Chapter 259
Let alone others, even Bourbon, who had tipped him off, was a bit stunned watching this development.
After all, while others didn't know, he was very clear that Usuha Izuki wasn't someone who spent several days researching, finding inconsistencies in the materials Rum provided, then judging the person was an undercover agent...
He had completely just looked at the simplest information he'd given him—maybe just a few minutes—then declared he would make the other party retreat in the face of difficulties.
Honestly, when he later heard Usuha Izuki accuse Stout of being an undercover agent, he wasn't surprised at all, because this was Usuha Izuki's standard operating procedure. When Stout disappeared, he hesitated a bit, wondering if he'd been framed, but the methods didn't seem like Usuha Izuki's style. But now Stout really seemed to be an MI6 undercover agent...
Even though Bourbon was several versions ahead of the organization and knew Usuha Izuki was indeed very good at spotting undercover agents, he couldn't help but cry out from the bottom of his heart—
This was too ridiculous!!!
The information he'd shown Usuha Izuki really only had basic details like photos, codenames, and nationality—it didn't even include how he joined the organization!
With such crude information, Usuha Izuki just glanced at it and knew the other party fundamentally couldn't affect his position in the organization...
He felt Usuha Izuki might have operated something privately, but this private operation was a bit too efficient and too certain. Having only known for a few minutes, that attitude was as if he could guarantee everything would develop according to Usuha Izuki's wishes. Thinking about it was both terrifying and ridiculous—he didn't really want to believe it.
Rum, on the other hand, hoped it was a frame-up.
When Bourbon contacted Usuha Izuki according to Rum's wishes, he complained a bit.
"So in your eyes, I'm this amazing? You're making me feel a bit embarrassed."
Usuha Izuki responded: "An ordinary person like me doesn't understand anything about framing or not framing, but if you as a friend have this need, I can learn it for you. When you give the word, I'll immediately frame you as FBI."
Bourbon hung up expressionlessly, feeling like an idiot for thinking his relationship with Usuha Izuki had gotten closer.
Although he still couldn't figure out how exactly Usuha Izuki distinguished undercover agents, or what his stance was, as long as he didn't go crazy in his direction, others could die for all he cared.
He'd been quite busy recently too. Let Rum solve this mess himself—don't think about passing the buck.
After all, two executives who had originally been deeply trusted by the Boss—Rum and Gin—were both caught up in anxiety and gossip, so quite a few matters had to be temporarily delegated to others, and Bourbon was one of them.
Even Vermouth had been called back early.
The Boss had actually tested Usuha Izuki, asking if he wanted more power, maybe personally getting revenge on Rum and Gin who had "bullied him," but Usuha Izuki refused on grounds of "too troublesome."
It was hard to say whether the Boss was satisfied or dissatisfied with this response, but the Boss's tone in replying to Usuha Izuki's emails was becoming increasingly gentle and affectionate.
Compared to the chaotic black side, the red side was much better, but several crises had occurred.
For example, the fact that Edogawa Conan was actually Kudo Shinichi was finally discovered by Hattori Heiji. And also, an organization member codenamed Sherry who had also become small like him was now using the alias Haibara Ai and living at Dr. Agasa's house.
Hattori Heiji had originally felt a sense of kinship with Kudo Shinichi because they'd both been persecuted by Usuha Izuki. After discovering this secret, he became even more enthusiastic, evolving directly to the level of close friends, frequently calling to contact Edogawa Conan.
"Kudo!" Hattori Heiji called again that day.
Edogawa Conan closed his eyes in pain: "Don't call me that name. I feel like you'll slip up too easily. Didn't I tell you to call me Conan?"
"Oh, sorry, Co-Co-Co..."
Hattori Heiji stumbled on "Co" for a long time without managing the next syllable.
Edogawa Conan: "...Is it really that hard to just call me Conan properly?! Does this name burn your mouth or something?!"
Hattori Heiji was also aggrieved: "Sorry, because Usuha-nii always called himself Detective Conan before. Though I really want to respect Conan Doyle, when I'm cursing in my heart, I can't help but curse using Conan. Calling you Conan always feels weird."
Edogawa Conan said helplessly: "Enough, stop reminding me about the fake name collision..."
Hattori Heiji consoled him: "It's fine. Usuha-nii also used my name, right? We're even."
Edogawa Conan: "..........."
Yes, because on the way leaving the game launch event, Matsuda Jinpei mentioned that "the name Hattori Heiji sounds familiar," and Mouri Ran happened to remember that high school detective who had come to challenge Kudo Shinichi, so she compared descriptions with Matsuda Jinpei.
The result was that the description had nothing to do with the dark-skinned detective, but sounded exactly like Usuha Izuki.
Originally, Edogawa Conan had felt this behavior of using other people's names everywhere was like Usuha Izuki. After hearing this, he was directly confirmed. After confessing to Hattori Heiji, they chatted and he complained about this to Hattori Heiji.
Hattori Heiji sent an email to Usuha Izuki complaining, and still hadn't received a reply. But this treatment of sending emails like sending them into a black hole was something he'd gotten used to over the years, so he didn't take it seriously—rather, with no rebuttal, given Usuha Izuki's personality, he probably acknowledged it...
Anyway, after discovering they were both complaining about Usuha Izuki again, Edogawa Conan stiffly redirected the conversation: "What did you want to tell me?"
"Oh right, didn't you ask me to investigate that [Criminal Consultant] before? I finally heard some news. It seems the Metropolitan Police are close to finding his address! It's inconvenient for me here, so why don't you ask using Uncle Mouri's identity?"
Edogawa Conan perked up.
