During the weekend holiday, Qin Xiao suddenly felt like checking to see if that Grim Reaper elementary schooler had moved into Kogoro Mouri's house yet.
So he bought a few bottles of fine wine, along with some fruit and pastries as gifts, and set off for the Mouri Detective Agency.
Upon arrival, Qin Xiao knocked on the front door of the agency, and the person who opened it for him was Ran Mouri.
"Brother Qin Xiao! Why are you here? And you brought so many gifts."
"Today is the weekend and I'm off. It's been a while since I last saw you guys, so I thought I'd drop by and sit for a bit."
"Oh! Qin Xiao, so it's you kid. You come to visit, why bring all this stuff!"
When Kogoro Mouri saw the wine Qin Xiao was holding, his eyes lit up as if they were made of gold.
"I always say this kid Qin Xiao is good, much better than that Kudo brat. Acting all high and mighty while trying to pursue our Ran."
Hearing Kogoro Mouri's words, Ran immediately explained, "Brother Qin Xiao, don't listen to my dad's nonsense. Kudo and I are just ordinary friends."
As she spoke, she kept glancing sideways to observe Qin Xiao's expression.
"Uncle Kogoro, I'd love to as well. A girl as pretty and virtuous as Ran—anyone would want to marry her and bring her home. But she has to agree to it first."
Hearing the two of them, Ran's face instantly turned as red as a boiled lobster. She lowered her head and secretly looked at Qin Xiao, a wave of sweetness welling up in her heart.
"Brother Qin Xiao, why are you messing around with Dad!"
"Sister Ran, who is this big brother?" A bespectacled child wearing a blue suit walked over and looked at Qin Xiao with hostility.
*How did this guy get here? And he's so close with Ran. By the look of it, he's trying to pursue her. No way, I can't let him succeed. I have to ruin their relationship.*
"He's the son of a friend of my mom's."
"How come I've never heard Brother Shinichi mention him?"
"Shinichi and I are just ordinary friends, so isn't it normal that he doesn't know?"
Hearing Ran's words, Conan's face immediately darkened. He never expected that in Ran's heart, he was just an ordinary friend.
Seeing Conan looking so unwelcoming, Qin Xiao walked over, vigorously ruffled his hair, and asked, "Ran, who is this child? Why is he at your house?"
"He's a relative of Shinichi's. Dr. Agasa said his guardians went abroad, and since he doesn't know how to take care of a child himself, he asked us to help look after him for a while."
Seeing Shinichi Kudo acting like a little brat now, Qin Xiao couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
Just as they were chatting, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Then a man and a woman walked in, though the man lagged half a step behind the woman, suggesting his status must be quite high.
Furthermore, the woman was dressed very stylishly; even though she wore sunglasses and a face mask, her silhouette revealed that she was still very pretty.
After they sat down, the woman took off her sunglasses and mask.
"Excuse me, you! Are you Miss Yoko Okino?!"
Kogoro Mouri shouted when he saw the woman's face.
"Could you please keep your voice down? We certainly don't want to attract any reporters."
The man beside her immediately stopped Kogoro Mouri's outburst.
If paparazzi found out that a popular idol like Yoko Okino was seeking out a private detective, there was no telling how they would spin the story, and her fans would surely go wild.
Kogoro Mouri quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't think of that."
"Yoko, why don't we try another agency instead? I somehow feel this person doesn't seem very reliable." Hearing her manager's words, Yoko Okino hesitated.
Seeing them stand up and prepare to leave, Qin Xiao quickly spoke up, "Miss Yoko, Uncle Kogoro is still very reliable and an exceptional detective. Besides, I will be going along to look into it as well."
Seeing Qin Xiao speak up so strongly for her father, Ran was deeply moved. After all, if no more business came their way, her family wouldn't even be able to put food on the table.
Hearing Qin Xiao's words, Yoko Okino's manager Eiichi Yamagishi walked over disdainfully and asked, "And who are you supposed to be?"
"I am Qin Xiao, assistant inspector of the First Investigation Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."
"What, you're the Dragon of the Police World?!"
Hearing Qin Xiao's name, the manager's attitude did a complete one-eighty.
"Since we have the recommendation of Officer Qin Xiao, then we can rest assured."
Despite the manager's endorsement and Qin Xiao's credentials, Yoko Okino still felt a brief flash of hesitation.
Yet upon catching sight of Qin Xiao's handsome face, she somehow agreed on a whim.
"The situation is like this..."
Yoko Okino sat down and began to explain with a troubled expression.
After listening to Yoko Okino's account, Qin Xiao and the others roughly understood what had happened.
It turned out that recently, when Yoko Okino returned home, she discovered someone was secretly following her, and things in her apartment had traces of being disturbed.
There were even anonymous phone calls where nobody spoke on the other end.
When the story concluded, Qin Xiao stood up.
"Let's go! Let's go take a look at Miss Yoko's apartment. After all, that's where the incidents happened."
Hearing this, everyone agreed that Qin Xiao made sense, and they decided to head to Yoko Okino's home together to see if they could find any clues.
"Hey, Ayumi! Look, isn't that Conan and Brother Qin Xiao? Where are they off to?"
"I don't know, I guess they're going to work on a case!"
"Then let's follow them and see!"
The three kids put their heads together and sneaked into the trunk of Yoko Okino's car to hide.
As soon as they arrived at the destination, Qin Xiao walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk.
There he found Ayumi and the other two hiding inside.
"Brother Qin Xiao, how did you know we were here?"
As Qin Xiao lifted them out one by one, he lectured them, "I heard some movement in the trunk, so I wanted to open it and check. Don't do this in the future, otherwise it can be very dangerous when nobody is opening it."
Listening to Qin Xiao, Ayumi and her friends lowered their heads. "We're sorry, we'll never do it again."
"Can we go with Brother Qin Xiao to solve the case?"
Seeing their hopeful expressions, Qin Xiao agreed.
"All right, but you must listen to me and not run around!"
Seeing that Qin Xiao agreed, the kids happily accepted.
Then the group took the elevator up to the floor where Yoko Okino's apartment was located.
The moment the door opened, a corpse was lying on the floor. Upon seeing it, Yoko Okino let out a scream, threw herself into Qin Xiao's arms, and began to cry.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here, you're safe," Qin Xiao comforted her.
Watching the two of them, Ran felt a twinge of jealousy, but she still led the children outside.
*Why is Brother Qin Xiao hugging her so tightly?! Even for comfort, there's no need for that!*
After helping Yoko Okino sit down nearby, Qin Xiao secured the crime scene while asking Kogoro Mouri to call Megure Juzo.