After Silver Fox finished crying, she wiped her face and looked up at Zhu Yuan, reluctance still lingering in her eyes.
"Officer… I'll cooperate. I'll confess everything."She hesitated, then added, "But can I ask one question?"
"Go ahead," Zhu Yuan said.
"Who reported me?" Silver Fox asked, suspicion creeping into her voice. "Did you plant an undercover agent? I was careful—hiding right under the lamp, flawless. Where did I mess up?"
Zhu Yuan looked at her expression, as if she'd rather die than not understand, and decided to grant her this small wish.
"Undercover? There's no such thing. The one who reported you was your buyer."
"What?!"
Silver Fox suddenly sprang up from the chair, only to be pulled back by her handcuffs.
Her eyes widened, her face filled with shock. "The buyer? That repeat customer? That brat?" Her voice rose in disbelief. "He reported me?! Is he insane?! Buying counterfeit money is illegal too! If he turned me in, he'd go down with me! What does he gain from that?!"
Silver Fox's worldview collapsed, she couldn't fathom why such a person would exist in this world.
Clutching her hair with both hands, Silver Fox, with a hint of hope, finally asked, "Where is that buyer now? You arrested him too, right?"
Qingyi savored her crumbling expression and slowly added.
"I'm afraid your buyer isn't from the underworld—nor an adult chasing illicit profit. He's just a child."
Silver Fox froze.
"We gave him a stern warning," Qing Yi continued, unfazed. "Explained that dealing in counterfeit money is illegal. Told him we'd notify his parents and teachers if it happened again. Then… we sent him home."
"Verbal… education… sent home…?"
Silver Fox repeated the words dully, staring at the cold metal binding her wrists.
The contrast crushed her.
"Ugh—!"
Her body slackened as she slumped back in the chair, eyes rolling shut.
.
—
Outside the police station, Officer Seth squatted down and said to a dejected Genta.
"Listen carefully, kid. Even though the criminals were caught, buying counterfeit money is illegal. The money you spent won't be returned. Take this as a lesson—there's no such thing as free money. Don't touch illegal stuff again. Got it?"
Genta's eyes welled up with tears, and his voice was choked with sobs: "Waaah... My allowance... It's all gone..."
He had saved his allowance for so, so long!
Ayumi and Mitsuhiko quickly comforted him. "Genta, don't be sad, just think of it as paying for a lesson!" "Yeah, yeah, at least the bad guy was caught."
Rin also patted Genta's pointed head and sighed.
"Alright, little man. Enough crying. Remember what Officer Seth said. It's late—everyone head home."
After speaking, Rin rubbed her palms. Honestly, Genta's pointed head wasn't nearly as nice as Conan's round head.
The members of the Detective Boys bid each other farewell and headed towards their respective homes.
Conan, with his hands in his pockets, was also preparing to return to the Mouri Detective Agency.
Just then, a clear, cold voice sounded behind him:
"Kudo Shinichi."
Conan's steps faltered, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
That voice... it was Haibara Ai! How could she know that name?!
He spun around abruptly, a look of confusion on his face. "Haibara? Who are you calling? Do you also know Shinichi-niichan?"
Under the dim streetlights, Haibara Ai stood silently, her brown short hair fluttering in the night breeze.
Several shadows fell across her back-lit face.
"Stop pretending." Her voice was very cold. "APTX-4869. Do you know what that is? That's the name of the drug you took."
Conan's heart suddenly constricted.
"Wh-what drug? Haibara, what are you talking about?" He forced himself to remain calm, continuing to feign the innocent elementary school student.
Haibara Ai took a step closer, a wicked smile playing on her lips. "Do you want me to be clearer? It's the drug you took that turned you into your current appearance."
She slightly raised her chin, her fingers gently brushing her short hair behind her ear, revealing a meaningful smile.
"I can never be wrong about the name of this drug. After all, it's the poison the Organization ordered me to develop with my own hands."
"You developed it with your own hands?!"
Conan's mind buzzed, his brain a blank.
Haibara Ai looked like a seven or eight-year-old girl.
Did the Black Organization employ child labor?
Unless... "That's right." Haibara Ai seemed to read his thoughts. "Just like you, I also took that drug."
"Sherry. that was my codename in the Organization. What do you think, surprised? Kudo Shinichi." She emphasized Conan's true identity, enunciating each word.
Conan staggered back, sweat breaking out.
My identity is exposed, and the Organization's people have come for me.
Ran, Detective Mouri, and Dr. Agasa, they won't be implicated because of me, will they?!
Watching his fear, Haibara felt a dark satisfaction.
This detective, who always carried a hint of genius arrogance and seemed to underestimate the danger of the Organization, should also taste fear.
She decided to give Conan another lesson, to make him fully understand the perilous situation he was in.
However, just as Haibara Ai was about to use Dr. Agasa being in danger as an excuse to continue exerting psychological pressure,
Conan took a deep breath and regained his confidence.
"Your codename is Sherry, so your name is Miyano Shiho? You're Miyano Akemi's sister, right? You weren't sent by the Black Organization to deal with me, instead, you defected from the Organization and are now struggling to protect yourself."
The situation instantly reversed.
Haibara Ai's aloof demeanor instantly crumbled, becoming extremely astonished and flustered.
How could Kudo Shinichi know my real name? It was highly confidential even within the Organization.
And how did he know I was a traitor to the Organization?
Haibara Ai's voice showed a clear tremor for the first time. "You... how do you know my name?!"
"I met your sister, Miyano Akemi."
Conan spoke rapidly,
"Not long ago, she planned a one-billion-yen robbery to help you escape the Organization. I learned your codename and name from her."
"Sister..." Hearing her sister's name, tears uncontrollably welled up in Haibara Ai's eyes.
"But Gin deceived her, the Black Organization never intended to let you go. In the abandoned warehouse, Gin shot Akemi-san in the heart." Conan's tone grew heavy.
"Sister!"
Gin's cold and ruthless face appeared in Haibara Ai's mind, as if she had witnessed her sister being shot.
No longer able to bear it, her body swayed slightly, and she covered her face with her hands, crying heartbreakingly.
Seeing Haibara Ai instantly break down and cry, Conan also panicked.
He had been so eager to throw out information to shock her that he forgot how devastating this news would be for Haibara Ai.
"Wait! Haibara, let me finish!" Conan quickly stepped forward. "Akemi-san isn't dead!"
Haibara Ai's crying stopped abruptly, and she looked at Conan with tear-filled eyes: "...What? Are you telling the truth?"
"It's true!" Conan nodded vigorously and quickly explained,
"Right after Gin fired the shot, a mysterious organization called ZZZ, with its subordinate Victoria Housekeeping, suddenly appeared! They saved Akemi-san! I saw it with my own eyes, Akemi-san was rescued by them and is out of danger."
"Sister was saved, she's alive."
Haibara Ai laughed through her tears, repeating the names "ZZZ" and "Victoria Housekeeping" several times in her mind.
She haphazardly wiped away the tears on her face and asked Conan: "What kind of organization is this 'ZZZ'? And what is 'Victoria Housekeeping'? Where can I find my sister?"
Haibara Ai urgently wanted to know everything about this mysterious organization and her sister's whereabouts.
Conan organized his thoughts: "I don't know much either. The organization 'ZZZ' is very mysterious. I only know that it has at least two subordinate departments, 'Cunning Hares' and 'Victoria Housekeeping'.
They both seem to have some conflict with the Black Organization. As a codenamed member of the Organization, have you really not heard anything about them?"