Chapter 202: Suspicion of Moriya Teiji
But at this point, what's with the show of bravado?
Kijima hated kids like this the most, and now he seriously suspected that the person who'd just knocked him unconscious was this calm boy in front of him.
Given the kid's behavior, it was hard to say if he had some other plan up his sleeve.
"Don't come any closer. Stay where you are."
Instinctively, Kijima took a step back.
The boy in front of him obediently stopped, but his expression had an indescribable quality to it. Was he... relaxed?
But why?
The next moment, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if the door behind him wasn't a door but a freezer, and gusts of cold air rose up, making his hair stand on end.
"What?"
Kijima instinctively wanted to turn around, but as soon as he turned halfway, he saw a dark shadow coming toward his face.
Before he could see what it was, his vision blurred, darkness enveloped his eyes, and he felt dizzy and disoriented.
"Bang!"
Kijima spun like a top and finally fell onto the workbench like a fish on a chopping board.
The unfinished master plate made direct contact with his large face.
The distinct details were perfectly imprinted on his cheek—Natsume Soseki's portrait, lifelike.
"Mama Yor is amazing!" Anya at the door raised her hands high, applauding Yor.
"Thanks, but did I use too much force?" Yor touched her cheek sheepishly, muttering, "I didn't think I hit him that hard."
Hearing this, the dazed Kijima felt a surge of emotion well up inside him, which spilled onto the master plate, staining Natsume Soseki's portrait red.
Everyone else remained silent, not daring to speak.
Conan breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Ai Haibara, muttering softly, "Don't bring them along next time. It's too dangerous. We were lucky we had Yor-san today, otherwise we would have been completely wiped out."
They hadn't even gotten close to the Black Organization, and they were almost wiped out by a counterfeit money gang. Conan felt the Detective Boys were largely to blame.
Especially Genta and Mitsuhiko—those two were so unreliable. They'd said they'd wait for the police, but they still insisted on barging in. If it weren't for them, they wouldn't be in this situation.
"See? This is the woman who might become your mother," Conan said with a mischievous smile, leaning close to Ai Haibara's ear. "You'd better behave from now on, or else..."
"Heh, you'd better mind your own business. Kogoro Mouri is probably even harder to deal with."
Ai Haibara crossed her arms and glanced at him sideways. Conan was too naive if he thought he could scare her.
Professor Agasa had told her about Conan's embarrassing moments. Every time he solved a case, Conan would get a heavy punch from Kogoro Mouri—it had become a standard feature of the cases.
Sure enough, upon hearing Kogoro Mouri's name, Conan instantly froze and unconsciously touched the top of his head.
Only Yor had arrived. The other police officers hadn't shown up yet, so they couldn't leave immediately. They had to wait for the officers from Division One to arrive and take their statements.
Conan found a moment to peek at the second floor and saw Silver Fox lying on her back with a bruised and swollen face, while the other two were handcuffed.
"How pitiful."
He became even more determined to recruit Natsukawa to their side.
Yor's fighting skills were truly impressive. Even Ran would likely struggle against her.
Recruiting Natsukawa would essentially add two more fighters, and Yor was a Metropolitan Police Department instructor.
Through several encounters, he'd discovered that Yor had a certain commanding presence with the other officers. With her around, he might find it easier to get their cooperation.
And there was another important point—Yor didn't seem afraid of ghosts or monsters.
Having weaknesses made a big difference. Ran was often affected by supernatural stories, which impacted her fighting ability.
Otherwise, Ran would be nearly unbeatable.
However, he dismissed that thought about Ran. After all, she was his childhood friend, and he couldn't involve her in dangerous situations.
After the Division One police arrived, they gave their statements and were sent back separately.
Takagi was the officer dispatched this time. Inspector Megure seemed to still be investigating the explosion and theft, and didn't have time to handle anything else.
Anya, Ai Haibara, and Conan sat in the back seat, with Conan in the middle, separating the two girls.
Anya avoided Ai Haibara's gaze the entire time, deliberately using Conan as a "shield."
"Officer Takagi, is there any progress in the theft case at the munitions depot?" Conan ignored Anya's antics and asked Takagi, who was driving.
