A/N: Heeey! I'm here. *grin* And now we have the conclusion of Red Robbery. *cue hype* I'm so excited over everything! I mean... Have you read the latest DC chapters? The ones not yet translated yet. 891-893. I smell a proper plot!
Chapter 35.
Tsukiko prepared the toilet papers on the floor with the help of the kids and signaled Conan to make the phone call to another robber. Then she sneaked on her place in the toilet to wait for him. It was better if Conan was in the position by the papers with his stun gun wrist watch in the case the bad guy wouldn't slip on the papers.
"Hey, hey… You're still out cold!" The man stuttered as he saw his partner in crime still sitting on the toilet seat quietly. "Then, that call just now-!?"
"Well… Maybe he called from the land of dreams." Tsukiko leaned smugly against the stall behind the man. "But let me tell you… doing a crime never pays you anything. Just costs it all."
"G-Girl, where'd you come from!?" The man shouted just when she took off running. "H-Hey! Wait! Wait a minute!"
"He seriously thinks I'll stop and wait for him when he is a criminal and has a gun… How thick he is? Well, thick enough to call to his girlfriend right before committing a crime of this size."
"Wait, or else…" There was a sound of gun loading. Tsukiko rounded the corner and dodged the toilet papers on the ground. "I'll kill you!"
The man slipped and fell. Hit his head. The end.
"That was handy." Tsukiko stated as Conan checked whether or not the man was still conscious.
"W-What should we do, Conan?" Genta asked as he, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko peeked behind a corner.
"Ah… He seems to be unconscious…" The bespectacled boy observed. "Let's tie hit up with the hose from the bathroom for now."
"The toilet paper strategy was a big success!" Genta rejoiced suddenly.
"We practically used it all up!" Mitsuhiko added.
"Yeah!" Ayumi nodded. "What do we do next?"
"How about this? Let's use his cell phone to call his partners!" Conan dug out the guy's cell phone from his jeans pocket. "Before we called him, he must have called some other numbers, which may belong to one of his accomplices."
"Or may not…" Tsukiko chuckled mentally while dragging the hose the kids. While Conan made the call, she used a knife she'd found in the bathroom to cut the hose to pieces of a right length. Then she began to tie the man up.
Conan ended the call soon enough but after scrolling through the phone records he found out that there was no other person to call to.
"Hey, Conan? What are you doing?"
"Hurry up and call!"
"That person just now said there wasn't much time left!" The kids told the boy.
"Time?" He repeated.
"Now when you mention it… Jodie did say that they were glancing at their watches constantly." Tsukiko mused aloud in her crouching position her elbow on her knee and her cheek against her hand. "And there was a bunch of other oddities in this robbery." She glanced at the boy and… bling bling! He had the answer.
"I got it…" Conan stated. "I understand now what's their plan."
"Y-You understand…?" Mitsuhiko repeated. "You understand what robbers' plan?"
"Yeah… Those robbers probably intend to disguise themselves as hostages in order to escape from the bank."
"D-Disguise…" Genta frowned.
"How?" Ayumi asked.
"You probably noticed how those robbers all looked the same, right?" Tsukiko asked. "All of them wearing similar ski masks and jackets." The kids nodded.
"The one left in the bathroom by his partners had his mask and jacket removed. Afterward, this guy who was called here also removed his as well." Conan continued. "In other words, the robbers planned to choose five people among the hostages, knock them out with the stun gun… Then, cover them with the masks, put the jackets on them, and have those hostages pose as the robbers themselves!"
"But won't they be found out immediately?" Genta asked.
"Nope, as you saw with Jodie-san, the hostages have their eyes and mouth covered and their hands tied behind their backs." Tsukiko smiled a bit.
"I see! They have no idea what the bad guys are doing if they can't see!" Ayumi realized.
"That's right… Which is why they separated of the hostages the ones with some companion and those alone who came alone. The robbers will choose five of those who came alone, dress them up, and when those people disappear, no one will say anything because they came alone and no one can prove anything." The blonde girl deadpanned while going through her bag to find anything useful. Nothing. Only one thick book that she didn't feel like sacrificing to beat up the robbers with and a metal tube in which she kept her lock-picks. Hmm…
"W-When they disappear?" Mitsuhiko asked.
