Daily Spy Life in the Detective Conan World

Chapter 496 Father, where are you? Please save Anya! (Two chapters combined)

(The two chapters were combined and posted together today)
It was the same room, the same bathroom.

Vermouth was languidly sipping her red wine, quietly enjoying the pleasure of soaking in the bathtub.

He took a small sip of red wine and pondered the words spoken on the other end of the phone by the peripheral member he had just recruited from Gin's side.

This morning, she just dispatched a taxi driver to the vicinity of 5-chome 39 in Beikacho to conduct surveillance.

On one hand, it was to monitor and understand the situation of the Natsukawa family and find an opportunity to take action against Anya.

On the other hand, by keeping an eye on the Mori Detective Agency, she can be the first to know when her godson and angel need help.

Unexpectedly, the taxi driver had just been staking out the place for a day—no, not just a day. He had just heard the other person say that he had just arrived this morning when he saw Anya walk down the bed sheet from the third floor of Xia Chuan's house and then get into his car.

The driver's narration flowed so smoothly that she was momentarily dazed.

Anya may be gullible, but she never imagined that she would walk right into a trap like this. The fish jumped into the net on its own, and even paid for the taxi fare in advance. It was as if she sold herself and gave money to someone else.

This caught Vermouth somewhat off guard.

She hadn't fully decided to kidnap Anya before, but now that the driver had succeeded, she seemed to have no reason to delay any longer.

The operation against Joel can begin immediately!

The dead are of no value to Gin, so he won't deliberately investigate the cause of death. In this way, Conan and Ran will not be at risk of being exposed.

"Although the little girl got on the bus by herself without causing any commotion, her aunt is a police officer after all, and her father is a friend of Kogoro Mouri. Your presence may have left a trace on some road surveillance cameras, so we need to move you immediately."

She knew her godson's reasoning abilities well; the taxi was actually a very big target.

So much time has passed since the kidnapping, they should have realized what happened by now. If we don't move them, the risk of exposure will be too great!
We'll take things slowly after the relocation is complete.

The truck's failure has proven that Joel is no ordinary person and deserves her time to make more meticulous arrangements.

To ensure that the driver wouldn't be targeted by Conan at the designated time, the best approach was to make a transfer.

She was speechless at the driver's act of taking her directly home, as it was tantamount to revealing her own hideout.

Nearly ten hours have passed since Anya left home. Joel must already know, and Kogoro Mouri will definitely be asked to help. There isn't much time left for the driver.

However, she couldn't say anything about this issue. The other party started calling her in the afternoon, and she never expected to succeed so quickly. She hadn't brought her phone with her when she went to argue with Gin in the afternoon, which is why it had dragged on until now.

"I understand. So, should I take her back to base?"

Vermouth shook her head. They definitely couldn't bring her back. Gin didn't know Anya, and Bourbon, as the person in charge of stealing the data, probably knew something about Joel. If they brought her back to the base, Gin might find out.

"Take me to the suburban cabin I told you about beforehand. Someone will meet you there."

Vermouth paused for a moment, then, worried that it wasn't safe enough, added, "The taxi has probably already been exposed and can't be driven anymore. Just steal one from the roadside and use a fake license plate."

When the topic of decks came up, Vermouth suddenly felt that the red wine in front of her didn't smell so good anymore, which annoyed her.

"I understand." The driver nodded vigorously, unable to contain his excitement.

I accepted the mission and completed it immediately. And the person who issued it was Vermouth, who could go toe-to-toe with Gin at the base! My future looks incredibly bright!
The driver hung up the phone, opened the door, and looked outside for a while. Once he was sure that no one was watching him, he immediately relaxed.

As for the car issue, that's simple. The layout of the neighbor's house across the hall doesn't allow them to drive their car into the yard, so it's always been illegally parked in front of the door. This time, it came in handy.

The driver smiled, opened the garage door, walked straight to the car, and opened the door.

The car door opened, and his smile immediately froze on his face.

The little girl named Anya has disappeared.

