Around a week before Conan and his friends visited Arata's dojo, Kaito was having dinner at Nakamoris' home. That day, the police had just confirmed that Arata was the one who hired a sniper to kill Yusaku and his Interpol friend. It was big news. People talked about it everywhere. Kaito was quite surprised to know that his friends also discussed it on social media. Because of that, his smartphone vibrated too often, annoyed Kaito so much that finally he decided to set it to mute mode.
Ginzo looked tired that night, but at the same time, he looked satisfied. The inspector was happy that the case had reached a very important point. It had not finished, not yet, and he knew it, but at least it had good progress. Aoko looked happy too seeing his father in such a good mood. Not only that, today she was able to have dinner with her father after so many days the inspector had to skip dinner due to his job investigating Arata's crimes. That was quite a pleasant dinner. Everyone was in high spirits, full of hope and optimism, and Kaito enjoyed it very much.
"Now that Arata was proven to be the one who hired sniper, what else the police must do, Otou-san?" Aoko asked her father during dinner.
"We still need to investigate his crimes further. Aoko, that man is dangerous. He's a criminal mastermind. Besides, we still have to find the sniper," Ginzo answered.
"Oh, is that so... What about the suspects? It's clear now that the hirer is Arata, so they should be released, right?"
"Yeah. I heard from Megure that they would be released since now we know that Arata is the culprit and none of them could be the sniper."
"But there are some suspects that don't have alibi, if I'm not wrong. What's going to happen to them?" Kaito asked.
"Oh, you mean Elizabeth Grey and Harry Green. It's true that they don't have any alibi when Victor Wood was murdered, but they have an alibi when Kudo-sensei was shot. Moreover I heard that NYPD didn't find any firearm in their house, so I think it means that they too will be released soon," Ginzo answered.
"If the suspects will be released, then how the police could find the sniper? Do they have different suspect now?"
"We don't have specific suspect for now, but we think we'll find some suspects soon if we keep digging Arata's crime."
"But it's good, right? Those people will be released soon. They don't have to be worried anymore," Aoko said. "Mia-san can practice in peace too. Aoko heard that she had been feeling pressured all this time."
"That's right. I guess they'll feel better after the police finally released them," Ginzo agreed.
Kaito did not give any comment. He ate his dinner silently, thinking. When he returned to his home, he was still thinking. He held the mysterious arrow in his hand, wondering what would happen with the case from now on since the suspects would be released soon. Kaito wondered if the arrow that he held had anything to do with them. After all, that arrow was used to send him a letter from Wolf who probably was involved in Arata's crime. The potential suspect who might be the sender of the arrow, Mia Vasquez, would be released soon, so perhaps she really was innocent in this. Besides, Arata was known to have skill in kyudo, so he could be the one who sent the arrow to Kid.
'Does this mean that the sender of the arrow is actually Arata?' Kaito thought. He observed the arrow and suddenly he remembered that he had not really checked Arata's dojo. He knew that the arrow was a basic arrow which could be used by everyone in Japan, including Arata's dojo, but despite of that, Kaito had not investigated the dojo further. The teen got up and turned on his tablet, searching for Arata Gymnasium's website. He tried to collect information as many as he could from there. He read all about Arata Gymnasium's sports and martial arts, he read about all the training schedules, all the instructors who worked there, especially people in kyudojo, but Kaito did not find anything suspicious. He sighed, then he read his summary about Interpol's suspects. He read those five people one by one, again and again. Somehow his instinct told him that those suspects had a link to the sniper case, like Eric Wu who actually was not even the suspect but involved indirectly in the case or Mia Vasquez who somehow ended up training in Arata's gym. The teen thought deeply, searching for that link between the suspects and the sniper case. He stopped thinking when he realized something.
"Yuriko Adams..." Kaito mumbled, then he turned his eyes to his tablet, looking at the list of instructors in Arata's kyudojo. "Lily Mizushima. Yuriko... Lily..." Those names had the same meaning, Kaito knew it. The kanji yuri in Yuriko means lily. Moreover, both of them were half. Yuriko and Lily were Japanese-American.