"What do you mean?" Genta mumbled.
"Do you know why they forced only the branch chief to collect all the money in the bank and pack it into the cases they brought along?" Conan asked the rest of the kids.
"Isn't it because he knows the most about the bank?" Mitsuhiko guessed.
"In a small branch bank like this, you can withdraw 100 million yen right away and another 200 million yen from the ATM, totaling 300 million yen in cash. It takes quite a while for only one person to collect and pack all that cash in the cases…" The bespectacled kid explained while Tsukiko tried to compare the amounts of money to euros.
"7 euros is about 1000 yen… That makes about…" She took her phone and used the calculator in it. The numbers were a bit too big even for her. And seven was a complicated number to divide with. "710 580 euros from the withdrawals, 1 421 200 from the ATMs and altogether… about 2 131 700 euros. That's a lot still." She muttered.
"Then, why only one person?" Mitsuhiko asked.
"Because the cases were never meant for storing the money." The teen girl stated while pocketing her phone. "My bet is that those cases are containing bombs."
"Bo-Bombs!?" The kids exclaimed.
"Yeah, they'll put the cases with those bombs behind the counter where the branch chief, Jodie-san and the five fake robbers are, all asleep. Then, they'll put the money that the branch chief had taken out near and let the bombs go off. The next thing we'll know is that the bombs have blown up, killed those seven and the police will be none the wiser."
"What she means, is that after the explosion the police will rush in and with all the money flying around, they'll think the explosion was from the attempt of opening the safe. And this attempt will be considered a failure in which the explosion kills the robbers, together with the branch chief and Jodie-sensei." Conan clarified.
"That's what I said." Tsukiko pouted.
"No, you didn't."
"So, the robbers didn't intend to steal the money, did they?" Genta interrupted.
"No, they may have forced the branch chief to transfer a large amount of money to a bank account online, which would then be forwarded to their own account. They intend to transfer the money from Japan to some offshore bank." The shrunken teen explained.
"Which is why the branch chief must die too in the explosion." Tsukiko added.
"Su-Such smart robbers…" Mitsuhiko stuttered.
"No, they're idiots!" Conan announced. "Even if they are able to transfer 300 million yen from here, the HQ of the foreign exchange bill center will stop any remittance over 5 million yen without certain cause as required by law. That regulation didn't exist in the past… But, with the rampant fraud and money laundering these days, it's necessary. Perhaps the plan to attack this bank was formed long ago, but it took substantial amount of time to arrange for the personnel and weapons?"
"Then, this plan has failed anyways, hasn't it?" Mitsuhiko asked.
"What idiots…" Genta added his own opinion.
"Well, not necessary idiots…" Tsukiko mused aloud. "But not sharp enough to keep up with the world. Anyways, the guns are definitely real and most likely the bombs are too. In any case, we gotta capture them. Otherwise seven innocent people will get killed and the robbers walk free and possibly try this again. I doubt it but it is a possibility anyways…"
"Capture them?"
"But how?"
"You gonna use that gun, Conan?" The kids spoke when the faux child put the gun behind the waistband of his jeans.
"No, I'm just holding onto it in case something happens…" The bespectacled boy answered. "I'm not going to fire it!"
"Okay, guys, ready to head out?" Tsukiko got up from her crouch and dusted her knees. She was straightening her glasses when the kids gave out their protest and doubt.
"We'll be safe! When that moment comes, they won't be able to notice us!" Conan assured them.
"That moment?" Ayumi repeated.
"Maybe they'll shout out, so that their hostages can hear…"
"DAMN! WE'LL BE BLOWN UP WITH THE BANK LIKE THIS! BASTARD, GIVE ME A HAND!"
"Yup, that's the sign." Tsukiko grinned and the five of them proceeded forward.
"Ayumi-chan, keep the elevator door open!" Conan instructed. "Genta, move the cart in front of the elevator to the counter where the hostages are gathering! Mitsuhiko, Tsukiko-neechan and I will go there first!"
