Chapter 70: Human-Sized Monodramon

"Attorney Kisaki, what are you doing here?!"

Just as Inspector Megure stepped out of the restroom, following Fujino's suggestion, he was surprised to see Eri Kisaki at the scene with Ran and Conan.

"I made plans yesterday to meet my daughter here today," Eri replied, glancing at Ran before turning to Megure with a slight smile.

"By the way, Inspector Megure—oh wait, I suppose I should be calling you 'Chief Inspector' now..."

She paused, then continued,

"So, how's the investigation going?"

"We've managed to narrow down the suspects," Megure nodded.

"Based on Fujino's deductions, we believe the killer is among those who entered the restroom after the victim and before her body was discovered."

He scratched the back of his head, somewhat sheepishly.

"The problem is, it's a bit tricky to determine exactly who went into the restroom during that time..."

"Inspector Megure! I noticed who entered the restroom after the victim!"

"Conan, you did?"

"Yep!"

Conan nodded firmly.

No one knew why the kid had been observing who went into the bathroom... but Megure followed his lead and gathered everyone who had entered the restroom between the victim's arrival and when the body was found.

The suspects were brought to the scene.

There were four of them:

Yūichi Sumeragi, a college student working on a thesis,

Eri Kisaki, who came to meet her daughter,

Jūzō Den'yama, who had a bandaged hand and claimed he just come to chat with the café owner,

Shirō Wakaōji, a man who said he was meeting a girl for a date.

The classic four-suspect setup.

Megure leaned close to Fujino and whispered,

"Fujino, do you already know who did it?"

"I do."

Fujino nodded confidently.

Then, under the gaze of the room, he slowly raised his hand and pointed at the tallest suspect.

In a firm voice, he declared:

"Jūzō Den'yama—you are the one who killed Miss Himeno!"

Everyone immediately turned to stare at Den'yama.

Even Conan froze for a second—not looking at Den'yama, but staring at Fujino with a very odd expression.

"Hey, what kind of joke is that?! There's no way I killed anyone!"

Den'yama was stunned for a moment, then shouted in protest.

[Detective Mode Activated: 59 seconds remaining]

"Still struggling to deny it, huh?"

Fujino took a deep breath as the system notification echoed in his mind.

He held up the blood-stained knife sealed in an evidence bag for everyone to see.

"If I'm not mistaken, Den'yama first killed Miss Himeno inside the restroom stall with this knife."

"Then he tied a rope to the knife's handle and threw the body over the stall wall into the neighboring stall. Afterward, he pulled the knife back up using the rope—this way, her blood wouldn't get on him."

"Then he untied the knife and tossed it into the stall. That way, he made it look like a random robbery and murder by someone hiding in the stall."

"Only Den'yama—being the largest of the suspects and the last person seen coming out of the restroom after the body was found—could've pulled that off."

That's it!

Staring at the knife in Fujino's hand, Conan suddenly understood.

His brain quickly connected the dots—the killer was Den'yama.

But a moment later, his expression became odd.

Fujino only arrived at the scene a few minutes ago—what, not even ten minutes?

And he already figured out the whole thing?!

"Do you have any proof?!"

Den'yama shouted angrily.

"Even if I was the last one in the restroom, that doesn't prove anything!"

"Oh, I have proof."

Fujino smiled faintly and pointed at Den'yama's bandaged hand.

"Your hand—the bandage. If you used it as a rope, it'd be long enough for what you did..."

"Bandage?"

Conan blinked and looked at Den'yama's hand—and immediately noticed something was off.

He remembered the bandage was wrapped around a different finger earlier!

Conan's eyes widened, and in a childlike voice he said,

"Huh? Aren't wedding rings usually worn on the ring finger?"

He pointed at Den'yama's hand.

"When you came in earlier, your bandage was wrapped around your ring finger... so why is it around your middle finger now? Did you change it in the restroom?"

"If so, Mr. Den'yama, please remove the bandage and let the police examine it," Fujino added smoothly.

"If you used it to carry out your plan, it should have traces of Miss Himeno's blood on it."

He looked at Den'yama playfully.

"Or are you too afraid to let them check?"

[Fishing Hat Effect Activated]

"Damn it! I was so close to getting away with it!"

Den'yama's face suddenly twisted in rage.

"You little punks!"

He lunged forward with outstretched arms, charging straight at Fujino and Conan.

The surrounding police tried to intervene—

But Den'yama, nearly 190 cm tall and built like a tank, plowed through them like bowling pins.

Megure stepped forward, trying to stop him—

Only to be shoved hard into a bathroom wall, groaning in pain.

"Watch out!"

Just as Fujino was about to activate his system enhancement and brace for a one-on-one brawl...

He heard Ran's sharp voice shout from beside him.

He turned just in time to see Ran rushing forward at incredible speed, stepping in front of him to confront Den'yama.

First, she launched a spinning whip kick at Den'yama's waist—

He grunted and staggered sideways.

Ran stabilized herself, then unleashed a flurry of punches straight into his stomach.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

Thanks to his enhanced perception glasses, Fujino could count exactly how many punches she landed—

Ten. Ten full-force blows.

Every one of them hammered into Den'yama's abdomen.

She was like a human-sized Monodramon!

Then she paused, took a half-step back, and leaped into the air—

—delivering a flying kick straight to Den'yama's face.

THUD!

With a heavy crash, Den'yama was sent flying over two meters, crashing through the wooden stall door and collapsing unconscious on the toilet.

"Phew!"

Ran exhaled slowly, having subdued Den'yama.

She turned toward Fujino and Conan with a soft smile.

"Fujino-senpai, Conan—are you two okay?"

(End of Chapter)