Chapter 82
A small commotion didn’t disturb too many people. However, Mouri Kogoro, who was drinking and bragging nearby, showed a clear expression of recognition when he saw the man in the chef’s uniform.
“I’m Wakita Kanenori, a chef at Iroha Sushi in Beika,” the chef introduced himself as he bent down to pick up the sushi that had fallen on the floor. “I’m also Mr. Mouri’s disciple—right, Master?”
Mouri Kogoro remembered Wakita Kanenori’s request to be his disciple. Hearing this, he said magnanimously, “That’s right, that’s right! Oh, I, the great detective, am so popular. I even have two disciples.”
“But my favorite is still my number one disciple,” the great detective Mouri Kogoro said, slapping Amuro’s shoulder hard. “Good lad! You’re so on the ball! You’ll always be my first and foremost disciple!”
Furuya Rei smiled and nodded, while also covering the mouth of his girlfriend, who had burst out laughing in his arms.
An’an immediately retaliated, reaching out to pinch his waist.
Everyone knows that when a young couple is bickering, it’s best for unrelated people to stay far away, otherwise they will inevitably suffer.
But Wakita Kanenori, as if he couldn’t read the room, struck up a conversation with the girl. “I’m so sorry for almost bumping into you. The sushi is all over the floor. It seems I’ll have to go back to the kitchen and remake it.”
“Speaking of which, we have fresh king crab from Hokkaido in the kitchen today. Unfortunately, by the time it’s prepared and served, it won’t be the freshest first bite,” Wakita said with regret.
The dark-haired girl’s eyes lit up.
His words were practically a blatant hint for her to sneak into the back kitchen and steal some food.
Sneaking into the back kitchen was a bad deed that Suspect An was very familiar with. She was a repeat offender.
The girl’s toes shifted in a different direction. The blond Public Security officer immediately guessed the suspect’s motive.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to dance with me?” Furuya said, not letting her go. “I can also make king crab.”
He raised the stakes of his bribe. “An’an can squat by its side and watch it blow bubbles in the water.”
To witness a live king crab being sent into the fire, to gradually turn a delicious red in its uneasy struggle, to be cruelly dismembered, and to dip the snow-white crab meat in a secret sweet and sour garlic sauce—what a cruel yet delicious crime.
It was very much in line with Suspect An’s criminal aesthetic.
Furuya’s bribe was a great success.
“Then let’s go dance,” An’an said, pulling him towards the dance floor.
A melodious dance tune echoed in the banquet hall. Couples on the dance floor embraced and danced, their skirts swirling like flowers.
Furuya: “It seems there’s no room for us?”
More and more people were joining. The dance floor was getting crowded. Someone accidentally missed a beat and, in their stumble, stepped on five or six people’s feet.
An’an just wanted to dance. She didn’t want to become a suspect in a stampede incident at the celebration party.
Fortunately, the banquet hall that Director Ochi had booked was very large. Besides the buffet area and the dance floor, there was also a lounge area for guests to play board games and a garden balcony for afternoon tea.
It was now night, not afternoon tea time. The tables and chairs on the balcony had been moved away. The hydrangeas were bathed in the pale moonlight.
Furuya stood in the moonlight and once again bowed to invite her to dance.
The intoxicating scent of champagne flowed in the wind. The swirling dance steps crushed the moonlight on the ground. A distance that was both near and far, constantly pulling away and then drawing close again.
An’an hadn’t actually drunk much of the toasts from everyone. Champagne was not a strong liquor, far from the point where she would get drunk.
Perhaps it was the fault of spinning too many times.
The girl missed a beat. She fell into Furuya’s arms and was held tightly.
“Dizzy,” An’an said, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend’s neck and nuzzling against him. “You can dance the second half.”
Furuya laughed, lifted the person in his arms, and looked up at her. “Reaping the rewards, hm?”
The dark-haired girl, who never felt any psychological burden for doing bad things, nodded with supreme confidence. “Mhm!”
So what if she was bad? Furuya was completely helpless against her. He could only obediently listen to her.
It was so pleasant not to have to exert any effort. If she could, An’an would have wanted to dance on the garden balcony until the end of the celebration party.
That was impossible. She was the star of the celebration party.
Socializing and developing connections within the industry is a part of an actor’s job. An’an was the type who was famous and talented but had no airs. The number of people who tried to get close to her was not small.
Socializing is exhausting. Fortunately, An’an had a reliable accomplice. She had instructed Furuya to call her every five minutes so that she could quickly run away with the excuse of “Sorry, there’s an emergency at home.”
After all, half of the people who were trying to socialize with her were her colleagues. She couldn’t just walk away after receiving an alarm clock call in front of a group of actors.
This trick had never failed. When someone asked what kind of emergency was so urgent that she had to leave, Miss An would smile calmly.