"Everybody, act quick but keep calm and don't make any noise, okay?" Tsukiko asked. The kids nodded. "Good, I know you can do it." She smiled and all of them hurried to their tasks.
"Wait, Conan-kun! Is it really safe…?" Mitsuhiko began and stopped when they arrived to the hall.
The boys lifted the cases on the counter from where Tsukiko and Genta laid them on the cart carefully but quickly. They pushed the carts to the elevator. The door was thankfully held open by Ayumi.
"Ayumi! Get out, quick!" Conan yelled and the girl did so. Tsukiko continued with the cart onwards since she was quickest, left the cart with the cases to the elevator and got out right in time before the bombs went off.
"Phew, that was close…" Genta sighed.
"We're lucky it didn't explode immediately!" Ayumi smiled happily.
"It wasn't luck." Conan put in bluntly. "To disguise themselves as hostages, the robbers have to tape their eyes and mouths like the rest, and their hands have to be bound behind their backs. Just now, after shouting, they must've used their mouths to bind both hands together, and then walk into the midst of the hostages… After taping their eyes and mouths, they then passed both legs through their bound hands. This way, it'll look like their hands are bound behind their backs."
"Nice job being a killjoy…" Tsukiko muttered. "But you are right though… They used a timer which was set up with just enough time for them to get into tape and to the sea of hostages. And before you ask, no, a remote control wouldn't work because with bound hands they couldn't throw it away after pressing the button. If the police were to find the control by them, they'd be suspects immediately."
They were there now.
"But, how can we find the three robbers left among these people?" Ayumi whispered. "Haven't all of their eyes and mouths been covered?"
"It's very simple! If I use the robber's voice to shout to this…" Conan lifted his bowtie in front of his mouth. "All right! Everyone stand up now… Walk towards the direction of my voice!"
The hostages began to get up.
"Good, walk slowly! Don't trip on the person in front of you!"
"How do we find the culprits like this?" Mitsuhiko asked. But they just waited still while the hostages walked forward until they saw a group of three men still sitting on the floor. Conan walked to them while Tsukiko slipped around the hostages so she wouldn't be noticed by the robber who'd wake up in the toilet and come to the hall at any moment.
"It's you three, isn't it?" Conan asked the robbers. "Not obeying orders outside of the plan, you can only be the robbers themselves! All right! Let's get the tape off the bank employees first! Open the main door!" The boy told the Shounen Tanteis.
"Okay!"
"When the police come in, they'll only see the three restrained robbers here, in the corridor and the one lying in the bathroom…"
"Who's lying in the bathroom?" The robber who had been knocked out by Jodie earlier had woken up by the explosion and now caught Conan around the neck and lifted the boy in the air. "Whether it's that foreign woman, or this little brat… What is they're trying to do!?"
Tsukiko dropped her bag soundlessly on the floor and grabbed only one item from there. She sneaked closer just when the robber found the gun Conan had taken to keep with himself.
"Let the boy go!" The girl pressed the cylindrical case of her lock-picks against the neck of the robber's jumper. The diameter of the case was roughly the size of a barrel of a gun and due the thick fabric of the shirt, the man couldn't tell the difference.
"What do you think you are doing?" The bad guy hissed through his teeth.
"Even if you kill the boy, you'll die immediately after that. Let him go!" The blonde girl demanded loudly.
"Who are you!?"
"Just an annooying foreeigner…" She dragged her words in the same way than Jodie had done in the bathroom before she had been caught. "I count three… And then I won't hesitate because I hate the likes of you…"
"But the brat goes first… Down to hell…"
Bang!
The bullet whizzed right past Tsukiko and hit the robber in the shoulder. Conan got on the floor and looked up immediately. He saw that Tsukiko had only a thin metal cylinder in her hand and seemed as shocked as he was.
"That wasn't me…" She said, looking around. The hostages were running around and the two of them couldn't spot anyone. Even Tsukiko couldn't though she knew who it had been.
