Secrets and Lies: Chapter 15
Anokata read the email that Bourbon had sent him unemotionally and then viewed the attachments which were all photos taken one after the other in a sequence. The photos showed that the previous Anokata's favourite was no longer loyal to the Organisation and needed to be stopped before she did anything else that would give them away. Her betrayal sparked only hate from him; he should have listened to what everyone had been telling him for the month that he had been the head of the Organisation. Most agents said that Vermouth couldn't be trusted anymore. She had been a loose cannon waiting to fire like Sherry and there would be no more of those.
The photos revealed an interesting side affect of APTX 4869 that he hadn't been made aware of before. As far as he knew the research had being a failure in terms of prolonging life which had been the target and had only produced a useful and untraceable poison. Maybe Sherry had had her uses after all. He would have to change her wanted status to wanted alive rather than dead so she could continue the research. That was if she was still alive.
What he had to do now was to decide what to do with Vermouth. The previous Anokata had died a month ago in suspicious circumstances and he had taken up the position in secret. If all the members of the Organisation knew that their head had been replaced by someone much younger they might not be so loyal. Only the highest ranking members knew which included Vermouth. He suspected that she wasn't loyal to only to the Organisation anymore and had had something to do with the previous Anokata's death, but he couldn't prove anything.
He was about to issue the order when his computer beeped indicating that he had a new email in his inbox. He clicked on it. Apparently progress had been made at the warehouse with interrogation of Kogoro Mori. It had been discovered that someone else had been solving the detective's cases for him. It was a 7 year old boy called Conan Edogawa that had a connection to Shinichi Kudo the high school detective that had been killed by the Organisation last year. Vodka was requesting more information and they had got all they could out of the detective and his daughter. Interesting.
A theory came to him that connected up APTX 4869, Shinichi Kudo and how the 7 year old Conan Edogawa knew about the Organisation. He had met Conan Edogawa a few times and was aware that he was very clever. Too clever for a 7 year old.
Anokata opened up on his computer the Organisation's extensive database if all its targets, members, locations and code words. He searched Conan Edogawa and came up with his file. He opened another window and typed in Shinichi Kudo and found his file which listed his status as deceased. He compared the photos of each person and smiled. His deduction had been correct. Conan Edogawa looked like a younger version of Shinichi Kudo which was of course what he really was.
He attached the photos that Bourbon had sent him as well as the two that he had just found to a text and sent it to all the members of the Organisation that were at the warehouse promising a big reward to whoever killed Vermouth first and to who found Conan Edogawa and brought him to headquarters. Vermouth had to go; she was an unwanted vestige of the past. He would change and update the Organisation.
"Oh, you have found me out then? Vermouth said standing up from her chair and stretching her arms out. As she moved her arms she turned to block Gin's view of what she was really doing. She retrieved her concealed spare gun and flicked the safety off. She turned back again to face him with her gun hidden behind her back. It was a shame that it had come to this. She had hoped that her Silver Bullet would arrive before any deaths occurred. Gin watched her movements carefully; he was well acquainted with her tricks.
"Your time at the top is over now. Anokata says that the first person that kills you will be promoted as well as the person that kidnaps Conan Edogawa," Gin gloated, his dream of silencing Vermouth was about to come true. "You've blown it now Vermouth."
She shot him an uncaring look, determined to undermine him until the end, "You'll be doing me a favour them. I've wanted out of the Organisation that I helped create for years. Even killing that person didn't do anything. Someone else took his place. You haven't noticed, have you? This Anokata is different."
Gin forced a smile, not sure whether to believe her or not. Even he had to admit that she was a good actress. It was probably another one of her mind games. "You're bluffing Vermouth. Give it up. You are going to die." He raised his gun and pointed it squarely at her chest. "I've been waiting for that sardonic smile of yours to fade from your face for a long time."
"You're not trusted enough to be told; only the top people know. I pity you."
"Stop lying. You've never pitied anyone in your life. Any famous last words you would care to say?"
Vermouth tightened her mouth and brought up her gun to fire at him. Gin had been expecting her to do something like that and he fired too. They both shot simultaneously. For a few seconds no one in the warehouse could work out who had been hit. Then a second later Gin dropped to the ground with a shot wound that resembled a poppy on his chest. Ten seconds later Vermouth staggered and fell too. Completely disregarding procedure and forgetting about the prisoners Kir and Vodka rushed over to check whether or not their superiors were dead. Chardonnay also hurried in having heard the shots.
Gin was clearly dead as Vermouth's shot had hit him exactly in the heart. Vermouth was still breathing, but her breaths were faint and her blood was rapidly pooling around her. Gin's shot had hit her ribcage and punctured her lung.
Ran watched as all the Black Organisation members gathered around two bodies with their backs unguarded. She judged that it was the perfect opportunity to strike. She slowly stood up, making sure that the rattling of her handcuffs wouldn't give her away. She decided on which Karate strike she should use and who subdue first. Rena Mizunashi had her gun drawn from earlier, but it was at her side. She was one the closest to Ran so she decided to take her out first.
However Ran didn't get to do any fighting as there was a sudden blinding flash that filled the warehouse with bright light. She screwed up her eyes as a familiar female voice yelled, "FBI, freeze!"
