Chapter 190 The Dead Are Slightly Alive

Rei Furuya had always wanted to uncover the secrets in Rum's head and wanted to send the people in the organization to the police station, but the police didn't seem to be in a hurry to arrest anyone, so he naturally wouldn't act on his own.

However, now that Midorikawa Osamu has presented him with this opportunity, and there are no other police officers or organization members interfering, it's hard for him not to be tempted.

Black Guest will handle the initial and final arrangements, drawing attention wherever possible.

Osamu Midorikawa even added a sentence that seemed to imply that if he had any difficulty reporting to the police afterward, he could simply describe the operation as Black Guest's initiative.

That's a familiar saying...

Previously, Rei Furuya, who was a member of the organization, had encountered this Black Guest before. On several occasions, the public security operations followed a tacit understanding, with both sides getting what they needed and working together to create numerous difficulties for the organization.

Now, the person doing the "liaison" work in this area has changed from Hiro to himself, and he's still secretly "giving special treatment" behind the backs of the police, which makes him feel a bit complicated.

However, no matter how many thoughts he had in mind, he wouldn't give up this opportunity. In the gap before the Public Security Bureau received the news, he would talk to Osamu Midorikawa and try to get Rum under his control.

"Amuro-kun, how's it going? Have you managed to contact anyone else?" Wakita Kanenori, still maintaining his goofy chef demeanor, leaned over to confirm the situation with him.

Rei Furuya tilted his phone screen to another direction, and when he turned his head, his expression held a mixture of relief and surprise. He said, "I was just checking my inbox. Before I came, my boss told me that if anything unexpected happened during the trip, I should at least let him know. Oh, by the way, Mr. Wakita, shouldn't you tell your boss?"

“Ah, that’s alright.” Wakita Kanenori paused, smiled, and said, “He knows I have a master, and apart from occasionally listening to the process of solving cases, he doesn’t really care about anything else. However, I’m a little surprised that your boss even cares about this.”

“…Yes, he still worries about the business.” Furuya Rei replied with a smile. “But then again, we’re just employees after all. If we don’t have any demands, even if we find out that the boss is about to go bankrupt, we can’t really interfere.”

Wakita Kanenori, who liked to use witty remarks, paused, his voice lowering slightly: "If it's those useless employees, then so be it, but if it's a new recruit, it's still necessary to do something as simple as passing on a message. You agree, right, Amuro-kun?"

“Of course.” Furuya Rei smiled and nodded to Wakita Kanenori before walking toward Edogawa Conan with his phone in hand.

Kenjiro Wakita looked at the two children, one young and one small, lost in thought.

He was getting impatient and wished the police would come right away.

Perhaps his inner urging had an effect, because just as Furuya Rei and Edogawa Conan were exchanging a few words, a police car arrived.

The two people who rushed over, Yamato Kansuke and Uehara Yui, were acquaintances of theirs. Furuya Rei didn't see Morofushi Takaki, and although he was a little puzzled, he was secretly relieved.

He was also worried that Rum, with his amazing observation and memory, would notice something about Morobuchi Takaaki, who bore a six or seven-point resemblance to Hiro.

Presumably, his supervisor must have spoken to Hiro's brother beforehand.

Kogoro Mouri and Kansuke Yamato recounted the two murders that had occurred in the church and introduced their two disciples to them. Rei Furuya then took the opportunity to walk a few more steps in the large open space outside the door.

After all, according to the arrangements Midorikawa Osamu made for him, someone would deliver some "self-defense weapons" to him at this time so that he could better deal with Rum's "attack".

The police are already in place, and even the on-site investigators have cordoned off the church. If Black Guest were to send more people up the mountain, it would be too conspicuous and not in line with their low-key style, which is almost impossible to find in real life.

Therefore, it is highly likely that they already have people planted within the police force.

He glanced at Wakita Kanenori and saw him intently supporting Kogoro Mouri. He then secretly gave Conan Edogawa a wink. Because of prior communication, the young detective cooperated by keeping an eye on the man so that he could take action later.

Of course, in exchange, he needed to tell him some information about the organization after the matter was over.

This isn't a difficult problem. As a victim of APTX-4869, he can pass on this information to Shinichi Kudo. As for the rest, that's a matter for later.

Rum, who was temporarily entangled in the situation, stepped away slightly, threw the key to his mailbox down the nearby snow slope, and then expanded his search area under the pretext of looking for something.

After walking a short distance, he could even hear some staff members chatting quietly on this flat platform:

"...The snow has finally lessened a bit today. Judging from the way it was going to snow all night, I thought it would snow all night long."

