Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

FBI New York Division.

When Shuichi Akai and his companions arrived, several other colleagues had already arrived. The branch director arranged an office for them and assigned several branch agents to help them.

"I have received the case summary, it is really terrible... The New York branch will do its best to assist you."

The branch director looked unhappy when he spoke.

Ordinary criminal cases are handled by the police. If they involve serial murders, espionage, terrorist attacks, etc., and the police cannot handle them, the state's FBI branch will take over. If the crime is interstate, or the situation is extremely serious, the case will be handed over to the headquarters, which will dispatch appropriate agents to various locations.

This is the case in this case.

There were more than a dozen people in the office. After introducing each other and saying hello, the group immediately got down to business.

Judy Stelling knew that Shuichi Akai was not good at explaining, so she took the initiative to take over the task and posted several photos one by one on the display board.

"The first case occurred in Washington."

She didn't read the transcript. She had read these things dozens of times this month, and they had already been deeply ingrained in her mind.

"Three weeks ago, a detective did not return after his vacation. At the same time, the local police received a call from the school saying that two children did not go to school. The headquarters immediately sent people to his house and found that four members of their family had been killed."

On the far left of the display board is a photo of a middle-aged white couple and two teenage boys, smiling brightly at the camera. Next to it are photos of the scene.

"All four people died in the basement. The agent's cause of death was suffocation due to a broken neck bone. His FBI ID was pierced by a dagger and nailed to the ground through his right hand. His wife and children suffered a certain degree of torture during his lifetime."

"Based on subsequent autopsy results, the detective's left shoulder blade was removed, and the first, second, and third left ribs of his wife, eldest son, and younger son were removed respectively."

"...taken after death?" A person interjected and asked.

"Before life," Judy said.

The man's eyes widened instantly, and the agents who had never heard the details before looked at each other.

Even if they often deal with serial murder cases, it is rare for them to hear such brutal methods.

"Then came the second one. The second case happened four days after the first at the Martin...Luther King National Historic Site in Atlanta."

Judy paused after saying this and glanced carefully at the few dark-skinned agents present.

A photo of a pair of black brothers is posted on the center left of the display board.

"The bodies of a local branch agent and his brother who lived with him appeared next to the Ebenezer Church. The agent died of asphyxiation caused by a broken neck bone, and his brother died of excessive blood loss. Before his death, also suffered.”

"The agent's right shoulder blade was removed, and his brother's left fourth rib was removed. At the same time, their bodies... were covered with bleach from head to toe."

"!!!"

As soon as these words came out, the scene exploded as if a bomb had been dropped. The black agent almost burst into tears, with veins popping out of his forehead. Several of his colleagues around him tried to stop them one by one.

"What's going on?! Why don't we know anything about it?!" one of them asked loudly.

"In order to avoid causing large-scale racial conflicts, the headquarters has suppressed this matter for the time being, and the media has not reported it for the time being." Judy added emphasis.

People present knew very well that the media was just temporarily turned off, and they would never let go of such news. If the FBI did not find the murderer quickly, the current suppression of reports would be the strongest accelerant.

The stopped detective took a few deep breaths to signal that he had calmed down, and the person next to him carefully released him.

"And then there's the third case, which happened four days ago in the Bronx..."

"Please stop." Kamel interrupted suddenly.

Judy looked at him doubtfully, and he said slowly: "Let me tell you this, I was the first to discover him, and..." Kamel looked at the third column of photos, which was a young Latino man. The man has short black hair that is clearly curly.

"He was the first friend I made when I was training at the FBI." He said bitterly.

Judy was speechless. She looked at Akai Shuichi, who looked away from Kamel and nodded lightly.

Kamel walked up, stood in Judy's original position, and continued: "He disappeared a few days ago. Before he disappeared, he told me that he and his friends made an appointment to go to the Yankee Stadium to watch the game... He and his two The friend's body was found in a pond at Pelham Bay Park."

In the photo, three bodies were hung upside down on the water. The neck of the one in the middle was tilted to one side. This was obviously the detective, who also had his neck broken.

The distance was quite vicious, and the mouth and nose were very close to the water. As long as I bent my body hard, I could still breathe. In this constant struggle for survival, the deceased gradually became exhausted and drowned.

"The agent had his nose bone removed, one of his friends had the index, middle and ring finger bones of his left hand removed, and another had three bones removed from the same location on his right hand."

"In addition, the three of them are Latinos with Indian ancestry. Their scalp skin and...the entire male reproductive system have been damaged."

These words made many male members tighten their scalps on the spot, and their lower bodies even felt a dull pain.

"Finally, there is the fourth murdered agent who appeared today."

This time it was Shuichi Akai who stepped forward and posted the photo he had just taken from the city police station.

After hearing about the killings of white people, black people and Latinos in front of him, several people present stared at his face, which was obviously of Asian descent.

"Four years ago, he divorced his wife, and his daughter was brought back to Japan by his ex-wife to be raised. In the past few years, they have kept in contact, discussed the issue of raising their daughter, and had plans to remarry, so he went to Japan to pick them up."

"He arrived in New York this morning and planned to send the child to his parents, but in the afternoon, his body was found in a car in the parking lot. The cause of death was also asphyxiation caused by a broken neck bone."

"The four of them have letters carved with daggers on their backs, which are..."

One of the branch agents looked at the newly posted photos and interrupted: "Where is his wife and daughter?"

"My daughter is still alive and the prisoner did not harm her."

Everyone who had listened to so much heavy information suddenly heard half of the good news and made a sound of joy. The detective said: "Has she seen the prisoner's face?"

"She is only five years old and can't understand English at all. She didn't see the prisoner's face or the murder process, so she can't provide any more clues. She is currently under strict protection."

Moreover, she was too young to describe clearly even if she saw it, and the court would not trust such testimony.

Judy pursed her lips, the experience reminded her of herself. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look at Akai Shuichi.

She couldn't see much emotion in that face. He remained calm as he saw the photos and heard the accounts, including direct contact with the surviving girl that afternoon.

——Even though these are most likely done by the organization, he is extremely calm.

Yes, the FBI is currently suspecting that this series of hunts against FBI agents and their relatives and friends are revenge from black organizations.

Because these dead agents, without exception, were all people who went to Japan a year ago and participated in the failed arrest operation.

"And his wife..."

Akai Shuichi's voice didn't fluctuate at all, still smooth and clear.

"An hour ago, the prisoner broadcast the entire process of her murder live on the dark web."

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There will be some references to "Jigsaw" and "The Vanishing Man", both works by American writer Jeffrey Deaver. (End of chapter)