The sea breeze blew steadily across the deck as the man dressed in black did his best to hunch his tall frame against the cold.
He'd still been a little drowsy from staying up all night, but the frigid wind had cleared his head considerably.
"Mr. Augier."
Standing beside him with a bright smile, Rei tilted his head.
"You look like you didn't get much sleep last night. Those dark circles under your eyes are pretty noticeable. Would you like me to recommend a few ways to get rid of them?"
Leaning lazily against the railing, Ritsu glanced sideways at him.
'As expected of the man nicknamed the 'Women's Best Friend' by so many female members of the Organization... He even knows skincare tips.'
"No thanks. I'm not particularly concerned about things like that."
"I'm honestly surprised you invited me along on this mission, Mr. Augier. I'm flattered."
Originally, Ritsu had planned to bring Akemi along instead. But after learning she was actually his cousin, he simply couldn't bring himself to expose her to even more of the Organization's darkness.
Or perhaps, as her older cousin, he didn't want her to see this side of him.
Even if none of this was what he truly wanted to do, he had still chosen to do it for the sake of his ultimate goal.
"Heh. I just thought you—"
His words came to an abrupt stop.
Noticing the sudden silence, Rei looked at him curiously. He quickly followed Ritsu's gaze toward what appeared to be an ordinary family of three traveling together.
'Why would Augier react like that? Does he know them?'
Right then, Kogoro rested his chin on one hand and muttered irritably,
"Honestly, we could've gone skiing instead. So why does the great detective Kogoro have to travel all the way to some tiny island?"
Then he grumbled to himself,
"It's all because of that letter I got a week ago."
"'On the night of the next full moon, shadows will once again begin disappearing on Moon Shadow Island. Please investigate the cause. —Keiji Aso.'"
"What a pain. You can't just order people around like that!"
Ran smiled helplessly.
"Come on, Dad. Isn't this nice too? We get to relax on one of the little islands in the Izu Archipelago."
"Right, Conan?"
"Yeah!"
Conan nodded enthusiastically. "I'm super excited!"
The moment he lowered his head, however, a bitter smile appeared on his face.
'Honestly... Being forced back into first grade at Teitan Elementary has been miserable enough already.
How much longer do I have to keep pretending to be a little kid?'
Rei didn't miss a single word of their conversation. Stepping closer to Augier, he casually probed,
"You know that famous detective, Kogoro Mouri?"
But Ritsu didn't answer.
Instead, he quietly took out a face mask, covered the lower half of his face, and pulled a wide-brimmed bucket hat down to hide his features.
It wasn't because he'd run into acquaintances. It was because of the familiar name Kogoro had just mentioned.
Keiji Aso.
If his memory served him correctly, that man was already dead. Quickly pulling out his phone, Ritsu searched Yahoo Japan for "Keiji Aso."
As expected, there was a news article reporting that the famous pianist had died in a fire twelve years earlier.
"Mr. Augier? Why are you ignoring me?"
Rei leaned over like a curious cat, peeking at his phone screen.
After reading the article, he immediately understood. Combining it with what he'd overheard earlier, that meant a renowned pianist who had died twelve years ago had somehow sent an invitation letter to Detective Kogoro.
As someone who firmly believed in science and reason, Rei refused to accept such an explanation.
There was no such thing as ghosts in this world.
Ritsu shot Rei a glare for snooping before putting his phone away. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Something interesting is happening. Want to go watch?"
Rei chuckled.
"I never expected someone like you to enjoy gossip so much, Mr. Augier. But... I'd be happy to join you."
As he turned away, the smile gradually disappeared from Rei's face. He couldn't help wondering why Augier knew anything about Keiji Aso nor could he understand why he'd reacted so strongly upon seeing Kogoro's group.
'He's really a man wrapped in mysteries... Almost as mysterious as that woman who treats keeping secrets like a personality trait.'
...
Several hours later, the ferry finally docked at the small pier on Moon Shadow Island.
This was already Ritsu's third visit.
Knowing there was a good chance he'd run into Shinichi and the others, he decided to darken his skin to match Rei's complexion.
Just having tanned skin paired with white hair was still far too conspicuous. So he took out a black wig from his shoulder bag and changed his eye color as well.
Black hair.
Tan skin.
Ordinary brown eyes.
His disguise complete, Ritsu walked out and asked cheerfully, "Want me to disguise you too?"
Rei forced an awkward smile.
"No thanks."
Inside, however, he was silently cursing Augier.
The restroom's soundproofing had been terrible. Even while waiting outside, he'd clearly heard Augier complaining about his naturally healthy complexion while applying makeup.
"What do you mean 'Bourbon skin tone'?! What an infuriating guy."
"So..."
Rei shoved both hands into his pockets.
"What's today's mission?"
"Simple."
Ritsu glanced at his watch and smiled.
"Collect the dirty money. We still have plenty of time before the exchange. So let's look around. Think of it as an all-expenses-paid vacation."
"...Right."
Rei certainly didn't mind spending the Organization's dirty money.
As he wandered around Moon Shadow Island, he found the place surprisingly pleasant.
Unfortunately, their timing couldn't have been worse. The village election was underway, and campaign trucks kept driving back and forth with loudspeaker announcements.
Stopping in front of a bulletin board covered with campaign posters, Rei smiled.
"Out of these three candidates for village chief, only Masato Shimizu-san looks like a decent person."
"You've got pretty sharp instincts."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
Ritsu tapped Hideo Kawashima's campaign poster with his finger.
"He used to be one of the Organization's business partners. Meanwhile..."
He pointed toward the man above it.
"Tatsuji Kuroiwa is today's contact."
A flash of displeasure crossed Rei's eyes before his smile returned.
"I never would've guessed that, on such a tiny island, both the former village chief and the current one have ties to us."
"You were going to say this place is rotten to the core?"
"Something like that."
Hidden behind his back, Rei's hand clenched into a fist.
He'd never imagined that such a small island had effectively become a drug distribution hub controlled by the Organization nor had he expected their contact to be the village chief himself.
The honest people who worked hard here every day were forced to live under people like them.
"Now listen, Kenta. When you get home, make sure you sleep under your blanket properly, okay?"
"Okay! Bye, Dr. Narumi!"
Hearing a familiar voice, Ritsu instinctively turned toward it.
A female doctor with a ponytail, dressed in a white lab coat, was waving goodbye to a little boy. The lavender turtleneck successfully concealed the doctor's neck.
And...
The disguise around that particular area was certainly much more convincing than the last time he'd seen it.
Ritsu raised an eyebrow.
'Seriously... He's still keeping up the cross-dressing act?'
Whether out of amusement or simple curiosity, he walked over with a friendly smile.
"Excuse me, Doctor. May I ask you something?"
"Oh?"
The doctor smiled warmly.
"Certainly. What can I help you with?"
"Could you recommend a good place to eat? We're tourists from Tokyo."
Narumi didn't suspect them in the slightest. After recommending two family-run restaurants with good food, the doctor cheerfully added,
"There have been quite a few visitors from Tokyo today. Someone else just asked me how to get to the community center."
"Really? Thank you for the recommendations, Doctor."
Ritsu smiled before turning toward his companion.
"Let's go, Tooru."
"...Tooru?"
Rei struggled to keep a straight face. But the look of utter disdain in his eyes was impossible to hide.
"Yeah. I'm getting hungry anyway."
He truly had absolutely no idea what went on inside Augier's head.
----
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