'What a coincidence,' Kaito thought. 'Is this really just a coincidence?'
Unable to contain his curiousity, Kaito searched for any information about Yuriko and Lily. He started to investigate them further. He read any news about Yuriko and her smuggling and suicide case. He read everything that related to Lily Mizushima. Information about Yuriko was quite plenty on the internet. Kaito finally knew that Yuriko was skilled in archery and firearms. She was a hunter and an instructor in a shooting club in California. She lived with her father in New York before she went to live by herself in California. There she met Harry Green who eventually became his boyfriend. There she decided to commit suicide, jumping of the cliff with her car in a rocky beach. Kaito could have enough information about Yuriko, but he had difficulty in collecting Lily's information. Apparently, the instructor did not have any account on social media. The only sources for his information were only Arata Gymnasium's website and All Nippon Kyudo Federation's website and the only information that Kaito could get from those website were only her biodata—name, date and place of birth, address, phone number, email, her photo—and her rank in kyudo. Too few.
"This lady... she doesn't have any social media account? Seriously?" Kaito was surprised when he found that there was a person like that today. When he thought about it again, somehow this fact was suspicious. Why did she decide to not have any contact in social media except an email? Why did she shut herself from cyberspace activity? It was so unusual, especially for a young instructor like her, but still, even though Kaito thought it was suspicious, he could not do anything. If he wanted to know more about the kyudoka, he should investigate her in a different manner, different approach. He could not just rely on the internet.
'I'll think about that later. For now, I'll just stick with Yuriko Adams. I also need to know more about her,' Kaito finally decided. He kept searching through the internet, digging any information related to Yuriko Adams. He even chatted with some members of Yuriko's shooting club in California, asking them about Yuriko. After many hours of searching, Kaito finally knew more about the smuggler's family. Yuriko's father was an American while her mother was a Japanese from Shimizu family. Yuriko spent half of her youth in Japan, learning kyudo there until her mother died and she had to leave to USA with her father. Yuriko learned shooting in New York when she was in college. He joined a shooting club in her university and not long after she had graduated, she managed to get a license as a hunter and after that she moved to California.
"Now what?" Kaito looked at the information he had in disbelief. "This lady was also skilled in kyudo. Why is everybody in this case somehow related to kyudo?" Kaito read the information again and suddenly he frowned. "And what's this? Shimizu?" The teen knew very well that Shimizu had a kanji 'mizu'—water—and Mizushima had the same kanji too.
Lily and Yuriko. Mizushima and Shimizu. Kyudo.
'These things are only coincidences, right?' Kaito thought doubtfully. 'Yes, these are only coincidences. Many people in Japan have Yuriko as their name. Mizushima is quite a popular name too.' The teen tried to convince himself, but after a long pause, he failed to believe that all of those things were just coincidences only because of one word: kyudo. Both Lily and Yuriko were not strangers in kyudo. Actually, they were good at it, and that fact alone was enough to make Kaito curious.
'Well, I guess I have to learn more about them. Better safe than sorry.' Kaito decided to investigate more about Yuriko and Lily. He searched for more information, paying full attention to many pictures and news he had gotten. After a while, finally Kaito's curiosity turned into suspicion.
He just noticed that both Lily and Yuriko had green eyes, added with their similar dark hair, and that Yuriko's father also had a pair of green eyes.
Green eyes are very rare," Kaito murmured in bewilderment. "This is strange. They can't be siblings, right? Their dark hair is also identical. This is Asian hair, definitely not Yuriko's dad's hair; he has blond hair. And their names—those names have the same meaning! This is getting weird—I'm starting to think that they are actually siblings!"
Kaito was confused. Lily and Yuriko clearly had different faces, they did not resemble one another, except that they had the same eye color and hair: both of them had green eyes and dark hair, so how come their names had the same meaning? How come Lily's surname could have a similar kanji with Yuriko's mother's surname? As if they were related to each other. As if they were families, siblings, but Kaito was not really sure about it because the news in the media stated that Yuriko was raised as the only child; she did not have any sibling.
