While Jiangxia was on his way to the station…
Elsewhere, on the walk from the police station to Dr. Agasa's house, two "fake kids" were trudging along in single file.
Haibara Ai had just started school today and—despite not being thrilled to see Conan—had been dragged into the ranks of the Junior Detective League. After all, that gang had an adorable and sweet little girl in it, and Ai couldn't resist that kind of warmth.
The five kids had managed to solve a kidnapping case involving a counterfeit currency ring and then all split up and headed home without a scratch.
The other three kids didn't live nearby, so in the end, only Haibara Ai and Conan were left walking together.
Haibara side-eyed Conan, still feeling irritated about how he had nearly exposed her and Jiangxia by showing up with his adult body in public—without so much as a warning. Not exactly something that made her feel warm and fuzzy.
She was staying at the doctor's house now. The doctor hadn't told Conan about her real identity yet, but considering how tight those two were, it was only a matter of time.
So rather than let him figure things out calmly, wouldn't it be better to seize the chance and scare this troublesome "fake child" a little? Maybe then he'd learn to behave...
With that in mind, Haibara came to a halt, turned to Conan, and smirked:
"APTX4869… ever heard of it?"
Conan blinked. He remembered the way Haibara had fired a gun in a hostage situation earlier that day and had mentally filed her under "possible chuuni." So he casually replied:
"Some kind of spell you invented?"
Haibara Ai: "..."
…Was something wrong with this detective? Did APTX4869 come with that kind of side effect too?! Thankfully, she hadn't started spouting nonsense.
She ignored it and carried on, keeping her sinister tone:
"It's the poison you drank before. It triggers spontaneous cell apoptosis—self-destruction—and causes your bones, muscles, and organs to regress. Which is why you turned into a child…"
Conan's eyes widened as the familiar symptoms hit him like a truck.
"You're…"
Haibara tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and coolly confirmed,
"Yes, I—"
Conan: "You're the scarf kid's accomplice?!"
Haibara: "…?"
Wasn't this where he was supposed to gasp and say, "So you're with the Black Organization!"? Then she could nod solemnly and lie that the doctor—her "insider"—had already been captured, scaring him into realizing how dangerous the organization was.
But now… the scarf kid? Who?? What scarf??
Conan, meanwhile, looked at her blank expression and felt confident in his guess. No wonder she was so composed all the time—Haibara Ai had to be an adult, just like him.
He thought back to the boy from the bombing—another one shrunk by poison. The pieces fell into place.
So Haibara Ai and that kid who tranquilized him that day must be on the same team!
At long last, Conan voiced the question that had been nagging at him:
"What happened at that last bombing? And the man in black? Why did you suddenly knock me out?!"
Haibara Ai: "???"
But when she heard "knock me out," a familiar figure popped into her head.
…Was Conan talking about Xiaobai?
So Xiaobai had drugged Conan too… Well, in that case, any lingering hate she had toward Xiaobai evaporated instantly. Honestly, what bad intentions could Xiaobai possibly have? He was probably just used to treating tranquilizer darts like toys. At least he chose something non-lethal.
She continued speculating calmly:
If Conan said something like that, then he must've met Xiaobai before. Wait, he also mentioned "a man in black"… Could it be that Conan caught a cold, took the antidote, turned back into Shinichi, and was spotted by the Organization? And then Xiaobai was dispatched by Anonymous to tranquilize him?
…Yes, yes, that would all check out.
She'd been grounded for a few days—clearly Shinichi's pot.
The more she looked at Conan, the more irritated she got.
Still, Haibara remembered Xiaobai's warning not to mention the Anonymous thing to anyone. So she pivoted, trying to steer the scare-tactic script back on track:
"The man in black? Oh, you mean my accomplice? He completed the mission and came back safely."
"Your… accomplice?" Conan stared for a few beats. "Wait—you're saying you're part of the Black Organization?"
Conan had previously assumed Xiaobai was also a victim of the organization's poison. Naturally, he grouped all "tiny people" under the same label: fellow victims.
But now that Haibara was claiming to be in the Organization, that threw a wrench in his theory.
He reflexively started poking holes in her story:
"If you were part of the Organization, why would you get shrunk? Even if you drank the poison by accident, wouldn't you have bodyguards or something? …Unless you ran away? Defected? Or are you just lying to test me?"
Haibara Ai: "..."
This detective is so exhausting.
They're both kids on the outside, but the gap between them is so wide.
She thought about Xiaobai again, then looked back at Conan, who was still trying to pick her story apart like it was a math problem.
So boring.
Dropping the act, Haibara turned away and walked off without another word.
…
Meanwhile, Jiangxia was using his excellent memory to do what he called "prophecy" and "divination." Thanks to spoilers he'd seen before, he already knew the exact location of the counterfeit money gang's hideout.
He followed his memory down the street, but before he could reach the building, his phone rang. It was a call from Inspector Megure.
Megure sounded breathless, like he was ready to spring out of his office and sprint to wherever Jiangxia was.
"What's going on? Is there a murder?!"
"…No," Jiangxia replied casually. "I just saw a guy lying on the ground. Thought he was dead. Turns out he was just drunk." He paused, then asked casually, "You guys were on another case earlier?"
Megure's voice relaxed immediately, happy not to be clocking overtime.
"Yeah, we solved a kidnapping case and even uncovered a counterfeit ring."
Jiangxia sighed quietly. So the kidnappers were already caught. Unless one of them went full psycho and staged a jailbreak, there was basically no murder energy left.
He'd missed the boat. All that excitement, gone.
With a sigh, he got off at the next bus stop, resigned to just heading home.
But then—buzz buzz. His phone vibrated again.
Startled, he checked the screen. This time, it was an email from Gin.
The message contained an address, plus a short, cold instruction:
Think about how to set up a closed-room murder on the way.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 8/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*
Fake child – A childlike appearance masking an adult identity; commonly used in reference to Conan and others shrunk by APTX4869.
Little Grey: Miyano Shiho gave herself the name Xiaohui aka Little grey to the Xiaobai (little white) puppet when trying to chase him away in a previous chapter.