The Life Potion
With everything finally over, Dr. Agasa was driving home, Conan in the passenger seat firing questions at him, while in the back seat lay Haibara Ai — freshly escaped from the jaws of death right in front of Pisco and Gin.
"What?! You're saying Gin killed Pisco?!" Conan demanded, stunned.
"That's right. I only found out because I overheard their conversation through the glasses Ai-chan left by the fireplace," Dr. Agasa confirmed.
"So — do they know my body has shrunk?" Haibara pressed a hand to her forehead, her voice thin and weak.
Dr. Agasa glanced back at her, offering what comfort he could. "Don't worry, your secret is safe. Though Pisco did mention that the Organization and some other party have an important collaboration in the works lately. His adopted son is involved with it, apparently, so killing him would have consequences. But before he could finish, Gin silenced him for good."
"A collaboration?" Conan turned toward the back seat. "Haibara, did you ever hear anything about this back when you were in the Organization?"
"No. I was just a researcher — I never had much idea what the Organization got up to on a day-to-day basis."
Suddenly, something surfaced in her memory. "Although... there is one strange thing. Before my sister died, the Organization once gave me a potion and asked me to analyze its components. I—"
"You couldn't figure it out?" Conan cut in.
Haibara rolled her eyes. "Quite the opposite. I analyzed every last component — nothing but ordinary plant compounds, blended together through some rather unusual methods."
"Then what's so strange about that?" Conan asked, baffled.
"Stop interrupting and let me finish," Haibara warned, then continued. "The strange part is its effect — I tested it on mice and found it improved their constitution and accelerated wound healing. A mixture of nothing but common plants, yet it produces something this miraculous. Tell me that isn't odd."
"I never once saw any documentation on this potion in the Organization. If they'd developed it themselves, there's no way I wouldn't have heard of it. Which means... if the Organization has some big collaboration going on, my guess is it's connected to this potion."
"You're right," Conan said. "That really is strange."
While Conan and the others racked their brains over what connection the potion could possibly have to the collaboration, another conversation about that very same potion was underway in a different car.
"What's this?" Gin studied the glass bottle in his hand.
It was the bottle Kaeya had handed him just moments after Gin had lowered his gun. A transparent, heart-shaped glass vial filled with pale blue liquid, its base and cap wrought of metal — and as it swayed, the liquid within drifted slowly, shimmering like golden sand. It looked less like medicine and more like a work of art.
"A Life Potion — premium grade."
Kaeya gave a brief explanation of what the potion did, then gestured at Gin's wounded arm. "Care to try it? If you're worried it might be poisoned, I'll take the first sip. There's no harm in drinking a little of it even when you're perfectly healthy."
"In fact, this is the very thing I've come to trade with your Organization. The Life Potion your Rum had analyzed earlier was the basic version — this one is the premium grade. It works faster and better; one dose and that wound of yours might be nearly healed. I hear you're your Organization's top killer. A man in your position getting held up by an injury would be terribly inconvenient, wouldn't it?" Kaeya coaxed, his voice silked with temptation.
Gin was, in truth, somewhat tempted. An injury that slowed him down meant missions compromised — that was one reason. And he didn't believe this man would be stupid enough to dose him outright. But even tempted, he wasn't about to try it now. He would never casually use something of such unknown provenance.
"What is it you want to know?" Gin had no illusions that a cunning man like this was handing over a potion as a mere courtesy — and he hoped the man had the sense not to ask questions he shouldn't.
Kaeya shrugged, smiling. "Then, in exchange, tell me about Cointreau. Not too much — a little will do. He's the one overseeing our future collaboration, you see. I'd simply like a general sense of the man."
Gin raised no objection to the terms. He gave a brief account of Cointreau — brief indeed; two or three sentences and he was done.
By the end, Kaeya had learned only that Cointreau was a veteran of the Organization, deeply favored by the Boss, and that the Organization putting him in charge of this collaboration was itself a mark of the Boss's regard.
"That's far too little. At least tell me what he looks like — save me the embarrassment of not recognizing the man when we meet."
Gin's brow creased. In the end, he offered four words: "Blond hair. Gold eyes."
With the conversation concluded, Vodka drove to the hotel where Kaeya was staying for the time being, then departed.
Kaeya remained standing at the hotel entrance, turning over in his mind the codename Gin had just mentioned — Cointreau, a name that had never once appeared in the original story.
And blond hair, gold eyes — the very same features as the Traveler's. Could it be a coincidence?
Meanwhile, inside the Porsche 356A.
After Kaeya had stepped out of the car, Vermouth took out her lipstick to touch up her makeup and asked Gin, "So? What's your read on this collaborator of theirs?"
Gin scoffed. "Hmph. A fox putting on airs. Don't take everything he says at face value — though his skills are probably the real deal."
"I found him rather witty, actually," Vermouth mused. "Not much of a gentleman, but he's still more likable than a certain man who wouldn't know charm if it bit him."
Gin ignored the jab and turned instead to the matter of Sherry. "Heh. Called it. Sherry showed up at the memorial after all. A pity we didn't take her alive — odds are she's off fleeing for her life with whatever man saved her."
"My, my. You're remarkably persistent about that little girl, aren't you?" Vermouth finished her lipstick, folded her compact, and smiled at Gin.
Gin's smile was ice. "Sorry to disappoint. Though I can't help wondering which woman it was who dragged me all the way out here to prop up that old relic — only for him to stumble on his own feet."
"Indeed. And to embarrass himself in front of outsiders, no less. Good riddance."
"Now that Pisco's dead, his adopted son Ireland is still in play. Should we swap out the participants for this collaboration? Better than having him underfoot later."
"Relax. At worst he'll hold a grudge against you. Turning traitor against the Organization — that he wouldn't dare."