Kaito read Yuriko and Lily's biodata once again, trying to confirm the possibility about them as siblings. Based on their biodata added with other information, they truly could not be siblings. Yuriko's mother only gave birth to one child. Yuriko's age also was not far from Lily's. Their gap of age was only 5 months with Lily as the younger one—"Oh, and her birthday is at this month! It's near—no no no, that's not important right now. Focus, Kaito, focus!"—Their short gap of age was not the only problem, their place of birth was also a problem. Yuriko was born in Japan while Lily was presumed to be born in USA since people said that she lived in an orphanage at New York ever since she was still a newborn baby.
"So, they can't be siblings." Kaito concluded, but suddenly an idea popped in his head, making him anxious once more. 'Perhaps they can't be siblings, but what about half-siblings?
Kaito looked at Lily and Yuriko's profile once again, and then he started to think hard about them. They had green eyes, just like Yuriko's father's eyes, so the teen assumed that if they were half-siblings, they probably had the same father but different mother. If they were half-siblings with different mother, then that meant Yuriko's father had cheated and judging by Lily's Asian hair, Yuriko's father almost certainly had an affair with an Asian woman when he lived in Japan with Yuriko's mother when Yuriko's mother was pregnant with Yuriko and somehow this other woman—his mistress—left Japan and gave birth in New York. That was possible, but how could a man cheat when his wife was pregnant with his daughter? Unless this man was not happy with his marriage or he was very drunk, Kaito could not have any better answers.
"Well, the point is they are clearly suspicious," Kaito said to himself after thinking a lot about Yuriko and Lily. "Their names, their eyes, their hair, their skill in kyudo... if not because of the difference of their faces, I might have thought that they are the same person, like Tantei-kun and Meitantei—wait, what?"
"Tantei-kun... face..." Kaito was becoming pale. "Are they actually... actually like him? Like Tantei-kun?"
There was no doubt a poison that could make a person shrink into a child form would be considered nonsense by people. No one would believe in it without a solid proof, but changing face was certainly possible and people knew it. They would believe it. Nowadays, people could change their faces if they took plastic surgery. If Yuriko Adams was alive right now, she could change her appearance and her face by taking plastic surgery. She could change her name and her identity too—Kaito knew very well about fake identity since he was a criminal—and if that indeed happened, then Yuriko could change her identity to become Lily Mizushima. They had similar names, similar skill, same eyes and same hair. They were both Japanese-American. Added with Lily's mysterious life—no link to the cyberspace world other than an email, no social media account, very limited information—It matched! Somehow it matched! Kaito's eyes widened in horror. He could not believe it!
"Yuriko Adams is Lily Mizushima?" Kaito stared at his tablet, looking at Yuriko Adams' photo. He was shocked. He did not even want to believe it. He felt as if a person who should be dead was brought to life again if what he thought was right. Kaito inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm himself, then he took his cellphone. He needed to do something to confirm his suspicion. He called his mother.
"Kaito? It's rare for you to call at this time," Chikage responded. "It's night in Tokyo, right? Why are you calling me? You can't sleep?"
"No, the thing is... well... Kaa-san, I need your help," he said weakly.
"My help?" Chikage sounded worried. "What is it? Are you okay, Kaito?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit shocked," the teen replied. "Kaa-san, I need you to investigate Yuriko Adams. Please."
"Yuriko Adams? Kaito, she's dead."
"Yeah, but there's something strange about her. She might be involved in Yusaku-san's incident, so that's why, Kaa-san, I need your help."
"Oh, okay, what kind of help? I can't investigate a dead woman, you know."
"Yeah, well, I need information about her family and her life when she was in Japan with her mother, also her father's relationship with her mother—whether they love each other or not, whether they were happy with their marriage or not—things like that. I think Yuriko's dad is still in New York, so maybe you can ask him, Kaa-san."
"New York, huh? Fine then, I'll do that. Anything else?"
"Kaa-san, if you can, please take Yuriko's fingerprint too."
"Her fingerprint? For what?"
"I need to confirm something with her fingerprint."
"Confirm what exactly?" Chikage asked curiously.