He felt that someone like a criminal consultant definitely knew a lot about the criminal underworld's intelligence, and might have some connection to the Black Organization. It would be best if they could catch him.
Having just complained about Usuha-nii always using other people's names, Edogawa Conan now very skillfully found a phone booth, used the voice changer to sound like Mouri Kogoro, and called Inspector Megure for information.
"Oh, you heard about this too, Mouri? We did finally find his address."
Inspector Megure didn't suspect anything: "Actually, we were planning to ask for your help anyway... How about this—I'll have Hagiwara and Date come find you in a bit. Please cooperate with us."
Edogawa Conan hadn't expected such good fortune and immediately agreed, then went back to give Mouri Kogoro a fabricated reason to relay this.
Mouri Kogoro laughed proudly: "Who told me I'm the famous Detective Mouri Kogoro? Being asked for help by the Metropolitan Police is only natural!"
Edogawa Conan's face was full of black lines.
Sure enough, soon Hagiwara Kenji and Date Wataru drove over, picking up Mouri Kogoro and Edogawa Conan, with the reason being that having a child along wouldn't arouse suspicion.
"Even Little Shinryu said Conan-kun is very smart. He rarely praises people like that." Hagiwara Kenji said with a smile while driving. "So Mouri-san, stop scolding Conan-kun. Maybe he really can help somehow."
Mouri Kogoro clicked his tongue: "Samukawa, huh... He actually knows how to praise people? I always feel like he only knows how to say things like 'Fine, you have guts.'"
Hagiwara Kenji: "...That's not praise, but he has indeed said... ahaha."
Edogawa Conan felt this was a rare good opportunity, so he asked curiously: "Did Officer Hagiwara meet Samukawa-san because you used to be partners?"
"Not quite. I actually got to know him because he saved my life." Hagiwara Kenji always liked telling this story to balance out Samukawa Shinryu's reputation. "Becoming partners was later. After he saved me, he said he wanted to take the Police Academy exam. Jinpei and I helped him prepare for the interview. Later I even became his instructor... He initially went to the Mobile Investigation Unit, but unexpectedly later came to Investigation Division One to partner with me."
Edogawa Conan: "..........."
What to do? After hearing this whole sequence of events, he completely couldn't match it up with Samukawa Shinryu!
"Why did he resign then?" Mouri Kogoro, who had also been a detective but resigned for certain reasons, was more curious about this.
Hagiwara Kenji suddenly fell silent.
Mouri Kogoro: "...?"
Date Wataru answered with a dry laugh: "Because Samukawa has trouble getting up in the morning. After getting up early continuously for several years, he finally couldn't stand it anymore..."
Mouri Kogoro: "...???"
Edogawa Conan: "..........."
He had indeed overheard Inspector Megure talking to others about Samukawa Shinryu having trouble getting up, but he hadn't expected someone would actually resign because of this...
He felt like that image that had several layers of sinister filters suddenly cracked a corner.
Having talked about Samukawa Shinryu, Hagiwara Kenji naturally continued: "If we can catch this consultant this time, I think Little Shinryu can breathe easier too. He's been mistaken for this consultant and had people try to drag him down with them four or five times at crime scenes..."
Date Wataru couldn't help complaining: "What's with his constitution of always being mistaken for the mastermind? I still can't understand it."
"People can't choose their birth or appearance, but they can choose their future." Hagiwara Kenji sighed. "Little Shinryu is also working hard to control his own life."
Edogawa Conan sat quietly in the back seat, silently collecting intelligence about Samukawa Shinryu.
...Honestly, the Samukawa Shinryu described by Hagiwara Kenji and Date Wataru felt like a completely different person from the Samukawa Shinryu he knew.
He couldn't completely abandon his suspicions just because others said so... because he had discussed this matter with Haibara Ai, who had recently escaped to Dr. Agasa's house.
When mentioning Gin and Vodka, Haibara Ai's expression was very unpleasant. When mentioning Botanist, Haibara Ai's expression became even worse.
"You really know? What does Botanist look like? What nationality? What hair color?" Edogawa Conan had asked urgently at the time.
Haibara Ai pressed her lips together: "...Never seen him, but I've heard a lot."
Edogawa Conan was overjoyed: "This much intelligence? Tell me!"
"...Because I mainly stayed in the research lab, I didn't hear many rumors, but both Gin and Vodka are very wary of Botanist."
Haibara Ai shivered, saying with some fear: "Vodka said Botanist likes to torment people, has a very nasty personality, but is also very capable. Something about sniping... Gin would go smoke whenever Vodka mentioned Botanist, like his mood got really bad. But my sister said Botanist was someone with a very gentle and considerate nature, just with some dark humor..."
"Your sister knows Botanist? Didn't your sister tell you what he looks like?" Edogawa Conan was very urgent.
"No." Haibara Ai said slowly with restrained emotion. "I don't like asking my sister about other organization members. When we finally get to meet, we should talk about happy things. It's just because my sister was working as an assistant to Botanist that she specifically said these things, probably to reassure me, maybe to comfort me. She wouldn't say much else."
It was also because her sister was working as Botanist's assistant that she directly asked Vodka for intelligence about Botanist, carefully avoiding sensitive topics like appearance—she just wanted to know if Botanist was easy to get along with... But what Vodka said was no different from intimidation for her.
Edogawa Conan was somewhat disappointed, but sensing Haibara Ai's emotions didn't seem right, he didn't complain and just asked: "So your sister's account might have been beautified?"
Haibara Ai was silent for a long time, then nodded with difficulty.
"...Yes. Before I escaped, Vodka said that Botanist ordered someone to kill my sister."