Chapter 241
Three people died in two days. Although there was almost another death during the wrap-up, the result was good, and they even uncovered a drug trafficking chain. Inspector Megure was quite satisfied.
Mouri Kogorou, who had no idea what happened and woke up to praise, was also very satisfied.
The most dissatisfied was Edogawa Conan.
He always felt there was something fishy between Samukawa Shinryu and Aso Narimi, but couldn't find evidence. All the points he suspected could find reasonable explanations, and even Samukawa Shinryu's identity had no problems whatsoever.
If it were someone else telling him this, ignoring Samukawa Shinryu's dangerous aura and only listening to the suspicious points, related explanations, and drawn conclusions, he would think the other person was overthinking.
Until the next day when they boarded the return ship, Edogawa Conan was still troubled by this matter, suspecting whether he was being too stubborn, unwilling to accept such a large deviation from his first impression, so he was trying hard to save face.
To brighten his gloomy mood, Edogawa Conan walked to the deck to feel the sea breeze. Not far away happened to be the police officers Hagiwara Kenji, Samukawa Shinryu, and Matsuda Jinpei.
Hagiwara Kenji was just talking to Samukawa Shinryu: "Won't you go sleep for a while? You're usually sleeping at this time, right?"
Edogawa Conan couldn't help twitching his mouth.
When they first met on Tsukikage Island, Officer Hagiwara said his partner was resting at the hotel. He thought it was seasickness or something. Later, when he heard Inspector Megure chatting with others, he discovered that Samukawa Shinryu's poor sleep schedule seemed to be common knowledge to some people. Inspector Megure's helpless yet doting tone at the time almost dealt him a critical hit, and now Officer Hagiwara was also so worried...
Samukawa Shinryu was an adult after all! Wouldn't he know if he was tired or not?! How did you all develop this habit of unnecessary concern?!
"It's fine. I slept relatively early these past two days, so my schedule seems to have adjusted a bit."
Matsuda Jinpei sneered: "Without anyone watching, your schedule will return to normal within three days... I just don't understand—what is it that you can't do during the day but must do at night?"
"...My clients like to visit at midnight."
"Excuses."
How could Matsuda Jinpei not know? It was clearly because Samukawa Shinryu started operating at night first that clients thought they could only visit at night... Now he was using it as an excuse for staying up late. He really had the nerve to say it.
Edogawa Conan was a bit puzzled.
Wasn't he a consultant for the Metropolitan Police? What clients liked to visit at midnight? The Metropolitan Police wouldn't always pick midnight for consultations, would they?
So he must have other work besides being a consultant for the Metropolitan Police.
...What kind of work only operated at night?
Probably still a bit tired, after feeling the sea breeze briefly, Samukawa Shinryu went inside to rest.
Edogawa Conan's desire to fish for information immediately stirred again.
But before he could figure out how to start, Matsuda Jinpei suddenly called out to him.
"Hey, kid over there, whatever you want to say, just say it directly. Stop hesitating!"
That sneaky posture—did he really think they were blind and couldn't see?!
Edogawa Conan was somewhat embarrassed and could only play dumb: "Haha, with Samukawa-san here just now, I was a bit too scared to approach..."
Hagiwara Kenji felt like Samukawa Shinryu had probably been teasing this kid again—although this little adult was indeed fun to tease, there was no need to overdo it.
He could only continue his habitual defense of Samukawa Shinryu: "Although Little Shinryu looks scary and sometimes speaks a bit... he's actually very gentle."
Edogawa Conan: "............"
This wasn't just a matter of lying with eyes wide open, right? Doesn't your conscience hurt deceiving a child like this? Where was he gentle?
Matsuda Jinpei tapped the railing: "Alright, what do you want to ask? Or does Mouri-san want to know something again?"
Because Edogawa Conan had asked many questions using "Uncle Mouri asked me to help ask" as an excuse, everyone assumed when they saw him that Mouri Kogorou probably wanted to ask something again, which saved Edogawa Conan a lot of trouble.
But this time it felt like Mouri Kogorou wouldn't care about such questions, so Edogawa Conan could only bite the bullet and say: "No, I'm just a bit curious myself... Because I heard Samukawa-san say earlier that clients only come at night, I'm a bit curious about what kind of work has clients who only visit at night."
Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei both fell silent for a moment.
Hmm... They didn't think much when he said it, but when summarized like this, it suddenly felt weird. Good thing the other party was a child who didn't think in strange directions, otherwise Samukawa Shinryu's reputation would suffer again.
So Hagiwara Kenji smiled and said: "It has nothing to do with clients, it's completely his own schedule problem."
"So what kind of work is it exactly...?"
"Alright, children don't need to know so much. Where's Miss Mouri? How can you be alone on deck? It's too dangerous."
It was better not to tell children about entrapment operations and such.
However, these cryptic words only made Edogawa Conan more suspicious and questioning.
Sigh, forget it. This side was too tight-lipped. He'd better go ask Inspector Megure later. At least he could find out where Samukawa Shinryu lived. Since he had clients visiting, he must have a place open for business. Asking for an address shouldn't be presumptuous, right?
However, Inspector Megure also refused to answer: "Well, you'd better ask Samukawa directly. He doesn't really like people looking for him—even I've never been to his place..."
After all, his sleep schedule was completely off from normal people's. If a clueless child disturbed Samukawa Shinryu's sleep, Samukawa Shinryu might blame him! He wouldn't make such a mistake!
Edogawa Conan: "...???"
