Conan's palms were slick with sweat as his mind spun through every terrifying possibility.
He almost called Jiang Xia again, but then hesitated. If Jiang Xia had managed to escape and was in hiding, calling him repeatedly might just bring trouble.
Gritting his teeth, Conan dialed Dr. Agasa's number instead.
Tequila had been caught too close to the blast and was blown to smithereens—unrecognizable. Conan never expected that such a "terrifying and mysterious member of the Organization" would be taken out by a random civilian.
So, in Conan's mental fanfic, the person who died wasn't Tequila at all. Clearly, he was the one who planted the bomb. After all, the Black Organization had done this sort of thing before—like when Gin planted a bomb on the Shinkansen.
In short, Conan's imaginary enemy at the moment was still Tequila.
Unlike with Jiang Xia, the call to the doctor went through instantly.
Conan didn't bother explaining. "Go check your front door!"
"Huh?" The doctor scratched the back of his head, puzzled. He opened the door and peered outside. "What's going on?"
"Jiang Xia's not outside?"
"Nope." The doctor looked around again and glanced toward Jiang Xia's place. "Doesn't look like he's home either. His motorcycle's not there."
Ai Haibara was lounging on the sofa, flipping through a nutrition guide.
Hearing movement, she looked up and saw the doctor staring at Jiang Xia's house.
…What now?
Haibara hesitated for a moment, then casually set down the guide and leaned in to eavesdrop like it was no big deal.
The doctor's phone was on max volume, so Haibara could hear Conan's voice loud and clear. Conan sounded grim: "I ran into someone today… might be Black Organization."
He briefly recounted the day's events and his reasoning.
At first, Haibara's expression was serious.
But when Conan said, "Jiang Xia probably noticed something fishy about those men in black—just like I did back then—and secretly followed them to investigate, and then...," Haibara yawned.
Unimpressed, she walked away.
Kudo Shinichi's imagination was working overtime again.
Jiang Xia? Investigate the Organization? He could barely be bothered. A former Black Organization researcher lived right next door to him, and all he wanted from her was food.
Still, even if Jiang Xia wasn't the type to dig into shady conspiracies, if actual Organization members had shown up at that press conference... they might've dragged him in as a tool person to help clean things up. Totally possible.
Haibara frowned, flipped a couple more pages of the nutrition guide, then gave up. She couldn't focus.
After a moment's thought, she grabbed her phone and shot Jiang Xia a message:
[What should we eat tonight?]
No response.
Haibara thought, That's normal. Not everyone's glued to their phone. I'll check again later.
She tossed her phone aside.
Thirty seconds later, she leaned over without changing expression, picked it back up, checked—nothing.
Put it down.
Thirty seconds later, same routine.
…Repeat seven or eight times, and Haibara finally just picked up the phone and set it gently on her lap. That way, even while looking at the guide, she'd see if the screen lit up.
After another five or six minutes, it finally did.
Jiang Xia had replied, with professional efficiency:
[Curry rice. Sweet. Don't overdo the vegetables.]
Haibara ignored the last part, typed a quick "OK," and set her phone down with relief.
That reply—both the phrasing and content—was exactly Jiang Xia.
It's him.
By the time she was done replying, Dr. Agasa had finished listening to Conan's theory and was equally panicked.
He grabbed his coat, ready to rush out and search.
Before he left, he remembered Haibara had come over earlier to eavesdrop. Given how she'd been delivering meals to Jiang Xia lately, the two of them seemed to get along.
Maybe she was worried too.
So the doctor tried to comfort her. "It's not convenient for you to go out. Just wait at home, okay?"
"I wasn't planning on going," Haibara replied flatly. "If those idiot detectives want to 'satisfy their curiosity,' then they should be ready to pay the price."
The doctor sighed and left.
Haibara watched him go but didn't mention the message she'd exchanged with Jiang Xia.
After all, this might really have something to do with the Organization. No one knew what Jiang Xia was up to right now, or what plans he had. Blabbing unnecessary info might mess things up.
Also… the contents of those texts weren't really suitable for the doctor's eyes.
From the doctor's perspective, Jiang Xia had no business ordering food. Every time, it was Haibara who "just happened to cook too much" and shared the extras. The doctor even thought it was cute how she and Jiang Xia had similar tastes.
If he saw the messages, it would blow Jiang Xia's "I'm totally not a freeloader" cover.
So once the doctor had dashed out, Haibara casually picked up her phone again and texted:
[Your neighbor's looking for you.]
…
Jiang Xia had been busy all afternoon. Mostly because a handoff had gone sideways.
The wife who'd hired him to check on her husband's side chick had done so on a whim—like getting a medical check-up when you're not even sick, just to be sure. She never expected the results to actually come back positive.
Turns out the husband was cheating. And the mistress? Her very best friend.
The client stared at the photo, stunned, then burst into tears.
Jiang Xia didn't offer cry-on-demand services, but it felt rude to whip out his phone while she was sobbing. So he just sat there, stone-faced, while she recounted her entire tragic dating history.
Eventually, she left, clutching the photo like it was radioactive.
Jiang Xia walked her to the door.
Just as he reached the street, he saw a familiar tiny Beetle pull up across the road.
Out popped one chubby guy and one pint-sized detective. They ran toward him.
Conan and the doctor.
Jiang Xia blinked at their tense faces. "What's up?" Then, spotting the Beetle: "Oh—did you bring me a cat?"
There were a couple of pet cats still on the case list. Maybe his assistant had caught them?
Though… if it were just a cat drop-off, the doctor wouldn't look like he was about to faint.
Conan looked at Jiang Xia—completely unharmed, unlike a certain high school detective who keeps getting killed on Tuesdays—and then noticed the red-eyed woman who'd clearly been crying for hours.
So that's why Jiang Xia had rushed off. Not to tail shady men in black… but because his client was having a meltdown and he had a job to do.
Right. Unlike Kudo Shinichi, Jiang Xia had a part-time job. He was a functioning adult with clients and responsibilities.
Pulled back from his spiral of wild theorizing, Conan re-evaluated. Maybe Sato's explanation had made more sense after all.
This case had zero leads. And Jiang Xia, with his job on the line, really wouldn't have stuck around.
The instant-phone-hangup? Also very on-brand, if he was working.
Conan sighed, exhausted by an entire afternoon of high-stakes mental chess with thin air.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 30/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*