"So, did he say anything to you?" Conan asked curiously.
The great detective was very interested to know how Tsuneo would evaluate a detective who held a gun but chose to wrestle with iron bars instead of shooting the handcuffs open.
"He... he said I was an idiot..." Takagi blushed slightly.
That tone had been so cold; the emotional damage was maxed out.
"Regardless of everything else, the Dark Knight should technically be considered a criminal," Haibara remarked, standing to the side.
Why didn't you arrest him?
"No, although his methods are questionable, he possesses a heart of justice. There is absolutely no doubt about that," Mitsuhiko stated firmly.
Conan: "..."
The Repairman isn't a bad guy, but a heart of justice...
I can guarantee that if you three hadn't been at the scene, that arsonist would have burned to death, and Tsuneo wouldn't have lifted a finger.
The truth was exactly that. Even with the three kids present, Tsuneo had only used his foot to kick the man out.
Mainly because the scene of the arsonist licking the poison-quenched dagger was just too disgusting.
"A heart of justice, huh?" Takagi sat there, unsure how to evaluate that figure himself.
For a split second, he had wanted to stop the man, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
"Hey, who do you guys think would win if the Dark Knight and Brother Tsuneo got into a fight?" Genta suddenly grew curious.
The three little ones had witnessed Tsuneo's martial prowess before.
Even Big Sister Ran, a karate champion, wasn't his match.
But the scene of the Dark Knight standing before the firelight, kicking the criminal flying with a single strike, was simply too cool. It was hard to choose.
"I think it would be the Dark Knight. After all, Brother Tsuneo's main job is a repairman; practicing martial arts is just a hobby," Mitsuhiko scratched his head, thinking it over before speaking.
"But Brother Tsuneo caught that Scorpion person last time too!" Ayumi retorted.
Although she was very pretty, that woman was a dangerous international thief!
"..." Standing to the side, Conan and Haibara remained silently speechless.
These two characters will never meet in a lifetime, so who knows who would win...
The next day.
"That's right, Mrs. Kojima, that is exactly what happened."
Clearly, the Repairman was making calls one by one to file complaints.
Last night, the hiding spot the three little guys chose was less than ten meters away from the arsonist. That situation was simply too reckless.
"I'm starting to feel that your suggestion last time, about having the Professor make some equipment for them too, was correct," Haibara said, sitting on the sofa and playing with a newly acquired handbag.
Even if they didn't go looking for trouble, danger had a way of finding them.
Like how Ayumi coincidentally saw the arsonist's face. In that situation, the probability of being seen by the culprit and targeted was very high.
"Aside from the arsonist, the 'Shoushiro' case from last night was also solved!" Dr. Agasa said, holding a newspaper.
It seemed that compared to the arson incident, the cracking of this eighteen-year-old cold case was causing a bigger sensation.
"But how did the police deduce the culprit this time?" Akemi looked at Conan with curiosity.
There was no need to guess; in nine cases out of ten, the great detective had solved it. Asking him directly was the right move.
Conan, while fiddling with his newly acquired high-tech soccer belt, explained, "Actually, Officer Takagi solved the mystery by noticing the Romanji on the station sign."
"The Katakana 'KAN O', when expressed in Romanji, is KA·N·O. And with 'O' as a vowel, it is read as KA·NO."
Romanji is mainly used as a phonetic guide for Japanese, similar to phonetic symbols in English, acting as a pronunciation guide.
"KA·NO... happens to be the pronunciation of Kano?" Haibara nodded.
"Exactly. Officer Sato confirmed this with the other three members of the baseball team. KA·NO was the nickname her father gave to Kano Shuji."
Conan continued his explanation.
In front of these people, he could do his deductions normally...
"When Kano Shuji robbed the bank all those years ago, the way he swung the shotgun to kill the bank guard with the butt of the gun was exactly the same as how he swung the bat on the baseball team."
"Officer Sato's father determined the culprit's identity precisely because of that unique swing."
"Then, what did 'Shoushiro' mean?" Dr. Agasa asked in confusion.
"To turn himself in." The expression on Conan's face was complicated.
Actually, the witness at the car accident scene had misheard.
What he had been shouting continuously at the fleeing culprit was to go and turn himself in.
Officer Sato Masayoshi hadn't died immediately upon impact. He had even seen his wife and daughter when they rushed to the scene.
But from beginning to end, he never spoke his friend's name.
He just hoped the man would go and turn himself in.
"Idiot," Tsuneo commented after hanging up the phone with Ayumi's mother.
Counting on a bank-robbing cop-killer to turn himself in?
I'd sooner believe Gin is an undercover agent!
Wait, the possibility of him being an undercover agent might actually be higher.
"Eighteen years..." Haibara also shook her head.
Probably no one knew what Officer Sato, who had become a police officer to follow in her father's footsteps, was thinking in her heart.
"Well... anyway, Kano Shuji went abroad for three years. And because his flight was delayed upon returning to the country, the statute of limitations was extended accordingly."
"At midnight yesterday, the police found a large amount of cash from the robbery in his home. That is the irrefutable evidence." Conan glanced at the newspaper as well.
These media outlets really moved with the wind, although the details written about the case were quite vague.
"By the way, what happened to that arsonist?" Dr. Agasa looked at the newspaper, then at the Repairman.
The news said he was sent directly to the hospital; it sounded like he was in bad shape...
"He suffered severe trauma to his head and lower back. We don't know how long it will take for him to wake up, or what state he'll be in when he does." Conan also didn't know why Tsuneo had been so brutal this time.
Generally speaking, criminals who were related to the Repairman's clients would suffer such treatment.
But for dealing with an arsonist, wasn't this a bit much?
"His mental state was problematic, so I treated him," Tsuneo said, leaning back on the sofa.
For a psycho spouting nonsense like that, there might have been complications during sentencing.
But now it didn't matter; at the very least, he was half-crippled.
Actually, if that guy hadn't licked the knife and disgusted him, his injuries might have been a bit lighter.
If heaven commits a sin, it can be forgiven; if you commit a sin yourself, you cannot live.
"Is that so? You really have a heart of justice?" Conan pressed a button on his belt, and a soccer ball popped out instantly.
"Of course. Last night, I kicked that guy out of the fire pile, you know." Tsuneo glanced at the great detective who was juggling the ball with his head.
Playing soccer indoors... it was necessary to give his guardian a call.
Conan noticed the Repairman's strange look, immediately hugged the soccer ball to his chest, and said speechlessly:
"I'll thank you on his behalf..."
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[pat*eon*com/DaoistRoeoNQ]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"