Stay away from Conan.

Indeed, when the shadow appeared behind him, Ireland, who was still writing the message, already sensed something was wrong. Just as he was about to react and get up, he felt the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against the back of his head.

However, being in the Metropolitan Police Department superintendent's office, Ireland instinctively felt it was strange that he would be suddenly attacked there. But before he could think further, and before he could fully react, Gin's voice came directly from behind him—

"Ireland, what are you doing?"

Gin!

Immediately, when Gin's voice rang out and he even directly called out his code name, Ireland was naturally convinced that the person behind him was Gin.

Furthermore, given that he had already been impersonating Gin tonight to do his own thing, and thus felt guilty, Ireland's first thought when facing Gin was—

Could it be that Gin has sensed something?

It's important to know that after Ireland escaped from the Maori detective agency, he successfully avoided the dangers of the anesthetic by using the backup plan he left behind. However, when he woke up, he was immediately confronted by a phone call from Gin, who was questioning him. Clearly, Gin knew about his impersonation of him after Vermouth helped him.

At the time, although Ireland evaded the question on the phone, and Gin didn't press for details, Ireland thought he didn't need to worry about Gin for the time being. But little did he know, now...

Gin himself actually came up behind him and pointed a gun at him?

Ireland was incredibly anxious about the situation. He didn't know what Gin's purpose was in coming here. He was worried that Gin would find out about his plans, and that the only witness he had that could implicate Gin would be silenced beforehand. He was also afraid that he might follow in the footsteps of his mentor, Pisco.

Thus, Ireland, his mind a jumble of thoughts, after a brief moment of contemplation, feigned composure and coldly said:
"Oh, it's Gin? I thought thieves had infiltrated a place like the Metropolitan Police Department."

It seemed like a joke, but it carried more of a sarcastic tone. Ireland, so nonchalant, simply ignored the fact that Gin's gun was pointed at him, and naturally turned around to look at the tall man with long silver hair who had appeared behind him.

It was Gin after all.

Seeing that Gin hadn't fired, Ireland breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed things hadn't gotten to the worst. Naturally, Ireland wasn't used to sitting there subservient to Gin, so he stood up and, with a serious expression, questioned Gin:
"What are you here for?"

Gin merely gave a cold, indifferent laugh, not immediately withdrawing the pistol pointed at Ireland, but instead coldly replying:

"Isn't that a question for you?"

The tone was clearly threatening, which made Ireland very uncomfortable. He frowned slightly but did not react. Instead, he pondered what Gin meant by those words.

Seeing Ireland's reaction, Gin didn't mince words and said directly:
"What did you go through by having Vermouth impersonate me? Is there anything that requires 'me' to do? Now that I'm right here, there's no need for you to go through the trouble of impersonating someone else. So tell me, what do you want to do?"

Upon hearing Gin's question, Ireland remained outwardly calm, but his mind raced.

Clearly, it was no ordinary occurrence for Gin to personally come to him.

Logically speaking, given Gin's personality, since he had already spoken with me on the phone and warned me about it, but didn't pursue the matter further, it's clear that Gin doesn't intend to cause me any trouble before I complete my mission.

But now?
The truth is that Gin actually risked his life to infiltrate the Metropolitan Police Department himself, and without doing anything disguised!
In this way, unless Gin has already realized something, otherwise...

Countless thoughts flashed through Ireland's mind in an instant, but on the surface, he merely curled the corners of his lips into a cold smile:
"What? When did you, Gin, become so cautious? Are you worried I'll expose you?"

Instead of backing down after realizing Gin's unusual behavior, Ireland was even more determined to test Gin's intentions further—after all, if Gin's intentions were not good, Ireland would have no way out.

"Oh--"

Gin let out a cold snort, a sneer playing on his lips:

"Expose it? It'll just mean taking out a few more people. Of course, I don't mind you using my face to boost my prestige, but..."

Gin toyed with the pistol in his hand, but showed no intention of putting it away. He looked at the Irishman disguised as "Matsumoto Kiyonaga" with a hint of amusement and said:

"If you're secretly plotting something, that's a different story!"

Upon hearing this, Ireland's heart tightened. He knew very well that Gin was not easily fooled, but he still calmly said:

"Plan? Of course I need to plan. For the sake of the organization, who isn't scheming in various ways?"

As he spoke, Ireland tried to change the subject to avoid the immediate issue, so he immediately brought up the progress of the case—

"For example, tonight here... we've finally made some progress on the person who took that memory card. I was just thinking about what to do when you showed up. Perfect timing..."

"—Don't beat around the bush. The pattern of death locations, right? It's just a wait-and-see approach. You can't complete your mission with that alone, Ireland..."

Gin interrupted Ireland directly, looking at him with a cold smile.

As a result, Ireland's expression turned quite unpleasant upon hearing these words.

Even though his expression was hidden behind a mask, the dramatic change in his demeanor was impossible to conceal.

Right now, I haven't even had a chance to pass on the information I just received, so how did Gin already know?

Could it be that he's so bold as to eavesdrop on all those police officers having a meeting?

"You don't think that on our side... you're the only informant we have, do you?"

Seemingly noticing Ireland's surprise, Gin "kindly" offered an explanation, but this only shocked Ireland further, followed by anger—

Are there other eyes and ears within the police force besides themselves?

What is the purpose?

Gin and the others...

Distrust of oneself? (End of Chapter)