Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"What information or inside story could overthrow Japan?"

Higashino used a tranquilizer dart to knock out Akimura again. Standing in front of the window, he looked at the sun that had already set below the horizon and the sky that was beginning to darken, muttering something under his breath.

"Could it be a strategic deployment in the south, or information gathered by public security police lurking in the north?"

Clearly, Higashino now is no different from Conan when he first moved into Ran's house, so he can't figure anything out and can only deduce things from a general perspective.

Meanwhile, the elementary school student, who was deep in thought, had a clearer understanding. Even if Segawa Masakazu could obtain the so-called strategic deployment plan or some secret intelligence, as an economics student, he was only involved in economics at most, and had no chance of subverting Japan.

After all, whether it's the south or the north, it's all ultimately in the hands of his younger brother, Yuji Kudo. Even if the generals who control the army don't all listen to him, the supreme commander can remotely control the situation, and those so-called intelligence can be changed in the blink of an eye.

Could it be that his dual role-playing has been exposed?

No, no, given Segawa Shoichi's status, how could he possibly know that Yoshioka and Kudo are actually the same person? He shouldn't even have been able to make contact with them.

“But then again, we’ve been up here for so long, and we haven’t seen any of our companions come to rescue him.” Higashino stopped pacing.

“It’s probably because the code you changed seemed too ridiculous to them after they translated it. They’ll definitely realize something’s wrong and give up.” Conan looked at Akimura on the bed. “But this guy will definitely be targeted. They won’t believe he can keep his mouth shut.”

"Although he certainly didn't have it."

Higashino walked to the door, quietly opened it a crack, and peered out. The corridor was still as dark as before. His gaze slowly fell on the door of Segawa Shoichi and Segawa Taikei's room, and a nagging thought formed in his mind.

"How about we check out the rooms of Segawa Shoichi and Segawa Taikei?" Higashino pointed to a room with the name "Cosette" on the door. "Also, the room Segawa Shoichi arranged for Cosette is there too." Since Detective Kudo and Segawa Shoichi's secretary sealed off this floor, no one related to it could come up. Of course, they didn't actually enforce a lockdown; it's just that those with guilty consciences wouldn't dare come up at this time.

"Perhaps there's something useful in Cosette's room."

The most important thing is to observe Segawa Shoichi's room. Only the old Kudo has brought people to see this man's room. Higashino, who considers himself the main force of the Kudo Detective Agency, is of course unwilling to give up and will definitely do some of the things that Conan has done before.

"Didn't the secretary say that Segawa Shoichi disappeared in the bathroom? Since this room is similar in layout to his, we don't need to go to Segawa Shoichi's room."

Conan rejected Higashino's idea, mainly because he believed that if he asked, Old Kudo would definitely tell him, and if it wasn't his place to know at this time, he didn't intend to force it.

"You're so boring. Is it really necessary to act like a good little girl in front of an older man?"

Higashino walked into the bathroom with a grumble, looked around, then looked up at the ceiling and pondered for a moment as he stared at the exhaust duct.

"It seems like this is the only pipe that allows you to leave the bathroom without going through the door. Is this the place you're using?"

Higashino turned on his watch flashlight, reminded Conan to keep an eye on Akimura, and then, using the toilet and the side sink as stepping stones, he managed to squeeze into the pipe opening after some effort.

"There's a lot of dust in here." (End of Chapter)