The back seat was empty, with the backrest pressed down on the seat cushion, revealing a small passage behind the backrest.

As a taxi driver, I am very familiar with the structure of the vehicle and reacted immediately.

Upon opening the trunk, they found it completely empty.

"Damn it, this little girl actually knows there's an emergency stop switch in the trunk!"

The driver seemed extremely annoyed and complacent, failing to consider that a little girl would actually know such an unconventional escape method.

Meanwhile, Anya upstairs had already tied an escape rope made of bed sheets, found a chair to lean on, and climbed out of the window.

Downstairs, the driver was wondering where Anya had gone.

The roller shutter door showed no signs of being opened, and even if it had been opened, it would have made a loud noise, so it can be ruled out.

He was on the phone in the entryway just now. He would definitely have noticed if the little girl went out from the entryway, so that's ruled out.
The bathroom is even less likely. The bathroom window is very small, and it's the kind with a central axis. It would be difficult for even a cat to squeeze in, let alone a little girl. So, that's out.

Therefore, the little girl has only one possibility—to go upstairs!
The driver gave a soft hum, relieved.

Then, he thought of the scene he saw Anya sneaking out of the window with the bed sheet hanging out the window that morning, and his expression changed from sunny to cloudy again.

Hearing the footsteps clattering upstairs, Anya, who was already hanging outside the window, showed no sign of panic. Her eyes gleamed with intelligence as she stared intently at the half-open door, as if waiting for something.

“Crack—bang!”

The door was pushed open forcefully and slammed against the wall. The driver saw Anya hanging on the windowsill. Still shaken, he immediately rushed over to grab her.

However, Anya revealed a half-moon eye smile, her body still bound by ropes, and deliberately pointed to the top of the driver's head.

Before the driver could think, he heard a loud crash, felt a pain on his head, and his vision began to wander and then refocus. Anya's smile gradually blurred at that moment.

"Hehe, you kidnapped Anya, now you know you were wrong, right?"

Only after the driver was dazed and confused by the little contraption made of stacked books did Anya triumphantly climb down the rope.

However, when Anya reached the gate of the yard, she discovered another problem!
The driver's yard even had an iron fence, which was closed!
The iron fence was three times the height of Anya.

"how come."

Anya stared blankly at the iron fence in front of her, wanting to climb it, but then felt afraid when she saw the sharp, spear-like top of the fence.

After searching left and right, there was no other way to leave the courtyard.

In the stillness of the night, not a single whisper could be heard around me.

This means that no one is passing by, or the surrounding residents are already asleep, so even if she shouts, it will be difficult to attract attention.

“Little friend, where do you want to go? Didn’t you say it yourself? You want to go somewhere that’s far from Beika Town but still within Tokyo’s city limits. My house is right across from Beika Town, so it’s the best choice.”

The driver appeared at the door, one hand covering his head, blood streaming down his face from being hit by the hard corner of a book. Several streaks of crimson blood slid down his forehead and onto his face, making his sharply defined features look particularly sinister and frightening in the moonlight.

Receiving no reply, the driver didn't seem to care and continued muttering to himself, "But the fare you gave me this morning wasn't enough to get here, and you've stayed at my house for so long, so you should also charge me for lodging."

Anya leaned against the iron fence, biting her lower lip to keep herself from crying out loud.

Father, where are you? Please save Anya!

Anya's voice went unanswered.

No, there was a response.

A black cat stood on the driver's fence, watching the two with interest, and meowed softly.

Anya loves small animals, but at this moment, the black cat's meow sounded like a baby crying, and its shimmering eyes immediately broke her defenses.

Anya began to cry, "Aiya!" Two rainbow-shaped tears streaked down her cheeks.

"Don't be sad, little one. Once I find a suitable place, I'll call your dad and have them pay the money, then you can leave."

Anya refused to believe the driver's nonsense and cried even louder.

The driver was furious because he had been hit on the head, but seeing the little girl crying loudly in fear of him made him feel a little better.

