Jiang Xia explained to Kinoshita Yoko, "The fact that 'there was a hostage sitting in the kidnappers' car yesterday' was witnessed only by Mr. Takei himself. He said the hostage's eyes and mouth were covered at the time, which means he never clearly saw the hostage's features.
"His view was already obstructed through the car window, and the most distinctive features were covered up. On top of that, Mr. Takei... perhaps didn't know his daughter as well as he thought he did, so it would have been easy for him to mistake someone else for her."
Hearing this, Kinoshita Yoko suddenly had a flash of insight. "The hostage he saw during yesterday's exchange... could it have actually been one of the kidnappers in disguise?"
Conan could not help glancing at her. Any random idol was quicker on the uptake than Inspector Megure... or was Miss Yoko simply exceptionally smart?
Jiang Xia nodded. "When you film television dramas, you sometimes use a 'double,' right? What probably happened was that, before yesterday's ransom exchange, Secretary Hanai specifically demanded that Mr. Takei deliver the ransom alone. Meanwhile, she put on a diving suit in advance and drove to the exchange location by herself.
"While talking to Mr. Takei on the phone, Secretary Hanai put on a coat, moved into the back seat, covered her eyes and mouth, and left a blurry silhouette visible outside through a gap in the curtains.
"She and Takei both had short hair, and the van's rear windows were covered by curtains. The lighting was dim, so it would have been easy to confuse them under those circumstances. After leaving Mr. Takei with the impression that the hostage was in the back seat, she drew the curtains shut, returned to the driver's seat, and called off the exchange on