The unscrupulous detective in Conan

Chapter 1343 The Corgi Gradually Becoming More Like the People

Vermouth thought for a moment and knew what Fujino was up to.

He definitely wants to clear his name, and incidentally, he can kill three birds with one stone.

In response, she joked, "Our mission was to draw the attention of this group of people away. Now you're clearing us of suspicion, doesn't that go against our original intention?"

The older woman knew very well what kind of person Fujino was; he would never do something like this.

But even knowing this would happen, he still did it...

That means he must have been prepared in advance and must have thought of other, more self-serving plans.

"Is that so?" Fujino glanced at the old lady, his eyes suggesting that they were all old foxes pretending to be something they weren't. "If we've been exposed, there's nothing we can do. We'll just have to let others draw attention to us."

"Bourbon is a master of disguise; it's not easy to see through his disguise."

"As for who will ultimately become the next eye-catching bait."

Fujino looked at our elderly aunt with a slightly meaningful gaze: "I think you should have someone in mind by now, right?"

"A candidate?"

Vermouth's smile remained unchanged upon hearing this, but the expression in her eyes seemed to suggest that she was pondering something.

Clearly, she had grasped the deeper meaning of Fujino's words and had thought of a candidate.

That person is perfect for taking the blame, and it won't affect the operation at all.

Incidentally, it might also be a chance to settle a personal score...

The older woman quickly came up with an idea: "What's next? Should we do something?"

"Yes, I've made an appointment with a client. You can come with me."

…………

That evening, Fujino returned home, and then Ran and Conan came looking for him.

"Senior, senior, have you seen Yingyou?"

"We can't get through to him on the phone, and the opening ceremony for the new semester has been canceled."

After finding Fujino, Xiaolan asked him worriedly. After an afternoon of reflection, Xiaolan's mind was filled with all sorts of news stories about handsome young men being kidnapped or cross-dressing boys being abducted.

Fujino had no idea what the unicorn girl was fantasizing about, and simply said, "I don't know either. I just heard that the kid seems to have discovered some new clue..."

"A new clue?"

"Well, that's all the kid told me. As for other things, I don't know much about them."

This is how Fujino answered Ran's question.

Even though that kid Hondo Eisuke is currently in Beika Central Hospital, living in a ward he arranged for himself, playing the role of a young married woman.

However, given the current situation, this matter cannot be exposed yet.

We should wait until the time is right before making any decisions.

After all, if it were revealed that Eisuke Hondo had infiltrated Beika Central Hospital, Conan would probably become a double agent and tip off Jodie.

However, considering this kid's meddlesome nature, even if it's just a guess, he'll probably still tip it off.

But it's not a big problem.

Fujino never intended to pretend from the beginning.

If they really wanted to pretend, they wouldn't have given Hondo Eisuke the name Hondo Sakurako when he was admitted to the hospital.

To put it bluntly, he wanted to make sure that kid Hondo Eisuke was recognized at a glance.

At this moment, Xiaolan, who was completely unaware of the situation, sighed upon hearing this: "Is that so?"

"Senior, could you perhaps keep an eye on Yingyou?"

"I haven't been able to contact him for several days..."

"Yes, speaking of which, I've been looking for him too. I'll definitely let you know as soon as I have any news."

Fujino responded, offering this comfort to the somewhat sentimental unicorn girl.

As for the reply, it will definitely be delivered to the FBI through Conan when things are ripe.

Conan frowned, sensing that something was amiss.

Hondo Eisuke has gone missing.

Fujino didn't know?
Who would believe that?
Conan recalled Fujino's past glorious achievements and immediately realized that there must be something fishy going on behind the scenes.

Before he could even think about it, Xiaolan thanked him, saying, "Thank you, senior!"

Conan: "..."

There are actually some idiots who believed it.

Lan, oh, Lan... oh.

Conan doesn't know whether Ran inherited her looks from Eri Kisaki and Mori Mori...

Um, maybe it's Uncle Mori.

Fortunately, the genes of Aunt Fei helped to balance things out.

Otherwise, Xiaolan would be just like that abstract gossip from the garden.

