Chapter 203: Vodka, the Eager Student
As Anya pondered how to effectively avoid staying up all night to finish her homework, Yor and Takagi hurried out of the mansion.
"How did it go?!" Conan asked anxiously.
He noticed that the two hadn't brought Moriya Teiji with them, which gave him a bad feeling.
"We were received by his butler, who said Moriya Teiji left half an hour ago." Takagi's expression was grave as he picked up the phone to contact Inspector Megure.
It was suspicious that he wasn't home at this hour, and the butler didn't know where he'd gone.
Conan lowered his head in thought.
After giving statements and taking a detour to the Moriya residence, it was already past ten o'clock. Most people would be home at this time.
Where could he be?
Considering the impatience Moriya Teiji had displayed at the tea party, Conan had a guess.
He might have already started his operation, and if not stopped, there might be another explosion tonight!
Where could he be?
Because he didn't know much about Moriya Teiji's social connections, Conan couldn't make a judgment for the moment and could only look at Takagi, hoping he would get useful information after contacting Inspector Megure.
Takagi trusted Conan implicitly, and seeing his expectant gaze, immediately switched to speakerphone.
However, after the call connected, the other end couldn't provide any useful information.
Inspector Megure hadn't specifically investigated Moriya Teiji and hadn't even paid attention to the designer. A normal person wouldn't associate the designer of the munitions depot with the theft from it.
Just as Takagi was about to hang up, Shiratori Ninzaburo's voice suddenly came through.
"I'm fairly familiar with Moriya Teiji. He designed a vacation villa for my family in Okinawa, so I've had contact with him.
As far as I know, he doesn't seem to have any enemies.
His designs are recognized as top-tier in the industry. No one would deliberately offend him, and several architects at the same level have good relationships with him."
Shiratori Ninzaburo pondered for a few seconds, then made a bold guess.
"He has no enemies, but he seems dissatisfied with—even disgusted by—his early designs, and has criticized them publicly on several occasions.
His design philosophy is very avant-garde, his personality is somewhat impulsive and irritable, and his obsession with symmetrical aesthetics has reached a pathological level.
If he really intends to do something with explosives, then I think..."
"He might be targeting his early works!!!" Conan interrupted, enunciating each word clearly.
"Huh?" Shiratori on the other end was clearly taken aback, not expecting anyone to have the same thought.
Judging from the voice, it sounded somewhat young.
"Takagi, who's with you?"
"I-it's Conan," Takagi scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, but didn't hide anything.
"Oh, I remember Inspector Megure mentioning him. Isn't he that kid who's always following Kogoro Mouri?"
Shiratori Ninzaburo remarked. "I think his name is Conan, right? Inspector Megure was praising him to me before, and I didn't think much of it, but now it seems—Conan, you're really impressive!"
On the other end, Conan's expression changed, realizing he'd slipped up again, and he quickly tried to salvage the situation. "I learned all this from Uncle Kogoro! And I even talked to Shinichi Kudo on the phone this afternoon. We discussed this. These are all his deductions.
After all, he was originally invited to the tea party.
That's why he talked to me about it. Shinichi only connected the munitions theft to him through the riddle at the tea party."
"I see." Shiratori nodded, then changed the subject. "If you know Shinichi Kudo, I suggest you tell him to stay away from Moriya Teiji."
"What?" Conan was confused.
"This person is extremely vengeful. You just mentioned Shinichi Kudo. I remember that Moriya Teiji's 'Nishitama Town Development Plan' was prevented from being realized because of Shinichi Kudo."
Knowing Conan didn't understand, Shiratori explained in more detail. "Because Shinichi Kudo solved the case involving Mayor Okamoto of Nishitama's criminal activities, causing the mayor to resign, Moriya Teiji's 'Nishitama Town Development Plan' naturally came to a standstill.
Therefore, Moriya Teiji harbors intense hatred for Shinichi Kudo. I only learned this by chance when I spoke with him. Although he didn't say anything directly, the hatred in his words was still easy to detect.
If he's planning to take action, Shinichi Kudo is very likely to be one of his targets."
Please, how is this related to me? It's clearly the mayor's fault.
Conan rolled his eyes internally, but it didn't matter. He'd turned into a child now—that guy couldn't find him.
Now that it was preliminarily determined that Moriya Teiji was planning to target his early works, it would be easier to investigate.
