Chapter 19: A Temporary Conclusion

The door was opened by Yukiko.

“Yukiko… sister…”

It was quite vexing—her son was almost an adult, yet still trying to act young. Kiichi even felt a rebellious urge to call her “Madam Kudo” outright.

Entering the living room, everyone had gathered.

“Thank you very much for your help, Inspector Higashino,” Akemi Miyano stepped forward and bowed in gratitude.

“Did the organization suspect anything?” Kiichi cut straight to the point, disliking unnecessary pleasantries.

“As expected, Gin did not suspect a thing,” Shuichi Akai smiled, a rare expression for him. “The plan was a complete success, unfortunately only partially. The two-birds-with-one-stone approach failed.”

“That was anticipated,” Kiichi said indifferently. “Thinking that a single threat letter could truly intimidate them was naïve.”

“Actually, I’m still puzzled—why did Gin so easily believe I was really dead?”

Though she had successfully escaped, Akemi Miyano still felt a bit dazed.

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Earlier.

“I’ve prepared some tea,” Yukiko said as she brought the tray in.

“I’ll arrange a staged death to help Akemi get out of the organization,” Shuichi Akai explained his plan. “But since I’m here under a private identity, some details will require cooperation from Inspector Higashino.”

“That won’t be easy,” Kiichi said as he held his teacup, watching the steam rise. “Especially since Miss Akemi will absolutely refuse to abandon her sister and escape alone.”

Akai fell silent—his counterpart seemed to know far more than expected.

“I admit, if I forcibly took Miss Akemi away and staged the scene, it could be done. But afterward, she certainly wouldn’t want to leave her sister and you to go overseas. And if she stays, she’ll face Gin’s relentless pursuit. Moreover, Gin will soon suspect you because of your connection with Akemi.”

Gin, huh…

Just as Gin was a figure to be feared by Kiichi, Akai also understood that man’s terror well.

After all, he was the only one in the fake liquor factory who truly got things done.

Rum? Compared to Gin’s ruthless efficiency, how could he hold a candle? You might mock Gin’s sorry state or the factory’s infiltration, but Gin had been working hard behind the scenes.

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“I figure Gin has seen so many staged deaths and accidents from you all that even if you placed a corpse right in front of him, he’d still shoot it twice to be sure.”

Honestly, Gin really worked hard. In the original story, when Akai helped Rena Mizunashi go undercover, he even watched as she supplemented the killing blow. The only slip was giving Shinichi Kudo medicine before leaving—but that was a case of completely asymmetric information. In Gin’s mind, the poison was the final blow; no one survives. Who knew about side effects?

See? Not giving core members critical info only caused a huge mess.

Gin was pushed to this state possibly because the constant internal purges caused the kids PTSD. At the sight of a death, the first thought was staged death to escape.

A tragic situation indeed.

“Therefore, whether it’s forging DNA, faking fingerprints, or using disguises to slip away, unless Gin personally witnesses Akemi Miyano die before his eyes, he won’t believe it. No matter how realistic the scene, he’ll be suspicious.”

Akai nodded in agreement.

Indeed, normally, as long as she escaped abroad and entered the FBI witness protection program, Gin’s suspicions wouldn’t matter. But the key was Akemi would never flee without rescuing her sister.

Akai knew this well; otherwise, he might have just taken Akemi away when his cover was blown.

Staging a death was easy, escaping was simple, but making Gin believe it without a trace of doubt was near impossible.

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“Actually, it’s not entirely impossible,” Yusaku Kudo smiled. “I think Inspector Higashino’s idea is, since Gin won’t trust his own eyes or ears, let him come to his own conclusion.”

“If he doesn’t believe his own eyes, how do you make him come to a conclusion?” Yukiko asked, puzzled.

“Simple—don’t give him the answer, give him a puzzle,” Akai smiled. “That’s a clever approach.”

“Even as an enemy, we must admit Gin is a brilliant, ruthless, cunning, and suspicious man. Such a person won’t trust what’s on the surface, but will firmly believe the conclusions he reaches through reasoning,” Kiichi said. “Thanks to a recent case, I have a good insight.”

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“But why send the threat letter first?” Akemi asked.

“Besides Inspector Higashino wanting to use this to flush out clues related to his own case, the key was to let Gin know there’s been activity targeting wealthy groups,” Akai explained.

“Would that make Gin believe it?” Akemi still found it unlike Gin’s character.

