Ming Ke Theater Chapter 116

【……

Teitan Elementary School.

It was dismissal time, and Genta Kojima checked his shoe locker, only to find nothing but his own shoes inside. It was another day without a new case.

Just then, Conan’s phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number. He answered and found it was Jodie on the other end.

Jodie said her phone was broken, so she bought a new one, hoping it would also help change her mood, and thus used a new number. Of course, she had already found a way to send this number to Kir, who then immediately called her.

Jodie said, “She barely found a chance to call. It’s just a few very brief words, but they are very important. She said, ‘The organization’s new member has started to act. He is reportedly very skilled at information gathering, with strong observational and insightful abilities. He is an expert in searching, and his codename is Bourbon. Be extremely careful!’”

Then, she warned Conan to make sure the brown-haired girl hid well and to be wary of probing gazes around her.】

Vermouth looked at Bourbon beside her and said, “It seems it’s your turn to make an appearance now. Be careful your secrets aren’t discovered by us, just like Kir’s.”

Bourbon’s heart tightened, but he smiled casually, “That’s not something I can decide. I hope it won’t be as tragic as Kir’s.”

Although he said that, Bourbon already had a bad premonition. Kir’s identity as an undercover agent had been exposed by the video, so it would probably be difficult to conceal his own identity as well.

He, Kir, and Vermouth all appeared near that boy. Their backgrounds would probably be thoroughly investigated.

The question he needed to consider now was what to do once his undercover identity was exposed.

【……

The Detective Boys received a new request. The client was Kaito Sugiura from Class A. In summary, his request was to find the person among the three tenants of his apartment, Mokuba Manor, who acted suspiciously every night.

Conan knew this apartment and was surprised that this incident happened there.

Even more unexpected things happened: a fire broke out at Mokuba Manor. The apartment was burned to ruins, but fortunately, there were no casualties.

The Detective Boys told Officer Yuminaga, who was in charge of the fire, about Kaito Sugiura’s request. When Officer Yuminaga heard them mention three people, he brought over the three suspects of the fire.

At this moment, Ai Haibara suddenly sensed the presence of the organization, a gaze like that of a predator capturing its prey. There was definitely someone from the organization nearby!

She suddenly hid behind Conan, her face pale and covered in cold sweat, making the other children worried.

Suddenly, the gaze disappeared, and Ai Haibara immediately returned to normal.

Officer Yuminaga didn’t notice the little girl’s change. He called the three people over to let the children identify which person it was. But he misunderstood; they were there today to find out who the person was, not to confirm which person it was.

However, a diary belonging to Kaito Sugiura was found in the fire’s ruins. The contents indicated that the person Kaito Sugiura referred to as “Yellow” was the most suspicious individual. So now, the biggest problem was to find the “Yellow” person.】

“Subaru Okiya, so he appeared at this time,” Sonoko Suzuki said.

“Sonoko, you know this person?” Makoto Kyogoku asked.

“He’s staying at the Kudo residence. I haven’t seen him many times, but he’s also a very smart person, like a detective,” Sonoko Suzuki said.

“Speaking of which, you’ve been sitting here all this time without saying anything. Don’t you feel bored, Mr. Okiya?” Heiji Hattori looked at the person sitting diagonally behind him. The graduate student from the video was also sitting in the space, but had been silent.

Subaru Okiya smiled and said, “It’s not easy for me to interject, and I don’t know enough about you all, so I simply chose not to speak.”

“Is that so?”

Bourbon looked over from a distance. Seeing this person in the video felt a bit subtle, but after seeing him in person, Bourbon couldn’t ignore the inexplicable vigilance that arose within him. He wouldn’t ignore his intuition; it seemed this graduate student was no ordinary person.

【……

Soon, Conan understood. The “Red” person represented Subaru Okiya, because he watered the plants in the apartment every day, which made the children associate him with the image of a fire truck spraying water; the “White” person represented Hosoi, because Hosoi always carried bandages with him, like a doctor, which made Kaito Sugiura think of an ambulance; the “Yellow” person referred to Makabe, who was like a yellow excavator, sticking his fingers into the dirt.

The arsonist was Makabe. To avoid paying taxes, every time he accumulated about a million yen, he would withdraw it from the bank and bury it in the yard. However, he was unfortunately discovered by the landlord. When the landlord questioned him, he accidentally pushed the landlord down the stairs. So, to start everything over, he set a fire, planning to dig up the box later.

Fortunately, the landlord was rescued, and his child was also fine. As long as the people were safe, everything could start anew.

Mokuba Manor was burned down, and Subaru Okiya had nowhere to live. So, he followed Conan and Ai Haibara to Professor Agasa’s house nearby, hoping Professor Agasa would take him in and that he could also be his research assistant in his free time.

Professor Agasa had no problem with it, but Ai Haibara strongly objected because she could feel the organization’s presence from this person. He absolutely could not stay here!

However, Conan took out the key to the neighboring Kudo residence and told him to stay there for now. Ai Haibara quickly tried to stop him, but Conan’s reason, “Someone who likes Sherlock Holmes can absolutely not be a bad person,” stunned her.】

Ran Mouri frowned, “Shinichi, didn’t you see how nervous Ai-chan was? Why did you let him stay? And just as Ai-chan said, aren’t you afraid he’ll discover your secret?”

Shinichi Kudo said, “There’s nothing else we can do. He has nowhere to live, so I’m letting him stay there for now. As for other things, we don’t need to consider them for the time being.”

“Is that so?” Ran Mouri felt Shinichi Kudo’s attitude was strange.

Ai Haibara was certain that Subaru Okiya’s identity was problematic. He appeared too abruptly, with no foreshadowing. Who could he be?

Soon, she thought of someone she had seen feign death not long ago: Shuichi Akai.

If it was him, everything made sense—why did she feel the organization’s presence? Because Shuichi Akai was originally an undercover agent for the organization, so it was normal for him to have the organization’s presence. Why did Shinichi Kudo let him stay at home despite her objections? Because Shuichi Akai was FBI, so he didn’t have to worry about a bad person moving into his home or posing a threat to himself.

Ai Haibara took a deep breath and said, “So, it’s that guy, isn’t it?”

Shinichi Kudo said guiltily, “Ah, I really couldn’t hide it from you. It’s good that he lives nearby; he can protect your safety up close.”

Ai Haibara said decisively, “My safety doesn’t need him to worry about.”

Ran Mouri didn’t know why the two of them suddenly started arguing. She wanted to mediate but didn’t know where to start because she didn’t know what they were arguing about, which caused a strange feeling to arise in Ran Mouri’s heart.