After understanding the whole story, Senichi revealed an expression of "as expected."
At the same time, he was already convinced that the two had encountered an accident.
The reason they were looking for the guy named Kusakawa was that he had recently sent a letter to Kazuha's father, saying there was something very important to tell him.
However, after sending the letter, Kusakawa completely disappeared, and no matter how they tried to contact him, they couldn't reach him. It could be described as nothing short of a disappearance.
Since Inspector Ginshiro Toyama couldn't spare the time, he entrusted the two, who were coming to Tokyo, to investigate what had happened.
"It's probably because they got too involved in investigating a case." Kogoro Mouri extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray, then picked up the phone on the table. "I'll call his detective agency and ask."
After a series of contacts, an acquaintance from the agency told Kogoro Mouri that they hadn't been able to contact him for about two or three days, and Kusakawa had mentioned earlier that he was going to pursue a big case.
For detectives like them, it was normal to disappear for two or three days when observing someone for a case. Basically, this was the usual routine for the detective industry.
For someone like Kogoro Mouri, who enters and exits crime scenes and is always on TV as a "famous detective," that kind of situation is quite rare.
After rejecting the invitation to play mahjong and exchanging pleasantries, Kogoro Mouri inquired about the whereabouts of Hattori and Kazuha.
After asking, the other party said that around ten in the morning, a young couple with a Osaka accent came looking for Kusakawa and asked if he was in. Upon learning that Kusakawa hadn't been to the agency for a few days, they asked for Kusakawa's home address and left.
"Well, let's go and check it out." Senichi stood up and prepared to set out. "Where is the address?"
"At 4-chome Haikomachi, Araragi-Tei." Although Kogoro Mouri's face carried an unwilling expression, he still stood up and prepared to leave after packing up.
The sky was still drizzling, but since Senichi came by car, the three quickly arrived at Araragi-Tei.
Although Araragi-Tei had a poetic name, it was actually a very old-looking apartment building.
Kogoro Mouri complained a few words reluctantly while climbing the stairs. "Really, hosts actually have to search all over for their guests..."
"Don't say that, Mouri-san."
Senichi smiled and said, "After all, they've come to Tokyo, and we are responsible for their safety.
Otherwise, how can we justify the hospitality of Chief Hattori and Ms. Shizuka? After all, when we went to Osaka, we caused quite a bit of trouble for them."
"True." Kogoro Mouri chuckled at the words and immediately perked up.
After going upstairs and checking the nameplate, the group quickly found Kusakawa's residence.
After knocking on the door with no response, the group began to read the note posted on the door.
"The person is out for errands and will probably be back around noon. If there is mail, please take it to the landlord."
"This careless guy is still the same as before. It's already past noon now..." Kogoro Mouri commented while looking at the note posted on the door.
"If that's the case, maybe Kazuha and Hattori happened to meet Mr. Kusakawa and then went out to have a meal together..." Ran speculated. "On our way here, didn't we pass by a restaurant? Should we go there and ask? Maybe the three of them went to the restaurant."
"No, Hattori and Kazuha should have been waiting at the door for a long time." Senichi looked at the door and shook his head.
"Eh? Why do you say that?" Ran looked at Senichi in confusion and asked.
"Look there, Ran-neechan."
Conan pointed to the right side of the door. "Next to the paper on the door, there's a watermark. Do you see that symbol? It's the logo on Hattori-niichan's hat, right?"
"Ah, it really is. But why is there such a mark on the door..." Ran said in confusion.
"Hattori probably rested by leaning his wet duckbill cap against the door for a while, so this imprint appeared." Senichi pointed to the mark. "Do you see its position? It seems quite low. With Hattori's height, only by squatting down to rest could it leave an imprint at such a low position."
At the same time, Senichi activated his super smell. The scents of Hattori and Kazuha, mixed with the damp rain, were detected by Senichi, especially on the part with the hat logo, where the scent was more pronounced.
There was also a hint of sweet jasmine fragrance, which Senichi guessed was the smell of Kazuha's shampoo.
Today it rained, and the two inevitably got wet in the rain. The raindrops from their hair left a faint scent. Although ordinary people couldn't smell it, it was not a problem for Senichi.
However, soon, the scent was mixed with a familiar smell of transparent tape, quickly entering Senichi's nostrils. He involuntarily lowered his head to look at the source of the scent and found transparent tape stuck on the door crack.
Noticing Senichi's movement, the other three also saw the tape attached to the door crack.
"Ah! I know this!" Ran bent down and smiled after seeing the tape. "This is a mechanism set up to check if anyone invaded the residence when the owner is not at home!"
"A method often seen in movies." Kogoro Mouri bent down and looked at the tape on the door crack. He was unable to suppress his doubts. "The tape has partially come off, which means someone has invaded his house? Is it possible that because of this, he got scared and went to report to the police?"
"But look at the dust on the tape, indicating that the tape has actually been partially off for some time," Senichi shook his head.
"In other words, Mr. Kusakawa probably intended to return home immediately, but for some reason, he couldn't, so the tape ended up like this.
Moreover, someone invaded his house while Mr. Kusakawa was not there.
I'm sure Hattori noticed that..."
Pausing for a moment, Senichi reached for the doorknob and lightly turned it, and the door opened directly.
"The door isn't locked!?" Kogoro Mouri was surprised to see this.
"S-so, it means... someone did invade Mr. Kusakawa's home?" Ran, holding onto her father's arm, looked into the room with a hint of fear, as if something would come out the next moment.
And someone on the side naturally noticed the actions of his beloved, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
Even if there were intruders in the room, the opposite side should worry. With their current lineup, it's probably enough to deal with five or six people; Conan had this strange and absurd thought when he thought about Ran's increasingly explosive combat power that day and then looked at her frightened expression.
Conan shook his head to dismiss these scattered thoughts, and a group of people entered the room, led by Senichi.