T/N: Finally, this is the point where the author starts getting serious with the fic. After reading this chapter, you can really tell how much their writing has improved. As for my translation… I'm not sure if it's improved or not. Well… meh, who cares. Let's get to the main text.
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Listening to Inspector Megure, the few people exchanged glances.
Masuyama Kenzo was the first to pull out a handkerchief from his pocket, followed by Nanjo Mika, Tarumi Naoya, and the others.
Only one person remained still.
That was Chris Vineyard.
The moment she realized Pisco might be exposed, she immediately handed her purple handkerchief to him.
Now, she was pretending not to understand Japanese, looking utterly confused.
"{Miss Chris, you, handkerchief, take out, understand?}" Inspector Megure, with a throbbing headache, spoke in heavily accented English, gesturing wildly, trying to make the international movie star understand him.
Vermouth responded with a mix of English and even more oddly accented Japanese. "{NO! NO! Inspector, I don't understand…}"
Inspector Megure explained with words and gestures for a long time, but Vermouth continued to shake her head and gradually became uncooperative, yelling at him with an air of offended displeasure.
Inspector Megure was utterly speechless, completely at a loss.
If it were an ordinary Japanese person, he could have conducted a forced search when encountering such a stubborn individual.
But Vermouth's public identity, Chris Vineyard, was a super popular American movie star.
Without official documentation, he couldn't conduct a forced search, not only was it procedurally disallowed, but it could also lead to a serious diplomatic incident.
Just as Inspector Megure was sweating, caught in a dilemma, a calm voice spoke up. "Officer, I can testify."
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a tanned waiter approaching.
Amuro Tooru bowed slightly and testified for Vermouth. "Before the lights went out, I was just pouring wine for Chris Vineyard-san. She never left from that moment until the chandelier fell and killed Politician Nomiguchi, and she even gave me a tip afterwards."
As he spoke, he pulled out a few US dollar bills from his pocket as evidence.
Inspector Megure sighed upon seeing this, understanding that it was futile, without evidence, pursuing the matter further would only embarrass the police.
He waved his hand reluctantly, signaling the officers to let the seven celebrities leave.
—
Meanwhile, in an empty fire escape of the Haido Hotel.
Jane Doe leaned against the cold wall, and after confirming no one was around, she took out the Black Organization-issued phone and dialed Gin's number.
The call was answered instantly, and Gin's cold voice came through. "Muscat, is the mission accomplished?"
"Half and half, the target is dead."
Jane Doe wrapped her tail around the phone and walked along the corridor to the entrance of the basement wine cellar.
"But Pisco has also been exposed. His true identity is Masuyama Kenzo, right?"
Silence fell on the other end of the line. After a few seconds, Gin's furious voice came through: "How did you know Pisco's true identity? Why was he exposed?"
He had only unilaterally told Pisco about Muscat and Bourbon's identities.
Muscat, who had just returned from abroad, had no reason to know Pisco's true identity.
Unless… someone leaked it!
Another traitor in the Organization?
"He was photographed when he made his move." Jane Doe said as she pried open the wine cellar door with a wire, "And the photos have already spread online."
After pushing open the wine cellar door, what greeted her was a little girl lying unconscious on the ground.
Needless to say, this little girl was Haibara Ai, whose true identity had been discovered by Pisco.
In this part of the story, Pisco, as an old member of the Organization, had seen Miyano Shiho when she was a child.
Therefore, after seeing Haibara Ai, he immediately recognized her as Sherry.
After knocking Haibara Ai out with a sedative, he originally intended to report to the Organization immediately.
However, because the police wanted to detain those who had received purple handkerchiefs, he didn't have time to report and had to temporarily confine Haibara Ai in this cellar.
Later, due to his identity being exposed, Pisco was silenced by Gin before he could reveal the secret of Sherry shrinking.
Jane Doe squatted down with interest, looking at Haibara Ai on the ground, whose body was tense and eyelashes trembling, realizing that she had already woken up and was feigning unconsciousness.
So she deliberately turned on the phone's speaker function.
"Pisco is also an old member of the Organization, how could he make such a mistake?" Gin's cold voice came from the receiver, "Who took the picture?! Tell me, Muscat!"
Haibara Ai was startled by Gin's voice, maintaining her unconscious posture, her eyes tightly shut, but her eyelashes trembled even more violently.
She continuously prayed that this code-named member, whom she had never heard of before, would ignore her.
"It wasn't an official venue photograph."
Jane Doe stood up, her back to Haibara Ai, her high heels making clicking sounds on the ground.
"It was a reporter from an online news agency, who was capturing the atmosphere of the venue at the time. He used a high-sensitivity professional camera.
One of the photos he took just happened to capture the moment Pisco raised his gun and shot the chandelier's fixing device. Although the picture is very dark and the person is in an inconspicuous corner,
Masuyama Kenzo's face holding the gun was indeed captured, which is enough to be ironclad proof. And this photo has already been uploaded to the pre-published online morning newspaper."
"Send me the link!" Gin was half-convinced.
Jane Doe smiled slightly and sent Gin the link to the morning newspaper that published the photo.
After a while, Gin's voice sounded again, filled with furious killing intent. "Masuyama Kenzo, that old useless man,How can he messing things up! To leave such a low-level flaw!"
He took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to kill immediately, and ordered Jane Doe.
"Muscat, you did very well. Pisco has been exposed, so he cannot be kept, even if he is an old member of the Organization. Before he is caught by the police, eliminate him!"
After Jane Doe hung up the phone.
Masuyama Kenzou, who had regained his freedom, also arrived here.
He was already impatient to report Sherry's rejuvenation to the boss.
This was a huge credit!
To monopolize this credit, he hadn't even told anyone about it.
So, when he saw Jane Doe's figure in the wine cellar, his first reaction was that this newly promoted code-named member was here to share his credit.
"Muscat?" Pisco frowned, displaying the arrogance of an old member of the Organization, "Why are you here? This is not where you should be!"
He subconsciously glanced at the corner, saw that Sherry was still lying on the ground "unconscious," and felt a little relieved.
Jane Doe chuckled twice, covering her mouth, and when she looked at Pisco again, a silenced pistol had appeared in her hand at some unknown point.
The dark muzzle pointed at Pisco's heart.
"You?!" Pisco was furious and shocked, "Muscat, what do you mean?! Put the gun down! I am a veteran of the Organization!"
"The meaning is very clear, Pisco."
Jane Doe's voice was cold,
"You're old, so old that you made a mistake during the mission. Perhaps you don't know yet, but a photo of you firing your gun was taken and uploaded online. Gin has already given the order for me to silence you."
Pisco took a step back in disbelief:
"No! This is impossible! Gin cannot do this to me! I am a veteran of the Organization! I have made contributions to the Organization! The Organization cannot execute me because of one photo! This is unfair! I want to contact the BOSS directly! I want to explain clearly to the BOSS!"
He shouted hysterically, his aging face filled with terror.