedding.
Dr. Agasa's "Tropical Rainbow" bomb had also been successfully detonated—this time without being stopped by Conan's moral grandstanding like in the original world line.
Jiangxia checked the time as he stepped out of the station. Still early. So he swung by to catch the doc's fancy "Colorful Bomb Show." The effect was kind of weird and unnecessary, but it did look gorgeous—like fireworks from a distance.
After collecting ghosts and watching the fireworks, Jiangxia returned to the office in high spirits, picked up his casework again, and started checking his inbox with frequency of roughly N times a day.
He felt like his popularity was climbing steadily, and yet… somehow… still no long-distance commission requests?
Maybe the stars weren't aligned yet.
But a few days later, the phone rang. A new case.
The caller claimed to be the butler of Nagato Mansion. No case details were given—just an invitation for Jiangxia to come in person and discuss.
Now, in this world's many wealthy island families, the Nagato family was said to hold a position on par with the mighty Suzuki conglomerate.
Jiangxia vaguely remembered hearing about the Nagato Group before. If he recalled right… there were ghosts up for grabs.
So he decided to go check it out.
This time, he figured he'd bring a few fellow murder magnets along. But when he dropped by the Mouri Detective Agency, he found the place shuttered. All three residents were out.
So he turned back, solo.
Still, even without Conan, maybe I'll get lucky and run into Hattori Heiji...
…
Jiangxia was mildly worried the situation might be unstable.
But it turned out he'd underestimated just how broken his luck stat really was.
As soon as he arrived near Nagato Mansion and stepped onto the right street, he spotted two very familiar silhouettes walking his way: Ran Mouri and Conan Edogawa, out for a casual stroll.
Jiangxia blinked. His feet stopped instinctively.
At the same moment, Ran spotted him. A classmate appearing out of nowhere in a random scenic town? She was genuinely surprised.
She jogged over, smiling brightly. "Are you here sightseeing too?"
The hot springs nearby were pretty famous. Kogoro Mouri had dragged Ran and Conan along for some kind of old class reunion today.
Since soaking in hot water during the daytime wasn't super appealing, and the local sights were well-known, Ran decided to head out and explore. She definitely hadn't expected to bump into Jiangxia of all people.
Conan, for his part, was quietly delighted to see a familiar face out in the wild.
At the same time, his hand slid instinctively to his pocket—
Yup. The earmuffs were still there, safely tucked away.
—Ever since The Osaka Incident, Conan had learned the hard way that any run-in with Jiangxia could turn into a screaming disaster. Earmuffs were now part of his everyday loadout, like his glasses and tranquilizer watch.
Jiangxia glanced down at Conan's subtle pocket move.
Ran, oblivious, kept chatting cheerfully.
When acquaintances meet somewhere random, there are usually two options. Either:
Exchange pleasantries, say "Small world, huh?" and go your separate ways, or
Merge parties like a bad JRPG and just roll with it.
Ran had planned on the first option—Jiangxia looked serious and busy, after all.
But just as they were about to say goodbye, Jiangxia suddenly turned and asked, "Since everyone's here… want to come take a look with me?"
Dragging kids and classmates into a mysterious commission request probably looked a little weird. But then again, Mouri Kogoro did that exact thing all the time.
If the old man could do it, why not Jiangxia?
Ran blinked. She looked over at the Nagato estate's beautifully landscaped yard, which honestly looked more like a tourist attraction than a crime scene. She was interested.
Conan leaned over to her and muttered, "Let's check it out, Sister Ran."
To him, a mystery beat sightseeing every time.
…
While Jiangxia was busy coaxing two classmates with innate incident-attraction auras to join him—
Inside Nagato Mansion…
Hattori Heizo and his son were already conducting a quiet sweep of the estate.
The night before, the Nagato Group's chairman had reported hearing strange sounds—running footsteps in the corridor, and the clatter of objects being knocked over outside.
Nothing had been stolen, and no one was hurt, so the police couldn't formally open a case. Still, the chairman had a gut feeling something was off.
So he called an old friend—Osaka's big-shot police chief, Hattori Heizo—for help.
Heizo had come out himself to take a look.
His conclusion? Most likely a thief doing recon. And if that was true, experience said the thief would probably return that night.
The problem: Hattori Heizo was way too high-ranking (and busy) to camp out and wait for a small-time crook.
So he told the estate's security to keep their eyes open, and casually left his son behind as backup.
And since "case-solving son" made him think of "that Jiangxia kid from the Osaka incident," well…
The thought lingered.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 15/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*
Glossary:
incident physique – a fanfic term for people like Ran and Conan, who magically attract murder cases wherever they go.
JRPG merge – when characters randomly team up like it's a role-playing game.