Luckily, there was an iron fence around his house, otherwise the little girl would have really run away.

Of course, he also knew that he couldn't continue to let Anya cry like this. Although his home was in a remote location, there was still a risk involved.

Without any pity, the driver pulled a yellowed handkerchief from his pocket and quickly covered Anya's mouth.

Anya's voice stopped abruptly as she fell into a deep sleep.

The driver didn't dare linger. He took out his keys, opened the door, headed straight for his neighbor's car, pried it open effortlessly, started it technically, and sped off.

About ten minutes later, Xia Chuan drove up to the driver's house.

"Is this the place?" Xia Chuan's face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.

He initially thought Anya had simply run away from home, so he didn't pay much attention.

But when it was time for dinner, Anya still hadn't returned, and that was a problem.

If you can say that you had lunch at Professor Agasa's or the other three kids' house, then not coming back for dinner would not be like Anya!
Realizing the problem, Xia Chuan immediately started making phone calls, but all the answers he received were negative.

At this moment, Xia Chuan remembered to start with the vehicle that had taken Anya away that morning.

Because of the sparse traffic and surveillance cameras in Tokyo, it was impossible to successfully pinpoint where the taxi went.

Fortunately, these taxis were provided by taxi companies, and by investigating the license plate numbers, the drivers' residential addresses were eventually identified.

This is the background and reason why Xia Chuan came here.

The house was dark, as if no one was home, but the iron gate outside was open, and rather haphazardly, as if it had been opened carelessly and hadn't been closed in time.

Before even stepping inside, Xia Chuan saw ropes made from duvet covers hanging from the second-floor windows.

Needless to say, this was Anya's doing, but it seems Anya's escape attempt has clearly failed.

Just as Xia Chuan was about to go in, he suddenly felt something step on. Looking down, he saw it was Anya's slippers.

These two points confirm that Anya was indeed taken away by the driver.

All these events, when put together, probably mean that Anya was preparing to run away from home, but she was unlucky enough to run into taxi kidnappers.

This is not hard to understand; after all, it's Beika Town, and it's quite normal for cases to occur frequently.

But why? If he was a kidnapper, why hasn't he called him since this morning?
Kidnappers just want money, right? This clearly doesn't fit the characteristics of a kidnapping.

Realizing this, Xia Chuan suddenly froze!
The image of Vermouth suddenly popped into my mind.

This speculation is not unfounded. Given the failure of her attempt to assassinate Yoel via truck, there is a high probability that she would target Anya!
Especially since Anya mentioned just a few days ago that she ran into Vermouth and Baileys at the entrance of the Metropolitan Police Department, Vermouth probably came up with the idea of ​​kidnapping Anya at that time.

Thinking of this, Xia Chuan immediately went into the room to search. The room was empty, but he found a pool of blood on the second floor.

By reviewing the scene, Xia Chuan breathed a sigh of relief. This must have been a setup by Anya, and the person bleeding was probably the driver kidnapper.

Xia Chuan continued searching for useful clues and soon found a photo of the homeowner in the living room.

Xia Chuan squeezed the glass frame tightly with his fingers and shattered it. He recognized the driver's face!
As a frequent visitor to the distillery's base, he had seen most of the peripheral members, and the man in the photo was no exception!

Even after being assessed for promotion by peripheral members, this man flattered himself.

Aside from Gin's orders, the only remaining possibility is Vermouth!
As he suspected, it was indeed Vermouth who was behind it all.

"Damn it!"

While searching for other clues in the room, Xia Chuan took out his phone and called Frank.

"Check the surveillance cameras we installed near the winery site. I need to know if Vermouth left tonight."

Upon closer inspection, Xia Chuan determined that the peripheral member must have left not long ago.

But now the problem is, the car is still there, but he and Anya are gone.

Given Vermouth's personality, she certainly wouldn't let anyone bring Anya to the brewery base, but one thing is certain: Vermouth will definitely meet with her!
It should be now!

"Attacking me again and again, do you really think I'm easy to bully?!"

