Wednesday, February 14th.
Another Valentine's Day had arrived.
A full week had already passed, more than enough time for Ritsu to readjust to detective work once again. What made him especially comfortable was this,
Not a single criminal case had occurred over the entire week.
This lazy, peaceful lifestyle was honestly pretty relaxing.
Flipping through old case files, Ritsu originally thought today would pass just as quietly. He had even pulled out his phone to search for nearby restaurants, considering what to eat for dinner.
Speaking of which, Gin should be returning to Tokyo tomorrow. Maybe he should visit the laboratory tonight.
Since returning to Japan, he still hadn't gone to see that tea-haired little shorty. He wondered how she had been doing over the past year, and how far the research on APTX4869 had progressed.
Time passed quickly, and before long evening arrived.
Seeing that it was almost time to get off work, Ritsu started packing up his things ahead of schedule. Just as he picked up his briefcase and prepared to leave, the phone on Hayasaka's desk suddenly rang.
Why did he suddenly have a bad feeling about this?
Hayasaka, who had been resting her chin in her hand spacing out, snapped awake at the ringing phone. She quickly answered it and after hearing that a case had occurred, she immediately stood up and grabbed the car keys. She even remembered to turn back toward Ritsu, who was sprawled lazily in his chair with briefcase in hand.
"Inspector Onizawa, we've got a case."
"…"
What was the worst possible thing in life? Being told right before clocking out that you had to work overtime for free.
After taking the elevator down to the first floor, Hayasaka pulled out her keys and was about to open the driver's side door when she noticed Ritsu standing on the opposite side.
Frowning, she asked, "Inspector Onizawa… what are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Ritsu calmly opened the passenger door and replied, "Catching a ride."
"??"
Watching the superior she disliked climb into her beloved car, Hayasaka could only coldly remind him, "Wear your seatbelt. And no smoking."
Ritsu silently stuffed the cigarette pack he had just taken out back into his pocket. Resting his chin on one hand, he gazed out the window and felt that he really ought to buy some chewing gum for moments when he couldn't smoke.
Since the case had only just occurred, the Forensics Division had only begun processing the crime scene by the time they arrived.
With one hand in his pocket, Ritsu looked toward the luxurious mansion before him. The nameplate read,
Minagawa
The size of both the house and courtyard was absurdly large.
Definitely a wealthy family.
Pulling on a pair of white gloves, Ritsu walked over to the forensic officer currently taking photographs and asked, "Have you determined the cause of death yet?"
"The medical examiner hasn't arrived yet, but we can roughly conclude it was poisoning."
In Japan, medical examiners usually belonged to third-party institutions, and there were very few of them overall. Most criminal cases never even involved one.
"Then tell him not to bother coming."
Hearing those words, Hayasaka froze for a moment. A certain deeply missed face surfaced in her mind. He had once said the exact same thing.
Smiling bitterly, she shook her head. 'Now wasn't the time to miss him. Solving the case came first.'
Once he entered investigation mode, Ritsu's lazy demeanor vanished completely. Expressionless, he adjusted his glasses and crouched beside the victim lying face-down on the grass.
Facial flushing.
Tiny red spots appearing across the skin.
Dark brown residue remaining at the corner of the mouth.
Ritsu pried open the victim's tightly shut eyelids. The pupils were dilated.
Combining these symptoms, cyanide poisoning could likely be ruled out. The symptoms instead resembled poisoning from accidentally ingesting lily of the valley.
Turning his head slightly, he looked at the handmade chocolate lying on the grass nearby. There was a clearly visible bite mark on it.
And in the victim's hand was an extinguished cigarette.
'Cigarettes and chocolate, huh?'
Looking toward the forensic officer taking photographs, Ritsu instructed,
"Please send samples of both the cigarette and chocolate back for testing. Carefully examine whether either contains poison."
"Yes, Inspector Onizawa!"
Before all the clues were organized, Ritsu disliked jumping to conclusions. At this hour, many families would already have eaten dinner. There could very well be poisonous substances elsewhere too.
He was about to ask Hayasaka to begin questioning all the suspects when he noticed she was already handling it herself.
