Daily Spy Life in the Detective Conan World

Chapter 300 Muddling the Situation

As dawn broke, crows circled overhead.

They curiously observed the people and vehicles below.

Below, a man with tattered clothes and white spiderwebs stuck to his shoulders leaned against a tree, panting.

Above, a huge gap appeared in the highway railing above the cliff, and occasionally loose rocks would roll down.

Gravel fell from a height of more than ten meters and hit the off-road vehicle, making a clattering sound.

"Hello, it's me. I'm at Puppet Ridge. Can you send a car to pick me up?"

Robert Taylor, pale-faced, turned back to look at the cliff in silence. "I've encountered another landslide. I'm now in Puppet Ridge and need backup."

What are you going there for?

On the other end of the phone, Rum hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Three years ago, you fell off a cliff due to a landslide. Are you stubbornly planning to experience it again this time?"

"If so, then you've successfully made me laugh out loud."

Rum's voice sounded like he was laughing, but Rob Taylor knew he was being asked why he had come to Tottori Prefecture.

"We moved too fast three years ago, and some loose ends were not properly trimmed."

"now what?"

"It's all cleaned up."

Rob Taylor naturally wouldn't tell the truth. Since it was a private operation, if something went wrong, even if it was him, Rum might not let him off the hook.

The organization's top brass are all bad people; they're ruthless when it comes to killing their own people.

Although I'm not afraid of rum, I have to give face to my direct superiors since I'm in this line of work.

He's not that Bourbon guy, yet the boss took a liking to him.

“Wait, I’ll send someone to pick you up. Come see me as soon as you get back to Tokyo. There’s still no word from Pacharan. I suspect he’s been murdered.”

"What about the crown?" Robert Taylor sneered. "I told you back then that I would handle this matter without any problems. That good-for-nothing Pacharan is more trouble than he's worth. Now the crown has been stolen. How are we going to explain this to that Russian politician?"

Rob Taylor wasn't too bothered by Rum. The stronger one's abilities, the more indispensable one becomes to the organization. Unless something like today happened that could expose his identity and lead him out of the organization, Rum would have to give him face.

As for the crown, he didn't care; mentioning it was merely to remind the other party of their poor judgment.

"I've already inquired. The perpetrator disguised himself as Natsumi Kosaka and brazenly took the crown. How many people in this world do you think could do something like that?"

Robert Taylor remained silent for a while, then understood what Rum meant. However, given that Rum had just asked so many questions and was clearly showing off his authority, he was not one to be easily bullied.

"It's possible that the four top-tier disguise masters in the underworld are Kaito Kid, Vermouth, Baileys, and Spy Twilight. I've also heard that Vermouth has a junior sister, making a total of five."

By the way, I heard that the organization that uses animal codenames also has experts in disguise, so that makes six people in total.

Considering that Natsumi Kosaka is just an ordinary person, it shouldn't be particularly difficult for her to disguise herself in a way that's indistinguishable from an ordinary person. I think there are tons of people on the dark web who can do that.

Robert Taylor is reminding Rum that you are simply bringing the result into the problem, not thinking about the result through the problem.

An ordinary subordinate would never dare to speak to Rum like that, but he was different. His position in the European branch was only slightly lower than Rum's, making him the second-in-command.

"Why don't you just walk back? I can actually wait."

Rob Taylor was speechless, so engrossed in disgusting the other person that he forgot he still needed Rum to find someone to pick him up and take him back to Tokyo.

"Ahem. Well, Vermouth should still be in the US. Gin wouldn't go to such lengths to target Crown if he wanted to make a move. If I'm not mistaken, it's probably Baileys who made the move. There aren't many in this world who dare to target our objectives, and we sent people here without notifying Gin."

Rum smiled and nodded. That's more like it. He dared to contradict the leader. He'll learn his lesson when he gets a little trouble.

"Although Baileys is nominally still Vermouth's person, she has to listen to Gin when she's in Tokyo. If I'm not mistaken, this operation must have been authorized by Gin."

Rum said indifferently, "It doesn't matter whether it has anything to do with him or not, he's unlikely to admit it anyway. And we don't need to worry about Pacharan either; he hasn't been back for so long, he's probably dead."

As he spoke, Rum seemed to have thought of something and chuckled twice, "You can't end up like you three years ago, losing your memory for three months because of a landslide, can you?"

"That was just an accident."

Rob Taylor gritted his teeth; Rum often used this to mock him, which annoyed him greatly.

"What about this time?"

“It was an accident!” Robert Taylor said with certainty: “Puppet Ridge is steep, and it had just experienced a drought and heavy rain recently, making the soil fragile and prone to accidents.”

