Chapter 48 Playing Hard to Get

There's been a lot of news lately, both good and bad.

The best news is that Hagiwara will be reinstated next week.

The fact that Amuro and Conan teamed up to defuse the bomb was suppressed by Matsuo and others, who claimed it was all the police's doing. The biggest contributor was Hagiwara Kenji, who, despite being disciplined and transferred from the bomb disposal unit, remained concerned for the people. This earned Hagiwara considerable goodwill.

This explanation is certainly inaccurate, but the truth is often difficult to reveal to the public. If the public knew that the bomb was defused by an elementary school student, the Metropolitan Police Department might face layoffs.

As for Matsuda, he will need to rest for a while longer before he can go back to work.

The worst news was that the escaped prisoner had died.

With no one left to testify, the trail went cold.

"Suicide? That's strange." Jing Guang frowned and said, "The last time the prisoner was caught, he cried and begged for his life, refusing to confess to his crimes. How come he's become so reckless after spending several years in prison?"

"It seems that if the prisoner doesn't die, someone will make him wish he were dead," Zero speculated. "Jing, who could that person be?"

"I think it's the same person who mobilized a large number of online trolls to control public opinion, deliberately sent a fake bomb to Kazami, killed Senki Ryo-senpai, framed Kawabata-senpai, and betrayed me to the organization, right?" Jing concluded. "More accurately, it's the same group of people. One person can't have that much ability."

Zero nodded in agreement, and the two began a deduction process, each taking turns stating a sentence.

"The prisoner's sentence was increased six months ago because he caused trouble in prison. I think he must have felt hopeless about getting out of prison, which is why he had the idea of ​​escaping."

"It is unknown exactly when the perpetrator started, but it should have been discovered not long afterward."

"However, the prison guards did not expose him; instead, they turned a blind eye. Because the mole wanted to use him to carry out a plan."

"Four months ago, an 'earthquake' struck the Metropolitan Police Department. Kudo gathered evidence of an organized surrogacy operation, barged into the department's high-ranking officials' meeting room, and gave the bigwigs, who were discussing security for the Winter Olympics, a lesson."

At this point, the two exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.

"Zero, do you think the mole is either a bystander watching from the sidelines, or a high-ranking leader listening to Kudo's speech inside?"

"I suspect there are both. And judging by their current record, there's probably more than one in the house."

"That's what I thought too. But no matter how powerful the organization is, it's impossible to bribe all the high-ranking police officers. Those people who were colluding with the organization must have been very confused at the time, and even started to panic. Why would a mere high school student be so bold? Who was he acting on his behalf?"

"From that moment on, the enemy lurking in the shadows became restless. They began to suspect that the police infiltrators had not been eradicated. So they carefully examined the personnel changes in the Ministry of Public Security in recent years, investigated Kudo's social network, and may even have overlooked Kawabata, who had already been sidelined. Finally, a suspicious name surfaced—"

"Kazami Yuya!"

The two said in unison.

"According to that group's thinking, Kazami must have done it to avenge Kawahata, right? But that's not the case. In order not to drag others into it, Kawahata did not reveal the inside story to anyone."

“Zero, I think there’s another reason why Kawabata doesn’t want to talk about this. Kawabata probably realizes that there’s something wrong with his superiors, but he doesn’t know who it is. Maybe he thinks that it was because he went to reason with too many superiors that Chiki Ryo died unjustly back then?”

"Jing, why do you think Kawabata is still staying in the archives?"

"Because he's unwilling to accept defeat and wants revenge! But he can't find his enemy, and he's lost and confused, clinging to a pile of shattered beliefs." Jing Guang gave a bitter smile.

Zero paused for a moment, then said, "However, I'm surprised that this group actually caused such a commotion!"

"Is it because Kazami is a member of ZERO, so they can't just take action directly? Plus, Sherry's escape might have alerted the organization as well."

"The first two times the Public Security Bureau sent undercover agents to the organization, it was ordered by the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Public Security recommended the candidates. But this time we bypassed the middle steps. Zero's identity was not exposed, which I think indirectly shows that the organization is not able to control ZERO's people. As for my exposure, it was probably because someone noticed that a police officer who had just joined the team suddenly resigned, which aroused suspicion. Now that I think about it, the loophole in the file system that I discovered back then may have been a trap that the mole dug for Kawabata in advance to shirk responsibility."

"Well, Kazami's situation is different. Although those people were able to find some of his old files at the Ministry of Public Security, they couldn't take direct action against him because Kazami has no direct contact with the organization. They might think Kazami has an inside man in the organization, but they can't find out who that person is."

"Kudo's intrusion into the Metropolitan Police Department was tantamount to striking a chord with the enemy, throwing them into disarray. So, in retaliation, they made an even bigger commotion, hoping to force the person behind Kazami to reveal themselves, even if it was just a small slip-up."

