Two days later, on the way home from school.
Conan and Haibara Ai walked side by side, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun.
After their frank discussion, they were now allies and could walk to and from school together.
As they passed a traffic light.
"Hey, Kudo," Ai suddenly stopped, trembling all over, her voice tight, "Look over there."
Conan followed her gaze.
In an inconspicuous paid parking lot on the street corner, a vintage black porsche 356a was parked.
"That's Gin's car, they're nearby!" Ai pulled the hood of her hoodie over her head, shivering. "Let's get out of here quickly."
"Gin's car!" Conan's heart pounded, he didn't feel danger at all, but rather saw it as an opportunity.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
He immediately looked around, and after confirming it was safe, he scurried over like a small corgi.
Seeing Conan run off, Ai could only follow helplessly.
Arriving at the porsche 356a, While Ai stood watch, Conan used the lock-picking tricks he'd learned in Hawaii to easily open the car door with a shoelace.
Taking advantage of no one noticing, he quickly slipped a tracking bug into the car's ashtray.
"Alright! Let's go!" Conan quickly led Ai away from the scene and hid in a nearby alley.
Not long after, Gin and Vodka swaggered across the road, got back into their car, and drove away.
Using the tracking bug, Conan called Dr. Agasa to drive, listening in and directing Dr. Agasa to follow.
Before the tracking bug was discovered, Conan learned from Gin and Vodka's conversation that a member named Pisco was going to assassinate Shigehiko Nomiguchi at the memorial service at the Beika Hotel.
And it was very likely that he would use that drug.
Even knowing that the tracking bug had been discovered, Conan was unwilling to give up this opportunity and decided to go to the Beika Hotel to stop the organization's assassination… Arriving at the Beika City Hotel, Conan originally planned to have Ai and the Doctor wait in the car while he snuck in alone.
But Ai disagreed, deciding to enter the hotel with Conan so they could look out for each other.
What they didn't expect was that the entry check for the memorial service was extremely strict.
People without invitations were not allowed in by the doorman.
Well-dressed guests, holding their invitations, filed in under the doorman's strict scrutiny.
Conan and Ai's small figures stood at the entrance, looking out of place.
"Little ones, this isn't a place to play. You need an invitation to enter," the doorman firmly blocked them.
"Uncle, we…" Conan tried to bluff his way through as a child.
The doorman was unyielding: "No, no, no one can enter without an invitation, not even children."
Just as the two were at a loss.
Conan sharply spotted a familiar figure talking to someone inside the venue.
It was Rin.
"Rin-neechan! Rin-neechan!" Conan immediately shouted loudly and waved vigorously.
Rin turned at the sound, saw it was Conan and Ai, showed a surprised expression, and then walked over.
"Oh? Conan? Ai-chan? What are you two doing here?" Rin-neechan asked with a curious look. Of course, she was faking it; she was just asking something she already knew.
"Rin-neechan, we want to go in and see…" Conan quickly said.
Rin glanced at the serious-faced doorman, guessed what had happened, and said to the doorman.
"Oh, I'm sorry, these two are my relatives' children, they came with me and got separated earlier. Please let them in."
Seeing that a guest vouched for them, the doorman's attitude immediately softened, as he couldn't afford to offend anyone with an invitation. "Alright then, I apologize for being rude earlier, please come in, little ones.
Also, please take these two handkerchiefs. These are vouchers given by the hotel to all guests, and they come in different colors.
After the banquet, there will be a raffle, and anyone with a handkerchief of the same color as the one drawn will receive a beautiful gift."
Conan and Ai breathed a sigh of relief, took the handkerchiefs, and quickly followed Rin into the lavish venue.
"Phew… Thank you, Rin-neechan!"
Conan thanked her from the bottom of his heart, then couldn't help but ask curiously, "But Rin-neechan, why are you here? A memorial service of this caliber…"
His implication was, how could a video store owner receive an invitation? He was a bit confused.
Rin blinked, pointing to a blonde girl not far away who was talking to several celebrities. "See there?, my friend Lucy brought me."
Luciana Auxesis Theodoro de Montefio!
The client from the one-billion-yen robbery case last time.
A genuine old European aristocrat.
Conan looked at Lucy, who was elegantly holding a wine glass, his eyes wide with disbelief.
It wasn't strange that Lucy could get an invitation, he was puzzled as to why Rin was friends with her, and a friends that is close enough to bring her to a memorial service.
Given the huge difference in their backgrounds, how did these two become such good friends?
Just then, a purple-haired woman in a waiter's uniform walked over with a tray, and with a surprised look, handed a glass of juice to Rin.
"Pha… Rin-san is here too, that's wonderful! This must be a fated encounter. I wonder if you're free after the banquet…?"
"Oh, Vivian, why are you here too? Looking at your uniform, you must be working here," Rin responded warmly.
Vivian placed the tray on the table and hugged Rin's arm with both hands. "That's right, I'm the head waitress here, all the servers report to me."
Conan was once again shocked by Vivian and Rin's intimate interaction.
They embraced so naturally, their relationship was definitely more than just casual acquaintances.
Rin-neechan's connections were simply unfathomable.
From the European noble Lucy to Vivian, the head waitress of such a high-class hotel, it seemed she had friends in all walks of life.
Conan sighed inwardly, and while Rin and Vivian were catching up, he decisively pulled Ai, ready to make a run for it.
He came in to prevent an assassination, and staying by Rin's side wasn't very convenient.
Catching sight of the international movie star Chris passing by, Conan said with a child's excited tone: "Wow! There are so many stars, Haibara, let's go see them together. Rin-neechan, we're going to look around first."
He tugged at Ai.
Ai's Organization radar had activated by now, making her look a bit dazed, and she nodded mechanically.
Rin instructed. "You can look around, but you two must be good and don't run off."
"Got it!" Conan replied, immediately pulling Ai, "Come on, Haibara, let's go look over there!"
Just like that, the two quickly slipped into the crowd and disappeared.
After getting out of Rin's sight, Conan first hid in a corner and used Kudo Shinichi's phone number to call Inspector Megure, lowering his voice to quickly explain the situation and request that the police immediately send people to secretly monitor and protect Shigehiko Nomiguchi.
Then he began searching the venue himself for Shigehiko Nomiguchi, the Politician targeted for elimination by the organization.