"No, the thief was wearing a mask, so it was impossible to identify his face. Judging from his build, footprints, and strength, it should be a man.
The surveillance cameras were later destroyed, so the footage we have is very limited."
Takagi glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Conan rubbing his chin in thought, so he didn't disturb him.
After a while, Conan asked again, "Then how did he get past all the guards and into the munitions depot?"
Even if he knew the password to the explosives storage room, the thief would still need to get past multiple layers of security outside.
Takagi had just said "it was a man," so there was only one thief.
One thief managed to bypass multiple security checkpoints. If that's true, this munitions depot had serious flaws.
"Through a ventilation duct," Takagi shook his head, puzzled. "Even the people at the munitions depot themselves didn't know there was such a huge security gap. We don't know how the thief discovered it."
"Could it be an inside job? Like a guard or staff member accidentally discovering the access method and then stealing the explosives?" Yor suggested from the passenger seat.
She'd mainly helped with the aftermath of the Shirakage Pharmaceuticals bombing and didn't know much about the munitions theft.
"Unlikely. We investigated everyone at the depot, and none of them had a motive," Takagi scratched his head and continued. "It's most likely an outsider. We've compared body types—very few people inside the depot match the thief's build, and those who do have solid alibis."
Conan pondered for a long time, searching for any possible connection between Moriya Teiji and the munitions depot.
Not long after, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He grabbed the back of the driver's seat, leaned forward, and asked anxiously, "Officer Takagi, who designed the Touto Munitions Depot?"
Moriya Teiji was an architect, and the Touto Munitions Depot was built five years ago. If Moriya Teiji was the architect of the depot, then he would likely know about this ventilation duct.
No—in fact, this ventilation duct was deliberately left by Moriya Teiji!
The riddle at the tea party and the code for the explosives storage room at the munitions depot were the same—this coincidence was too much to be mere chance.
Conan never believed in coincidences. There must be a reason behind every coincidence.
Now he'd grasped the key point.
The connection between the munitions depot and Moriya Teiji was likely here.
"The designer?" Takagi scratched his head, thinking for a long time, realizing he hadn't paid attention to this detail.
This case was mainly led by Inspector Megure and Inspector Shiratori. His involvement was limited, only handling some questioning. That's why he had time to be sent out to deal with the counterfeit money gang, so he hadn't deliberately looked into the designer of the munitions depot.
"It's the famous architect—Moriya Teiji," Yor answered Conan's question.
Having spent considerable time with Natsukawa, she often heard him praise Conan's intelligence, so unlike some detectives, she didn't underestimate this kid. Instead, she held certain expectations.
"I knew it!"
Conan's knowing look drew curious glances from both Takagi and Yor.
"Conan, did you discover something?"
Yor straightened up and turned to look at Conan in the middle of the back seat.
Natsukawa was right—Conan always noticed details that ordinary people missed. He must have discovered something crucial!
Conan didn't answer immediately. He was already immersed in his own thoughts.
Why would Moriya Teiji steal explosives? Why did his detective's intuition tell him that Moriya Teiji was connected to the Black Organization?
Both questions were important.
As a nationally renowned architect, Moriya Teiji wasn't short of money. Stealing explosives to sell wouldn't make sense.
But if it was for murder, who was he planning to target? And what was his motive?
After a few seconds of silence, Conan suddenly realized something. Now that it was confirmed the thief was Moriya Teiji, all they needed to do was find evidence of his presence at the munitions depot, or check his house for explosives.
Who he wanted to kill, why, and what his connection to the Black Organization was—all of this could be discovered after his arrest.
"Officer Takagi, we're not in a hurry to go home. Let's go to Moriya Teiji's house first."
"To Moriya Teiji's house? Why?" Takagi asked curiously.
However, he still changed direction at the intersection ahead.
After the billion-yen robbery case, he'd developed an inexplicable trust in Conan, and it remained so now.
"I suspect Moriya Teiji is the culprit who stole from the munitions depot!
The explosives have been stolen for a day. Last time I went to his tea party with Uncle Kogoro, I noticed he seemed a bit impulsive. If he stole the explosives yesterday, he might be about to act today.
