Half an hour passed in a flash.
Just as Heizo Hattori was about to make a call and arrange for people to search, footsteps came from the corridor outside the room.
Instantly, everyone fell silent, staring intently at the door.
With a swoosh, the door slid open and Kurosawa Hoshino walked in. Seeing everyone staring at him, he understood what was going on and smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, I ran into something and didn't expect to be delayed so long."
"You brat, what exactly did you go do?" Kogoro Mouri demanded.
"Earlier, when I was outside, I saw a suspicious figure, so I followed it. But then—"
"But then what?" Heiji Hattori asked curiously.
"But then I found out it was a woman having an affair with a man."
Kurosawa Hoshino shrugged. This wasn't a lie—he really had run into that on his way back, so he might as well tell everyone.
Shizuka Hattori thought for a moment and asked, "Kurosawa-kun, how did you know it was an affair?"
"The man quietly asked the woman, 'Your husband's asleep, right?' When I heard that, I knew what their relationship was."
"Did you hear their names? Or what the man and woman looked like? Any general characteristics?"
"The woman had short hair, and for some reason she always spoke in a coquettish way. What impressed me most about the man was his full beard."
"Mrs. Sanada and Mr. Nishikawa." Heiji Hattori immediately named the two. There wasn't a neighbor around he didn't know.
Shizuka Hattori glared at her son. "Heiji, don't get involved in this. You might end up making people resent you. Remember that?"
Heizo Hattori also rubbed his brow. "Yes, don't spread things like this carelessly. You could cause trouble."
Seeing the conversation drift off, Kurosawa Hoshino picked up his bowl and chopsticks again and started eating. He hadn't eaten his fill earlier, and carrying Vermouth for a while had burned some energy, so he felt a bit hungry.
"Here, have some juice." Ran handed him a bottle of juice.
"Thanks." Kurosawa Hoshino twisted it open and took a big gulp, feeling great.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ran staring straight at him. He touched both sides of his face. "Do I have something on my face?"
"No." Ran shook her head, looked away, and silently started eating again.
The others also resumed eating. After all, during the half hour they were waiting for Kurosawa Hoshino, they hadn't eaten anything.
Kazuha sighed. "I never would have thought someone as nice as Mrs. Sanada would cheat. And Mr. Nishikawa is so ugly—how could she take a liking to him?"
Just then, the phone in Goro Otaki's pocket rang.
He took it out and answered. "What is it?"
"Huh? A murder?"
"Where?"
"Uh—"
Goro Otaki paused, his gaze involuntarily turning to Kurosawa Hoshino.
Kurosawa Hoshino raised an eyebrow. Thinking this was Conan's world, he said, "Officer Otaki, don't tell me one of the two people I just mentioned is dead?"
"Yes." Goro Otaki scratched his head. "Kurosawa-kun, it's indeed a man and a woman—the man's surname is Nishikawa, the woman's is Sanada, and it's right near this street."
No sooner had he spoken than Heiji Hattori and Conan had already run out, disappearing in seconds.
"I'll go take a look too." Goro Otaki said to his two superiors, then quickly chased after them.
"We should go too." As police officers, Heizo Hattori and Ginshiro Toyama couldn't stay sitting there when a murder had happened outside.
"Mr. Toyama, Mr. Hattori, wait for me." Kogoro Mouri followed as well.
In that short time, only Kurosawa Hoshino, Ran and the others, and Shizuka Hattori were left in the room.
Kurosawa Hoshino silently put down his chopsticks, realizing he couldn't stay and keep eating. Just as he was about to get up and go out too, Heiji Hattori and Conan actually came back, both looking serious and a bit helpless.
"What's wrong?" Kurosawa Hoshino asked. Ran and the others were also curious why they had returned so soon.
"Case solved," Heiji Hattori said with a bitter smile.
Kurosawa Hoshino narrowed his eyes. "Who solved it?"
"The murderer confessed," Conan said.
"Sigh—" Shizuka Hattori sighed. "Was it Mrs. Sanada who killed Mr. Nishikawa?"
Heiji Hattori's eyes widened. "Mom, how did you know? You're not involved, are you? Don't get involved!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Shizuka Hattori gave her son a look, then slowly explained, "Actually, recently, when I went out to buy groceries, I often saw Mrs. Sanada greeting Mr. Nishikawa. But every time after greeting him, when she looked at his back, there was a deep hatred in her eyes. I felt something was off. I didn't expect things to turn out like this."
Hearing this, Kurosawa Hoshino felt this was probably a case outside the main plot. He had no memory of it, so he stopped paying attention. After all, there was no point—the murderer had already confessed.
Half an hour later, Heizo Hattori and the others returned and explained what had happened.
Actually, Mrs. Sanada hadn't been having an affair with Mr. Nishikawa at all. One day, when Mrs. Sanada asked Mr. Nishikawa to help fix a water pipe at her home, he couldn't control his desires and did something terrible. He even took photos with his phone afterward and kept threatening Mrs. Sanada. After enduring it for a while, she finally couldn't take it anymore. Tonight, while Mr. Nishikawa was exhausted, she took out a knife she had hidden long ago and stabbed him to death. She called the police herself afterward and confessed immediately.
Late at night.
In a room.
——
——
Kurosawa Hoshino and the others were staying overnight at Heiji Hattori's house.
Ran lay on her futon, staring at the dark ceiling. Ignoring her father's snoring, she looked toward the dark figure on the futon next to hers and whispered, "Hoshino, are you asleep?"
There was no response except steady breathing.
Ran reached her hand out from under the blanket, stretched it to the neighboring futon, felt around, and pinched the boy's nose.
After a moment, feeling the breath on her palm grow stronger, Ran quickly pulled her hand back, as if nothing had happened.
"Huff—huff—huff—" Kurosawa Hoshino gasped for air, opened his eyes, turned his head toward Ran on the next futon, and asked sleepily in a low voice, "Did you pinch my nose?"
"I'm asleep," Ran's muffled voice came from under the blanket.
"Then I'm asleep too."
"Hey, Hoshino~"
"Hm?"
"Back then, were you really just following because you saw Mrs. Sanada? Was that really why you made an excuse to go after her?"
"Yes. Goodnight." Kurosawa Hoshino said softly.
"Mm, goodnight." Ran replied, slowly closing her eyes.