Conan had an excellent memory and clearly remembered the early works he'd seen at Moriya's house on the day of the tea party. He quickly listed all the potential targets—the Kurokawa residence, the Mizushima residence, the Yasuda residence, the Akutsu residence, the Beika Municipal Building, the Beika Cinema, and the Sumida Canal Bridge.
These were all early works by Moriya Teiji.
It had to be said, these were not small projects. They were either residences of the wealthy or government projects.
"To do something like this for the sake of symmetry," Ai Haibara couldn't help but comment. What a bizarre person.
"A great designer having a slightly eccentric personality is normal, but this is excessive."
Moriya Teiji's behavior was incomprehensible to Yor, like some parents abandoning their children.
Silence fell in the car, with only Anya silently pulling out her homework and starting to work diligently. If she didn't finish now, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
She deeply regretted not going back with Bond. She'd planned to chat with Mama Yor and complain about Ai Haibara, but Yor had been discussing the explosion with Conan the whole time, so she hadn't even had a chance to speak.
Shiratori Ninzaburo took over the search for Moriya Teiji, while the three children were sent home.
Conan was concerned, but he couldn't make an accurate judgment on his own and couldn't determine which building Moriya Teiji was planning to target. He could only hope the Metropolitan Police Department could stop him.
At the Natsukawa family's door.
After giving the two girls a few instructions, Yor got back into the car. The bombing case at Shirakage Pharmaceuticals wasn't finished, and there were still many things to coordinate. She had to go back to work overtime.
Anya glanced at the departing police car, then at Haibara Ai, and reluctantly went to open the door.
"It's already very late today. You can take a little longer with your homework."
Anya's eyes lit up with joy, and she was about to express her gratitude when the other person's next words made her smile vanish.
"Just work until 1 a.m. I heard Uncle Natsukawa bought you lots of practice problems. If you finish your homework, do some practice problems for extra review.
Exams are next week, so last-minute cramming isn't ideal, but it's the only option now."
Ai Haibara tossed her schoolbag onto the sofa and urged Anya to take out her homework.
"What about you? You need to do your homework too, right? Let's do it together." Anya thought that if they did it together, she might be able to copy.
No, it's more like reference! How can you describe a student's work as copying? It's referencing!
"Oh, I finished it during break time at school."
Ai Haibara plopped down on the sofa, crossed her legs, and folded her arms, quietly waiting for Anya to sit down and begin.
"..."
Anya wore an expression of pure suffering.
This is how it is on the first day. What will every day be like in the future?
Thinking about the future made Anya feel faint.
Inspired by the investigation, Shiratori Ninzaburo immediately arranged for officers to search the Moriya mansion.
Even Inspector Megure wouldn't dare do this without a search warrant. Shiratori Ninzaburo dared because he understood Moriya Teiji's personality.
And there was another, most important factor.
The Shiratori conglomerate was one of the top zaibatsu in Japan—inferior to the Suzuki conglomerate but far more powerful than many others—and they weren't afraid of a so-called famous architect.
Even without a search warrant, and even if nothing was found, he wasn't afraid of Moriya Teiji's complaints.
There was no way around it. In Japan, while conglomerates might not do whatever they wanted, most politicians and officials had to give them face.
This was because they needed the support of conglomerates when running for office or seeking promotions.
Clearly, Shiratori Ninzaburo's decision was correct.
Shortly after, police notified him that traces of explosives had been found at Moriya Teiji's home.
Through the remaining components and materials, police confirmed that the perpetrator had manufactured plastic explosives in considerable quantity. The remaining materials proved the bomb's explosive yield was sufficient to cause an explosion similar to the one at Shirakage Pharmaceuticals.
Shiratori quickly relayed this information to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Criminal Investigation Department Chief Odagiri Toshiro had been extremely stressed these past few days, unable to return home, stationed at the Metropolitan Police Department awaiting news.
There was no way around it. Both the explosion and the theft of explosives were far too serious.
Although Public Security had taken over the investigation of the explosion, due to the media frenzy, rumors circulated that the stolen explosives had been used at Shirakage Pharmaceuticals.
Public Security couldn't publicly address the issue. The political pressure fell on them, but the pressure from the media and the public fell on the Metropolitan Police Department.
