Chapter 65: My Name is Kanenori Wakita

"Whoosh!"

9:30 AM.

A fierce wind was blowing outside.

The weather was worsening as heavy rain clouds descended lower and lower, threatening to unleash a torrential downpour at any moment.

Professor Agasa and the mustache man's family arrived at the Kudo residence one after another.

Ran and Sonoko walked into the house carrying various bags and packages. Noticing the absence of Haibara Ai, they asked in surprise, "Isn't Ai-chan here? We bought her a gift..."

"She isn't feeling well today," Kado Mo explained. "She's resting upstairs by herself."

Actually, she had been perfectly fine half an hour ago; that woman was simply intentionally avoiding the Junior Detective League and Professor Agasa.

"I'll go check on her."

Ran hurried anxiously up the stairs, leaving Sonoko flustered, clutching the hem of her skirt and not daring to meet Kado Mo's eyes as she quickly followed behind.

"Wait for me!"

"Who is Ai-chan?"

The three little members of the Junior Detective League also wanted to go upstairs, but Kado Mo stopped them, instructing the little ones to join Conan in the living room to watch television.

Over the past few days, Conan had improved considerably and now knew how to manage these children indirectly—handling Ayumi made the other two no longer a problem.

"Masked Kamen Rider was so cool last night..."

"Their house is still a bit too old, though it is spacious."

The mustache man entered the study as if conducting an inspection.

Seeing the study that Kado Mo had converted into an office, he nearly ripped out a mustache in shock. "Hmm, it looks pretty good, though it would be even better if there were windows... and you can't clearly see the outside situation at any time..."

"A-Mo has already entrusted me with installing a monitoring system," Professor Agasa chuckled. "Even from inside the study, we can observe the outside in real time."

"..."

The mustache man was completely filled with envy.

He almost forgot that Kado Mo was a wealthy man.

If it were him, he would never have the heart to rent such a large house to open an office—and there was completely no need.

It was too wasteful!

"Ding-dong!"

Just as they were talking, the doorbell rang again outside.

A middle-aged man wearing a chef's uniform stood outside the courtyard with his hands behind his back.

His comical monkey-tailed short hair, an eyepatch covering his left eye, a toothbrush mustache under his nose, and rabbit-like protruding front teeth were particularly striking, giving off an indescribable sense of strangeness.

"Hello, I'm the substitute chef who came to take over. My name is Kanenori Wakita."

Kado Mo looked at the comedian-like chef at the door. His face remained expressionless, but a tumultuous storm raged within his heart.

Kanenori Wakita's true identity was Rum, the second-in-command of the Black Organization.

Because he liked to disguise himself as various identities—a muscular man, a woman, an old person... even members within the organization could not be certain of his exact appearance.

"Kanenori Wakita" should be the persona he specially disguised himself as later on to approach the mustache man.

Why had he appeared already?

"Please come in." Kado Mo did not show any abnormalities, being neither cold nor warm.

At the same time, however, Haibara Ai, who witnessed this scene from the second floor, wore an expression of sheer terror.

"It's Rum!"

Seeing the chef being led into the house by Kado Mo, Haibara Ai wanted to scream out to stop them from the bottom of her heart. Sweat poured from her body like flowing water, rendering her completely unable to move a muscle, and in the end, she could only watch as the chef's figure disappeared.

"Ai-chan?"

Ran happened to come upstairs and, seeing Haibara Ai motionless by the window, hurriedly stepped forward and reached out to touch her forehead.

"So cold... Ai-chan, do you feel unwell anywhere?"

"No..."

Haibara Ai looked up at Ran's angelic, youthful face, hugged herself tightly, shook her head, and said no more.

She understood that from the moment Rum appeared, anything she did would be redundant.

Now she could only hope it was a coincidence.

...

In the first-floor lobby.

Kanenori Wakita followed Kado Mo with a cheerful smile, his single eye casually scanning the children watching television in the living room, and lingering a bit longer on the mustache man and Professor Agasa as they emerged from the study.

"The ingredients are all in the refrigerator," Kado Mo walked straight toward the kitchen. "I'll have to trouble you with the banquet."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all."

Kanenori Wakita appeared extremely easygoing as he quickly set to work preparing the ingredients right in front of Kado Mo, without a hint of awkwardness or unfamiliarity.

He truly seemed like an outsourced chef.

"You go on out and take care of your guests," Kanenori Wakita said politely to Kado Mo, who was lingering nearby. "I can handle it alone. I'll call you when it's time to eat, I guarantee it won't be delayed."