Conan silently scoffed to himself, no longer dwelling on his silly childhood friend, and began to wonder what little secret Fujino and Hondo Eisuke were up to this time.

They didn't even say a word.

Damn it, I don't even know how to work with the FBI to stop you from finding Rena Mizunashi, okay?
Conan silently complained to himself. In the end, this traitorous husky decided to call Ms. Jodie and exchange information with the FBI before making any further decisions.

…………

Rena Mizunashi's hospital room is located at the end of the corridor on the third floor of Beika Central Hospital.

This ward is the small meeting room that the FBI usually uses to discuss countermeasures and deploy personnel.

At this moment, James Black, Jodie, Shuichi Akai, and the FBI agent guarding Rena Mizunashi were all in this hospital room.

However, the bodyguard obviously wouldn't participate in FBI 'high-level' meetings, so he was just listening in.

It was mainly these three high-ranking FBI agents who spoke out.

Judy said in a deep voice, "Today, when we were tracking that TCM doctor and the nurse, they suddenly sped up and shook off our people. By the time our people caught up, they were already in a car, and it seems they were exchanging information with someone."

She continued, "And they even specially arranged for someone to go to the ward next to theirs."

Upon hearing this, James Black stroked his beard and said, "That man seems suspicious."

"The patient in that room seems to be named Sakura, but we don't know what illness she has yet," Judy said in a low voice. "According to the nurses, it seems that the traditional Chinese medicine doctor arranged it himself, and even had his assistant nurse handle the admission procedures directly without going through the front desk. If we want to investigate, we can only start with the registration system at the front desk..."

"Has the dean agreed?"

James Black sighed upon hearing this: "I still don't know how to bring this up."

"You haven't told the dean the truth yet?"

“He’s an old friend of mine, but we haven’t been in touch for many years. Now he’s asking for favors right away. How can I possibly ask him for something like this?” James Black said helplessly. “Rena Mizunashi is actually a criminal in a criminal organization, and you actually hid a criminal in his hospital.”

“It’s already quite generous of him to help us test that TCM doctor. As for asking him to release the patient’s files or anything like that, my old friend won’t agree to it. And even if he did, I don’t have the nerve to do that.” Judy sighed, “If she’s discovered, then our connection with that organization will be cut off again.”

"Is asking around the only solution?"

"I think there's no need to rush."

Shuichi Akai spoke up at this moment: "If the organization has already determined its target, it won't just stand by and watch, and it will take such obvious action."

"This is not in line with the organization's style."

"Moreover, we cannot be certain that they came for Rena Mizunashi."

"After all, judging from the current situation, they don't seem to be taking any action to find anyone."

As he spoke, he pondered for a moment: "Perhaps, that person really is a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine."

James Black agreed, saying, "That makes sense. Taking action would probably make the situation even more dangerous."

“Then, I’ll try to test that Sakurako.” Judy nodded upon hearing this, and instead of arguing with the two superiors who were of higher rank than her, she simply accepted the suggestion silently.

But just as she finished speaking, Conan called.

Judy glanced at James and Shuichi, picked up the phone, left the ward, walked slowly to the stairwell next door and onto the rooftop, then called back: "Hey, Coolkid, what brings you on the phone?"

Thinking that this was related to the little girl who was being targeted by the organization and who had provided her with information, she felt that this guy wouldn't call her for no reason.

So she asked in a low voice, "Is there some intelligence?"

"Eisuke Hondo has disappeared," Conan said in a deep voice. "Even Fujino doesn't know his whereabouts."

"Missing?" Judy frowned upon hearing this. "He was just at the hospital a few days ago."

"You went to the hospital?!"

Conan paused for a moment, his tone surprised.

Judy nodded and replied, "That's right. It was about a few days ago. He came to the hospital, dressed in girls' clothes, just like you said. He asked about Rena Mizunashi, but left disappointed after not getting any information."

"But how exactly did you recognize him?"

"Those eyes are really distinctive."

"..."

Conan paused for a moment, scratched his head, and thought to himself, "When I saw this girl in her female attire, her eyeshadow seemed to be covered up too."

Why aren't you covering it up now?

