The one who was originally supposed to infiltrate Beika Central Hospital was Rikumichi Kusuda. A peripheral member who resisted two silver b
The one who was originally supposed to infiltrate Beika Central Hospital was Rikumichi Kusuda.
A peripheral member who resisted two silver bullets on his own, ultimately dying from exhaustion, yet even in death, he became an important pawn. His accomplishments, when viewed across the entire second half of the Black Organization's saga, were remarkable.
At the very least, he could point at Tequila and Calvados in the underworld and laugh at them.
But in the world where Hayashi Yoshiki arrived, Rikumichi Kusuda had already died—
—crushed mercilessly by steel rollers.
So when the FBI narrowed the list of suspects to three, and Hayashi Yoshiki noticed a fresh face taking Kudou Rikudou's place for the hospital investigation, he became worried that this new actor would have too much screen time.
So when he wrote down the hospital director's name, he casually added that person's name too.
"FBI!"
Late at night, when Atsushi Uchiyamada snuck into the nurse station with a DV camera to secretly film the list of patients, he noticed something was off with the nurse and was about to interrogate her. But Jodie leapt out from the shadows and pointed a gun at his head.
Realizing he had been exposed, Uchiyamada's face changed—then twisted into a sinister grin.
Under the pretense of raising his hands as Jodie ordered, he reached behind his head and removed the neck brace that had been hiding a C4 explosive collar.
"Did you really think I'd come here unprepared!?"
"Hmph... Since the FBI's here, that must mean Rena Mizunashi is unconscious somewhere in this hospital, huh?"
"Listen carefully! Everyone, back off, now! Or I'll blow myself up and take this entire hospital down with me!"
Uchiyamada grinned darkly. Holding the trigger in his hand, he was completely unafraid. Under the watchful, sweat-drenched eyes of the FBI agents, he escaped the scene.
Jodie expected him to return to the patient room to erase evidence and escape through the window. But Uchiyamada feinted—he sprinted straight to the parking lot and drove away.
By the time they reached the lot, a silver sedan came bursting out.
"Get in, Miss Jodie!"
It was Hayashi Yoshiki's car.
As soon as Jodie got in, Hayashi slammed on the accelerator and took off in pursuit.
Conan sat in the passenger seat.
"We need to intercept him quickly... Yoshiki-niisan, while he left the room, I grabbed his phone and threw it in the water. So he won't be able to contact Gin or the others for a while. As long as we stop him, we're good!"
"The problem is... I'm not very confident in my driving skills."
Despite his words, Hayashi Yoshiki floored the gas pedal.
Conan said nothing.
As they turned a corner, Uchiyamada's car ignored a red light—only to be slammed from behind by a car speeding to beat the last seconds of a green light. Uchiyamada's car spun, broke through a fence, and crashed onto the grassy slope on the side of the road.
Dazed from the crash, Uchiyamada shook his head. He saw Hayashi Yoshiki's car catching up and quickly stepped on the gas—only to find the vehicle wouldn't move. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out a gun from inside the car.
And chose suicide.
Bang!
As Hayashi Yoshiki stopped the car, Jodie rushed forward—only to see a hole in Uchiyamada's forehead.
"..."
Conan immediately sensed danger.
With Uchiyamada, the lead investigator of Beika Hospital, now dead—it was almost a certainty that Gin would realize that Rena Mizunashi was being held there.
Seeing Jodie frantically calling James, Hayashi Yoshiki stopped Conan from stepping out of the car.
"Conan."
"What is it?"
"I feel like something's off."
"What do you mean?"
"...Be careful around that FBI agent—James."
"You suspect something?"
At that, Conan turned to look at Hayashi Yoshiki, forgetting about Uchiyamada for the moment. The latter stared out the window, brows furrowed.
"I just have a bad feeling about him."
"Tonight's operation... James sent so many FBI agents here, and seemed so eager to catch Uchiyamada... It's not hard to imagine this kind of outcome."
"But most importantly—it's about that video."
When Hayashi Yoshiki said that, Conan's gaze turned serious.
"That surveillance footage—neither the police nor public security could restore it. The FBI definitely didn't have access either... meaning the footage had to come from within the Organization."
"And the person who used that footage to commit murder—that killer remains a mystery even within the Organization."
"Which means that video was likely top secret, only accessible by someone whose status was equal to or higher than Gin's."
"In other words... James is in contact with someone high up in the Organization?" Conan frowned, though his thoughts were a bit more optimistic.
"Could he be an undercover mole the FBI planted? Or someone the Organization tried to turn... After all, there are many people, like you and Haibara, who disagree with the Organization's methods."
"If only it were that simple," Hayashi Yoshiki replied, his eyes pitch black. "There's a man in the Organization called Rum. They say... he's a specialist in 'handling the FBI.'"
Conan's face tensed.
He wasn't a child anymore—he could sense what that implied.
Hayashi Yoshiki didn't look at him again.
The reason he told Conan all this was that it would help him in the long run.
Without Shuichi Akai around, Conan might not have suspected the FBI so soon. If he didn't grow more cautious, then in the future, when James Black and Rum started exchanging information—more of Hayashi Yoshiki's secrets could be exposed too.
But now that he knew James Black's name and face—
Could he use that to lure out Rum?
Hayashi Yoshiki started to think.
Like Moriarty and Colonel Moran—collaborators, yes, but also superior and subordinate... Yet, James might not be Rum's superior.
Interesting. Truly interesting—
And Hayashi Yoshiki couldn't help but smirk internally.
From how James revealed the video in front of him so casually, Rum clearly hadn't told him his identity. So these two weren't truly aligned…
Still, the situation remained dangerous for Hayashi Yoshiki.
Whether Rum had told James his identity, leading to Yoshiki's exposure—or if James had passed along information about Yoshiki, making Rum suspicious of his loyalty...
Both possibilities would push him toward a different cliff's edge.
Right now, his situation…
Felt as perilous as walking a tightrope.