Chapter 276: A Coincidence?
To Conan's astonishment, the two figures walking away with their backs to him actually stopped. They turned, and for a heart-stopping moment, he expected to see the faces from the "Cocoon" game. But they were different—subtly, yet undeniably so.
Just as he was about to stammer out an apology, to say he'd mistaken them for someone else, the tall man with the flowing white hair spoke. His voice was calm, measured, yet held an undercurrent of authority. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"
Huh?! Conan's mind reeled. This gentleman is really named Neuvillette?
Could it be a coincidence? The thought felt flimsy, improbable. A flicker of suspicion warred with his uncertainty.
After a moment's hesitation, Conan decided on a partial truth. He gave a brief, sanitized explanation of the "Noah's Ark" incident. It had been a public enough affair at the time; revealing some details wouldn't cause any harm.
As Neuvillette listened to the boy's story, the faint wariness in his eyes—the natural reaction to a stranger shouting his name on a foreign street—seemed to recede. He gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgement. "I am indeed named Neuvillette," he confirmed. "And I have heard whispers of the incident you describe. However, I am from France, and I have no connection to those events. Sharing a name with a character from a video game must simply be a coincidence."
Furina, who had been standing quietly by Neuvillette's side, her expression one of polite curiosity, now stepped forward with a bright smile. "That's right, it must be! For instance," she chirped, "my name is actually Furina. See? It's even different from 'Focalors' in the game."
A playful, almost cunning light danced in her eyes as she leaned in slightly, her gaze fixed on Conan. "Besides," she continued, her tone conspiratorial, "the idea that people who look alike must be related is the sort of thing that only happens in television dramas. In reality, there are plenty of completely unrelated people who share a similar appearance, aren't there?"
Conan couldn't help but study her again.
Indeed, sharing a name could be a coincidence. A similar appearance could also be a coincidence. But for their silhouettes, their very presence and bearing, to be so uncannily alike… that was stretching the definition of coincidence to its breaking point.
'Could it be?'he wondered.'Did the data for Neuvillette in 'Noah's Ark' have a real-life prototype?'
Then again, looking more closely at Furina, he could see the differences. Beyond the superficial resemblance, she was a world apart from the solemn, tragic figure of Focalors. This woman, Furina, radiated a much more relaxed, almost mischievously cheerful energy.
Just as Conan was lost in his thoughts, unsure how to respond, Furina glanced at her wrist as if checking a watch. "Ah! Look at the time! We have other things to attend to."
With that, after a quick, polite goodbye to Conan and Dr. Agasa, she turned and walked away, Neuvillette falling into step beside her.
It all happened so suddenly. Conan's mind had been so preoccupied with dissecting the appearances and temperaments of the strange pair that he completely forgot about the one thing he'd been determined to watch for: the glimmering Vision he had previously glimpsed on the bow at Furina's waist.
Watching their retreating backs, a familiar unease settled in Conan's gut. But a more pressing matter demanded his attention—the case of "Hades," whose trail they had just uncovered.
By the time Conan rejoined Ran and the others, she had already processed her disappointment over Shinichi's abrupt departure from London for an "emergency."
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard had arrived in force. Computers were set up, tracking Hades's location in real-time via the transmitter Lynette had planted. Surveillance teams were deployed, their objective clear: capture the suspect safely and efficiently.
Thanks to Lynette's perfectly placed bug, the police successfully located Hades's hideout. After a period of observation confirmed he was working alone, they moved in. The raid was a success; they apprehended him just as he finished constructing the bomb, moments before he could deliver it to its intended target.
Only then did the full, tragic story come to light. "Hades" was targeting the mother of Minerva Glass, the "Queen of the Grass Court." His motive was twisted revenge. He had lost a massive bet on one of Minerva's matches—a match her mother had unexpectedly failed to attend. The loss left him unable to pay for his own mother's medical expenses, and she subsequently passed away. Consumed by grief and rage, he decided to take revenge on Minerva, to make her experience the same agonizing pain of losing a loved one.
Fortunately, with the timely intervention of Kogoro Mouri and the very useful assistance from Lynette's group, the police had managed to apprehend the criminal before his plan could come to fruition. No one was harmed.
As the incident drew to a close, a collective sigh of relief went through the group.
"That's wonderful," Ran said, her face bright with genuine happiness. "Now we can watch the match tomorrow without worrying." She was glad that Minerva's family had been spared a terrible crisis. She thought of the message Shinichi had asked her to pass along in front of Big Ben—"Love is 0, but 0 is also where everything begins." She resolved to tell Minerva before her match the next day.
Suddenly, a prickling sensation crawled up the back of Conan's neck. He felt a strange, intense gaze fixed on him. He whipped his head around and saw her: a woman standing in the thinning crowd, her expression unreadable, her eyes locked onto him.
The moment their gazes met, she reacted. The woman pulled the brim of her hat down, shadowing her face, and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Conan shouted, bolting after her without a second thought.
A chilling suspicion seized him. What if she was an accomplice? What if Hades wasn't working alone after all? If he let her escape, Minerva's family could still be in danger.
Unfortunately, he was a step too late. By the time he shoved his way through the remaining onlookers to where she had been standing, she had vanished into the London evening.
Frustration churned in his stomach. Just as he was about to give up, a pair of hands shot out from the shadows behind him, reaching for his neck.
Conan's blood ran cold. "!"
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