She appeared to be in her late thirties; she had been working with Mr. Aida since Mr. Aida's partner resigned sixteen years ago. Although Mr. Aida had a short temper, the Assistant lady was a good-tempered person who rarely complained. As her Senior, Mr. Aida had taught her many things—in her view, although Mr. Aida's personality was not great, he was not a bad person.
After Aida Yuichiro was promoted, Ms. Matsumoto became his assistant.
Mr. Aida has been restless for some time, his overtime hours have been getting longer and longer; it's as if he's reluctant to go home," Ms. Matsumoto explained. "However, a week ago, he suddenly returned to a normal work schedule—we thought he was just busy with matters at the Hotel.
Kinda Ichichi pondered for a moment before asking, "Then, when did Mr. Aida start feeling uneasy? Did you notice the reason?"
Ms. Matsumoto recalled carefully for a moment, but ultimately shook her head under the expectant gazes of the three men.
Conan followed up immediately, "Did anything unusual happen when Mr. Aida returned to his normal commuting hours?"
Ms. Matsumoto froze for a moment, then said blankly, "There probably.. wasn't anything, right?"
“Could it be something that happened at the Hotel?” Nana suggested, "Or perhaps, Mr. Aida, have you seen any customers or something similar?"
I don't think so.." Ms. Matsumoto said hesitantly, "But—
"But what?" Kinda Ichichi quickly interjected.
But, if we're being honest, Mr. Aida once received a package—his expression wasn't very good at the time." Ms. Matsumoto slowly recalled, "It was from that day onwards that he returned to his usual commuting schedule.
That's right!" At this point, Ms. Matsumoto seemed to remember something else and hurriedly added to the three, "Speaking of which, Mr. Aida seemed to mention something about packages a few times—could it be that he received threatening letters?
Ms. Matsumoto stared at the three with wide eyes, offering his guess.
"That seems possible as well," Officer Takagi echoed while taking notes, then shifted his gaze toward Kindaichi, who was the oldest and most famous among the three.
Kindaichi ignored him.
He seemed to be thinking about something, but Nana, having no clue, could not figure him out, so he simply performed his duties with utmost diligence: "Excuse me, could we have a look at the package he received?"
Ms. Matsumoto looked at the Officer with hesitation, only after he nodded did she agree, "If you all need it—please follow me."
However, the contents inside the package were not particularly complex.
Several bags of snacks that had not been eaten by anyone and showed no signs of being opened—even if they were poisoned, Mr. Aida had not eaten them at all.
Nana sighed in disappointment. After noting down the types and brands of the snacks to ensure no clues were missed, he let Officer Takagi take them away—after all, they could serve as potential clues.
She looked up at the sky, thinking of the deceased Mr. Aida and then thinking of the mysterious Tram travelers, felt her heart grow even heavier.
Let's.. wait for the results from the Police first.
..
The laboratory results from the Police showed that the several packs of snacks were completely fine.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Aida also handed over the packages her husband had recently received, totaling three items. The contents were all very ordinary, just some clothes the couple had bought online, with nothing special about them at all.
But if there is nothing suspicious about the package itself, then..
"Then.. why would Mr. Matsumoto act so strangely because of it?" Takagi Wataru murmured.
"These deliveries.. it seems they were all sent by the same delivery company," a Female police officer said casually while flipping through his files.
The moment she spoke, the detectives, who had been staring at the pile of delivery items in contemplation, suddenly felt a flash of inspiration strike their minds.
Conan's glasses flashed, Nana's eyes widened; the two of them turned their heads toward Kinda Ichichi at the same time, amidst the other's look of sudden realization, the three spoke in unison: "It's the Delivery man!"
The next second, the three of them simultaneously cast their gazes upon Officer Takagi, speaking in unison once again, "Who is the Delivery man in charge of these packages?!"
Seeing the urgent concern flickering in their eyes, Takagi Wataru's mouth twitched, he couldn't help but take a step back, a bead of cold sweat sliding down her forehead: ".."
You guys are being way too dramatic..
Despite being speechless, Takagi Wataru remained professional and conducted an investigation following the direction provided by the three people.
