Chapter 226
"Pah pah pah, pah pah......"
Vodka got off the roller coaster and started spitting.
No help for it—when he screamed earlier, his mouth was open, so the blood from the front splattered right into his mouth. Now even breathing had a bloody taste to it.
Although he did dirty work, it was usually just a quick shot to finish things off. That kind of thing didn't really feel like dealing with corpses, so even headless bodies were still relatively rare for him.
And this time he was very clearly aware that the blood in his mouth had dripped there from a corpse... the feeling was extremely disgusting.
Gin sat right next to Vodka. Having heard his scream earlier, he was quite disdainful of his lack of composure. Now not only did he not comfort him, he even quietly scolded: "You can be scared by something like this? You lack training!"
Vodka felt wronged: "Big Brother, I was angry... I suspect Botanist saw through it long ago and deliberately didn't warn us!"
At the mention of Usuha Izuki, Gin fell silent again.
But in his heart, he still very much agreed with Vodka's speculation.
With Usuha Izuki's perceptiveness, seeing the conflict and murderous intent from those people's interactions should be as simple as breathing.
As for whether Usuha Izuki knew the other party would choose to act on the roller coaster... although it felt somewhat unscientific, Gin suspected Usuha Izuki might really have seen through something, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen to run so decisively.
But Gin couldn't say anything about Usuha Izuki. For such trivial matters, Usuha Izuki could complain everywhere, all the way up to the Boss, but he couldn't do that. If he did such a thing, the Boss would only find him petty.
Sure enough, encountering Usuha Izuki was just bad luck. Better to quickly leave this place and go do their mission.
When Vodka and Gin wanted to leave but were stopped by people, Vodka grumbled even more unhappily.
"That kid definitely knew early on it would turn into such a troublesome situation! He did it on purpose!... Big Brother! Look at that guy! He's still over there taking photos!"
Because he couldn't point with his finger—that would draw police attention to Usuha Izuki and result in himself being resented—Vodka could only desperately hint with his eyes, nearly straining them from staring so hard.
Gin followed Vodka's hint and glanced over there, indeed seeing Usuha Izuki holding up his phone and clicking away at them, then lowering his head to operate something.
Gin: "............"
Vodka: "Big Brother! He's definitely editing embarrassing photos of us!"
Gin's temple veins twitched: "Shut up!"
Usuha Izuki couldn't be bothered to edit photos. He directly sent the pictures to the [Anti-Gin Squad] group he had established.
Botanist: [Look, Gin and Vodka riding the roller coaster, and they got caught by the police!]
Bourbon: [No, no matter how you look at it, they're just being questioned about the case, not quite to the point of being arrested.]
Botanist: [With so many people there, they're dressed the most suspiciously. With the Japanese police's level of competence, if they don't arrest them, who would they arrest?]
Bourbon: [......You're right.]
—You little punk! Is that how you evaluate the police system your foster father belongs to?! Really showing no sentiment at all! What kind of troublesome thing did that senior raise!
Chianti: [What's wrong with them? How did they get caught at the scene? Was it on purpose? Are they trying to find an excuse to make contact with the police? If the boss asks us to storm the police station to rescue them, I'm not going.]
Botanist: [Sigh, although Gin always acts like he's going to inherit the organization and looks down on me, I'm already too lazy to fuss with him. For the greater good, if it really doesn't work out later, I'll figure out a way to fish him out.]
Chianti: [What? Gin gave you attitude again? After failing missions twice in a row, where does this undercover get the nerve!]
Scotland: [Why ride the roller coaster?]
Botanist: [Vodka said they wanted to observe the transaction site from above, but I don't quite understand why they didn't choose the Ferris wheel. After thinking it over, I think maybe Gin wanted to ride it, and Vodka was just forced to accompany him while having to find excuses for him. After all, Gin is exactly that type of person who cares about face while exploiting his partner.]
Chianti: [Sigh, Cohen likes riding the Ferris wheel, Gin likes riding roller coasters. What's wrong with these men......]
With Chianti's comment, from then on it was established fact that Gin liked riding roller coasters.
Usuha Izuki happily continued chatting with Chianti, completely ignoring Vodka and Gin's predicament.
Vodka, who had been watching Usuha Izuki the whole time, ground his teeth: "That guy could clearly solve the case quickly, but he completely ignores us......"
He still remembered from several years ago when Usuha Izuki claimed to be Detective Conan in front of the police. Wasn't he quite enthusiastic then? How come this time he's started acting like a bystander?!
