After the incident, Vermouth gave Hayashi Yoshiki an address.
It was the safe house that Gin and the others used for recovery.
"How's the situation?"
"I might be dying," Korn said, lying on the sofa, his body smelling of ointment.
This usually inconspicuous, thin young man placed his hands in front of him. Even now, he still wore his signature cap and sunglasses.
"Dying?" Hayashi Yoshiki looked at him, his face pale.
"The bullet hit my lung,"Korn explained.
He seemed to speak carefully to reduce the pain caused by the wound moving when he talked; his voice had become weak.
"But before I die, I still haven't seen your new work, Yoshiki."
Hayashi Yoshiki was silent, and at that moment a hand reached out nearby. Yoshiki slapped Korn's hand away.
"Why the hell are you talking like you're dying? Huh?!"
Yoshiki kindly but sharply commented on Korn's injury. The slap landed near the wound, causing Korn to sit up sharply.
"Korn!"
"Tch! A grown man putting on a show like this gives me goosebumps," Yoshiki said disdainfully.
Korn wasn't seriously hurt. The sniper bullet had indeed hit him, but he was wearing a bulletproof vest — like the one Vermouth wore. Even a close-range shotgun blast only broke a few ribs.
Although it caused some internal bleeding, it was still considered a minor injury.
Hayashi Yoshiki smiled faintly and glanced around.
"Where's Mr. Vodka?"
"Vodka's injury is more serious. He's still lying inside after having the fragments removed,"Korn answered truthfully.
Compared to that, Gin was unharmed but clearly in a terrible mood.
Today had been a complete disaster for him — losing both the target and his men.
"Are you sure Kogoro Mouri isn't a suspect?"
As Hayashi Yoshiki looked over, Gin's cold gaze fixed on him.
"The request from Rena Mizunashi was too troublesome for me, so I passed it to him. Also, when you all took action, I was at Mouri Detective Agency. Do you think he could have hidden anything from me?"
Gin replied coolly to Hayashi Yoshiki.
Regardless of the reasons, neither of them believed Kogoro Mouri was capable of pulling off such a thing right under Yoshiki's nose — even if he was a famous detective.
"After what happened this afternoon, I arranged a little accident nearby and conveniently accessed the nearby security camera footage,"
"Based on the footage's timestamp, the sniper who ambushed you was already positioned before 1 PM, which was earlier than when you got onto the rooftop — in other words, you were set up from the start."
Gin was silent for a moment.
But he adjusted his mindset quickly — though angry, there were more important matters now.
"The problem now is Kir, she disappeared during the operation."
"You don't think those assassins who ambushed us killed or captured her, right?"Korn joked.
"She was captured, but not by the assassins — by the FBI," Gin said.
Hearing that, Hayashi Yoshiki remained outwardly calm but felt a shiver inside.
How could Gin know it was the FBI?
Conan and Jodie's operation had gone completely undetected. The assassins who ambushed Gin and the others were controlled by the Death Note platform Hayashi Yoshiki used — meaning, given the rivalry between the two groups, Gin should only suspect the Zoo group ambushed them.
"What? The FBI's involved too?"Korn looked shocked.
"That's the intel from Rum," Gin answered her but kept his gaze fixed on Hayashi Yoshiki.
"Though I think Kir wouldn't spill information so easily, we still have to find her no matter what. Rum said she was unconscious when the FBI arrested her and secretly taken to a hospital."
"So?"
"We have to urgently investigate Kir's whereabouts. You'll help too, Yoshiki."
Gin said seriously.
Hayashi Yoshiki stayed silent.
Inside a certain hospital watched over by FBI,
James Black and Jodie entered a patient room. The FBI agents guarding immediately stood up and nodded.
"How's the situation?"
"No life-threatening danger, but the woman hasn't regained consciousness," one agent reported.
"Then we just have to wait for her to wake to try to extract intel on that group," Jodie said, adding, "I've also completely sealed off all news about her disappearance."
"But won't the TV station ask questions about her sudden disappearance?"
"No problem. That kid will handle it properly for us."
Jodie walked to the window and pulled back the curtain.
From there, she could see Conan walking and talking on the phone — using a voice changer, he was pretending to be Rena Mizunashi taking a leave.
Seeing his silhouette, Jodie couldn't help but think of Hayashi Yoshiki — that handsome detective, also an ally against that group.
Although Conan and Haibara Ai never explicitly said it, Jodie knew the person who solved the "Eddie P" code on the car was Hayashi Yoshiki.
Meanwhile, at Mouri Detective Agency, Hayashi Yoshiki and Conan were having a back-and-forth about Kogoro Mouri's secret habit of listening to horse racing news with headphones. To Jodie, as an informed party, it was obvious.
Maybe someday they'd get to work together, she thought.
But one thing kept worrying her, so she mentioned it to James:
"What is it?"
"Before the operation, I called Shuichi but he didn't answer, so I sent a message," Jodie said, her face darkening. "Regarding the issue with that organization, there's no way Shuichi wouldn't show up. I think he's in some serious trouble."
James Black was silent for a moment.
There was no way Shuichi Akai's death could be hidden from certain people.
After some thought, he decided to dismiss the agents in the room first.
Then James took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes.
Seeing him like that, Jodie felt a sudden wave of tension.
James looked at Jodie with a complicated expression and said, "I'm sorry to keep this from you all these days, Jodie, but Shuichi Akai... is dead."
Judy's face changed drastically.
She stared at James in disbelief, sure he was joking.
But James remained completely calm.
"I've secretly obtained the footage through my channels. If you're ready, let's watch it together."