Her: The house is on fire / has been blown up / a wandering killer has broken into the apartment / someone is jumping off the rooftop but it’s suspected to be a homicide / a threatening letter has been slipped under the door… which kind of emergency do you like?
The City of Crime has everything. Welcome to Beika Town!
Ring, ring, ring!
The phone rang again. An’an answered with practiced ease. “Yes, it’s me. Did a thief break into the house again? Not a big problem.”
A hesitant voice came from the receiver. “What do you mean, a thief broke in? Isn’t Zero living next door to you? Did he not catch the culprit?”
When did a Public Security police officer become so incompetent? Hiromitsu was shocked.
An’an let out a “huh” and moved the phone away to look at the caller ID. Oh, it’s Mentor Scotch.
“To contact me so late at night…” the girl said with conviction. “You don’t have to say it. I know something must have happened.”
“Don’t be afraid, Hiro. I will definitely help you,” she said seriously. “Is it that the distillery’s workplace bullying is not allowing you to live in the employee dorms, leaving you homeless on the streets in the middle of the night?”
“Or is it that the dorms suddenly had a power and water outage, cutting off your supplies, leaving you homeless on the streets in the middle of the night?”
“Or is it that a despicable colleague has taken over your dorm to have a party and didn’t invite you, and you left in a rage, homeless on the streets in the middle of the night?”
Hiromitsu: “…Do I have any other ending besides being homeless on the streets in the middle of the night?”
“You do,” An’an said frankly. “Come to the Trojan Horse Apartments. You can pick and choose between two guest rooms. It’s not impossible for the three of us to sleep in the master bedroom together. I am willing to make an exception for you.”
Hiromitsu: Thank you, Your Majesty, but there’s no need. A relationship of three is still too crowded.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Furuya, seeing that An’an’s line was busy, came to find her and listened to the call with her.
Mentor Scotch’s opening was a royal flush:
“Rum is here.”
The voices of the banquet suddenly became distant. Only the sound of breathing in his ear was clearly audible.
Hiromitsu paused for a few seconds to let them digest the information, then continued.
He had been recommended to join the organization by Pinga. Pinga had become Rum’s confidant after Curacao’s death. Therefore, the new Scotch Whisky was also nominally a member of Rum’s faction.
Just as Vodka knew Gin’s movements, a confidant always knew more than others.
“Rum is very interested in An’an,” Hiromitsu said. “It’s probably because both Bourbon and Vermouth are very close to you.”
Two of the organization’s most famous secretive members were simultaneously close to one person, and her identity was a very profitable A-list star. It would be strange if Rum wasn’t interested.
“Rum is an impatient person,” Hiromitsu said. “Time is money! He believes in the principle that time is money. Once he decides to get close to An’an, he will act quickly.”
What occasion is most suitable for a stranger to approach?
“A celebration party,” An’an said.
A glitzy world of fame and fortune, champagne swaying with an intoxicating luster. Strangers who catch each other’s eye can also smile and embrace, sliding onto the dance floor, easily exchanging contact information and promising future collaborations.
As the star of the celebration party, it wouldn’t be surprising if anyone came to talk to her.
“Rum is used to disguising himself and never shows his true face in the organization,” Furuya mused. “He must be in disguise now.”
“An’an, who has talked to you today?”
The dark-haired girl thought hard and replied, “Everyone.”
Furuya: “…”
Hiromitsu: “…”
The two of them: So popular.
“Excluding the people I know and have seen, there are three complete strangers.”
An’an held up three fingers.
The manager in charge of the banquet hall. She had come to ask An’an for an autograph and had taken a photo with her.
The head waiter. He had seen that An’an liked the cream puffs in the dessert section and had specially said he would pack a portion for her to take away.
“And finally, the chef who almost bumped into me earlier,” she said. “Mr. Wakita Kanenori, who works at Iroha Sushi in Beika—it was the first time I had met him, but does Rei know him?”
Furuya replied, “We’ve had a few dealings.”
A chef who works at a sushi restaurant. He didn’t seem suspicious, but An’an wouldn’t rashly rule him out.
First, the “pick one of three” is an unshakable, absolute principle in Beika. Everything has to be a choice of three. This is Conan Science!
Second, An’an said, “I think the suspicion level of ‘a chef who works at a sushi restaurant’ is on par with ‘a waiter who works at a café.’ Who supports and who opposes?”
Furuya: “…”
Hiromitsu: “I support.”
A working man can’t help another working man. Wakita Kanenori could not be removed from the list of Rum candidates.
“A choice of three?” the undercover Public Security officer frowned. “There’s only one chance. The moment Rum realizes someone is looking for him, he will immediately abandon his fake identity and run away.”
