Chapter 83 Utter Defeat
The sky was overcast, and the wind was blowing and the clouds were swirling. Although it was midday and the sun was high in the sky, it was completely invisible.
There were no cars on the street; the protesters occupied the entire street. The blue and white striped protesters, hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, moved slowly forward against the wind. Against this somber backdrop, a sense of tragic grandeur was subtly present.
This hospital had ties to the warden's arch-rival in the council election, and the young detective originally planned to use the warden to bring down the hospital's powerful backer. However, the celebrity female host's hospitalization attracted widespread attention, a double-edged sword: on the one hand, they couldn't let the organization discover the existence of Gil's brother; on the other hand, they could use this opportunity to pressure the hospital with public opinion. As the saying goes, quantity leads to quality; what one reporter couldn't solve, a group of reporters could.
The latter achieved remarkable results. They not only received strong support from numerous media outlets, but also had enthusiastic journalists planning their marches, contacting many charities, and even gaining the support of members of parliament.
As for the Kiel incident, it became the origin of all the news.
During the protest, Eisuke clarified the facts to the media: "Rena Mizunashi is not my long-lost sister. This is our DNA test report; there is no blood relation. Even so, I still have some special connection with her. With the help of reporters, I learned that she is a pitiful woman who suffered inhumane treatment in the hospital. Not only Ms. Mizunashi, but everyone here suffers from an incurable disease. No one who comes to Hayama Rehabilitation Center has ever recovered!"
Yingyou spoke with great emotion in front of the camera, and the effect was very good. The little detective watched from a distance and felt at ease.
Looking around, the head chef was leading his team to distribute food to everyone, patients were holding signs and shouting, many hospital staff had joined the ranks, and the little detective even spotted Liam and Mia.
But he didn't see someone he really cared about: the little princess he had only met once.
He was a little panicked. After asking several people who all said they didn't know, he decided to go back to the rehabilitation center to take a look.
The hospital was deserted; everyone had gone to the streets to participate in the march. Walking inside gave me an inexplicable sense of gloom and terror.
The little detective found the little princess, who was huddled in a corner of the corridor, crying softly, without any effort.
"What happened?"
The little princess trembled as if startled, her big, teary eyes filled with confusion.
"Don't be afraid, it's me! Do you remember me? We met a few days ago," the little detective said with a smile.
"Remember, you weren't sick."
Why are you hiding here crying all by yourself?
"Little Katie is missing," the little princess sobbed, tears streaming down her face.
"Huh? Who's Katie? Your sister?"
"No, she is my friend."
The young detective's tone turned serious: "When did it disappear?"
"Just now..."
Is Katie about your age?
"Huh? I'm much bigger than Katie."
"How old is Katie?" the young detective asked, puzzled.
"33 days," the little princess answered with utmost seriousness.
The young detective paused for a moment, then realized what she meant and asked, with a wry smile, "Uh... is Katie a doll?"
"Yes! She's very pretty!" The little princess's eyes lit up.
"I was so scared! I thought there had been another murder!"
The little detective breathed a sigh of relief.
This might be insignificant to others, but it's a huge deal for a girl her age.
The young detective was quite confident about this. He had found hidden murder weapons at numerous crime scenes and discovered buried treasures in intricate castle mazes. What difficulty would it be to find a mere doll?
“Come on, I’ll take you to find Katie!” The little detective held out his hand to the other person.
But the little princess cowered, too afraid to move, and asked tremblingly, "Where did everyone go? I'm scared..."
"Don't be afraid, once we find Katie, I'll take you to find everyone, okay?"
How do we find it?
"Okay, how about we play a game? Let's call it Find the Missing Kitty. The rules are that I'll ask you questions, and you have to answer them all without hiding anything or lying. I'll find Kitty based on the clues you give me."
"I can find Katie by answering questions?" the little princess asked incredulously, seemingly not quite believing the boy who was half a head shorter than her.
