"Conan-kun, I found the tomato sauce." I called from my aisle in the grocery store.
"Okay, next on the list is some spaghetti noodles. Kasan is cooking Italian food tonight." Conan looked at the grocery list as I pushed the cart.
"Oh cool kid hi!" a feminine voice called out in English.
"Jodie-sensei! What are you doing here?" Conan said surprised.
"James-san and Shuu were getting some drinks. Is she the girl you were telling me about?" she asked. We were exchanging introductions when we heard the sound of crying. We went to the source of the sound to find a little toddler girl, with brunette hair and a red scarf, crying.
"What's wrong?" I knelt down and comforted the girl.
"Mommy where's mommy?" she sniffed.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"We have to take her to the cashier so that they can make an announcement." Jodie instructed and I picked up the girl.
Within a few minutes a brunette woman in a silver winter coat came and exclaimed "Yuna-chan! There you are! You scared me! I turned around and you weren't there. I'm Mina. Thank you for finding her." She went to hug the girl.
"What do you think you are doing to my Yuna-chan!" another brunette woman with a purple sweater swatted Mina's hands away. "Yuna-chan, don't cry, you are safe now." she held her hands out. She introduced herself as Yui.
To add to the confusion, a woman with a knitted beanie came running "Yuna-chan! I was looking everywhere for you! Thank goodness you are okay!" She turned to the cashier with a pleading expression. "I'm her real mother Rina! I can provide my identification." she pulled out a card and the other women did the same as well, claiming to be the girl's mother. A crowd began to gather around us.
"Yuna-chan? Do you recognize your mommy? Can you tell us?" I asked her. But Yuna just kept sucking her thumb and buried her head in my shoulders..
"She's too young so she wouldn't be able to tell us who her mother is." Conan said.
"And we can't tell the real mother from their looks since they all have brunette hair." Jodie observed.
"Let's question them." Conan suggested.
"What were you doing when your daughter got lost?" Jodie turned to the women.
"I was picking out fresh veggies. She must have run off when I wasn't looking." Mina answered and lifted the basket she was carrying to show us her groceries.
"I was buying milk and eggs when she got lost. My cart is in that aisle." Yui said and pointed in that direction.
"I was looking at the fruits!" Rina replied and motioned to her cart.
"There's nothing suspicious about their actions." Jodie remarked.
"Hmm all three claimed to be shopping when Yuna got lost." Conan said deep in thought.
