The English Teacher's Gradual Self-Deification
Fujino paused for a moment, somewhat speechless at the self-disclosure of these two.
Coming to his senses, he decided to tease the FBI agent who had just confessed, saying, "Speaking of the FBI, I do know some other abbreviations, such as CIA for Central Intelligence Agency and FBI for United Intelligence Agency."
"Both of these organizations are well-known intelligence agencies in the United States. However, the FBI is responsible for collecting intelligence on domestic crimes, while the CIA is responsible for collecting intelligence on hostile countries. One focuses on domestic matters, and the other focuses on foreign matters."
He paused, then looked at Jodie and chuckled softly, "Am I right, Ms. Jodie?"
"Oh, yes!"
Jodie chimed in with broken English, "Fujino- kun is absolutely right!"
"Ahem, Brother Fujino!"
Juzo Megure coughed and stood up, interrupting their conversation. "Since we still can't figure out the code, let's go to the crime scene and take a look. Maybe we can find some clues!"
From coded messages to international intelligence organizations, he felt he couldn't let these two continue talking; who knew what they might discuss next...
The English teacher was alright; she wasn't of any help with the case.
He was really counting on Fujino's help to solve the case!
The group went downstairs from the coffee shop to the crime scene.
Jodie followed behind, her eyes filled with confusion as she looked at Fujino.
My heart started pounding again!
Considering what the other party had said before—that they would beat up the pervert—she felt that this was completely dissing her!
But then she thought about it again. She had never shown any connection with the FBI, and she had sneaked into Japan this time without any contact with Shuichi.
Could it be because I mentioned the FBI?
But how could that possibly be exposed?
Could it be that the other party knew in the future that they were an FBI agent?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
The English teacher, who was gradually becoming more accustomed to the ways of the world, comforted herself in this way, unaware that the students in front of her were glancing at her out of the corner of their eyes.
They've seen everything!
Fujino was very satisfied with the English teacher's reaction.
He enjoys this feeling of self-deception—knowing full well that he's exposed, but not knowing exactly where he's exposed.
Think about it, you'd never guess he was a prophet even if you racked your brains.
He turned his gaze away and looked down at Ai beside him, asking in a low voice, "Do you have any clues?"
"Not yet..."
Ai Haibara shook her head helplessly, her shoulder-length curly hair swaying as she did so.
She also couldn't quite understand the code.
□○ⅹ△ and the like are just too abstract.
Is that so?
Upon hearing this, Fujino did not press the matter further, but instead began to ponder the reliability of the code.
With Ai's reasoning skills and knowledge, she would have seen through it long ago if it were a normal code...
Unless, it's not a code?
Fujino scratched his chin, glancing questioningly at the crime scene not far away.
"Was the coded message found here?"
Fujino stepped onto the escalator, glanced at the □ on the escalator panel, and asked the Forensic Science Division officer in front of him.
"Hello, Advisor Fujino!"
The Forensic Science Division officer in blue overalls stood up and saluted. "Yes, this time we didn't forget to bring Luminol reagent. We tested it with the reagent and found this code."
"Oh?"
Fujino glanced at the Forensic Science Division officer in front of him, feeling he looked somewhat familiar. "We were at..."
"Advisor, you still remember? It's that case involving the twins!" the Forensic Science Division officer said excitedly.
"Oh..."
Fujino nodded slightly, indicating that he did have some recollection of it.
In the Conan World, the Forensic Science Division police officers usually don't bother to memorize things...
After all, there are too many people involved, and each time a different team is dispatched.
After thinking for a moment, Fujino continued, "What about that file folder?"
"Here."
The Forensic Science Division officer handed Fujino a file folder sealed inside an evidence bag.
"○ⅹ△"
Fujino murmured something, squatted down, and placed the file folder on the □-shaped code to compare it.
"This □ is larger than the other codes."
Ai Haibara followed behind, glanced down at the pattern, and suddenly murmured, "If the pattern is also this big, then the code might be missing a part."
Fujino glanced down at it. "If the top part is missing, then these codes might indeed have other parts..."
"Perhaps this isn't a code."
Ai Haibara suddenly smiled knowingly and reminded Fujino, "If he wanted to write down the murderer's name directly, then the □ might correspond to the mouth, and the other marks are just the lower half of those characters."
"Mouth..."
Fujino recalled, "But none of those names contained the character for 'mouth' in their surnames."
"He must have wanted to leave a coded message quickly."
Ai Haibara pondered, "When he was sketching, he might have written a character with the 'mouth' radical as 'mouth' instead of 'mouth'. After all, some people have a habit of abbreviating certain characters when sketching."
"If that's the case..."
Upon hearing this, Fujino murmured, a flash of inspiration crossing his mind, and he immediately understood the meaning. He reached out and patted her head, saying, "Thanks to you, Ai!"
"Um..."
Ai Haibara crossed her arms and let out a soft moan.
Conan, who was still trying to come up with a secret signal, was speechless.
Noticing their movements, he immediately realized that he had been a step too slow again!
Damn it, those two didn't include me in their game!
How can two people work together to solve a case?!
Cheating! This is absolutely cheating!
I'm the detective who shrunk!
"Inspector Megure, show me the list."
"Well?"
Before Juzo Megure could recover, Fujino snatched the list and examined it closely.
"Brother Fujino, have you cracked the code yet?"
Having experienced two different generations of younger brothers, Inspector Megure noticed Fujino's unusual behavior and excitedly asked.
"If I'm not mistaken, the deceased actually left behind the victim's name..."
Fujino gave a simple explanation: when the victim wrote down their name, there was a file on it, but after their death, the file was removed, and the other half of their name was also removed.
And ○ⅹ△ is the lower half of that name.
He quickly identified the murderer as indicated by the coded message.
Bunta Kuniyoshi.
Although Fujino also didn't quite understand why Kuni would choose sketching as a form of expression...
But that seems to be the reality of the Conan World.
Tired? Let's destroy it!
Juzo Megure led his group upstairs to Kisei's company and found a square-faced man in a suit. "Excuse me, are you Mr. Kuniyoshi?"
"That's right... that's me."
"Mr. Guoji, we have some questions for you. Please come with us."
Juzo Megure pulled out his police badge, and Bunta Kuniyoshi cooperated by following him out for questioning.
"Hey, Officer Takagi!"
Conan stared at Bunta Kuniyoshi's workstation for a while, then suddenly called out to Takagi and whispered something to him.