Chapter 068 Okiya Subaru
Why did Okiya Subaru appear here? The story started some time ago.
A while ago, a birthday party at the Higashino family went haywire, leaving several dead and several seriously injured. While the perpetrators weren't members of the Black Organization, the sudden appearance of two new members with code names made them wary.
Conan Edogawa told Shuichi Akai that the Black Organization seemed to be trying to infiltrate the Tono family, so he asked his boss James to help investigate.
Before they could find the exact results, the Ruby Incident broke out. They'd assumed it was just a gimmick, but they'd never expected the Black Organization to be involved, even engaging in a shootout with an unknown group. The FBI didn't receive any information until the incident was over.
Not long after, he heard that Gin was furious and led his men to wipe out a stronghold of that organization.
Shuichi Akai also knew a bit about this unfortunate organization. It was an international criminal gang specializing in stealing gemstones, and not only was Interpol involved, but a team from the FBI was also tracking them.
Prior to this, the two organizations had no interaction. Gin's sudden attack was indeed surprising. However, it's understandable that they had a conflict due to overlapping mission objectives.
And that’s Gin’s personality. He’ll just kill anyone he doesn’t like.
What concerned Shuichi Akai was Bourbon's behavior during this mission.
This time, the Takayama Group captured Conan and Mao Lilan in order to deal with Kaito Kid. It is impossible to say that Bourbon did not know about this, because Kazami Yuya also went to the scene.
But if he wanted to save them, he could have used Toru Amuro's identity and followed Kogoro Mori to save people, but he waited until the fire broke out before showing up.
When Conan and his companions escaped the fire, he did not appear in front of anyone. At the same time, Kaito Kid and Hattori Heiji who escaped the fire quickly disappeared.
Kaito Kid, needless to say, is a thief and would definitely avoid the police. But Hattori Heiji is a detective and a good friend of Conan and his crew, so why would he just leave without saying a word?
Therefore, Shuichi Akai reasonably suspected that this "Hattori Heiji" was disguised as Vermouth, and Bourbon went to pick her up.
So why did Vermouth disguise herself as Hattori Heiji? Was it for Gin's mission?
Akai Shuichi rejected this idea.
Most of the missions assigned to Vermouth by the organization were assassinations, and they rarely sent her to the front lines to engage in firefights. If she was on this mission, she would probably be in the rear, directing Gin's actions.
Then her disguise as "Hattori Heiji" is very meaningful.
To save Conan? Not necessarily.
Shuichi Akai knew that Vermouth had helped Conan many times. But he didn't believe she was specifically going to save him this time. She could have just let Bourbon save Conan and the Mori family, and there was no need for her to do it herself.
So there must be some other reason.
Akai Shuichi frowned, thinking about it, and finally set his sights on Higashino Hiroshi. This man had been taken hostage in a bank robbery before, and unexpectedly, he was the young master of the Higashino family.
His intuition told him that Vermouth's appearance there must be related to Higashino Xi.
So the FBI conducted an in-depth investigation into the Dongye Group and finally got the news: the medical research institute under the Dongye Group had made a new technological breakthrough.
Although they couldn't find out what the project was, it was definitely useful to the organization. They sent new members to obtain this technology. Since the organization's target was the Dongye Group, it made sense for Vermouth to rescue Dongye Xi.
However, if the purpose was to steal secrets, Vermouth could have easily killed Higashino Higashino and then disguised herself in his place. Wouldn't that have made things easier? Just like how she disguised herself as Aida Tomoaki before. Higashino Higashino's older brother was also recovering from illness, so with her acting skills, she should have no problem covering it up.
So why not use this plan?
Shuichi Akai felt that he seemed to have thought of some key point, but he had no idea the next second.
One person sees the shortcoming while two people see the long. His thinking was a little confused, so he simply asked James to analyze it together.
James thought for a moment and said, "The Thousand-Faced Witch's personality is a bit unpredictable. No one can tell why or for whom she appears there. Maybe she has also thought of the plan you came up with and is now observing Dong Yexi's habits."
Akai Hideya nodded.
"Or, the organization can directly cooperate with Dong Yexi and help him take over the Dongye Group." He has seen too many such fights among wealthy families in the United States.
Shuichi Akai, however, thought this was impossible. He said, "Putting aside Vermouth's motives, Higashino Hiroshi wouldn't do that. If he was trying to gain power, why would he have gone to so much trouble to save his brother? The doctors who performed the surgery with him praised him highly afterwards. Since he has such superb skills, he could have made his brother's life in vain by making a minor adjustment during the surgery, and at the same time, he could have spread his fame. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone? Including the eventual inheritance of the family business, that's three birds with one stone."
James thought for a moment and said, "You're right." He said, "No matter what, we still need to contact Dong Yexi first and observe him and the people around him. If we find that Dong Ye Group is too involved with the organization, then we can turn around and use him as a bait."
"It just so happens that 'Okiya Subaru' is also a student at the University of Tokyo. You can use your status as an alumnus to get closer to him."
Akai Shuichi had no objection.
Then, James added: "However, I heard that Higashino Xi likes men, so you'd better be careful." After all, the shell of "Okiya Subaru" looks very good.
Akai Shuichi:......
The memories end.
Now, Okiya Subaru has filled out the form and become a non-staff member of the Criminal Psychology Research Club. Although the moment the president saw his name, he wanted to change his mind.
But Higashino Hiroshi thought of Shuichi Akai's unrivaled sniping skills and felt that it would be better to keep this important figure.
They exchanged contact information, and Higashino Hi said, "Our club doesn't have that many rules. Members aren't required to report regularly, and participation in activities isn't mandatory. If they want to enter the database, they can just file a report."
