Chapter 83
Turning Passivity into Initiative
Jonah didn't participate much in the police officer's questioning. Inspector Megure obviously knew that Jonah wasn't interested in this kind of thing, so he had Wataru Takagi take Jonah to the office of the Third Investigation Division to rest.
Jonah was no stranger to the office of the Third Investigation Division. Basically, every time he went out with Kogoro Mouri, Professor Agasa and the others and encountered a case, as long as it was within the Tokyo area, this was the place where they would finally take their statements.
For Jonah, returning here felt like coming home. Although the detectives in the office looked quite intimidating, they were all incredibly kind to Jonah, even smiling and offering him snacks and treats from their office drawers.
When Sato Miwako saw Jonah arrive, she hugged him tightly and wouldn't let go, even stopping her work on the report and chatting with Jonah while smiling.
Miwako Sato knew that if Jonah hadn't been able to save her in time last time, giving the surgeons time to prepare, she might have really died at the hands of the murderer.
Jonah was her savior, and he was so cute that Sato Miwako treated him like a younger brother.
"Jonah, you really get along well with everyone."
Seeing Jonah, who was supposed to be cooperating with the investigation, but ended up bringing home a huge bag of snacks, Conan Edogawa muttered a helpless complaint, but didn't bother to say anything more. Conan Edogawa had long been well aware of Jonah's inexplicably high popularity.
"I'm going to follow Yuan Tai and the others in a bit. They're probably going to investigate secretly, so I can't let them act alone."
"Do you need me to come along?"
"No, Jonah, you have other things to do. Go and keep Haibara company. She might be missing her sister lately."
When Miyano Akemi was mentioned, Conan Edogawa paused for a moment, a hint of regret and sadness flashing in his eyes.
"I'll go over there later and find an opportunity to talk to Haibara about her phone call. You just need to stay with her."
"I see."
Jonah nodded slightly, said something to Ran Mouri, and then got into the car with Professor Agasa and left.
For the entire afternoon, Jonah did nothing but stay by Ai Haibara's side. Even when Ai Haibara was doing experiments that he couldn't understand at all, he didn't leave. He would lean against the corner of the wall and doze off, but he had to keep Ai Haibara in his sight.
Jonah's behavior left Ai Haibara feeling both helpless and touched. Unable to bear seeing Jonah so bored, Ai Haibara voluntarily stopped her research for the day and chose to go outside with Jonah to play video games.
In the evening, Conan Edogawa called to say that another case had been discovered where similar evidence was found at the scene, suggesting that the victim was killed by the same murderer as the previous victim, and that the case would not be closed until later.
After thinking it over, Jonah decided to stay overnight at Professor Agasa's house. He then went to the storage room, opened the gun cabinet, and checked his weapons and equipment one by one.
Late at night, Jonah saw Ai Haibara secretly get up and prepare to make a phone call again. He suddenly stood up and quietly called out to Ai Haibara.
"Haibara, are you going to make another phone call?"
"Oh, Jonah, aren't you asleep?"
Startled by Jonah's call, Ai Haibara turned around and found that not only Jonah, but also Professor Agasa, who should have been fast asleep, had sat up in bed and was looking at her with concern.
"Everyone's still awake, Haibara. You should be calling the phone in the house your sister secretly rented before she died, right?"
Emerging from his hiding place, Conan Edogawa looked at Ai Haibara, whose expression was somewhat ashamed, and sighed softly.
"But such an operation is still too dangerous. The organization may not have given up investigating you. If they follow the clues and find the house your sister rented, we'll be in big trouble."
"I know, I'm sorry, I just... really wanted to hear my sister's voice again and talk to her."
Looking at the three of them with remorse, Ai Haibara, after being reminded by Conan Edogawa, realized how irresponsible her actions had been.
"I won't make any more calls."
"No, you still need to make that call today."
Why?
Staring at Conan Edogawa in shock, Ai Haibara had absolutely no idea what he was thinking.
"I found Mr. Hara dead in his apartment today. Although there were broken cups and saucers left at the scene, the shards of those cups were clearly splattered in Mr. Hara's blood, but not a single piece was stained with blood."
"In other words, that cup was placed there by the real serial killer after Mr. Yuan was shot and his blood had dried up."
"When Mr. Hara died, he was holding a silver dinner knife. The word 'silver' in Roman letters is 'GIN.' Although this is just my speculation, considering that Gin had previously gone to observe the area near the Twin Towers in Nishitama City, I think there must be someone who was Gin's target."
"If Gin went there because he had already found out your phone number, then by the time you kept making phone calls over the next few days, you should have already found the doctor's house. So I speculate that someone else has attracted Gin's attention."
"It's a somewhat far-fetched reasoning, but considering the information we have, it's a plausible guess. So, if that's the case, why did you make me make the call?"
"That's a question for Jonah."
With a sigh, Conan Edogawa turned to look at Jonah, who had remained silent, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
"Jonah, when we found Gin, you had already contacted your arms dealer partner. These past few days, that arms dealer has been investigating Gin's whereabouts around the Twin Towers, hasn't he?"
"...How did you know?"
"A simple deduction: you've been secretly making phone calls to others these past few days, and you weren't even using the phone that Aunt Eri bought for you."
He waved his hand, indicating that Conan Edogawa didn't want to explain too much about this kind of low-tech reasoning.
"In short, you and that arms dealer are probably planning something against Gin, right?"
"Yes, if Gin reappears, we want to try to take him down."
"This is a dangerous thing. I don't want to support you, but I know you won't listen, and I can't be sure if Gin will reappear."
Sighing, Conan Edogawa scratched his head and looked at Jonah with a serious expression.
"Then let me help you make the situation a little more under control."
"Haibara, the doctor has modified the home phone to interfere with the reverse tracking program. Call your sister's rented apartment again, but don't say much. Just say that you will be attending the opening ceremony of the Twin Towers. Don't overwrite the call afterward; keep the recording."
"This doesn't make sense. Gin wouldn't believe I would deliberately leave behind such a recording."
"Whether he believes it or not, he won't let this opportunity slip by! And as long as he shows up..."
"Leave the rest to me and Dave."
Jonah nodded slowly, taking over Conan Edogawa's words, a sharp killing intent flashing in his eyes.
"We will let him stay forever!"