"It seems everyone is all right!" Professor Agasa smiled to the kids when they all were gathered outside the bank.
"Of course… Edogawa-kun and an FBI agent were there!" Haibara muttered.
"Not really, this time…" Conan began.
"It's thanks to the Shounen Tantei." Jodie continued while looking at the trio.
"Definitely!" Tsukiko nodded.
"Tsukiko-chan!" The blonde girl was glomped suddenly. The girl struggled to stay upright and looked up to see a head of dark brown hair on a high ponytail.
"M-Mai-san?" She stuttered.
"Thank kami-sama that you're alright! I couldn't believe my ears when I heard you talking to that robber. And then I heard the gunshot! I wasn't sure was it you or the robber and I was so scared!" The class president babbled, keeping the blonde close. "I swear I haven't been this scared since the bus-jacking!"
"Bus-jacking?" Tsukiko repeated. The other girl couldn't be talking about the case in DC volume 29… The Akai Shuichi introduction case…
"Yeah… It was a long time ago… What I gathered from the plan here… The things were almost identical!"
"Hold your horses, Mai-san…" Tsukiko interrupted. "I haven't the faintest of what you're talking about."
"It was a bus-jacking in which I was taken as a hostage among the rest of the passengers. The kids and professor were there as well as Jodie-sensei and Araide-sensei… The culprits took our cell phones, had explosives with them with a timer and made two of the passengers to dress up as them. I remember it clearly because I was sitting in the front of the bus. I saw everything so clearly. And back then I didn't have Kouki-san with me!"
"Speaking of which… Why were you here today? In this bank?"
"Well, Kouki-san was going to take me to a restaurant but wasn't sure whether or not his card would work in that one so we came to get some cash." Miyoshi shrugged. She seemed to be about to continue but her attention went to the kids talking with Jodie.
"But, we still don't quite understand…"
"Jodie-sensei, don't you teach English?"
"When did you start working with the FBI?" The kids asked the woman.
"The FBI?" Miyoshi asked aloud, eyes narrowing. Tsukiko looked at her nervously but didn't really know what to say.
"Don't tell me you're acting?"
"Genta-kun always wanted to act as Kamen Yaiba!"
"Y-Yeah, it's acting…" The woman smiled nervously. Miyoshi's gaze didn't falter from her though.
"What now? That thought-filled expression…" Haibara asked Conan then.
"I was wondering who shot the culprit with a pistol in the end…" The bespectacled boy replied. "With Jodie-sensei unconscious and Tsukiko-neechan didn't have one… Who else could have done it?" He thought aloud.
"Eh, he's gone?" Jodie's head snapped up and she began looking around frantically. "Wasn't he with the hostages?"
"Who?" Miyoshi asked. If Jodie was with the FBI… who could she be looking for?
Suddenly the girl remembered the description of the victim of the Raiha Pass car fire. Because she didn't forget faces… She remembered clearly the face of the man who had changed into the outfit of one of the bus-jackers while the other one had been doctor Araide. The man had sat on the floor right next to Miyoshi's seat. In the hearing the man had said his name was Akai Shuichi.
"Jodie-sensei knows him. She should surely recognize him from back then. Instead, according to Takuya-nii, she had told Takagi-keiji that the man in the car fire was just someone who she had met in the roadside café. Why do that? Unless…" Miyoshi had crossed her arms and was deep in thought. She lifted her head to look at the woman's interaction with two foreign men. "She actually knew the man but couldn't say it to the police because of her line of work. The FBI. The man was also an agent but since they have no jurisdiction here… Something happened at Haido Central Hospital in which the FBI was involved and then the man, Akai Shuichi, was killed in Raiha Pass. But why would the FBI be here in Japan? And the fingerprints from the phone… Very uncertain method: they could belong to anyone."
"Who were you looking for just now?" Black asked Jodie.
"Th-That is…" The woman stuttered before changing her mind. "No, it's nothing… Forget that I mentioned anything…" And she walked away. Tsukiko watched after her.
"I probably should go too…" The girl said a bit uncertainly.
"Why?" Miyoshi tilted her head.
