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CLOVER Convenience Store, Early Morning
As soon as Akira arrived at the CLOVER convenience store, his eyes fell on a freshly printed copy of the Tokyo Daily, placed right on the cashier's counter.
The front page caught his attention immediately—
A detailed report about the Shinkansen bomber.
Taking up nearly 80% of the front page were the faces of the two men in black who had bought the time bomb from him.
"Damn, these guys are actually pretty photogenic."
They were wanted criminals now!
For Akira, this news was a double-edged sword.
The bad news? Their wanted status could bring some unwanted heat his way.
The good news? The Shinkansen explosion might just open the black market for weapons in Beika Town.
"Huh...?"
"These two guys..."
"Manager!"
"Aren't these the two customers from yesterday?"
Azusa Enomoto's voice trembled as she pointed at the photos on the Tokyo Daily's front page.
She wasn't mistaken—
These were the same two men in black who had radiated pure intimidation the previous day.
She remembered it vividly—
The moment they stepped into the store, an overwhelming sense of dread filled her chest. If it weren't for Akira's reassurance, she would've never mustered the courage to hide in the storage room with her phone.
"Yeah, probably."
"But this has nothing to do with us."
Akira said casually as he tossed the Tokyo Daily to the side of the counter.
"Yeah... It's definitely them."
Azusa's gaze flickered back to the newspaper.
Her instincts had been right!
Those two menacing guys were up to no good after all.
Bombers!
That was even scarier than she had imagined.
Thinking back on it now, she still felt a chill down her spine.
They were lucky those men didn't start anything in the store.
Otherwise…
The Shinkansen wouldn't have been the only thing blown sky-high—CLOVER Convenience Store might have been next.
"Manager..."
"Should we report this to the police?"
Azusa hesitated, lowering her voice.
"What, you want the bounty money?"
"Careful—you might not live long enough to spend it!"
Akira's mocking tone made her righteous intentions vanish in an instant.
He had a point.
These guys dared to bomb a high-speed train. What wouldn't they do?
If they found out she had tipped off the police, she might end up with a target on her back.
Beika Town, 2-Chome, 22-Banchi
"Professor!"
"These are the guys who poisoned me!"
Kudo Shinichi's voice trembled with excitement as he clutched the Tokyo Daily in his hands.
He'd found them.
Finally!
He'd been seeing these two men in his nightmares.
"Shinichi…"
"Are you sure?"
At those words, Shinichi felt a slight hesitation creep in.
The height, build, and clothing of the men in the newspaper photo were nearly identical to the two who had forced that mysterious drug down his throat.
And the fact that they were Shinkansen bombers only made them even more suspicious.
With all these factors combined, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were the same people.
"I... I'm not sure."
His detective instincts told him he couldn't jump to conclusions.
But one thing was for sure—
They looked way too similar to be a coincidence.
"Shinichi, what are you planning to do next?"
Professor Agasa asked.
"I have to find them."
Shinichi's voice was firm.
This was a rare opportunity, and he couldn't waste it.
Even if these bombers weren't the ones who had shrunken him, he needed to confirm it himself.
"Hah..."
Agasa let out a deep sigh, his mustache twitching slightly.
He knew it—
There was no way Shinichi would just sit back and do nothing.
The real question was…
Could he even find them?
These two had already caused such a huge incident—they must have contingency plans in place.
For all he knew, they were already long gone from Japan.
"Hello? Is this Inspector Megure?"
"It's me, Kudo Shinichi."
While Agasa was still mulling things over, Shinichi had already sprung into action.
"I saw today's Tokyo Daily—I know about the Shinkansen bombing."
"Can you tell me everything you know about these two suspects?"
"Yeah… I know I'm 'overseas'."
"But just because I'm abroad doesn't mean I can't solve cases in Japan, you know!"
"Come on, Inspector Megure, just tell me…"
After the call, Shinichi felt numb.
He'd overestimated the Tokyo police.
The only information Megure had given him was… the same photo from the newspaper.
Even the train ticket records of the two bombers had turned out to be fake identities.
"Professor."
"We need to visit the bombing site."
There's no such thing as a perfect crime.
Shinichi was convinced—
There had to be something the police missed.
"....."