Rum ignored him and hung up the phone.

Robert Taylor glanced up at the SUV, inwardly annoyed.

Besides the landslide, the reason the vehicle fell down was also related to a tire blowout that caused the off-road vehicle to inexplicably fall, which is quite absurd.

Fortunately, having learned from the experience three years ago, I didn't fall flat on my face this time.

He never wanted to come back to Puppet Ridge again in his life.

The next day, Xia Chuan and his group of seven rode in the Takeda family's truck down the mountain.

"Father, isn't that the car we rented?"

The little girl was sitting in the passenger seat, shouting and yelling.

Xia Chuan turned his head and saw that his rented SUV was parked at the corner of the mountain road, with the rear of the car covered with fallen rocks and the front of the car tilted up at a 45-degree angle.

A group of roadside emergency responders had just finished clearing away the rubble and were trying to tow the SUV away.

"That bastard Rob Taylor, he ran away and even stole the SUV!"

He doesn't appreciate kindness. Next time I see him, I'll definitely make him pay!

Xia Chuan couldn't wait to go home and ask about the situation; Frank shouldn't let him down.

"Luckily I was smart and didn't drive here."

Kogoro Mouri sighed. If he had rented a car, who knows who might have gotten into an accident?

"But you don't need to worry. The rental company has signed an insurance contract in advance, so you don't need to pay compensation if the car is involved in an accident, as there is an insurance company."

"That makes sense, but why do you seem so familiar with this, Uncle Mori?" Hattori Heiji asked, looking puzzled. "Does this kind of thing happen often?"

"Of course not!" the famous detective retorted loudly.

"It doesn't seem very reliable."

Hattori turned to look at Conan, his question written all over his face.

"Well, I don't know anything about this, so don't ask me." Conan looked up at the sky; this was a sensitive matter.

He recalled that before he owned a Mercedes, Kogoro Mouri often had accidents when he rented cars, especially when traveling to events such as tour groups.

But I definitely can't say that out loud.

Kogoro Mouri withdrew his gaze and fist with satisfaction. Conan, that kid, does have some sense; he knows what to say and what not to say.

The group arrived in Tottori Prefecture while fooling around, where Hattori Heiji parted ways with them.

On the way home, Anya kept fiddling with her camera, and Xia Chuan glanced at it several times.

Did Anya film a video?

I hadn't really noticed before, but now that I think about it, Anya seems to have filmed a video.

If there's a video, it will definitely be faster to find the person!

The photos he took earlier were taken from rather tricky angles, which greatly increased the difficulty for Frank to find the person. If there were video footage, it would be much easier.

"Yes, it is."

No way, no way, is Father going to confiscate all my work again? This is something Anya worked so hard to capture.

The scene where Conan gets swung around like a club is really cool. When I showed it to my twins this morning, they had a look of utter disbelief on their faces.

Conan is usually very arrogant at school, but this is the first time he has shown his vulnerability.

The twin girls are very simple-minded; they either like what they like or they don't like what they don't like.

So the two of them decided to change their idol to Anya!

That's right, Anya succeeded!
Xia Chuan provided all the input in this case from beginning to end, and the case was solved perfectly.

The uncle who died last night was the culprit who killed Sister Misa!

The twins were unaware of anything concerning Ryuji Takeda.

Everyone agreed to keep the news a secret, only telling the twins' father that he was going to work in a faraway place.

Even Anya was very cooperative.

"Don't worry, I'll make a copy and return it to you, but don't show this to anyone else."

The matter involved an unknown assassin, so he had no choice but to be cautious.

If Rob Taylor finds out that he was filmed and the video was leaked, he will definitely take revenge.

"Ok."

Anya sighed. If that was really the case, then she shouldn't show it to others. Having her twin sisters help her make a name for herself was enough.

"So, have you found Robert Taylor's entry records?"

Xia Chuan was extremely interested in Rob Taylor's identity, and rushed over as soon as Frank notified him.

"Found it." Frank patted his chest confidently. "With me, Frank, involved, what information can't I gather?"

"Don't brag."

Frank coughed twice and began to explain the news.

The name Rob Taylor could not be found, but because Xia Chuan provided photos and videos, airport surveillance footage was used to identify an inbound passenger with the same appearance.

Rob Taylor, using the alias Breton Bevan, entered the country at Haneda Airport two days ago, with London, England as his departure point.

London, England?

It seems more likely that it's related to Rum. Rum is the head of the European region.

While Xia Chuan was thinking, Frank started playing a video.

The video is a recording of Rob Taylor leaving Haneda Airport. The airport video is quite clear, and it is obvious that it is Rob Taylor.

