Kyo (Nagano Katsu) had heard many things about one of the members of Tantei Association.

One of them had this eccentricity within them, that the child is calculative, manipulative, cunning and above all: insensitive.

So it was no surprise that Kyo's jaw dropped when Ranran made such claims about his eldest brother staging his own kidnapping, "What are you talking about? Look at him!"His two hands directed Ryo, "He's lucky to be alive!''

Ogawa Touma, their manager obviously points at her and says, "Hey girl, did your parents not teach you to not simply make up stories about others?"

"Wait, "Shirou (Nagano Shinobu) raised his hand to stop the manager from shutting her up before he folded his arms across his chest. "I'd like to hear what that girl got to say."

Ryo's eyes were wild with shock. "They had me tied up!" he croaked, his tongue flicking his dry lips. "They smashed my guitar! I thought they were going to kill me!"

Sergeant Genzo then said, "Miss Kudo Ranran, you're making a very serious allegation," he warned.

"If she was, I wouldn't be working with her as my Tantei Partner-in-crime, sir, "Shinichi grins.

Junko meanwhile glanced at Kyo, then turned to Ranran and say, "Ranran, stop talking nonsense! You don't know what you are saying! Michio, "She then grabbed his arm, "Tell her to stop talking nonsense."

"Junko, Ranran never once talked nonsense when it comes to her job," Michio pushes her arm away, as his head turned to Ranran, "Guys, spill out what both of you have to say."

"Ok, thanks Michio."Ranran's red lip grew a wide grin before she proceeded with her explanation,

Pacing before everyone with all attention on her, she sets off to begin.

"Emiko," Ranran turns to the artist, "Since you are a fan of Red Illumination, how many staff members worked under the band Red Illumination in total?"

Kyo listened closely as Ranran began to speak, intrigued by the sudden change in topic. He wondered where this was going, but decided to let her continue and see where she was headed.

Emiko furrowed her brows as she tried to remember. "Um, I wouldn't really know."

"And why is that?" Ranran asked, her tone calm and collected.

"Because I'm just a fan," Emiko shrugged, then adds, "And even if I want to know, I wouldn't be too sure, because there were so many people running in and out when Sonoko took us to the dressing room."

Ranran nodded. "Exactly." The founder then called out to Junko, "Fuyuko, let me ask you something. Has anyone been fired after that hiring manager incident?"

Kyo was now even more intrigued as to where Ranran was going with her questioning. He watched as Junko shifted uncomfortably before answering, "No, after you and Shinichi sent over the records, no one has been fired since."

"So that meant they are familiar with being around Ryo, correct?" She sees the secretary nodding, "So even if Ryo were to leave the dressing room alone, people will take notice, right?"

Genzo could see where Ranran was going with her line of questioning. If Ryo was kidnapped, then how did the kidnappers manage to get him out of the dressing room unnoticed? It seemed highly unlikely, given the number of staff members and the level of security that would have been present.

"I had interviewed a huge number of staff with Shinichi for 4 days in a row," Ranran produced the records before handing them over to Genzo, "Although they might have been busy and frantic with the show, none of them had noticed anything unusual or out of the ordinary that day. However, they gave me one interesting detail about Ryo."

Ranran then turns to Ryo, "Since you are a lead singer with a huge amount of followers, it's ain't surprising to receive gifts from fans sent straight to your dressing room. The gift you received according to the staff was a mountain load, one had to be carted on with a trolley cart. But that day, one of the staff who is in charge of inventory stock that day... told me there were missing two things and that was feeling super frazzled, and we have to owe it to Shiro's meltdown at the hotel room for finding out how Ryo managed to get out of the stadium, undetected."

"Eh!? Me!?" Shiro pointed to himself.

"Yes, you," Ranran confirmed with a nod. "What was the cause of your meltdown?"

"My meltdown..."Shiro thought hard about it before remembering, "Wait, my drum!" He then rushed to her, "You found my missing drum!? Where is it!?"

