Idol's Peril 4

"...just three months ago, there was a murder happened right in front of the store!"

Kogoro's eyes widened, 'It's coming! The legendary Shinigami-sama effect!'

"Is it someone you know, Tenchou-san?" Kogoro asked.

The man shook his head, and replied, "No, I never met both the deceased Fujie-san and the killer Sugimoto-san. Not only that, according to the police, the culprit Sugimoto-san said he didn't even know the victim!"

Both Kogoro and Conan furrowed their eyebrows, and the boy asked when he noticed the detective didn't say anything. "Then why did that Sugimoto-san kill him? Is he maybe the legendary psychopath?"

The waitress then chimed in, "No, Sugimoto-san is suspected because he was the only person around Fujie-san at the estimated time the murder happened."

Kogoro finally spoke, "When exactly did this happen? And what's the cause of Fujie-san's death?"

The chef and the waitress of the ramen shop shared an uneasy glance, and answered, "It happened just when we were about to close the shop at midnight exactly on the same date as today, three months ago. There's almost no one on the street, except some bigwigs from the TV having a party at the building across the road. Sugimoto-san was apparently one of them. The police said Fujie-san was killed by a single blow to the back of his head"

Kogoro hummed, "Has the murder weapon been found yet?"

The ramen-chef felt himself sweating, "Yes, and it was a piece of loose brick from my flower bed right in front of this shop. Fujie-san was hit on the top of his neck, and the part of the head that was hit caved in…"

At that, Conan dropped from the stool, and ran to the front of the store. He looked around for a second, and found the aforementioned section of the flower bed.

'Loose brick… There's too many of them!'

Kogoro, annoyed at the boy's action, half-yelled at Conan, "Hey! Don't bother, the police had taken the brick back to the station for the forensics!"

Kogoro took Conan by the scruff of his shirt, and brought him back inside the shop. "Now finish your ramen, so we can go home early!"

Conan sulked, not happy with the man's interruption. Kogoro just ignored the kid, happily wolfing down the delicious ramen! The pair of cook and assistant were amazed by his ability to just ignore all that gruesome detail and just resumed eating.

Inside his mind, however, Kogoro was already thinking about the case. Was it really a murder done by the accused Sugimoto? Or was it a set up done by the true culprit?

'Maybe the shop owner? Or the waitress? The chance is not zero, given the murder weapon. Anyway, I'll go back first, then I can contact Miwako if I want to find out more about it.'

Satisfied, Kogoro called the chef. "Tenchou, please wrap two sets of gyoza for take out!"

The chef replied, "Coming right up!"

While waiting for Conan to finish his meal, and for his order to be done, Kogoro chatted with the waitress in a low voice.

"Ten'in-san, were you here when the murder happened?" Kogoro asked.

The waitress stopped wiping the table, and replied, "Yes! I was also cleaning the table when it happened."

Kogoro leaned in, "Hooo… did you see Sugimoto-san hit Fujie-san with the brick?"

The girl shook her head, "No, it was midnight, so the glass panel of the store was covered in fog. Look! It's also like that now!"

True to her words, even though it was not late yet, the glass facing the street was foggy. Kogoro could barely see blurry shadows of the shop's banner, and he was a man with enhanced eyesight!

"Right. How about sound? Did you hear anything?" Kogoro changed his approach, and this time, he was met with a positive result.

The waitress's eyes lit up!

"Yes! In fact, I told the police this, but they dismissed my testimony!"

Kogoro took out his phone, and opened a new note page. "Tell me all the details please!"

She put a finger on her chin, and stared at the ceiling. "Well, when it happened, I heard a whooshing sound, like when I swung around my clothes, but it was quite a long one!"

Kogoro's mustache twitched, but he stayed calm. "Do you mean this sound?"

Kogoro took off his suit, and swung it like a windmill.

"Yes! But instead of repeatedly whooshing, it's a single whooshing! You know what I mean?" The waitress practically beamed at his nod. Kogoro typed his thoughts on his phone, and saved it for later.

"If it's a long… 'whooshing', sound, then there's a possibility that the culprit used some kind of rope, and threw the tied brick from above and let it swing like a pendulum…"

Kogoro muttered under his breath, before he caught himself and said to the waitress. "Thank you for this, Ten'in-san!"

She flushed, waving her hands "No, no, no, I'm glad I could help you, Tantei-san!"

Kogoro let her return to cleaning, and he was just in time for his order. He thanked the chef, paid his bills, and called Conan.

"Let's go, bozu!"

Conan jumped down from his seat, "Wait for me, oji-san!"

The two went out of the shop, and as Kogoro passed the flower bed and noticed the size of the bricks, he was even more certain of his deduction.

'A brick with that size is too heavy for a single man to swing! What the hell is the police doing? How can they arrest a man unrelated to the case when it's clear he could never do the murder? It looks like I need to meddle with this one…'

As they walked, Kogoro opened the browser on his phone. He typed in the victim's name and the location of the murder, and sure enough, some news articles popped up.

'Let me see… Eh!?'

Kogoro's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. The cause is the photo above the article. It was Akiyoshi Fujie, Yoko Okino's ex-boyfriend!

~To Be Continued~

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A/N: Chapter 29 is already up on my patréon and ko-fi!

As always, my thanks to my patrons Dragon_knight240 and phil, and to all the loyal readers of this story!

segalengko69