Bugging Alhaitham
Some of the blossoms were dewy and radiant, glittering like scattered gems; others were fresh and delicate, like white clouds drifting along the horizon.
They bloomed one after another as Nilou passed, as though she really had transformed into a flower goddess through her dance, lending each blossom an extra measure of brilliance.
The audience was utterly spellbound, sinking so deep into her performance that everything around them seemed to melt away.
"So that's the effect of that potion Alhaitham gave Miss Nilou?!" Conan's mouth hung slightly open, unable to quite believe the spectacle unfolding on the stage.
Even Subaru Okiya lost control of his squinting eyes for a moment, letting them ease open a fraction as he murmured under his breath, "A potion this powerful... The Organization had a great eye for talent back then, recruiting a genius like him. That's going to make him a real problem to deal with..."
"That's not magic or anything, right?" Genta asked, his face full of awe.
"It should just be the potion," Mitsuhiko said, though he didn't sound sure.
He had learned only yesterday, when he asked Kazuha-neechan, that Nilou-neechan had gotten the potion from a friend specifically to make the flowers bloom — but even so, he'd never imagined the effect on stage would be this incredible. At this point, he wasn't entirely convinced it was something a potion could actually pull off.
"No. No ordinary potion could do this," Haibara said, her expression troubled. Just how on earth was this done?
"It's so pretty! Nilou-neechan really is a flower goddess!" Ayumi couldn't have cared less about the science of it — she just clapped her hands together over and over, showering the stage with praise.
Suzuki Sonoko and Mouri Ran likewise kept their eyes glued to Nilou's performance, their gazes brimming with enchantment and admiration. At Ayumi's words, both of them nodded along again and again in wholehearted agreement.
And Xia Yu, seated off to the side, let the corners of her mouth curl up ever so slightly. She said nothing — instead she thrust her cheering sign high into the air, letting her actions speak for her support and encouragement of Nilou.
The moment Nilou's performance ended, thunderous applause swept through the venue.
Suddenly, Conan remembered something. He told his Ran-neechan once more that he needed the bathroom, and slipped away from his seat.
Before Ran could worry and try to follow, Subaru Okiya stopped her, saying that he would go instead.
Watching Conan and Subaru Okiya move off one after the other, Haibara's brow furrowed faintly.
By then, Conan had already arrived at the spot where he'd first seen Alhaitham.
Sure enough, there they were — the two of them, evidently planning to leave now that Nilou's performance was over.
Banking on the fact that he was currently a small child — short, unremarkable, easily hidden in a dense crowd — Conan quietly closed in on the pair.
From a distance, Subaru Okiya watched Conan's movements without moving to intervene.
For one thing, he was too conspicuous a figure himself; rushing in to stop the boy would almost certainly tip off their quarry. For another, Conan was a clever and bold child, and Okiya trusted him to read the situation and act accordingly.
So all he could do was stand there within range, ready to swoop in and pull Conan out of harm's way the instant anything went wrong.
Back when the Organization had rescued Kir, that young man had seen Conan at the hospital. If he spotted Conan here and connected him to the FBI, everything would fall apart — so Conan planned to steer clear of him entirely, ease his way close to Alhaitham, and plant both the bug and the tracker on him.
The operation passed without a hitch. Shielded by the passersby flowing around Alhaitham, Conan more or less smoothly accomplished his goal.
Now it all came down to how much intelligence he could gather before the man noticed anything.
Conan and Subaru Okiya slipped into a quiet corner. Conan adjusted his glasses, and the two of them began listening to the voice coming through the bug on the other end.
At first, neither of the two men spoke. All that came through were footsteps and the murmur of the surrounding crowd.
After a while, the other party apparently got into a car — Conan heard the doors open and shut — and then, at last, came the young man's voice.
"Hey, what's the holdup? Why aren't we moving? What, you suddenly forget how to drive?!" Wanderer snapped.
"No. I simply wasn't eager to get back to work so soon," Alhaitham replied.
Wanderer's voice dripped with mockery. "Hah. Far as I know, you already have it easy enough in the Organization. You've never put any real effort into that research of yours!"
Alhaitham denied it. "I've completed everything assigned to me. Besides, Cointreau piled extra work on me recently. There's simply more of it now."
"Oh~ You mean that solvent that strips off disguises? You finished it?"
At those words, Conan couldn't help twisting his head toward Subaru Okiya.
Okiya's brows lifted slightly, and he murmured in admiration, "This Alhaitham really is a genius, developing something like that!"
A dark line slid down the back of Conan's head. "Okiya-san, now is not the time to compliment the enemy."
And hadn't Kir sent word earlier that Bourbon, the Organization's intelligence specialist, would be making a move soon?
If Bourbon got close to them and grew suspicious of Subaru Okiya — what if he used that potion to test him?!
"Relax. I'll be careful," Subaru Okiya said, catching the note of worry in Conan's voice and offering the boy a soothing word.