"I'm not sure yet, Kaa-san. Something about the sniper, I hope, but to confirm it I'll need her fingerprint."
"Yuriko's fingerprint.... It's not an easy request, Kaito. She's been dead for 4 years. I'm not sure if I can obtain her fingerprint after such a long time."
"I know, but can you at least try? Please, Kaa-san, this is important," Kaito begged.
"Alright, I can try," Chikage finally agreed. "Is that all?"
"Yes. That's all. Thanks a lot, Kaa-san."
"You're welcome. I'll tell you when I've finished my job," Chikage replied. "You'd better get some sleep now. You have school tomorrow."
"Yes. Night, Kaa-san."
"Night, dear."
Kaito sighed in relief after talking with his mother. Now he did not have to worry about Yuriko's investigation because his mother would take care of it. The only thing he needed to worry about was Lily Mizushima. Kaito had to get her fingerprint. If Chikage was able to obtain Yuriko's fingerprint, then Kaito could ask Jii to check if it matched with Lily's fingerprint and if it matched, Kaito would have a solid proof that Yuriko Adams and Lily Mizushima were actually the same person, that Yuriko Adams was alive.
Kaito stayed awake for another few minutes, making plans to get Lily's fingerprint before finally he decided to sleep. Starting tomorrow, he would spy on a certain kyudoka until he could obtain her fingerprint.
~o0o~
Chikage went back to Ekoda four days later. She was back to deliver Yuriko's fingerprint as well as to visit Yusaku and Yukiko. She complained to her son that her job in investigating Yuriko was not easy. Chikage had to pretend to be Yuriko's friend in the shooting club who came to visit Yuriko's father because lately she was interested in kyudo and she had heard that Yuriko was skilled in kyudo. She wanted to ask him where Yuriko learned kyudo because Chikage planned to learn kyudo too. Not only that, Chikage pretended that Yuriko was her best friend, so she thought she had to pay a visit to his best friend's father while she was in New York. That was the easiest excuse for her since she was skilled in shooting too and she had visited Yuriko's shooting club in California to investigate her before she visited Yuriko's father in New York.
Chikage put on her best poker face, acted as convincing as she could. She showed her knowledge about firearm so that Yuriko's father would truly believe in her. The Phantom Lady acted as pleasing as possible while fishing information from him and secretly put a sleeping pill into his tea cup. When the father was finally sleeping, Chikage went to Yuriko's room where the father stored her things. Chikage began to search for Yuriko's fingerprint. She collected every fingerprint she could find, then she waited until the father woke up. When the father finally woke up, Chikage said to him that he suddenly fell unconscious and told him to take care of his health. Not long after that, the Phantom Lady excused herself politely and went back to her hotel. She prepared herself for a flight to Tokyo on the next day.
On the contrary, Kaito's job to obtain Lily's fingerprint was quite easy. He only needed to take her fingerprint at her apartment's door when she was working at Arata's gym. He did not have any problem when spying on her. The kyudoka did not notice him since he was so good at acting and disguising. The unfortunate part was that Kaito could not obtain more information about Lily. He had disguised as Mia's fan and talked to some students in the dojo about Mia's instructor who was none other than Lily, but the students seemed not to know many things about her other than that she was half American and raised in New York, kind-hearted, very skilled in kyudo, and had a great concentration. Again, Kaito noticed that Lily did not give people much insight about her life. It was as if she was being careful of her identity.
From Chikage's investigation, Kaito discovered that Yuriko lived in Tokyo before she moved to New York because her mother was the only child and she did not want to be far from her parents. Her father accepted that condition and worked in Tokyo so he could live not far from his parents in law. A year after her mother died, Yuriko and her father moved to New York because her father had to work there, but in truth, he could not take the pain living in Tokyo without his wife. Tokyo reminded him of her greatly and he always felt sad when he remembered her that time. When Yuriko still lived in Tokyo, she learned kyudo from her mother who took kyudo as a hobby. They often went to a dojo for training. The dojo belonged to Yuriko's mother's friend who also took kyudo as a hobby. This dojo was Arata's dojo.
