GOAL BONUS CHAPTER #4
Aside from Inspector Megure, there were a few others present who seemed pretty used to Jiang Xia's way of solving cases.
After Jiang Xia casually said, "Tonoyama is the murderer," two officers who often shadowed the Megure stepped forward with handcuffs, ready to cuff the suspect.
But before they could make a move, they were quickly pulled back by Kisaki Eri and Officer Sato.
As Jiang Xia had mentioned earlier, there were still some details to confirm. If they arrested Tonoyama prematurely and later found out he wasn't the killer, it would not only wrong an innocent person but also create unnecessary trouble for Jiang Xia.
Inspector Megure clearly thought of this, and waved his hand, signaling his team to focus on processing the crime scene.
Jiang Xia didn't follow them. The phone in the store rang suddenly, and since he was closest, he walked over to answer it. "Hello?"
It was Mouri Ran on the other end of the line.
—Ran had just been in line to buy a cake when she turned around and found a crowd gathered at the entrance of the cafe. She had tiptoed closer, only to see police tape blocking the door.
The sight of the tape made Ran panic. She immediately thought of Conan, Jiang Xia, and possibly Kisaki Eri being inside.
The officers outside refused to let anyone in, so Ran saw the phone number on the sign and decided to call in to check on everyone.
Her voice was tinged with worry, "Is everyone okay? What happened?"
Jiang Xia reassured her, "It's fine, someone died."
Ran: "...Huh?"
Realizing his words could be interpreted the wrong way, Jiang Xia added, "I mean, it's just a regular murder, likely related to a personal vendetta. It's not like there are gangsters shooting guns around... Anyway, don't worry. We're all fine."
Ran sighed in relief at the last part, though she was still concerned about "someone died." The mention of a murder case immediately made her think of Jiang Xia's awful luck with getting tangled up in these things—luck even worse than Kudo Shinichi's.
Why did these incidents always find Jiang Xia? Couldn't he have a break and live a normal high school life without constantly encountering murders?
Fortunately, Jiang Xia seemed to handle his mindset well. Ran remembered his previous words about "realizing the value of life" and sighed deeply. She just hoped the police would solve this case quickly, and that Jiang Xia wouldn't be too affected.
After Jiang Xia hung up, he noticed a bunch of police officers crowded around the bathroom, so he decided not to interfere and waited for them to finish.
He had already seen the crime scene, and after the police finished collecting the evidence, he would go over it, run through the process, and wrap things up.
Jiang Xia glanced at the empty seats in the cafe and subconsciously picked a spot near the shikigami. This particular shikigami had been pretty temperamental during his lifetime, and even in death, he stubbornly clung to the murderer, Juzo Tonoyama.
Tonoyama, who had been anxiously staring at the crime scene, became even more nervous as Jiang Xia casually sat nearby, glancing at him every now and then.
His heart raced, and sweat drenched his shirt from the nervousness. But at the same time, he was a little indignant—he hadn't made any mistakes, so what was making Jiang Xia suspicious?
Dianshan racked his brain. Detectives rely on logic, not wild guesses. Thankfully, most of the police force was still busy in the bathroom. If he could just quickly deal with whatever had caught Jiang Xia's attention...
He mustered up the courage to sneak a glance at Jiang Xia and noticed that Jiang Xia was staring at his calf.
Tonoyama lowered his head and checked his legs, wondering if he had accidentally splashed blood on them.
Thinking this over, he pulled out a lighter and lit a cigarette, planning to burn the spot and destroy any evidence.
...
Jiang Xia was actually looking at the shikigami with satisfaction, when he suddenly noticed Tonoyama's eyes widen. The strong man bent down quickly, holding a cigarette and ironing his pants with the glowing butt.
The heat from the cigarette happened to cover up whatever might have been on his pants.
Jiang Xia froze for a moment.
For a second, he wondered if Tonoyama was trying to burn the ghost with his cigarette. The shikigami was basically like a flat sheet of paper.
Jiang Xia stayed quiet, letting his ghosts get ready to pounce on Tonoyama's face. But when he watched, Tonoyama didn't react, not even flinching. It was as if he couldn't see the ghosts at all.
Tonoyama was bad at spotting ghosts, but he noticed Jiang Xia's serious expression. His heart lightened—if the famous detective looked like that, maybe he had figured out what was going on.
A small smile crept onto Tonoyama's face, but at the same time, he was a bit worried. He hadn't been careful enough earlier and ended up splashing blood on his pants. Thankfully, Jiang Xia had been too focused on his legs to notice the curry stain he had caused.
With that thought in mind, Tonoyama gave Jiang Xia a mocking smile—this little detective was still too young. He had no idea how to hide things. Now, he had ruined the evidence, and Jiang Xia wouldn't know how to cover for him.
Jiang Xia, however, missed Tonoyama's little taunt. The ghosts he'd sent out were blocking his face.
After testing a few more times, Jiang Xia confirmed that Tonoyama couldn't see ghosts. He called the spirits back, feeling relieved.
At the same time, Jiang Xia thought, The murderer is really an odd one. Burning himself with a cigarette when nervous? He may look tough, but inside, he's probably a nervous mess.
With that mystery solved, Jiang Xia shifted his focus back to the bathroom.
By now, the police had taken photos of the top of the cubicle, opened the door, and started collecting evidence.
Jiang Xia entered the scene with Megure's silent approval. He quickly scanned the pile of evidence bags. His eyes lingered on a few key pieces for a few seconds, then, with a deep breath, he began his reasoning.
The way Tonoyama had committed the murder was by first stabbing the victim in the heart, then throwing her into the cubicle from above. He had likely pulled the knife out by using a rope tied to it, making it look like the victim had been stabbed inside the cubicle.
In other words, Tonoyama was extremely strong. He had made sure that the police would never suspect someone like him, a buff guy, to be able to scale the cubicle as he would never fit the gap.
"The evidence should still be with Mr. Tonoyama," Jiang Xia said, glancing over at the suspect.
Tonoyama looked up at him, then flashed a smug smile.
Jiang Xia: ...
The evidence was about to be pointed out, and Tonoyama was still grinning like that? Really, this murderer was a nervous wreck inside.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 3/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:0/10*