Chapter Forty-Six: Conan—Do You Think Vermouth Could Be the Organization’s Mole?
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The murder case in Shizuoka Prefecture was solved in a mere five minutes.
Ai Haibara, who had witnessed the entire investigation, showed little joy on her face.
After she and Conan left through the back entrance of the Shizuoka Prefectural Cultural Affairs Office, the detective promised not to reveal the details of the solution to the media. They then took a detour and picked up Professor Agasa, who had been stopped outside.
The three of them boarded a police car to the station and successfully caught the Shinkansen bound for Shizuoka Prefecture.
Once they had taken the seats corresponding to their tickets, Ai Haibara finally could not hold back any longer.
“There’s a very good chance that the Organization has already discovered the connection between Masami Hirota, who lived in Shizuoka Prefecture, and my sister.”
“If they investigate Shizuoka now, what you’ve done could very well expose your true identity. And if the Organization discovers who you really are, you’ll certainly die because of it!”
Conan, however, merely answered calmly.
“I know. But don’t you find it strange?”
“...Strange?”
Haibara frowned, unsure what exactly Conan found strange.
In her view, ever since she had swallowed APTX-4869 and escaped from the pharmaceutical company, there was not a single thing about Beika Town that could be called normal. She could not tell which particular matter Conan was referring to.
She looked at Conan, staring at his non-prescription glasses.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, a flash of white light glinted across the lenses.
“Didn’t you say back then that the skilled member of the Organization in black had already discovered your true identity?”
“And she really did take steps to kill you, but ultimately failed. If I were her, I would have sent all the information about you directly to the Organization’s higher-ups.”
“That way, she could make up for her mistake and ensure that the next assassination attempt would succeed without fail.”
The grim-reaper elementary school student continued.
“Judging from the Organization’s demonstrated capabilities and strength, it shouldn’t be difficult for them to obtain your enrollment records from Teitan Elementary School and thereby identify your official guardian—in other words, Professor Agasa.”
“Once they confirmed Professor Agasa’s information, there’s no way the Organization could have failed to notice that we took the Shinkansen to Shizuoka yesterday. Weren’t you curious about how I knew Gin and Vodka’s code names?”
“I can tell you. I once saw Gin and Vodka aboard a Shinkansen.”
“They mentioned their respective code names while they were talking. They had boarded the train to complete a transaction, and after it was over, they planted explosives on the Shinkansen before leaving.”
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Conan pushed up his non-prescription glasses.
He said, “I have no doubt that Gin is capable of investigating whether Professor Agasa purchased Shinkansen tickets, nor do I doubt that, if Gin confirmed your whereabouts, he would have the resolve to plant explosives on the train and blow it up.”
“But the fact is, we rode the Shinkansen all the way to Shizuoka without encountering anything strange.”
“Don’t you think the fact that ‘nothing strange happened’ is itself extremely ‘strange’?”
As Conan spoke, Haibara frowned as well.
She, too, realized that the uneventful journey was somewhat suspicious.
She had been attacked by Vermouth near Teitan Elementary School the day before yesterday. If Vermouth had reported the incident to the Organization, then without question, Gin would have been the one to deal with it.
And if Gin had confirmed her location, he would have attacked without hesitation. There was only one possible reason he had not—
“Are you saying Vermouth concealed my whereabouts for some reason?”
“But she genuinely wanted to kill me!”
Haibara exclaimed in a low voice.
Clatter, clatter—
A train attendant pushed a cart past them.
He had no interest whatsoever in the whispers of a group of children. Besides, with a bald man in a white coat sitting on the outer side, even if he had wanted to lean over and listen, there was no way to squeeze past him.
Only after the attendant had gone by did Conan continue.
“When I passed Masami Hirota’s matter on to that urban legend, I deliberately mentioned this incident. The urban legend then told me that Vermouth would never do anything to hurt Ran or me.”
“That means Vermouth most likely didn’t report it. She was probably afraid that mobilizing the Organization’s forces to kill you would expose my identity as well, resulting in both Ran and me being silenced by the Organization!”
“Besides, if the Organization really believed there was something important at Masami Hirota’s old house, then we should have been attacked by its members the moment we arrived there.”
“The fact that we encountered no danger last night means the Organization doesn’t care about what’s happening at Masami Hirota’s old home.”
The grim-reaper elementary school student stirred the drink in his hand with a straw, then said,
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“So the Organization doesn’t even care about the situation at Masami Hirota’s old house. Naturally, it won’t care about an ordinary murder case in Shizuoka Prefecture either. Besides, I never made it into the local papers, and we even caught the Shinkansen—”
“That point is very important.”
“As long as we arrive in Tokyo on schedule, the floppy disk will reach the urban legend. Then the urban legend will launch an attack on the Organization’s various bases in Tokyo, throwing the entire Organization into chaos.”
“At that point, all of the Organization’s attention will be focused on that urban legend.”
“You and I will be completely safe—”
“And even more people will survive because the Organization’s bases will be destroyed.”
...Could that urban legend really eliminate the Organization’s many bases in Tokyo?
Who had filled the floppy disk with information about those bases?
What kind of counterattack would Gin launch against the urban legend?
Haibara stopped talking to Conan about the case in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Although she had not known Conan for very long, she had already realized that the boy regarded solving crimes and unraveling mysteries as vital as life itself. If she stopped Conan from pursuing a case he believed he could solve, the alliance they had only just repaired would fall apart again.
She rested her chin on her hand and gazed at the scenery rushing past outside the Shinkansen.
Suddenly, she heard the voice of the grim-reaper elementary school student.
“By the way, I have a theory about why Vermouth protected Ran and me.”
“As a former member of the Organization, you should know something about Vermouth. Listen to my theory and tell me how much of it you think might be true—”
Edogawa Conan spoke with complete seriousness.
“Do you think there’s any possibility that Vermouth is an undercover agent planted inside the Organization by Interpol?”
“Maybe she deliberately came to look after Ran and me because my parents commissioned Interpol to do so?”
Ai Haibara: ?
Absolutely not! Is your brain malfunctioning?
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