Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

"Were there other people in the Kudo residence at that time?"

Qing Liu Bingguang thought for a moment and shook his head: "I'm not sure, I just put him at the door and watched him get off the car, I didn't go in with him."

He paused and added, "Kudo told me that his parents went abroad and hired a nanny to take care of his daily life. The nanny took leave a few days ago to look after the child. She may be back."

Officer Megure nodded. "We will confirm this with the housekeeping agency. Can you give us more details about your itinerary? Did you go anywhere else before you got home?"

"No."

This time, Aoyagi Binguang denied it on the spot, "Because I bought too much food yesterday, I didn't need to buy anything for dinner today, so I didn't go anywhere else and went straight back."

Toru Amuro stood back in the crowd and watched the scene.

He had finished his questioning, and most of the faculty and staff had been asked a few questions. Only Aoyagi Akimitsu was the most suspicious and had been questioned until now.

He had been observing Aoyagi Akimitsu's reaction.

The possibility that this FBI kidnapped Kudo Shinichi and another student is extremely small, and Amuro Toru can't think of his motive for doing so.

Faced with innocent interrogation, he was relatively calm. He did not have the impatience that some American agents get when they are offended. He remained calm and answered every question carefully.

Amuro Toru couldn't help but think of some FBI agents who came to jointly investigate the case - they bossed their own police around in the Metropolitan Police Department, and even showed their detective ID cards when they arrived at the scene...

As an agent who came to conduct a secret investigation, Aoyagi Akimitsu was much calmer and more low-key than them.

only……

Toru Amuro looked at Aoyagi Akimichi's right hand.

I saw that the right hand was slightly clenched, and the thumb was rubbing the side of the index finger from time to time.

This movement is quite covert and the frequency is very slow. If you don't stare at it for a long time, you won't notice it at all.

At the same time, Aoyagi Binguang's eyes changed unconsciously. At first, he looked directly at the police officer who was asking questions. Later, because he repeated it over and over again, he looked into the distance twice, and the corners of his mouth slightly turned down.

——He was anxious.

Toru Amuro, who realized this, more or less understood this feeling.

Whether as a public security officer or an undercover agent infiltrating an organization, Toru Amuro sometimes encounters cases during investigations and also feels troubled when being interrogated.

Especially since Aoyagi Akira is a foreigner, he needs to hide his identity even more in a foreign country. Once he is involved in a case as a suspect, he will face troubles that are many times more than those of local people.

Although Toru Amuro understood, he had no sympathy in his heart.

He hated these foreign intelligence personnel who came to investigate secretly, and he wished that the Japanese police would immediately take him back to the Metropolitan Police Department and then pack him up and throw him back to the United States.

Unfortunately, he can't do that now.

Toru Amuro understood the FBI's character very well. If he sent this person back, they would definitely send new ones to continue investigating - they were as rogue as a dog-skin plaster, which could not be shaken off no matter what - and they would use more covert channels next time.

Compared to an unknown person who has to be slowly investigated to be found, it is better to keep this known one.

What's more, this man is from the organization and it was Rum who had just given him the task.

——If the mission fails due to this reason, Rum, the second-in-command who is mysteriously obsessed with the US side, will definitely be dissatisfied with him.

In just a few seconds, Amuro Toru thought a lot.

Just as he was about to speak, his eyes inadvertently turned to the side and he saw Jinpei Matsuda appear at the door, but did not come in.

Seeing that his friend from the same period was safe and sound, Toru Amuro did not show an obvious smile on his face, but he felt relaxed in his heart.

As expected of Matsuda, he defused the bomb so quickly.

……

All the classrooms were empty. Because of the hasty evacuation, the students' books and stationery were all on the desks.

Police officers from the explosive ordnance disposal team are still searching. Several specially trained police dogs have been brought in to check all places where dangerous goods may be hidden as quickly as possible.

Jinpei Matsuda left the teaching building, took off his suit jacket and hung it between his arms, and as if that was not enough, he loosened his tie as well.

It was early September and there was still some residual heat from midsummer. In addition, he had just been wearing a heavy explosion-proof suit to defuse a bomb, so the back of his shirt was already completely wet.

This bomb is actually not complicated.

The bomb is quite rough overall, like a half-finished assignment that a student would definitely get a failing grade if he handed it in.

The trouble is that the location where it is installed is "too good".

It was mounted on the pegboard, which was made of multiple layers of wood, glued together and pressed together, with the strings mounted on it. A square opening was cut in the middle of the board, and the bomb was installed from the bottom.

Jinpei Matsuda determined the location and finally chose to lie under the piano - it would be removed from where it was installed.

The junior who had just been in the office thinking about sending something to his girlfriend came out with another policeman, carrying boxes and following behind Jinpei Matsuda.

"We'll be leaving first, Matsuda-senpai."

Jinpei Matsuda took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and nodded to them.

Bomb disposal is not just about stopping the timer and then removing the bomb. The bomb must be moved to an uninhabited place and detonated. Only when it explodes completely can it be truly safe.

He slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, recalling the structure of the bomb just now.

The mercury rod was right on top of the bomb, with two strings just pressing on it. As long as someone played the strings, the bomb would be triggered immediately.

…He was called out just before he started playing. It seems that teacher was lucky.

Matsuda Jinpei was smoking at the door and relaxing for a while. His boss also came out of the teaching building. He asked casually, "How was the bomb discovered?"

