A low voice came through the receiver. "What do you mean, 'not'?"
The blonde woman cautiously looked around, confirming that no one was eavesdropping on her call before replying, "Nothing. I just saw someone who looked a lot like you. I thought you were in disguise because you had a mission nearby, so I wanted to ask whether you needed any help. Since I was mistaken, forget it."
—Jodie, an FBI agent, was currently working as an English teacher at Teitan High School under the pretense of being on vacation.
Their group of FBI agents had followed Vermouth's trail here. They had now basically pinpointed their target and were keeping her under close surveillance.
Vermouth's current identity as the "Teitan High School Doctor" had already been confirmed. All that remained was to close the net.
Perhaps this job, which was already showing results, failed to interest the FBI's Ace. Akai Shuichi did not often act with them, only occasionally taking part in more dangerous surveillance operations. The rest of the time, his whereabouts were elusive as he focused on being a lone wolf outside the team.
Even Jodie had no idea what he had been busy with since arriving in Tokyo. That was until Akai Shuichi asked them to help arrange for someone to flee to the United States. Only then did the FBI directly encounter the Informant Akai Shuichi had personally approached.
Strangely, however, that Informant had been plagued by misfortune and cases in London. In the end, he broke contact with them and returned to Tokyo alone.
So Jodie could roughly guess what Akai Shuichi was doing now.
She asked, "Be careful when you contact that Informant. I remember that after he returned to Tokyo, his life looked the same as before, but he never replied to our