Inside the shinkansen, Gin and Vodka took seats near the rear of the car.
It wasn't a holiday, so there weren't many passengers onboard.
Seeing the car nearly empty, Vodka relaxed and started chatting with his usual careless grin.
"Heh, boss, remember that woman, Miyano Akemi? The one who quit her bank job a while back and started working nights at that bar?"
"At first, I figured she was just trying to hook some rich old guy for money."
"But then—get this—the other day she comes to me with Maple Leaf gold coins and asks to exchange them!"
"That's when it hit me—she's gotten mixed up with that hotshot robber everyone's been talking about!"
Gin didn't reply. He simply sat there, silent and sharp-eyed as ever.
Vodka was used to his boss's quiet nature and continued anyway. "The news said that same guy stormed into the police headquarters not long ago and busted that Italian out of custody, right?"
"He must've been after those Maple Leaf coins… and now they're showing up in Akemi's hands."
He frowned, his grin fading. "Boss, if she keeps this up, she might actually get her hands on the full ten billion yen!"
Gin's lips twisted into a cold sneer. "Let her. Whether she gets the money or not, she's already dead. As for that so-called 'robber'…" he exhaled smoke through a faint smile. "He's not worth worrying about."
Vodka let out a crude laugh. "Right you are, boss! That stupid woman's as good as dead anyway."
He glanced at his watch. "Boss, time's about up. We should get going—got a deal to make."
Gin gave a short nod. The two stood and left their seats.
As they stepped into the passageway between cars, Gin suddenly stopped without warning.
"What's wrong, boss?" Vodka asked, puzzled.
"Wait," Gin said curtly, moving to one side.
"Oh." Vodka shrugged and followed his lead. He'd long since stopped questioning his boss's odd habits.
Gin gave him a look—a cold, tired one. "Don't stand in the middle."
"Right, right!" Vodka shuffled aside awkwardly, mirroring Gin's position.
They stood there, waiting quietly as passengers occasionally passed by, most assuming the two men were simply waiting to disembark at the next station.
Five minutes passed.
Vodka checked his phone and murmured, "Boss, only ten minutes till the trade."
Gin said nothing.
Then Vodka's eyes widened in sudden realization. "Ah, I get it now! You're planning to intercept the target here, aren't you? To do the deal right in this passageway!"
"That way, if they try anything funny, we can ruin their plan right off the bat. Genius, boss! Absolute genius!"
He looked at Gin with genuine admiration—certain that only someone of his caliber could come up with such a scheme.
But then—the door slid open.
Someone entered the passage.
It was Shinichi Kudo.
The moment he saw the two men in black, his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.
He didn't know whether they were lying in wait for him, or if it was pure coincidence—but either way, turning back now would only make him look suspicious.
His eyes darted around—until he spotted a restroom door just ahead.
Perfect.
Acting as casually as he could, Shinichi walked over, opened the door, and stepped inside.
He had just begun to close it when—
A hand shot out, wedging itself in the gap.
His heart pounded violently. Crap.
He grabbed the handle with both hands and tried to force it shut, but the other side was stronger.
Vodka shoved the door wide open with one hand, grinning cruelly. "Well, well… now I get why the boss was waiting here. We were waiting for you, huh?"
He leaned in, voice dripping with mockery. "You were that nosy brat at Tropical Land, weren't you?"
Shinichi's expression flickered—caught between shock and indignation.
So they had noticed him at the station. They'd been pretending not to, luring him into their trap.
"I—I don't know what you're talking about," he stammered, forcing a confused frown. "I've never seen you before."
Feigning ignorance was the only move he had left.
"Hah! Playing dumb, are we? Fine, let's jog your memory."
Vodka's sneer deepened. He swung twice, hard.
Two brutal punches landed straight across Shinichi's face.
He barely had time to react. Stars burst across his vision. His head spun, and for a split second he thought he could see his great-grandmother waving at him from the afterlife.
"Boss," Vodka said, shaking out his knuckles, "what do we do with him?"
Gin's voice was cool and emotionless. "The usual."
He pulled out a small metal case, took out a single capsule, and forced it into Shinichi's mouth.
Shinichi tried to resist, but his strength was already gone.
Minutes later, his body convulsed violently on the restroom floor—then went completely still.
Vodka glanced down at him, satisfied. "You know, I can't stand that woman, but I've gotta admit—Sherry's drugs work like a charm."
"Enough," Gin said coldly, turning away. "We've wasted enough time."
"Got it, boss."
Vodka closed the door behind them, leaving the motionless body on the cold floor, and followed his superior down the corridor toward their next stop—business as usual.
Noon — Teitan High School.
Ren Kuroda arrived at Class 2-B carrying a neatly packed bento.
When he heard Shinichi had taken the day off, he wasn't all that surprised. That guy had a habit of skipping school whenever someone called for a "private investigation."
Ren joined Ran and Sonoko for lunch, chatting idly as he ate. Then, between bites, he discreetly checked his System interface.
Current Mission: Accumulate a total of 1,000,000,000 yen in illicit funds.Progress: 125,000,000 yen.
Of that, 25 million yen came from the job he'd done with Akemi Miyano, where they'd ambushed a group of Mudō-kai gangsters and split the 50 million haul.
Another 100 million came from intercepting the Organization's extortion operation at Tropical Land.
And soon, once Akemi fenced off those Maple Leaf coins—worth a staggering 600 million yen—he'd be receiving half of that as his share: another 300 million.
Total: 425 million yen.
He still needed 575 million more to hit the goal.
That wasn't a small number. He'd have to come up with something big.
"Ran, let's go shopping after school!" Sonoko chirped. "It's been forever!"
Ran's eyes lit up. "Yes! Finally! I've been so busy with karate training lately, I haven't gone anywhere with you."
Sonoko turned toward Ren apologetically. "Sorry, Kuroda-kun! It's just a girls' outing this time—no boys allowed."
Ren smiled faintly. "No problem. You two have fun."
After they finished lunch and chatted a bit longer, Ren noticed both girls starting to look drowsy from a full meal. He excused himself and headed back to his classroom.
He figured he'd kill time browsing the net until class resumed.
But as soon as he opened the homepage, a flashing headline caught his eye—
Breaking News: "Hero Saves Passenger on Shinkansen — Kogoro Mouri!"
Ren froze. His eyes narrowed slightly.
Something about that headline told him… this case wasn't over yet.