Behind the Scope

Chapter 15: Chasing the Kyudoka

Conan was a little surprised when he visited his parents after school the next day. Yusaku and Yukiko told him the recent news from Megure which was a bit surprising to him. It turned out that Lily attended the Aoboshi heist with his friends, meaning she joined the crowd at that time, so it was impossible for her to shoot Kid. Takenaka visited the gym with Arata when Yusaku was shot. The employees in Arata's gym witnessed them talking with customers and doing some sports. They also watched Mia's training that day. In addition, Subaru told Yusaku and Yukiko that shooting from Arata's gym to the hall of press conferences would be difficult, but not impossible. Not many snipers could shoot from such a distance, but Subaru admitted that perhaps he could do that since he was the best sniper in the FBI.

"All of them were in Arata's gym," Conan rubbed his chin, processing the information that he had heard from his parents, "and although difficult, it isn't impossible to shoot from that place, so... if the sniper is very skilled, he or she could shoot from there, meaning if the sniper is Mizushima-sensei, then she's a very skilled sniper. Perhaps she could shoot without anyone noticing her. After all, Takenaka and Arata were there too; they could help to hide her from the other employees somehow... which means even though Mizushima-sensei has her alibi when you got shot, Tou-san, there is a possibility her alibi is fake."

"Yes," Yusaku agreed, "though this doesn't seem to be promising since her students including Mia Vasquez also claimed to be with her that time... oh, but at least now we can be sure that the sniper who shot Kid in the Aoboshi heist isn't Mizushima-san."

"Then who? Takenaka?" Yukiko asked.

"Maybe, but the problem is he's still missing," Yusaku replied. "We don't know if he's alive or dead. The only way to confirm this is by asking Mizushima-san, but if Mizushima-san has killed him, I doubt she will admit it without proof."

"But we have her result of fingerprint test. It could be used as proof, right?"

"Yes, but we can't use it since Kid had arranged it so that we wouldn't be able to show it to the police."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember to whom that result was sent? It was addressed to Conan Edogawa, but delivered to Professor's house, not to Mouri's. Furthermore, Kid's message told us that the fingerprint result was a gift for Conan's parents too, but why would Conan's parents need such a thing like that? They are supposed to not have anything related to Lily Mizushima, Yuriko Adams, or Kid himself. If the police notice this, they will try to investigate Conan's parents and that will be dangerous for us."

"Oh, I get it. It may endanger Shin-chan's identity," Yukiko responded in disappointment.

"Exactly. We don't want that, do we?" Yusaku replied. "We need to figure out another way to approach Mizushima-san."

"But I don't get it. Why did Kid have to arrange it that way? Why didn't he allow us to show it to the police?"

"Not sure. Maybe because once the police have seen it, they will try to figure out his identity by investigating every institution that conducts fingerprint test, but I doubt Kid doesn't have his own equipment for fingerprint test since his job almost always involves fingerprints," Yusaku replied as he rubbed his chin. "Or maybe because it simply is a gift for us, because he thinks we can handle it better than the police? After all, if he gives it to the police, there will be a higher chance for Lily Mizushima's identity to be leaked out to the public even before the police can arrest her. If that happens, there will be a high probability of Mizushima-san running away from the police and changing her identity again."

"Huh, so it means he assumes we're good at keeping secrets," Yukiko mumbled.

"Yes, since we indeed have an important secret to keep," Yusaku grinned teasingly at his son who looked back at him in annoyance.