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

One second ago, Furuya Rei was thinking about how to help his friend drive away that fearless eagle.

The next second, upon hearing Shuichi Akai's words, he turned his head sharply, and even Jinpei Matsuda was stunned for a moment, letting go of the tie he was trying to salvage.

"bomb?"

Shuichi Akai had just spoken quite a bit and was a little hoarse, but in order to get the two Japanese police officers to accept the facts more quickly, he continued to explain:
"Aoyagi was previously an agent in the FBI's New York counterterrorism unit and has extensive experience in dealing with terrorist attacks. This is the eagle he specially trained."

"It can detect unusual situations on the ground from a high vantage point and can spot bombs planted high up, making it more sensitive than police dogs. In addition, it seems to have a special sense of perception. It doesn't react much to detectives and ordinary people, but it is exceptionally sensitive to criminals. In the past year, it has arrested many people carrying tools and preparing to commit crimes on the streets of New York."

Shuichi Akai explains the amazing features of the eagle his colleague keeps.

Matsuda Jinpei didn't believe it.

He had indeed heard of some amazing animals in foreign countries—such as cats in nursing homes that could foresee death—but he didn't believe that animals could actually predict crimes and prevent them in advance.

Rei Furuya hesitated.

The reason is simple: three years ago, when he and Aoyagi Akimitsu were teachers together, he personally witnessed the other party keeping a magical rabbit that could give warnings through gestures.

He turned to the eagle and tentatively said, "Go find the bombs nearby."

Rei Furuya had never raised an eagle, only watched some police dog training, yet he used a similar commanding tone.

Matsuda Jinpei was speechless: "You actually believed that?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt his tie loosen and fall down again, no longer pulled by the outside force.

The eagle obeyed the command, flapping its wings and taking off again. It flew to the colorful ribbons not far away, opened its beak and tore off the rope hanging above a ball, then used the remaining rope to retrieve the animal head-shaped ball.

It came to a smooth stop above Matsuda Jinpei's head and released its mouth.

The ball fell directly down, but the incident of the animal attacking the policeman who looked down on it did not occur. The ball split in two in mid-air, and thick, bright red liquid flowed out, instantly drenching Matsuda Jinpei's head and face.

Before anyone could react, it quickly flew down again, its claws pushing off Matsuda Jinpei's back, and then it took off again, reaching a height that the three people present could never reach without tools.

Jianggu Ling: "..."

Matsuda Jinpei: "…………"

Shuichi Akai then added, "Although it rarely attacks first, it is very strong and often pecks the faces of criminals until they are bloody. It will also attack people who look down on it. Also, colleagues other than Aoyagi who want to use it must provide it with enough food, otherwise it will lie in wait and attack them afterwards, Furuya-kun."

The last sentence is a well-intentioned reminder to the Golden Hair Police.

Matsuda Jinpei silently wiped the liquid running down his head. Seeing its color, he frowned, forgetting about settling accounts with Taka, and turned to Furuya Rei, saying:
"This is probably the same dangerous chemical as the one in the collar!"

Rei Furuya looked at the ribbons, and his expression turned ugly when he saw the ribbons and identical spheres on the street.

That bastard Pramie, is he planning to blow up the entire street of Shibuya?
With this thought flashing through his mind, and remembering the dense crowds in Shibuya on his day off, Rei Furuya, disregarding the FBI agent standing next to him, quickly pulled out his phone and started calling people.

……

To avoid causing panic and a stampede, the arriving police did not explicitly state that there was a bomb in the street, but instead used other pretexts to evacuate the crowd. They found the staff who had been responsible for hanging the colorful balloons that morning and together they dismantled them.

Matsuda Jinpei took a shower first, washing off all the liquid that had gotten on his body.

Fortunately, the chemical liquids were not very corrosive and did not get into his eyes. He changed his clothes in no time and returned to the street refreshed to start work.

Half an hour after their separation, Furuya Rei called Matsuda Jinpei again. By then, nearly half of the ball had been dismantled.

"Matsuda, where are you now?"

“There are no decorative ribbons near the station, and it’s some distance from the venue, so the crowd hasn’t been dispersed yet.”

Matsuda Jinpei's tone was calm on the phone, and Furuya Rei could clearly hear the sound of wings flapping in the background.

