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

“William…”

Kuroda Hyoue repeated the very common English name: "Is it his real name or a code name?"

“It’s unclear at the moment,” Furuya Rei said. “The FBI doesn’t have much intelligence, but they can confirm two things: First, when he was an intelligence broker, he used the name ‘William’ for both offline transactions and dark web communications. This name was active in the American underworld for ten years. Second, he is of Japanese descent.”

"Of Japanese descent?"

"Yes, it is said that he lived in Japan for a period of time in the past. However, since his true identity has not yet been found, it is impossible to determine whether he has any other relatives in Japan."

"According to the FBI's investigation, he left Tokyo after the Shibuya shooting last week. The FBI found that he bought a train ticket to Nagano, but it is not yet certain whether it was him."

The last point is why Rei Furuya suddenly came here. If it weren't for the fact that a suspicious person had apparently gone to this particular location in Nagano, he wouldn't have chased after them and bothered his superior.

After listening to the report, Kuroda Hyōe leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and fell into deep thought.

The room fell silent for a moment. Furuya Rei didn't urge him, but simply lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the photograph.

It looks like some dust has been swept across the lens, making the whole photo unclear. You can tell it's an Asian person by their hair and skin color, but their specific face is not clearly visible.

This wasn't the only case; several other photos provided by the FBI showed similar issues. The clearest one showed only the back of the head and a patch of skin on the back of the neck, while front and side profiles were completely obscured.

Those FBI guys are useless. They said they'd investigate, but after so long, even tracking them all the way from the US to Japan, they still haven't gotten a single clear photo.

Furuya Rei silently cursed the FBI in his heart, especially criticizing Akai Shuichi, the former undercover agent and ace sniper, for failing to capture a clear image of the other party's face...

Just then, Kuroda Hyōe spoke again:
"Falling Valley."

"exist."

Rei Furuya snapped out of his daze and replied.

“I know about this person. You stay here for the next couple of days. The Metropolitan Police Department sent word that they recently tracked down a programmer connected to the organization. In the programmer's diary, he mentioned that Glenn Grain Whiskey had recently come to Nagano.”

One sentence, two code names, but when the second code name was mentioned, the atmosphere on the scene clearly changed.

In stark contrast to the previous silence, a more tense atmosphere quietly permeated the air. It was as if the previous conversation had been mere casual chatter, and now they were finally getting down to business.

Rei Furuya, who had initially maintained a purely businesslike attitude, now had a serious expression: "I understand."

"I've already had someone keep an eye on his whereabouts. You can go and..."

Kuroda Hyōe began to give his confession, casually putting away the photograph, seemingly unconcerned about this newly recruited intelligence agent.

This was within Rei Furuya's expectations; in fact, he himself had a similar attitude when reporting.

After all, the Public Security Headquarters had already identified key targets, such as Gin, Rum, and their henchmen or confidants. As for William, a nobody with an unknown identity and even more mysterious background, the attitude was simply—arrest him if it's convenient, and don't bother spending too much energy on him at other times.

The two police officers began discussing more important members of the organization.

The blurry photo of the member was set aside. It floated by, unnoticed by anyone from beginning to end.

……

After closing the window, Aoyagi Akimitsu led Edogawa Conan out of the room to meet up with the Mori father and daughter next door.

Kogoro Mouri had just checked the map of the area in his room and found that the hospital was not far from the hotel. He asked Ran Mouri and Aoyagi Akimitsu for their opinions, and the group decided to walk there.

On the way there, Aoyagi Akimitsu looked around curiously. With his current appearance, he really looked like an excited college student who was traveling independently to an unfamiliar place for the first time. As he looked around, he suddenly murmured, "Police station, city hall (marriage registration office)... these government agencies are all located near the city center."

Kogoro Mori glanced back casually: "That's how it is in small towns. Stop looking and let's go."

Less than twenty minutes later, a large hospital came into view.

"Wow, it's huge." Conan Edogawa stopped and looked up at the hospital with some surprise. "It feels about the same size as Beika General Hospital."

Japan's land area is not large, and young people tend to flock to big cities. Over time, many small cities become lifeless, with various facilities severely outdated. For example, no matter how new or beautiful the furniture in the hotels they stay in, it cannot hide the old age of the buildings themselves.

The hospital in front of us gives a completely different feeling, like throwing a brand-new gorgeous dress onto a pile of old clothes, so conspicuous that it is almost out of place in the whole city.

Ran Mouri had just looked at some materials in the room. She introduced, "This Takeuchi General Hospital was built four years ago. It is not only the largest hospital in Anchu City, but also the largest hospital in the entire Gunma Prefecture. It is very famous for heart surgery and kidney transplant surgery. Patients from other places and even foreign countries come here specifically to have surgery."

"Four years ago?"

Conan Edogawa didn't listen to her finish speaking; he only noticed the familiar time.

"Didn't Uncle Takeuchi say that his mother passed away four years ago?" He looked at Ran Mouri and Kogoro Mouri, then turned to Akimitsu Aoyagi.

Aoyagi Akihiro, who had been taking notes, nodded: "Yes."

He kindly added, "President Takeuchi said that his aunt came to live in Gunma four years ago."

The four of them are now very close to the hospital gate, with cars and pedestrians passing by behind them from time to time, and several surveillance cameras pointing downwards to film them.

Kogoro Mouri's eyes widened, and he quickly made a shushing gesture to them: "Shh, keep your voices down, don't shout out his surname outside. We need to investigate secretly and can't attract attention."

Aoyagi Akimitsu said in a low voice, "I know."

Kogoro Mouri looked at him suspiciously: "Then why are you still..."

"I'm just a fledgling detective assistant right now, so it's inevitable that I'll make some small mistakes."

With his back to the camera, Aoyagi Akimitsu first gave a very slight smile, but the next second, his expression and tone changed: "Sorry, Mr. Mori, I'll be careful!"

Kogoro Mouri was startled by this sudden change of expression, and stood frozen in place.

Just then, a young man dressed in black came out.

Perhaps because Kogoro Mouri's seat wasn't far from the door, and the young man happened to be looking down at his phone, the two bumped into each other under the surprised gazes of the other three.

"Ouch!"

The young man bumped into Kogoro Mouri's back, his baseball cap falling off and landing on Mouri's clothes. He quickly picked it up, muttering, "What are you standing there for! Blocking the way?!"

Kogoro Mouri was taken aback when he was inexplicably insulted, then flew into a rage: "You don't even watch where you're going, and you still have the nerve to insult me?!"

Hearing his voice, Ran Mouri noticed passersby looking over, a bead of sweat sliding down her forehead. She quickly stepped forward and pulled him back, saying, "Dad, keep your voice down. We can't attract other people's attention."

However, it was already too late.

After the young man left, shortly after they passed through the gate, an old man dressed very much like Kawasaki's butler, and whose features also bore a resemblance to him, appeared before them.

The old man blocked their way, performed a steward's salute, and respectfully said to them, "Gentlemen, my master invites you to come through." (End of Chapter)