In Rum’s view, both Vermouth and Bourbon were at the scene. As the organization’s second-in-command, it was impossible for him not to have support.
—No matter what Furuya thought, Bourbon, who did not want his undercover identity to be exposed, had to follow Rum’s instructions.
“There are too few clues,” Hiromitsu sighed.
The initiative was not on their side. The identities of the three suspects meant that they could proactively talk to An’an, but An’an would not proactively go to them.
“Even if there’s a suitable excuse, it won’t work,” Furuya said. “Rum will definitely be suspicious.”
That’s right. The star of the celebration party, who was surrounded by everyone, would never condescend to an inconspicuous stranger.
Should they wait and see? The two Public Security police officers fell into deep thought. Or should they pretend nothing had happened and wait for the next opportunity for a one-hit kill?
But this was a rare opportunity. Rum had hidden his identity and had come alone. If they could capture him in one fell swoop, the Black Organization would suffer an unprecedentedly heavy blow.
The capture of every high-ranking member with a codename meant a huge increase in the red side’s progress bar. It was worth sacrificing one or two moles for this.
The FBI had exposed Akai Shuichi’s identity in order to capture Gin, but unfortunately, the operation had failed, resulting in additional losses.
To risk exposing Bourbon to capture Rum—was it necessary to go to such lengths?
The organization’s second-in-command…
“Hiro,” Furuya suddenly said. “Has anyone in the organization ever been suspicious of you?”
“Not yet,” Hiromitsu replied. “Even Gin is not very suspicious of me.”
The dog-blood body-double literature had won everything. Gin thought the body-double Scotch was sick, crazy, and incomprehensible. How could such a person be on the red side? How did you pass the psychological test to get into the police academy?
Furuya remembered the rumors in the organization that Bourbon and the new Scotch had a very bad relationship, as if they had an irreconcilable feud.
Bourbon: Anyone who sees their deceased best friend suddenly replaced by a body double would be furious…
His past difficulties, contempt, and hatred for the new Scotch had all been seen by his distillery colleagues.
“So,” Furuya said softly, “if Bourbon is exposed, Scotch will not be implicated. Public Security will still have a mole lurking in the organization.”
Just like when Scotch was exposed, Bourbon had not been suspected.
“Zero, you mean…” Hiromitsu couldn’t help but clench his fists, his nails digging into his palms.
“Bourbon is subordinate to Rum. It’s reasonable for him to report to him in an emergency,” Furuya said calmly. “Just now, Rum asked me to investigate Kudo Shinichi. He’ll be interested.”
Edogawa Conan happened to be present and could cooperate with Public Security’s actions.
Compared to An’an, whom he would have a chance to get close to in the future, Rum would definitely be more interested in Kudo Shinichi, who was related to APTX4869.
Of the three suspects, whoever suddenly found an excuse to leave the banquet hall was the correct answer.
“But there will definitely be a lot of trouble after my identity is exposed,” Furuya said in a deliberately light tone. “First, I have to quit my job at Café Poirot, move immediately, change my identity… I think I’m going to have a fourth name.”
Akai Shuichi had once broken up with his girlfriend, Jodie, for an undercover mission, and they had not gotten back together to this day.
Furuya didn’t think he was a scumbag like Rye, but with Rum knowing about his relationship with An’an, his new identity would have to be separate from her—at least on the surface.
A famous star and a secret relationship. It sounded surprisingly fitting.
The blond young man looked at the dance floor in the center of the banquet hall.
The live broadcast camera was always on the dance floor. An’an had invited him to dance in the center of the dance floor earlier, and Furuya had readily agreed.
He had clearly been prepared to go public, but now he was about to be sent back to the starting point. How could Furuya be willing?
He could only endure it for a while longer… with Rum’s fall, it might not be too long before the Black Organization was completely eradicated.
One year, two years, three years. There would always be another chance to hold hands openly in the spotlight.
“Hiro, listen to me,” Furuya took a deep breath and said decisively, “I’ll contact Rum immediately. You—”
“I can’t do anything,” Hiromitsu interrupted his friend.
His voice was drowned out by the roar of an engine. “I have ten minutes to get to the banquet hall.”
Furuya: “What are you coming for?! Scotch can’t be involved with Bourbon! The most important thing for you now is to protect yourself!”
“I know,” Hiromitsu’s voice sounded extremely helpless. “I completely understand Zero’s plan. To be honest, I also think it’s the best solution right now.”
“But someone doesn’t agree.”
The young Public Security police officer floored the accelerator, his voice mixed with the howling wind. “A creation born from an ability cannot go against the will of the ability-user. This is the highest law imposed on me.”
“An’an doesn’t agree with your plan. I unconditionally support her idea.”
“Two against one. You lose. The right to decide belongs to my owner.”