Chapter 65: A Timeless Classic of Childhood Trauma

With the case successfully solved, Ji Yi was granted a day off.

Ji Yi would never have imagined that Beika Town, the city of sin, would actually have a day without any violent crimes.

Kogoro Mouri had lost his mind ever since the diplomat's murder case, constantly contacting him. Annoyed beyond endurance, Ji Yi finally had to meet him. Well, such is the nature of adult socialization.

Only after meeting did Ji Yi learn that ever since the diplomat's case, Conan had been completely drained by Shinichi Kudo and was currently still lying low in a state akin to the undead.

You should have mentioned that earlier! If you had told me, I would have met up with you sooner!

Who knows what got into Uncle Mouri; after tossing back a few drinks, he started reminiscing about his glorious past.

He didn't even spare his elementary school days.

Ji Yi felt a bit uneasy—do all men turn out like this when they reach middle age?

Could it be that he would also have a day like this?

Still, with no other choice, he had to play along and offer a few perfunctory responses.

One can only say that the Teitan system truly nurtures exceptional people and divine spirits.

Fortunately, he had only stayed there for the first grade.

Otherwise, who knows if he would have awakened a Grim Reaper bloodline and subsequently spawned some bizarre childhood sweetheart...

As expected, Uncle Mouri was merely a catalyst for the Reaper, completely unable to function without Conan around.

After seeing the drunken Kogoro Mouri home, Ji Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

Just keeping a middle-aged man company while he bragged was infinitely easier than working overtime.

The next day at work.

To his surprise, there were still no direct reports of murder. The only case was just some office worker who hadn't returned home for the night, and Inspector Megure had already set out to handle it.

Indeed, once the Reaper was sealed away by a common cold, the world became considerably more normal.

"What's the situation with the missing Kazuo Tamada?"

With nothing on his hands, Ji Yi decided to help out old brother Megure by looking into it.

"An employee at the Beika Library, known as a good-natured fellow. Every day before leaving work, he calls his wife and then heads straight home." Megure immediately slipped into his "summoner of the younger brother" mode, launching into a professional exposition. "However, since leaving work the day before yesterday, there hasn't been a single phone call, nor did he return home, so his wife called to report him missing."

"Hmm..." Ji Yi pondered. That certainly sounded suspicious. "So, what does the Inspector plan to do?"

"Since he's an adult male, the investigation priority isn't particularly high, so we didn't launch a large-scale search immediately after the report yesterday," Megure replied. "I figure there's nothing else pressing today, so I'm getting ready to head to the library to investigate. According to his wife, the night before last, Kazuo Tamada was working overtime at the library along with the director. So I figure, if an accident really did occur, it most likely happened inside the library."

Nothing wrong with that.

Old brother Megure and the rest of the Division One detectives had standard, perfectly normal human thought processes.

The only problem was that, for reasons unknown, even after experiencing such a bizarre array of cases, they still insisted on treating the residents of Beika with ordinary human logic, completely ignoring the various glowing prompts plastered all over the crime scenes.

"Then I'll go with you."

When it came to writing reports, Ji Yi actually suffered from a mild case of procrastination.

Damn it, who actually enjoys writing reports!

Even knowing full well that the thing had to be finished regardless, he just couldn't resist putting it off for as long as possible.

Going to help old brother Megure find someone right now wasn't that just the perfect excuse?

Faced with a "younger brother" delivering himself to the doorstep, Megure naturally welcomed him with open arms.

And so, accompanied by uniformed officers, the group arrived at the Beika Library.

Upon entering, the director—whose facial contours bore a striking resemblance to a certain famous primate—hurried over to greet them.

"Hello, my name is Shuji Tsugawa, I'm the director here."

Tsk... That felt vaguely familiar...

"We're here today to ask about one of your employees, Mr. Kazuo Tamada." Megure took out a photograph and began his routine questioning.

"Ah! It's Inspector Megure! What's going on?" A single—no, wait, a whole group of elementary school students popped out from the stairwell.

Conan used "Inquire About the Case," which proved critically effective against Inspector Megure, plunging him instantly into a "will answer any question" state.

After a round of explanations, Inspector Megure solemnly concluded: "If he's still inside the building, chances are eight out of ten that he's already been murdered!"

At that moment, the officer in charge of the search returned.

"Inspector, the storage room, the restrooms, and all other out-of-the-way places have been thoroughly searched—nothing!"

"Hmm... Mr. Tamada is a tall man, quite conspicuous and hard to miss. Since he can't be found... then he must have been abducted!" Megure changed his tune at lightning speed.

"Alright, let's head back to the precinct!" Megure prepared to call it a day.

To be fair, this was truly absurd.

Could you at least pretend to persevere a little longer?

Putting aside the fact that this case was a certified classic childhood trauma, Ji Yi remembered every single detail of it.

There was no way around it; this episode was simply unforgettable.

Who knows how many children clicked on Conan happily only to suffer from sleepless nights afterward.

Even if you guys searched just half-heartedly, you surely couldn't have missed that massive pile of muscle relaxants, right?

Furthermore...

Although the hiding spot for the body showed quite a bit of imagination, it had already been two days—the smell was already seeping out!

Were you all suffering from collective anosmia?

"Wait a moment, Inspector." Ji Yi decided to step forward and salvage the children's sleep quality.

"Huh? Did younger brother Ji Yi discover something?"

"Inspector, don't you think the cleaning work in this library is terribly done?"

"Cleaning work?" Megure looked bewildered. The police weren't here to inspect sanitation standards; why pay attention to that?

"Don't you feel a certain odor as soon as you step into the library?"

Yes... Conan nodded. Having spent three days lying in bed and falling severely behind on his homework, he had been dragged over by the Detective Boys to write his winter break reading report.

He had also picked up on this issue earlier.

He hadn't paid much attention before because the scent wasn't particularly strong, assuming it was just poor maintenance, but now, upon hearing Inspector Megure's words, it clicked instantly.

This was definitely not a matter of poor cleaning.

Never had he expected that coming to the library, intending merely to spend one last day playing with elementary school kids before using the strong Chinese liquor to completely revert to his original form, would lead him straight into a murder case.

However, where on earth was the body hidden?

Conan fell into deep thought.

The police had already searched all the suspicious spots. Were there any other places in the library capable of hiding a person?

Megure sniffed carefully for a moment.

Bam!

He was far too familiar with this particular stench!

Though still faint, it was...

A corpse!

There was no mistaking it!

"Search the place right now! Even if you have to turn this library upside down, find that body!" Megure ordered.

Then the officers launched into a performance of abstract performance art.

Was that locker even large enough to fit the corpse of an adult male?!

At least pretend to look like you're trying to slack off, you idiots!

While the concealment of the body was indeed imaginative, the problem was that their perfunctory search was simply too outrageous.

"Let's check upstairs." Ji Yi didn't want to waste any time; the children's book section upstairs held the real action.

Megure, obedient as ever, followed right behind.

Entering the elevator, Ji Yi glanced at the weight limit and motioned for four officers to step in with him.

Ji Yi, Megure, the director, plus the four officers Ji Yi had designated.

Exactly seven people.

Ah, overweight.