Refuse to allow Conan to join the main storyline

The moment the basement fell into darkness, Shuichi Akai immediately gave up the briefcase in his hand and quickly took two steps back towards the open space in his memory, putting some distance between himself and Nekozuka, while putting one hand on the gun bag at his waist.

He didn't carry any light with him, and he was too passive in this situation where he had completely lost his vision, especially since the person next to him was Nekozuka!

Like Sakurai, Nekozuka should have been trustworthy.

But that was before he found the note that Fujiwara Yuto had hidden!

Although he didn't know what was written on the note, why did Fujiwara Yuto remind him of the existence of the note without telling Nekozuka and Takagi Ken?

Could it be that Fujiwara Yuto was coerced by Sakurai?

Is Nekozuka actually a guard sent by Sakurai?

This is very possible!

Otherwise, why didn't Fujiwara Yuto have a bodyguard before he applied to be one? But as soon as he mentioned this to Sakurai, Nekozuka suddenly appeared, and he was a close bodyguard.

You know, Nekozuka is a die-hard fan of Sakurai. Without Sakurai's order, Fujiwara Yuto probably can't command this person at all!

Moreover, Nekozuka hadn't answered him just now. Was it Fujiwara Yuto who asked him to help get the box, or did Nekozuka notice something and run down to observe the situation on his own?

Akai Shuichi thought a lot in an instant and prepared for battle.

Immediately afterwards, a beam of light appeared in front of his eyes.

Nekozuka turned on the flashlight he carried with him, without even looking at Akai Shuichi, dropped the box in his hand, and strode towards the stairs.

Akai Shuichi:......

Well, this wasn't quite what he thought.

Shuichi Akai hurriedly chased after him, intending to use the light from the cat mound to return to the upstairs.

But Nekozuka was too fast and disappeared at the end of the stairs in a few seconds, and Shuichi Akai's eyes fell into darkness again.

"Hey, Nekozuka! Takagi!"

Akai Shuichi called out twice, but no one responded. He only saw that the exit of the basement above was also pitch black, with a faint beam of light flickering.

Apparently, there was a sudden power outage outside as well.

Nekatsuka's voice called out, "Mr. Fujiwara? Mr. Fujiwara!"

Akai Shuichi's heart suddenly sank.

Something happened suddenly just when Fujiwara Yuto handed him a small note?

what is happening!

With the occasional bright light, Shuichi Akai groped his way up the walls and the stairs on the ground and quickly climbed up. Standing at the exit, he first carefully observed the situation outside and found no danger nearby. Then he slowly walked out with his gun in hand, stood against the wall, and looked around the room.

Then he saw a dark figure at the kitchen door, quickly searching the corners of the living room with a flashlight.

The furniture in the living room seemed a little distorted in the interweaving of light and shadow. The originally warm layout was now filled with a weird atmosphere.

Akai Shuichi called out to the figure tentatively: "Takagi?"

"exist!"

The other party immediately moved the light over and responded anxiously: "Mr. Akai, Mr. Fujiwara is missing!"

"Any extra flashlights?"

"Have!"

Ken Takagi responded and immediately hurried over and handed the spare flashlight to Shuichi Akai.

Takagi's attitude and reaction made Akai Shuichi feel a lot more at ease.

It seems that if there is a problem, it should be Nekatsuka's problem alone. At least for now, Takagi Ken will not stab him in the back.

He took the flashlight and put away the gun, asking, "Do you know where the power distribution box is?"

"Yes, it's under the stairs."

"Take me over there and have a look."

When checking the distribution box, Akai Shuichi asked, "I heard you shouting just now, what happened?"

While Takagi Ken was lighting Akai Shuichi with a flashlight, he spoke quickly, "When I was eating beef in the kitchen just now, I suddenly found someone peeping into the house from the window. Because you and Mr. Nekozuka went to the basement, I was worried about any unexpected situations, so I shouted loudly immediately to warn you and intimidate the people outside.

"But after I spotted him, that guy didn't get scared and run away. Instead, he smiled at me viciously! Then he pulled out a gun and seemed to be planning to shoot me through the window.

"I immediately hid under the cupboard. Before I could even shout out a warning, there was a loud bang outside, and the lights in the villa suddenly went out!"

"Did you see the man's face clearly?"

