After the introductions, everyone began assigning rooms. Just as Hayashi Yoshiki had set down his luggage, Hakuba Saguru came over. "Yoshiki
After the introductions, everyone began assigning rooms.
Just as Hayashi Yoshiki had set down his luggage, Hakuba Saguru came over.
"Yoshiki-kun."
"What brings you here?"
"I heard all about the special investigation team. The upper police brass decided not to spend more resources on tracking down the unexpected killer. Why?"
"Because it's meaningless."
Hayashi Yoshiki's reply made Hakuba's expression shift slightly.
He pressed him for an explanation, but Hayashi didn't answer right away. Instead, he walked to the window and opened it.
The island breeze carried a faint salty tang.
Hayashi Yoshiki observed the wooden cabin—it had clearly been renovated thoroughly. Despite being on an island, there were no signs of mold or dampness.
"The killer isn't human."
"Not human?"
Hakuba's face froze in disbelief.
The fact that the killer was connected to artificial intelligence had been classified as top secret after the results were submitted. Not even Hakuba, son of the police commissioner, had been informed.
Seeing his stunned expression, Hayashi Yoshiki paused for a moment.
After a while, he said quietly:
"Technology is truly incredible, isn't it?"
"From the steam age, to the age of electricity, to the modern day… humanity can now launch satellites and monitor any corner of the Earth from space."
"Can you understand it, Hakuba?"
"If something existed that could model every element of a city—cars, people, traffic, environment—and run countless simulations using math and physics in a short time to achieve murder…"
"What would you think of that?"
Hayashi Yoshiki turned from the window and smiled.
Hakuba Saguru stood speechless.
Hayashi had just served him the "answer" on a silver platter, and Hakuba had never imagined the killer would be something like that.
But he had no reason to doubt it.
Shocking as it was, this explanation was far easier to grasp than the idea of writing a name in a notebook and killing someone at will.
No...
This had to be the answer.
It could only be the answer.
If such inconceivable acts could be done by human effort alone, that would be far harder to believe than technology.
Still, Hakuba Saguru had never once considered such a possibility, and so he stood there dazed.
Even when Heiji Hattori and Conan called out from the hallway, he didn't respond—deep in thought—until Hayashi Yoshiki walked up and gently patted his shoulder.
"Keep it to yourself."
"...I know."
Then, Hayashi Yoshiki and Hakuba stepped out into the hallway.
Heiji and Conan were standing there, watching them.
"You two sure are close, huh?"
The dark-skinned boy from Osaka grinned, but in truth, he was burning with curiosity about what they'd just talked about.
By now, they all knew Hayashi Yoshiki had joined the investigation team because of Hakuba's recommendation, so it was surely something related.
Hayashi Yoshiki didn't respond, only smiled and asked,
"How's your room?"
"Pretty decent. No mold, no bugs."
"Good to hear. Let's go. Didn't Mr. Renzo Koya call us downstairs just now?"
"Yeah, he did."
The group headed down the stairs.
Renzo Koya, the caretaker of the wooden house, had already prepared dinner. Once they were all downstairs, he led them to the dining room.
On the way there, they noticed signs of repair everywhere—the entire wooden house had clearly aged.
"Whose house is this anyway?" someone asked.
"No idea. Supposedly, some rich person's. But they stopped living here and now just rent it out cheap."
Not long after, Nanatsuki Koshimizu and Junya Tokitsu also came down.
Having been assigned her room, Nanatsuki had changed clothes—from her boyish tomboy style to her school uniform: a classic sailor-style outfit. Without her sunglasses, her face looked elegant and adorable.
"You all changed into your school uniforms, and now I feel completely out of place."
Because the whole thing was a high school detective project, everyone had changed into their school uniforms—even Hakuba, who claimed to study in the UK, had put on Ekoda High School's uniform.
"Well, you are the special guest," Conan said with a grin, hands behind his head.
"Mr. Hayashi, could I get your autograph later?"
While heading to the dining room, Nanatsuki smiled and took out a copy of Kindaichi from her pocket.
"Of course."
Hayashi Yoshiki accepted the book without hesitation.
...But in truth, the autograph meant nothing to her anymore.
This whole performance had been orchestrated by Nanatsuki Koshimizu—to avenge her best friend.
A year ago, in Shikoku, a locked-room murder had occurred at the Lavender Villa.
The heiress of the villa, suffering from mental illness and drug abuse, had hanged herself in her room.
A month later, a thief, scouting for future targets, had tampered with a window under the guise of being a cleaner.
A young detective noticed something odd about the window and—despite knowing the timing didn't match the death—insisted to the police that it was a murder case.
Nanatsuki Koshimizu's best friend had been working as a maid in that very villa.
When the heiress had locked herself in and hanged herself, she was the only one home.
As news spread through the media and police labeled it a murder, the maid was bombarded with suspicion from both the family and the public.
Eventually, unable to bear the pressure, she took her own life.
...
Looking at the well-worn book, Hayashi Yoshiki quickly signed his name on the title page.
"Thank you."
Nanatsuki took it back with a smile.
"I'd thought about going to your signing event in Beika Town before, but I could never make it in time."
"Is that so? Well, my new book is coming out soon. If you're interested, would you like to come then?"
"...Sure, I'd love to."
Even though she was thinking that she might not have a future after this, Nanatsuki Koshimizu kept her expression perfectly composed.
Hayashi Yoshiki then put the pen away and looked out the window.
Tonight's sky seemed darker than usual.
It would probably rain.
"Did anyone check the weather forecast for today?"
"Yeah, it said there might be thunderstorms tonight."
"Thunderstorms, huh…"
Hayashi Yoshiki found himself wondering—what does it actually look like when someone is struck by lightning?
Now that I think about it,
if Light Yagami had killed his victims by lightning strike instead of heart attacks,
his image as a "god" would probably have been a lot more convincing.
After all, if even the weather bent to his will…
Then even L might have been at a loss for what to do.