Although the eagle threw the explosive liquid at Matsuda Jinpei and kicked him, Matsuda didn't mind. Instead, he borrowed it from Akai Shuichi to see if it could search the streets for other bombs.

"Are there any unusual circumstances?" Furuya Rei asked again.

Matsuda Jinpei suddenly fell silent.

Rei Furuya immediately had a bad feeling: "What's wrong?... Is there some kind of undefendable bomb somewhere?!" "No."

Matsuda Jinpei answered slowly, his tone somewhat subtle: "We are simply arresting people according to the instructions of the hawk."

"In the past twenty minutes, it has spotted two fugitives, three thieves, six pre-crime suspects in bags containing potassium cyanide, and a drug dealer... This drug dealer was kicked down the stairs while fleeing, landing on his head. He was taken to the hospital five minutes ago with serious injuries and may become a vegetable."

"It also attacked a man who had fishing line in his pocket. He had just come from Mika and was stopped by the police. He looked very strange. The others were questioning him... Oh, he knelt down and started to confess, admitting that he had killed someone in Mika not long ago and had also made a trap with fishing line."

Jianggu Ling: "..."

Matsuda Jinpei: "In short, that's it. I'm very busy here right now, and the current number of police cars is simply not enough. I have to wait for the nearby police station to arrive... I'm hanging up now, and that eagle has taken off again!"

Before the other end could speak, Matsuda Jinpei hung up the phone.

Jianggu Ling: "…………"

He listened to the busy tone on his phone, fell silent, glanced down at the spheres at his feet that had just been retrieved and were waiting to be sent to a safe zone for detonation, then turned to look at Shuichi Akai.

Seeing his strange expression, Hideaki Akai, who hadn't left yet, politely asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Having weathered half a day of storms, Rei Furuya had a thousand words on his mind, but in the end, he simply shook his head and said, "The Japanese police can handle this."

He wasn't an impolite person, and he was certainly grateful for the FBI's help, but that didn't mean he would accept their continued interference or meddling.

Moreover, he had something even more important to ask the other party.

“Akai, if your FBI can provide important clues, the two sides can indeed cooperate, but the premise of cooperation is mutual honesty.”

Rei Furuya didn't go out to help earlier for two reasons: first, he was a public security officer with a higher level of security, and there were organized people nearby watching him, the former undercover agent; second, he needed to continue his conversation with Shuichi Akai.

He stared at the FBI agent, who was also an undercover agent who had fled the organization, and suddenly asked:
Why did you come to Shibuya today?

……

Matsuda Jinpei knew nothing about what was happening on his friend's side.

Seeing the eagle that had been circling above fly off in a certain direction again, he only had time to say a few words to his colleagues who were handcuffing the criminals one by one before he chased after it.

This area is close to the train station, and the sudden suspension of the pet supplies exhibition has actually increased the number of people here.

He struggled through the crowds heading to the station, and after running across a street, he finally saw his destination.

It was so conspicuous that a crowd gathered in front of the alley between the two shops, whispering among themselves, but no one went in to investigate.

"Excuse me—excuse me! I'm a police officer!"

Matsuda Jinpei's shouts quickly had an effect. Most people respected the police and, upon hearing this, quickly moved aside to make way.

He stared intently inside, his brows furrowing instantly.

Several cardboard boxes were piled up in the alley. The top box was open, and two legs that were clearly human were sticking out. A golden hair with red marks was wrapped around the ankle, and the shoes were facing the alley entrance.

—And the size of that cardboard box itself was obviously not large enough to fit a whole person.

"How terrible."

A female voice with a distinct Osaka accent rang out.

Matsuda Jinpei subconsciously turned around.

The speaker was a young woman with brown-gray hair.

She was a foreigner, with fair skin and very beautiful features, her face showing obvious fear. She reached out and tightly hugged the arm of the person in front of her, almost leaning against him, and even trying to burrow into his arms.

The man she was holding showed no pity whatsoever. He kept staring at the boxes, not even glancing at her, and even reached out to pry her fingers apart.

The next second, he met Matsuda Jinpei's gaze.

Matsuda Jinpei noticed that this person had a pair of rare, reddish-brown eyes, like the afterglow of a setting sun. (End of Chapter)