Chapter 170
Generally speaking, people in the underworld, having seen plenty of scheming and various traps, trusted their own judgment more.
Vermouth was the same.
But she also knew to gather information from multiple sources and adjust her thinking promptly. So after realizing Bourbon's attitude was unusual, she simply made a direct phone call, planning to ask in more detail.
"What has Botanist done to you?" Vermouth asked lazily. "You're being way too targeted toward him."
This was a conversational technique, slightly provocative in nature, meant to arouse the other person's desire to defend themselves and get them to speak more freely about the information she wanted to know.
Bourbon could naturally detect such obvious methods, but he was really suffocated and this wasn't unspeakable information, so he directly started explaining: "Didn't I tell you before when you asked? He keeps asking me if I'm an undercover agent..."
If it were Scotland or Akai Shuichi who had just gotten the codename Rye Whiskey last year, they might better understand his feelings. Even Vodka or Gin could reach consensus with him on "Usuha Izuki being annoying."
But Vermouth hadn't seen it firsthand and had never been accused of being undercover, so she couldn't empathize. Just hearing this verbal description... the first time she heard it, she only thought Usuha Izuki had a bit of a temper. Now she even more felt that since he didn't want to see them as an ordinary person, what was wrong with finding fault? After all, even if he said it, no one would believe him. Since he wasn't an undercover agent, however much he said wouldn't affect him—why argue with a child?
"He should just simply dislike seeing you all and deliberately annoy you. Anyway, even if he said it, no one would believe him. You're not an undercover agent—however he talks won't affect you. Why argue with a child?"
Bourbon: "..........."
Your so-called child is already in his twenties...!
The more Vermouth thought about it, the more she felt this was the case: "I heard he even reported Gin as an undercover agent? How could Gin possibly be undercover? This kind of thing is obviously fake—he must have not wanted to do missions Gin assigned him, so he was causing trouble for Gin. If you stop looking for him, he definitely won't report you."
Bourbon was greatly shocked, not expecting the formidable Vermouth to have such blind moments.
He immediately gave a counterexample: "If he really didn't want to see us, why would he actively come find me? In January this year, he called me and Scotland to accompany him to hot springs."
"When he actively came to play with you, did he report you as undercover?"
"...He didn't do that."
Vermouth snorted coldly: "Doesn't this prove that as long as you don't approach him as organization members to cause trouble, he won't have opinions about you?"
Bourbon gave up explaining.
This kind of person who already had their own position was the hardest to persuade—they would only believe what they saw... So how had that Usuha Izuki kid acted in front of Vermouth?!
Vermouth said earnestly: "He wants to be an ordinary person, so if you treat him like an ordinary person, you can get along well... Though I'd recommend you not look for him unless necessary."
Bourbon: "...Got it."
After hanging up, Bourbon couldn't help taking a deep breath.
Being an ordinary person... it was indeed normal for someone returning from Middle Eastern battlefields to have such thoughts, but if he knew his foster father was a Public Security spy, could he still be so willful and only care about his own happiness?
But if Usuha Izuki didn't know, then what did that [Is my foster father a police officer?] he wrote to test the Cult Leader's mind reading mean? Was it really just to tease the Cult Leader? Or to tease him and Keimori?
Bourbon pondered, suspecting Usuha Izuki had guessed he and Keimori would be curious about what he wrote, so he deliberately wrote such controversial content.
He didn't even need him and Keimori to sneakily find the envelope—if luck was good, the Cult Leader could have drawn it on the spot. After discovering it was in a foreign language they couldn't understand, they would naturally step forward to see what was written on the paper...
...So going through all this complexity just to make them also suspect whether Usuha Izuki was undercover?
Whether his and Keimori's identities had been discovered, whether Usuha Izuki wanted to make contact with them—all this affected judgment of the purpose behind this behavior... which brought them back to square one.
Maybe he should forget it. Arak Wine had always been in the Middle East and probably couldn't get particularly important organization intelligence. Making contact seemed meaningless too—they couldn't possibly dig up Arak Wine's coffin now and rebury him under his real name...
Bourbon thought coldly that after dismantling the organization, whether Usuha Izuki knew or not wouldn't matter anymore.
Though it was somewhat unfair to their undercover predecessor, constantly studying Usuha Izuki's thoughts was driving him nearly insane!
Usuha Izuki took transport home, counting today's suspicion value harvest with a very happy mood.
Especially since Vermouth and Bourbon had each contributed another wave—what an unexpected delight. Even having to work tomorrow didn't feel so unpleasant anymore.
For Kudo Shinichi's side, since he hadn't had contact with the organization yet and there weren't many suspicious points in daily life, there seemed no need to meet frequently. Like with Hattori Heiji, occasional phone chats would suffice.
Now he was like a farmer who planted seeds in spring, looking forward to autumn's harvest.
The next day at work, Usuha Izuki noticed Sato Miwako still looked somewhat dispirited and casually asked: "Still dwelling on yesterday's case? Your part—finding the culprit—was enough. The other parts aren't your responsibility."
