Chapter 185: Heiji Disappears

On the bus, a silent and oppressive atmosphere permeated, brewing a sense of fearful tension. The children, who were originally cheerful and playful, wanted to cry but restrained themselves from making any sound. There were occasional soft whispers of comfort from Yūko.

Faced with such a terrifying situation, even the group of elementary school students remained obediently in their seats, afraid to make any movements or utter a sound.

After restraining the two individuals, Kurogane approached the front of the bus and looked at the man in the black leather jacket, asking, "Is the rabbit waiting up ahead?"

"Don't ask unnecessary questions!"

The man with long hair grabbed Kurogane and scolded him, then lowered his head and said to the man in the black leather jacket, "I'm sorry."

The man in the black leather jacket didn't respond, and for a while, silence engulfed the bus.

Meanwhile, in the back, Hattori Heiji and Conan, observing the scene before them, quietly began their actions.

Conan discreetly took out the Kamen Rider notepad and ballpoint pen that Genta had given him from his pocket, and then subtly handed them to Hattori Heiji from behind.

After receiving the notepad and pen, Hattori Heiji placed them in the far right corner of the bus near the wall, hidden from view, and started writing down the current situation.

Although he was bound, he could still make slight movements. Hattori Heiji successfully recorded the information about the people on the bus in his notebook.

"There are a total of eight children as hostages, one female teacher, a young man in his twenties, a middle-aged driver around fifty years old, and myself, Hattori Heiji.

The criminals are armed with three handguns. Currently, there are three individuals on the bus, and based on their conversation, there should be at least one more person, making it a criminal group of at least four people.

Among them, one person is left-handed with long hair..."

Under the intense gaze of Ryōsuke, Hattori Heiji skillfully recorded the intelligence in the hidden corner and then tucked it into the crevice between the seat and the wall.

...

On the other side, during the incident encountered by Heiji and Conan...

Inside the opera house, Senichi and Ayako were enjoying the opera called 'Pagliacci'. Although they came as a group of six, their seats were not together.

Originally, Kogoro and Eri's seats were separated, but considering Ran's desire to create an environment for them to spend time alone and reconcile, Ayako specifically booked seats in front of them. Unfortunately, the plan didn't go as expected, and the two didn't show up.

So Senichi and Ayako, the couple, took the seats instead, leaving the original four seats for Sonoko, Ran, and the others to sit together. At this moment, among the four seats, the three girls were seated, but Heiji's figure was missing.

"Honestly, where did Heiji go?"

On the theater seat, looking at the empty seat next to her, Kazuha frowned unhappily, "He went to the restroom for so long, and the performance has already started."

"He'll probably be here soon, let's wait a bit more," Ran said with a smile in response to Kazuha's words.

"Hmph, did Heiji fall into the toilet or something?" Kazuha muttered, sitting on her seat, suppressing her impatience, and waiting once again.

However, after waiting for nearly ten minutes, there was still no sign of Hattori Heiji, which was truly unusual.

"Heiji's phone is unreachable."

Hearing the shutdown tone from her phone, Kazuha anxiously said, "What's wrong with him? He hasn't come back for such a long time, and his phone is off. Could he have gotten involved in some kind of case?"

"Don't worry, maybe something held him up," Ran comforted and suggested, "Why don't we inform Detective Senichi? If Heiji is really involved in a case, Detective Senichi will surely notice it. Besides, he's a police detective himself, so if there's a case, he can quickly contact the police."

"Then I'll call my brother-in-law now." Sonoko said and dialed Senichi's phone number.

When Senichi saw the incoming call on his phone, he turned his head to the back row in search of the four individuals, but unfortunately, due to the ongoing performance, the lighting in the opera house was dim, and he couldn't see their figures at all.

So Senichi simply answered the call.

"Hello? Why are you calling at this time? Is something wrong?"

"Um, brother-in-law, listen to me, Hattori Heiji has disappeared!" Sonoko's voice made Senichi's expression serious. Heiji has gone missing! This can't be a coincidence, right?

To this, Senichi felt quite annoyed.

This activity was initiated by Ayako, and as far as Senichi remembered, there had never been a case at the opera house.

So Senichi thought that this should be a part of their daily life that was not shown in anime, and that there shouldn't be any cases involved.

As mentioned before, in the real world, everyday life occupies a larger proportion, and there are so many chances of running into each other. If Senichi had to be on edge every time he encountered those few 'Grim reapers', he would have had a nervous breakdown a long time ago.

So even when he coincidentally ran into Heiji, Senichi thought it was just a part of their daily lives and even felt relieved.

After all, there were far fewer cases involving Heiji compared to Conan.

If there was still some uncertainty before, Heiji's appearance eliminated most of the cases. Senichi was convinced as he has no impression of them solving a case at the opera house.

But who would have known that a damn case would actually happen! It's impossible to guard against it!

Yes, as soon as Senichi heard about Hattori Heiji's disappearance, he immediately became vigilant.

Even if he went with the flow, it didn't mean that Senichi completely let go of his alertness. He didn't dismiss the possibility of these two triggering a case at any time and anywhere.

While others were thinking about whether Heiji's phone fell into a pit or got stolen, and held onto a glimmer of hope. Senichi first eliminated those miscellaneous possibilities and directly focused on the possibility that Heiji encountered a case.

It's more like... he didn't run away, but instead triggered a case! And it's highly likely that they got involved in a subplot.

There was only this possibility left. The two of them got involved in a case that they had never encountered in the anime. With this in mind, Senichi's expression couldn't help but become serious.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Senichi's actions couldn't escape Ayako's observation, and she asked him.

Senichi told Ayako the reason for the call from Sonoko. After hearing it, Ayako immediately said,

"If you're worried, go check it out. It's okay with me. If Hattori-kun is alone in Tokyo and gets involved in a case, it won't be good."

"I understand. Then I'll go check it out."

Senichi gently tapped Ayako's cheek with his hand, "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. Hurry up and go."

Ayako blushed at Senichi's sudden action, then hurriedly urged him to leave the theater.

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