Chapter 11: The Distillery Needs Talent Like You

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Yui Osaki was on the verge of tears as she grabbed another waitress, Kazuka Tsuchiya, and hurriedly explained, “Originally, there were no reservations for the chocolate spheres today, but President Otsuka, the owner of the restaurant, booked a private lunch, and his guest was eager to try the specialty chocolate spheres…”

“I heard that the person having lunch with President Otsuka was Mr. Akiji Sugiyama, president of Sugiyama Foods…” Kazuka Tsuchiya, who was in charge of serving, seemed to have overheard more details.

A president! And not just one, but two presidents!

Kiichi knew Otsuka Hiroshi. Although he didn’t appear in the original thief’s story, it was clear that in this real world, there were various corporations, and Otsuka Hiroshi was the president of Otsuka Holdings, a large enterprise that invested in and operated numerous luxury hotels and high-end restaurants, providing top-tier dining and membership services.

He recalled recent news about Otsuka Hiroshi negotiating an acquisition with Sugiyama Foods, a company renowned for its “traditional craftsmanship and supreme quality” but recently struggling due to poor management.

Clearly, the two companies were in talks and had arranged a “dine-and-discuss” meeting to foster closer relations.

But was it possible that these two presidents were the true targets of the murderer?

Although the chocolate spheres were ordered on impulse, if the owner usually liked to eat them, the kitchen could have prepared them in advance if they knew about the reservation.

“President Otsuka is sensitive to caffeine, so he usually doesn’t order chocolate spheres…” Kazuka Tsuchiya shook her head after Kiichi’s inquiry.

Without needing Kiichi’s direction, Takagi immediately contacted Otsuka Holdings and Sugiyama Foods upon hearing the situation.

Such reliable subordinates.

“Inspector! Besides President Otsuka, someone else just bought a box of chocolate spheres!” Yui Osaki flipped through today’s orders. “It was just ten minutes ago.”

Another expert?

What’s going on in this restaurant? They said these items wouldn’t be sold without reservations. It’s one thing that the boss has privileges, but how did someone else manage to buy them?

“It was… the second daughter of the Suzuki Group…” Yui Osaki was genuinely on the verge of tears this time.

Ah, the Suzuki Group—makes sense now. This is the world of Kogoro detective, after all; unlimited financial resources…

The second daughter of the Suzuki Group?!

Damn it!

Crossing into Conan’s world, and in just three episodes, Sonoko ends up in the morgue?!

“Why are you still standing there? Go notify the Suzuki Group immediately!” Kiichi regretted sending Takagi out earlier; the remaining officers were mere NPCs who wouldn’t act unless given orders.

Why hasn’t this world developed mobile phones yet? Relying on landlines to contact people is such a pain.

If Sonoko really goes offline, Kiichi doesn’t even know how the next thousand episodes will be made.

Also, with such events unfolding right under his nose, it looks like he’s destined to stay in the inspector role forever…

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The situation was far more terrifying than Kiichi had imagined.

Not far away, inside a café.

“Why are you still bringing this brat along?” Sonoko scowled at Conan, the grim-faced elementary schooler beside Ran. “And Ran, you’re late again!”

“Sorry, sorry. Dad had to go to work and couldn’t look after Conan, plus elementary school is closed today just like ours…” Ran explained. “So I had to take care of Conan.”

“Unbelievable.” Sonoko rolled her eyes but said no more. She took a box from her handbag and placed it on the table. “This is the chef’s proud raspberry chocolate sphere from Chanson. Even I can barely get one without a reservation. I’m really doing this brat a favor.”

“…” Conan narrowed his eyes slightly but thought to himself, no wonder the second daughter of the Suzuki family knows Chanson. Without Yusaku and Yukiko taking him along, his pocket money definitely wouldn’t cover it.

Still, the chocolate spheres looked exquisite.

“Huh?” The midday sun streamed strongly through the café window, landing directly on the opened box of chocolate spheres.

Why was there an unusual reflection in the sugar coating?

Had some special ingredient been mixed in?

Conan was still pondering when Sonoko reached out to take one, about to bite in, when a group of people burst into the café like madmen and snatched the chocolate sphere from her hand.

“Who are you!” Sonoko snapped, ready to curse and teach whoever stole her chocolate a lesson in Tokyo District High School Girls’ Karate Championship, only to find all familiar faces before her.

“You’re saying the chocolate spheres are poisoned?!” Even the usually thick-skinned Sonoko turned pale.

The Suzuki family representatives quickly explained the situation.

“The chef, Mr. Kinoshita from Chanson, was poisoned?” Sonoko found it hard to believe—they often had Keiji Kinoshita arrange their dinners. How could he suddenly be gone?

“Ran, let’s take this box of chocolate to Inspector Higashino. I think they might find it useful.”

Conan put on his most adorable act, which was very effective on Ran.

“But you’re not allowed to run around the scene,” Ran warned.

“Okay!” Conan continued to play cute but was already thinking about whether the poison method had anything to do with the unusual reflection he had just noticed.

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“I understand.”

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Kiichi exhaled in relief. Luckily, Sonoko hadn’t eaten it yet; her future was safe for now.

This time, he had to thank Ran’s habit of being late.

Then, he saw an angel holding the hand of that grim-faced elementary schooler right outside the shop.

“…”

Was this really a case from the original story?

By the way, did this poisoning case nearly bring about the finale?

The sake brewery needs talents like you.

“Inspector Higashino, this chocolate sphere was purchased by Sonoko,” the grim-faced child maneuvered skillfully, and when the angel guarding him was momentarily distracted, he slipped into the scene.

Clearly, Conan’s acting skills at this stage still had a long way to go.

But there was bad news: Akiji Sugiyama, president of Sugiyama Foods, had been confirmed dead.

“Inspector, there are signs of violent lock tampering on the restaurant’s back door.”

Today’s forensic team seemed especially diligent. Perhaps it was because they had been scolded before, but one could only hope this wouldn’t spiral into the “that arrogant, oppressive damn inspector” drama.

At least their work attitude seemed much improved recently.

“That means the area near the restaurant’s back door was indeed a bit messy this morning when we arrived,” Imagawa Gota mused.

“Could it be that someone broke in last night to poison the food?” Takagi cautiously suggested to Kiichi.

Kiichi couldn’t draw conclusions, but he recalled seeing surveillance cameras near the back door when he came in—something rare in the Kogoro detective world, a small consolation given the era.

However—

“I’m sorry, but because the owner planned to upgrade the security system, the surveillance cameras were turned off last night.”

As expected.