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

Conan Edogawa sorted out his thoughts.

He gave a brief summary, intending to get to the point quickly: "Brother Takeuchi once dated a teacher who was ten years older than him, and then..."

"Ten years older?"

"..."

Having been interrupted for what felt like the umpteenth time, Conan Edogawa looked up at the FBI agent beside him with a surprised expression and nodded, saying, "That's right, his girlfriend is a full ten years older than him, and she was one of the victims of the accident."

He was also surprised when he heard it, but he was more interested in cases and accidents than other people's love stories, so he didn't ask for too much detail.

But Aoyagi Akimitsu clearly didn't think so: "Could you be more specific? That would make it easier for me to do an analysis."

Conan Edogawa scratched his cheek, looking a little embarrassed.

It wasn't that he was afraid of wasting time, but Conan Edogawa had just promised Takeuchi Kazuki that he wouldn't tell anyone about his rather bizarre love story.

but……

Conan Edogawa then looked at Aoyagi Akimitsu.

As an FBI agent, Mr. Aoyagi is well-informed and his personality is not as unreliable as Uncle Mori, nor does he sometimes let slip information like Ran does... Telling him this will indeed help him better understand the Takeuchi family's situation.

So Conan Edogawa silently suppressed his slightly aching conscience and decided to start from the beginning:

“At home, Takeuchi-nii was actually not valued much.”

Chairman Takeuchi has three children. Because he was in relatively good health in the past, he had not decided on a specific successor, which led to various open and covert struggles among his three children.

His daughter has a strong personality and, in order not to lose her inheritance rights, chose to find a husband right after graduation. Now she is doing very well in the subsidiary and is supported by the veteran employees. His second son is good at socializing and made many friends during his studies abroad. He is the biggest contributor to expanding the overseas market and is highly regarded by the other shareholders of the company.

Compared to his younger siblings, President Takeuchi is mediocre in ability, possessing only the advantage of being the eldest son. To gain recognition, he has to work much harder.

This resulted in him spending far too little time with his family and showing insufficient care for his children.

—Sometimes, due to excessive external pressure, he even vented his anger on his own children.

Conan Edogawa added, "It's not just that the president himself can't compare to his younger siblings, but his children can't compare to his younger siblings' children either. Takeuchi is the same age as his aunt's only son, and from childhood to adulthood, he has never been better than the other in anything. Because of this, President Takeuchi often beats and scolds him, saying that he is useless, which puts a lot of pressure on him."

Aoyagi Akimitsu listened quietly.

He suddenly asked, "And what about his mother?"

“Every time President Takeuchi beat or scolded him, his mother would protect him.” Conan Edogawa said with mixed feelings, “Every single time, she would protect him with her own body, until she passed away.”

"It was around that time that Miss Leah appeared in his life as his teacher. It is said that she had a similar experience to him, she always cared about him, and then... they fell in love."

Conan Edogawa racked his brains to describe it.

He knew he had omitted a lot, such as the most important part: the process of falling in love.

However, there was no way around it; when Kazuki Takeuchi described things, he spoke in a very disorganized and chaotic manner, basically saying whatever came to mind, and often getting lost in his own memories while talking, and then jumping to other places when he spoke again.

Fortunately, Aoyagi Akimitsu didn't ask any further questions. He was silent for a few seconds, then said in a low voice, "An adult and a minor, this kind of relationship won't end well."

Conan Edogawa, recalling how he always kept his distance from female students when he was a teacher, agreed with his statement: "Yes."

“Takeuchi was only sixteen years old at the time, and given their teacher-student relationship, it was even more sensitive… After the exposure, Miss Lia quickly lost her job, and some people even went to her house to throw paint and vandalize it.”

Conan Edogawa said with a complicated expression, "Even one night, when Miss Ria was returning home, someone attacked her with a stick. She suffered a head injury and wasn't discovered until an hour later, when she was taken to the hospital." Aoyagi Akimitsu understood something: "You mean Takeuchi General Hospital?"

"Correct."

"So the medical malpractice also occurred during this emergency rescue?"

Conan Edogawa nodded: "Yes."

"The hospital said she was in a vegetative state because of a head injury. But Takeuchi's brother used his position to see her medical records and the operating room's surveillance footage and confirmed that her injury was not actually serious."

"The real reason she became a vegetable was due to lack of oxygen. The medical staff did not give her oxygen during the surgery, and by the time they noticed, it was too late."

“At the time, Miss Leah’s parents thought she could still wake up, so they transferred her to the rehabilitation ward, and they persisted for a whole year. But perhaps they could no longer afford the costs, so they came here today to choose to give up treatment…”

Thinking of how Takeuchi Kazuki rushed out the door that afternoon and the indifferent reaction of President Takeuchi, Conan Edogawa sighed.

“If this were the only time, it might be an accident, or at worst, a case of settling a personal score, using a medical malpractice incident to torment someone who caused a family scandal,” Aoyagi Akimitsu said. “But you just said it wasn’t the first time?”

Conan Edogawa's expression turned serious: "After Takeuchi finished speaking, he was in a daze for a long time. I took the opportunity to send a message to the professor, asking him to help investigate all the medical accidents that have occurred since the hospital was established. As a result, we found that there were five cases of brain death caused by minimally invasive surgery."

Aoyagi Akimitsu frowned: "I checked when I came here, but I only found a few cases of failed kidney transplants."

Conan Edogawa began to explain, "Those weren't reported. Dr. Agasa found them on a local forum, and the post was locked as soon as it was published. He only saw it after using some technical skills to recover it."

Aoyagi Akihiro paused for a moment, then said, "Then he's really amazing."

“We’ve found five… no, six cases so far, and there are probably many more that haven’t been discovered yet,” Conan Edogawa said seriously. “This accident rate is simply abnormal.”

He wasn't paranoid or a perfectionist; he knew that medical staff weren't gods, and that one or two unexpected events could indeed occur during hundreds or thousands of surgeries.

But the frequency of accidents at Takeuchi General Hospital is really too high now. Either the medical staff are problematic, their skills are too poor but they are still entrusted with important tasks, causing patients to suffer, or...

Thinking of the bug on Kogoro Mouri, Conan Edogawa fell into deep thought.

He didn't just think to himself; he looked up at the reliable FBI agent in front of him and asked, "Mr. Aoyagi, what do you think?"

Aoyagi Akimitsu seemed to be thinking about something, but when he heard this, he came back to his senses and looked at Edogawa Conan: "Unsure."

"...?"

Meeting his slightly questioning gaze, Aoyagi Akimitsu added, "Conan, although my reasoning and decryption skills are inferior to yours, I have more experience than you—when many people encounter trouble, they tend to beautify themselves while exaggerating the other party's mistakes, especially when dealing with professionals like police officers or doctors, the situation becomes even more serious."

Conan Edogawa hummed in agreement.

For example, after a murder, suspects always portray themselves as pure and innocent, as if they were saints reborn, and then accuse those around them of being particularly suspicious in certain ways.

“So go back and take a look.” Aoyagi Akimitsu held out his hand to him, gesturing for him to take it. “The records of those patients should be in the archives. I walked around the hospital before coming to find you and have already determined the location of each room and the surveillance cameras.”

"As expected of Mr. Aoyagi."

Conan Edogawa was delighted. He first offered a compliment, and then naturally shook hands with Aoyagi Akimitsu again.

Then he paused for a moment.

He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but Mr. Aoyagi's hands were very warm when he first entered the hospital.

...But now, his palms had turned ice-cold. (End of Chapter)