A few days later, on a bright, clear morning, on a bus heading to a ski resort in the suburbs.
In the back row of the bus, near the back door.
Ran looked at the scenery rushing past outside the window, a smile on her face.
"This is great! I can't believe we won a group discount voucher for the ski resort in the supermarket lottery. It's amazing that we can all go skiing for free!"
She turned her head to look at her companions on the bus.
Rin and Ellen sat to her and Conan's left, while Dr. Agasa and Haibara Ai sat in the row behind them.
"Dr. Agasa, where are Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta?"
Ran looked at Haibara Ai, who was quietly reading a book, and asked curiously,
"Didn't they say they really wanted to come skiing too?"
The group discount voucher for the ski resort allowed many people to go together. Ran contacted Dr. Agasa, hoping to bring the Detective Boys along.
Dr. Agasa showed a slightly helpless smile and was about to speak when Haibara Ai, without lifting her head, explained.
"They can't make it. Apparently, they ran into a ghost a few days ago when they went out, and now they're at home receiving psychological comfort, unwilling to go out."
She closed her book and added, "So Dr. Agasa only brought me."
"A- a ghost?!"
Upon hearing this, Ran's face instantly paled by a third. She instinctively squeezed Conan's hand next to her, making Conan's face change color.
She was fearless, capable of taking down several strong men with karate, but she had no resistance to ghosts and the like.
Conan, whose hand was squeezed painfully, gave a half-moon eye, shook his hand, and helplessly comforted her.
"Ran-neechan, how can there really be ghosts in this world!
They must have seen wrong, or been tricked by some natural phenomenon or psychological suggestion. You have to believe in science!"
Listening to Conan, Ran gradually calmed down.
The bus drove steadily, then slowly stopped at a station.
The door opened, and four new passengers boarded one after another.
The first passenger to board was a red-haired woman, dressed in casual clothes, with a pair of large sunglasses on her nose that covered half her face.
As soon as she got on the bus, she scanned the area, then found a single window seat in the front row and sat down, looking like she didn't want to be approached.
Rin's gaze lingered on the red-haired woman with sunglasses for a moment, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.
She had seen Jane Doe's disguise before and recognized her immediately.
Rin winked at the other party. Jane Doe seemed to receive the signal, nodded slightly, and then looked out the window, pretending to be a stranger.
The next two people to board made Ran exclaim in surprise, "Araide-sensei? Jodie-sensei? What a coincidence!"
These two were Tomoaki Araide, the school doctor at Teitan High School, and Jodie Saintemillion, the new English teacher.
They boarded the bus together, as if they were very close.
Ran guessed that they might be a couple on a date.
"Oh~! What a coincidence! Mouri-san!" Jodie enthusiastically waved hello.
Dr. Araide glanced at Mouri Ran and Conan, and their large and small bags of equipment, and smiled.
"It is indeed a coincidence, Ran-san. Are you going skiing?"
"Yes."
Ran looked at the two of them, a gossipy smile on her face.
"Araide-sensei, Jodie-sensei, you two seem very close. Are you on a date now?"
Upon hearing this, Dr. Araide's face immediately showed a hint of embarrassment. He quickly waved his hand and explained.
"No, no, no, Ran-san, you've misunderstood. Jodie and I just happened to meet at the station. We are just ordinary colleagues."
Jodie also smiled and echoed. "Yes~! Just a coincidence."
Rin's gaze scanned back and forth between Dr. Araide and Jodie.
She didn't know Dr. Araide, but she was well aware of Jodie's FBI identity.
Seeing these two appear at the same time, Rin immediately understood the current plot point.
Dr. Araide and Jodie appeared on the bus at the same time.
That only happened when Vermouth was disguised as Dr. Araide.
No wonder Jane Doe was also there, she must have come with Vermouth.
Oh, right! This was also Akai Shuichi's first appearance in front of Conan.
The FBI knew that Dr. Araide had been replaced by Vermouth and was staking him out.
So where was Akai Shuichi?
Rin cast her gaze to the last passenger to board.
That was a tall man, wearing a thick down jacket, a knit hat, and a mask, with only his eyes visible.
After boarding, he silently stood near the back door, deliberately trying to lower his presence.
That's right! This outfit, it must be Akai Shuichi!
He still couldn't forget his knit hat.
Just as these four people were boarding, Haibara Ai, sitting in the row behind Conan, felt a buzz in her head.
The Black Organization radar activated, and she began to tremble all over.
She pursed her lips, pulled her hood low over her head.
At the same time, she buried almost her entire face in her thick scarf, her small body uncontrollably shrinking into a ball, pressing tightly against the car window, trying to completely hide herself.
"Haibara? What's wrong?" Conan, sitting in front of her, immediately noticed her abnormality and asked in a low voice.
However, Ai was unresponsive to his calls, as if her computer had crashed.
Dr. Agasa also called out Ai's name several times.
But Haibara Ai still remained unresponsive.
Conan's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Ai's reaction reminded him of when he had encountered Gin and Vodka before.
Only when sensing the proximity of a member of that organization would Haibara react this way!
Who is it?!
Conan suddenly turned his head, scrutinizing the four people who had just boarded.
Someone from the Black Organization must be among these newly boarded passengers!
His brain worked rapidly, his gaze like a searchlight, scanning back and forth over the four passengers who had just boarded.
That red-haired woman with sunglasses in the front row? She had a cool demeanor, but didn't look like it.
Dr. Araide and Jodie-sensei? One was a familiar school doctor, the other a somewhat eccentric-looking foreign language teacher.
Dr. Araide had been at the school for some time, so he was temporarily ruled out.
Jodie-sensei had only recently started teaching at the school, which was a little suspicious, but not certain.
Finally, Conan's gaze fixed on the tall man standing near the back door, wearing a mask and a hat.
It must be him!
Completely covered from head to toe, with only his eyes showing, dressed very suspiciously, clearly not a good person.
Of course, the most important point was this.
Among these four people who had just boarded, he was the only one wearing an all-black outfit—black clothes and black pants.
If he wasn't a member of the Black Organization, who was?
Thinking this, Conan silently touched the anesthetic watch on his wrist, deciding to wait for an opportunity to act.