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

The two stared at each other silently for a second, then suddenly the man looked up.

The eagle that had led Matsuda Jinpei here swooped down on him, and he was slightly taken aback, then naturally raised the hand that hadn't been occupied.

The eagle folded its wings and landed steadily on his arm. As he lowered his head again, it poked its head out and affectionately rubbed against his unkempt chin several times.

This was a stark contrast to how he had previously pecked, scratched, and kicked prisoners down the steps.

Matsuda Jinpei: "..."

"Matsuda!!"

Two more Metropolitan Police Department colleagues came over after settling the prisoners they were handling.

The two ran up to Matsuda Jinpei one after the other, glanced at the crowd, and then their eyes simultaneously swept into the alley. They quickly noticed the strange cardboard boxes and the exposed legs, and their expressions immediately turned serious.

"Matsuda, you stay here and block the passersby from going in. Momose and I will go check it out," said a colleague from the First Investigation Division.

Because three thieves were caught and the amount involved was substantial, officers from the Thieves Investigation Division of the Third Investigation Department also arrived.

Matsuda Jinpei wasn't in the mood to ask why he was the one watching the passersby and sending the Third Investigation Division to check the situation; he simply nodded and casually agreed. His gaze remained fixed on the strange couple.

He asked, "Who was the first to notice something was wrong here?"

This is a questioning technique. If you ask the crowd directly, many people will think, "Others will tell me anyway," and remain silent. Asking the people at the front of the crowd is more effective.

The man with reddish-brown eyes didn't speak, but the foreign woman cautiously raised her hand: "It's me. We came out of the shop next door and suddenly heard a strange noise. I was curious and wanted to take a look, but I didn't expect to see those strange boxes."

“Strange noise?” Matsuda Jinpei repeated.

"It was the sound of someone running away, and they were quite fast."

The woman nervously clenched her fingers: "It's so scary. Are those mannequin legs? Or is it a corpse? Was that noise just now a body being disposed of?... Could the killer still be watching this place?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the people around her immediately became agitated, and those who had just witnessed the leg injury without screaming began to panic.

Matsuda Jinpei's eyebrows twitched. He had a vague feeling that this woman was deliberately provoking everyone's emotions, but seeing her frightened and weak appearance, he thought it was just his imagination.

"Have you seen anyone suspicious?"

This time, Matsuda Jinpei's gaze fell on the man's face. His intuition told him that this person was more reliable.

At this moment, the man finally managed to tear his other arm out of the woman's arms. Hearing Matsuda Jinpei's words, he remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he said, "There are a few...some strange foreigners. They give off a dangerous vibe."

He spoke hesitantly at first, but became calm as he continued.

Strange foreigner?
Matsuda Jinpei was about to ask Furuya Rei about what he had mentioned when he heard a strange noise coming from the alley.

He turned around and saw his colleague, his face grim, getting up from in front of some boxes. All the boxes had been moved down and laid flat on the ground, and they were all open. His colleague's expression was extremely unpleasant, as if he had seen something utterly terrifying.

Another officer from the Third Investigation Division looked equally grim as he took out his phone and began making a call.

Seeing the reactions of his two colleagues, Matsuda Jinpei felt a chill in his heart and guessed what was inside.

He turned back to the two first discoverers: "Why do you think those people are dangerous? What did they do?"

“We saw them near the station. Those foreigners were acting suspiciously, looking around in the crowd. They didn’t look like ordinary tourists at all. I even saw a bulge at one of their waists, so he might be carrying a gun,” the woman said.

Matsuda Jinpei frowned: "Are you sure?"

“I’ve lived in the United States for over a decade and I’m very familiar with guns,” she said. “However, I don’t think they are the murderers.”

The woman with long, brownish-grey hair and emerald green eyes added, “The footsteps I heard were chaotic, at least three people. One of them was a woman, her steps were lighter, she must have been wearing high boots. And those near the station were all men… well, at least physically male.”

She added slowly, her words full of tolerance for certain particular cultures.

Hearing such a confident tone, Matsuda Jinpei was not entirely convinced.

He began to doubt her identity—could an ordinary person really identify how many people were there just by the sound of footsteps? Could they even describe the characteristics of someone mixed in with them, and even guess what shoes that person was wearing?
Not only Matsuda Jinpei, but the brown-eyed man traveling with the woman also seemed to have had enough.

"You talk too much," he frowned.

"It's your fault for ignoring me." The woman complained in a huff, almost coquettishly, "Besides, I just wanted to talk to the handsome male police officer more. It would be even better if we could have a date. He looks really hot."

Matsuda Jinpei: "…………"

Goosebumps rose on his back. For some reason, he felt no joy at being praised by a beautiful woman and instinctively just wanted to get away.

But his duty as a police officer kept him standing still.

He glanced silently at the man next to him, who also seemed speechless, but showed no anger.

...It seems they're not a couple. If they were lovers, they wouldn't accept their partner being so frivolous with other people of the opposite sex.

