What Yukiko Kudo was worried about right now was her own deadbeat son—who wasn't much of a fighter even when he wasn't shrunk—maybe running into danger while running around blindly.
That little brat who loves to play hero thinks he's being hunted down, and probably wouldn't ask for help even if he were in danger. They just wanted to mess with their son a little and warn him that facing a huge black organization alone was too dangerous, hoping he would hurry up and leave Japan. If something really happened to him...
She waited for her husband on the phone to come up with a new plan. Feeling agitated, she rubbed her hair and looked up to check the street again.
And just then, she saw it.
Her small-sized son, Kudo Shinichi, who had disappeared for quite a while, suddenly tumbled out of the second-floor room and onto the balcony. He got up and stretched his hands to grab the railing, looking like he was about to climb over and jump straight down from the second floor to escape.
His tiny hands had just touched the railing when a shadowy black figure walked out from the dark room and casually reached out with one hand, grabbing the boy's slender neck.
"!" Yukiko Kudo trembled in shock. The figure was dressed in black, a hood covering most of his face. He grabbed her son by the neck and dragged the small boy back into the darkness without even a cry for help.
She immediately forgot about any plans and screamed into the phone:
"Get over here, fast! Something's happened! Yusaku, there's a man in black at home—he grabbed Shinichi!"
Thinking of the organization that truly threatened her son's life, Yukiko was so panicked her hands were shaking. She rushed toward the front door, so only a few faint, muffled words from her conversation were picked up by the eavesdroppers.
The man in black, of course, was Kazawa.
After pulling Conan back, he went downstairs with the "hostage" and began setting up a simple trap by the door.
This slightly evil baiting plan was half Conan's idea and half Kazawa's.
Kazawa knew very well what kind of situation would really make those mischievous parents panic. So among Conan's suggestions like "calling the police ahead of time," "turning the tables," and "staking them out," he added his own option:
"If they need to disguise themselves and reasonably take you away instead of just killing you on the spot, that means you're valuable to them and not just a target to be silenced. So, why not pretend someone else is trying to kill you before they can? That would mess up their plan and force them to come out and investigate who the third party is and what they want. That way, you can flip the situation and take control."
Kazawa's proposal was righteous and convincing—it sounded very doable. After thinking it over, and being the gambling type, Conan decided to go with it.
Yukiko really wanted to open the door and rush in to check on her son, but she knew very well that she wasn't a strong fighter. If she ran in alone, she might end up getting caught too—so all she could do was stomp anxiously outside, waiting for her husband to arrive.
Wearing a black cape, a creepy exaggerated smiling mask, fully cosplaying as "Night Baron," Yusaku Kudo wasn't far away either. After Conan escaped from Yukiko's car, he'd driven toward the house, ready to pick up his wife who was planning to drug their son. After all, the way she looked totally screamed "child kidnapper auntie," and he was afraid the police might arrest her before she could even take the boy—how awkward would that be?
But he hadn't expected something even crazier to happen.
Frowning, he stepped on the gas and sped up, thinking hard.
This is too weird—the organization shouldn't be targeting Shinichi right now. Why would attackers appear? Unless… they came to confirm if the boy was dead, and happened to run into him returning home?
Yusaku Kudo's heart was racing. He didn't bother looking for a proper parking spot and simply blocked the gate with the car, then rushed out and joined his sweaty wife at the door.
The Kudo family's detached house had both front and back yards, and right now, the house was completely quiet. Yusaku carefully observed and quickly concluded that someone had indeed broken in through the backyard.
The intruder entered through the side window. It seemed to be one or two people at most—not many traces were left behind.
After a quick analysis, Yusaku nodded at his wife. Yukiko took out the house key and unlocked the front door.
The entire first floor was in darkness. All the curtains were drawn.
Yusaku didn't dare to turn on the lights. The attacker might not have realized someone had entered yet—he couldn't alert them too soon.
Thinking this, Yusaku cautiously stepped into the house.
As he passed the entrance and was just about to step into the living room—
Suddenly, pain shot through his ankle.
Oh no, it's piano wire!
The mystery novelist who had solved many similar cases instantly realized it. But his combat skills weren't much better than Conan's—his brain reacted fast, but his body couldn't keep up. Off balance, he fell forward hard.
"Kazawa!"
Seeing the trap succeed, Conan shouted and raised his high-tech shoes, kicking a prepared soccer ball.
The soccer ball flew at a tricky angle, bounced off the wall at the entrance, and hit Yukiko, who was right behind her husband. She screamed and also fell flat on the floor.
At the same moment, Kazawa leaped out from behind the sofa and grabbed the unbalanced Yusaku, slamming him to the floor.
He pressed his knee against Yusaku's back and pulled both arms behind him.
Yusaku, who spent most of his time writing and never exercising, couldn't take it—he howled in pain and couldn't move.
"I've got this one, Conan! Tranquilizer!" Kazawa shouted with full drama, tightening his grip—but not too hard.
"Stop! Stop! It's me, it's Dad! Stop, Shinichi!"
Yusaku realized what was happening and screamed as loud as he could when he saw his son step out from behind the table, activating his watch.
Conan, who was riding an adrenaline high and proud of his perfect shot, suddenly paused mid-action.
Kazawa also cooperatively loosened his grip and looked up at the confused Conan.
Click.
Yukiko, groaning in pain and rubbing her back, managed to get up and switch on the light.
The people all tangled up on the floor stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. Conan strode over and yanked the smiling mask off the man in the cape.
Sure enough, underneath the mask was Yusaku Kudo's face—twisted in pain and covered in sweat.
"Ah! Dad! Why are you—"
Conan smacked his forehead in disbelief.
Then he looked at the woman clutching her waist. She yanked off the hood, letting down her fluffy wavy hair—revealing Yukiko Kudo's soft, elegant face.
"Ugh, you two!"
Conan held his forehead in frustration, giving his collapsed father a tired look. "Let me guess—this was your idea again, Dad!"
After a bit of thinking, Conan understood—his parents found out he'd shrunk and came all the way back just to mess with him.
Kazawa pulled down his hood, blinked with a blank, innocent expression.
Conan glared at his parents, who had both been knocked down and couldn't get up right away. He had no idea how to explain this to Kazawa, who was just trying to help him with good intentions.
He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times, then rolled his eyes and said:
"There's no saving them, Kazawa. Let's just call the police and have them arrested."