After the van pulled up beside the station, Ritsu thoughtfully took two bills out of his wallet and handed them to Conan.
"Remember, everything you do comes after ensuring your own safety. Don't try to be a hero, understand?"
"We understand! Don't worry, Onizawa-nii!"
As for Conan, Ritsu wasn't exactly reassured. Fortunately, Haibara was with him this time.
After all, Shiho was the type of child who could remain perfectly calm in any situation, as long as it wasn't related to the Organization.
Leaning back in his seat, Ritsu took out his notebook and wrote down all the lyrics he had memorized. It would be much easier to identify any patterns that way.
—
[The countdown bell is about to ring. Pull yourself together and begin to run.]
[Look, one... then another, like fireworks blooming out of season.]
[Someone, somewhere, declares that this is the sound of the beginning.]
—
As Ritsu stared at the lyrics, something suddenly felt off.
Combined with the year mentioned earlier in the song, wasn't it referring to last year? December 31, 2018?
He quickly took out his phone and opened Yahoo! Instead of searching for events that had happened that day, he searched for an interview in which TWO-MIX discussed how the song had been written.
—"Actually, Shiina-kun and I wrote this song together on New Year's Eve last year. We happened to hear fireworks near Shoen-ji Temple, and that inspired us to write it."
Watching Minami say those words in the interview, Ritsu immediately caught the clue he had been looking for.
Closing the video, he called Hayasaka. Since she was at the MPD, she could access police archives far more easily.
After all, he couldn't very well rely on hacking into the MPD's Information Technology Division every time something happened.
"How come you're calling me?" Hayasaka asked curiously while on duty.
"Didn't you say you were going to watch the concert with Akemi?"
Ritsu answered bluntly, "A kidnapping happened over here. If I don't solve it, there won't be a concert."
Hayasaka frowned immediately, even making a face of disgust.
"Why is every date you go on so unlucky? Don't tell me you somehow passed your bad luck onto the two members of TWO-MIX."
"Yeah, I'm unlucky. And apparently I did spread my bad luck."
He rolled his eyes.
"They're the ones who got kidnapped."
Ritsu felt he was the one who had every right to complain.
Every single time he took a day off, he somehow ran into Shinichi, the kid who never attended school properly.
Whenever a police officer and a detective got together, it would be a miracle if nothing happened.
"So, if I want to enjoy a concert for once, could you please check whether anything happened near Shoen-ji Temple on New Year's Eve last year?"
"Sure. Give me three minutes."
Hayasaka quickly logged into the MPD's internal database. With both the date and location specified, narrowing down incidents across Tokyo was simple.
After a quick search, she found only one case connected to Shoen-ji Temple.
"There actually was one. A shooting."
She paused while flipping through the case file before continuing,
"It's still unsolved. They never even identified the victim, and the body is still being kept in cold storage."
'A shooting, just as I thought...'
Ritsu asked,
"Does the report mention how many shots were fired? Was there only one recorded gunshot?"
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"I think I finally understand why TWO-MIX was kidnapped."
His gaze shifted toward the red dot displayed on the van's GPS monitor. That was the tracker he had secretly attached to Conan before they left.
It was still moving rapidly.
The kid was probably still playing psychological games with the kidnappers.
"If everything goes as expected, we'll be able to solve two cases at once."
Hayasaka laughed.
"Then I should congratulate you in advance. Looks like you're about to add another solved case to the First Investigation Division's record."
Ritsu stretched lazily and looked out the window.
"Honestly, I'd rather our division go out of business. That would mean the world's finally at peace."
If they didn't hurry, he really was going to miss the concert.
...
Meanwhile,
Conan continued leading the Detective Boys from train to train. By now, he had roughly figured out what the kidnappers were trying to do.
They wanted him to shake off the police.
Looking around at the ordinary passengers surrounding him, Conan couldn't help narrowing his eyes in exasperation.
The only police officer actually involved was Onizawa. And at the moment, no one even knew where he was.
'These kidnappers are literally playing mind games with thin air...'
Still, all this traveling had given Conan enough time to organize his thoughts.
After recalling the Shoen-ji Temple case, he had deliberately probed the kidnapper's reactions during one of their phone conversations.
That confirmed it.
They were after the cassette tape.
When Conan answered the phone for the fourth time, the kidnapper finally stopped telling them to ride trains and instead made a demand Conan found difficult to accept.
"You want her to bring the tape over? Can't I go instead?"
"That's right. During the evening rush, step off the train at the exact moment the doors are closing. That'll shake off the annoying police. After that, leave through Exit E and run along the road. I'll call the public phone on the roadside."
After hesitating for a moment, Conan finally answered,
"...Okay. I understand."
"Heh... don't disappoint us, little boy."
The kidnapper chuckled.
"Otherwise, the two members of TWO-MIX won't be seeing tomorrow's sunrise."
The call ended.
Frowning, Conan looked toward the two girls. To be honest, he wasn't comfortable sending even Haibara. After all, she was still a girl.
If the kidnappers had no intention of leaving any witnesses alive, things could become very dangerous.
"Everyone, come here. I need to discuss something."
After hearing Conan's plan to pull a switcheroo, Haibara folded her arms and gave him a suspicious look.
She now had every reason to suspect Shinichi secretly enjoyed cross-dressing. Could it be... he actually wanted an excuse to experience wearing girls' clothes?
Her eyes drifted toward Ayumi's little red dress.
'Hmm... It's actually pretty cute. It might even suit him.'
After all, after shrinking, someone's height had shrunk quite dramatically as well.
"Do we really have to do this, Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked shyly.
'I'm actually going to swap clothes with Conan-kun...
What if Conan-kun looks even cuter than I do in this dress? What am I supposed to do then?'
If Conan knew what Ayumi was thinking, he'd probably roll his eyes so hard they'd fall out.
Once the two had finished changing clothes, Haibara took out her phone and called Onizawa.
"Onizawa-san, just letting you know... Edogawa-kun changed into Ayumi-chan's clothes and went to meet the kidnappers."
Ritsu, who had just answered the phone, was instantly filled with question marks.
'Wait... What do you mean Conan is wearing Ayumi's clothes?'
Looking at the GPS monitor, he noticed the red dot had stopped moving completely. Helplessly, he sighed.
"Why did they switch clothes? The tracker I planted is useless now."
"The kidnappers specifically wanted a girl to go alone."
Haibara skillfully located the tiny tracker hidden inside the hem of the dress and smiled.
"I didn't expect a police officer to use something like this."
Ritsu coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem... it's convenient every once in a while. I'd appreciate it if you'd keep it a secret for me, Haibara-chan."
Haibara didn't think much of it. Onizawa had always been a rather mysterious person. She still had no idea which agency he actually belonged to.
But judging from how seriously he worked at the MPD, he was probably Public Security.
"It's fine. Edogawa-kun left us his tracking glasses. Just follow us."
"Alright. Don't do anything reckless."
"You should be praying that he doesn't do anything reckless."
"...You're right."