The supervisor learned about the alarm and confirmed with the teacher who called the police. He immediately replied: "At that time, a strange piano sound was heard on the school radio. The music teacher heard the sound of a countdown mixed in it and found that there was a bomb in the piano, so he asked people to evacuate immediately."

Japan is a country prone to earthquakes. All primary and secondary schools and office buildings conduct drills regularly. Once danger is detected, evacuation can be carried out very quickly.

Matsuda Jinpei looked thoughtful, took off his cigarette and smiled.

"His hearing is really good," he said. "There's a clock in the classroom. I just heard it. The sound of the second hand turning is almost the same as the countdown. How could he not have confused it?"

The boss was stunned. He was completely unaware of this problem.

"That teacher is still being questioned, right?" Matsuda Jinpei suddenly asked.

"All teachers and other staff are in the gymnasium on the left ahead. The investigation is not over yet."

"I'll go over and take a look." said Jinpei Matsuda.

The boss frowned and reminded: "Don't disturb the investigation team."

Matsuda Jinpei had already walked out. Hearing this, he waved his hand and said, "I'm just watching from outside. I won't disturb them."

The boss watched Jinpei Matsuda go away without actually stopping him.

He knew this man.

Jinpei Matsuda seems impulsive, a troublemaker who would fight with his classmates at the beginning of the police academy. But now that he has been a police officer who has been dealing with explosives for a long time and wants to avenge his friend, he understands calmness and restraint better than anyone else.

Thinking of the late Kenji Hagiwara, the boss felt helpless.

After the rising star died, another outstanding newcomer, Hakubato, was diagnosed with mild PTSD and transferred to the Fourth Investigation Section to investigate organized crime. If he hadn't stopped him quickly, Matsuda would have left as well.

Bai Jiu is doing well under Teraoka's leadership. He has been promoted to deputy inspector and has gradually gotten over the psychological trauma of watching his peers being blown up in front of him.

In the past few years, Matsuda has been investigating the criminal relentlessly, always wearing the same black suit that he never changes.

The boss sighed.

...Next time Matsuda asks to change departments, he will not stop him, and as his superior, he will recommend him to the position.

……

Jinpei Matsuda arrived outside the gymnasium that served as the resettlement site. He did not go in, but stood at the door.

A man with long black hair was being questioned by the police. Matsuda Jinpei looked carefully at the man's face and found that he was a foreigner with a rabbit on his shoulder.

Most of the teachers stood and watched from a distance, looking very uneasy. A few were whispering and occasionally glancing at the man with strange eyes.

Jinpei Matsuda was very familiar with that look. When he was in school, his father was mistakenly believed to be the murderer of a case, and his classmates at that time also had the same attitude.

It seems that this is the suspect in the student missing case. I wonder if he has any connection with the bomb.

"...At the moment, you are the most suspicious." Officer Megure pressed the brim of his hat, "I'm sorry, sir, please come with us."

The long-haired foreign man's eyes widened. In this helpless situation, someone suddenly stood up.

"——Yesterday, Mr. Aoyagi and I rescued Kudo-kun from the cold storage together. I believe he would not do such a thing."

Jinpei Matsuda saw Furiya Rei seriously defending the suspect.

"Teacher Qing Liu, when you were returning home, did you meet any neighbors on the way? If they saw you or your car, they can testify for you."

The long-haired man shook his head. "No, I live in a tower apartment, not a single-family residential complex. And I just moved in at the end of August, so I'm not very familiar with my neighbors."

Fūya Rei continued with concern: "If it is a high-end tower apartment, there will be security services on the first floor, there will be security guards and building managers on duty, and some places will even have surveillance cameras installed. They might see you... You can recall it carefully."

Jinpei Matsuda listened silently.

One of the daily tasks of the public security police is to investigate suspicious foreigners.

But Jiang Gu Ling not only did not add fuel to the fire and send people in, he is now speaking for the other party.

Is it that they have a good relationship and he is sure that the other person is fine? Or is this person's identity very troublesome? Or maybe...

Jinpei Matsuda looked at the foreign man again.

...Or, this person is the subject of Fūya's current investigation, and he wants to gain the other person's trust and favor in this isolated and helpless situation?

Matsuda Jinpei knew that Furiya Rei had gone undercover, as well as Morobushi Kagemitsu. They would only meet in November every year when they visited the graves of the few people who were very close to each other in school at Yuesan Temple. There was no news from them at other times.

I don't know whether investigating this foreigner is a task for the public security or for the criminal organization he infiltrated...

While Matsuda Jinpei was thinking, the black-haired man Aoyagi answered, "There is an access control system on the first floor of the apartment. There are facial recognition devices and surveillance cameras on it. They should have recorded the time I returned."

"Where is the exact address? We need to send someone to verify it." asked Officer Megure.

Qingliu looked somewhat helpless and gave an address.

Officer Megure turned around and asked his subordinates to write it down, then asked curiously: "In the school's employment file, your address is clearly in Haido. How did you change the address?"

"That was where I stayed when I first arrived in Japan. Because my school was in Minato-ku, I thought it would be more convenient to live near work, so I moved there," Aoyagi said. "I used to experience terrible traffic jams during rush hour in the United States, and I thought it would be the same in Japan."

"I see. Is there any other exit from the apartment?"

"There is also an underground garage where you can go out. There are also surveillance cameras at the entrance and exit there."

……