Chapter 196, Seventy-Third Cycle (26)
Conan Edogawa looked at the scarred fake Shuichi Akai, then couldn't help but glance at the real Shuichi Akai disguised as Subaru Okiya across from him, and finally stared at Sera Masumi, who was happily calling him "Shuichi-nii," and fell into a daze.
After a two-second pause, he turned his head and stared sharply at Subaru Okiya.
Okiya Subaru: "..."
Subaru Okiya nodded almost imperceptibly, indicating that he and Masumi Sera were indeed siblings.
Conan Edogawa immediately gave off a "you tricked me" look.
He refused to believe that Shuichi Akai was unaware of his suspicions and wariness towards Sera Masumi. But that guy didn't say anything until now, when members of the organization who knew about their relationship were eyeing Sera Masumi, that's just too much!
Although he also kept it a secret from the other person that he was actually Shinichi Kudo, cough cough cough...
Conan Edogawa composed himself, temporarily setting aside the case, and with an innocent and adorable face, ran over to test the scarred fake Shuichi Akai.
Shuichi Akai didn't move. He just stood at the back of the crowd and slowly pushed up his glasses, which had no prescription.
From the reflection in the nearby window, one could see that the blond, dark-skinned youth had walked up to the three policemen and Kogoro Mouri, greeting them warmly and actively participating in solving the case.
Bourbon acted as if he hadn't seen the scarred fake Shuichi Akai at all. His reaction made it difficult for Shuichi Akai to determine whether the person impersonating the scarred Shuichi Akai was Vermouth or Scotland.
Shuichi Akai never expected that they would be so arrogant as to appear directly in front of them in disguise, and even approach his sister to communicate. Somehow, the clever and vigilant Masumi believed that the scarred Shuichi Akai was indeed the Shuichi who should have died.
No matter how you look at it, the fake Shuichi Akai with the scar is a perfect imitation, and you can't tell the real identity of the person underneath.
Is it Vermouth? After all, Vermouth can change her voice, and this plan should have been agreed upon by them, so there's a high probability that Vermouth will carry out this mission.
Or perhaps it's Scotland? Scotland can also use a voice changer, and he wears a high-necked shirt so his neck isn't visible. Besides, they've been partners for several years, so it would be easy for Scotland to impersonate him.
Shuichi Akai stood there, somewhat hesitant.
Should we stay here to see what the two dangerous members of the organization are planning and keep an eye on Makoto's safety, or should we stick to the original plan and go find Sherry?
His phone vibrated, and he immediately took it out.
It was an email from Yukiko Kudo.
[You're in carriage number eight right now, right? Have you seen Sherry?]
Shuichi Akai stood directly opposite the door of carriage number eight, able to see everything clearly. Only Tooru Amuro, the scarred Shuichi Akai, and Masumi Sera entered.
"No, when I arrived, I only saw Bourbon, and Scar Akai disguised as me, and Sera Masumi." he replied.
Soon, another message came from the other end.
The child left carriage number six and walked to the back, then disappeared.
She might be hiding in one of the compartments in carriage number seven. Sharon is looking for her, so I'll go and stall Sharon.
It seems dangerous over there too. How about we send Shin-chan to find Sherry-chan?
Shuichi Akai frowned, first confirming that the scarred Akai was actually Scotland in disguise, and then quickly went through the compartment and passengers of carriage number seven in his mind.
Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji, Date Wataru, Room A.
Murohashi Etsuto, Room B, the crime scene.
Bourbon, Room C.
Scotland, Room D.
Masako Katsuki, Room E.
First, he ruled out room B, where the door was open. Of the other people, he didn't recognize the last one, Masako Katsuki.
She seemed to be a rather introverted long-haired woman; she only appeared briefly and didn't say a word.
Besides that woman, everyone in carriage seven was investigating the case in carriage eight, checking the victim's original compartment, and questioning the strange relationships among the passengers in that carriage.
Shuichi Akai tapped his phone lightly with his fingers.