Who is that person next to him?

Robert Taylor did not appear alone; he was accompanied by a man in black wearing a hat.

The surveillance camera was positioned so that the other person's hat blocked the view, so although you could see their figure, it was useless.

Xia Chuan watched it several times before realizing that this person seemed to be in cahoots with Robert Taylor.

Were they together?

Frank asked curiously, "But they were clearly walking a distance apart."

"When Rob Taylor got off the plane, he looked in the direction of the man in the black hat several times. The distance between the two of them never exceeded four meters after leaving the airport. At this distance, if there was a problem on either side, they could choose to provide support or leave."

"In that case, it is indeed possible."

“To be precise, the man in the black hat should be ranked above Robert Taylor.” Xia Chuan replayed several key details. “Did you notice?”

“Robert Taylor seemed to deliberately wait and slow down several times, probably waiting for the other party. And he kept observing his surroundings the whole way, which is very much like what a bodyguard would do, only his actions were more discreet.”

"At least I'm not completely stupid!"

Frank grimaced. That damn Xia Chuan, he'd been tricked again.

“This situation is a bit like a bodyguard protecting the boss. I’ll check the boarding pass and I can identify who it is right away.” Frank typed on the keyboard and quickly found the person matching the description in the passenger list.

"Wakita Kanenori?"

Looking at the name and photo displayed on the screen, Xia Chuan couldn't help but smile.

"I never expected our first meeting to be like this, Rum."

This was truly an unexpected gain.

While excited, Xia Chuan also became curious.

Since Robert Taylor is indeed from the brewery, he should seriously consider why Robert Taylor appeared in Tottori Prefecture three years ago.

The name Tottori Prefecture is too sensitive, so Natsukawa couldn't help but think about it.

Perhaps Rum visited Tottori Prefecture back then and even met the boss.

"Could you help me find out where Wakita Kanenori is?"

"Are they all from the distillery?" Frank asked curiously. "Rum, is this one-eyed, sleazy middle-aged man the famous Rum?"

Rum has a certain reputation in the underworld.

In this era where no boss appears and Rum reigns supreme, he can often act entirely on behalf of the Distillery. Rumors about him have long circulated in the underworld, but no one has ever seen his face.

"That's right, it's him. He's doing a little better now. I've even seen him with buck teeth."

Thinking of Rum, who became Kogoro Mouri's apprentice, Natsukawa found it funny, especially his two buck teeth, which were so out of place.

"Should we have the IRS collect taxes from Rum?"

Frank raised an eyebrow and chuckled. If he told the IRS that Rum had appeared in Japan, it would not only annoy the brewery but also stir up trouble. When things are chaotic, it's the most productive time to slack off.

Although the IRS doesn't have much influence in Japan, Frank recently learned that the new FBI director seems to have established a good relationship with the IRS, and they have recently launched several joint operations within the country.

The FBI sends out spies, the IRS is responsible for collecting the money, and the tax revenue is divided into three parts, with the IRS taking two-thirds and the FBI taking one-third.

Don't think the FBI is at a disadvantage; they've actually made a fortune.

These joint operations have all targeted the American middle class, and the cumulative effect is quite significant.

"When did the IRS become so smart?"

Xia Chuan let out a soft "Eh," thinking that the IRS seemed to have become much smarter, even knowing about alliances and counter-alliances.

"I heard it was FBI agent Shuichi Akai who suggested it. He's currently a favorite of the new director and has a lot of influence."

"The FBI provides personnel, the IRS provides equipment, and the CIA must be envious of their collaboration, right?" Xia Chuan chuckled, calculating the gains and losses in his mind.

According to Frank, notifying the IRS would likely attract Shuichi Akai's attention.

Although I don't particularly like him, I have to admit that Shuichi Akai is quite formidable. If he finds out anything about the Black Organization, he definitely won't let it go.

Moreover, Akai Tsutomu disappeared back then because he was investigating Rum. If he knew it was Rum, Akai Shuichi would definitely be like a shark smelling fish.

“Gin said Rum was coming to Japan. It seems like something big might happen in Japan soon. It’s okay to notify the IRS.” Natsukawa added with a serious face, “But remember to tell the IRS not to disclose any information about us to the FBI.”

“Of course.” Frank waved his hand and said, “I’ve already considered this. Our spies certainly can’t operate in the open. But I’m afraid we can’t hide for long. As the cooperation between the FBI and the IRS deepens, the IRS’s intelligence channels will definitely be discovered.”

"It's okay, just don't expose yourself for a short period of time, and even if you do, expose yourself as little as possible."

(Ask for monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)