…Thinking about it that way, it wasn't a total loss. Actually, kind of a win.
Jiangxia Tongzhi tried to console himself with this logic.
Gin walked over to the car, glanced back, and found Jiangxia still standing by the bridge, staring wistfully at the scene like he'd just lost his pet goldfish. He was grinning, weirdly sentimental, and clearly in no hurry to leave.
"Get in the car," Gin snapped. "You're way too demanding about your fake crime scenes. Striving for perfection is fine, but efficiency matters too."
Gin was well aware that their current "accidental fall" setup lacked finesse.
But in his mind, it was still more than enough. Out here in the sticks, the police would almost certainly mark it as a simple accident and close the case. No high-level detectives were likely to wander out here. Even if one did, they'd have nothing—no evidence, no suspects—and the cops wouldn't listen to them anyway. Professor Hirota's death would be pinned on Akira, and the Organization would remain in the clear.
Still, as he tossed the body off the bridge earlier, Gin—being a seasoned HR rep of murder—had briefly worried that Ouzo's perfectionist tendencies might get triggered by the operation's slapdash finish.
Now, seeing Jiangxia lingering at the bridge like a mourning widow, Gin felt a bit smug. Look at that—he was molding the next generation of murderers. Ouzo was talented, no doubt, but he was still green. Obsessed with perfection. Still had a lot to learn.
In situations like this, spending too much time fussing over the crime scene meant you were just begging to get caught. Better to finish the job and bounce before the local yokels woke up and started walking their dogs.
After tonight, Gin figured, Jiangxia would surely understand that.
Jiangxia, for his part, was still thinking about the ghost under the bridge when he caught Gin watching him with a knowing, slightly patronizing expression.
Jiangxia: "…"
He didn't know what exactly this murder robot thought he understood, but he got the message: get in the damn car and get out.
So he opened the back door and got in.
…
The black Porsche hadn't gone far before they passed the crash site of Dr. Agasa's yellow Beetle.
The little car was parked on the roadside, door open, but no one inside. The three passengers were still rustling around in the tall grass nearby.
Gin and Vodka glanced over, assumed it was just a random car accident, and didn't think twice. Naturally, Jiangxia kept quiet too.
Meanwhile, in the grass, Haibara Ai suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She jerked her head up—only to be face-to-face with a clump of grass.
…Well, not much she could do about that. She wasn't even taller than the weeds out here.
The vegetation was so ridiculously thick, they still hadn't found the person they were sure had been hit.
Haibara Ai stared into the grass a moment longer, a frown creeping across her face. Just now, she was sure she had felt the Organization's presence—and strongly, too.
She pushed aside a bit of grass and tiptoed to peek at the road. Nothing. Completely empty.
She remembered the sound of a car speeding by earlier and frowned. If the car didn't stop, then the Organization probably hadn't come for her specifically. Just passing through.
But this place was close to Professor Hirota's house. And the timing… The Organization had definitely come for that disk.
A chill spread across her back.
She and the others barely knew Professor Hirota. Even if they had an appointment to borrow a travel disk from him, they wouldn't have just grabbed it and left. There would've been polite small talk. Maybe even tea.
If their car hadn't crashed earlier, they would've been at the professor's house by now. Maybe even face-to-face with those terrifying Organization members…
That thought brought back memories—of Xiaobai helping her when she defected, of Anonymous, who was eerily like her sister and once took a bomb on the Shinkansen.
Was this crash really just a crash?
Could Anonymous have known about the Organization's movements? Had she crashed into them on purpose to stop them?
It was touching, sure. But also weird. If you just want someone to stop, you don't have to full-on ram their car.
Maybe Anonymous had run into the Organization. Maybe she got injured in the scuffle, got disoriented, stumbled onto the road while fleeing… and boom—Dr. Agasa hit her.
Or maybe—this was on purpose too. She did have a history. On the Shinkansen, she didn't just drop the bomb and run. She leapt out of the train with it. That's not logic, that's performance art.
Clearly, you couldn't apply common sense to a woman like that. Maybe crashing into cars was her love language.
Haibara Ai wasn't sure what to feel anymore.
But one thing was certain—her opinion of Anonymous was steadily improving, and her urge to find her had leveled up from "mild interest" to "must locate immediately."
…
The police showed up soon after and joined the grass hunt.
But unsurprisingly, no one found any mysterious body. The front of Agasa's car had a few dings, but nothing major.
Given the low speed Agasa had mentioned, the cops concluded he hadn't hit a person at all.
The officer eyed Agasa, who looked like he was ready to surrender to a life sentence on the spot, and assumed the old man was just mistaken. It was dark, late, no streetlights, and the other passengers were literal children. Probably just hit a cardboard cutout or something.
Rather than arrest him, the police patted Agasa on the back and told him to relax. The man was baffled, but grateful.
Conan and Haibara had their own theories. Neither believed it was a billboard. They figured Anonymous had either protected herself somehow, or she was just that good—good enough to fake getting hit and then ghost them completely.
By the time the crash situation was settled, it was deep into the night.
Despite Haibara's protests, Conan and Agasa still headed to Professor Hirota's house—only to find the police already there. Professor Hirota was dead.
Akira hadn't even finished setting up his fake locked room. The scene screamed "murder." His own body was found not long after, lying out in the open. Not even a bush to hide under.
Conan couldn't shake the feeling that Akira's "accidental death" was off. But there were no suspects, no solid evidence, and the Shizuoka police didn't recognize Kudo Shinichi. He couldn't pull rank with that name, so the case wrapped up with a shrug.
The trio went back to Tokyo empty-handed.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 20/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*