"Of course, I'm a detective. First question: Where is your hospital room?"
So the little princess took the little detective to her room.
In his mind, Katie would most likely be in a hospital bed, just like when you wake up in the morning and can't find your phone anywhere, only to find it under your pillow or in the blanket.
However, the search for Kitty proved to be far from smooth. After searching high and low—on the bed, under the bed, in the closet… even in the bathroom—the doll was nowhere to be found.
"Where can a doll go?"
The little detective looked dejectedly at the little house made of Lego bricks on the windowsill: "Does Katie usually live here?"
"Yes, these were all gifts from the dean, and I wanted them to be together."
The young detective deduced that the director she mentioned was from an orphanage. He climbed onto the large windowsill, thinking: "Could I fall down?"
"What are you doing? It's dangerous!" the little princess said with a worried expression.
"Don't worry, I found Katie!" The kitten jumped out of the window as soon as the words were spoken, eliciting a startled cry from the little princess: "Watch out!"
There was no response. Worried, she peered down and saw the little boy making faces at her! A strong leather belt pulled him back.
Upon seeing this scene, the little princess couldn't help but burst into laughter through her tears: "Wow, so cool! You look like Spider-Man!"
"Wait here, Katie's hanging in the tree. I'll get her back for you." The kitten, who had mastered tree-climbing skills, nimbly climbed up the tree branch from the wall and brought the tattered rag doll to the little girl.
However, the little princess showed no joy. She gestured and said, "But she's not my Katie! My Katie is this big... Barbie doll."
The young detective was bewildered. Upon closer inspection, he realized the rag doll was quite worn out and didn't look like it had only been there for a month. He guessed it had fallen from the tree a long time ago.
"If not in the ward, then where could it be?"
Suddenly, the young detective had a flash of inspiration and asked, "Why did you go to the hallway to look for Katie?"
"I'm lost..."
"You mean you took Katie out of the hospital room?"
"Yes, the nurse took me to get checked out. I brought Katie with me, but she said I couldn't hold Katie, so she looked after her for me."
"And then? The nurse didn't give it back to you?"
"After the check-up, we couldn't find them."
Where was the examination conducted?
"Hmm... upstairs. It's a very empty, large room with a bed and a big circle inside. I'm going to lie down in it."
Is this the MRI scanning room?
"What river?" The little princess didn't understand.
The young detective sighed, "Come on, I'll show you, and you'll recognize it in one look."
Two children arrived upstairs in front of a room labeled MRI: "Is this the place?"
"Yes, that's right."
The young detective went inside to investigate, but still couldn't find the doll.
"Was the nurse too busy and forgot something?"
Although I know there are surveillance cameras in the hospital, going to the surveillance room to retrieve the footage is just too out of character for me.
He hoped to solve the problem using a more traditional detective approach: after all, isn't this just a doll?
"If I were a nurse, where would I put the doll?"
The little detective reasoned: First, rule out a pocket, because there's no room for it. And it's unlikely it was just lying around; a doll like that would be very conspicuous even if it fell on the floor. So… it must be at the nurses' station, right?
Sure enough, the two found Katie at the nurses' station counter.
The little princess hugged her doll and cried tears of joy; she was so excited!
The little detective silently examined the doll. It looked somewhat familiar yet strange: deep golden hair, large blue eyes, fair skin with freckles, and wearing a sky-blue princess dress.
The little detective suddenly had an inopportune thought: "Why is she dressed as a woman, just like me?"
He didn't think much of it and glanced at his watch: "It's almost 1 p.m. Have you had lunch?"
"Huh? Is it already so late?" the little princess asked in surprise. She reached into her pocket and suddenly turned pale with fright.
"What's wrong?"
"It's gone!" the little princess screamed. "The pocket watch is gone!"
"Pocket watch?"
"Yes, that's what my father left for me. I've always kept it in my pocket..." The little princess started crying again.