Gin pulled his hat lower, impatiently urging the police and the detective who was still explaining bit by bit: "Can you hurry up? This case has nothing to do with us."
High school detective Kudo Shinichi looked somewhat speechlessly at these two men in black: "Almost done, don't be anxious."
Although these two men in black didn't look like the type who would appear on a roller coaster in terms of dress and personality, since Kudo Shinichi had already locked onto the culprit from the beginning, he didn't suspect them of being the murderer.
Moreover, that shorter guy wearing sunglasses had screamed so loudly earlier, it didn't seem like acting. After getting off, he kept spitting, then seemed very aggrieved while talking to the other person about something, looking like he urgently wanted to leave the whole time. They were the ones who least wanted an incident to delay their schedule.
Kudo Shinichi simply found them personally suspicious.
Sigh, but since they weren't the murderer, if they had urgent business...
So Kudo Shinichi slightly quickened his speech, finishing his explanation of the deduction to Inspector Megure who had arrived on scene.
The culprit also finally began tearfully and kneeling to confess their motive for murder.
Kudo Shinichi awkwardly laughed and took his leave amidst praise from the police and surrounding people—he still had a date with Ran, hopefully this incident wouldn't affect Ran's mood.
Unfortunately, as a thoughtful girl, Mouri Ran, who had witnessed the headless corpse spurting blood firsthand, was indeed greatly affected.
Kudo Shinichi consoled her in a very straight-male way: "Don't cry, forget about it early! I often encounter this kind of thing......"
"I'm not like you!" Mouri Ran complained, "Now it's already dark, I originally planned......"
Kudo Shinichi was still listening to Mouri Ran, when suddenly he noticed a sneaky figure in his peripheral vision.
Huh? Isn't that the man in black who screamed particularly loudly on the roller coaster?
He had found the other party suspicious then, but it wouldn't be good to have Inspector Megure do extra work just based on a "feeling"... Now seeing the other party's behavior seemingly deliberately avoiding others, could he really be planning to do something illegal?
If he could get evidence, he could have the police arrest them.
So Kudo Shinichi couldn't care about Mouri Ran anymore. Dropping a line about "you go back first, I'll be back later," he tracked in the direction where the man in black had disappeared.
......When he opened his eyes again, he had already taken on the appearance of an elementary school student. When he told the police about the transaction the men in black had made, they only treated it as a joke.
Kudo Shinichi's mind was actually a bit confused too, unable to accept his current appearance. He simply ran out of the police station wearing ill-fitting clothes, trying hard to recall along the way. Finally calming down a bit, he managed to sort out some clues.
When he was observing the men in black's transaction, he was hit on the head, then fed some kind of drug... it should be the effect of that drug!
Since it's a drug, it should have a duration. Maybe he'll recover in a few days?
What if he can't recover...
Kudo Shinichi was still a minor after all. Having experienced these things that exceeded his common sense, he inevitably panicked.
A-anyway, first go home...
However, when he reached his front door, Kudo Shinichi sadly discovered that with his current height, he couldn't even open his own front gate.
"Ah—! Damn it!"
Just then, he suddenly noticed that the light in his house's first-floor living room was actually on.
Kudo Shinichi: "......???"
Wait! His parents were abroad now, and he lived alone. So whoever was in the living room turning on the lights right now—who could it be?!
At this moment, Kudo Shinichi's previously chaotic mind suddenly calmed down.
He vaguely heard that the drug seemed to be developed by that organization themselves. As everyone knows, research is the most expensive thing. An organization with the strength to develop drugs should be quite powerful.
If they had given him the drug but hadn't gone far, and instead waited near the police station for news, discovering he had turned into this and run out, it certainly wouldn't be convenient to silence him on the street. So having someone come to his house to ambush him would be the simplest method.
In other words, the person currently in his house—might be from that organization!
No good, he had to hide.
However, with his current short arms and legs, Kudo Shinichi had just climbed up the iron gate to try to open the outer door. Now when coming down, in his anxiety, he slipped and fell directly, making even more noise.
His heart pounding, he got up, hoping the sound of heavy rain would cover his movements, but despairingly discovered that the door to his house was being opened. Should he call for help now... huh?
Kudo Shinichi stared blankly at the figure who leisurely opened an umbrella and walked out, his mind filled with question marks.
—Wait! Isn't this Usuha-nii? How is he... could he be from that organization?!