Chapter 52
Conan followed Okiya Subaru to Kudo's house. As soon as he entered the door, he asked impatiently:
"Mr. Akai, have you seen the man today?"
Shuichi Akai also took off his disguise as Subaru Okiya, revealing the calm expression of an FBI investigator. He sat on the sofa in the living room with Conan, staring at him with his dark green eyes, and asked back:
"Why do you think I've met that person before?"
Conan was stared at by those calm eyes, and his excitement gradually calmed down. Thinking that he had not exchanged information with Mr. Akai in the past two days, he simply started from the beginning.
"I actually heard about this person today from Xingchuan and Ming."
Akai Shuichi's eyes fluttered slightly, and his expression became serious, motioning Conan to continue. However, Conan took out his mobile phone first, flipped out a photo from it, handed it to Akai Shuichi, motioning him to look at it.
The photo was obviously taken secretly by Conan, and no one knows how he eliminated the camera sound on his phone. It is obvious that Hoshikawa and Ming in the photo did not notice that they were being secretly photographed.
"Pay attention to the portrait he is holding in his hand," Conan reminded.
Shuichi Akai enlarged the photo and then his eyes fixed.
It was clearly a simple sketch with only lines drawn on it, without even the facial features drawn in. However, from the vivid lines drawn with those few strokes and the sharp temperament revealed in them, one could tell that the person in the painting was most likely the hooded man they met today.
"I took this photo this morning when Xingchuan Heming hadn't put away his painting yet. He originally wanted to give Officer Nishihara, the officer who just showed up, a portrait, but accidentally brought this sketch with him. According to him, this is his unfinished draft, and the prototype of the character is the kind passerby who helped him catch the thief and murderer when he met him that day."
Conan looked at Akai Shuichi and said evasively, "I heard that Mr. Akai happened to be on the criminal's escape route that day, and even had a fight with that 'kind-hearted passerby'."
Akai Shuichi nodded and admitted without hesitation:
"Yes. This man suddenly showed hostility and told the police that I was a thief and murderer. I was almost arrested for this."
Conan said in a deep voice:
"Just now, Xingchuan Heming told me that he felt that the person today was very similar to the 'kind passerby' he met that day."
Akai Shuichi looked at the photo again and nodded:
"Indeed, that's obvious." He looked at Conan again, "Are you wondering if this man is approaching Hoshikawa and Akira on purpose? Because his attire matches that of the hooded man who was lingering downstairs in the tower apartment on the day of the murder?"
Conan crossed his arms and thought:
"Not only that, when I rushed to the underground parking lot just now, although this man looked like he wanted to kill Xingchuan and Ming, I noticed that he didn't have any weapons in his hands. And I later asked Xingchuan, and he said he had no idea of the other party's intention to attack him."
Akai Shuichi also noticed the problem and looked thoughtful:
"He had a wooden cannon with him when he fought me, but we didn't use it because the time and place were not suitable. But since he had it with him, if he really wanted to kill Xingchuan, he wouldn't have waited until you arrived before taking action. If he just wanted to threaten Xingchuan, he would have pulled out the wooden cannon to threaten him from the beginning.
After all, there is nothing more intimidating than that thing. So, what is his purpose in being there?"
"As for this question, I actually have a guess."
Conan turned on his phone again, pointed at the sketch of the person in the photo, and said:
"Just this morning, Hoshikawa took out the sketch of that person and was attacked in the evening. Officer Nishihara, who appeared at the same time, was the only one who recognized the identity of the person in the sketch this morning. And judging from the reaction of the hooded man, he obviously knew Officer Nishihara. So I have reason to suspect that Officer Nishihara actually tracked the hooded man down to the underground parking lot based on the sketch and the clues provided by Hoshikawa."
Akai Shuichi frowned:
"So, he attacked Xingchuan for revenge? No, that was too gentle. He was probably just venting his anger. It seems that the relationship between these two people is more than just a one-time meeting. Otherwise, his methods might have been more drastic."
Conan retorted at this time:
"I think it's a one-sided relationship. Hoshikawa probably really doesn't know that person. When he heard Officer Nishihara call out the other person's name today, he looked like he was hearing it for the first time. Ordinary people can't control that kind of subconscious reaction."
Akai Shuichi nodded in agreement. Then he rubbed his forehead and said:
"It's really troublesome. If Xingchuan gets into trouble again after being targeted by someone like that, I may not be able to catch up in time."
Conan was about to agree, but he stopped halfway through nodding his head. He looked up at Akai Shuichi with a bit of disbelief.
"You mean to say that you intend to protect him in secret?"
Shuichi Akai did not answer immediately, but thought of the night not long ago.