Everyone in the warehouse froze, stunned and blinded by the light. When Ran's eyes eventually recovered she saw her old English teacher armed with a gun that was pointed and all the people in black that were gathered at the back. Kaito Kid was standing next to her throwing a grenade up in the air and catching it. Behind them was a group of foreigners that were also armed. She thought that she could see Conan at the back, but she wasn't sure.
Jodie walked forward cautiously backed up by two other agents. "All of you, put your hands up," she ordered and gave Ran a wink as she walked past. "Open your mouths and stick out your tongues," she added as an afterthought remembering that most criminal organisations make their agents hide cyanide in their mouth so when they are caught they can commit suicide so they don't leak any sensitive information.
Conan followed her at a distance and saw that the Black Organisation members were being handcuffed and Kuroba was picking the lock on Ran's handcuffs. He glimpsed Gin's corpse on the floor and saw that Vermouth was still alive. He came to the conclusion that she had shot Gin and got shot herself by someone else. He walked over to Ran and Kaito.
"Ran-neechan, are you all right?" he asked concernedly leaning forward to get a closer look.
Ran stretched her arms and legs to get rid of her cramp. There was a mark on her leg from where the stun gun got her, otherwise she was unharmed. She was more concerned about her father's injuries as there was blood around his mouth.
"I'm all right. Can you get Otou-san's handcuffs off as well?" she requested Kid who dutifully went off to give them some privacy.
"Listen Ran, I have something to tell you," he started, about to tell her everything about him and the Black Organisation. She needed to know so she would be in less danger.
He was just getting started when Jodie interrupted him brusquely. She had been unsympathetically checking Vermouth's injuries and she suspected that the woman was faking it. Then she had realised that Vermouth was really dying and didn't have long left. "Cool kid, over here. Vermouth wants to tell you something."
Vermouth didn't look good. Her eyes kept closing and she had to fight to keep them open and her blood was rapidly flowing into a pool around her on the floor.
Jodie whispered in Conan's ear to prepare him. "An ambulance wouldn't get here in time if we called one. We still need to get answers out of her before she dies. It's up to you."
He nodded and crouched down by Vermouth's head trying to avoid falling in the pool of blood. Vermouth smiled faintly at him and began to speak rapidly. She was very much aware that she was on her deathbed and didn't feel any regret. At least she would look young and pretty when she was dead. She had lived far too long already and had cheated death a few times.
"A long time ago I and a man created an organisation that we hoped would change the world for the better as we felt that the current rulers weren't doing enough. However that man was lured by greed and riches around 50 years ago and the organisation became a secret band of criminals that did crime for money. I remained loyal to him because I loved him and we both drank a certain substance that prolonged our lives. I changed my mind about everything when I met you. I realised that we had lost our way and something needed to be done. You have become the Silver Bullet that will destroy us. Last month I murdered Him thinking that I would become Anokata and be able to change everything. Unfortunately someone else got the position and I was shut out. You have to be careful. You know this person." Her voice became fainter and scratchier.
Conan had many questions for her, but he could see that she was nearly gone. He settled for the most important question. "Who is Anokata now?"
Vermouth sighed faintly; she had very little strength left. She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him closer with her last ounce of strength so she could speak in his ear. Her voice was barely audible. "It's..."
Her hand dropped and her breathing. Her chest was no longer moving up and down. Vermouth was finally dead. Conan stood up and pondered her words. What was the substance that she drank? It couldn't be APTX 4869 because it didn't work on adults and it wouldn't have been around. Was in Pandora's tears? Who was Anokata before? Who was Anokata now? He hoped that he would be able to answer those questions himself soon. He had to plan a new way of confronting the Black Organisation and fast before they kidnapped anyone else close to him.
He left Vermouth to Jodie and walked over to Ran who was being entertained with magic tricks by Kuroba who was still dressed as Kaito Kid. He had to admire Kuroba's techniques with charming people; all he had to do to put them at ease was to pull a rose out of his sleeve. Aoko Nakamori was a very lucky girl.
The surviving members of the Black Organisation had been handcuffed and escorted into the van that had just arrived. The cyanide had been removed from their mouths to stop them from committing suicide. The question of what to do with Kir would have to wait.
To get out of the traffic jam Jodie and Conan had walked to the front to see what the blockage that was holding everything up was. It turned out to be a police roadblock. There had been a murder and the police were only letting one car go through their roadblock at a time and the traffic had completely slowed due to this. Luckily Takagi and Sato had been present and had asked Conan's help in solving the case. It hadn't been a hard case; there was only one victim and three suspects. Once the murderer had been arrested the Police had lifted the roadblock and Jodie and Conan had run back to her car. They had arrived at the warehouse in time to hear the shots. Kaito had kept Conan posted on what was going on, but he hadn't had a chance to explain what happened in the last five minutes.
Kaito noticed Conan and realised that he was probably going to confess to Ran and tell her the truth so she said good bye to her and made himself scarce after checking the colour of her underwear.
Conan took off his glasses. "Ran, I've been lying to you. I'm really Shinichi Kudo."