The Unknown Watchers
That said, when it came to sheer volume, Xia Yu and Charlotte really did get along wonderfully.
While Conan was studying the photos of Charlotte, over on the other side of the living room...
"So Miss Yoko came here to visit a friend?" Having heard Charlotte's explanation, Mouri Ran finally understood that Okino Yoko had come to this apartment building to see her friend, Mizunashi Rena.
"That's right, and it was only recently that I found out Miss Mizunashi Rena, the anchor at Nichiuri TV, lives in this same building too. She's in the apartment directly beneath mine, actually." Charlotte said with a smile.
"What a coincidence," Ran said.
Xia Yu nodded in agreement. "It really is. And Charlotte told me that when she went to interview Miss Ningguang a while back, she ran into Miss Mizunashi there too. The two of them seem fated to keep crossing paths, don't they?"
At that, Ran laughed. "They do. Maybe one of these days Charlotte can even use Miss Mizunashi to get Miss Yoko's autograph."
...
Miss Yoko's autograph?
Mouri Kogoro opened his mouth, then shut it again — he wanted one of those too!
It seemed he'd have to find a way to get on this Mizunashi woman's good side. Doing that would bring him one step closer to Yoko herself.
Takeuchi Kouichi, standing beside Kogoro, had by now noticed the great detective's wandering attention, and tactfully held his tongue, letting the man eavesdrop on Ran and the others without a trace of guilt. Before long, even his own interest was being pulled into their conversation.
After all — gossip, and gossip about a celebrity no less — who could possibly resist?
Hearing Ran and the others mention Miss Ningguang's name, Conan's interest piqued, he scampered back to Ran's side. To his disappointment, however, they didn't linger on Ningguang at all; the topic stayed firmly fixed on the TV anchor Mizunashi Rena.
Just as Conan was plotting how to steer the conversation elsewhere, Charlotte brought up something unusual she'd noticed lately — and his attention snapped right back.
"What?! Miss Yoko is in trouble?!" The moment Kogoro heard that Okino Yoko might be facing difficulties, he couldn't sit still, leaning in close to Charlotte. This time, though, he caught the look on Ran's face and stopped himself from being quite so rude — his tone only slightly more urgent than it had any right to be.
"Huh? No, no, nothing's happened to Miss Yoko!" Seeing the frantic expression on his face, Charlotte hurried to set him straight. "It's Miss Mizunashi who's in trouble. I only found out by accident when I overheard them talking — apparently she's been dealing with something lately. Miss Yoko has probably just been worried about her, which is why she's been coming to see Miss Mizunashi a bit more often these days."
"Trouble? What kind of trouble has Miss Mizunashi been having?" Ran's brow creased faintly with worry.
"Hmm... you don't suppose her problems have anything to do with the people in the building across the way — the ones who keep watching this place?" Xia Yu said hesitantly.
She had noticed the faint, furtive gazes from the opposite apartment building the moment she'd arrived at Charlotte's today. At first she'd assumed it was whoever sent Charlotte those threatening letters, keeping tabs on her. But the search of the culprit's residence had confirmed that only two people were behind the letters — and both of them were already in her hands.
Which meant the watchers across the way were most likely not after Charlotte at all.
Now that Charlotte mentioned Mizunashi Rena was having problems, Xia Yu couldn't help but wonder if there was a connection. As for whether Mizunashi was actually the watcher's target — on that, she couldn't be sure.
"Being watched?! Someone's been spying on this place?!" Contrary to everyone's expectations, the person who reacted most strongly was Takeuchi, who had barely said a word until now.
The moment he learned that there were spies in addition to the threatening letters, the editor-in-chief couldn't sit still, his voice rising in alarm. "Honestly, what is this place, anyone can just waltz in? Weren't we told security was tight? Someone slips right into the building to deliver a threat, and now there's a peeping Tom lurking around... No, this is far too dangerous! Charlotte, why don't you just move?"
Charlotte scrambled to talk him down. "There's really no need for that... Besides, whoever's doing the watching probably isn't after me at all. Editor, you don't need to worry so much. And honestly, if anything did happen, you should be worrying about the person who'd dare lay a hand on me. Relax."
Only after much wheedling and pleading did she manage to make Takeuchi give up on the idea of her moving out.
Seeing the editor-in-chief finally relent, the rest of them couldn't help but breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Conan wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. Takeuchi could really talk — even now, he could still hear the man's voice droning in his head.
Back to the matter at hand: everyone now knew someone in the building opposite had been watching this one, though whether Mizunashi was the actual target remained anyone's guess.
"How about... we go ask Miss Mizunashi herself?" Ran offered. "She's clearly been dealing with something lately. If we tell her what we know, and it turns out she really is the target, then she might know something about who's behind it. And if she isn't the target, we can still take the chance to ask what's been troubling her — maybe we can even help somehow."
"Excellent idea! A friend of Miss Yoko's is a friend of the great detective Mouri Kogoro — this is a job for me and me alone!" Kogoro was the first to leap to his feet in support of the plan.
Then he muttered under his breath, "If I solve Miss Yoko's friend's problem, she'll put in a good word for me with Miss Yoko, and then Yoko will admire me even more... heh heh."
By the end of it, he was practically purring with self-satisfaction.
Nobody else had any objections, and so, in perfect accord, the group made ready to head downstairs to Mizunashi Rena's apartment to ask her about the situation.
Meanwhile, in Mizunashi Rena's apartment, one floor below Charlotte's, Rena pressed a hand to her forehead, a headache blooming behind her eyes as she thought over the message she'd just received.
She never could have imagined that her little brother would track her current cover identity all the way to Japan — worse, she'd recently discovered he'd even gone looking for her at the TV station.
This was getting complicated.
She was still deep undercover in the Black Organization; meeting Eiyu was out of the question, let alone revealing who she really was. But she couldn't just let him keep digging, either. If the Organization ever noticed Eiyu, they would both be in danger.
And lately, she'd caught glimpses of someone watching her from nearby — almost certainly the FBI, suspicious of her ties to the Organization. All the more reason Eiyu couldn't be allowed to run around out there. She had to think of something, anything, to at least keep him a little safer.
With that, Rena's gaze fell on the newspaper lying on her desk — the one emblazoned with a photo of Mouri Kogoro, the "Sleeping Detective" — and she sank into a long, silent contemplation.