Chapter 146: Is the Organization Short of Money Right Now?
The Minagawa family's company went bankrupt due to scandal and broken cash flow.
Mrs. Minagawa's husband was also under investigation by the National Tax Agency for tax evasion—though these days, who doesn't engage in some creative accounting?
The next day, Mrs. Minagawa's husband jumped from the company rooftop.
Mrs. Minagawa, imprisoned, died of grief upon hearing the devastating news.
The Minagawa family fell into complete chaos, and Minagawa Katsuhiko was hastily buried with the help of a few friends.
It's worth mentioning that his grave was vandalized that very night.
Specifically, someone dug up the grave, scattered the ashes all over the ground, and covered them with a layer of garbage.
Getting back to the point—in the days following Valentine's Day, Natsukawa finally had a rare moment of rest.
He was exhausted.
To be honest, the aftereffects of Yor's cooking were quite potent. Natsukawa had been listless for two or three days straight, to the point where he wasn't even interested in going on a trip with Kogoro Mouri.
This trip was different from the usual ones—it wasn't because Ran had won some lottery, nor was it a client request for Kogoro.
Despite the previous unpleasant experiences on their trips, Kogoro had repeatedly promised that no cases would occur this time.
Natsukawa clearly didn't believe him. Even a dog wouldn't believe that—didn't he see Bond shaking his head in agreement?
Apparently, Conan had taken the initiative and signed up for a Sherlock Holmes detective tour.
Uncle Mouri himself wasn't interested and wanted Natsukawa to take Conan and Ran along, but Natsukawa was still recovering and, for various reasons, declined.
In short, Natsukawa didn't want to get involved in this case. He also didn't want Inspector Megure to start considering him a jinx.
However, speaking of which, it seemed Heiji Hattori would also be on this case. It was in this case that Heiji had originally confirmed Conan was Shinichi Kudo—the only time Heiji had a moment of glory over Conan.
After being misled earlier, he didn't know if Heiji could still figure out Conan's true identity.
It didn't matter—it wasn't Natsukawa's concern. Not his problem.
What he was more concerned about now was Yuri's true identity.
After their Valentine's Day meeting, Natsukawa had asked Franky to reinvestigate, this time targeting Yuri specifically.
The previous information gathering had been too general. He needed the most accurate intelligence about Yuri's profession.
Whether or not he was a spy trained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was crucial! This concerned his future relationship with his brother-in-law.
Moreover, in the world of Detective Conan, the identities of spies and agents were particularly sensitive. Yuri's identity might also involve the PSB or the Black Organization, which required close attention.
He only had one brother-in-law. If something happened to him, heaven knew how heartbroken Yor would be.
Yor currently only knew Yuri as a civil servant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indicating that Yuri hadn't revealed his true identity to his sister. This meant his work was likely very dangerous!
10 PM, on the rooftop of Natsukawa's house.
Natsukawa was talking to Franky on his phone.
"You're saying Yuri might be a Public Security police officer?" Natsukawa frowned. This news wasn't good at all.
He'd thought Yuri was at most a Ministry of Foreign Affairs intelligence operative, but he hadn't expected him to be with Public Security.
If he was Public Security, then there would definitely be clashes with the Black Organization, which would be extremely troublesome.
What if his Tequila persona ran into Yuri in the future? Should he shoot or not?
A question for the ages!
"It shouldn't be wrong. This information came from an NTA informant. After the Kamogawa base incident with the Organization, he was one of the people who went to negotiate profit distribution with the NTA.
If it weren't for this incident, it would have been really hard to find information on him. He seems to be one of the main officers in the Japanese Public Security Bureau targeting the Black Organization.
I never expected that your girlfriend's brother would turn out to be a police officer connected to the Organization. This is way too coincidental."
Franky joked, "Should we contact him? Maybe we can make a deal. After all, you have to pay taxes when selling Organization intel to the NTA, but not to the Japanese PSB."
