Clang!
In the darkness of night, the rolling shutter of a military supplies store somewhere in Fussa City was pulled down.
Kevin Yoshino locked the store.
Then, glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he quickly slung a package onto his back and headed toward the car parked behind the store.
The police had come earlier to question him.
As a former Marine Corps Sergeant, Kevin Yoshino had once been saved by Hunter on the battlefield.
Now that he ran a military supplies store, the FBI and police suspected that Hunter might come to Kevin for help.
After all, the suspicious hero Hunter was now bankrupt and destitute, coming alone to Japan for revenge.
Where did his weapons and equipment come from?
Thus, the FBI concluded that someone must be helping Henry.
From this perspective, the FBI and police were correct — but what they hadn't anticipated was that Kevin Yoshino's help for Hunter was even more thorough.
After Hunter was framed and lost everything, Kevin had resolved to take revenge for his friend.
He was the one who killed the reporter Brian Woods in Seattle, whose articles had driven Hunter to a nervous breakdown.
Then Kevin arrived in Tokyo ahead of everyone else, ostensibly running a military supply shop but secretly hunting down those who had harmed Hunter.
Yesterday, he successfully shot and killed the real estate dealer who sold Hunter bad assets.
Kevin had also tracked down the remaining three enemies of Mr. Hunter.
Tonight's target was Hitoshi Moriyama, who had suddenly broken off his engagement with Hunter's sister, driving her to suicide.
Among the three enemies, Moriyama was the hardest to find — he had married into a wealthy family and even changed his last name.
After days of investigation, Kevin had already scouted the location.
He planned to kill Moriyama right at the entrance of his "love nest."
Driving swiftly, Kevin headed toward a location in Honjo, Sumida Ward.
However, as Kevin thought about the details of the upcoming sniper operation and was crossing an intersection, a small truck suddenly dashed out and crashed directly into him!
The next second, the street was filled with the sound of a violent collision.
Sumida Ward, around Azumabashi.
On the rooftop of the sniper point decided early that morning, Seiran Hoshi had already set up her sniper rifle.
To match the fixed caliber of the bullets, she had swapped to a different sniper rifle this time — although it wasn't her usual weapon, the task at this distance was not difficult.
Her eyes looked through the scope toward the garage exit in the distance.
Almost time...
Nearby, around the Azumabashi Police Box,
"That was quick."
When Conan ran up, Masumi Sera smiled, showing her tiger-like teeth, leaning on her motorcycle.
"Any movement?"
"Don't worry, not yet."
Masumi, as if forgetting she'd nearly been shot in the head, was eager:
"Let's storm in!"
She had just discovered the whereabouts of Hitoshi Moriyama, who had changed his name, and was eager to tell Conan.
The two quickly arrived at Moriyama's residence, and as they approached, they heard a car engine.
Moriyama was driving a BMW slowly out of the underground garage.
But just as the car started to come out of the garage, before it finished the slope, a bullet shattered the windshield and hit his heart precisely.
The blood sprayed immediately onto the steering wheel.
Before dying, Moriyama's reflex was to step harder on the gas.
The slowly climbing BMW suddenly accelerated out of the garage, crashing into the gate barrier.
Masumi and Conan, arriving just in time, witnessed the scene, their pupils constricting simultaneously as they looked in the direction the bullet came from.
Masumi immediately grabbed Conan and jumped on her motorcycle.
The two sped toward the building where the sniper was located, estimating that the culprit surely hadn't had time to escape yet, and burst inside.
"Where?!"
"The blond foreigner... where?"
They paced the lobby of the office building, scrutinizing every guest entering or leaving.
No one seemed suspicious.
The building receptionist eyed the two strange visitors with some suspicion.
At that moment, the elevator dinged, descending from the upper floors and opening.
Conan's gaze went immediately there, and inside he saw a woman he recognized.
She was a short-haired woman wearing a simple, fitted blue cheongsam, carrying only a small handbag.
Conan remembered seeing her on the Suzuki family's yacht.
She seemed to notice their gaze and looked surprised...
But the next second, another woman near the elevator spoke to Seiran Hoshi:
"Hurry up, the appointment time is almost up."
"Sorry, I took some time picking out clothes."
Though Seiran didn't like Shimizu Reiko, Seiran now wore a suitably gentle smile.
"Oh, hurry up already."
Shimizu Reiko smiled too, pushing Seiran toward the building exit.
The interaction between the two women, like close besties, didn't catch Masumi's attention.
Conan merely glanced longer because he recognized one of them, then continued searching for any trace of a sniper.
Finally, unable to stay still, Conan clenched his teeth and took the elevator straight to the rooftop.
When he arrived, the rooftop was empty.
Only on the railing's edge lay a 51mm spent shell casing and a blue die showing the number "3."
He was somewhat incredulous but quickly ran to look down from the railing.
Even with the magnification function on his glasses provided by Dr. Agasa, he couldn't spot any suspicious figure.
Was he just a step too late...?
He felt reluctant to give up.
Elsewhere,
"Yoshiki-kun, what kind of movie do you want to watch?"
In Okino Yoko's apartment, Hayashi Yoshiki sat on the sofa, smiling warmly at the popular idol happily choosing tonight's movie.
"Anything's fine, except crime movies."
"Eh~ A detective who doesn't watch crime movies?"
"Because they're a bit boring."
Hayashi Yoshiki said this while glancing at the phone placed beside him.
The phone screen silently lit up.
He unlocked it and saw a message from Seiran Hoshi: "Mission accomplished."
Okino Yoko continued picking movies.
Hayashi Yoshiki smiled, replied "Okay," then deleted the message and put the phone down, walking over to Yoko.
"Eh, what movie is this?"
"Oh, Yoshiki-kun, put that down first—!"