These deliveries were indeed sent by the same company, but this company was not particularly formal—it was small in scale, with few employees, its primary business was deliveries within the Tokyo area, winning business by relying on relatively cheap delivery fees.
Generally speaking, people would not choose this somewhat irregular company for deliveries, as they are not the type of people to haggle over small delivery fees.
However, when shopping online a month ago, the Shop owner chose this delivery company to save money. Later, she heard that the Bar owner of this company was a philanthropist dedicated to helping people with disabilities, so Mrs. Aida developed a good impression of it and no longer rejected this company's delivery services—and, it really did save money.
However, although they were from the same company, the packages Mr. Aida received were not delivered by the same employee. On the contrary, there were a total of three employees who had handled these deliveries.
However, among these three staff members, only one person both delivered the snack package to the hotel where Mr. Aida works and delivered the package to the Aida couple's home.
However—
The Delivery man's Boss hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.
“Sigh.. You'll see for yourselves.” The slightly elderly old employee sighed, a hint of heartache in his eyes. "This child.."
The black-haired youth, who appeared to be about twenty years old, looked at them blankly. Even when facing the police officer in uniform who arrived with ill intent, there was no fear on his face; he sat curled up in the chair, his eyes filled with nothing but intense curiosity.
The youth was sucking and biting on his finger, his face filled with a satisfaction and serenity akin to a newborn infant. His pure black eyes were full of chaos and innocence, occasionally biting his finger so hard that it bled—however, he seemed to feel no pain at all.
On his hands, there were more than one wound, in some places, they seemed to have healed not long ago, still covered in blood scabs—they were not inflamed or festering, were not serious, but they were undoubtedly painful.
Crimson bloodstains clung to his lips, some of it even streaking from his fingers across his palm, while at the same time, a small amount of saliva escaped uncontrollably from the youth's mouth.
The youth first flashed a bewildered smile at this group of uninvited guests, but when his gaze shifted to the Old employee, he immediately stood up, looking at the Old employee with curiosity and enthusiasm: "Uncle Yusuke! Is there anything else you need me to deliver?"
—He's an idiot.
The Old employee sighed.
-----------------------
Author's Note: By the way, the characters in this case mostly have descriptions of their apparent age.
Seeing people guessing whether the Little boy is Sheila or Hattori, I..
By the way, setting aside the fact that when the Little boy first appeared, Sheila was in the Black Organization wondering where Gin had gone (there was also a scene on the beach), Hattori and the Little boy have also appeared in the same frame.. Just look at the ages; the Disguise skills used by Vermouth and the others aren't some kind of bone-shrinking technique. Although Sheila is of Chinese descent, he doesn't possess any legendary bone-shrinking abilities.
I am quite serious about the setting of the timeline in this story, truly.
However, I welcome all sorts of guesses from everyone.
There will be another chapter tonight, love you all, mwah~
..
Thank you to the Little Angels who voted for me with Overlord Tickets or provided Nutrient solution~
Thank you to the Little Angel who provided Nutrient solution:
Anyway 10 bottles; Lai Bu Zui 7 bottles; Mantian Shengsheng 5 bottles; Yedi Diya, Kongshan Jue, Bai Chenshang 1 bottle each;
Thank you all so much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 138 Chapter 122 How strange.. Akai Shuichi thought..
Although Mr. Aida looked weak, he was clearly not someone an idiot could easily subdue. The group looked at each other, seeing only disappointment in each other's eyes.
This not-so-formal delivery company provides work for many vulnerable groups, including the elderly, those with low educational backgrounds, the unemployed, those with physical illnesses. Their commissions are relatively low, which in turn allows the company to offer prices that are cheaper than those of general delivery companies.
Even so, she provided occupations for many people who could not find work due to physical reasons, indirectly giving them help to maintain their lives.
Of course, although the youth before him—Mr. Nobita—appeared to have some intellectual abnormalities, he was still able to manage his basic daily life. In other words, while he had intellectual deficiencies, they were not too severe.