"I…"
"You said once that you don't live with your brother and asked me not to tell anyone that you are adopted. You said it was complicated and didn't want any troubles." The class president interrupted. "Has it something to do with the fact that you are living with an FBI agent who happens to be my previous English teacher?"
"Yeah… Kinda…" Tsukiko ran a hand through her hair a bit embarrassedly. She gave a sideways glance towards the remaining agents at the place.
"It's alright if you don't want to tell. I also have things I rather not talk about. Especially my cases."
"Cases?"
"Yes, like I said before: I solve different sort of cases on my free time…" Miyoshi watched at Jodie's retreating back. "But when they are unfinished… I don't like talking about them."
"I see…"
"Mai-chan…" Ishihara hurried to the brunette. "The police says we can go now."
"Okay, let's go then Kouki-san." Mai smiled to her boyfriend. "See you at school, Tsukiko-chan!"
"Yeah, see ya!" Tsukiko waved to the other girl who left with the young man with her. She let out a sigh. Once again. Once again Miyoshi had figured something out. But she didn't know how much the most intelligent girl of their class actually knew.
"Jodie-sensei confirmed the fingerprints and is now looking for someone… Who could it be? A ghost of Akai Shuichi? Grief-stricken people usually see ghosts of their loved ones everywhere… Wait a bit…" The girl remembered suddenly the scene Jodie had caused in the beginning of the robbery.
"Are you Shuu?" The woman had asked the man sitting next to her. And the man had definitely been solid for everyone to see. And he had looked exactly like the man from the bus-jacking.
"There is no way he could've survived the car fire… Unless… Either the prints were confirmed wrong, either by being from a wrong person and a wrong person in the car. That scenario would need a huge mistake or a faked death. In the case of faked death it needs at least two helpers. Or then the person here was a wrong one. Either someone who greatly resembles
this Akai guy or then someone is going around while wearing his face. Probably latter because it would be too big of a coincidence for Jodie to meet them… But why would anyone do that?"
"What's wrong Mai-chan?" Ishihara asked the girl. "You seem thoughtful."
"Ah, it's nothing, Kouki-san. I'm just thinking about a case of mine. I'm missing a lot of data at the moment."
"You should take a break from those cases of yours. They will wear you out eventually."
"But Kouki-san… I'm not thinking about them all the time."
"Something huge is going on. The FBI is involved. And somehow so is Okiya Tsukiko." Miyoshi looked behind herself where she saw Tsukiko hurrying after Jodie and taking the woman's hand then into her own.
A/N: Yesh! It's done! And before anyone of you asks about the sprinklers that Miyoshi remembered earlier, I haven't forgotten them. Mai just didn't think about them at that moment. They'll come up again eventually.
Review replies:
-Shuichi Akai:
The Organization and FBI's battle? You need to specify your question a bit. I'm not exactly sure what battle you're talking about. If it's the red t-shirts case, yes, it's coming.
Thank you. I'm glad you like this. :)
-DDmasters:
Thank you.
Sera will take some time but I can't wait for it either!
-chibianimefan26:
You know... I've also been thinking about it. Why it is named the Red Robbery... Maybe it's something about Bourbon taking Akai's face to wear...
No, I didn't. That's why answered the way I did. ;)
Don't worry about it. I'm curious to know what sort of picture you'd draw. I also took a long time before I managed to draw decent-looking male characters.
Yep, Red Moon. And I've been thinking that I'd use that name in this fic too. After all Red Moon is a synonym for fullmoon. ;)
-Hikari:
Thank you. I'm happy to have new readers and glad that you like this. :)
The chapter is here! Great to hear yiou liked the plot twist. Did you get it already in the first part or did you need to read the beginning of the second one?
About Tsukiko's knowledge... If we measure it from the moment I began this fic ti would be sometime after Sera's appearance... I need to get the exact number from somewhere. But she'll get a 'refill' soon enough to the 900th chapter. Well I hope that chapter is out by the time I'm writing the refill...
Okay, the next chapter comes sooner or later. I'm starting to work with it now. It's the Red Wall by the way. ;D