Chapter 385: Awkward Acting

Although, based on Detective Conan world's judgment, Senichi had an ominous premonition, rationality calmly led him to choose reality for assessment.

As numerous scents entered the brain through the nasal cavity, the brain began to categorize and identify various smells. However, the smell of blood, the target scent, had yet to emerge.

Surprisingly, this result brought relief rather than surprise to Senichi. This outcome meant that the other person still had a chance of survival. If the scent of blood had been present, it would have indicated a predetermined conclusion.

Even though the probability was low and there was a chance that the culprit had cleaned the scene. But there was still hope.

"It's okay, it's okay."

At the moment Senichi used his super sense of smell, Takagi was facing Hanzaki's apology, he quickly waved his hand and then, with an expectant look, gestured with both hands forming a rectangular shape, asking, "Mr. Hanzaki, do you happen to have found something of mine yesterday?"

"Huh?" Hanzaki shook his head upon hearing Takagi's words. "I'm sorry; I didn't find anything yesterday."

"What about the other person..." Takagi quickly interjected.

"You mean the manager, sir? I don't think he found anything either."

After confirming with Takagi, Hanzaki shook his head and explained, "After you left yesterday, we left together, and I didn't see him find anything."

"Ha... is that so..." Takagi's head drooped instantly at Hanzaki's words, with a disappointed expression.

"Detective, did you drop this?" Hanzaki formed a rectangular shape with his thumbs and index fingers. "Let me help you look for it!"

"Ah... you don't have to go through this trouble..."

Seeing Hanzaki energetically start searching through the park's trash cans, Takagi hastily spoke up to stop him, feeling embarrassed, "It's really too much trouble for you..."

"It's okay; don't be polite." Hanzaki continued to search the trash bins while smiling. "Actually, I want to thank you, Detective. It's a small token of appreciation.

If you hadn't stopped me in time yesterday, I might have made a big mistake. It would have been impossible to reconcile with the manager or have the opportunity to go out for lunch together today."

As Hanzaki spoke, he left the trash cans and went to search in the nearby bushes. He continued talking without a pause, "But I've been waiting for him in the apartment, and he still hasn't come. That guy loves drinking; I guess he's still drunk at home. I've called him many times, but he hasn't answered a single call."

"If that's the case, why not just drive to find him directly?" Takagi, hearing Hanzaki's chatter, was somewhat puzzled.

"Oh, if I go to find him, the round-trip driving distance will be over an hour," Hanzaki shook his head, smiling. "It's too troublesome; I'm too lazy to go so far."

"Ah, sir." Just as Takagi and Hanzaki were talking, Ayumi suddenly pointed at Hanzaki's pants and reminded, "There's something on your pants."

"Huh? Oh, that's shampoo."

Hanzaki lowered his head and used his fingers to remove the greenish substance on his pants. Awkwardly, he explained, "I took a shower before going out. Seems like I was too careless... Haha... Hahaha...."

Awkward laughter followed, and Hanzaki shifted the topic, looking at Takagi and asking, "By the way, what time is it now?"

"It's one o'clock," Senichi raised his hand and looked at his watch.

"One o'clock!?" Hanzaki, upon hearing Senichi's words, waved his hands in an exaggeratedly surprised manner. "Oh, I need to quickly help you search!"

"No need!" Takagi rejected, "I can handle it myself."

"But..."

Hanzaki showed a hint of embarrassment at Takagi's refusal. However, he quickly spotted a restaurant in the distance and pointed, "Then let me treat you to a meal at that restaurant! You see, you can have a satisfying meal for 2,000 yen!"

Faced with Hanzaki's continuous awkward acting and unclear enthusiasm, although Takagi was unaware of the other's motives, the loss of his detective badge had already made him impatient. He retorted, "No need! You go eat by yourself!"

"Huh? Really? Well, then I'll go by myself," Hanzaki, seemingly oblivious to Takagi's impatience, exaggeratedly encouraged himself, "Alright~! Watch me break even in these two hours!"

As Hanzaki entered the restaurant energetically, Senichi on the side couldn't help but smile. The sudden familiarity, the constant chatter, and the not-so-sophisticated acting, though not entirely clear, revealed the overflowing intentions of Hanzaki.

It can be said that in the series of actions just now, he was subtly revealing his whereabouts, both explicitly and implicitly.

This exaggerated, theatrical acting, both in words and actions, was conveying the information of "my alibi."

Facing Hanzaki's creation of an alibi, Senichi felt relieved.

Because the way he acted just now proved that there was a significant chance he hadn't killed the manager. This was good news!

The next thing to do was to find the manager who was currently in a life-or-death situation.

"Sigh..." Despite finding Hanzaki but gaining no information, Takagi couldn't help but sigh. He then rallied and said, "If they haven't found it, the badge might still be somewhere in the park!"

"No, we can't focus on that now." Senichi stopped Takagi, "We have more important things to do."

"More important things?" Takagi questioned.

"That guy named Hanzaki is hiding something."

Senichi looked towards the distant restaurant and said seriously, "I suspect he's planning to kill the manager, and the series of actions earlier were all part of creating an alibi for himself!"

"What?!" Takagi couldn't believe it. "How is that possible!?"

"Detective Senichi is right; I also think he's suspicious." Without waiting for Conan to speak, Mitsuhiko immediately added, "Exactly! It's too suspicious!"

"The uncle's behavior just now was too strange." Ayumi looked at Takagi and said bluntly, "Didn't Detective Takagi have any suspicions at all?"

"But there's no evidence." Takagi scratched his head. "And we can't just suspect someone because they had a conflict yesterday, right?"

"Yesterday, they had a big fight because of the conflict. Just because you stopped them, does that mean they really reconciled?" Senichi questioned. "The resentment of someone who has wasted their youth and a considerable amount of money without achieving anything cannot be so easily dispelled, right?

And if you want evidence, just look over there at the trash cans; the evidence is right there!"

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