"I know, but I heard some follow-up that doesn't feel good." Sato Miwako sighed. "Remember I mentioned the doctor who gave drugs to the victim died? Then the officer who took over the case investigated and found that doctor seemed to handle not just drugs that were legal abroad but illegal domestically—he was even involved in drug trafficking... Now that the doctor's been killed, I don't know what to do... In broad daylight, to silence someone so blatantly...!"
Hagiwara Kenji said: "I heard they've found a password-encrypted notebook based on remaining clues and identified someone who might be an informant."
"That's the problem with this informant." Sato Miwako sighed. "The informant also died—that was the case reported from Tsukikage Island last night, but he died of cardiac paralysis... However the coroner examines it, it's cardiac paralysis..."
Usuha Izuki: "..........."
Death by cardiac paralysis sounded like the culprit was Yagami Light... Eh? Wait, if it's Tsukikage Island...
Just then, Usuha Izuki's phone suddenly rang. He was surprised to discover the caller was Squad Leader Jinma from the Mobile Investigation Unit.
During his time with the Mobile Investigation Unit, he'd been well cared for by Squad Leader Jinma. After leaving, though the man didn't call much, he never missed sending New Year cards and such. Occasionally when Ibuki Ai invited him to Mobile Investigation Unit gatherings, he could meet him.
This sudden contact seemed somewhat abrupt. Usuha Izuki suspected something big had happened and quickly answered: "Squad Leader Jinma?"
"Cough, you're already in Criminal Investigation Division One—don't call me squad leader anymore." Squad Leader Jinma's tone was a bit weak. "Um, Samukawa-kun, just checking—are you busy today? Do you have any cases?"
"No cases. Is there something, Jinma-senpai?"
"...Well, um, my friend in the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division has a case now. An informant died of cardiac paralysis, and they're not sure if it's coincidence or if some method could achieve this, so they want to ask you to take a look... If you're unwilling, that's fine too. After all, helping them won't give Criminal Investigation Division One any credit..."
This description sounded familiar.
Usuha Izuki couldn't help asking: "Is it the Tsukikage Island case?"
"Eh? You know about it?" Squad Leader Jinma's tone immediately relaxed. "Then I'll save the explanation. Actually, this really isn't necessary to trouble you—they're just being stubborn..."
After all, the doctor had just been silenced, and his downstream contact immediately had cardiac paralysis. It felt strange—they suspected it wasn't coincidence.
Cases of creating various accidents to scare people to death from heart attacks had happened before. It was an insurance company that didn't want to pay claims and hired detectives to investigate, discovering heart attacks could be artificially induced. They couldn't conclude it was accidental just because of this.
Then the person in charge of this case at the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division was very close to Squad Leader Jinma from the Mobile Investigation Unit. Hearing that Samukawa Shinryu still had good relations with the Mobile Investigation Unit and had even asked their information team for help yesterday, he came to ask Squad Leader Jinma for assistance.
They really had no choice but to seek help from Criminal Investigation Division One. If there really was no problem, they'd consider it overthinking. If there was a problem... they couldn't solve it themselves anyway, so asking for help was right.
Honestly, word of seeking help getting out would be somewhat embarrassing. If they were irresponsible police, they could close it as an accident, but being too responsible made them unwilling to overlook any clues, even if it meant asking Criminal Investigation Division One for help.
Usuha Izuki considered and answered: "I'll ask Inspector Megure."
Squad Leader Jinma breathed a sigh of relief, knowing this meant Samukawa Shinryu himself was inclined to agree: "Good, good, as long as it doesn't affect your work."
Inspector Megure hesitated after hearing Usuha Izuki's explanation.
This kind of private loan actually brought no benefits to Criminal Investigation Division One, but he was also very responsible, worried that cardiac paralysis might have other circumstances—if it was artificially induced, what was behind it wouldn't be just one life.
So ultimately, Inspector Megure nodded and agreed to the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division's request to borrow personnel, and had Hagiwara Kenji accompany him to avoid wasting time due to misunderstandings despite going to help.
Hearing this, Sato Miwako immediately relaxed: "With Samukawa-kun going, I can rest easy... Be careful. This is information I collected about Tsukikage Island—maybe you can use it."
Though she knew her part was finished, after hearing about Tsukikage Island, she couldn't help investigating. Since she'd just finished a case and was relatively free... now she could transfer the materials to those going, not wasting anything.
Getting to Tsukikage Island required taking a boat. During the boat ride, Usuha Izuki and Hagiwara Kenji studied the materials Sato Miwako had collected.
"There was a famous pianist named Aso Keiji who returned to Tsukikage Island after a tour, killed his wife and daughter, set fire to the mansion, and played 'Moonlight Sonata' until he died... Besides that, this island doesn't seem to have any famous people or events."
Hagiwara Kenji frowned: "This legend feels strange, like a lot is missing... But we're here to help the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division research that drug trafficking line, unrelated to this case."
Usuha Izuki picked up the email just sent by people from the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division.
"The person who died of cardiac paralysis was found collapsed over a piano in the rebuilt mansion. Apparently the discoverer heard someone playing 'Moonlight Sonata' and wanted to look inside, only to find the corpse."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...Huh???"
No wonder the Organized Crime Countermeasures colleagues won't give up! This really is bizarre!!!