"Well..." Shinichi nervously scratches his chin in silence, "About that..." He then called one of the officers to wheel in the drum on the tray cart.

Much to Shiro's livid horror as Ogawa the manager, as well as the rest of Tantei Association members, a large hole could be seen in the drum while the police officer wheeled it in.

Shiro's blood boiled as he saw the hole in his beloved drum. The rage inside him was building, and he turned to Ryo, his voice shaking with anger. "What the hell happened my drum?!" he demanded from the detectives.

"Well, it is part of the kidnapping plot," Shinichi sighs while he reveals, "Ranran was discussing with me the other day about the trolley trail left behind in the dressing room. It left a deep impression on the floor. Originally Ranran deduced that since Kyo mentioned the guitar went missing, she thought maybe one could use his favourite guitar to lure Ryo out and then kidnap him. But then she thinks since Ryo is a famous star, he could've screamed for help to get his guitar back outside. So the only conclusion was as soon as Shiro mentioned the drum went missing...."

Shiro was confused and outraged at the same time. He could not fathom how his drum was connected to Ryo's kidnapping.

"The drum itself is big enough to fit kids like us, and Ryo is 11 years old. Our conclusion was that the kidnapper used your drum as a container to hide Ryo in and transport him out of the building without being detected," Shinichi explained.

Shiro's anger grew madder by the minute, "So are you saying, that Ryo was the one who not only stole my drum, he was hiding in there all along?!" he exclaimed.

"Yes," Ranran confirmed. "Which is how he staged his own kidnapping in the first place. I assumed that the bodyguard, Desmond, use this trolley with the drum, hid Ryo, and then was able to get out of the stadium easily with the guitar next to the drum. It is a cart that wheels musical instruments after all, so no one would suspect an 11-year-old child who is hiding in the drum."

"Even so, to use a drum?" Everyone turned to Ran in disbelief, "If I were to flip the drum, then Ryo could've been exposed easily."

"Not quite," Emiko suddenly figures, thoughtfully rubbing her chin, "Shiro had a hot temper reputation, so no one would dare to lay a finger on his drum and end up facing his wrath."

"That's correct," Ranran nodded. "And since Shiro was so protective of his drum, the kidnapper was able to use it as a perfect cover-up. Plus, it's a good thing that Ryo is small enough to fit in the drum. If he were any bigger, this plan wouldn't have worked."

"Wait," Genzo raised his hand and asked, "Where did you find those drums by the way? When I sent my men there to raid Desmond's hotel room, we found no such thing."

"It was at the hotel where Ryo's parents' current was," Shinichi revealed.

"At a hotel, wait, hold on a minute!" Ogawa who was listening to all of this then became started, "Wait, at his parents' place!? Does this mean-"

Shinichi nods, "Yes, it appears that Ryo staged his own kidnapping with the help of Desmond and his parents. From our investigation timeline, it appears that the moment Takuma told everyone that Desmond was involved in Roy's kidnapping, he has to be on the run. But then he remembered about the drum he left at his hotel room, not wanting to be implicated for the kidnapping as he feared those drums could be used as evidence, he contacted Ryo and Kyo's parents to collect the drum and hide it there."

"He could've just thrown the drums away in some bin, why didn't he?" Ran wondered.

"There were many people looking for him, and the last thing he want was someone connecting the dots, that they used the drums as a container to sneak Ryo out, and that Ryo is the one who stage his own kidnapping."

"Unbelievable," Ogawa shakes his head in disbelief, "To think that his own parents were involved in this."

Even Kyo was growing pale, seeing him, Junko is certain at this rate, he is close to passing out. "Wait, what made the both of you suspect Ryo and Kyo's parents!?" Ran suddenly grew curious at that.

"When they didn't check in under the same hotel where Kyo and Shiro were on the day of the kidnapping, especially 4 days later." The founder continues to pace as if she is in control, "It was odd, I get it that the press is surrounding the hotel to get tidbits about their son's disappearance, which is why they ended up in another hotel that day. But they remained there even after 4 days? Kyo is their son as well, and he had a hard time sleeping without the assistant after their other Ryo went missing, so what would make them remain there?"