"Don't cry, don't cry. Think carefully about when you last took it out," the little detective comforted her. "It should have been taken out during the checkup, right?"
"Huh? No."
"Didn't take it out?! Are you sure?"
"Hmm... I'm sure."
"Nothing went wrong during the checkup?"
No.
"You cannot bring metal with you when you have an MRI scan."
The young detective pondered: It must have been lost before the examination.
However, I didn't find the pocket watch or anything like that when I checked the ward just now. It must have fallen outside, right?
"Can you remember when was the last time you took it out?"
"Um... I took it out to check the time before the nurse called me for the checkup."
"But there were no pocket watches lying in the corridor. Could someone have picked them up and kept them for themselves?"
The young detective frowned and asked, "Did you come up the stairs or the elevator?"
"It's an elevator. It's crowded!"
The moment the elevator doors opened, the young detective couldn't help but focus his gaze on the narrow gap between the elevator doors.
"Hey, hey, hey, is it really that serious?"
Despite his helplessness, the young detective had no choice but to admit that it was the most likely place.
He futilely checked the glass with his watch, but saw nothing; he guessed it had fallen.
"Wow! Your watch lights up!" The little princess exclaimed with envy. "Can I see it?"
"Oh? Yes, sure..." The little detective couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Huh? What's this little button for?"
"Don't touch that!" the little detective shouted in alarm, startling the little princess who pulled her hand back. "Sorry, this watch is very easy to break..."
"Okay, fine." The little princess reluctantly looked away from the glowing watch.
"Um, your pocket watch might have fallen down there. I'll go downstairs and get it for you."
"Don't leave me here alone, I'm scared..." the little princess pleaded.
"It's too dangerous down there, and it's really dark. You'll be even more scared."
"Aren't you afraid?"
"I'm a detective! Hey, with Katie with you, I'll be back soon!"
"Don't leave me..." The little princess clung to the boy's clothes, crying and refusing to let go.
The young detective sighed and pulled out a detective badge: "If you wait here patiently for me, I'll give you this, how about it?"
"What is this?" The little princess stopped crying when she saw the novel object.
"It's a secret communication tool! Let me demonstrate. I can speak from here and you can hear me from the other side. So, even if I go down, you can still hear my voice."
The little princess was coaxed into stopping her crying and quietly hugged her doll, waiting for the little detective to return.
After much effort, the young detective finally found the precious pocket watch at the bottom of the pitch-black elevator shaft. The pattern on the case was peculiar, prompting him to take a second look: it was a crocodile.
"I'm so sorry, it seems to be broken."
"It's okay, thank you for finding it for me."
"Shall we go down and find the others?"
Just as the little detective stepped out of the main entrance on the first floor, he saw Yingyou walking towards him: "Joseph! Mr. Ferris told me you might be here, and I was right!"
"Did Dad want to see me about something?"
"No, it's me who was looking for you. I'm going back now and wanted to thank you. Thank you..."
"Have all the reporters left?" the young detective interrupted in Japanese before the other person could finish speaking. He knew what Eisuke wanted to say, but it was best not to let others understand this kind of conversation.
"Huh? Not yet, my interview is already over."
"What are you talking about?" the little princess asked, puzzled.
"I need to say a few words to this older brother. Would you please sit on that bench over there for a while?"
The little princess obediently did as she was told, but she had only been sitting down for a short while when she stood up and exclaimed, "Wow! There are butterflies!"
She put the doll on the bench and went to catch butterflies. The little detective didn't notice and continued to ask in Japanese, "Did the interview go smoothly?"
"Yes, it's perfect! Now my sister is safe, thank you so much!"
"There's no need for that, I'm just a little kid."
"But Joseph is smarter than the other kids, even I, a high school student, am ashamed of myself. But I've decided that I want to be like my sister, and I want to join the CIA someday!"
"Uh... Good luck then, Eiyu-nii-san." The little detective was a little surprised by this decision.