Reporters specifically mentioned in news reports and newspapers that the stolen explosives were enormous, far exceeding the yield used at Shirakage Pharmaceuticals. This caused widespread panic in Tokyo, with every household fearing they would be caught in an explosion.
The Metropolitan Police Department's phone lines were nearly overwhelmed.
Over the past two days, citizens called constantly, excitedly claiming to have spotted suspicious individuals planting bombs or directly finding what appeared to be explosives, only for it to be a false alarm when police responded.
Some troublemakers even called to threaten the Metropolitan Police Department, saying they would detonate explosives at certain locations if ransoms weren't paid.
As a result, the Metropolitan Police Department's holding cells received over twenty "VIP guests" in just two days.
Upon receiving news from Shiratori Ninzaburo, Odagiri Toshiro was greatly relieved and mobilized all available officers from several units of Division One.
The Kurokawa residence, the Mizushima residence, the Yasuda residence, the Akutsu residence, the Beika Municipal Building, the Beika Cinema, and the Sumida Canal Bridge—all early works by Moriya Teiji.
Although there were many targets and it was unclear which building Moriya Teiji intended to strike, the sheer number of police officers was overwhelming. Police cars, their red and blue lights flashing, drove out of the Metropolitan Police Department one after another.
This operation involved a full 300 officers and 50 police cars.
Fire trucks also arrived in succession to extinguish any fires caused by explosions as quickly as possible.
Natsukawa was unaware of this development.
At this moment, he and Vodka were waiting at the back entrance of the Kurokawa residence.
There weren't many people near the Kurokawa family's back entrance. Moriya Teiji had driven through this area several times during the day, so Natsukawa deduced that Moriya intended to park his car there and then infiltrate to carry out the demolition.
"Tequila, isn't this transaction location too exposed? It's surrounded by residential areas. What if we get discovered?"
Vodka yawned. The two had been waiting there for over half an hour, and the other party hadn't appeared, making him drowsy. So he casually started a conversation with Tequila.
At this moment, he really wanted a drink.
Unfortunately, his aniki had warned him not to drink during operations.
"The most dangerous place is the safest place. It's only natural to conduct a transaction in a location like this.
Besides, the other party is planning to blow up this building today, which is why they chose this spot."
Vodka glanced in the direction Natsukawa was pointing. "This villa must be worth a fortune."
Having spent so much time with Gin, he'd subconsciously learned to evaluate everything by its value. This building clearly held considerable worth—it would make a good temporary base for the Organization.
It was a pity it was about to be destroyed.
The two chatted casually, with Natsukawa occasionally glancing at the monitor in his hand.
A red dot was approaching.
"I didn't expect you to install a tracking device on them."
"Just as a precaution. Otherwise, if they don't show up today, how will we explain ourselves?"
Vodka thought about it and realized Tequila was indeed very thorough. No wonder his aniki had let Tequila lead these past few operations—he really needed to learn from him.
In the past, he'd always acted impulsively. After all, he was a professional operative, and action was more effective than overthinking.
Now it seemed that sometimes using his brain was a good option.
Not long after, a black car pulled up in the alley behind the Kurokawa residence.
"They're here?" Vodka rubbed his hands together, eager to act.
"Wait a moment," Natsukawa stopped him. "It'd be best if he detonates the villa first. After we've taken the explosives, we'll eliminate him too. When the police investigate, they'll conclude he mishandled the explosives, causing him to die in his own explosion."
"I see." Vodka silently made a mental note. He'd learned something—killing two birds with one stone.
His aniki had a reason for sending him with Tequila. Honestly, he could learn a lot.
Not only would they obtain the explosives, but the Organization wouldn't leave any traces.
Now that they were in the infiltration phase, every move had to be carefully planned. Otherwise, even a slight leak could alert the police with their keen noses.
After all, they'd just eliminated quite a few people. They absolutely couldn't provoke the authorities further, or the police might go berserk.
Natsukawa watched Vodka intently taking mental notes, feeling a pang of emotion. He was over thirty years old, yet still so passionate about learning. He wished Anya could be like him.
Moriya Teiji was still dressed as he had been the previous night, the only difference being that this time he was carrying a black hiking backpack, presumably containing the explosives.
He carefully scaled the Kurokawa family's wall and stealthily slipped inside.
(End of Chapter)
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