Chapter 372: The Pitch-Black Mysterious Train 14
Shuichi Akai remained noncommittal. "How can you be so sure I will help?" His gaze narrowed, assessing the man standing before him. "Just telling me your plan like this... aren't you worried I might get caught and spill everything to Gin and the rest of them?"
Akai firmly believed in Gin's absolute loyalty to the Black Organization. From his perspective, the silver-haired executive was an immovable pillar standing on the side of the Boss. During his own time as an undercover agent within those dark ranks, Akai had witnessed Gin's cold fanaticism firsthand. When it came to executing the Boss's orders, Gin operated with a ruthless perfection that left absolutely zero room for betrayal.
"Hmm..." Cointreau tilted his head, regarding Akai with a deeply unreadable expression. "Do you honestly think, given your current soaring popularity within the Organization, that you would even get a chance to speak if they caught you?"
A dry chuckle escaped Cointreau's lips. "Besides, can you really place your absolute trust in the FBI higher-ups?"
The words struck a nerve. Akai found himself temporarily choked for a response. Cointreau was entirely correct. If he were to suddenly appear in front of the Organization's active members right now, they would draw their weapons and gun him down on sight. There would be no interrogation, no dramatic exchange of words.
As for the upper echelons of the FBI... he truly did not trust them. He trusted his direct superior, James Black, with his life. But the men sitting in the offices above James? That was an entirely different story. It was precisely why he had kept his mouth firmly shut regarding the bizarre circumstances surrounding Shinichi Kudo and Shiho Miyano. Very few politicians possessed the moral fortitude to refuse the kind of lucrative bait the Organization could dangle in front of them.
"You can take your sister and leave now." Cointreau took a deliberate step back, clearing the path to the unconscious Masumi Sera. He gestured casually, indicating that Akai was free to approach her.
Observing the unusually heavy silence settling over the FBI agent's features, Cointreau knew his words had hit their mark. The man was already beginning to waver. There was no need to force a definitive answer out of him right this second. The timing was not quite right, and realistically, Akai had no actual avenue for refusal anyway.
Hearing the man who had just been blocking his path yield so decisively, Akai allowed a flicker of genuine surprise to cross his face. "Oh? You aren't planning to use her to threaten me?"
"There is no need for such crude tactics," Cointreau replied smoothly. "This is an operation led by Bourbon. Vermouth and I are merely providing peripheral assistance. There is absolutely no reason for us to risk our own lives for his glory."
Akai cast a sharp, sidelong glance at the man. Was Cointreau really risking his life just a moment ago? The casual demeanor suggested otherwise.
"Besides," Cointreau added, his voice dropping a fraction of an octave, "one useful bargaining chip is more than enough."
Akai felt a sudden tightening in his chest. His brow furrowed deeply. "What exactly do you mean by that?" His instincts screamed that the specific bargaining chip Cointreau mentioned carried a much darker, hidden significance.
Cointreau merely chuckled, a low, dismissive sound. "Nothing you need to worry about right now. You will know when the time comes."
Akai crouched down, carefully lifting the unconscious Masumi into his arms. As he turned toward the carriage door, Cointreau's voice drifted over his shoulder, casual yet piercing.
"Kir is also from the United States, is she not? Which intelligence agency does she actually belong to?"
Akai paused mid-step. He adjusted his grip on his sister, weighing his options. He knew that the moment his own survival was confirmed by the Organization, Kir's cover would be blown to pieces anyway. There was no point in hiding it now.
"CIA," Akai answered flatly. He turned his head slightly. "But why do you immediately assume she is an undercover agent? Could Kir not have simply chosen to betray the Organization on her own terms?"
A wide, amused smile spread across Cointreau's face. "It is quite simple, really. In our beloved Organization, the undercover agents vastly outnumber the actual defectors."
Meanwhile, in Car No. 8, the atmosphere remained thick with unresolved tension near the crime scene.
