The next day, Mouri Detective Agency.
At his desk, Mouri Kogoro sat with his legs propped up on the table, completely disregarding proper posture, chugging beer and watching horse racing commentary on TV.
Conan sat on the sofa, idly flipping through a detective novel, his mind still on the phone call Tequila made before his death, trying to analyze more clues.
Bang!
Just then, the agency's door was forcefully pushed open, the door panel rebounding against the wall with a thud.
A not-so-tall girl's figure, silhouetted against the light, walked in.
As the person approached, the first thing Conan noticed was the Prussian-style pointed helmet on her head and her asymmetrical side ponytail.
His gaze drifted downward—black studded leather jacket, bare midriff, denim shorts so short they barely counted, and heavy boots climbing nearly to her knees.
"Hey, hey, hey, what kind of delinquent girl's outfit is that?" Conan squinted, complaining inwardly that her style was a bit too different from ordinary people.
Lucy chewed gum, ignoring Conan's gaze, and spoke to Mouri Kogoro.
"Hey, old man, are you the Sleeping Kogoro? I have a case I need to commission."
"A commission?"
Mouri Kogoro was startled by Lucy's entrance and almost choked on his beer.
Hearing that she was there to commission a case, he couldn't help but frown.
His gaze swept over Lucy's flashy outfit like a searchlight.
He simply didn't believe she was a client.
He put down the beer can and made a clearly displeased clicking sound with his tongue. "A punk? This isn't a place for your antics. Did you get the wrong door? The arcade is in the building across the street."
Lucy raised an eyebrow and walked straight to the desk piled with empty beer cans.
Without any superfluous words, she reached into the inner pocket of her leather jacket and pulled out a bulging envelope.
She slapped it onto the table with a 'pa' sound.
The envelope was slightly open, revealing a stack of crisp, freshly printed ten-thousand-yen bills inside.
"Deposit, three hundred thousand." Lucy continued chewing her gum, as if she had just tossed down loose change rather than three hundred thousand yen.
Mouri Kogoro's eyes instantly widened, and most of his drunken haze dissipated.
His gaze was firmly fixed on the envelope.
His previously impatient and disdainful expression instantly vanished.
It was replaced by an exaggerated, almost fawning smile.
"Oh, my, my, my!"
Mouri Kogoro's face was wreathed in smiles as he raised his voice, fumbling to stand up and pull out a chair for her.
"Esteemed guest, please forgive my poor eyesight; I was rude just now. Please, have a seat, have a seat! Ran! Come out and make some tea! Make the best tea!"
As he spoke, his eyes remained on the money-filled envelope on the table.
"Whatever your commission, please just tell me! I, the great Detective Mouri Kogoro, will surely do my utmost to serve you!"
Conan watched from the side, his eye twitching, and couldn't help but roll his eyes dramatically. The speed of the old man's change in expression was textbook-level.
Lucy casually sat down, crossed her legs, and explained her purpose:
"Have you heard about the case at Beika Bank recently, the one called the 'Billion Yen Heist'? That billion yen was money I had pre-ordered to withdraw, but it was robbed by a group of bandits halfway there.
Your Japanese banks are now unwilling to compensate, and the police can't catch the culprits. I heard that Detective Mouri has recently gained fame, so I hope you can help me investigate the whereabouts of these 1 billion yen.
As long as there are definite clues, I will pay the remaining 5 million yen. If you can help me get it back, there will be an additional 10 million yen as a reward."
"One... one billion?!" Mouri Kogoro's smile instantly froze, and his voice cracked.
Almost at the same time, Conan also suddenly looked up, staring at Lucy in disbelief.
He never expected that this girl, dressed like a punk, would be the owner of 1 billion yen; the contrast was simply too great.
"There's no need to look at me like that. My full name is Luciana Auxesis Theodoro de Montefio. This 1 billion yen isn't all my personal property. I hope Detective Mouri can investigate the results as soon as possible."
Lucy didn't bother with unnecessary details. For the sake of the commission, she briefly laid out the police's findings.
In short, the current police investigation shows that almost all members of the robbery team were shot dead, with only one bank teller, Hirota Masami, who was working from the inside, missing.
The police suspect that Hirota Masami was the mastermind of the robbery, killing the others in a double-cross to monopolize the vast wealth.
After listening, Mouri Kogoro grabbed the crumpled suit jacket draped over the back of his chair, haphazardly put it on, and said:
"Miss Lucy, I'll go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department now to get the latest information from Inspector Megure, and then I'll launch a formal investigation. You can expect good news from me."
Lucy hummed in acknowledgment, left her contact information, and went downstairs with Mouri Kogoro.
Conan, meanwhile, remained on the sofa.
Based on Lucy's description of the police investigation information, he vaguely felt that things were not that simple.
If Hirota Masami was the mastermind of the case, how could she have made such a low-level mistake as dropping her lipstick at the scene?
He was more inclined to believe that another group of people killed the other robbers and framed Hirota Masami.