We must stop him before he does."
Before the two could react, Conan explained his reasoning, the tea party incident, and the code to the munitions depot.
The mention of the explosives possibly being stored at Moriya Teiji's house immediately put both officers on alert.
"Indeed, if what you say is true, then Moriya Teiji is very suspicious." Yor nodded, glancing at the street scene outside, noticing the car was already parked in front of the Moriya mansion.
"Takagi, I didn't expect you to trust Conan so much."
Yor was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected Takagi to be so quick to act. Conan had barely finished speaking when they'd already arrived at the Moriya mansion.
"Haha, well, Conan is Mr. Mouri's detective assistant, after all. During the one billion yen case, Conan also discovered many details that ordinary people wouldn't notice."
While pleased with the recognition, Conan also began to question whether he'd been too high-profile.
But it should be fine, right? Officer Takagi seemed a bit spacey, and judging from his expression, he didn't seem to suspect anything.
"You two stay in the car and don't wander off." Yor pressed Anya, who was about to get up and follow, back into the car, and then pulled Ai Haibara, who'd already gotten out, back inside as well.
"Anya, Ai, you two wait in the car. If Moriya Teiji really is the thief, then his house is likely filled with explosives right now. It's too dangerous."
"But Conan..."
Conan, who'd already slipped out, immediately had a bad feeling when Anya mentioned him.
Sure enough, Yor, with her hand on the car roof, jumped to the other car door and shoved the dumbfounded Conan back into the police car. "Takagi and I will go check it out. You three kids stay in the car.
If you hear any explosions or anything like that, leave immediately and find a public phone to notify the Metropolitan Police Department."
Yor was doing this for the three kids' own good. Although Takagi saw Conan's expectant look, he didn't say anything.
This was Instructor Yor. If they didn't obey, they might be in big trouble during the next assessment.
As the two entered the Moriya mansion, Conan finally had time alone with Ai Haibara.
As for Anya, he could just pretend she didn't exist.
If he wanted her to keep it a secret, he could just bring peanuts tomorrow. That girl's "Peanut Oath" was very reliable—there was no risk of leaks.
However, it was best not to be overheard if possible.
He deliberately lowered his voice and leaned close to Ai Haibara's ear. "Do you know someone named Moriya Teiji?"
His meaning was clear—he was asking about Moriya Teiji's relationship with the Black Organization.
However, Ai Haibara mostly knew code-named members of the Organization. As for the peripheral members, she only recognized the researchers in white coats at the facility. She knew nothing about the others.
"I don't know."
Ai Haibara shook her head and pressed, "Do you suspect that Moriya Teiji is related to the Organization? What's your reasoning? I don't see any connection between him and the Organization."
"..."
Conan remained silent. He couldn't explain this either. He couldn't very well say it was a detective's sixth sense, could he? That would sound too frivolous.
"Fine, don't tell me then." Ai Haibara rolled her eyes and turned to Anya, who was eavesdropping, with a haughty air. "I'll supervise your homework after we get home today. You're not allowed to sleep until you finish it."
Anya: "..."
She was just watching the drama unfold. How did she get dragged into it?
As for what the two were talking about—the Black Organization—Anya had a guess.
It might be related to her father.
Her father, a spy, seemed to have infiltrated an organization called the Black Organization.
She'd listened to Ai Haibara's inner thoughts many times today, but the results were less than ideal.
Ai Haibara's mind was very calm. Often her thoughts were blank, as if she wasn't thinking at all. Only just now did she sense a slight fluctuation.
There was a fluctuation, but not much. She'd heard very little.
Ai Haibara was different from Conan.
Conan's inner thoughts were complex when he started thinking, while Ai Haibara's were very flat, often incoherent.
Simply put, she couldn't understand them—mathematical formulas, biological data, basically like Kobayashi-sensei's lectures—making her drowsy.
However, after a day of listening, she'd still learned one very important piece of information.
Sherry! That was Ai Haibara!
Therefore, when her father said he was entrusting her to Sherry, he was referring to Ai Haibara.
So she wasn't being sent to live with someone else. Rather, her father had found her a 24/7 personal tutor.
(End of Chapter)
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