"So, they set a trap for Kazami. Unexpectedly, Kazami fell right into it, along with Kawahata. Their visit to the prison will certainly become crucial evidence of collusion with criminals. This incident has caused a huge uproar, and the higher-ups will definitely set up a separate investigation team to handle this case. Even if Kazami is a member of ZERO, he won't escape interrogation. Add to that the various pieces of evidence of treason that those people meticulously prepared for him, and imprisonment seems inevitable."

"Does Zero think the investigation team might uncover any clues about the mole?"

"If it were possible, it would certainly save us a lot of trouble, but I am pessimistic about it."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because they're very good at exploiting human weaknesses! Think about a criminal's first crime: they set off a fake smoke bomb to lure people into finding the real one. And then what?"

“No one would have thought there would be a second one so close by,” Jingguang replied.

"That's right! The same logic applies to this case. The investigation team's first suspicion would naturally be Kawabata, who had a dispute with his colleague over the culprit. However, as the investigation deepened, they discovered that Kawabata was just a smokescreen, and the real mastermind was Kazami. The fabrication of that rumor that only recently started circulating was probably to cause the two of them to turn against each other, right?"

"That way, no one will continue to investigate, because generally one plot twist is enough. Reality isn't a novel; there aren't that many interconnected schemes. The more complex the plan, the more difficult it is to execute. Just like when we rescued Mingmei, even the most meticulous plan ended up riddled with flaws, didn't it?"

"I don't think the opponent's plan went exactly as they had planned. Public opinion is a powder keg; it could backfire if things go wrong. They probably didn't expect it to escalate to this extent."

“That group took full advantage of Tokyo’s security weaknesses. The higher-ups might notice, but it’s hard to say how far they can investigate.” Jingguang glanced at Zero and asked, “Now our accomplices have given us a valuable head start. The mole who’s been lying low for over a decade has made a huge mess. How does Zero plan to use this opportunity?”

Zero raised his head and calmly replied, "Wait."

"Wait? Do nothing?"

Ling smiled slightly, fully demonstrating the composure of years of undercover work: "As Jing just said, the more complex the plan, the more difficult it is to implement. Most plans are already a miracle if they can perfectly complete the first step, let alone the subsequent steps. So since the enemy has struck first this time, we just need to hold our positions and see how they play their next move. When their plan is completely distorted, our opportunity will come. They want to capture Kazemi, right? Then let's use this fish as bait and see how big a fish we can catch in the end."

"Have you considered the risk of failure?" Jingguang asked cautiously.

"I trust my judgment of people. Kudo is, and so is Kazami."

"Since Zero says so, I'll definitely support you. But what if we don't catch all the fish this time?"

"Then let's use bait!" Zero said decisively. "The lessons learned from the FBI and CIA's handling of the mole in 2017 are a warning. We must wipe them out completely, giving them no chance to defend themselves or reverse their actions. I want them all to remember that blood debts must be paid in blood!"

“Then we need to gather enough evidence…” Jingguang sighed silently, sensing that this would be a very difficult road.

Jing decided to start a conversation on something light to ease her mood: "Ling, how's the new job?"

"Great! There are lots of cute cats in the cafe, and one of them looks just like Jing. That's the one that Conan and I like the most!"

Jingguang complained, "Zero actually gets paid to pet the cat! That's too much!"

Ling hurriedly comforted her cat, saying, "How about I take cat videos for you every day before I go to work?"

Jing Guang nodded with satisfaction.

Ling changed the subject abruptly, saying, "Jing, you reminded me about the case from 17 years ago, and I've discovered some suspicious points."

"The Haneda Koji case?"

"No, it's the murder of those two cabinet members that happened in the same year. It's not that there's anything suspicious about the case itself, but rather the butterfly effect it triggered."

"Oh? So what were the consequences of this?"

"The direct impact is nothing more than partisan strife, but the indirect impact of this case is truly intriguing. In short, because of the deaths of those two cabinet members, a series of measures to increase the birth rate were passed. Not only were various government subsidies provided to women of childbearing age and artificial insemination encouraged, but subsidies were also given to women for egg freezing and men for sperm donation, making our country the place with the highest IVF rate in the world. Although this causal chain omits a lot of deduction, I think this is the real intention of the mastermind behind it."

"The organization wants to salvage the persistently low birth rate? What good would that do them?" Jing Guang asked, looking shocked.

"I don't know, but considering what happened to Ms. Horii, and the pharmacological mechanism of the silver bullet that Ai told you about before, I always feel that the organization values ​​life, aging, sickness, and death more than wealth and power!"

Jingguang agreed, but still couldn't understand the organization's purpose in doing so.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Akai told me that Gin might have discovered Akemi's hiding place. He's seen Gin's Porsche in the area several times recently."

“Gin clearly believes the two sisters are together, so we need to act before he discovers it’s a hoax.”

However, what they did not expect was that this time they would have to take a much larger detour, one that went beyond the boundaries of Tokyo.