An hour later, Natsukawa drove to a suburb of Tokyo.

Vermouth must have arranged to meet the driver here.

The car slowly came to a stop. Looking at the van that had crashed into a tree in front of him, Xia Chuan's expression became somewhat strange.

If I remember correctly, this car was the one he drove over when he first made a deal with the IRS. I never expected that after so long, the car would still be here.

"So, their meeting place was that run-down house I went to with the IRS before?"

Xia Chuan was a little confused.

"Let's set the trap here. With this van around, an accident would seem more plausible."

Frank got out of the car, then opened the trunk and took out a series of trap props.

Xia Chuan nodded slightly and turned to look at the road ahead.

The reason we were able to find this place is thanks to the call location software that Vodka had previously developed.

As soon as the software was developed, Gin replaced the phones of all the peripheral members, and installed the software on each phone without their knowledge.

This way, Gin can control the location information of all peripheral members within the Neon range.

Only Gin and Vodka have the authority.

However, as Natsukawa is Vodka's third brother, Vodka had revealed this information during a drinking session once, including the account and password for logging into the software.

These positioning devices have both advantages and disadvantages.

On one hand, it allows Gin to control all peripheral members within Japan.

On the other hand, once the software is leaked, all peripheral members throughout Japan will be at a disadvantage, and even their phone conversations will be monitored. If the police find out, they can definitely catch them all in one fell swoop.

Therefore, after the software was developed, only Gin and Vodka knew about it.

However, Vodka may have genuinely considered him a brother, and he didn't hold back at all, or perhaps after drinking, Vodka simply didn't remember Gin's instructions.

Oh no, Vodka remembers, and Xia Chuan remembers very clearly that when Vodka gave him the account password and website address, he specifically told him not to leak them.

Xia Chuan certainly wouldn't leak it. Vodka trusted him so much, he couldn't possibly turn his back on him. If he had to, he would at least wait until the last moment, such as when Karasuma Renya was about to appear.

The only pity is that this software was not installed on the phone of the codenamed member.

However, this precisely demonstrates Gin's vigilance. The distillery has very few codenamed members, and it would be a great loss if they were wiped out because of this.

As for why they needed to confirm whether Vermouth had left the house, it was certainly not because they wanted to find this peripheral member through her.

He simply wanted to find an opportunity to teach Vermouth a lesson she would never forget!

Even a clay figure has a temper, let alone someone as aggressive as Vermouth!

Although she did it for Conan, what does it have to do with him? If Conan's values ​​clash with his one day, he won't show any mercy!

A sinister glint flashed in Xia Chuan's eyes as he silently watched Frank set up the trap.

The surveillance footage confirmed that Vermouth had just left the house, and the other party was expected to arrive in about twenty minutes.

This road is the only way to get to the dilapidated house where he and ISR made their deal. If she goes through here, she'll be in serious trouble!

Xia Chuan sighed slightly, but unfortunately he couldn't see this scene.

Frank finished setting everything up in just seven or eight minutes, and the two got back into the car and drove off again.

Vermouth's reason for kidnapping Anya is very obvious; she is definitely after Yoel. In order not to worry her, Natsukawa did not tell her about this and even specifically instructed Ai Haibara to keep it a secret.

"After this, Vermouth probably won't dare to lay a hand on anyone around Joel again."

"Not always."

Xia Chuan shook his head, "Never underestimate a woman's vengeful nature."

At first, Vermouth might have been doing it for Conan and Ran, but after a long period of failures and her recent so-called "bad luck," she might actually start fighting.

"talk later"

If he hadn't wanted to kill Vermouth and alert her, he really would have liked to kill her and then take her for dissection and research. Maybe he could find out why she could still look so young even after changing her identity over the decades.

Soon, the two appeared at the location indicated by the GPS.

The location signal hasn't moved for a long time, so it seems this is where Vermouth and the driver met.

Besides the driver's signal source, Xia Chuan actually saw other signal sources as well.

(Ask for monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)