"So for the past 4 days, we stake outside their hotel," Shinichi adds, "And we noticed that around day 2, where they were lesser people, the two were wheeling something big into the lobby. In addition to that, when we asked the staff members in the hotel, they kept turning away the housekeeping services. 4 days in a row by no means. We then suspected that it could be the drum with Ryo inside," Shinichi continued. "So we waited until they left the hotel and then, secretly, checked their room. It was then that was how we found the drum."

"No way!" Kyo yelled, "Our parents will never do that sort of thing! That could've been a job of an outsider!"

Ranran nodded again, then turned to face the others. "If this was the case, that would prove difficult."

"In what way!?" Kyo argued.

"Kyo, you, your brother and Shiro had been starring since you were all around 6 or 7 years old," Ranran confronts, "I don't know about you, but if I was an outsider, even if one is to dig around the number of staff members surrounding the there of you, knowing your brother...is he the type to just simply open the door to a stranger? Even if one threatens him?" She then snaps her finger, "You had so many staff members outside the dressing room according to Emiko, don't tell me he could not easily call for help!"

Kyo lowered his head while Junko argued in his defence, "Now hold on just a minute, Ranran! What if Ryo and Desmond coerced Kyo's parents into helping them? They could have threatened to harm Kyo and Shiro if they didn't comply."

"It's possible," Shinichi agreed. "But the evidence we gathered painted a different picture."

"What evidence?" Sergeant Genzo asked.

"We found financial statements from their hometown," Shinichi answered. "They have been severely in debt for 2 years leading up to the kidnapping."

"Wait a minute, in debt!?" Takuma is in disbelief, "Red Illumination earned millions in dollars! And they send money to them! So how is it possible are they in debt!?"

"Simple, the moment they decided to hire a lawyer to challenge the estate of Nagano Jiro, the late great uncle of Ryo, Kyo and Shiro." Ranran rolled her eyes,

"Since they couldn't accept the results, they hired a high-profile lawyer to represent them, and it's been draining their finances for the past two years. They were desperate for a way out of their debt, and that's where dragging their son Ryo, and Desmond came in." Shinichi revealed, "It detailed their plan to stage Ryo's kidnapping and included instructions for his parents on how to help. Once they received the ransom money, it will be the end."

"In addition to that, there is more, "His partner turned to where Ryo and Kyo stood watching, "About Ogawa Touma, we did find a potential motive regarding the kidnapping. If he was the mastermind, he could've easily gained far more publicity for your band and made people more curious, they will spend more money out it through the sales of the album."

"Hey, watch it-"

"Let the girl finish," Shiro reminds the manager.

"If that is the case," All eyes are on a pale Ryo, who felt exposed as Genzo inquired, "Does this make him or his parents, or even Desmond the true mastermind of the kidnapping?"

"No." Ranran denies.

"Eh!?"

"The moment Shiro was discovered to have a bag of scissors with newspaper clippings in it while on a date with Emiko, I knew that the mastermind made a mistake as soon as he fainted."

"Fainted!?" Ryo and Kyo grew confused, while the keyboardist confronts Shiro, "You actually fainted!? Why?"

"You didn't know, right? That he had a severe phobia of sharp items thanks to his parents?" Emiko brought this up.

Kyo looked at Shiro, "Why didn't you tell me about your phobia, Shiro?"

With Ranran clearing her throat, everyone drew their attention back to the matter at hand. Af

"So here I was, wondering...why? Why framed Shiro and not Ogawa? Even the way how the person framed Shiro was sloppy. Not to mention, the first ransom note where the person left out the 'Don't call the cops' part. When Shinichi mentioned it could've been the mastermind's first time doing a kidnapping, I didn't really buy it. It was an inside job after all. But then...the more I think about it, the more his words were beginning to make sense."