Conan stood near the wall, his head lowered in deep concentration. His mind raced through the physical evidence. How on earth did Anton manage to completely deceive the conductor's eyes? Was there truly no mirror involved in the trick? Or had he simply hidden it away before anyone could notice?
The young detective looked up, his sharp gaze locking onto Anton. He noticed the suspect's eyes darting nervously, repeatedly glancing sideways toward the door of his own carriage. Was there some sort of hidden mechanical device installed on that specific door?
Conan shook his head slightly. That was impossible. He had thoroughly inspected that area earlier. It was just an ordinary, standard-issue door, completely identical to every other carriage entrance on the train.
A few paces away, Natsume cast an inquiring look toward Heizou. The young detective from Inazuma had slipped away for a brief period earlier, engaging in some unknown task while the others were distracted.
Meeting her gaze, Heizou offered a subtle, reassuring nod. The silent gesture confirmed that he had successfully dismantled the holographic projection device. The evidence was gone. Now, no matter how hard the police or the little detective searched, they would never find a single trace of the technological trickery.
As for Anton, the man only knew that a mysterious benefactor had provided crucial assistance for his elaborate revenge plot. He remained completely ignorant of the true identity of the person sending those cryptic text messages.
Standing near the corridor, Amuro paid zero attention to the ongoing murder investigation. He did not believe for a second that Kaitou Kid was the killer, but solving the mundane case was the absolute least of his priorities right now. His focus was entirely elsewhere.
Suddenly, a thick, acrid cloud of dark smoke began pouring out from the narrow cracks around the door to Room B, the very room where the deceased victim lay.
"I will go check the situation!"
Amuro was the first to react to the sudden danger. He dashed down the narrow corridor, grabbing the handle of Room B and throwing the door open. A massive plume of black smoke instantly billowed out, choking him. He coughed violently, throwing an arm over his nose and mouth to block the toxic fumes.
His expression twisted into an ugly grimace as he spun back around to face the passengers. "It is a fire! There is a fire spreading inside!"
Waving his free hand urgently, Amuro shouted his warning down the hall. "Everyone, move! Quickly evacuate to the front carriages and take refuge!"
"Ah!" The crowd erupted into a chorus of panicked screams. The passengers immediately scrambled over one another, their footsteps thundering against the floorboards as they desperately fled toward the safety of the forward cars.
Conan snapped out of his deductive trance. He sprinted over to a sleeping Kogoro, violently shaking the older man awake and shouting at him to run for his life.
As the smoke thickened in the corridor, a sudden realization hit the young detective. His eyes widened in alarm. He abandoned the fleeing crowd and sprinted back toward Natsume and Heizou, who had calmly remained in their positions despite the escalating chaos.
"Sister Natsume!" Conan yelled over the rising commotion. "There is a fire spreading right now! Kid is still locked inside this specific train car. He is way too close to Room B! If we leave him in there, he is going to be in serious trouble!"
He tugged frantically at her sleeve. "We have to let him out! It is far too dangerous to leave him trapped here!"
"Hmm..." Natsume looked down at the frantic boy, her expression shifting into one of awkward hesitation. "Conan, you are absolutely right. No matter what crimes he has committed, we cannot simply leave a living person locked up right next to a raging fire scene. But..."
She gestured helplessly toward the reinforced locking mechanism. "This specific door can only be opened by Mr. Jirokichi Suzuki himself, and only after the train has safely reached the terminal station. I do not possess the necessary security authorization to override it!"
"Ah?" Conan froze, his jaw dropping in sheer disbelief. Could it really be true? Was the legendary phantom thief actually going to burn to death in a locked box? "Is there really no other way to get it open?"
Natsume tapped her chin, her eyes narrowing as she fell into a moment of deep contemplation. The crackling sound of the approaching flames grew louder by the second.
Finally, she looked up, a faint, dangerous spark dancing in her eyes. "Hmm... well, that is not entirely accurate. There is one other method to get him out. It is just that... using it would cause quite a massive commotion."
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