Chapter 159: Trolley Problem [Mobile Rejoice Advertisement]
"Sister Lin, hot cocoa."
Ai Huihara handed the warm paper cup to Lin Xi, who had just finished taking a bath and changed into new clothes.
The girl leaned back on the soft sofa in the hotel, took the paper cup and took a sip.
Ah, a warm and sweet drink, perfect for after a bath.
Although she prefers her juice filled with ice, it's nice to change the flavor occasionally.
She thanked Xiao Ai and turned to look at the laptop in her arms.
The computer is displaying a real-time surveillance video.
Two men were facing off. Their physical features were a stark contrast: one tall, the other thin. Though no physical action was taking place, the tension was palpable even through the screen.
Behind the thin man stood a little boy of nine or ten years old, and behind the tall man stood a man in a black suit with his waist slightly bent.
Ai Haibara recognized the little boy in the picture as Hiroki Sawada, who had received a phone call and hurriedly parted with them not long ago.
The man opposite him was the great shark Thomas Schindler.
She asked curiously, "What are they talking about?"
The surveillance video only had images, but no sound. Although it was high-definition enough to clearly see the people's expressions, there was no recording, so Haibara Ai couldn't make out what they were saying.
All I know is that Thomas Schindler had a very sour face.
"We're discussing Hiroki's custody and the intellectual property rights of Cocoon." Lin Xi took a sip of hot cocoa. "Hiroki's biological father is here too."
Haibara Ai blinked.
"Who will have custody of Hiroki then?"
"Well, a child almost ten isn't young anymore. It all depends on Hiroki's opinion," Lin Xi said. "The main thing is, after Hiroki disappeared, Thomas Schindler called the police..."
I called the police, and then the FBI got involved.
Ordinary police officers don’t know where Hiroki Sawada is, but the FBI knows.
At that time, Judy Stelling sent someone to the amusement park to take the two children and June Sugishima back to the police station.
After asking Hiroki Sawada why he ran away from home and learning who Thomas Schindler was, Judy Stelling did not hesitate to use her authority to get the child anti-abuse organization involved.
The child anti-abuse organization immediately contacted Hiroki Sawada's biological father, Tadaki Kashimura, who also worked in an IT company.
So the tall and thin man who is confronting Thomas Schindler on the surveillance screen is Tadaki Kashimura, whom Lin Xi has not seen for a long time.
Of course, Kashimura Tadaki would not recognize Lin Xi's current face.
"After the intervention of the Child Anti-Abuse Organization, it became difficult for Thomas Schindler to obtain custody of Hiroki."
Haibara Ai sat down next to Lin Xi. Lin Xi reached out and touched the little girl's head, then tilted the notebook towards Ai so that she could read it more easily.
At this moment, the Line app on Lin Xi's laptop beeped twice, sending a reminder.
Line is a Japanese social software with functions similar to □□.
Haibara Ai's attention immediately shifted from the surveillance to Lin Xi's line.
Who sent a message to Sister Lin?
A bunch of names flashed through Ai Haibara's mind. Was it that new friend, Jin? Or Miss Judy? Hmm, that handsome amateur detective was also a possibility. It seemed like the famous detective from Kansai had also added Sister Lin's line?
Alas, Sister Lin’s social circle is too wide, it’s impossible to guess.
Lin Xi, who was standing by, kept his expression unchanged and clicked on Line.
It's not a new message, it's a new contact request.
Haibara Ai had turned aside and was glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, but then she turned back out of curiosity.
New contact? Who is it?
Wait, this time, isn't it...
She immediately thought of the man wearing a knitted hat and with two strands of curly hair on his forehead.
Haibara Ai's face darkened.
Although she had talked to that guy in the supermarket that day, she was the one who made the request. If that guy wanted to contact Lin Xi, she couldn't do anything about it, and she even had to cooperate with him.
So annoying, Shuichi Akai.
She saw Lin Xi click on the contact request.
The profile picture of the Line account of the person who added her is the system default picture. People who use Line will basically upload a new profile picture to replace the original default picture. Few people choose not to upload and continue to use the default picture.
For example, Lin Xi's Line profile picture is a cartoon kitten. Well, a white cat with blue eyes, very similar to Coconut, who is currently curled up next to the sofa.
In Lin Xi's friend list, Conan's avatar is a football; Haibara Ai's is the football star Higo Ryusuke; Amuro Toru's is a photo of a white puppy; Sawada Hiroki's is a screenshot of the new game "Number One in the World" released by Clumsy Games; Sugishima Jun's is a folded paper airplane; Asai Narumi's is a full moon, but he is offline now, so the avatar is gray.
So, among so many different avatars, this account with the default avatar looks very strange.
Even stranger, this stranger's application was blank.
There are no words or symbols.
Nickname is also blank.
Lin Xi approved his application after just one look.
This doesn't look like the account that Shuichi Akai would use, Haibara Ai thought.
That overconfident man wouldn't use such a nondescript avatar and nickname on his social media account, and he's not undercover now.
So, who is it?
Seeing how Sister Lin approved the application so quickly, it must be someone she knows.
