Although lots of people have driver's licenses, that's hardly a solid lead. Still, in times like these, no clue is too small.
Detective Otaki, ever the informed police officer, had heard of famous detectives from all over, so when he recognized Jiangxia Tongzhi, he gave this particular clue a little more credit. The halo of a "detective protagonist" can really boost your stats.
So, everyone took Jiangxia's advice and detoured to the DMV.
…
Jiangxia recalled the setup: Sakata Yusuke had committed this series of murders to avenge his father.
—All the victims had one thing in common: their driver's licenses were nailed to their hearts, and they had all attended the same driver's ed course twenty years ago. Numabuchi Kiichiro was in that class too.
The coach of that class? Officer Sakata's father.
Back then, the victims had thought the coach was too strict. So during a drunken dinner party, they played a "prank" that was basically premeditated murder. The coach ended up dying in a staged drunk driving accident.
Officer Sakata had always felt something was off about his father's death.
Some time ago, when the Osaka police were chasing Numabuchi Kiichiro, Sakata Yusuke was lucky enough to be the first to find him.
He was about to arrest the fugitive, but as fate—or genetics—would have it, Sakata and his father looked nearly identical. The moment Numabuchi saw him, he freaked out, thinking the dead coach had come back for revenge, and immediately confessed everything.
In a rage, Sakata Yusuke locked Numabuchi in an abandoned attic in the mountains. Then he decided to kill off the others involved and pin the entire case on Numabuchi, capping it off with a staged "suicide."
…
Meanwhile, Jiangxia was floating through the DMV, periodically glancing at his watch.
Before long, the police got a report—Hattori Heiji and the others had found a new victim, wallet nailed to his chest and all.
Originally, Hattori Heiji, Conan, and Sakata Yusuke were headed to the House of Representatives.
But halfway there, Sakata "casually" steered the conversation elsewhere, and the group ended up visiting a man named Okazaki Sumie.
By the time they arrived, Okazaki was already dead. Still warm.
They immediately reported the murder. The news reached Otaki, who was still at the DMV—and therefore, Jiangxia heard it too.
In Jiangxia's memory, this was Victim Number Four, and also the final scheduled corpse in this particular spoiler-ridden serial case. Once Okazaki cooled off, the quota was filled.
...Time to fast forward a bit.
Jiangxia used the pause to send a quick message to Gin, letting him know roughly where Numabuchi was, and warning him the cops could show up at any minute.
Jiangxia didn't spell it out, but Gin re-read the message several times and figured out the subtext: Ouzo had infiltrated the police under the guise of being a detective.
…No wonder the guy was so good at finding people.
But operating under police surveillance was risky. Clearly, Ouzo wasn't in a position to kill Numabuchi himself—if he were, he would've already sent one of his signature messages, like "Numabuchi Kiichiro is dead." Instead, he just gave a vague location and urged haste.
This told Gin all he needed to know: Ouzo was still under the police's nose and didn't have a clean shot.
So Gin contacted some Organization members in Osaka, urging them to beat the police to Numabuchi and deal with him ASAP.
Before this, several of their "intelligence specialists" had been chasing Numabuchi all over Osaka with zero success.
Ouzo? Walked in and found him immediately.
…The more tasks they handed to this guy, the scarier his efficiency looked.
If they lost someone like Ouzo in Osaka, how many regular goons would it take to replace him?
Worried, Gin remembered how oddly enthusiastic Ouzo always was about missions. He sent one more message, just in case:
[This mission is being handled by a specialist. Stay out of it. Do not intervene.]
Jiangxia received the official paddling permission from Gin and accepted it gleefully.
He deleted the email, pocketed his phone, and noticed a commotion among the DMV officers.
Looking closer, he saw that Detective Otaki had found an old photo—one taken of that infamous driver's ed class from twenty years ago.
In the photo were several younger versions of the current victims… and a man who looked exactly like Officer Sakata.
The moment the photo came out, everyone stared at it, stunned. The resemblance was uncanny, right down to the hairstyle. It was like seeing a man and his clone.
Alongside the photo was an old news article about the driving instructor's death.
No hard evidence, but when you put the article next to the photo, Officer Sakata suddenly looked very suspicious—especially considering he was armed.
Otaki thought of Hattori Heiji, who was currently with Officer Sakata, and decided not to spook the suspect. Instead, he quietly asked Toyama Kazuha to call Heiji and check their location.
When he learned the three of them were en route to the DMV anyway, supposedly looking for more evidence, Otaki exhaled in relief. He told Kazuha to hang up and wait for them to arrive.
…
Meanwhile, Sakata Yusuke had used a clever excuse to ditch Hattori and Conan, doubled back through a shortcut, and killed Okazaki.
Everything was going according to plan.
Next, he casually mentioned something about "driver's licenses," aiming to lead Hattori to the revelation about the 20-year-old training class.
Once Hattori made the connection between the victims and Numabuchi Kiichiro, it would be easy to pin everything on the wanted man.
With the new clue in hand, Hattori and Conan suggested going to the DMV to investigate. Sakata, thrilled, agreed. He already had his script prepared to steer their suspicions toward Numabuchi.
The plan was working beautifully.
Then he walked into the DMV and was immediately tackled by a squad of cops who'd been lying in wait. His gun was confiscated on the spot.
Sakata Yusuke froze. In his mind, if he were ever found out, he'd heroically go out with a self-inflicted gunshot.
But… what just happened?! How did it go this wrong this fast?!
He racked his brain and suddenly remembered—Heiji had taken a call from Kazuha just moments ago.
Sakata turned to stare at Heiji, assuming he'd been masterfully baited and ambushed.
But Heiji looked just as confused as he did. If this was a trap, he clearly wasn't in on it.
If not Heiji…
Sakata's eyes narrowed. He looked sharply toward the other detective in the room.
In the far corner, Jiangxia casually looked up, as if he'd felt someone's gaze.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 6/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*