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

Conan Edogawa looked up at the security camera, then glanced furtively at the other end of the corridor. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he destroyed the email and fell into thought.

Mr. Aoyagi had already reminded Uncle Mori with a note. Although that uncle was usually unreliable, he had been a detective for several years and knew how to deal with people.

The question now is what exactly is going on with the Takeuchi family. The eldest son hires a detective, and the father sends people to eavesdrop on the detective. Is the chairman worried that the president might harm him in order to seize the assets?

Or is there some secret within the Takeuchi family that cannot be known to outsiders?
Thinking about this, Conan Edogawa suddenly remembered that Aoyagi Akimitsu had just said something to him.

—You could also check out the surrounding area.

If he remembers correctly, Mr. Aoyagi looked down through the window before saying those words to him.

Is there something down there?
Conan Edogawa is very proactive. Thinking of this possibility, he quickly stuffed his phone back into his pocket, ran to the window, jumped up, and leaned over the windowsill to look down.

The third floor wasn't far from the ground, and with his good eyesight, he saw someone he'd met briefly at the Takeuchi house that morning walk in through the hospital gate.

It is Takeuchi Kazuki.

Upon seeing the son of President Takeuchi and the grandson of Chairman Takeuchi arrive at the hospital, Conan Edogawa quickly landed back on the ground and ran towards the stairwell.

……

In the ward.

"Hmm? What's that noise outside?"

The foreign youth sitting on the edge of the bed noticed the sound of running outside and looked toward the door in confusion.

"It's probably because the children are running around. When I first came here, I saw people visiting patients bringing their children with them."

A gentle male voice spoke.

There were three people in the ward at that moment: one lying on the bed with his right leg in a cast and in a sling, and another sitting in a chair. Both of them were foreigners.

The speaker was a stranger who had arrived in the ward ten minutes earlier.

He had come to visit another patient in a different bed, but they told him that the patient had just been discharged that morning. He was somewhat exasperated, and then he started chatting with them in fluent English.

They were initially wary of the stranger, suspecting he was a member of the local police force. However, during their ten-minute conversation, they gradually relaxed around him, revealing their names, ages, parents' jobs, schools, and even the location of their previous meeting.

And they didn't even know his name.

The foreign youth by the bed vaguely sensed that something was amiss, when the stranger looked at him and said, "Let's continue our previous conversation. Can you tell me what exactly happened that day?"

The strange man had a pleasant voice and a gentle tone, making one instinctively want to comply with and answer all his questions.

The foreign youth, who had vaguely sensed something was wrong just a moment ago, immediately replied, "I don't know the specifics either, they..."

The man with the broken bone, lying on the hospital bed, rolled his eyes at his partner's stammering and looked at the stranger, saying, "Let me explain."

The stranger, FBI agent Aoyagi Akimitsu, who had come to inquire about the situation, smiled kindly at the injured man and said, "Thank you for your help."

"That day we held a test of courage, deciding to cross the forest from Nagano Prefecture to Gunma. I drew the first group and arrived at the finish line first, and then my group members and I waited for the others."

When asked about what happened a few days ago, the man with the broken bone frowned slightly.

“That road looked dangerous, but it wasn’t long, less than 2 kilometers. It would take 15 minutes to walk there at a normal pace, and at most 20 minutes even if you walked slowly at night. Moreover, each group carried a cell phone and a walkie-talkie, so if they got lost, they could immediately contact the people at the end. But after the others arrived one after another, the last group suddenly lost contact.”

Aoyagi Akimitsu timely raised a question: "Suddenly lost contact? Was there anything unusual during their departure?"

“…Yes, there was.” The foreign youth scratched his head, recalling the situation: “I was in the second-to-last group. Just as I arrived, I heard a voice coming from the walkie-talkie at the finish line.” “It was from that international student. He said he had accidentally sprained his ankle. We asked him if he was alright and if we needed to go back to find him, but he said no, none of us had any medical supplies. His location was very close to a rest stop, so he went to get it treated and let his companions go first.”

"So, they separated back then?" Aoyagi Akimitsu asked.

The foreign youth nodded and said, "Yes."

“Because he was injured, our classmate left the walkie-talkie with him and continued walking alone, and then…” he said, lowering his head, “and then he lost contact.”

Thinking of his silver-haired classmate, the man with the broken leg also looked unwell: "Because they hadn't come back for so long, we were worried they would get lost, so we split up to look for him, but we couldn't find any of them. I even accidentally walked into a bear trap that the locals used to catch bears and broke my leg."

Aoyagi Akira examined his leg to assess the injury, and out of a lack of professional ethics, he even mentioned, "I know a little about law, I can file a civil claim for you."

The man with the broken bone paused for a moment, then shook his head: "No need. Those traps are in the forest, and we have no idea who set them up. We can't catch anyone. Besides, lawsuits take a long time. I plan to go back as soon as I can walk again. I don't want to waste that time."

Seeing his reluctance, Aoyagi Akimitsu changed the subject: "Did you try using a walkie-talkie to contact that exchange student?"

"...I've tried it."

The man with the broken bone seemed to recall something even worse, and his brows furrowed even more deeply:
"The first time we got through, we kept asking him where he was and if he was in danger. He hung up without saying anything and we couldn't contact him anymore. His cell phone was unresponsive."

"Was it written in English?"

"Of course it's English. None of us speak Japanese, so we've been relying on translation software these past few days."

The foreign youth sighed deeply as he spoke.

He and the one with the broken bone were friends, so he stayed at the hospital to keep him company for the past few days. The others, however, were heartless and went off to play elsewhere after visiting once, without even asking about the two missing people.

Thinking this, he looked at Aoyagi Akimitsu. Seeing his thoughtful expression, he suddenly became alert: "You're not going to call the police, are you?"

Aoyagi Akimitsu, who was deep in thought, snapped out of it: "Of course not, calling the police this time will probably be useless."

The foreign youth looked at him and asked hesitantly, "Are the Japanese police useless? But I heard that exchange student say that the police in Nagano are quite capable. He was involved in a murder case and became a suspect, and the local detectives solved the case very quickly."

"The police in Nagano..."

Aoyagi Akimitsu originally wanted to say something.

The other two looked at him, expecting him to say something, but he stopped talking.

Moreover, a bright glint seemed to flash in those emerald green eyes behind the lenses.

……

the other side.

Conan Edogawa ran downstairs.

He stood in the crowd, looking left and right, but before he could find anyone, he heard a commotion not far away, as if someone was arguing at the entrance of the hospital building.

"Hey, it looks like the director's young master is arguing with that family again..."

A murmur came from behind me.

Conan Edogawa was overjoyed and ran outside. (End of Chapter)