Why make it so mysterious?! Not even giving an address—was there really a problem?
Originally just wanting to ask casually, but these people made it so secretive that they stirred up Edogawa Conan's curiosity.
Damn it, just wait—he would definitely find out where Samukawa Shinryu lived!
After getting off the ship, Edogawa Conan made an excuse about meeting Dr. Agasa somewhere, ignored Mouri Ran's attempts to stop him, and secretly followed Samukawa Shinryu, trying to find out where he actually lived.
The reason he didn't place a tracking device was a premonition that it would definitely be discovered.
Edogawa Conan followed Samukawa Shinryu all the way, discovering that he didn't take a car but entered a very bustling commercial street instead.
The crowd was convenient for hiding his tracking, but because he was too short, when there were many people, it blocked his view and he couldn't see clearly ahead.
By the time he struggled through the crowd and ran to the small alley where he last saw Samukawa Shinryu enter, he had already lost sight of him.
"Ah... damn it!"
Edogawa Conan complained helplessly, disappointedly walking further but still not finding any trace of him, so he could only give up.
Walking back, he suddenly noticed something in his peripheral vision, turned his head sharply, and discovered it was actually his Usuha-nii.
This guy hadn't appeared for years, but recently his presence had suddenly increased.
But it was understandable. A while ago, his parents returned from abroad and gave him a lecture together with Dr. Agasa. He took the opportunity to ask about Usuha Izuki.
His mother admitted to giving Usuha Izuki a copy of the house key: "Izuki-chan was just borrowing books to read, it doesn't affect you at all. If he hadn't tipped me off, I wouldn't have discovered your situation so quickly!"
"Aren't you worried he'll discover something?!"
"If you can't even fool Izuki-chan whom you rarely see, I think you should come back to America with me."
Edogawa Conan: "............"
In any case, Usuha Izuki had clearly become his mother's other pair of eyes. With Usuha Izuki's observational skills, he was indeed a bit worried, so it was better to avoid meeting if possible.
So Edogawa Conan swallowed the greeting he was about to call out and silently minimized his presence.
Usuha Izuki, having successfully avoided Edogawa Conan's tracking and switched back to his main identity, felt that since he was unusually energetic during the day, he should go back and take a look.
After Akai Shuichi was exposed, he moved out of his original house, bought a new one, and following convention, until recently Miyano Akemi would regularly come to help him clean.
But recently Miyano Akemi was suddenly removed from this work, which made Usuha Izuki very displeased.
After returning home and finding the room in a state showing several days without cleaning, he couldn't stand it anymore and called Vodka: "When exactly are you giving Miyano Akemi back to me?"
Because he almost got blamed for attempting to murder Usuha Izuki, Vodka seemed somewhat trembling when facing Usuha Izuki recently: "Well, she's still under investigation..."
"What are you investigating again? Because the FBI contacted her again? Where are there so many FBI in Japan!"
Vodka was also wronged: "But we really did see cipher messages left by FBI near Miyano Akemi's apartment..."
"You should first confirm whether Miyano Akemi deciphered those ciphers before saying anything... Is she under investigation now? Have her come clean my room today, then send her back to you later."
Vodka was silent for a moment, somewhat hesitant, but thinking of almost blowing up Usuha Izuki last time, he guiltily agreed: "Alright."
It was just going to clean for one day anyway, and they'd bring her back in the evening. It should be fine. There was no benefit in continuing to offend Usuha Izuki.
Soon, Miyano Akemi was sent to Usuha Izuki's front door.
"Botanist-san..." Miyano Akemi showed Usuha Izuki a somewhat uneasy smile. "Long time no see."
Usuha Izuki gestured for her to go clean: "What's going on with you?"
"The FBI tried to contact me. I clearly ignored it, but they actually wanted to use ciphers... I didn't even react to those ciphers—it was the people monitoring me who deciphered them." Miyano Akemi was also speechless. "Just because I'm related to Akai Shuichi, both the FBI and the organization seem to think I'll definitely side with the FBI..."
"Your mental state isn't very good."
"...Well, I was interrogated after all. Although it wasn't too excessive, it was indeed tiring."
Miyano Akemi didn't think to complain that Usuha Izuki noticed her poor mental state but still had her continue cleaning. After all, since she was here, she had to do what needed doing. Otherwise, if she did nothing and the organization found out, they'd wonder what she came to do.
But she did have grievances, just not directed at Usuha Izuki: "I had already chosen the organization and didn't agree to Akai Shuichi's proposal, but now it's still become like this... I feel like the organization's suspicion has gone a bit too far. If not for Shiho, I might already be dead."
"That's true." Usuha Izuki didn't comfort her. "Gin is naturally suspicious. The fact that you have blood relations with an FBI undercover agent is unforgivable to him. For him, suspicion equals guilt."
Miyano Akemi sighed: "I heard that even if I pass the investigation, I won't be able to live like before. They say they're going to start assigning me missions to make me participate and prove my determination..."
"What missions?"
Miyano Akemi had nothing to hide from Usuha Izuki and answered expressionlessly: "Drug smuggling, probably. They seem to think that once I do such things and they have dirt on me, I'll accept my fate."
Usuha Izuki pondered: "What do you want to do?"
"How could I possibly!"
"Then how about you actually contact the FBI and run away." Usuha Izuki propped his chin and said. "I'll pick a good sniper to send you on your way."
Miyano Akemi: "...???"
—Which kind of 'send you on your way' are you talking about?!