So, which private room will Shirley be in?
He quickly typed a sentence on his phone screen, sent it, then put his phone away and walked forward with a gentle smile on his face.
*
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki prepared to go to the children's box to keep an eye on them, worried that something might happen to them or that they might be scared.
After all, a murder has occurred on the train and the murderer has not been found, which is really unsettling.
Conan Edogawa also ran back.
He moved quickly and suddenly opened the door to room D in carriage six.
"Conan?" The Junior Detective League kids inside were a little frightened by his expression.
"Where's Ai Haibara?" Conan Edogawa tried to regain his composure and asked the oldest, most mature, and calmest middle school student present, Ai Orikasa.
The thin boy looked at him with a puzzled expression: "He just went out, saying he was going outside to get some fresh air by himself."
The three children in the Junior Detective Club nodded in agreement.
"What's wrong?" Ran Mouri, who was behind them, also noticed something was wrong and asked worriedly, "Did something happen to Ai?"
Conan Edogawa took a deep breath, first smiling and comforting the children and teenagers, then his face darkened as he turned away.
He left carriage number six and stood at the entrance of carriage number seven. He took out his phone to double-check the email from Shuichi Akai, then looked resolutely at the tightly closed doors.
*
"Hello, I'm Subaru Okiya, a graduate student at university. What does Mr. Akai do for a living? How come you haven't been in touch with Ms. Sera for so long?" The bespectacled, squinty-eyed young man asked, feigning curiosity.
The man with burn scars on his face looked up at him. His sharp green eyes were very intimidating. Coupled with his taciturn personality, no matter how hard Sera Masumi tried, others were actually quite afraid of him.
Ran Mouri seemed to want to say something but didn't, and was eventually pulled away by Conan Edogawa.
“Shu-ge didn’t intentionally not contact me. He had an accident and lost his memory, but he only recently regained it and came to find me immediately.” Sera Masumi stood in front of the scarred Akai, earnestly defending him, and looked at him warily, saying, “I’m sorry, Shu-ge’s work is confidential and can’t be told casually.”
Akai Shuichi: "..."
Scarface Akai curled the corners of his lips, then reached out and gently patted the short-haired girl's head, giving a brief, perfunctory answer to his question: "Hmm."
Akai Shuichi: "…………"
Then, this taciturn and seemingly dangerous man took the initiative to approach the blond youth who was listening intently to Kogoro Mouri's nonsensical reasoning.
"Hello, you must be Tooru Amuro, the top disciple of Detective Mouri? I've heard so much about you, I've always wanted to meet you." He said earnestly, then extended his hand and smiled, "I'm Shuichi Akai, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Akai Shuichi: "!!!"
Jianggu Ling: "..."
Sera Masumi: "?"
*
It seemed that the case couldn't be solved in a short time, so they didn't all gather together and returned to their own rooms after a while.
Not long after, the train entered the tunnel again.
The train conductor, sitting at the end of the corridor in carriage number eight, dared not relax for a moment, his eyes wide open as he vigilantly watched the carriage plunge into darkness, not missing a single sound.
"Aaaaaaahh ...
The sudden scream of terror from the man startled the train conductor, who jumped to his feet before realizing it was Etsuto Murohashi from room C.
A murder had just occurred, and the train conductor, both frightened and nervous, immediately rushed forward and pounded on the door of compartment C: "Mr. Murohashi? Mr. Murohashi?! What's wrong? What happened???"
However, the person inside seemed completely oblivious to his voice, pounding on the door with even greater terror than he was when he knocked: "Open the door! Open the door! Let me out! It wasn't me! It wasn't me! Get out! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I was wrong, waaaaah—"
The people in the other private rooms also quickly opened their doors and came out.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Kogoro Mouri rushed to the front, his face serious.
The conductor, not daring to delay, immediately took out a card: "N-I don't know, I'll open the door right now..."
