Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

There must have been a reason why Conan secretly started following this woman.

Furthermore, upon closer reflection, it's rather strange that this woman proactively approached Kogoro Mouri to serve as his defense attorney. Moreover, according to her, she specializes in handling police cases, which suggests she might have a grudge against the police.

...It matches up?

"I'll be right there."

Without hesitation, Sano went directly to Eri Kisaki's office.

"senior."

When Ran Mouri saw Sano, she immediately approached him with the documents in hand.

Sano took the document and glanced at it briefly—a year ago, Tachibana Kyoko wasn't a freelance lawyer; on the contrary, she had opened her own firm.

The rest of Sano didn't see anything wrong.

The problem lies in the second document, which contains information about another person.

Yuba 231.

...What a strange name.

This person was originally an employee of Tachibana Kyoko's agency, but a year ago, he was arrested by the police for being involved in a cybercrime. He committed suicide before being prosecuted... Isn't that the incident that Kazami Yuya mentioned to Conan? No wonder this kid is suspicious.

Are you looking at my file?

Just then, Tachibana Kyoko arrived. Sano threw down the documents, turned around, and put his arm around her shoulder without saying a word, but... there was no response.

……Um?

Sano was taken aback. Conan and Ran Mouri, who understood what his action meant, were also taken aback, especially the latter, who did not see the true nature of the document.

Sano found it even stranger that he suspected Tachibana Kyoko.

"senior?"

Ran Mouri tentatively raised a question.

Sano remained silent and then stopped looking at Tachibana Kyoko, who looked completely bewildered.

Leave immediately.

During the journey, Sano took out his phone and called Amuro Tooru.

"Hey, I need all of Haneba Nizoichi's information."

"...Haba Nisanichi?"

Hearing the surprised voice on the other end, Sano felt he had grasped the key point.

Do you remember this person?

"That's it."

Chapter 666 Question 4: How firm is your justice?

Amuro Tooru didn't say much, but turned around and sent Sano the information on Haba Nizoichi. After a quick glance, he gained an astonishing amount of information.

First of all, this person's identity is not that of an ordinary firm employee.

Police assistant.

...Sano originally thought this was a title similar to that of an informant.

Of course, in reality, they are not much different; the problem lies in the special nature of the person providing assistance.

Firstly, the assistants exist specifically for the police, and each police officer will only have one assistant. Secondly, the assistants have very low rights.

Normally speaking...

Whether it's an undercover agent or an informant, as long as they have been fundamentally recognized by the authorities, the authorities will do their best to protect them, even if their methods are excessive.

It's like the police have the right to use illegal means.

But these assistants don't have such rights...aren't they almost the same as those in white coats?

They're not even as good as the one in white.

Both in terms of security and compensation.

Therefore, those who act as assistants are basically people who truly possess the quality of being unafraid of sacrifice; in other words, they are almost like madmen.

He'd have to go crazy.

In short, Futaba Futaba was an accomplice, and the cybercrime a year ago was actually an action taken under his identity.

As a result... it was protected.

That's right, Haneba Nizoichi didn't die at all. Amuro Tooru arranged a fake death for him, and now he's living in the shadows. Although it's not a pleasant situation, it's at least much better than spending the rest of his life in prison.

As for Amuro Tooru's behavior, is it inappropriate?

As things stand, there's no impact yet, but that's not important. What's important is that Sano found a few noteworthy names in Haba Nizoichi's file. One of them is Tachibana Kyoko, which goes without saying.

Secondly, Kusakabe, a public security inspector.

That's right, the Public Security Bureau of the Prosecutor's Office and Amuro Tooru belong to two different departments.

This person was the prosecutor who was supposed to prosecute Kogoro Mouri after he was framed. This was already intriguing enough. What was even more intriguing was that Kusakabe happened to be Haba Nizoichi's superior. In other words, the person assisting him was assisting this guy.

The case from a year ago likely stemmed from this.

The motives are obvious... Sano glanced at Kusakabe, the third of his superiors.

This is considered part of the same group as Kusakabe.

The matter involves Kogoro Mouri, and also touches on Nizoichi Haba from a year ago.

However, it's worth mentioning that just now...

This woman was caught in an IoT attack; her phone exploded. Because the situation wasn't handled promptly, she's currently in the hospital, though not in life-threatening condition.

...In this way, the range of suspects was finally determined.

Sano let out a breath and immediately found a secluded spot to start operating again. His main targets were naturally these three people. Even if he had already tested Tachibana Kyoko with the Hammer of Justice, he still had to check her out, just in case.

For Sano, who is a cheater.

The most difficult part of a case is often not the method or the evidence.

The issue lies with the suspect.

We only need to make contact with suspects if we can identify them based on their motives and methods.

Haneba Nizoichi is the core motivation that Sano believes.

This led to suspicion of Tachibana Kyoko. Although subsequent probing failed to confirm the suspicion, they continued to investigate other suspects by focusing on Haba Fumiichi.

That's absolutely no problem.

"...Found it."

Sure enough, Sano found some traces after successfully hacking into Kusakabe's computer; in fact, he's currently hacking into it right now.

...Wait, what is this guy invading now, and what is his purpose?

Sano frowned, sensing that the case seemed to have reached its final stage.

By observing discreetly and secretly.

Sano discovered the source—this guy was infiltrating the America Space Agency.

That is, NASA.

Sano immediately thought of the so-called cybercrime in the Haba 2311 case, which was related to this thing. So, Kusakabe's current intrusion into this is very likely also for revenge, but what exactly is he doing?

To be honest, it was all a misunderstanding.

NASA might be considered the root cause, but they were just following the rules.

Not to mention that it was the Japanese government that took action.

I can understand that Sano might be caught in the crossfire, but the real question is how he might be affected.

Is the plan to destroy NASA's systems as revenge?

Ok?

Suddenly, Sano sensed something was wrong, took out his phone, and clicked on the trending news.

"The large unmanned probe Swan, controlled by NASA, will return to Earth today..."

……satellite?

Seriously? Playing this big?

Sano finally realized what the consequences would be if NASA's system really collapsed, but this shouldn't be possible. After all, such an important place must be very well defended. Therefore, Kusakabe probably couldn't completely destroy NASA's system. But what if he only targeted one part of it?

This unmanned probe just happened to return today.

Unfortunately, today is also the day when Kusakabe begins its large-scale attack.

To say that this guy's goal wasn't this, Sano certainly didn't believe it.

Even though this is already outrageous enough, Sano still intends to take measures based on this development, precisely because it is so outrageous.

Sano has to get serious.

Kusakabe should have been in action for quite some time now.

If Sano wanted to catch up at this point, it certainly wouldn't be done quietly.

This must attract NASA's attention.

Following the normal procedures is definitely not an option; special measures must be taken.

If Sano continues to use his own phone as a means of intrusion...

The risk is too great.

We need to find an internet cafe.

Sano turned off his phone and quickly began his operation, but before he could find an internet cafe, Amuro Tooru called—"Hey, Sano, have you made any progress? I've received a new lead that might be useful."

"What clue?"