Chapter 16: The Bomb in the Box
Since the bomb was still with the men in black, there was no point waiting for their deal to go through. While the bomb was still in their hands, they would never risk detonating it once they knew what it was — so the smartest move was to deal with it directly, right now.
With that decided, Xiayu excused herself to use the restroom and slipped out of her seat.
As she passed the seats of the two men in black, she feigned a stumble, using the moment to drift close to the box that held the bomb.
The two men were alert, as expected. The instant they sensed someone approaching, they hurriedly pulled the box away.
Xiayu steadied herself. "Ah, sorry about that — I lost my balance for a second. I think I may have bumped into your box just now. Nothing got damaged in there, I hope?"
The men in black were thoroughly annoyed. The last thing they wanted was complications before the deal went down, and they were eager to be rid of this person who had suddenly come near them. "Nothing's wrong! If you've got nothing else, you can move along!"
Seeing that they had no interest in conversation, Xiayu tactfully withdrew.
All of this had played out under Conan's watchful eye — he had only just returned to the car. When he saw Xiayu suddenly approach the two men in black, his heart nearly stopped for her.
Conan still believed these two were the very culprits who had shrunk him at the amusement park. They were likely cold-blooded criminals who wouldn't blink at killing, and if they decided to do anything to Xiayu, there would be no undoing it.
Fortunately, it was nothing more than a brief contact. They probably hadn't noticed a thing about her. Someday, he would reclaim his identity as Kudou Shinichi — and then he would hunt you both down.
"Conan...?"
Conan was lost in his own thoughts when someone suddenly called his name.
He turned toward the voice. It was Xiayu, waving to him from the door of the car. He felt a flicker of confusion — what could she possibly want with him all of a sudden? Could she have discovered something when she got close to those two men in black?
At the thought, Conan's spirits lifted, and he hurried over. "Xiayu-nee, did you need something from me?" Quick — tell me, did you find a lead on the men in black?
Xiayu glanced back at the men in black, and once she confirmed they weren't watching, she reached out and pulled Conan out of that car.
Conan noted the gesture, and it only strengthened his conviction that this was about those two men.
"Conan, I've always known you're a very clever boy, so I'm going to tell you something — and I don't want you to be scared." Xiayu did her best to reassure him. "I suspect there's a bomb inside that box the two men in black are carrying."
Conan's eyes went wide with shock. Of everything she could have said, this was the last thing he'd expected — and yet... "Xiayu-nee, how do you know there's a bomb in their box?"
"Well, the truth is my sense of smell is unusually sharp. When I got close to the box by accident just now, I caught a whiff of almonds. I know that dinitrotoluene — the compound used in making bombs — has a bitter almond smell too. On top of that, those two look like bad news at a glance, they guard that box like it's precious, and they were extremely sensitive about anyone getting near it. So I suspect there's a bomb inside."
"But at the end of the day, that's only my guess. I have no proof." Here Xiayu rested both hands on Conan's shoulders. "And that's exactly why I came to you. Adults are never quite as wary around children, so I'm hoping you can help me probe a little. And even if I've guessed wrong, it can all be written off as a child being a child."
Listening to this, Conan was starting to suspect there really was a bomb in that box himself. But smelling dinitrotoluene through a closed box — combined with that remarkable night vision back at the amusement park — he was beginning to wonder just who Natsume Xiayu had been before now.
Still, the urgent matter was confirming whether there was a bomb in the box. But one question remained. "Xiayu-nee, why did you think of asking me for help?"
Conan worried that she might have sensed something about him. Surely she couldn't have leaped straight to the absurd truth — that he was Kudou Shinichi, shrunk into a child's body — but she might have noticed he wasn't quite like other kids.
Xiayu had her excuse ready long ago. "Well, Conan's always been so clever, hasn't he? And so much more mature than the other children," — never mind that he wasn't entirely well-behaved, forever skating along the edge of the law with his wiretapping, his snooping into people's private affairs, his flagrant disregard for traffic rules, and so on — "I trust that Conan can surely find some kind of clue." That much was true enough; when it came to this sort of thing, Conan had always been remarkably reliable.
At Xiayu's praise, Conan felt a little embarrassed — even though, in his own mind, as a high schooler, all of this came as naturally as breathing. "N-no, I'm not half as amazing as you make me sound, Xiayu-nee~ But don't worry, I'll do my best to help."
Xiayu nodded. "Mm. Just be careful, Conan."
Conan walked back to the car where the men in black sat and took a look. Sure enough, they were fixated on that box, holding it carefully on their laps the whole time.
Conan considered for a moment, then suddenly ran up beside the men, playing the part of a curious, clueless child. "Ooh, mister, what's in that box? Can I take a look?" And with that, he reached for it.
One of them snatched Conan's hand away before he could touch it. "What do you think you're doing, you little brat!"
"Ah — ow, that hurts!" The man was gripping far too hard, and Conan cried out loudly. Only then did he get a proper look at the two men's faces. Huh. So they weren't the ones from the amusement park after all.
But that didn't matter now. What mattered was that there really might be a bomb in this box.
When he'd leaned in just now, he had sniffed carefully — and yes, there had been the faintest trace of almonds. And these two were being so careful with the box, even now doing their best not to jostle it. It very well could contain a bomb rigged to explode on violent impact.
By this point, Mouri Ran had noticed the commotion as well. She saw a stranger gripping Conan's hand while he yelped in pain, and rushed over at once.
Seeing someone approach, the man in black released the child's hand and barked roughly at Ran: "Keep an eye on your kid! Don't let him go grabbing other people's things!"
Then he checked the time, picked up the box, and the two of them headed off together toward the dining car.
Ran hadn't even managed to react before they were gone. With no other option, she turned to ask Conan what had just happened — but before she could get a word out, Conan tossed back "Ran-nee, I've got something to do! Gotta go!" and bolted out of the car.
What on earth could be so urgent?
Conan hadn't been chasing the men in black for long when he spotted Xiayu off to the side, talking with Genta and the others.
The moment she saw Conan trailing behind the two men in black, she guessed he must have confirmed something. There was no point waiting any longer. The more time dragged on, the more room for accidents — Xiayu decided she would move now, and move directly.