Case NOT Closed

In the face of disbelief from Kensuke, Masayoshi Sakaguchi smiled but appeared relieved.

“It’s true that Takeshi caused me to lose my son, but he was also a child with parents. I specialize in youth cases as a lawyer, so I can empathize with the parents who have lost a child. Regardless of how you look at it, I was the one who made a mistake, so I want to provide some compensation to their family, consider it as an act of redemption.”

After listening to his words, Kensuke let out a sigh.

“So, I’ve said it before, how can you be sure that you are the one who killed him?”

“Um, wasn’t it me?” Masayoshi asked in confusion.

“Come on, think about it more carefully. Do you really believe that you can easily do that kind of complicated murder? Haven’t you heard the things I said in court? It’s highly possible that his death was nothing more than an accident.”

Masayoshi was stunned.

Indeed, Kensuke had said that, and upon closer examination, those actions were not easy to carry out.

“So, it’s entirely possible that it was an accidental death, understand?”

“But…. I gave the command…”

“Command, what command? What does it prove? In Japanese, there are so many words with various uses, and no strict limitations. You can say ‘good morning’ (おはよう) in the evening. You, an old man who might be getting forgetful, saying ‘good night’ to a dog, how can you be sure that what you said at that time was the specific command?”

“Um…”

Masayoshi blinked.

Upon careful consideration, he realized that he couldn’t actually be certain about what he had said at that moment. Just as Kensuke had pointed out, his memory wasn’t what it used to be due to his age.

“Could it be that I didn’t commit murder after all?”

Masayoshi muttered, feeling somewhat absurd for a moment.

The fact that he couldn’t even confirm the truth of the situation himself was truly laughable. Masayoshi fell silent for a moment and then shook his head.

“But Takeshi still died because of my dog. That’s something that can’t be changed. According to civil liability requirements, I’ve compensated his family three times more than what is legally required.”

Kensuke stared at Masayoshi for a moment and then patted his shoulder, guiding his body to the right and pointing towards a distant mountain on the horizon.

“Do you see that mountain over there? There’s a temple called Mihana Temple on it, and I think you should become the caretaker of the Buddha inside.”

Masayoshi chuckled lightly. He understood that Kensuke was poking fun at him, but he wasn’t offended. He continued to wear his resigned smile.

Kensuke shook his head. This world had a peculiar contradiction. While there were frequent murder cases and everyone had the potential to be a perpetrator, most people here still harbored goodwill toward others.

The most straightforward expression of this was the fact that, as mentioned earlier, most people who had no connection to him still had a positive impression of him, rather than remaining neutral or having a negative view.

This also resulted in a significant number of people who, after committing a crime, would kneel down and confess their sins even without concrete evidence, as long as the great detective provided some clues.

“People’s hearts are indeed unpredictable,” Kensuke muttered, thinking that they were all a bunch of fools.

“Actually, I didn’t initially have the determination to sell the house,” Masayoshi said at this moment.

“It was only a few days ago that I saw a little girl with brown hair in front of my house, sitting outside my yard and crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she said her sister had been killed, and now she was homeless, with no family left. Seeing her pitiful expression, I felt deeply moved. I thought that no matter what, Takeshi is the only one who is guilty…”

“Alright, alright, I understand what you mean.”

Kensuke interrupted Masayoshi’s speech, not allowing him to continue with those touching confessions.

“So, what about that little girl? You’re so kind and generous; you haven’t adopted her as your goddaughter, have you?”

“Not exactly, but she’s currently staying at my house.”

Kensuke nearly bit his tongue. He stared wide-eyed at Masayoshi, utterly surprised by the benevolent expression on his face.

“Sakaguchi-san, you really are something else….” Kensuke sighed.

He couldn’t comprehend the reason why anyone would ever go to such length to a literal stranger, at best, he would admire such people, but he wouldn’t do the same.

“Alright, enough of this nonsense. Give me my money.”

Kensuke extended his hand toward Masayoshi.

His purpose for coming here today was to collect money, not to listen to tales of good deeds.

Masayoshi nodded and retrieved a checkbook from his pocket. He tore out a check, quickly filled in the amount and name, and endorsed it before handing it over.

Kensuke took the check, seeing that it was written for 1.5 million yen.

“The extra 500,000 yen can be considered my late payment penalty.”

“That’s fine. It’s a pleasure doing business with you!”

Kensuke, with a satisfied smile, tucked the check away. With the money in hand, he had no intention of wasting any more time here. He exchanged a few casual words with Masayoshi and was about to take his leave.

“Uncle Masayoshi, I’m back!”

At that moment, a young girl’s voice came from the nearby street.

The girl was carrying a backpack, had short brown hair, and a fair, oval-shaped face. Her arched eyebrows framed a pair of beautiful, large eyes.

Kensuke, about to leave, furrowed his brow slightly. For some reason, this girl seemed familiar.

Her eyes were calm, and they seemed to hold a depth of wisdom—an extraordinary quality to find in a child’s eyes.

“Welcome home!” Masayoshi greeted the girl with a smile. “This is the girl I mentioned earlier. Ai, come over here and say hello to Uncle Kensuke, the one I talked to you about earlier.”

The young girl approached gracefully and greeted Kensuke with a polite bow.

“Hello, Uncle Kensuke. My name is Ai Haibara. Nice to meet you.”

Kensuke was left speechless.

Now, he understood why she looked so familiar. She was the famous anime character, Ai Haibara, originally named Shiho Miyano, known as the genius girl of the Black Organization. She had also been shrunk like Shinichi Kudo after taking the same drug.

However, according to the plot, she should be living with Professor Agasa. So, how did she end up here in the home of Masayoshi?

Kensuke thought about it for a moment but couldn’t make sense of it. Nevertheless, he didn’t dwell on it much.

The fate of characters from the original story had no direct impact on him. While it might be the world of Conan, it was a vast world, and life went on outside the storylines.

“Little one, take care and enjoy your time with your Uncle Masayoshi. The world out there can be quite dangerous, so be careful when you’re out and about!”

Kensuke smiled warmly as he patted Ai Haibara’s head.

Afterward, he bid his farewell to both of them and left the area. In the courtyard, Ai watched him quietly as he walked away. Her calm eyes seemed to show a hint of emotion, but after a moment, they returned to their usual serenity.

…

Once he left the Miho residential area, Kensuke’s first order of business was to go to the bank listed on the check and cash the payment. Walking along the commercial street, he kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings.

Kensuke kept an eye on the goodwill meters above people’s heads as he observed the pedestrians around him. As mentioned before, most people had positive goodwill meters unless they were leaning towards criminal behavior.

Why did some goodwill meters turn negative in these cases? It was quite simple. People involved in criminal activities often harbored negative emotions. According to criminal psychology, individuals in such states tended to have thoughts like, “It would be better if this world were destroyed.” If someone’s goodwill meter showed a negative value, it was a warning sign.

It could mean that the person was on the verge of committing a crime, and their actions might negatively affect those around them. While the probability of encountering such a situation was low, in this world, it was not impossible.

Imagine Kensuke going to the bank to withdraw money, and suddenly, someone with a negative goodwill meter stormed in, brandishing a gun and causing chaos by robbing the bank. Though unlikely, Kensuke, being cautious, wouldn’t allow any room for errors, especially since he now possessed a significant amount of money.

“Do you want to withdraw cash or make a transfer?”

“Let’s do a transfer. I have an account with this bank.”

“Alright, please wait a moment, sir.”

After spending quite some time finding a suitable bank for withdrawing the money, Kensuke heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the funds had been successfully transferred to his bank account.

With this matter resolved, he now had to plan how to use this money for his future work and life.