**Chapter 72: The Return of the Dump Truck**
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"Fujino-kun?"
"Officer Sato?"
At the crime scene, Fujino heard a familiar voice and turned to see Sato Miwako leading a team of officers to the scene.
"What are you doing here?"
Sato Miwako approached Fujino first.
"I was invited to participate in a variety show."
Fujino scratched the back of his head. "Who would have thought that right after the show finished recording, something like this would happen…"
"I see."
Sato Miwako sighed upon seeing Fujino. This guy, just like Kudo Shinichi, seems to stumble upon cases wherever he goes!
She then led the officers to begin their investigation of the crime scene.
Suwa Tadahiko's body lay slumped in front of the window in the conference room on the fourth floor. A bullet had passed through his head, shattering the glass behind him.
The splattered blood had stained the glass of the up-and-down window red.
Next to his body lay a handgun and a portable phone, with the top of the phone stained red.
Forensics officers discovered two bullet holes on the wall behind Suwa's body. One was in a poster and the other was near the wall clock, with the bullet embedded in the wall.
In the corner of the conference room, the police collected four spent shell casings that matched the bullets found in the wall and the fatal bullet that pierced Suwa Tadahiko's head.
After interviewing witnesses, the time of death was estimated to be between 8:15 and 8:55 p.m. during the show's recording.
...
Fujino stood by the crime scene, his face dark as he stared at the body on the ground.
He showed no discomfort or sorrow, just a detached observation of the cold corpse.
He had grown numb over time.
Shaking off these unrealistic thoughts, Fujino took a deep breath and called out to Sato Miwako, "I've figured out how the killer killed Suwa-san!"
"So soon?"
Sato Miwako turned to Fujino in surprise, not due to his speed but because of the deep seriousness on his face.
"I think Suwa-san wasn't shot from the front but from above."
Fujino pointed to the right side of his forehead. "If it were a frontal shot, the bullet holes would be aligned horizontally."
"From above?"
Sato Miwako frowned. After quickly inspecting the bullet holes on the body, she nodded. "If it were a frontal shooting, the bullet trajectory should be relative, but the bullet holes on this body show a diagonal line, from the upper right of the forehead to the lower left of the cerebellum."
"And then there's that window."
Fujino pointed to the window behind Suwa Tadahiko's body and said, "If Suwa-san was killed at the window, the window should be covered in blood. But aside from the glass, there's no blood on the window frame."
"So I deduce that the killer didn't shoot Suwa Tadahiko from the front but rather from above."
Fujino walked over to the window and demonstrated. "The killer first lured Suwa-san to stick his head out of the window and then, from a room above, shot him directly from below."
"However, why would Suwa-san stick his head out to give the killer a chance to kill him…"
Sato Miwako's words trailed off as she looked at the blood-stained phone next to the body. "Could it be…"
"Yes."
Fujino nodded at Sato Miwako and pointed to Matsuo Takashi. "The killer is none other than Matsuo Takashi, the host."
"He first created those bullet holes in this room and then, during the commercial break, used a stomachache as an excuse to go to the room directly above and called Suwa-san to lure him to the window. He then shot him and threw the gun back into the room."
"Thus, he has a solid alibi!"
"If we check his phone, we can confirm whether he called Suwa-san."
"After all, portable phones can remember the last dialed numbers…"
Under Fujino's deduction, Matsuo Takashi soon confessed to his actions.
The police found gunpowder residue in the room on the seventh floor directly above and also found the fatal bullet downstairs.
Due to the hurried shooting, Matsuo Takashi's sleeve was stained with gunpowder residue.
With that, the case was resolved.
In the deep of night, snowflakes gently fell, turning the roads into a snowy white, with tire tracks winding through the white streets.
Having solved the case, Fujino rode his motorcycle back from the TV station to Gojōmachi.
Looking at the scattered snowflakes on his helmet visor, Fujino sighed.
It was warm and sunny just yesterday; how did it turn into a snowy day today?
The weather in the world of Detective Conan is as strange as time itself…
Shaking off the thoughts, he glanced at his rearview mirror and frowned. "Could it be that the timing is just too coincidental?"
In the midst of the snow, a white dump truck was also traveling on the snowy street, just a few meters behind him.
The dump truck had its high beams on, so it was difficult to see inside the cabin.
The truck had been tailing him since before, following him through several turns.
"That dump truck is still following me?"
Fujino squinted his eyes and deliberately turned off in the opposite direction of his home.
Looking in the rearview mirror, the dump truck still followed closely.
"Is it targeting me?"
Fujino gripped the motorcycle handlebars tightly, a bad premonition rising in his heart.
**[Detective Enhancement Activated: Host's Body Strengthened by 200%]**
"Buzz!"
As soon as the system enhancement was activated, a roar of an engine came from behind.
The dump truck, which had been moving at a steady pace, suddenly accelerated, its tires screeching due to insufficient traction.
Then, the dump truck charged towards Fujino's motorcycle at a speed of 70 to 80 kilometers per hour.
**(End of Chapter)**