"So in other words, Yuriko's parents loved each other," Kaito concluded after listening to his mother's explanation. This meant that his idea about Yuriko's father cheated with another woman was almost impossible. "And Yuriko actually knows Arata?"
"Yes. She knows him ever since she was very young. Her mother often took her to Arata's dojo when she was still a child and when they visited the dojo, Arata was always there to practice kyudo with her mother," Chikage replied.
"I see..." Kaito was quite surprised with this information. If Yuriko was actually Lily, then it meant the kyudoka knew Arata very well. It meant that Yuriko's smuggling case and suicide might have something to do with Arata's crime. If Lily was Yuriko, then she could be the sniper too since she was a hunter and an instructor in a shooting club.
"Kaa-san, what about the fingerprint?" Kaito asked.
"It's all in that paper bag," Chikage pointed a paper bag on the table not far from them. "As I said before, I collected many fingerprints. I don't know whether they are Yuriko's or not. I also took her father's fingerprint, just in case."
"Thanks, Kaa-san. You really helped me." Kaito smiled.
"No problem," Chikage smiled back, "but I'm really curious about what you will do with those fingerprints."
"I'll just check it if it matches with another fingerprint," Kaito answered.
"Whose fingerprint?"
"Lily Mizushima, an instructor at Arata's kyudojo."
"Hold on, you suspect her as Yuriko?" Chikage asked in disbelief.
"Yes, and I have reasons for that." Then Kaito explained to his mother about how he figured out that Yuriko's name was similar to Lily's name, that they had the same eyes and hair, that they both were Japanese-American.
"If they turn out to be the same person, then most likely Lily Mizushima had something to do with Arata's crime. He could be the sniper," Kaito explained.
"That makes sense," Chikage agreed. "But still, this is quite a shocking theory, Kaito. If Yuriko Adams turns out to be alive all this time... oh well..."
"Yeah, I know," Kaito nodded. "I hope we will be able to confirm it soon."
"I hope those fingerprints are good enough to be examined," Chikage said.
"I hope so," Kaito replied. "By the way, Kaa-san, how long are you gonna stay?"
"I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow. I came here only to give you the fingerprints as well as to check up on you and to visit Yusaku and Yukiko."
"What? So soon?"
"I don't have much choice. I still have business in Vegas," Chikage shrugged.
"Right, of course," Kaito sighed, then suddenly he frowned as he realized something. "Kaa-san, you said that you wanted to visit the Kudos?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Well, do you remember when I told you that I visited them as Inspector Nakamori?"
"Of course."
"I think they have figured out that the inspector that time is Kid."
"Are you serious?" Chikage's eyes widened.
"Yeah."
"And? Do they know that you're the second Kid?"
"No. I think they only know that Kid visited them that time."
"Oh, then that's fine," Chikage sighed in relief. "Remember, Kaito, it's best if they don't know you. We don't want them to get involved."
"I know," Kaito nodded. He knew very well that his identity as Kid was very important. His goal to get Pandora and to capture Snake and his organization were top secrets because they were dangerous. He could not let the Kudos get involved in his problem.
Kaito got up form the sofa and walked towards the table, taking the paper bag which contained fingerprints in it. "Kaa-san, I have to deliver this to Jii-chan now. I need his help to examine the fingerprints."
"Sure. Be careful on your way," Chikage replied. A few minutes after that, Kaito was already on his way to Blue Parrot to meet his assistant. He seriously hoped that he would get a solid proof with those fingerprints.
Two days later, Chikage was leaving to Las Vegas. At the same time, the result of the fingerprint examination was out. It was exactly as Kaito had guessed. Yuriko and Lily were one and the same.
"Young Master, what should we do now?" Jii asked Kaito when they were at Blue Parrot.
"Is there any chance the police will notice this soon?" Kaito asked back as he stared at the result of the fingerprint test in his hand.
"I don't think so. Currently they focus on Arata's crime, so they would hardly notice this."
