"Shuichi Akai... he's our FBI ace, and the biggest trump card we brought to Japan to fight that organization." The one who responded was Jam
"Shuichi Akai... he's our FBI ace, and the biggest trump card we brought to Japan to fight that organization."
The one who responded was Jas Black.
When Hayashi Yoshiki and Conan looked over, he sighed and tiredly removed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"He was an extraordinarily capable man. He saw through the organization's actions several tis... If he were still with us, we'd feel much more confident dealing with them."
"Then... he's already…?"
Looking at Jodie's gloomy expression and Jas' weary eyes, Conan's face also turned grim.
That organization really was rciless.
Even though he didn't know what kind of person Shuichi Akai was, the fact that he was called the ace of the FBI, coupled with the trust in Jodie-sensei's tone, made it clear he was soone truly formidable.
For soone like that to die... Conan couldn't help but feel a heavy weight in his heart.
"Was he killed by soone from that organization?" asked Hayashi Yoshiki.
"Most likely."
"Most likely?"
"...It's a bit strange when you think about it."
Jodie looked up at Hayashi Yoshiki, then at Conan, and said:
"You both still rember that bus hijacking incident, right?"
"Of course."
"Shu was also on that bus, sitting in the last row."
As she said that, seeing their stunned expressions, she continued:
"But let ask you — do you still rember how those two hijackers died?"
"How could we forget?"
Conan responded imdiately.
At the ti, the two hijackers had planned to retreat as scheduled. Still, unexpectedly, just before the bus entered a tunnel, a series of highly improbable incidents occurred, killing them both with perfect timing.
All the passengers on the bus had witnessed it clearly.
In the explosion's shockwave, the bus windshield — already cracked by a bullet — shattered at just the right mont. Then, a buzzsaw propelled by the explosion flew into the bus and conveniently sliced through the two hijackers.
Jodie and Shuichi Akai had thoroughly examined the accident afterward but found no flaws in the incident.
"Shu died in a similar kind of accident..."
"An accident? When and where?"
At the mont Jodie said this, Hayashi Yoshiki imdiately took a step closer.
His usually serious gaze suddenly beca intense — he clearly cared deeply about this matter.
Jodie, startled, instinctively replied:
"The afternoon of June 15th, at the third traffic light intersection in front of Beika Station..."
"The one from the high-profile shooting reported in the news?"
Conan rembered the incident very well.
According to police reports and eyewitness accounts, that afternoon, at the third traffic light near Beika Station, two n with knives attacked another man. Then a motorcyclist wearing a helt appeared and started shooting, trying to kill the man — several innocent bystanders were hit in the process.
Then, there was an explosion and a traffic accident.
The police later declared it a gang-related vendetta. But Conan rembered clearly — there was no ntion of any "accident" in the follow-up reports.
"Miss Jodie,"
Hayashi Yoshiki looked at her solemnly.
"Are you sure Shuichi Akai died in an accident?"
"...Why are you asking that?"
Jodie snapped back to her senses, realizing that Hayashi Yoshiki seed unusually focused on this issue.
"To be honest, I've been contracted by the Tokyo tropolitan Police as an external advisor to the 'Serial Accidental Death Task Force.'"
Hayashi Yoshiki looked straight into her eyes.
"The incident from the afternoon of June 15th has also been filed by our task force — but it was completely different from every previous case. Every single surveillance cara recording that afternoon was deleted. Not just the ones at the traffic light, but also from the surrounding stores. Everything was wiped clean."
Everything wiped?
Jodie felt a jolt in her heart.
If that's true... then where did Jas get that footage?
Hayashi Yoshiki wasn't finished.
"This is the first ti our task force has encountered this. In every previous case, the killer never deleted any surveillance — on the contrary, he would always perform the accidental killing right under the cara, almost like a provocation."
"The police ultimately labeled this a shooting partly to bury the truth... and partly because every eyewitness said, 'The man in the black coat was shot.'"
"The cri scene made it impossible to confirm whether he died from bullets or an accident."
Shuichi Akai's actual cause of death was his throat being cut by a small shard — but who among the bystanders could have caught such a mont?
They only saw the shooter chasing Shuichi Akai with a gun, and then... Shuichi collapsed in a pool of blood.
The task force included the case in its records because of the series of precise accidents that unfolded alongside the shooting — and also because there was no autopsy.
Shuichi's body had been almost completely incinerated.
"Let ask you again, Miss Jodie — can you say with certainty that Shuichi Akai died in an accident?"
Jodie didn't answer imdiately.
She looked at Jas Black, who adjusted his glasses, seemingly deep in thought.
At that mont, Jodie's mind was racing.
The killer who murders using accidents…
If Hayashi Yoshiki really had been pursuing this "accident killer" as a task force consultant, then he must know quite a bit.
That made him valuable.
Jodie had sworn to avenge Shuichi Akai.
But neither she nor the FBI had any clear intel on this so-called "accident killer."
If Hayashi Yoshiki could provide more information, it could be a huge step toward finding the murderer.
She glanced at Jas once more — seeing no sign of objection, she straightened her expression and said firmly:
"I'm certain. Shuichi… definitely died in an accident."
"Do you have anything to support your claim? Though the scene did contain traces of an accident, it appeared to be a straightforward shooting."
"Jas…"
Jodie looked toward her superior.
Jas adjusted his glasses again. After thinking for a mont, he looked at Hayashi Yoshiki and said:
"Actually, I have a video that recorded everything at the scene of Shuichi's death."
"May I see it?"
"Of course."
Jas nodded.
As he brought out his laptop and played the video, Hayashi Yoshiki lowered his head.
At that mont — he could barely hold back his smile.
Finally…
I really…
Got you.
Reviews
All reviews (0)