Conan was being stared at.
Under Amuro's gaze, he gradually fell silent. A creeping sense of guilt started to rise.
Was that excuse too half-baked...?
Amuro Toru studied Conan for a moment, then silently looked away.
...He might have found the cause of the flat tire.
But soon enough, Amuro frowned. That wasn't very rigorous.
Last time, when they passed that foggy temple, Conan hadn't even been in the car. Only Jiangxia had been with him.
It was on the way back that Conan joined them.
...No, wait, why was he seriously thinking about this?
Amuro quickly shook off the thought.
Believe in science. The world is materialistic. There's no such thing as a tire-blowout physique. Nonsense.
While working on restoring his worldview, he stepped out of the car to replace the spare tire.
After circling around to the trunk, he popped it open—and paused.
...The spare was broken.
Same spot. Same gnaw marks.
Amuro stared at the damage blankly. He wanted to be surprised.
But when he saw the freshly wrecked tire, all he felt was an overwhelming sense of "of course."
He even imagined a dream-like scenario: the cracks were cleaner than before. The mysterious creature that kept munching on his tires—its teeth seemed sharper now...
For a brief moment, Amuro started to miss his metal tire box.
Last time, on the way back with Jiangxia and the others, he'd vowed to get a metal box to protect his spare tire. But life got in the way, and he'd forgotten.
Tsk. Gotta get that sorted. Once it's installed, he wouldn't need to carry it around all the time—just pop it in whenever Jiangxia and his merry band were nearby.
Conan, still sitting inside, noticed Amuro frozen at the trunk.
"What's wrong?" he called.
Jiangxia had gotten out too, and wandered over to the trunk. He peered in—and blinked in confusion. "...Why is it like this again, in your car...?"
"No mice," Amuro replied flatly. "No squirrels. No wild cats, no woodpeckers. Nothing."
"Mm..." Jiangxia nodded. Wow, he's really practiced this speech.
After the last time, Amuro had the entire car inspected inside and out. Even disassembled it. Nothing. No fur, no nests, no weird sounds. Not even a chew-happy hamster.
So then what the hell keeps biting the tires...
In any case, there was nothing else to be done. He pulled out his phone to call for a tow.
Bright screen. No signal.
Conan had already hopped out and begun scoping out the area.
He pointed toward a villa that Jiangxia had been staring at for a while now, a few dozen meters off.
"Looks like someone lives there. Let's borrow their landline."
Amuro gave him another look.
This line... it sounded suspiciously familiar.
He'd heard it several times before. It never led to anything good.
Jiangxia sighed and nodded on Amuro's behalf. "It's our only option."
…
The villa nestled in the woods looked a bit old, but it wasn't dusty. The shrubs out front were neatly trimmed. Recently maintained, clearly.
So, not abandoned. Occupied.
Its exterior had a unique flair. Three steps at the front, each with a railing.
On the right end of the railing was a tiny tiger statue, palm-sized. On the left—nothing. Just a row of small holes where something once had been.
Haibara Ai happened to be the same height as those holes.
As the group went to knock, she passed the handrail, doubled back, and peeked into one of the holes. Then she casually raised a hand to adjust her hair.
When she looked up and saw Jiangxia watching her, she froze. Awkwardly cleared her throat and muttered, "There's a mirror in there. I just—looked."
Jiangxia studied the tiger statue on one end, then the lion-shaped knocker on the front door. Something clicked in his mind.
No wonder, it's this this house. I remember this case.
Amuro had arrived at the door too. He tapped the knocker a few times. It was clear he wasn't used to such old-school decor.
There was a clatter inside—faint sounds of things being moved around hastily.
Then silence.
Finally, after about two full minutes, the door creaked open.
The owner: a fat man with a goatee.
He cracked the door just wide enough to poke his head out. Frowning, guarded. Didn't seem keen on letting anyone in.
Probably just wanted to get rid of them fast.
Then—he saw Jiangxia.
The goatee froze.
His whole expression flipped through a slideshow of reactions in a split second: surprise, wariness, maybe even murderous intent. And a solid dash of bitter jealousy.
Jealousy of Jiangxia's puzzle-solving abilities.
Too many emotions. Too fast. None of them subtle.
Which only made Toru Amuro and Conan even more suspicious.
Jiangxia looked at the guy—clearly not a man used to managing a crisis.
Then he noticed the spike in murderous aura radiating off him. Jiangxia's tone softened.
"Our car broke down nearby. Flat tire. We were hoping to borrow your phone, if that's alright."
The goatee's eyes darted around. He slammed the door shut. "...Wait."
And so they waited. Five minutes this time.
When the door reopened, Goatee's face had a much friendlier smile.
Standing next to him now was a middle-aged man with neatly parted hair.
The new man had his right arm in a cast—wrapped from elbow to fingertips.
Apparently, the goatee's younger brother.
Both men smiled with salesman-level enthusiasm.
"Sorry about earlier! This house used to belong to our grandfather—we only just moved in and haven't bought much yet. No landline. But we can lend you our car."
"As long as..." He held up his thumb and forefinger. A tiny space between them. "You can do us a little favor."
Jiangxia saw the glowing cloud of murderous intent floating over these "brothers."
He smiled agreeably. "Sure."
The goatee and Mr. Parted hair lit up.
They quickly launched into their tale of woe.
While they were talking, Amuro subtly stepped close and gave the cast on Parted hair's arm a casual tap—then pulled away like nothing happened.
Later, when the two hosts headed to the living room to fetch tea and snacks, Amuro leaned toward Jiangxia and whispered, "That plaster cast? Wrong shape."
Jiangxia nodded.
Inside that cast, the man was hiding a small pistol, wrapped in bandages and plaster.
Jiangxia remembered clearly.
These two weren't the real homeowners.
They were members of a robbery gang.
The "Goblin" group.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 3/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*