"Uh, that's right..." Kaito sighed. It could only mean that Kaitou Kid had to aid the authorities with his secret message again, just like what he had done in Gogh's Sunflower case. Perhaps if the police kept digging Arata's crime, they eventually would notice the truth about Lily Mizushima, but it would take a very long time for them to notice it. Why? Because they clearly did not look at the former Interpol's suspects anymore. Their attention was completely diverted to Arata and they certainly did not think even for once that Yuriko could still be alive.
"Alright, let's assume that I will help the police, but how am I gonna do that?" Kaito muttered. He rubbed his chin in deep thought. What could he do to make them notice the truth about Lily? 'Maybe I don't have to make the police notice it. I'll just have to make Tantei-kun notice it. That's always the easiest way, but how am I gonna do that? What should I do to make him notice it?' Usually Kid would give Conan some kind of message, a secret message so that people could not get the meaning easily. Kaito always had faith in his rivals, including Conan. He knew Conan would always be able to decipher his code, his secret message.
'Do I have to make a secret message for him again? But he'll need time to solve it. If Lily Mizushima is the sniper, she may have planned to kill Yusaku-san anytime now and I don't know when exactly she will do that if that really happens. Besides, that butler, Wolf, is still missing—huh? Wait a moment.' Kaito paused, thinking. He had not thought about Wolf lately. When Kaito thought about him again, it was possible that Wolf and Lily were partners in crime. The one who sent the letter to Kid could be Lily, but now Wolf was missing and Lily kept teaching kyudo in the dojo; she truly did not do anything but that. Why could she teach kyudo peacefully while Wolf was nowhere to be seen? Was he dead already? Did Lily kill him?
Was Lily really the sniper?
"Young Master?" Jii's voice brought Kaito back from his thoughts. "Is there something wrong?"
"No," Kaito shook his head. "Jii-chan, I need to know where Lily Mizushima was when Aoboshi heist occurred."
"Huh? Why?"
"That way I'll know who's the sniper who targeted me," Kaito answered quickly. "As for this result, can I have another copy? I want to give it to someone else."
"Who?"
"Tantei-kun."
Jii looked taken aback. "You want to give him this result? Just like that? No riddles, codes, just like that?"
"Yeah."
"Why? Will that be alright?"
Kaito smiled. "Yeah. Trust me."
"Oh, okay, if you say so, Young Master." Jii relented, did not ask for the reason any further.
"Thanks, Jii-chan," Kaito replied. The teen could not explain any further to Jii. He decided that he would give Tantei-kun the result without adding another problem with codes or riddles because he made promise to Chikage. He had promised her to help the Kudos. On top of it, he could understand Conan's feelings, his determination to capture people who had harmed his father. Kaito was in the same position too. He wanted to capture those people who had killed his father. If Kaito told Jii about that, Jii would ask more about Conan, like why Kaito did not give it to Yusaku instead of Conan or why Kaito could have such empathy towards the bespectacled boy. Kaito did not want any of that. He had to keep Conan's identity secret.
"So, Young Master, when are you going to give the result to that boy?" Jii asked.
"As soon as I can. Hmm... maybe tomorrow," Kaito answered. The sooner Conan read the result, the better. Kaito would send the result to Agasa's house, not Mouri's, since the result was a special gift for the Kudos. The teen was afraid Kogoro and Ran would become suspicious if they knew that Kid gave the boy a very important information openly—no riddles, no codes, no mystery—without asking anything in return. Kaito also decided to use a name which was familiar to Conan so that the detective could recognize it as a gift from the thief.
'Which name? I used so many names for my disguises. Does he remember all of them?' Kaito pondered. After thinking for a few minutes, finally the magician made his choice. He chose the easiest name to remember as Kid's name, a name which Tantei-kun was able to recognize a long time ago.
'Katsuki Doito.'
Yuriko (kanji: 百合子), from Japanese 百合 () "lily" and 子 () "child"
Mizushima (kanji: 水島), from Japanese 水 () "water" and 島 () "island"
Shimizu (kanji: 清水), from Japanese 清 () "clear, pure, clean" and 水 () "water"
I got those names and their meanings from some websites. I myself can't speak or write in Japanese.
Please leave a comment or a vote. Thank you for reading!