Chapter 3506, Chapter 3518: [The True Form of Sherry] Requesting monthly votes (づど)

"A photo of the mixed-race researcher?" Judy thought for a moment, then remembered, "It's that young woman in the white lab coat, of course I remember, why?"

James glanced outside the door, then turned back and lowered his voice: "Yesterday at the docks, where Shuichi fought with the organization members, there was a first-year elementary school student who witnessed everything."

"I originally wanted to find out what was going on with the child, but after asking a police officer who knew her, I found out that she had actually dyed her hair last night."

"On the surface, it was to appear more formal when participating in the charity tennis match, but in reality, I suspect she was using this method to intentionally conceal her true identity."

"And after removing the disguise, this is what she really looks like."

James reached into his pocket and pulled out a group photo he'd somehow acquired. In the corner, a brightly colored mixed-race little girl sat quietly, facing away from the camera.

Although only half of her face was visible, it was easy to see that she had many similarities to the female researcher whom Vermouth had marked with a red X.

Judy recognized her immediately and exclaimed in surprise, "It's her!"

James nodded: "Didn't you say yesterday that when you resisted, you tore Vermouth's disguise, and her exposed face had no wrinkles and looked very young?"

"From this perspective, it aligns with our second hypothesis—it's not that 'Sharon Vineyard' disguised herself as a younger 'Chris Vineyard,' but rather the other way around, with the younger-looking 'Chris Vineyard' impersonating her elderly mother."

"In other words, that organization may indeed have a way to make people young again."

Judy understood what her boss was trying to say: "So this first-grade student really is the researcher that Vermouth is targeting?"

James nodded: "When she had a cold a while ago, you went to her house, and Vermouth, who played 'Dr. Araide,' also went there. Not long after, tonight's events happened... Vermouth's real target should be this mixed-race 'elementary school student,' but last night, for some reason, that woman failed to get her."

"That's good." Judy was happy to see her enemy fail miserably, but...

"Why didn't she succeed last night?" Judy asked疑惑地. "Did Shuichi stop her? -- Speaking of which, I haven't seen Shuichi. Is he alright?"

"..."

When Shuichi Akai was mentioned, James's expression became strange.

"What happened?" Judy's heart skipped a beat. "Something happened to him?!"

“It’s not a big deal.” James raised his hand and pressed it down, indicating that she shouldn’t worry. “I’m just temporarily wanted by the local police—don’t worry, it’s not a big problem. I’ve already taken care of it. As long as I stay hidden for a few more days, this matter will be over.”

"Wanted..." Judy's head throbbed again. "What exactly happened outside yesterday?"

“I’m not entirely sure either.” James shook his head. “I’ll tell you when I’ve figured it out completely. Your task now is to get some rest. Also, we need to work out our story to deal with those high school students who have been wanting to visit you.”

"And the police, my version of events to the police is that when we were traveling in Tokyo, we encountered a ruthless international thief, and last night's incident was orchestrated by that thief."

"Speaking of which, it's a good thing no one died last night... otherwise, if the police had taken it seriously, those of us with tourist visas would probably have been deported."

Judy breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that she could stay in Tokyo to continue investigating Vermouth: "We're really lucky. It seems Lady Luck is on our side after all." ...Although I personally had a bit of bad luck.

James shared the same sentiment, and then he remembered something else: "And there's that researcher who shrunk. You're the one among us who has had the most contact with her, and you're also a victim of that organization, so you should contact her—although she escaped last night, she now needs the help of the witness protection system."

“Hmm.” Jodie picked up her phone. “A few days ago, when she had a cold, I went to her house to keep an eye on ‘Dr. Araide’ and saved her and Professor Agasa’s numbers… Sigh, I hope this witness protection system doesn’t go wrong. It seems like the witness from Shuichi’s side last time was lost.”

James: "..."

Let's hope Judy gets better soon. Although this subordinate was always a bit oblivious to others' feelings, now... after being tormented by Vermouth's truth serum, her words seem to have become even more cutting.

...

On the other side, in the alleyway flooded by rain.

The bell rang, but Ai Haibara didn't have time to answer it. She and the other children rushed to Ayumi Yoshida's side, who had fallen to the ground.

The man in the raincoat ran away. Conan chased after him for a couple of steps, but found it difficult to catch up. Fearing it was a diversionary tactic, he had no choice but to stop and stay behind.

"Call the police first." Conan took out his phone and dialed 110.

Beside her, Ai Haibara knelt down and helped Ayumi Yoshida up: "How are you? Are you alright?"

"No, it's nothing." Yoshida Ayumi was still shaken and a little confused. She hugged Haibara Ai tightly, "You scared me to death! I thought he was going to kidnap me."

Ai Haibara: "..." To be honest, that's what I thought too... Thank goodness it didn't happen.

With mixed feelings, she walked to the side, picked up Ayumi Yoshida's umbrella, and helped the unfortunate child put it back on.

Then Ai Haibara remembered something and took out her phone—she seemed to have received a missed call earlier.

Just then, her phone vibrated again; it was the same number. Ai Haibara hesitated for a moment, then pressed answer and held the phone to her ear.

"Hi~ Do you remember me?" A somewhat familiar female voice came from the other end of the phone. "I'm Judy, the English teacher at Teitan Middle School. We should have met before."

“!” Ai Haibara recalled the disheveled figure she saw in the basement last night and nervously stomped on the rainwater on the ground: When she found Jodie yesterday, she not only kept her back to the light, but also deliberately disguised her voice... Could she still have been recognized?

The thought flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but look at her phone, instinctively wanting to send Jiang Xia a message to tell him that the FBI had come looking for her.

But then Judy spoke up again, saying something different from what she expected—this unfortunate FBI agent didn't mention what happened in the basement last night, but instead asked her, "Have you heard of the witness protection program?"

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