"No, the lights were on in the room and it was too dark outside. I only saw a black figure."

Akai Shuichi closed the cover of the distribution box: "There is no problem here, so it is very likely that the line was damaged from the outside. What about Nekozuka? Where is Fujiwara Yuto?"

As he spoke, he scanned the surroundings with a flashlight, taking a particularly close look at the sofa where Fujiwara Yuto had just sat.

Takagi Ken's voice was filled with guilt: "...I don't know. Mr. Nekozuka ran out of the basement and went to find Mr. Fujiwara first, but Mr. Fujiwara had already disappeared by then. Then Mr. Nekozuka discovered that the door of the villa was open, so he chased out."

The book that Fujiwara Yuto had just held in his hand was now thrown casually on the sofa.

Akai Shuichi took a look at the cover and found that it was indeed not an academic book, but just an English novel...

Throwing the book aside, Shuichi Akai walked to the entrance door and took a closer look.

"Takagi, did you see Fujiwara Yuto leave through the gate on his own?"

"No, not really."

"So did you and Nekozuka check the second floor?"

“…No.”

"Then how did you know that Mr. Fujiwara went out through the main door instead of hiding on the second floor?"

"Eh?"

Takagi Ken was stunned: "But we found that the door was open. If Mr. Fujiwara went to the second floor, why did he open the door?"

Akai Shuichi:......

What if Fujiwara Yuto opened the door himself, hid on the second floor, pretended to have left, and tricked Nekozuka away... isn't this a possibility?

In particular, the gate did not look damaged, and did not look like it had been violently invaded from outside.

Akai Shuichi stood by the door and thought for a while: "Takagi, you wait here, I'll go upstairs and take a look."

"it is good."

However, after a careful search, Shuichi Akai found that Fujiwara Yuto was not there.

So, did this person leave on his own initiative, or was he taken away by a third party who suddenly broke in?

Shuichi Akai found nothing and could only walk out the door and continue to expand the search range.

Ken Takagi followed him, and the two of them walked around the house half a circle, and finally found a few shallow footprints on the lawn outside the kitchen window.

In other words, Takagi Ken was not lying when he said he saw a shadow. There really was someone standing here just now, observing the situation inside the room through the window!

Shuichi Akai squatted down, carefully observed the shape and depth of the footprints, and simply measured the size of the footprints with his palm.

"From the footprints, it seems that this person is a woman, about 60 meters tall, maybe a little taller. She should weigh around kilograms. The pressure at the front of the footprints is a little heavier, and the step spacing is larger, which indicates that she walked fast, perhaps in a hurry or nervousness at the time."

Akai Shuichi's voice was steady and calm.

Ken Takagi stared at the man in front of him, completely shocked.

He knew that Akai Shuichi was powerful, but was he actually this powerful? Was this what the FBI was capable of?

This ability to detect traces is much faster than that of the Neon Police!

Takagi Ken was speechless and said dryly: "What else can you see, Mr. Akai?"

Shuichi Akai pointed to some tiny scratches on the edge of the footprints and said, "These scratches show that the soles of the shoes she wore were hard and had some wear and tear, perhaps caused by frequent walking. Looking at the depth distribution of the footprints, the center of gravity was slightly biased towards the front of the foot..."

Akai Shuichi narrowed his eyes slightly and murmured, "Looks like a guy with pretty good skills."

"Uh, any more?"

"Also, the grass blades around the footprints were slightly bent but not broken. Combined with the depth of the footprints, we can infer that she was gone not long ago."

So could this person be the reason for Fujiwara Yuto's disappearance?

Shuichi Akai stood up while thinking, and used a flashlight to follow the direction of the footprints, but was suddenly grabbed by Takagi Ken's arm.

"Aka, Mr. Akai..."

Ken Takagi's hands were very strong and his voice was trembling slightly.

When Shuichi Akai turned his head, he saw Ken Takagi looking up into the window with a grim expression, as if he had seen a ghost.

Shuichi Akai looked up suddenly and saw a dark figure standing in the window, looking down at them.

Seeing that he was discovered, the black shadow grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, smiled sinisterly, then turned and disappeared into the darkness.

"That's it, it's him!"

Takagi Ken shouted loudly, his voice changing tone: "The person who was peeping just now must be him!"