Chapter 16: The Unlucky International Kidnappers
“Conan, come on over quickly~” Ayumi saw Conan standing alone quietly and immediately pulled him in warmly to join the treasure hunt.
Genta snatched the note, his face beaming with excitement. “Great! Let’s hurry and find the treasure! From today on, we’re the Junior Detective League, and I, Genta Kojima, will be the leader.”
“Junior Detective League?”
“So cool!”
“…”
Seeing the three kids so spirited and eager, Conan suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Seimei Suzuki silently mused, “I never expected the founder of the Junior Detective League to be Genta. I thought it would be Conan.”
“Then let’s get going!”
With a wave of Genta’s little hand, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko followed without hesitation. But after only a few steps, the three froze in place.
Mitsuhiko and Ayumi, realizing this, looked puzzled. “By the way, Genta, where exactly are we going?”
“Well… hahaha… I don’t know either.” Genta scratched his head awkwardly.
Seimei Suzuki shook his head in disbelief and pointed at the first symbol on the note. “Don’t you think the first symbol looks like something?”
“It’s the Tokyo Tower.” Conan glanced at the symbol and instinctively said.
“I got it! The treasure must be hidden in Tokyo Tower. Let’s go!”
(^o^)/~
“You guys… slow down a bit.” Watching the four kids dash ahead like a gust of wind, Conan felt utterly exhausted and hopeless as he chased after them.
Shortly after Seimei Suzuki and the others left, three sneaky figures followed closely, with Ryuuichi Inoue driving a van behind them at a steady pace.
More than ten minutes later, Ryuuichi’s expression suddenly changed. Without looking back, he said, “Tamahana, prepare to call the police.”
“Ryuuichi, what’s going on?”
Ryuuichi’s face was serious. “Those three in the car ahead have been tailing the young master for three blocks. I suspect they might be international kidnappers.”
“International kidnappers?! I understand—I’ll call the police right now.” Tamahana Kurosaki quickly took out her phone and dialed.
Ordinarily, kidnappers wouldn’t dare to touch Seimei Suzuki inside the country due to the high risks involved.
The Suzuki Group is one of the nation’s largest financial conglomerates, with influence deeply embedded across industries. Not just the police, but many key figures in the military and government rely heavily on the Suzuki Group’s support.
Thus, ordinary kidnappers would never risk targeting Seimei Suzuki unless they were ready to flee the country.
But international kidnappers are different; they are reckless and bold, usually aiming for a big score before fleeing. Seimei Suzuki fits perfectly as a target for their schemes.
“Ding ding ding…”
As Seimei followed Conan and the others off the bus, his flip phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Young master, it’s me. Stay calm and don’t look around. Listen carefully. Ryuuichi suspects you’re being targeted by international kidnappers. We’ve coordinated with the police to set up an ambush. From now on, you just need to…”
After Tamahana finished explaining the plan, Seimei calmly replied, “Understood, Sister Tamahana. See you soon.”
“Seimei, was that Sister Tamahana on the phone?” Ayumi, curious about the mention of “Sister Tamahana,” came closer.
Seimei nodded. “Yes, she called. She said she’s waiting for us at the restaurant ahead and invited us for dinner.”
“That’s great! I want to eat eel rice.”
“Genta, you really only think about eel rice. Why don’t you try something different for once?”
“No choice. It’s my favorite.”
Hearing that Tamahana was treating them to dinner, the three kids grew especially happy and eagerly followed Seimei toward the restaurant.
“Kids will be kids. Mention food, and they forget all about the treasure hunt,” Conan said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“This way, young master~”
Tamahana, waiting inside the restaurant, smiled and waved when she saw Seimei and the children. She then led all five of them into a private room.
Shortly after they settled in, two foreign men with short blond hair, followed by a middle-aged man sporting a handlebar mustache, entered the restaurant stealthily.
“Chiba, today we must have a good drink to celebrate our company landing a big project.”
“Senpai Takagi, you’re absolutely right…”
“Bang! Bang!”
Just as the two foreigners stepped inside, two office workers near the entrance suddenly sprang into action, each tackling one of the foreigners.
“Don’t move! Police!”
Before the mustached man could react, the rest of the patrons suddenly sprang up, five guns trained on his head.
“I… I surrender…”
Facing five dark barrels, the mustached man dared not move a muscle. He raised his hands quickly, fearing an accidental discharge.
“Click click click…”
Hearing the commotion outside the private room, Conan rushed out just in time to see Officer Takagi and others handcuffing the suspects.
Genta and the others followed closely behind, curiosity shining in their eyes. “Conan, what happened?”
“It looks like the police are arresting some criminals,” Conan replied thoughtfully.
“That’s amazing! It’s my first time seeing police arrest bad guys!” Mitsuhiko said gratefully.
“Come to think of it, we’re really lucky. If Sister Tamahana hadn’t brought us into the private room for dinner, we might have interfered with the police catching the bad guys,” Mitsuhiko added.
“Haha, Mitsuhiko, you’re wrong. This isn’t just luck. We helped the police catch them,” Seimei said with a smile. “Because the police were called by Sister Tamahana.”
“Seimei, what are you talking about? I don’t really understand. How did Sister Tamahana know they were the bad guys?”
Seeing the puzzled looks on Genta and the others, Tamahana smiled and explained, “You don’t know, but those three had been secretly following you all the way. I suspected they were international kidnappers planning to abduct the young master, so I alerted the police and set up the ambush.”
“I see now. No wonder those bad guys were arrested as soon as we entered the room.” Upon hearing this, Conan and the others suddenly understood everything.