LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 295: Chapter 295: Hypothesis
In Mihua Town, the new Kudo residence.
Akai Shuichi, disguised as Subaru Okiya, a graduate student in engineering at Toto University, was seated in the study on the second floor, operating the computer.
The lights in the bedroom were off, and the curtains on the windows were drawn.
As a result, the light from the living room appeared very dim.
In this dark room, only the glow of the computer screen illuminated "Okiya Subaru's" face.
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Click.
Shuichi Akai clicked the left button of the mouse, and the computer began playing a video.
The lenses of the glasses perched on his nose reflected part of the computer screen, which displayed a live video recording of a talk show held five days ago at the Showa Accessories Exhibition in Jiangdu District.
Due to Kid stealing the Moonlight Necklace, the talk show had been temporarily interrupted.
This live video only included footage from that morning.
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Click.
Another "click" sounded as Shuichi Akai pressed the spacebar to pause the video.
Immediately afterward, Akai Shuichi zoomed in on the image on the screen.
He then picked up the cup of black coffee from the table, took a sip, and continued his investigation.
This time, a figure with brown hair became faintly visible on the screen, reflected in his narrowed glasses.
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That figure was none other than Kyousuke Akikawa, an artist from Wonderful.
In this case, what concerned Shuichi Akai the most wasn't the criminal Takashi Tsukino or the thief Kaitou Kid.
Instead, it was the artist Kyousuke Akikawa, whose presence seemed insignificant throughout the incident.
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The primary reason for Akai Shuichi's concern was that he had discovered Kyousuke Akikawa's involvement in multiple cases linked to his younger sister, Sera Masumi.
A day earlier, Akai Shuichi had received information from Rena Mizunashi (aka Hidemi Hondo), a CIA agent undercover within the organization.
Toru Amuro of the Public Security Bureau had been punished by the organization for attempting to deliver fake gemstones, which aroused Gin's suspicions.
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Shuichi Akai was well-acquainted with Toru Amuro.
He could imagine that, to prevent the organization from obtaining the real gemstone, Toru Amuro had tried to deceive them with a fake one.
It was only a matter of time before the organization uncovered this deception.
However, Amuro's exposure on the very same day he delivered the gemstone was highly unusual.
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In Akai Shuichi's memory, Toru Amuro had always been extremely cautious in matters involving the organization.
'He must have been confident initially, but something unexpected happened.'
'In other words, an unforeseen factor led to his exposure.'
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'Kid, who wasn't supposed to obtain the gemstone, somehow managed to steal it. This must have led to Amuro's downfall.'
'Someone must have helped Kaitou Kid acquire the gemstone.'
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After drawing these conclusions, Akai Shuichi immediately began reviewing the videos from the exhibition.
That's when he noticed a familiar figure.
It was Kyousuke Akikawa.
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Akai Shuichi was deeply concerned about his sister, Sera Masumi.
He had a thorough understanding of the major cases in which she had been involved.
And he realized that the most recent case, which took place at a hot spring hotel and involved Conan and Sera Masumi, also included Kyousuke Akikawa.
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'It might seem like a coincidence if it happened once or twice, but if it keeps happening, it can't be mere chance.'
Even though Kyousuke Akikawa seemed irrelevant on the surface in both cases, many strange things occurred during incidents involving him—things that remained unexplained.
As an FBI agent and undercover operative, Akai Shuichi was acutely aware that something was amiss.
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'Speaking of which, the kid mentioned that Masumi has always been suspicious of Kyousuke Akikawa.'
'Even if these cases appear unrelated to Akikawa, his figure always seems to be present at the crime scenes.'
'Could he be the one who helped Kaitou Kid and ruined Feng Gu's plan?'
Akai Shuichi speculated silently.
---
Once, he had asked Conan why Toru Amuro had come to the exhibition.
Conan explained that Amuro might have been investigating Kyousuke Akikawa.
If that were the case, Akikawa Kyousuke must have done something to provoke Amuro's suspicions.
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This assumption seemed even more plausible after Akai Shuichi received additional information from Mizunashi Rena.
It was reported that Vermouth had killed a Public Security officer while returning from Hakone after being severely injured.
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Just like when Toru Amuro believed that Shuichi Akai had killed Kagemitsu Morofuku, a childhood friend and fellow police academy student, Amuro had held a strong grudge against Akai Shuichi.
Amuro didn't hesitate to leverage both the organization's power and Public Security's resources to hunt down Shuichi Akai.
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Incidents that required Toru Amuro, a secret Public Security officer, to act personally often involved national security or individuals significant to Amuro's inner circle.
His investigation into Kyousuke Akikawa likely fell into the latter category.
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'If Vermouth killed the officer while being followed, it means the officer had somehow obtained her location.'
'If we assume it was Kyousuke Akikawa who enabled the officer to follow Vermouth, everything makes sense.'
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'This also explains why Amuro suspected Kyousuke Akikawa.'
'And Akikawa could very well be the mysterious man who saved Masumi and injured Vermouth.'
'Only under such circumstances could he have provided Vermouth's location to the officer.'
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Although this was merely one of many possibilities, it was undeniable that, if Kyousuke Akikawa indirectly caused the officer's death, all the mysteries surrounding the Hakone case could be explained at once.
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'Recently, the kid hasn't mentioned Masumi being suspicious of Akikawa Kyousuke.'
'Perhaps, like the kid, Masumi has completely dismissed her doubts about Akikawa.'
'Or maybe Masumi has already realized it was Akikawa who saved her.'
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Akai Shuichi picked up his coffee cup from the table again.
After finishing the black coffee, he set the cup back down.
'It seems I'll need to confirm Kyousuke Akikawa's situation.'
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(End of Chapter)