Kado Mo was not entirely at ease with this guy, but since he sensed no malice, he could only keep his guard up as he retreated from the kitchen.

Conan in the living room was still completely oblivious. Taking advantage of the three children being captivated by the television, he tried to sneak up to the second floor to check on the situation.

"Kido-niisan..."

"Today, you will honestly just be an elementary school student."

Kado Mo chased the fellow back to the living room while continuing to ponder Kanenori Wakita's purpose.

The absence of malice meant he wasn't targeting Haibara Ai.

Could it be because Kado Mo had interacted with Toru Amuro, also known as Bourbon?

That didn't seem to make much sense. The Black Organization did not act recklessly either; they wouldn't have nothing better to do than inexplicably trouble him, a mere passerby.

Let alone dispatching the organization's second-in-command for such a role.

Could it then be... due to reasons originating from himself?

Recalling his similarly inexplicable encounter of being targeted by Toru Amuro, Kado Mo's expression stiffened slightly.

Why did they all like to hover around him?

Glancing back toward the kitchen a few more times to confirm that Kanenori Wakita was indeed cooking, Kado Mo composed himself and headed up to the second floor.

He needed to give Ai a warning.

That woman had hidden away because of the Junior Detective League, which happened to help her avoid the danger.

Given that she was currently in the special period of her defection, it was best not to cross paths with organization members like Kanenori Wakita.

No one could predict what unexpected situations might arise.

...

Second floor.

Haibara Ai curled up in a small bedroom, claiming she wanted to sleep.

Ran and Sonoko were changing into formal wear in Mr. and Mrs. Kudo's master bedroom.

"Since today is so important to Mr. Kido, of course we have to dress up nicely. I spent ages picking this out... Ran, help me see how this looks?" Sonoko plotted and analyzed happily. "Maybe I can win Mr. Kido over today and have a romantic romance."

Ran felt somewhat helpless regarding her best friend's dual demeanor. "They're all pretty... though I don't really need to change clothes, do I?"

"If you don't change, it'll look weird if I'm the only one," Sonoko forcefully pulled Ran along, then suddenly grew vigilant. "You already have Shinichi, so don't you dare harbor any ideas about Mr. Kido!"

"How could I..."

"Whoosh!"

Haibara Ai hid in the corner of the small room like a frightened rabbit. Listening to the sounds drifting from next door, her mind wandered slightly for a moment, lessening even the terrifying pressure brought by the organization's second-in-command.

She remembered that this Miss Sonoko would eventually end up with Makoto Kyogoku, the top karate master.

For some reason, she suddenly envisioned the scene of Kado Mo being knocked out by a single punch from Makoto Kyogoku.

Shaking her head violently to banish the strange thought, Haibara Ai carefully crept to the window to continue observing the situation outside.

"Crack-snap!"

Following several flashes of lightning, the street was instantly obscured and swallowed by a torrential downpour.

No anomalies could be discerned.

Only a black luxury sedan remained parked at the other end of the intersection—that was Rum's vehicle.

The Porsche she cared about most did not appear, nor were there any snipers lurking around.

There were no organization assassins...

If only Rum had appeared, it seemed he wasn't here to hunt her down?

But why?

"Kido!"

A muscular figure ran through the rain across the street, pushing through the open courtyard gate and shouting at the top of his lungs.

Chasing closely behind him was an ordinary man in a suit—Takagi from Section One.

"I already told you I'm not some suspicious person! I'm just here to attend a friend's banquet!"

"Coach Kageyama?"

Moguro Kogoro opened the door and turned pale at the sight of the newcomer.

Why had he followed them all the way here...

"It's you!" The burly Kageyama's eyes lit up. "Kogoro Akechi!"

"Uh, haha," the mustache man awkwardly turned to face the dripping wet Takagi behind him. "Officer Takagi, why did you come here?"

"I saw this guy running wildly in the rain and came over to check," Takagi said in surprise. "You guys know each other?"

"Sort of..."

In the kitchen, Kanenori Wakita had brewed a pot of soup, cocking his ears to listen to the commotion outside, a puzzled look dawning on his face.

He truly couldn't see what was so special about Kado Mo, especially when only this many people showed up for the detective agency's opening.

A bunch of brats, a neighboring old man who told bad jokes to kids, and a seemingly foolish famous detective from the neighboring agency?

Upstairs, there appeared to be two star-struck high school girls.

And now another strange muscular man had arrived...