“You don’t need Gin to believe it outright, just to become aware of it through repeated exposure in various situations. Then, when the ‘kidnapping’ happens, he may doubt the kidnapping’s authenticity, but the ongoing threats will naturally become a possibility in his reasoning,” Yusaku Kudo said. “Akemi-san, imagine Gin finds out you were killed after being caught up in a kidnapping. What would his first reaction be?”

“Of course, he wouldn’t believe such a coincidence,” Akemi immediately answered. “Such coincidence is impossible; he would first question the kidnapping’s reality.”

“That’s the role of the threat letters—to lay groundwork so Gin’s first suspicion isn’t ‘What a coincidence, a kidnapping happened,’ but rather ‘How did she end up at the kidnapping scene so conveniently?’” Kiichi said. “Next, we need to make Gin aware that someone is helping the bank robbery accomplices to kill you.”

“But won’t Gin suspect the person helping me escape?”

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“Of course he will. No matter how you design it, there will be doubts. But those doubts arise only after Gin sees the ‘scene’ for himself,” Yusaku said. “Because Akemi-san, you’re looking back with hindsight, but from Gin’s perspective, the sequence of information is completely different. Try to think from Gin’s viewpoint—how he receives the information.”

“Gin’s perspective…” Akemi started thinking. “He would first learn someone is threatening the rich, realizing there’s a plan targeting the wealthy, then find out I received a call from an accomplice and went to the park, then I disappeared, and then they investigate the park…”

“Ah! I get it! If Gin goes to the park to investigate, he’ll focus on the information he finds there. He’ll try to ‘solve’ the case with suspicion,” Yukiko understood. “So for Gin, the most crucial evidence in the Akemi disappearance case is what he personally discovers at the park!”

“That’s why I insisted on staying at the Metropolitan Police Headquarters last night—to ensure I was the first to reach the scene and quickly draw a conclusion, so the lockdown could be lifted today, allowing Gin to inspect it himself,” Kiichi took over. “The goal was to make sure Gin would conclude ‘Akemi Miyano was killed because she was caught up in a kidnapping’ before he learned that an accomplice lured her to the park to get her killed.”

“Turning ‘someone else’s answer’ into ‘proof of one’s own reasoning’—even changing the sequence of information slightly can drastically affect how he processes it,” Akai smiled. “If we never gave him the answer, he naturally wouldn’t suspect deception.”

“For a smart person, nothing convinces more than a conclusion reached independently without interference,” Kiichi summarized. “The hardest part of the whole plan is creating a real ‘kidnapping’ and a ‘murder caused by coincidence’ scene.”

“But luckily, we have a mystery novelist skilled in designing crime scenes, a detective familiar with homicide, and actors who excel at setting scenes.”

Yukiko smiled proudly.

“You guys are terrifying,” Akemi suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Gin.

But she quickly brightened—if Gin really had no suspicions, could she stay here and try to rescue her sister?

Moreover…

With everyone so capable, the hope of saving her sister grew much stronger.

“Next, I’ll disguise Akemi to stay here. I’ve also contacted FBI colleagues who will restart the investigation into the organization and join me soon,” Akai openly shared the next steps after explaining how they deceived Gin. “At the same time, I’ll start investigating Akemi’s sister’s case. Also, I’ll have the FBI keep an eye on Inspector Higashino’s case.”

The most baffling thing was where the FBI got jurisdiction abroad. But since it wasn’t their problem, Kiichi didn’t bother interfering—let Shirakawa and the police headquarters’ higher-ups handle it.

“Yusaku and I probably can’t stay here; we have matters to attend to that may take months. During that time, please look after Shinichi,” Yukiko explained their plan. “But we’re worried about Shinichi’s current state, so before leaving, we want to test him. Would you be interested?”

A mischievous gleam almost spilled from Yukiko’s eyes.

“…”

“I’m busy with my regular work and may not have time, but if you schedule it in advance, I might be able to cooperate,” Kiichi hesitated but couldn’t refuse outright. Who wouldn’t want to prank Conan?

“Akemi and I won’t participate,” she said, sensing Akai’s lack of interest in such things. “Besides, we need to prepare new identities and find a new place to live.”

“As for a new place, why not stay here?” Yukiko suddenly suggested. “It’d be easier for me to help with disguises and makeup, and Shinichi won’t be coming back anytime soon anyway, so the house would be empty.”

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