Subaru Okiya nodded: "That's great."
"Do you want to go and see it now?" Although he knew that this was just an excuse, Dong Ye Xi could only continue to act with him.
Subaru Okiya smiled and said, "If it's convenient."
Dong Yexi smiled and said, "It's not inconvenient at all." He took out a bunch of keys from the drawer and said, "There are too many files. They are stored somewhere else. I'll take you there."
"Thank you for your help." Subaru Okiya followed him out.
Anda Shizuku waved behind her: "Bye~"
Higashino Hiroshi was walking on campus with Okiya Subaru, and he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
This is Shuichi Akai! FBI! A hot character in the science fiction world! By the way, was this mask made by Yukiko Kudo? Even from such a close distance, there's no visible flaw at all. It's amazing! I really want to learn from him!
Higashino Xi thought that his sneak glances were very secretive, but he didn't know that Akai Shuichi saw it all.
Akai Shuichi: ...Could the rumors be true?
Just as he was thinking about how to reject him subtly, a person came towards him.
Hatori Yui saw Higashino Hiroshi and someone else walking together from a distance, waved and walked quickly towards them, and asked, "Senior, why are you at school today?"
"Oh!" Higashino Hijiri only noticed Hatori Yui when he walked in front of him. He immediately came to his senses and said, "I'm a little bored staying at home, let's go to school."
Hatori Yui pursed his lips. If he was not mistaken, the senior had been secretly glancing at the person next to him?
He looked at the man and was slightly stunned: "So you are from our school too."
Dong Yexi stood between the two of them, looked around, and asked, "Do you know each other?"
Hatori Yui nodded. "I've met him once. When the bank was robbed, I heard the gunshots and tried to rush in, but he stopped me." He said to Okiya Subaru, "I didn't have the chance to thank you yet."
Subaru pushed his glasses and said, "You're welcome." He had almost forgotten about this guy. Thinking of his worried look at that time, Subaru felt that he should not worry about himself anymore.
"Where are you going?" asked Hatori Yuiichi.
Dong Yexi shook the key in his hand and said, "Let's go to the club's database." He remembered the reason he gave when he first met Hatori Yui and applied to join the club. He asked, "Do you want to go and take a look too?"
Hatori Yui nodded.
Then, it became a three-person trip.
The database is in the library, and we have borrowed an archive room.
Dong Yexi opened the door, reached out to touch the wall and turned on the light, and the dark archive room instantly became bright.
The cabinets here are not just bookshelves, but locked cabinets. Each cabinet is labeled with the year and a brief description of the file content, and is also classified according to the type of case.
Subaru Okiya & Yuiichi Hatori: No wonder Higashino Higashi/senpai carries such a big bunch of keys!
"We collect all the major cases here. The cabinets outside are all economic cases. The deeper you go, the bloodier they get," Dong Yexi said. "You can take a look at the brief descriptions posted on the cabinets first. If you're interested, let me know and I'll get them out for you. These files can only be viewed here. Don't lose them, damage them, or bring anyone other than our staff in."
The two nodded to indicate that they remembered.
After all, the records of these cases are quite detailed. If someone with bad intentions commits a crime according to the above methods, it would be a serious matter.
Subaru Okiya looked at the case summary carefully and found that there were not only cases in Japan, but also major cases in various countries, including many unsolved cases.
"It's amazing. There are so many case files, and the people who organized and maintained them are really dedicated." Okiya Subaru exclaimed.
Hatori Yuiichi also touched a cabinet and said, "The time span is very long. There are even records of fires from forty years ago."
"These materials were compiled by successive club presidents. Our club has a history of more than 50 years. We initially studied 'criminal profiling.' When the school opened the subject of criminal psychology, the club's name was changed to its current one." These were all what Higashino Hiroshi saw in the club's historical profile.
Dong Yexi opened the cabinet and took out the file on the fire case. "To be honest, I haven't seen this either." In other words, he had never seen any of the cases here.
He pulled out the file box. On the cover were written the case date and a brief description, along with the notation "Unclosed," indicating the cause of the fire hadn't been determined and it remained an unsolved case. Opening it, he found a case analysis sheet and neatly arranged newspaper clippings.
In the past, information was scarce, and only glimpses of cases could be found through newspaper reports. Crime-solving techniques were also outdated, leading to many unsolved cases. In recent years, with the advancement of technology and the gradual upgrading of criminal investigation methods, the crime clearance rate has begun to rise, and most of the cases collected by the community are already closed.
Kindaichi used to be in charge of organizing the files, but now it's Higashino's turn. But he's often away from school, so Adachi Shizuku has been handed over. He's the vice president after all, and he studied archival science, so who else should he exploit?
"Recently, a massive fire broke out in a village in a township under Nagano Prefecture. Due to the densely populated area, the fire spread rapidly. Furthermore, the fire broke out in the early morning hours, and the fire department was quite far away. By the time the fire department arrived, the entire village had been engulfed in flames. Preliminary investigations suggest the cause of the fire was aging electrical circuits..." Subaru Okiya wondered, perplexed as he read the report. "Isn't this an accident?"
He flipped through the remaining clippings, and the cause of the fire was all listed as "aging circuits."
Why should this case be recorded?
Hatori Yui stroked his chin and said, "Perhaps too many people died? We didn't have that many cases to record before. Over a hundred deaths is still a major case."
His words convinced Okiya Subaru.
After Dong Yexi put the clipping away, he discovered that the case analysis contained the recorder's speculation: "The death toll is incorrect. There are not that many villagers in the village, and there are no children's bodies. The truth of the case is in doubt."
Dong Yexi frowned, but put the file box back. These cases happened forty years ago, and no matter how many questions there were, there was no way to solve them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com