Chapter 80 080 Mystery Drama - Scene 1

080 - "I have suspected more than once that they actually wrote the script in advance."

This was earlier, when the Armed Detective Agency had just arrived at the Joint Major Crimes Unit.

Lewis, whom Balzac deemed useless and then sent by Holmes to deliver documents, squatted in a corner of the corridor, studying the documents in his hands.

Fabre stood in a position that kept Lewis out of his sight and as far away as possible, trying to pretend he didn't know the guy.

Holding two thin sheets of paper in his hand, Lewis looked at the contents of the two sheets of paper with a slightly puzzled expression.

Fabre, the "junior" and "temporary worker" of the ASA headed by Lewis, who has almost become Lewis's accessory in the past two days, watched coldly.

Seeing Lewis read the entire text again and still wanting to read it again, Fabre rolled his eyes in exasperation: "Is it so hard to admit that you're not smart enough?"

“If you say I’m not smart enough, I’ll accept it, but I’m just not reconciled.” Lewis’s voice was as frustrating as ever. “But, but what, what’s the connection between all these things?”

With a helpless sigh, Fabre walked a few steps behind Lewis and scanned the documents in Lewis's hands. He also frowned.

"This content is indeed... a bit confusing."

These pages of information begin with the UN's specific operational route in Yokohama before the arrival of the Joint Major Crimes Unit, followed by a series of urban legends about Yokohama, and finally a report on the damage to Yokohama.

To be honest, these things can be put together, but it feels like... there's no logical connection when looking at them all together.

"Right, it's not just me, I'm the only one who thinks so."

Lewis, having received Fabre's approval, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He finished organizing the documents, stood up, straightened his hat—ignoring his wrinkled clothes and only straightening his hat—and strode over to the outpost of the Super Armored Detective Agency.

Fabre, who had been fighting against the wall, sighed again and followed Lewis over.

Since Lewis had already been crouching not far from the Armed Detective Agency's base, they didn't have to walk far to reach their destination.

Politely prying open the door, you'll be greeted by Kenji Miyazawa, who was in charge of opening it.

Kenji Miyazawa tilted his head; "Is there a problem?"

“It’s like this.” Because Lewis had a severe stutter, Fabre was the one who introduced the situation. “We (ASA) want to test your business capabilities.”

The expressions of the people inside the room changed slightly, but there was not much tension.

Fabre, who had been observing all of this, raised an eyebrow and continued reciting the "official clichés" that Balzac had arranged for him.

As Fabre finished speaking, Lewis handed the documents in his hand to Kunikida Doppo, who had already walked over.

"We are responsible for announcing the exam questions and will wait here for the results."

Kunikida Doppo frowned subconsciously, while Edogawa Ranpo, who was sitting on the sofa with a manga in his hand, suddenly turned his head and glanced at Lewis.

Lewis: "Is there a problem?"

Lewis wondered if it was just his imagination, but after Ranpo glanced at him... he seemed to suddenly feel really bad?

"This kind of thing doesn't need the great detective like me to handle it!"

It wasn't a feeling, just a sudden change in mood that made Edogawa Ranpo turn back to continue reading his manga.

The answer is that UN is looking for a "book," and the clue is a "tiger."

Kenji Miyazawa: "Huh?"

Kunikida Doppo: "..." Lewis: "..." Fabre: "..." Fabre: "To my recollection, you haven't yet stated the question about 'UN's goals and clues'?"

Lewis: "Of course?"

No, what just happened? Why did we suddenly have an answer?

Ranpo snorted unhappily and glanced at Lewis again.

The clothes were disheveled and had a lot of wrinkles, and based on the brief observation before, Lewis was the type who didn't care much about his appearance. This was probably not due to accumulated wear and tear on the clothes, but rather because he had stayed somewhere for too long before.

Lewis was sent to deliver documents but lingered at a certain spot for a long time, clearly studying the information, so it must have been a "test question".

I have a few sheets of paper in my hand. Considering what he just said, I can conclude that these are all the documents. Moreover, judging from the marks on the paper, they have been looked through several times recently.

—Although the exam questions were difficult to understand, they were not purely paper puzzles. Otherwise, Lewis would not have flipped through them repeatedly; they were likely based on a large amount of written material.

Lewis walked in with a slightly annoyed and somewhat suspicious expression. Therefore, the issue must be relatively important, hence the questioning of the capabilities of a "non-governmental organization in a remote area."

However, while there was some doubt, there wasn't much anxiety; in other words, the question itself was important. But the fact that "the correct answer" was not important.

—The exam questions and the written materials should not have a direct connection, or the materials themselves should lack logic.

Moreover, the answer should be an accurate one that has already been determined and is not worth discussing.

Additional known fact is that the Chinese study came because the UN hijacked and used the "I Ching," and the UN arrived in Yokohama immediately afterward.

Given that there is really no other problematic information that can be summarized into these few documents, and more importantly, given the premise that "the answer has been determined," we can only think of this as the problem.

The result is so obvious that it makes one wonder... what is the point of asking any questions at all?

Therefore, Ranpo simply calmly stated the answer he had already deduced.

Edogawa Ranpo calmly withdrew his gaze and continued to focus on the manga, even his explanations were delivered in a calm tone, without the slightest hint of boasting.

Edogawa Ranpo genuinely believed that these were not particularly remarkable pieces of reasoning.

"You can tell that just by looking at it."