And it was at that moment that Ritsu realized three of the suspects looked oddly familiar.
A confident-looking teenage boy explaining the incident to Hayasaka.
A girl with flowing hair styled into a little horn-like curl with mousse, anxiously watching the boy.
And a young lady wearing a signature orange headband paired with a blue designer sweater.
Shinichi Kudo, Ran Mouri, and the second daughter of the Suzuki Financial Group whom he had met once before, Sonoko Suzuki.
Ritsu couldn't help adjusting his glasses. This really was becoming a gathering of familiar faces.
"I believe Minagawa-san accidentally came into contact with some kind of deadly poison, which caused his death."
Hearing Shinichi speak, Ritsu walked over with visible interest and asked, "Then do you remember exactly what foods the victim ate? Aside from the chocolate and cigarette."
Shinichi froze slightly.
Turning around in surprise to look at the white-haired young man towering over him, he couldn't help wondering,
'How did this guy approach without making a sound? Did he walk without footsteps or something?'
"…And you are?"
"Allow me to introduce myself." Ritsu pulled out his police ID and smiled. "My name is Onizawa Takashi, newly appointed Inspector of First Investigation Division Unit 3."
'Such a young inspector? Then he was probably part of the elite career-track group.'
The moment Sonoko Suzuki got a clear look at Ritsu's face, she immediately wrapped both arms around Ran's arm and whispered excitedly,
"Ran, Ran, look at Inspector Onizawa! He's insanely handsome! Valentine's Day really is bringing me romantic luck this year. Do you think he'd accept my chocolate?"
"He seems pretty gentlemanly, so probably? But Sonoko, the inspector is working a case right now. You should wait until after it's solved before giving it to him," Ran replied while studying Ritsu.
He really was an incredibly handsome and mature man. Just not her type.
She preferred, no, wait. It's not like she liked that idiot detective maniac or anything!
"Obviously I know now's not the time," Sonoko grinned mischievously. "I wonder how good his deduction skills are. Maybe we'll get to see a showdown between your future husband and mine."
"Sonoko, what are you talking about?! Shinichi is not my—"
Noticing Sonoko's sly expression, Ran suddenly realized she had instinctively assumed the "future husband" Sonoko referred to was Shinichi.
Realizing she'd been tricked, the embarrassed Ran lightly smacked Sonoko on the butt and whispered, "Stop teasing me!"
"Yes, yes~" Sonoko giggled smugly.
Her best friend really was hopelessly dishonest. She obviously liked that detective brat and still refused to admit it.
While the girls were gossiping, Shinichi looked seriously toward Ritsu and explained,
"About an hour ago, the victim, Minagawa Katsuhiko, ate sushi and other foods together with us. For dessert, there was sliced cake and coffee. But he only drank the coffee and didn't eat the cake. He said he didn't like sweets."
'Didn't like sweets?' Ritsu raised a brow slightly.
Someone who disliked sweets yet still ate chocolate… That meant the person who gave him the chocolate was either someone Katsuhiko loved, or someone he deeply cared about.
Stretching out a hand toward Hayasaka nearby, Ritsu said, "Let me see the suspect information."
The notes in the notebook were fairly brief, but all the key details were there. The corners of Ritsu's lips lifted unconsciously.
Hayasaka really had grown a lot over the past six years. Unlike before, she was no longer clumsy and careless. She no longer showed terrified expressions at bloody crime scenes.
There had even once been a time when she vomited up her breakfast after seeing one.
Walking slowly into the house, Ritsu's gaze landed on Watanabe Yoshimi, who sat on the sofa.
In a low voice, he asked, "Watanabe-san… after the victim ate your chocolate, he collapsed immediately, correct?"
----
Author's Note: Just to clarify, the current timeline is set one year earlier to canon. I want to further flesh out Shinichi's image as the "Heisei Holmes."
In the original work, there actually aren't that many cases solved while he's still in his Shinichi identity, so I made some adjustments and expanded the timeline from a year earlier. The timing of the "bonk on the head" incident will also be adjusted accordingly, because under my timeline setup, the characters will grow over time, so that event will happen within this earlier timeline. Please look forward to it!