Chapter 159: Gloating
Through the rifle scope, Chianti watched Kir interviewing Kouki Domon, her patience wearing thin. "What's taking so long, Kir!" she grumbled into her comms.
From the back of the Porsche 356A, Gin monitored the scene through a hidden camera nestled in the brooch on Kir's lapel. "Good, Kir," he commanded, his voice a low rasp. "Just like that. Lead the DJ to the designated location."
"Good, just like that," Korn echoed from his own sniper's perch. Seeing everything unfold according to plan, a rare, thin smile touched the lips of the usually expressionless marksman.
Cointreau, seated behind Gin, leaned forward slightly. His eyes were fixed on the surveillance screen, a flicker of curiosity in their depths. It was strange, he thought, that no unexpected circumstances had yet arisen.
As if on cue, the mission's smooth progression came to a halt.
Pedestrians on the roadside began to recognize Kouki Domon. A crowd quickly swarmed around the popular political candidate, their bodies creating a chaotic, shifting wall of obstacles that blocked Chianti and Korn's line of sight.
"I see him. Can I fire?" Despite the throng of people, Korn still had a clear bead on his target. He radioed Gin, seeking permission to take the shot.
To Korn's disappointment, Gin's voice came back, sharp and prohibitive. "Wait, Korn. There are too many people in the way. Wait until the DJ sits on the bench before you fire."
"Perhaps we should just let them shoot," Cointreau remarked, his gaze drifting away from the monitor. He leaned back against the plush leather of the car seat, crossing his arms. "It's only a few more people. With Chianti and Korn's skill, they shouldn't miss." He offered the suggestion to Gin with an air of detached helpfulness.
'Honestly,'Cointreau mused to himself,'even without anyone deliberately trying to stop this operation, accidents are already piling up. If we don't act before that protagonist starts making his moves, I'm afraid there will be even more 'coincidences' later. This assassination attempt will almost certainly fail.'
Gin turned his head slightly, his silver hair catching the dim light inside the car. His gaze was sharp, analytical. "Why do you say that? Did you discover something?"
Cointreau raised an eyebrow, his tone casual. "I didn't discover anything. It's just a gut feeling. I'm only offering a suggestion; you're the one in charge here. The final decision is yours."
After a moment of tense consideration, Gin chose to stick to the original plan. He gave no order to fire. The initial strategy had accounted for numerous variables and remained, in his mind, the most certain path to success.
"Kir, why haven't you acted yet?" Gin's voice crackled over the comms again, his impatience evident. "Hurry up and get the DJ to sit on that bench."
Hearing Gin's urging, Kir moved toward Kouki Domon, preparing to guide him to the bench to begin the formal interview.
Soon, under Kir's subtle direction, the target began to walk toward the designated spot. A cold smile played on Gin's lips as he watched Kouki Domon approach the edge of the bench.
However, another accident occurred. One by one, the people surrounding Kouki Domon opened their umbrellas, their colorful canopies blooming open to completely shield the target's body from view.
Seeing the situation devolve on the screen, Cointreau instinctively reached a hand out of the car window, testing the air for rain.
He felt nothing at first. But after a dozen seconds, a single drop of water landed on his palm, followed by another, and then another. It was, unmistakably, starting to rain.
Cointreau pulled his hand back in. At this point, he had already guessed the truth. The 'rain'that had prompted the umbrellas to open around Kouki Domon wasn't real. It was man-made. Gin might have had a chance to notice the anomaly, but the genuine downpour that followed moments later served as the perfect cover, masking the contrived nature of the initial event.'The heavens really are on the protagonist's side,'Cointreau thought, a wry sense of resignation settling over him. He made a mental note:'If I want to oppose Conan Edogawa in the future, I have to be even more careful. I must pay closer attention to every detail, every coincidence.'
With the scene now awash in rain and obscured by a sea of umbrellas, the probability of a successful shot had plummeted to near zero. This assassination attempt had already failed. They could only move on to the backup plan.
Too impatient to watch the now-useless surveillance feed, Gin snapped the monitor shut.
What he didn't know was that if he had waited just a few seconds longer, he would have seen a small boy in the crowd stoop down to pick up a shoe that Kir had discreetly dropped. He might have then connected this child to Kogoro Mouri, leading him to suspect that the detective had discovered their plot and was tailing Kir.
But unfortunately, Gin turned off the screen too early. He discovered nothing.
On the other side of the city, Conan, having been spotted by Kir and sensing that something was terribly wrong with her, didn't have time to retrieve the transmitter and listening device he had stuck to the bottom of her shoe.
It was for this very reason that Conan and Jodie Starling were able to learn of the Black Organization's follow-up assassination plans through the bug. This intelligence allowed them to arrange for personnel to intercept the hit, and perhaps, capture one or two of the organization's codenamed members in the process, hoping to extract more information.
Of course, to ensure the safety of Kogoro and Ran Mouri, Jodie and Conan had Professor Agasa and Ai Haibara take them to the professor's house before the operation began. Later, Jodie would also dispatch two or three FBI agents to stand guard and protect them.
The plan went off smoothly. They successfully cornered a member of the Organization and incapacitated them.
The only unexpected outcome was that the person they caught wasn't Vermouth, but Kir.
Even more troublesome, Gin found the transmitter and bug under the sole of the shoe Kir had changed out of. As expected, his suspicion fell squarely on Kogoro Mouri. He informed the boss and prepared to abort the current operation to switch targets.
"Change targets?" Vermouth's voice came through the comms. She was sitting astride her motorcycle, flipping open her helmet with one hand while peeling off the latex disguise she had prepared earlier. "Then... where is the next target?"
"The next target..." A faint, cruel smile curled the corners of Gin's mouth. In a low, chilling voice, he announced the new name. "Beika Town, 5-chome. The Mouri Detective Agency—Kogoro Mouri."
Hearing the name, Cointreau, still in the back seat of the Porsche, raised an eyebrow with deep interest. He was truly curious to see Vermouth's reaction.
'Her reaction must be one of great shock,' he mused.
Then again, Cointreau felt that Vermouth should have been psychologically prepared for this the moment she saw Conan Edogawa at the Haido Park parking lot. With that child's active nature, it was only a matter of time before the people around him were dragged into the fray.
Even he, however, hadn't expected it to happen so quickly, for Gin to lock onto Kogoro Mouri so decisively. Although Gin hadn't yet noticed Conan, the true 'mastermind,' Cointreau felt that if things continued on this trajectory, it was only a matter of time before the child's unusual presence drew his attention.
He wondered how the little protagonist planned to solve this crisis, and how Vermouth intended to dissuade Gin this time.
Before long, Vodka drove up to Vermouth's position, picking her up. The group then set a course for Beika Town.
After Vermouth climbed into the car, she immediately noticed Cointreau's faintly gloating gaze and couldn't help but glare at him.
She shot a quick glance at Gin, who was sitting impassively in the front passenger seat, and swallowed the sharp retort that was about to escape her lips.
'Hmph,'she thought, her irritation simmering.'My Cool Guy might be in danger, and not only is Cointreau not helping, he's actually enjoying this. Just you wait. I'd love to see your reaction when that hard-won little princess of yours runs into trouble.'
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