The policemen and others who were there were stunned by Ranran's way of thinking, aside from Shinichi.

"If Ryo was kidnapped and the true mastermind, it would naturally be easy to assume that." Shinichi then stepped across and stood in front of Ryo, "But when Desmond was exposed by Takuma, it would not have been possible for Ryo to know about Shiro's unexpected plans when he decided to go on a date with Emiko if he was going to frame him, since Desmond was at that time on the run while Ryo is hiding out elsewhere, especially his parents."

"In other words, that was when you knew the mastermind is not Ryo, huh?" Junko shakes her head, struggling to digest all of this info.

"Then could the mastermind be that assistant of Ogawa-san?" Sergeant Genzo guessed, "He knew the inside out of the management, especially Shiro's schedules, he did after all vanish when we tried to confront him."

"He is one of the accomplices by supplying them with locations police are not likely to find Ryo, but not the mastermind," Shinichi corrected the man.

"Wait, how did you know that he was behind giving Desmond the locations? I don't remember sharing that info with you," The Sergeant questioned Shinichi.

"Desmond is a born American that barely travels anywhere near Japan, so if he was going to commit this kidnapping on Ryo, he would need to do it somewhere in a familiar environment. The problem was he isn't familiar with Japan, so the only way he could do so is to recruit someone who is familiar, which is the assistant. That assistant's family used to live in the abandoned city where Ryo was seen for the first time after all." Ranran explained.

"Impressive," Genzo nodded in appreciation, but then he remembered, "But Ranran, we arrested the assistant not long ago, and he admitted that while he did play a role in the kidnapping, he definitely didn't tell Desmond to relocate Ryo at Samehara Taichi Habour."

"Exactly," Ranran agreed, "Because the mastermind told him, not the assistant."

"Then who could it be?" Junko asked, feeling frustrated that they were still no closer to finding the true culprit.

"It has to be Desmond," Takuma frowned, "Or else who else could come up with such a scheme?"

"But Desmond ain't familiar with this place, he is American who had no history of being here, remembers?" Ran reminded the boy.

"Also, Desmond was the one who stopped us from going backstage at the concert. He was still at the stadium after Ryo disappeared." Emiko commented.

"He has his assistant to do it for him," Shinichi passed the investigation reports to Genzo, "On the day of the kidnapping, when everything was in turmoil before the kidnapping announcement, Ogawa sent his assistant to search for Ryo outside the stadium. During that period was probably the time he sent Ryo to that ghost-looking city."

"Even if he had done this in advance," Takuma filled with doubt, "Desmond wouldn't have known about Samehara Taichi Harbour unless he had someone who was familiar with the area."

"So it's got to be Ryo!" Michio points his finger at the lead singer.

"So who is it? The mastermind?" Ran found herself asking no one.

"As I said, I am innocent in all of this!" Ryo said sarcastically.

"As long as Ranran isn't finished speaking, zip your damn mouth!" Shinichi blasted at Ryo, enough to make the singer fall silent.

"Anyway to achieve the perfect kidnapping, one would need to recruit more people," explained Shinichi. "The mastermind had to stage a kidnapping, made it real as if it was done in an outside job, not an inside job. Ryo here has to be the innocent party, with no room for error. Which is why Desmond had tied him and gagged him up. Then after getting him to rip his clothes, and smash his guitar, he becomes the most convincing kidnapping victim."

Ryo looked around desperately "It's a lie! I am innocent!" He turned to Sergeant Genzo, "This girl...you can't simply listen to her, alright!? I am an 11-year-old boy! How can I be involved in doing something cruel!? You should be looking for Desmond and his partner! They're the ones who kidnapped me!"

"Takuma was the curveball you didn't see it coming because he discovered you unexpectedly a lot earlier after Desmond delivered the ransom note. Had the discovery sped up a lot quicker than expected, this kidnapping plan will become a bust overnight. That's why after Ryo contacted the assistant, he had no choice but to get Desmond to relocate you to another place. My bet is you weren't properly tied up at all. That's how you were able to warn them on a disposable phone."