"It would be better if it didn't stop running, then our work would be easier, and I don't want to work overtime."

"Yeah, if they all collapsed like that telephone pole over there, we'll have to write a lot more reports when we get back..."

Rei Furuya looked up in the direction of the sound and saw several forest rangers, who were checking the surroundings with their tools while chatting casually, as if what they had just mentioned was not anything important.

However, Furuya Rei naturally couldn't think that way.

Based on his guess, he turned his attention to the telephone pole they had just mentioned.

Previously, Black Guest liked to use electronic devices such as billboards or computer screens to pass information. Now that the location has changed to remote mountains and wilderness, it makes perfect sense to hide things in places like telephone poles.

He took out his phone and sent Vermouth an extra message, then turned and walked in that direction. To avoid arousing suspicion, he was prepared to use the lost key as an excuse at any moment.

However, he was discreet enough to take a long detour through deserted alleys and find a hidden vantage point to steal the items without making a sound.

When Furuya Rei returned, he spotted the people and stopped the police officers who were about to lift the bodies, telling them that one of the bodies was difficult to move and that they should bring some tools.

And so, with just a few words, he successfully returned to the church.

Conan Edogawa was very helpful; even now, as they were about to descend the mountain, he was still talking to Kanenori Wakita in front of the car.

Seeing this, he naturally stepped forward and joined the conversation, only to find that the two of them were playing the riddle game again, spouting words like "traitor," "mouse," and "petty cleverness."

Rei Furuya: Rum really seems to want people to discover his true identity...

Alright then, since this fake chef intends to continue this role-playing game, he'll pretend he knows nothing. Perfect, this will allow his pre-reported information to pass through multiple hands, giving him plenty of scapegoats later.

"...Hey, you can say what you want to say in the car, hurry up and get in." Seemingly getting a little impatient, Kogoro Mouri opened the car door and urged him on.

"Yes, Master!"

The fake chef responded enthusiastically, Conan Edogawa answered in a drawn-out voice, and Rei Furuya was ready to strike at any moment.

Without the help of strong winds, the snowy weather made the journey much easier than before. Their car started smoothly, and although the mountain road was a bit bumpy, it wasn't impossible to drive on. The group of people in the car were unusually quiet, with only the traffic broadcast from the radio having any noticeable presence.

Conan Edogawa's keen detective instincts and Tooru Amuro's behavior both told him that something big was about to happen, so he focused his attention on the suspicious person in the car—Kaneori Wakita.

Kogoro Mouri yawned and closed his eyes, wanting to take a short nap.

The driver glanced at the great detective, turned down the traffic radio volume a bit, and then looked in the rearview mirror at the passengers in the back seat. They seemed to have no objections, so he didn't say anything more.

He gripped the steering wheel tighter and drove into a tunnel.

The tunnel is dimly lit, so if someone in the car does something, their fellow passengers probably won't be able to react in time.

Rei Furuya clearly sensed that Rum's vigilance increased dramatically after they entered the darkness.

He chuckled softly, and just as the car was about to exit the tunnel, he leaned close to Rum's ear and whispered something:

"That's quite rare. It seems like someone is chasing you all the way to the foot of the mountain."

After casually uttering those words, Morobuchi Kagemitsu hung up the phone.

This was the first and last thing he said to Kitada Yu.

Soon, Kitada Yu lost interest in finding out who dared to speak to him like that.

As Moribushi Kagemitsu left the phone booth, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket, informing him that the scheduled text message had been sent.

[Anti-fraud expert #234: Is this all it takes to remind them of each other's existence? When it comes to dealing with Rum, I still think a surprise attack is more effective.]

That would put Zero in a difficult position to explain to the organization.

He walked toward Morofushi Takamichi, who was waiting for him not far away, holding an umbrella.

[Anti-fraud King #234: Clearly, Zero was so wary of me before, even refusing to cooperate when I tried to ask him about Shuichi Akai. Yet, you can get him to cooperate without any coaxing. Is this the difference between the original and a fragment?]

...If Zero and Akai's relationship is still the same as before, then he's probably not targeting you.

Morofushi Kagemitsu walked under the umbrella and saw Morofushi Takami handing him a red scarf: "You don't look well. If you don't mind, please take this."

[Anti-fraud King #234: Ah, brother's loving scarf... You've kissed everything since you arrived, but all I have is the Trinity listening device that Matsuda and the others regularly feed me.]

"...Thank you."

Morofushi Kagemitsu glanced at Morofushi Takaaki, who had a normal expression, and then took the scarf and put it on.

He felt the body was warm, and it seemed that the lividity that could only be covered up by special means had faded.