Natsukawa shook his head. "No need. Let's just pretend we don't know about this. I just needed to confirm his identity. It'll be beneficial."
"Beneficial for what?"
"Hello? Hello?"
Franky was curious. The signal hadn't gotten worse—why did he suddenly stop talking? Could it be he couldn't think of a good excuse? It wouldn't hurt to just say he wanted to protect his brother-in-law.
"It's nothing. I have something to do here. I'll hang up now."
Natsukawa ended the call and stood on his rooftop, looking down at the Mouri household across the street.
Just now, he thought he'd seen a flash of light on the second floor of the Mouri Detective Agency.
The Mouri family had clearly gone on that Sherlock Holmes detective tour today—there shouldn't be anyone home.
Even if someone was home, they wouldn't leave the lights off.
That flash just now had seemed more like a small flashlight beam.
He retrieved his binoculars from the study on the third floor and continued observing.
Soon, he spotted faint traces of movement behind the second-floor window.
Because the lights were off, the vision was blurry, but the outline was still somewhat visible.
Someone was definitely there.
Furrowing his brow, Natsukawa pondered for a moment before deciding to remain still and wait for the intruder to make a mistake.
Ten minutes later, a dark figure slipped out of the house.
Black clothes, black hat, black sunglasses—wasn't that the Black Organization's signature outfit?
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, lifting the heavy black coat and revealing long legs in stockings underneath.
A woman?
Combining this with the auburn hair peeking out from under the hat brim, Natsukawa had a strong suspicion.
The shadowy figure walked a hundred meters down the street with head down, got into a black sedan, and then the car sped away.
After a long pause, considering that Sherry's research had recently been suspended so she could investigate people who'd taken APTX-4869, this shadowy figure was undoubtedly Sherry.
But he still needed to confirm.
Picking up his phone, Natsukawa called Vodka.
"Back in Tokyo yet?"
"What, want to grab a drink?" Vodka sighed. "Something happened at the Kamogawa base. Even with Pisco's funds, the Organization is still short on money. Aniki and I are out here trying to raise capital. If it's not important, we can talk when we get back to Tokyo."
Raising money?
Natsukawa thought for a moment and nodded. It seemed Vodka and Gin were back to their old methods.
This tall-and-short duo seemed to have no other options for making money besides extortion. He wondered which unlucky tycoon had been targeted this time.
"No, I wanted to ask about Sherry's drug investigation. It's been several days—is it still not finished?"
"Because the infiltration investigations are all conducted at night, it's a bit slow, but it should wrap up soon. I just heard from the peripheral members that it should be finished tomorrow. What, is there trouble with Miyano Akemi again? Does she want to see her sister?"
"No, nothing like that." Natsukawa shook his head while confirming the identity of the person he'd seen.
It was undoubtedly Sherry.
"Just checking in. It's best not to let Sherry wander around outside for too long, or complications might arise."
"Understood." Vodka agreed. "I'll hang up now—I have another transaction to handle soon."
"Wait!" Natsukawa stopped Vodka from hanging up and asked instead, "Is the Organization really short on money right now?"
"Starting at one billion yen, with no upper limit!" Vodka was clearly agitated when discussing money.
"If you're short on funds, perhaps I can provide an excellent way to make money." Natsukawa's eyes gleamed as he said with a slight smile, "Not only can we obtain substantial funds, but it won't attract attention from the police or Public Security!"
There were a few seconds of silence on the other end.
"Speak."
The voice came from Gin, suggesting Vodka had been on speakerphone.
Gin sounded somewhat anxious.
"I can offer suggestions, but don't make me execute them. Miyano Akemi's situation is already keeping me very busy." Natsukawa stated his conditions first. He didn't want Gin assigning him tasks immediately after making a suggestion—wouldn't that just be creating unnecessary work for himself?
"Fine, just say it. Our Organization has many peripheral members throughout Japan. If it's really challenging, we can get Vermouth and Bourbon to assist. It shouldn't be a major problem."
(End of Chapter)
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