—If he were truly an Idiot without even the ability to care for himself, the company wouldn't have hired him even if they had the heart to help.
No one would be willing to accept that a hard-won clue would simply vanish like this. Furthermore, from the Victim's perspective, if he had acted erratically simply because he saw a foolish employee, it would not have been consistent with Mr. Aida's character.
Based on this, out of caution, the Police still investigated Mr. Nobita.
Then they unexpectedly discovered that although Mr. Nobita was an orphan—to be precise, the records showed he was an Abandoned baby—there was also a little boy in the small, dilapidated house he rented, which he shared with his colleagues and had decorated quite cozily.
That's right, it was the little boy seen earlier at Mrs. Aida's house.
The Boy called himself "Lai," having no Family and no household registration. According to him, he had been wandering everywhere since his Parents died, making a living by begging and stealing. He was too young at the time, he could no longer remember his original name and surname, so he had simply given himself a random name.
Five years ago, while he was stealing things by the roadside, he happened to encounter Nobita. It is unknown whether it was bad luck or good luck for Lai that day; while he was stealing, Nobita suddenly wanted to grab his wallet, thus catching the stealing Lai red-handed.
Fortunately, seeing how wretched he looked, the other party did not only refrain from demanding the stolen money back, but even invited him to live with him, because at that time, Nobita claimed, "I don't really know anyone either."
Although Nobita had an intellectual disability, he was still a kind-hearted man. From that day on, the two of them relied on each other, calling each other brothers.
Afterward, he hit it off with Mrs. Aida, who had lost his child. When the twins were lost, they were not even ten years old, making them roughly the same age as him. Perhaps out of misplaced affection or perhaps because she pitied him, Mrs. Aida took quite good care of him.
And Nobita, who had recently found work, had volunteered to deliver packages twice specifically because he knew Mrs. Aida took care of him—after all, he had not had many opportunities to visit the Aida family to express his gratitude before.
At this point, the situation was basically without suspicion. After a long bout of busywork, Nana was both exhausted and weary; he struggled to rub his eyes before saying goodbye to Kinda Ichichi and Conan, who were also feeling equally listless.
However, in some place tonight, someone had not slept all night.
..
Seeing this uninvited guest once again, Mrs. Aida showed no expression of surprise on his face.
He looked at Borse with an indifferent expression, his gaze slightly drifting and his mind seemingly elsewhere. "You're here again."
Borse said nothing.
His fair, slightly calloused hands were currently clad in black leather gloves, hanging naturally at his sides. After a brief pause, the black-haired youth used his left hand to take a silver lighter and a JILOISES from his coat pocket, while using his other hand to take the cigarette.
Even though he was wearing gloves, the movements were not hindered in the slightest.
With a press of his left thumb, the silver lighter emitted a tiny spark. The black-haired youth used the flame to light the cigarette, but he was in no hurry to bring it to his lips.
The tip of the cigarette emitted a faint glow, along with a faint rising trail of smoke—though it wasn't very noticeable.
Borse remained silent, as if he had only come here to smoke a cigarette and release some nicotine.
However, it was not—Mrs. Aida also knew it was not.
So the black-haired youth finally spoke, his voice deep and mellow: "It's about time. You can turn on the television."
Although she felt a sense of bewilderment, Mrs. Aida still obediently did as she was told.
A boring soap opera was playing on the television. Knowing full well that Borse could not possibly be referring to this, Mrs. Aida did not hesitate and immediately changed the channel.
After several changes, a cold prompt came from the youth beside him: "That's enough."
This television station was broadcasting an Evening news segment, the local Evening news for this city.
It was a shooting incident.
The moment she saw the Deceased, Mrs. Aida seemed to remember something, his eyes suddenly widened.
Immediately after, his chest began to heave violently, his gaze filled with disbelief. The no-longer-young woman staggered backward a few steps, her steps unsteady and her mind and body reeling; if she had not been clutching the sofa in front of the coffee table, she would have collapsed onto the floor long ago.
Wife let out a deep sigh, once her breathing was no longer so ragged, the woman suddenly turned to look at the black-haired youth beside her, who appeared completely indifferent.