"Eh?" That baffled the members, "Why would Ryo use a disposable phone?" Junko couldn't understand, "He has his own smartphone."

"If he used his own, police can use a ping tracker to trace his whereabouts. A disposable phone, however, would make a huge difference, no one knows the number, so even the cops won't be able to know where to search," Shinichi answered before reaching out to pluck a phone from the pocket of Ryo's jacket." I thought so," he grinned. "Another mistake. You didn't think anyone would search you, did you?"

He handed the phone to Sergeant Genzo and Ranran went on, "By the time all of us arrived at your first hiding place, you'd gone. But you were very smart. You knew that by not leaving any clue behind, there will be more suspicion over the fact you were the mastermind behind this kidnapping, so you had no choice but to leave samples of your hair behind and a guitar string. And where did the blood on the floor come from? You pricked your finger with a pin or something, right? Just to make it look like you'd been beaten up?"

Kyo raised a fist at Ranran. "How dare you make all this up! Ryo is a world-famous pop star! Anyone could have put that phone in his pocket while he was tied up!"

"Watch it!"Shinichi made a grab of Kyo's wrist and twist it, making Kyo wince in pain, "I didn't think you are that much of a coward to hit a girl!"

"Quiet, Kyo," Shiro said as he listens in excitement, "I want to hear more about what else this girl has to say about this. Such a shame I didn't bring caramel popcorn along to snack on while hearing the tea being spilt."

Beside him, Emiko gave Ranran an encouraging smile.

"Obviously, after trial and error over not being able to convince us that the other kidnapper ain't an outsider, they have a desperate situation on their hands. They can't afford to have themselves being exposed as the true kidnapper."Shinichi nodded.

"But then if that were the case, why not dump it on some adult then? Shiro is only a 10-year-old like me, if I want to stage a kidnapping, framing a child alone won't be as convincing as an adult!"Takuma sneezes once more.

"It's because the mastermind is a child like us, that is why this kidnapping plan was sloppy from the start," Ranran finally concluded.

The members looked at each other, stunned. It was hard to believe that one of their own could be behind such a sinister plan. "But who could it be?" Michio asked, breaking the silence.

"I think it's pretty clear, isn't it?" Shinichi said, looking at the horrified keyboardist, "Kyo, why don't you explain how you managed to frame Shiro right from the start."

Kyo's face turned pale as he realized that the jig was up, while everyone in the room gasped in terror.

"W-what did you just say!?"Shiro's jaw dropped at that revelation, even Ogawa was shaken. "M-my cousin, Kyo, planned all of t-this...kidnapping!?"

"I've never heard so much rubbish," growled Kyo, "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, I am only 11 years old! How can I be capable of planning such a level of scheme!?"

"When did you suspect Kyo to be the mastermind, Ranran?" Emiko wondered in awe at her intelligence.

"The moment he let all of you in as fake YouTubers. Naturally speaking, even a child celebrity would be wary if one carries a video camera and does not invite one into the room, correct? Yet, Kyo willingly invited the rest of the members plus my 3 friends into his hotel room without doubting their stories. Keep in mind that his brother, Ryo, was kidnapped hours ago, not in a position to let any stranger in, let alone kids like us. But the fact he did, meant he knew Ryo was in good hands," Ranran's words were enough to keep everyone alerted over Kyo's deception.

"That's very astute of you, Ranran," Genzo complimented her.

"In addition to that," Shinichi instructed Genzo, " I was so curious about the relationship between Kyo and the assistant, I had to dig into it. It turns out that the assistant had been recently fired from his previous job due to embezzlement of funds. And yet, Ogawa hired him as his personal assistant without knowing once more. It seemed highly suspicious to me."

Everyone looked at Kyo, who was now fidgeting nervously under their gaze. "I-I swear I didn't plan this kidnapping. I just wanted to save my brother, Ryo," he stammered.