Surrounded by a team of Mochikura police, Hoshikawa Kazuaki was like an angel coming out of the light, and he felt the kindness and strength of human nature for the first time in a long time. Such an excellent boy should not be swallowed by the evil thoughts of people with ulterior motives.
However, Akai Shuichi was quick to notice Conan's hesitation, and he couldn't help wondering:
"What are you struggling with, boy?"
Conan pursed his lips, and when he spoke again he changed the subject.
"Mr. Akai once said that the Momofu in the organization is very sensitive to things like eavesdropping and surveillance. But from what I know, he is not only sensitive to electronic products, but his eyes can also glow. He also has a motto of 'Greed brings misfortune'."
Akai Shuichi knew the source of his information, and did not raise any objections at this time, but asked:
"What did you find?"
At this point, Conan spoke with some annoyance:
"I once heard Officer Nishihara mention that phrase by chance. And I have seen two people with glowing eyes. The hooded man today is one of them. His eyes glow orange-red. The other one is Xingchuan. His eyes glow green."
Hearing this, even Akai Shuichi was shocked. And Conan actually had more to say:
"In fact, I had initially suspected that the 'Xiaozhi' who sent out the warning letter was Baifu, but it is said that Baifu's sensitivity to electronic products has reached the level of disgust, so the possibility that he is a hacker is already very small. And I also suspected that Xingchuan was actually replaced by Baifu in disguise..."
Noticing that Akai Shuichi's eyes suddenly became sharp, Conan hurriedly continued:
"In fact, I once worked with Xingchuan to solve a case more than a year ago. He was framed by the murderer at that time, so his fingerprints were left in the Metropolitan Police Department. And I secretly collected Xingchuan's current fingerprints a few days ago and asked Officer Takagi for help.
After comparison, it turned out to be the same person as the fingerprint from a year ago. So as long as Baifu has not been disguising himself for more than a year, it means that my guess that Xingchuan was replaced is wrong."
Akai Shuichi was silent for a moment and said:
"I was no longer in the organization at that time, so I didn't know what Baifu was doing. In fact, even before I left the organization, it was difficult to get any information about him. This person is really too mysterious."
He then asked, "What about the police officer? What clues do you have?"
Speaking of this, Conan suddenly became alert.
"When Officer Nishihara saw the sketch this morning, his reaction was really strange. And when he saw the hooded man just now, he actually called him out by his name. They must know each other, and their relationship is not simple. So, I would like to ask Mr. Akai to help check whether the name of Officer Nishihara's missing brother is 'Toshiya'."
Akai Shuichi nodded in satisfaction, agreeing with Conan's statement, and then he slowly said:
"In fact, when Officer Nishihara was chasing me, he deliberately chose a route that I would have to take from my perspective. I was forced to slow down because of this, so I just stayed behind."
Conan was shocked: "He is actually protecting the hooded man?"
Akai Shuichi added: "It's probably true that I want to chase after him."
He then glanced at Conan, thought for a moment, and said:
"And this is not the first time I've heard of this person. Just three years ago, the organization had encircled and suppressed an undercover agent from the public security department, and Baifu was one of the people involved. After investigation, I learned that the situation was very complicated at the time, and even the police were involved, and among the participating police officers was this Officer Nishihara."
Conan thought back to the morning when Officer Nishihara reminded him with a concerned look on his face that even when going out to play with adults he should not be too curious about people he was not familiar with. For a moment he felt extremely confused.
"What kind of identity does Officer Nishihara have?"
Because he was concerned about the hooded man hiding in the dark, not knowing whether he would take action again, graduate student Okiya Subaru simply volunteered to send Conan back.
Because they talked too late and the traffic on the road was reaching rush hour, the two decided to walk back to the Maori Detective Agency.
However, by coincidence, as soon as they got on the road, they met Hoshikawa Kazuaki and Nishihara Tadahiko who also chose to walk back.
The four people walked towards each other, the scenes were different but the people were the same, which made them feel that things and people had changed for a moment.
Conan took advantage of his status as a child and spoke first:
"Officer Nishihara, what happened to the hooded man who was chasing me? Have you caught him?"
Nishihara Tadahiko was in a trance for a moment, then he squatted down and looked at Conan, with a look of obvious regret on his face, and replied:
"When I caught up with him, he had actually already driven away in a car. I even suspected that he had parked the car there in advance so that he could use it to escape."
Conan sighed in his silly little voice:
"That's a shame. I thought Officer Nishihara would be able to catch that guy called 'Toshiya'!"
The author has something to say:
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-08-14 13:27:20~2022-08-15 00:31:40~
Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: Leng Yue 1;
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Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!