The Threat Letters

Professor Agasa stroked his chin for a moment, sounding less than certain. "In theory, yes... but actually pulling it off would take far more computing power. I suspect you'd need two Noah's Arks just to manage it."

"Then, Professor — at the press conference, did Noah's Ark really delete itself?" Conan pressed.

Ever since hearing Haibara out, he'd begun to wonder whether the AI had genuinely destroyed itself. After all, back then Ningguang had gone after the Schindler Group without caring how dangerous it was — there was no way she'd simply pass up a tool as useful as Noah's Ark. How could she have taken no action at all when it self-destructed?

"She did." Professor Agasa's answer was firm.

When Noah's Ark had "died," Agasa and the relevant personnel had inspected the mainframe in the press conference's basement themselves. The code really was gone — which was exactly why he could state with confidence that the AI had deleted itself.

Conan was mildly surprised.

So the reason Miss Ningguang hadn't intervened back then... was it because keeping an AI like Noah's Ark around would have meant serious trouble?

He remembered the economists and politicians at that conference who had watched the AI with such keen interest — and, in particular, the sour expressions on certain faces once it was confirmed that Noah's Ark truly was gone. That was his best guess, anyway.

But the moment Agasa gave his assured answer, the knot of worry Conan had been carrying finally loosened.

"See? It's not nearly as bad as you made it sound, Haibara. Has your persecution complex gotten worse lately?" Now that he was relaxed, Conan had energy to spare for teasing her.

"Don't be an idiot — I was describing the worst-case scenario." Haibara sounded genuinely annoyed at his cavalier attitude, and she drove the point home. "Look, I just get the feeling that Ningguang woman is different from those friends of yours — what were their names, Xiangling, Noelle? You'd better be more careful around her and anyone close to her. For all you know, she's got ties to the Organization, just like that Kaeya character did."

If Xia Yu had been there to hear it, she would have gained a whole new respect for Haibara Ai's sixth sense — because Ningguang was, in fact, about to become entangled with the Black Organization.

"Oh, and that Akasha Terminal of yours. If you're going to use it, don't discuss anything Organization-related over it." Having delivered her final warning, Haibara washed her hands of Conan entirely.

She turned to Professor Agasa, wished him a good night, and headed off to her room to sleep.

"......"

Conan watched her go, half-lidded eyes fixed on her retreating back.

Why did it feel like Haibara had gotten so much moodier lately? He'd made one little joke — he hadn't even said she was wrong.

If anything, Conan considered himself to be taking her warning very seriously indeed.

"Um... Shinichi? I think Ai has a point. You should keep an eye out, just in case..." Professor Agasa added hesitantly, "Not that I'm saying Miss Ningguang definitely has anything to do with the Black Organization, but a little caution never hurts..."

"...Yes, fine," Conan sighed.

He couldn't understand it. Why did the Professor think he wasn't taking this seriously too? He was taking it extremely seriously.

He even planned to find an opportunity to drop by Wanmin Restaurant and ask Noelle for whatever intel she had on Ningguang.

Thankfully, Haibara had no idea what Conan was thinking — otherwise she'd have been even angrier. She'd told him to be more wary of Ningguang, not to go running all over town digging up information on her!

A few days later, at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Mouri Detective Agency.

"So you want to find the person who's been sending threatening letters to one of your reporters. Is that correct?" Mouri Kogoro sat on the sofa, interrogating the client across from him with an air of utmost seriousness.

"Y-yes, that's right." The client nodded.

"Then please, tell me the details." Kogoro picked up the teacup his daughter had just brought over, took a sip, and waited.

Ran, having served tea to both Kogoro and the client, took her place at her father's side to listen as the man explained his request.

Naturally, the moment Edogawa Conan spotted a paying case, he had already scurried over to sit beside the great Sleeping Kogoro, ready to take in the situation alongside him.

The client took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and drew a business card from his bag, handing it to Kogoro.

"Detective Mouri, my name is Takeuchi Koichi, and I'm the editor-in-chief of the Beika Daily. I've come to you because one of my reporters has received threatening letters three days in a row now, each one more vicious in its language than the last. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yesterday's letter — the most recent — even had a razor blade hidden inside. If Charlotte hadn't been so careful, she might have cut her hand open."

"Oh, right — Charlotte is the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reporter on my staff who's been receiving the letters," Takeuchi added, once he'd finished laying out the situation.

"Did you bring those three letters with you, Mr. Takeuchi?" Kogoro asked.

Usually, anyone bold enough to keep mailing threats was confident no clues could be traced from them — but not always. He was, after all, a famous detective. Perhaps he could uncover something that others had overlooked.

"I did. Ah — here they are..." With that, Takeuchi produced three identical white envelopes and passed them over.

Kogoro took them and gave the fronts and backs a quick once-over. Perfectly ordinary, run-of-the-mill envelopes. All three had been opened already; he drew out the three sheets of paper one by one and spread them across the desk to read.

Ran and Conan crowded curiously in beside Kogoro to look at the letters as well.

Each sheet was plain white paper, its words cut from newsprint and pasted down with glue — assembled into sentences that dripped with menace.

Read from left to right, the three letters said:

Takeuchi hadn't specified the order in which the letters had arrived when he handed them over, but the content of each made it plainly obvious which was the first and which the most recent.

Having read them, Ran looked genuinely worried. "That's awful... Mr. Takeuchi, you said the last letter had a razor blade in it — is Miss Charlotte really unhurt?"

"Huh? Oh, she's fine. Charlotte spotted something off about the envelope the moment she saw it, so she opened it wearing protective gloves. Not a scratch on her." Takeuchi blinked, then answered.