Considering the other person's absent-minded personality, Conan figured that they had probably forgotten.

Pulling himself back to his thoughts, Conan turned the conversation back to Eisuke Hondo: "Let's put that aside for now, Ms. Jodie, have you seen him since he left?"

"It hasn't happened yet."

"Is that so?"

"However, we did find out something about his father."

"what?"

"Let's talk about it when we meet. Do you have time tomorrow?"

"Then let's meet at Professor Agasa's house. I'll send you the address."

…………

The next day was another workday, and Fujino and the old lady went to the hospital as usual, but this time there were noticeably more eyes watching them.

Seeing this, Fujino couldn't help but wonder: I've made it so obvious, haven't you figured out that Hondo Sakurako is Hondo Eisuke yet?

You FBI guys are good.

The older woman was unsurprised by this: if the FBI were truly professional, such outrageous jokes wouldn't have circulated within the organization.

During the operation, they persuaded the elderly people present to leave the scene because of the danger, which led to the exposure of their accomplices.

Can you believe this?

Meanwhile, Jodie, a member of the hacked FBI, rushed to Professor Agasa's house.

"Ethan Hondou joined the CIA thirty years ago. He's a second-generation Japanese American. Three years later, he came to Japan to get married and went undercover..."

Facing Ai Haibara and Conan, Jodie revealed the information she had gathered.

Conan frowned upon hearing this: "So, his father is a member of the CIA?"

"So, how did you find this kind of information?" Compared to Conan, who readily believed her, Ai Haibara was full of doubt: "No matter what, this is a classified file of your national intelligence agency. How could you possibly get it so easily?"

Judy explained with a proud look, "It was Akai who found it, the one with the knitted hat. I don't know how he got it, but his intelligence is never wrong."

Haibara Ai:"……"

You're not even from the same system. How could a domestic security investigator like you get intelligence on military special agents? Do you think I wouldn't be suspicious?
But considering the level of freedom in America, this isn't surprising.

"If that's the case, then it's possible that Hondo Eisuke is being protected?" Conan frowned and muttered, overturning Fujino's original idea that he was up to something.

Originally, he wasn't sure if Hondou Eisuke's father was a member of the CIA.

But now that it's confirmed, things will be simpler for you.

"Protect?"

"Of course! That kid went from hospital to hospital asking around; he's probably already under protection. After all, his dad's a CIA member..."

“That’s unlikely, because Ethan Bentong died four years ago.”

Judy shook her head slightly, thought for a moment, and realized that it couldn't be said to be Shuichi Akai's experience when he was in the organization. She then lied and said, "In addition to Akai's information, we also got such information from a homeless witness."

"The location was a warehouse in Yokohama. The witness was a homeless man sleeping on the second floor. He was awakened by the gunshot and then saw a man and a woman fighting. After that, two more people came to the scene. Both of them were dressed in black. One was tall with blond hair and the other was short and wearing sunglasses."

"That woman looked like Rena Mizunashi. Rena Mizunashi told those two people that the man was already dead... and described how she killed the man... After that, what evidence proved her innocence?"

"Finally, a man ran to his body and called him 'Buddha'... something like that."

"That's why I can confirm that the Hondo that Hondo and Akai are talking about are the same person."

"And that Mizunashi Rena, I think that must be that person."

"I don't think that Rena Mizunashi is the boy's sister. She must have had plastic surgery or something. Otherwise, this would turn into a story where the daughter kills her father."

Judy sighed helplessly.

Conan's expression became complicated.

They have now basically confirmed that Hondo Eisuke is indeed Hondo Ethan's son, and that Mizunashi Rena is very likely Hondo Eisuke's older sister.

If we combine all of these...

That kid Hondo Eisuke has gone missing, and Fujino doesn't know anything about it...

This could be a huge problem!
That kid is going around like a madman looking for Rena Mizunashi, even if he's dressed as a woman, he's still very likely to be targeted by the organization!

The thought of Conan gradually becoming like Di is chilling. If the organization were to target Hondo Eisuke, a simple investigation could expose not only Hondo Eisuke but also potentially even Rena Mizunashi, who might be an undercover agent...

(End of this chapter)