Chapter 3503-3515 [The Mastermind]
As he thought about it, Conan slowly turned his gaze to Haibara Ai.
——The police said she was also at that dock at the time.
Ai Haibara, who was eavesdropping on the conversation between Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki, suddenly felt a burning gaze: "......?"
She lowered her head warily and met Conan's gaze.
This seemed to confirm some kind of signal. Conan rushed over and, while the adults were talking, pulled her aside and asked in a low voice, "Why are you at the dock? Weren't you at the tennis tournament with the kids earlier?"
Huiyuan Ai glanced at Jiang Xia out of the corner of her eye and said carefully, "Something happened at the tennis court. Miss Maori was kidnapped. I... I saw a suspicious person walking towards the dock. I was worried that he was related to the kidnapping, so I took a taxi to catch up and take a look."
Most of this statement is true, the only difference is that she switched herself with Shuichi Akai who arrived later - in this way, even if Conan somehow found the taxi driver who had taken her to the pier, this story would not have too many loopholes.
After briefly sorting out her thoughts, Huihara Ai continued, "Then I saw you sleeping next to a car, with 'Teacher Judy' and 'Doctor Shin' next to you."
At this point, Huiyuan Ai paused and asked him: "Why did you appear in a place like that, with my face in your face?"
Conan: “…”
He cleared his throat guiltily. "Vermouth is coming for you and won't attack me, so I'm going to go in your place. On the one hand, I can prevent her from achieving her goal, and on the other hand, it can also let her down her guard, making it easier for a sneak attack."
"Too reckless." Huiyuan Ai frowned in disapproval, and then asked the question she had wanted to ask for a long time:
"Why do you think she won't attack you? It's perfectly normal for people in the organization to kill one or two passersby. Didn't you die in the same way at Gin's hands before? Why do you think Vermouth won't kill you?"
"That's a long story, let's talk about it later." Conan scratched his head and asked Huiyuan Ai, "What exactly happened at the dock at that time?"
Huiyuan Ai looked at this guy who not only did not answer the question, but asked her a question instead: "..."
Jiang Xia was the best. She would tell you everything you asked, but... she was afraid to ask any questions, for fear that she would accidentally reveal some big secrets. These secrets were too heavy for a mini scientist who lived under someone else's roof.
but……
Listening to the answer Conan just gave, Haibara Ai suddenly understood something: Yes, why should she consider how to explain her experience tonight to others?
—After all, she was just a frightened first-grader who didn't remember anything. At a time like this, all she needed to do was...
"That's a long story." Facing Conan's question, Huiyuan Ai imitated Conan's tone and spread her hands, "Let's talk about it later."
Conan: “……???”
…
Two pseudo-school students are having a contest of riddles.
Next to her, after Suzuki Sonoko calmed down a little, Mouri Kogoro began to ask her about her situation today - after all, Mouri Ran had been tied up in the factory and her vision was limited, and from Suzuki Sonoko, he could get a clearer picture of the whole situation.
The four of them talked in pairs. Mao Lilan, who was free, looked around, then stealthily pulled Jiang Xia away and whispered, "Did you watch the news tonight?"
"I read a little bit," Jiang Xia said. "But there are too many to read. I haven't read them all. Which one are you talking about?"
Mao Lilan thought about the series of cases that happened tonight and felt that this answer, which sounded a bit absurd, was actually very reasonable.
She sighed and explained in detail, "When I was imprisoned in the factory, I kept hearing knocking noises coming from the pipes. At the time, I was worried it was a ghost. But later, after the police rescued me, I discovered that there was actually another person imprisoned underground in the factory where I was imprisoned!"
Before Jiang Xia could say anything, Conan heard it from the side. He blurted out: "Could the person you are talking about be Teacher Judy?"
Mao Lilan was stunned: "How do you know?"
Conan sighed: "As expected..."
He had laid so much groundwork for tonight's counter-arrest, but he didn't even realize that Judy had been replaced by Vermouth at some point.
"But isn't Teacher Judy from the FBI? The FBI was impersonated by a member of an organization, and no one in their organization noticed?" Conan was very puzzled. "I used to think that the FBI would be my powerful ally in fighting the organization, but now it seems..."
Not only did this ally fail to help, but it almost led to his complete defeat.
No, to be precise, he was completely defeated - if Vermouth hadn't spared him and deliberately thrown him at a busy intersection, he might have become a corpse in Tokyo Bay.
But before that...
"When I fainted, 'Teacher Judy' and 'Dr. Arata' were clearly Vermouth and her accomplices, but when I woke up, Vermouth was covered in wounds, fleeing with me in a panic... What exactly happened in between?"
"Did I blame the FBI wrongly? Did they actually discover that there was something fishy about Teacher Judy, so they took advantage of her situation and launched a raid?"
"But if that's the case, then they could just wait at the real Teacher Judy's place and secretly capture Vermouth when she goes there alone... Damn, this doesn't make sense. What the hell is going on?"
As he was thinking, Conan's gaze fell on Haibara Ai again.
All the answers...seem to be in the hands of the classmate in front of me.
"This information is really important!" Conan rushed to Huiyuan Ai again, "What happened tonight?"
Ai Haibara looked at this clingy guy and sighed speechlessly.
To avoid being bombarded with questions from morning till night in the days ahead, she hesitated for a moment and then carefully said, "It seems they're not targeting you or me, but Akai Shuichi. Vermouth and her plan... are just part of someone else's plan."
Conan was stunned.
Immediately afterwards, his brain started working again: "Who is that person you are talking about?"
"How should I know?" Huiyuan Ai didn't dare to say more. What she just said, everyone present could see it, including the members of the organization, including Akai Shuichi. But if we go further, specifically to "Uzo"...
It is better to keep this kind of detailed information that can be easily traced back to oneself.
Anyway, as long as the situation is made clear and Conan knows that the real enemy is not Vermouth, it will be enough. I hope that this unknown deterrent will make this overly bold detective more cautious and not do things that make people sweat.
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