"You didn't?" Shinichi challenged the keyboardist, "During dance rehearsal while Ryo went missing, the only people who knew about you and Shiro doing so was that assistant, Ogawa, and you. This is why you were able to get either the assistant or yourself to plant the scissors and the newspaper in Shiro's tote bag. You wanted everyone to think Shiro was jealous of Ryo. That's why he'd done all of that."

"But again, the frame backfired due to Emiko being a member of Tantei Association, she was too perceptive to notice this. So you had to have to kick things up a notch when you realized it wasn't going according to plan. Which is why you sent Desmond to kidnap Takuma," Shinichi continued, "Which was also another mistake that led us straight to you."

Ran asks, "Why is that a mistake?"

"One of the rules of us members...is to never reveal which school we studied from, and I have faith everyone within the association faithfully obeyed to that rule, except one...." Ranran's cutthroat glare soon falls on the spectacle girl.

"M-me!?" It was Junko's turn to grow furious, "I ain't that irresponsible, Ranran!"

"You ain't?" Ranran challenged, "The other day, while I was entering the main HQ, I overheard you mentioning to Kyo over the phone that all of us studied under the same school! Which is how Kyo ended up tipping to Desmond where to lure Takuma out!"

Junko's face paled at the accusation, "That...that was just a slip of the tongue, I didn't mean to...then what about Emiko then!?" She points at the rebellious artist, who merely rolled her eyes while the other accuses, "She was out with Shiro on a date, remember!? Why don't you suspect her to be the one that let slip?"

"But Fuyuko, Emiko never once said a thing about studying at the school where you all studied while we were on a date." Shiro frowned at the Tantei Association secretary.

"Of course, you would naturally say that! Anything to protect your-"

"Fuyuko," With the artist's hands both folded while giving Junko a warning glare, "I might not be Ranran, but I can't promise you that I won't take action against nonsensical girls like you the way Ranran does if you keep on rambling with that mouth of yours."

Junko glared back at Emiko, but it was enough to silence her.

Michio nods in agreement, "Emiko may have her flaws, but revealing confidential information is not one of them."

Even the others exchanged nods. "After Takuma's kidnapping, the suspicion naturally fell on either Shiro or Kyo, since both of them were in contact with the members, even outside the association hours." Shinichi sighed, wondering why are girls unreasonable when it came to love, "It wasn't until the tote bag and Shiro fainting, that we realized it had to be none other than Kyo."

Takuma sneezed and clutched the blanket even tighter around his body, "But the person who was driving ain't a kid, it was a man. If it was Kyo-"

"Obviously, children like us are still too young to drive," Shinichi told him, "And no idiot is going to bother risk going out in case he was recognized. He is, after all, a famous rockstar. So whoever that man the driver was wore a red wig just to confuse us. The purpose of this was again, to frame it onto Shiro, again."

"You know, based on my experience as a detective, even when we first met, Shiro's name was mentioned out of your mouth as if he was the bad guy, way more than Ogawa. The moment this tote bag incident happened, it became evident that the mastermind had a huge hatred for Shiro, which is none other than you."Shinichi rolled his eyes at Kyo.

"But..." The manager of Red Illumination became perplexed, "If that were the case...Kyo didn't really need to stay back while Ryo is kidnapped, he could have joined alongside Ryo to make Shiro guilty, not to mention, request more ransom money. I mean...what sort of brother would let Ryo be involved in such a thing? Especially with someone like Desmond?" Ogawa points out.

"Kyo didn't really have a choice, cause if he did join Ryo, should they both suffer under Desmond, there is no one to call for help if anything goes wrong. In addition, by remaining with Shiro and you, Mr Ogawa, he can get a glimpse of what the police are heading with the investigation, especially us, the association members over unmasking the true mastermind. His job is to no matter what...obtain a million dollars."Ranran narrowed her eyes at Kyo, making him more nervous than ever.

