Even with a slight lack of observational skills, his deductive reasoning more than made up for it. Fujino figured Mito wasn't half bad when it came to handling things. He nodded silently, feeling like this kid had a bright future. After all, the moment he started calling him "bro" and listening to him, that's when it became clear.
While the deduction was pretty solid, the culprits certainly weren't the two of them.
"You're just slandering us!"
"Yeah!"
Hearing that, both of them couldn't sit still, standing up agitatedly.
"Officer, what you're saying is a bit out of line."
Arimori, sitting nearby, also seemed displeased. "You're practically treating us as murderers... The culprit could have come from outside the hotel, you know."
"No, I actually think Officer Mito's idea is correct." Fujino shook his head, glancing at the people around them, and said gravely, "The killer is someone right here in this hotel, someone present now."
"Here we go..." Haibara Ai sat with her arms crossed, a hint of interest in her eyes.
Mito was slightly stunned, turning to Fujino, and excitedly asked, "Fujino, bro, do you already know who the killer is?"
"That's right." Fujino nodded. "Inspector Mito, could you please have your subordinates search the warehouse on the rooftop? Pay close attention to the parapet along the balcony edge."
"No problem." Mito gestured to his subordinate, then asked, puzzled, "But what does that have to do with this case?"
"Of course, it does." Fujino looked back at the group, then at the photo on the restaurant wall. "The killer used this to commit the crime."
"A hang glider?" Mito walked over to examine it, stroking his chin.
"Exactly, a hang glider." Fujino turned around and looked behind him. "If my deduction isn't mistaken, the killer is you, Arimori Mitsuyuki."
"What on earth are you talking about, Detective Fujino?" Arimori Mitsuyuki chuckled awkwardly, standing up and saying, "I was with you all the time, how could I be the killer?"
"It seems you haven't noticed yet." Fujino shook his head, walked closer, and glanced at Arimori Mitsuyuki's shoulder. "The Deep Mountain White Butterfly on your shoulder has already betrayed you."
"What?!" Arimori looked down, discovering a patch of white powder on his shoulder.
Fujino turned to Haibara Ai and asked, "Ai, you must have seen the Deep Mountain White Butterfly die on his shoulder earlier, right?"
"Yes, I noticed it then." Haibara Ai nodded calmly, stood up, and walked in front of Arimori with her hands behind her back, looking up. "Those powders should be the scales of the Parnassius glacialis... Although butterflies don't usually shed many scales, that Parnassius glacialis was in a dying state at the time. When it landed and died on his shoulder, its scales naturally fell onto him..."
"I noticed earlier that there were similar powders on Ms. Chizuru's lower waist." Fujino pointed at the white scales. "I believe those scales were left when you carried her and hoisted her up, weren't they?"
Arimori Mitsuyuki was clearly stunned, looking at his shoulder, lost in thought, his face gradually turning pale.
"Officer!" Just then, the chubby deputy returned, followed by two officers carrying a long, large bag.
"How was the investigation?"
"We found some scratches on the parapet directly above the victim's room. They seem to have been caused by something heavy being lowered, due to friction." He then turned to the bag. "And inside this bag is the hang glider that Consultant Fujino and you, Officer, mentioned."
"It seems quite clear now..." Fujino took a deep breath, turned back, and continued his deduction. "Mr. Arimori, you first took advantage of the morning to check the room, knocking Ms. Chizuru unconscious with something. Then you took her and the hang glider with us to the vicinity of the plateau. Afterward, you killed her during lunch, just as Mr. Shiromoto returned..."
"Miss Shinobu mentioned earlier that the original slope was where you used to fly hang gliders. At night, you pretended your car broke down, and after we left, you assembled the hang glider. Then you returned to the hotel and lowered Ms. Chizuru's body by rope onto the balcony, arranged her body in the room, then disassembled the room's security lock, reassembled it, and left through the emergency exit... That's why you refused my help with fixing the car back then," Fujino's eyes met Arimori's, and he said solemnly, "As for how you returned, thanks to Inspector Mito's insight, you secretly stowed away in Miss Shinobu's trunk when she came to pick you up, and then returned to the mountaintop, successfully committing this murder with an alibi."
"So that's how it is, as expected of Detective Fujino..." Mito pondered for a moment, then sighed with emotion. He turned to Arimori and Shimokado Shinobu, "If that's the case, Miss Shimokado, aren't you also his accomplice?"