With that thought in mind, Matsuda Jinpei took out his police handbook from his pocket, intending to record the identities of the two men.

Regardless of whether what they say is true or false, if they see someone who appears to be a suspect, they have to go to the Metropolitan Police Department or a nearby police station to leave a more detailed statement.

However, just as Matsuda Jinpei opened the manual, a familiar voice suddenly rang in his ears.

He turned his head and saw that the bird, which had been obediently resting on the man's hand, suddenly flapped its wings again and flew straight towards the back of the crowd!

Its target was a foreign woman. The woman stood at the back of the crowd, with short, golden hair that reached past her ears, and a noticeable burn scar over her left eye.

She was staring coldly at the alley when the eagle suddenly pounced on her. She froze for a moment, and just as she turned her gaze away, she met Matsuda Jinpei's eyes.

Matsuda Jinpei saw the woman's pupils shrink, she took a step back, and then turned and ran!

"?!"

He noticed she was wearing brown knee-high boots, and coupled with her attitude of running away as soon as she was noticed by the police, what else couldn't he understand?
"stop!"

The incident happened so suddenly that Matsuda Jinpei didn't even have time to inform his colleagues in the alley before he took off chasing after the enemy.

A murmur arose from the crowd. In fact, most people were not clear about what had just happened; they only saw the policeman inexplicably chase after them.

Two policemen in the alley noticed the commotion outside. They discovered that Matsuda had run away, and they whispered to each other. One of them then walked outside.

Amidst the whispers around her, the woman's low laughter rang out: "I'm leaving now. The matter we discussed is settled."

The man's gaze fell on the boxes, and he replied in a low voice, "Understood."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "What do you plan to do after you leave?"

The woman thought about it seriously: "I'll find someone interesting to date first. I'm so tired today, I want to relax a bit—how about it, want to come along? I'm very generous, I don't mind three people."

"........."

The man turned and left without expression.

……

On the other side of Shibuya.

"...You mean, you came here to track down that information broker?"

Rei Fukutani stared at Akai Shuichi's expression.

After a long argument and exchanging more information, the FBI agent finally revealed his purpose in coming to Shibuya.

Akai Shuichi nodded calmly:
"The FBI had previously tracked down the information broker named 'William' and determined that he worked at a bar in the Minato Ward, but before the FBI could secretly arrest him, he suddenly left and came to Shibuya."

Rei Furuya was very unhappy with the FBI's plan to arbitrarily arrest people in Japan, and said sarcastically, "I remember that you also failed in a secret arrest two years ago, which is why you had to withdraw."

"Two years ago it was my colleague's mistake. It's not certain this time. But when we went to that bar, we saw men in black around, as if they were looking for someone, so he may have left for another reason."

As he spoke, Shuichi Akai pulled a cigarette case from his pocket, intending to light another cigarette.

Rei Furuya doesn't smoke, and neither do his subordinates when facing him. He watched the FBI agent light a cigarette, somewhat displeased, but ultimately didn't stop him.

Just then, his phone rang.

It was Kazami Yuya calling. Furuya Rei thought that the police might have a lead, so he quickly answered the call.

Before he could speak, Kazami Yuya's voice pierced his ears:

"Mr. Furuya, Pramia is dead!"

Feng Guling was stunned.

Perhaps because he couldn't control his expression, Shuichi Akai next to him looked over with a puzzled expression.

He wasn't in the mood to chase her away. He quickly took a few steps to the side while asking, "What happened? Where did you find her?!"

"Actually, it was Officer Matsuda who discovered it."

Kazami Yuya was on the verge of tears, completely bewildered by the situation before him.

“She was dismembered; her head, torso, arms, and legs were placed in several boxes and thrown into an alley… Her right hand was missing.”

"According to the forensic examination, she had a total of 109 stab wounds on her body, and the real cause of death was excessive blood loss."

Kazami Yuya continued, "The wounds are of varying sizes. The forensic doctor estimates that there are at least ten different types of knives used, and the depths also vary. Some were very deep, while others were just a slight poke. There are also marks all over her body from being beaten with iron rods... Officer Matsuda spotted a woman in the crowd who appeared to be the leader of 'Nadalunichtokitti,' but lost track of her."

"Also, there's something else I'd like to inform you about."

Kazami Yuya paused for a few seconds, then slowly said:

"When Officer Matsuda was asking the onlookers about the situation, he encountered a man with reddish-brown eyes and a foreign woman with brownish-gray hair. The woman was very interested in Officer Matsuda and even said she wanted to go on a date with him."

Rei Furuya was completely stunned.

He quickly regained his composure, gripped his phone tightly, and raised his voice several notches higher than usual: "Where is Matsuda now?! Get him out of there right now!"

“It’s alright, Mr. Furuya,” Kazami Yuya said earnestly. “After confirming with the other onlookers, we quickly found Officer Matsuda. We’re both at the station now, and we’ll be there soon—”

"boom!"

A sharp gunshot rang out unexpectedly from the other end of Furuya Rei's phone.

The call was disconnected. (End of Chapter)