"That makes sense, "Ran rubbed her chin, "Kyo suddenly wanting the association members in the search of his brother, it was never out of concern, but more on tipping Desmond and the assistant about what we know about their plans."

Kyo's face was filled with hatred. "Even so, why on earth would my entire family and others scheme the kidnapping of my own brother? Especiall Shiro! Why in the hell would I want to frame him? And what part of him do I hate!? He is our family member!"

"Agree!" Junko grew red in anger over how much Ranran and Shinichi were accusing Kyo, and so was Ryo.

With a sly smile forming on her red lips, she answered, "Ogawa's tight control of the finance, popularity inferiority, and love."

"What!?" It was the manager's turn to gaze at the two brothers, in disbelief over their actions.

"It appears that after checking through financial records tirelessly for several days, there was nothing wrong with the money spent and managed by Ogawa. In fact, I was surprised to learn that there were no withdrawals. But what was wrong however was the way Ryo didn't like how the money was managed through this band." More reports were produced while Ranran quietly hands it to Genzo, with a shake of disapproval. "Aside from that, there is also...a girl he likes being delusional about Shiro but had no feelings for Kyo," This bombshell made most of the members of the association jumped in surprise, "Also, if we were to compare in terms of popularity, Shiro had more followers even if one combines Ryo and Kyo's account."

"And the staff members revealed to us some juicy bits, it appears that Shiro isn't the only one who spent ridiculous amounts of money on certain items. Except for the difference between Shiro and the two of you...while Shiro spent on practical reasons, the other two splurge for a taste in luxury."Shinichi confronts.

Ryo couldn't help but grit his teeth at Shinichi's cold words.

"And as to why they requestion specifically a million dollars rather than ask for more...It's because they knew that it was the amount that would be sufficient enough during retirement back at the village the three of them used to grow up there. Cost of living is cheap there is, after all, so a million dollars converted into yen is enough to thrive on till elderly age." Ranran figures.

"Retirement!?" Junko's eyes shot up, "How did you know about it?! I haven't told you anyone about my conversation with Kyo yet?!"

Shinichi gave Junko a small frown. "You just did. Ranran and I went to look for you to notify you about meeting up with Genzo at the meeting room since you didn't pick up your phone, but you two were speaking so loudly we overheard everything." Shinichi side-eyed glances at Kyo, who is seemingly very uncomfortable at this point.

Junko's face turned red with embarrassment. "Oh...I didn't realize."

It was a lie, Ranran planted a bug on Junko's secretly, just to eavesdrop on the conversation. She knew that if she ever get Junko to trick Kyo, she will use her idiotic heart rather than her numbskull brain to get anything out of Kyo, so it was necessary to do so. Not that Ranran is going to tell her upfront.

"But is a million dollars sufficient enough to last for them if one retires?" Genzo was doubting this, "The world is an unpredictable place, and things can easily go up in price. I doubt a million is enough. Also, even if Kyo is the mastermind..." Genzo looked down at the child, "Don't you think he would end up needing to pay the others who participated in the kidnapping?"

"Which is why this further backs us up the claims why Kyo was in fact none other than the mastermind," Ranran challenged, "An adult who knows the value of money will demand unreasonably more to settle debts, and bills and save it in case of things like inflation. A child however wouldn't understand how the world economy works, thus, they wouldn't ask for more than what they were promised."

Shinichi nodded in agreement. "Plus, we can't forget that since the assistant of Ogawa has experience in embezzling money and that he and Kyo are close, the assistant probably promised him ways over how to make the ransom money last longer than the average person would."

Kyo's face contorted in anger and frustration. "You have no proof of any of this! It's all just your speculations!"

"Who says we don't? We had it the moment you switched places with Takuma the other day." Shinichi chuckled.

Ranran pulled out her phone and showed Kyo a video of him recording his interactions with Desmond at some cafe, the assistant in some meeting room, and even to everyone's surprise, the former hiring manager who hired Desmond, a.k.a Shiro's stepdad, which took place in prison.

