[ HIATUS ] Crossroad 『Detective Conan』

Chapter 38 - Guilty of past『5/5』

   Yoko cut the thread after checking for the umpteenth time if it was the right one, and installed a stopper. She stepped back a little to take the time to breathe. She needed to take her time if she didn't want to panic.
   Jinpei, on the other hand, smoked and dictated what to do to the young girl. He just had to trust her on what she was cutting, since he couldn't see the bomb. But in the meantime, it seemed to be going well.
   -I cut it... She announced.
   -Good. Are you ready for the next one?
   -Y... Yes...

   The girl bent over the machine, waiting for her tutor's order.
   -Now you cut the wire that powers the screen.
   As she began to search for it, her gaze turned to the screen where a text had appeared. She read it in her head, before turning pale.
   -M... Matsuda-kei... keiji...
   -What's the matter ?
   - A message appeared on the screen...
   -It said what ?!
   The policeman suspected what the message was. But, he had to confirm.
   -It is written...: Br... Brave policeman... For your courage you will be rewarded... There... There will be another fireworks display to celebrate the end of the... of the match. .. Three seconds before the explosion, you... you will know... You will know where... Good luck...

   This same message as three years ago. It was not surprising, but annoying. If he was alone, Jinpei could have stayed in the elevator, not repeating the mistake from last time. But Yoko was there. He wasn't going to leave her here, he had to think of a way to get her out of here.

   -I'll... I'll take care of telling you the code... Don't try to get me out of here... Anyway... Someone has to say the code...
   The former high school girl turned her head towards the man who was staring at her through the opening of the trapdoor. She was crying, she was scared, but she still had a smile. A smile that is both sad and determined.

  - "Yoko, pass me Matsuda-keiji."
   This voice came from the girl's badge. She hadn't turned it off. Conan therefore had to listen to what had happened so far.
   His tone was serious. He needed to talk to the policeman. About what ? She didn't know. But she still gave her badge to the man.

   For several minutes, Jinpei and Conan talked to each other in low voices while Yoko stared at the screen, just watching the countdown.
   Then, the policeman gave her back the badge and there was a heavy silence, waiting the three seconds for the code.

   During this time, it was the silence which was master of the place. The man was smoking, the former high school student was waiting for time to pass. This time which was extremely long for both of them.

   After ten seconds, the girl with the glasses changed her position and took a deep breath in order to calm down and be able to say the message clearly.
   -E ! She said in an almost clear voice when the first letter appeared.
   She took another breath. She knew what was going to happen when the code was finished. Anyway, what did she have to lose?
   -V...! I...! T...!
   -"Cut the timer..." Conan ordered.
   -Eh ?
   -"Now !"
   Without thinking, she cut the thread she had previously spotted. The screen went blank. Then, the boy told her the last two thread to be cut.

   Once finished, Yoko stepped back a little. It was over. There was no longer any risk of explosion. And above all, there was no longer the end of the code. Finding it with just "EVIT" wasn't going to be easy.
  Relaxing, the young girl began to tremble again. Her breathing was panting. She was completely exhausted.
   -... Sorry... Sorry Matsuda-keiji... I... I cut the threads without thinking... I...
   The policeman sighed. But he seemed to know that the threads were going to be cut.
   -We will try to find the place with the code. Come on, get down from there.

   The little girl approached the trap and descended, to be caught by the man. As he went to put her down, she clung to his clothes.
   -Do... Do you mind if I stay like this? Just a little... Please...
   She put her head against her tutor's shoulder. She had put in a lot of effort for someone who was facing what they scared her the most.
   -Avoid blowing your nose ln me.
   -...
   He took out his phone and called to get out of there.

   Once outside the elevator, Jinpei and Yoko were greeted by Conan who immediately spoke to the policeman. The girl was able to get some fresh air even if it wasn't outside air yet. She never wanted to go through that again.
   Then the three went outside. The reporters surrounded them, filming them and asking them. The man ignored them, making his way to his car, while the bespectacled boy left in his corner.

   Barely entered the car that the old high school girl fell asleep. Fatigue had taken over, and she deserved to rest.
   Jinpei, meanwhile, had something to settle. Surely Conan's deduction had to be correct. So he started the car and drove away from the Tokyo Tower.

   A phone rang, held by Inspector Megure. The owner and criminal turned to see the police.
  - You see me sorry but it seems that your interlocutor will not pick up. The demining team infiltrated the school discreetly, without making noise, so as not to be detected by your spy microphones and it defused the bombs which were in each of the classes. I read questions on your face: how did we understand where the bombs were?
   Jinpei walked over to his superior's side and began to explain. Explained what he had said with Conan, reusing what had been said in the letter.
   - "I throw fast and beautiful balls, I am the Major Leagyer. Well, overtime can begin... There will be no point in preparing a good "stopper"... Because in the end, I will gain in versus...". "Major Leaguer" was a key word and indicated to take an English translation. "A good stopper" simply meant a pitcher with a very low hit rate. Overtime is called "Extra inning game" in English, and the ball hit rate is "Era". If you remove the letters "era" in "extra" we get XT. "At the end, I will win against" was to say that the letters must be reversed, which will give the ideogram "letter", which is a part found in the word "school". Finally, the letters displayed on the bomb's screen was "EVIT". These are the last letters of the English word "Detective" said backwards. If translated into Japanese, it gives "Teitan". And the only school open today is Teitan for exams. Even a child can guess that.

   The man took one, then two steps back, everything having been discovered. Cornered, he jumped from the bridge onto a bus in order to flee.
   -Shit !
   Without thinking, he jumped onto another vehicle. He wasn't going to let him get away. Not after what he had done. Not after Hagiwara Kenji's death.