Chapter 362: The Jet-Black Mysterious Train 4
Conan stared blankly at the carriage door Sonoko had just slammed shut in his face. He stood frozen in the narrow corridor, his mind struggling to process the sheer absurdity of the situation. Cointreau had actually appeared by Ran's side again.
"Conan, is the Organization..." Haibara's trembling voice finally snapped his attention back to reality. Her small hands gripped the fabric of her coat, knuckles turning white.
"Don't overthink it," Conan said, forcing a reassuring tone as he temporarily shoved his dark speculations to the back of his mind. "Didn't he let us go that time at the port? This might just be another coincidence. After all, the mystery game on the Bell Tree Express is famous nationwide."
"Is that so?" Haibara murmured, lowering her gaze. She pretended to accept his reasoning, though her instincts screamed otherwise. A ruthless executive like Cointreau hardly seemed like the type to indulge in theatrical mystery games.
"Alright, try to relax. Let's find Car No. 7 first."
"Yeah." Haibara nodded slowly. She forced her mounting dread down into the pit of her stomach, but before following him down the corridor, she cast one last, uneasy glance over her shoulder at the heavy wooden door of Room B.
Inside Room B of Car No. 7, the atmosphere was entirely different.
Sonoko leaned against the freshly locked door and let out a triumphant, ringing laugh. "Haha! Those little brats are so incredibly naive. They really thought they could outsmart me, the great Lady Sonoko!" She flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking immensely pleased with her successful deception.
Sitting comfortably on the plush velvet sofa, Natsume recalled the utterly dumbfounded expression on Conan's face when he had first barged into the compartment. A soft chuckle escaped her lips, quickly escalating into genuine laughter.
[Honestly, it's really rare to see Conan look that clueless after getting tricked by Sonoko. Traveler, I made sure to take a picture.] Paimon's voice echoed cheerfully in her mind.
[You're quick on the draw, Paimon. Thumbs up.] Natsume replied silently, a warm smile lingering on her face.
Across the room, Aether leaned back against the window frame, watching Natsume interact with her friends. A faint, genuine smile graced his usually stoic features. The peaceful moment was interrupted by a quiet vibration from his pocket. He pulled out his sleek black terminal, tapping the screen to read the incoming message. One eyebrow arched slightly upward.
A near-inaudible sigh escaped his lips. Duty called, which meant he had to go deal with another troublesome member of the Black Organization.
Slipping the device back into his coat, Aether pushed himself off the wall. He offered a polite nod to the group, claiming a sudden urgent matter required his attention and that he needed to step out for a while.
Ran and Sonoko simply waved him off, too caught up in their own excitement to notice anything amiss. Sera, however, narrowed her eyes. She watched Shiro's retreating figure slide through the compartment door, her muscles tensing as she debated whether to tail him. A second later, she relaxed her posture. They were trapped on a moving train with narrow corridors and limited hiding spots. Tailing a grown man without being spotted would be nearly impossible. She reluctantly abandoned the idea.
Barely a few minutes after Shiro's departure, the compartment door slid open again without a single knock. Conan stood in the threshold, looking determined.
Sonoko immediately crossed her arms, glaring down at the boy. She bluntly reminded him that this was Room B of Car No. 8, ordering the little brats to scurry back to their designated cabin and stay out of trouble.
Conan did not budge. His sharp eyes scanned the interior, taking in the subtle details of the luggage and the seating arrangement. The pieces clicked into place. He confidently declared that this was, in fact, Room B of Car No. 7. He deduced that Sonoko and the girls had deliberately swapped rooms with the passengers assigned to play the victims in order to thoroughly confuse anyone playing the role of detective.
Naturally, having her clever ruse dismantled so effortlessly and thoroughly explained out loud only made Sonoko flush with irritation.
Stepping in to defuse the situation, Ran gently explained the specific details of how Sonoko had managed to orchestrate the room swap in the first place, filling in the gaps for the junior detective squad.
While Ran spoke, Sera's attention drifted. She noticed the small, quiet girl partially hiding behind Conan's legs. Having never met her before, Sera crouched down and leaned in closer, flashing a friendly, toothy grin as she prepared to introduce herself.
Conan immediately stiffened, shifting his weight to shield Haibara. Knowing that Cointreau had been in this exact room mere minutes ago sent a fresh wave of nervous tension spiking through his veins.
Meanwhile, several cars away, Aether handled the narrow, swaying corridors of the express train. Following the encrypted coordinates displayed on his terminal, he finally slid open a compartment door to find Bourbon waiting inside.
"Why the sudden summons?" Aether asked, his voice dropping into the cold, measured cadence of Cointreau. "Have you already picked up Sherry's trail?"
Bourbon leaned against the table, his expression unreadable. "Not yet, but soon. You cut off all contact before even boarding the train, Cointreau. Even though you aren't officially participating in this operation, I still needed to confirm whether you actually made it aboard."
"Don't make it sound as if I plan to sabotage your little mission," Cointreau replied, a dry edge to his tone. He pulled out his own device. "Forget it. Hand over your terminal. I am sending you something useful."
"What is it?" Bourbon frowned. Suspicion flickered in his eyes, wary that the executive might be attempting to install a hidden surveillance tracker on his device. Despite his reservations, he extended his hand and passed the phone over.
Cointreau tapped the screen a few times, establishing a secure transfer. A moment later, he handed the device back. "Alright, take a look. This should prove highly beneficial to your operation today."
Bourbon looked down at the glowing screen. A detailed, three-dimensional panoramic map of the Bell Tree Express rotated smoothly on the display. Hundreds of tiny, moving light dots populated the digital carriages. The vast majority of them glowed a dull gray.
However, a select few dots glowed in distinct, vibrant colors, accompanied by tiny lines of floating text. Bourbon pinched the screen to zoom in, his eyes widening slightly as he realized the text strings were individual passenger names.
He scanned the layout. A cluster of green dots had gathered inside Room B of Car No. 7. Reading the labels, he identified the two children from the Mouri detective agency—targets he had been keeping a very close eye on—along with their immediate circle of friends.
Floating right beside them were the names of Shuichi Akai's younger sister, Masumi Sera, and Natsuki Natsume.
Bourbon calculated the timing. The direction Cointreau had approached from perfectly matched the route from Car No. 7. The realization hit him—the executive had likely just been visiting his sister. Bourbon slowly raised his head, fixing a calculating stare on the man standing before him.
Catching the intense look, Cointreau assumed the intelligence operative simply wanted a technical breakdown of the software. He casually slipped his hands into his pockets.
"This is a highly advanced heat-source positioning system," Cointreau explained smoothly. "Jirokichi Suzuki commissioned Ningguang's technology firm to install it throughout the train's infrastructure. I acquired the accompanying imaging software directly from her. As you can see, these light dots represent every individual person currently on board."
He gestured toward the screen. "The interface allows you to assign specific colors and name tags to the heat signatures of anyone you feel requires special monitoring. The file I just sent you contains the configurations I have already set up. If you want to change the parameters or track someone else, you can modify the settings yourself later."
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