The door opened automatically as soon as the card was swiped, and the person inside instantly fell to the ground. The person's excessive weight, along with the door, almost slammed the person outside against the wall.
"What happened? Who's in trouble?" Date Wataru's deep voice came clearly through the crowd.
The people in carriage number seven also came over.
However, Murohashi Etsuto, who had fallen hard, seemed to finally wake up. He immediately got up and forced himself to say that he was fine, but he still turned his head and cautiously glanced at the private room with lingering fear.
There was nothing in the private room; it was as if everything he had just seen was an illusion.
Conan Edogawa rushed over from VIP room number six, stared at the man for a few seconds, then went into his room and looked around, finally connecting all the clues.
*
"What? Mr. Mori already knows who the prisoner is? Everyone in carriages seven and eight, assemble in room B of carriage seven?"
The conductor of carriage number eight was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes lit up instantly, and he exclaimed excitedly, "As expected of Detective Mouri! I'll go get the others right away!!!"
The conductor of carriage number seven immediately notified compartment A.
Upon opening the door, Matsuda Jinpei raised an eyebrow and smiled immediately: "Oh? Is that so? Then please let me hear the reasoning of the great detective, Sleeping Kogoro."
The black-haired young man with curly hair wearing sunglasses turned his head and exchanged a glance with Kenji Hagiwara and Wataru Date behind him. Without saying anything, he walked out of the room and stood at the door of Room B.
He opened the door, but it was blocked halfway by the security chain. He could only see Kogoro Mouri sitting on the sofa with his head down and eyes closed, deep in thought, through the crack in the door.
The sleeping Kogoro Mouri spoke up: "You all wait outside for now. I'll explain everything once everyone is here."
Matsuda Jinpei almost burst out laughing, but he held it in.
The door to Box C, which was next to Box B, also opened, and the blond, dark-skinned Amuro Tooru came out.
The two exchanged a glance, and Matsuda Jinpei's smile vanished.
*
Kaito Kuroba's plans were affected by this case, but he did not think his plan to steal the jewels would fail.
The case will be resolved quickly, and even if he only has half an hour left before arriving at the station, that will be enough time for him to act.
Therefore, he took a little too long to prepare, and his plans were interrupted again by the sudden summons. By the time he was perfectly disguised and pushing the old man, who was also disguised, out of the carriage, the entire carriage was empty.
Even the train conductor went to carriage number seven to listen to the reasoning.
"What a surprise, Gin, that you would call me." The man's low chuckle came from the passageway connecting carriages seven and eight.
"Clang, clang—"
Kaito Kuroba paused, keenly sensing the danger. He held his breath and stood steadily in the slightly swaying corridor. He lowered his head and gestured for the old man in the wheelchair to be quiet. Then, he silently stepped forward and pressed himself against the wall to eavesdrop on the sounds coming from around the corner.
That voice… he remembered it was that scarred man in black with a terrifying aura, whose name seemed to be Shuichi Akai. He had even approached the dangerous blond-haired, dark-skinned man. He wondered if they were planning something troublesome in the car.
The conversation is missing an audience member; the person should be on the phone saying, "After all, I'm playing Shuichi Akai, so of course I have to use his voice."
Kaito Kuroba: "..."
Kaito Kuroba: "?"
Role-playing? Disguise? ?
The person on the other end of the phone seemed quite angry; even Kaito Kuroba, who was secretly eavesdropping, overheard a few words.
“Scotland… acting on its own… Bourbon…”
"Don't be angry, I won't interfere with their mission. I'm just working with the two of them." The man's tone remained calm.
“I’m really carrying out my own mission. I heard that Phantom Thief Kid is coming to this mysterious train, so the illusionist Spider will be here too. The organization is guessing that the gem might be the real Pandora. Bourbon is busy capturing Sherry, so he sent me to check it out. If you don’t believe me, go ask the boss yourself,” he said.
Kaito Kuroba, who had initially thought it was none of his business, was stunned for a moment, his expression gradually becoming serious.
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