"Then I'll take my leave, goodbye! Oh, right, there's one more thing to tell you, the prisoner is dead, he was hit by a car that appeared out of nowhere."
This ending was completely unexpected for the young detective.
"I'll give you the butterfly!" The little princess ran over happily, her face beaming.
The young detective glanced at the beautiful splash of color between the distinct knuckles and said, "Thank you, but please let it go!"
"Huh? Don't you like butterflies?"
"I like it, but I think it's even more beautiful when it's free."
"Alright then." The little princess reluctantly let go of her hand. "Goodbye, little butterfly, you're free now."
The butterfly fluttered away, and she stared blankly for a while before saying, "The butterfly has gone home, and I should go too."
"Hey? Where are you going?"
"Let's go home!" The little princess hugged her doll and gave a sweet smile. But the little detective felt a chill for no reason.
Driven by his detective instincts, he said, "I don't even know your name yet."
The little princess smiled slyly: "My name is Osiris."
The voice was as melodious as a lark's, but to the young detective it sounded like a curse from hell.
Osiris enjoyed the barely concealed look of terror on the other person's face, and said in fluent Japanese with her voice as sweet as ever, "Thank you, I had a lot of fun."
Conan, trying his best to control his trembling voice, asked, "Aren't you happy because you won the game?"
"No, I always win, but I'm not always this happy... Actually, I haven't been this happy in a long time. Goodbye, little detective."
Osiris fluttered away like a butterfly, but Conan's legs felt like lead and he couldn't move.
Some people, just one more glance is enough to change your life.
"Why...why you?!"
At that moment, it seemed as if all the negative emotions were pressing down on him. He couldn't even tell whether fear or anger outweighed the rest.
What is the most chilling element in horror movies?
A corpse? A ghost? A grave?
No, it's not! It's the children. Especially those little children who look frail and harmless.
The huge psychological contrast creates a sense of disconnect. Why would they, who should be pure and innocent, be evil?
Conan felt cold sweat pouring down his back, sending chills down his spine.
There should have been many people here, but now he was all alone. He struggled to regain his ability to think, trying to recall what he had said and done.
As he pondered, he returned to six months ago, to an equally quiet and deserted illegal medical facility, the place where he first met Shirley.
What did he say back then?
"Is this organization run by teenagers?"
"The younger the age, the higher the status?"
"Based on this logic, could the leader be a cute little boy or a little girl?"
"No way? Are you kidding me? Did I win the lottery?"
To make matters worse, just then, Kagemitsu called Conan, his voice urgent: "There's something very important. Last month in Nagano, we've made progress on the suspicious person who slipped the envelope to Mori-senpai. The police followed the trail and found that the person had met with a child staying at a hotel. At first glance, it seems normal, but the strange thing is, I've seen that child before; he calls himself Yukino Hiroshi. But the name registered on the hotel is..."
"Who is it?" Conan's breathing was unsteady, as if he was about to faint at any moment.
"Shinichi Kudo." It was as if he had been sentenced to death.
Is it possible that heaven and hell are just a stone's throw away?
Conan lay on the ground, looking up at the clouds in the sky.
He thought hard, racked his brains, trying to figure out all the complicated relationships.
Then, he figured it all out and felt hopeless.
He had been trapped in this game with its unclear rules for too long. He didn't realize who his real opponent was until the very end of the match.
He even figured out why Carlo wasn't taken away like Kiel the first time, and why the march went so smoothly: it was because the opponents had seen through everything and were doing their best to cooperate with the performance.
"They're doomed."
Conan thought despairingly that he had racked his brains and planned every step carefully, but his opponent was just playing around: he had never lost so thoroughly before.
Upon closer reflection, Shinichi Kudo made only two mistakes in his encounters with the organization, and summarizing them reveals a strange sense of symmetry:
Mistaking good people for bad people, and bad people for good people.
The former caused him immense suffering in the first two years, while the latter will plunge him into an endless abyss in the future…
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