Kyo's face turned pale as he watched the video. He knew he had been caught, and he had no more excuses to make. "W-w-where did you get that video!? I thought..."

"It was password locked?" Shinichi grins widely, "We found it in your phone in the clothes Ran and Michio was going to return to you before Ran returned the phone to you. Just needed to copy out everything you had on your phone, and had someone build an emulator to run whatever you had on your phone. Then Ranran easily unlocked it."

"You bloody pricks! Did your parents not teach you what is an invasion of privacy!?

Kyo's eyes blazed with rage. He took a step toward Ranran and Shinichi, but Junko leapt in front of them both."How dare you lie to me?!" she accused him and aimed a swift kick at his knee.

"Ouch, "Both Shinichi, Ranran and Michio stare in horror at that sight.

Kyo screamed in pain. "Sergeant! Get her away from me! She's as crazy as everyone in that association!"

But Sergeant Genzo laughed."You should know better than to play with fire," he told Kyo.

Ryo edged away from everyone. "I'm not going to listen to any more of the lies both of you were spewing up and about! Neither of you can't prove anything against me! I've been kidnapped and held prisoner!"He swung round at his manager. "Mr Ogawa, do something! You're my manager! Take me back to America!"

Ogawa regarded him with a sad smile and shook his head. "I've heard enough, Ryo. You tried to force me to pay the ransom of a million dollars and it would have gone straight into your pocket. I'm no longer your manager. I QUIT!"

"And I quit, too," grinned Shiro"I don't want to play the drums for you or Kyo ever again!"

"Wait a bit, that would mean...an official disband! Time to open Twitter then put up status, "Ranran pulled out her smartphone and typed while reading out,"'Red Illumination has officially disbanded', #Redalert, #scandal, #Tanteiassociation-"

"Ranran!"Shinichi snatched her phone and put it in his pocket while glaring at her, while Ranran rolled her eyes.

"Come on, man! We are family!" howled Ryo, "Can't we let bygones be bygones?!"

"You tried to frame me is one thing, but for you to go as far as to destroy my reputation when you know I love making music for a living!? Hell NO!"Shiro growled in anger at his cousin, "Wait till our grandparents and parents get word of this, you are going to be in serious trouble! Oh, so you both think I am so easy to be framed huh?! Just wait till both they hear of this, they are so going to disown you! Just wait!"

Genzo crossed his arms, looking at Kyo with disappointment. "You had a chance to come clean, Kyo. But instead, you chose to lie and deceive us."

Shiro stepped forward, a look of anger on his face while he pulled Kyo's clothes to confront. "How could you do this, Kyo? How could you stage all of this kidnapping and put me through all of that? And all for what? If it was for money and popularity, I would get it. But for the idiot who died...is she worth all of this!?"

"Don't you ever call her an idiot!" Kyo lashes out, pushing Shiro away.

"Why is she not?! What did you ever see in that girl, that you are willing to throw everything away!?" Shiro began to list out the things the girl did to him during their childhood, "When I was in first grade, she threw my lunch away and laughed at me! If not, she would steal my drumsticks and break them. She even spread rumours about me and got me in trouble with the teacher! All of that was because I rejected her. And you know what? She never apologized for anything she did. She was a terrible person, and you're willing to throw everything for her? All for what!?"

Kyo's face contorted in anger while he stepped forward, "You don't get to talk about her like that! She was a victim in all of this!"

"A victim!?" Shiro mocked, laughing as if he had heard the funniest joke in years, "She was expelled from a prestigious school for cheating and lying, and she deserved it! She was never a victim, she was just a manipulative person who always got what she wanted, and now she's using her death to get back at me!"

Kyo's anger only grew, and he clenched his fists, "You don't know anything! You don't know what she's been through, what she's had to deal with because of you!"

Shiro scoffed, "What has she been through that justifies her actions? Huh? Tell me!"

Kyo took a deep breath, realizing that everyone around them is watching before deciding it was time he share his perspective.