Haibara Ai was curious, but she didn't ask. She just watched Lin Xi tapping away as she made a note for that person.
【Mobile Rejoice advertising】
Haibara Ai:?
Rejoice…?
Is this a shampoo brand? A Chinese brand, too.
It seems that this person's hair in real life must be very smooth and flowing, which left a deep impression on Sister Lin.
Haibara Ai was not surprised by Lin Xi's weird way of commenting.
Please, look at the bunch of weird and distinctive notes in her line list. Haibara Ai is no longer surprised.
[Mobile's Rejoice advertisement] As soon as the friend request was approved, he started sending messages to Lin Xi.
"I found what you wanted."
Hey, this tone...
I don't feel like an ordinary person.
Could it be someone Punch knows?
Should she avoid it then?
Although she thought so in her heart, Haibara Ai didn't move at all. She even rubbed towards Lin Xi and got closer.
"That's great! I've always wanted that blueberry and strawberry mousse."
Lin Xi replied.
The other side reacted immediately and, out of Lin Xi's sight, sneered at the blueberry and strawberry mousse.
Calling □□ a cake... Is this guy playing house with her again?
It doesn't matter. He would never talk about the organization's affairs openly on such a social software where chat records can be checked.
His silver hair fell on the side of his face, and he sneered, attracting the attention of Vodka who was standing beside him.
"Oh, I'm sorry to disappoint you. The owner of the store was murdered two days ago, and the store is closed."
The applicant for the bomb number you are trying to track down is dead.
He was silenced before Gin found him.
Lin Xi on the other side of the screen let out a small sigh, her face showing the heartache and regret for not being able to eat the cake.
That regret made Haibara Ai, who saw them chatting, want to laugh a little, and she was wondering if there was any dessert shop nearby that sold mousse cake.
Has Sister Lin been a little too unlucky recently?
When I went to the amusement park, I was targeted by the "Ripper"; when I wanted to eat a cake, the owner died again.
"What a shame. You've worked so hard~ Don't worry about it, I'm already prepared for not having the cake."
It's okay, go ahead. Don't worry, I didn't catch them this time, it was within my expectations.
Gin seemed to hear the girl say this.
In her usual relaxed tone.
Gin looked at the person lying in the room with a crooked neck and no vital signs.
After comparing the bomb photos sent by Lin Xi, the member of the organization who applied for the bomb with this number was found.
A cocktail, the Bellini.
The names of the drinks for the core members of the organization also follow a pattern. The base drink is usually male, and the cocktails are usually female—but there are exceptions. The names of the drinks aren't always chosen by the boss. When the boss "goes AWOL," the new drink is named after rum.
Bellini is a female member named after a bottle of rum.
Gin found her within fifteen minutes and put the barrel of the gun to her head. She told Gin tremblingly that her bomb was lost in a transaction a few days ago.
Although the bomb was lost, the transaction was successful. Not wanting to cause any more trouble, Bellini decided not to bother with the bomb anymore.
Gin spent another three minutes understanding the details of the transaction and deduced that the bomb was stolen by the trading partner.
Then it took another ten minutes - this time included Bellini, who was extremely regretful that he did not report it in time, and Vodka, who was complaining that Bellini was a fool, but when he found the temporary residence of the transaction partner, the man was still dead.
The time of death does not exceed half an hour.
It had only been half an hour since Lin Xi gave him the task.
Bellini and Vodka followed him because he was tracking the whereabouts of the bomb. In fact, Gin was not worried about the consequences of the bomb. His boss would not let him die like a fool under the bomb.
His mission was to investigate who had shipped the bomb to the boss in the U.S. More precisely, he was investigating who within the organization was targeting the boss, or Punch.
It was more likely to target Punch than the boss, because only three people knew the boss's true identity—himself, Rum, and Madrid.
The connection between Punch and Linxi is even more obvious.
Gin was sending messages while collecting information at the death scene.
But there was no valuable information. Everything was handled too cleanly, leaving no clues for Gin.
However, the absence of clues is the biggest clue. The clean and efficient method of killing first rules out the possibility of ordinary people committing the murder, and the fact that dangerous goods were transported quietly from Japan to the United States in a few days proves that they at least have a transnational transportation route.
The murderous intent in Gin's heart rose again.
He hated rats, but they always showed up in large numbers. As Rum had said, managing people was far more difficult than managing livestock. Livestock had no thoughts, only the needs of eating, drinking, defecating, and urinating, while people had different needs and interests.
Gin knew that the boss gave the task of managing the organization to Rum because Rum was much better at managing people than him.
Sometimes, Rum would allow the rats to run wild within a controlled range, as long as they could bring greater benefits to the organization. An organization is a precisely designed machine, and the parts on it have different levels of difficulty in replacing according to their importance. If you want the machine to keep running at a high speed, you can't cause too much damage at one time.
Although Gin understood this, he still had an instinctive aversion to those who were less loyal in the organization.
Rum once said that he had a kind of psychological mysophobia.
He just sneered.
It's not Rum who is responsible for replacing parts, so how would he know how much garbage Gin has to deal with every day?
He hates people who talk without any hesitation.
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