"No!" Arimori suddenly shouted, "This whole thing was my idea alone. Shinobu knew nothing!"
"Mitsuyuki?!" Shimokado Shinobu looked at Arimori in surprise, appearing somewhat at a loss. "Why would you..."
"I think it's because of his brother." Fujino's expression was calm as he looked at Arimori. "Last night, I accidentally overheard his conversation with Ms. Chizuru. I heard that his brother, Teruhiko, and Chizuru used to be in some kind of relationship... but they broke up for some unknown reason."
"That's right, it's because of my brother. They were indeed boyfriend and girlfriend before." Arimori Mitsuyuki lowered his head, lost in thought. "When he went to college in Tokyo, he accidentally met Chizuru, who was acting at the time. That kid was quickly captivated by that woman's appearance. However, that woman only wanted his money from the very beginning!"
At this, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in Arimori's eyes. "Teruhiko spent so much money on her. In the end, that woman got bored and dumped my foolish brother... That fool, in an attempt to win back that rotten woman, even kept throwing money at her, going so far as to sell our family's ancestral hotel!"
Fujino understood. "No wonder you didn't know how to answer when I asked if this hotel was ancestral."
"Yeah, if I didn't have some connections with the current hotel owner, I might not even be able to run this hotel..." Arimori sighed. "But even after selling the hotel, he still couldn't win that woman back. Then, out of despair, he got into an accident in a hang gliding competition, crashing into a mountain. Because of that, we stopped hang gliding."
Mito frowned, clearly not understanding his reasoning. He couldn't help but ask, "So you killed her because you resented Ms. Chizuru?"
"Not exactly..." Arimori looked at Fujino and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Detective Fujino, you probably heard it too. I originally just wanted that woman to apologize to my brother, even if it was just offering incense. But her attitude was... At that moment, I decided I had to kill her."
"I think you're too foolish, and your brother was too foolish." Fujino looked at Arimori and remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Although that woman was indeed rotten, she never forced your brother to spend money... To put it bluntly, it was just unrequited love. It's not worth sending yourself to prison for over a decade for a woman like that."
"I know, but, sigh!" Arimori Mitsuyuki shook his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Detective Fujino, you're right. Killing for this is too foolish. But what's done is done, isn't it?"
"Not necessarily." Fujino shook his head. "Killing one person doesn't warrant the death penalty here in Japan. Strictly speaking, since you've confessed to the murder, it counts as a surrender. If you hire a lawyer for a reduced sentence defense, you might serve a decade or so. If you behave well, you might even get a reduced sentence and come out in your thirties or forties, still a free man."
"Really?" Arimori looked up at Fujino in surprise, clearly taken aback by a detective who, after catching him, didn't preach any trite lessons but instead explained how to get a reduced sentence.
Mito Koichi: "..." *What kind of tactic is this? Little brother, I'm still here! How can you just explain reduced sentences to the culprit?*
---
Outside Arimori Hotel.
The neon lights flickered and faded into the distance. A group of people stood at the entrance, their spirits exceptionally heavy. Fujino watched the distant police car silently, his eyes narrowed slightly. Honestly, there wasn't much to say about this case; just a ruthless older brother, a simp of a younger brother, and a rotten woman. If anything, they all had their faults, but perhaps none were entirely at fault.
"Minaho, I think we're unemployed again?" Honami stood at the hotel entrance, her expression somewhat dejected.
"It seems so, Honami..." Minaho stood beside her, her expression as dejected as Honami's.
"We have to find new jobs again..." The two fell silent for a moment, then sighed in unison, "Teacher Suou died, and Mr. Arimori killed someone. Is this some kind of curse left by the Showboat Mask's prank?"
With Arimori gone, though the hotel's future was uncertain, the Shimokasa sisters, who were introduced by an acquaintance, definitely couldn't stay. Constantly encountering murder cases at every job made them wonder if they had been cursed in some inexplicable way when they were taking care of Showboat's mask.
Fujino: "..." Only now did he realize. He seemed to have caused these two sisters to lose their jobs again? The first time, he personally caused Suou Beniko's death, making them lose their easy job as mask-caretaker maids. While he wasn't directly responsible this time, he was indeed the one who put Arimori behind bars. *Damn it, why do I feel a little guilty?*