The rain cleared, moonlight growing brighter.
At midnight, soft footsteps echoed in the villa's second-floor hallway.
A figure cloaked in black, face wrapped in bandages, crept to a door, eyes cold and crazed, gripping a heavy, sharp axe.
Click.
The bandaged freak turned the knob.
But he froze.
By moonlight, a tall figure in gray tracksuit stood on the balcony, smirking.
Wasn't this Chikako's room?
The bandaged figure, stunned, quietly shut the door, eyes blazing with killing intent.
Atsuko wasn't some hated nobody!
Raising the axe, he charged at Tsuneo.
"You'd kill me too?" Tsuneo knew this guy had lost it.
The hostility at dinner wasn't fake.
Facing the looming axe, Tsuneo sneered, advancing like lightning, moving ghostly fast.
The bandaged freak's vision blurred, his axe striking air.
Then, his chest felt like a freighter hit it—ribs snapped, organs tore with searing pain.
"Pfft!"
Spitting blood, his eyes dulled, body flying like a cannonball, crashing into the door with a boom.
Tsuneo approached, expressionless, checking his condition.
He'd used his shoulder, not elbow, holding back. Otherwise, it'd be more than broken bones.
The noise roused the tense group, who rushed to Chikako's door in pajamas.
"Conan-kun, was that really from Chikako's room?" Ayako, usually calm, sounded nervous.
"Yes, I'm next door. No mistake!" Conan nodded grimly.
No way someone dismembered could return to their room.
He glanced around.
Where's Tsuneo?
And chubby Takahashi?
Could it be?
Conan rushed to the door, twisting the handle.
It opened a crack, blocked by something heavy.
Through the gap, he saw someone on the floor, Tsuneo calmly wiping blood off his clothes.
…
In the living room, everyone but the gravely injured Takahashi Ryoichi gathered.
The truth was clear, but some details puzzled them.
As they discussed, Tsuneo grabbed a fancy cake from the fridge, eating while saying, "The motive's probably tied to Atsuko."
"Atsuko?" The film club members, including Ayako, looked shocked.
They'd all been so close. No one knew of any grudge between Chikako and Atsuko worth dismembering her for.
…
"You went to Chikako's room knowing he'd climb in to attack Ran?" Conan whispered, sidling up to Tsuneo.
With Takahashi's true build exposed, Conan pieced together the method.
The figure flashing past the window with Chikako was likely a puppet manipulated from above.
Marks on the second-floor balcony's wooden railing—two piano wire lines—confirmed it.
Chikako was already dead and dismembered; the puppet held just her head.
With wires, it swung like a pendulum.
After showing it to everyone, Takahashi, on the balcony, caught the puppet, hid Chikako's head in its "stomach," ran out, and dumped the body.
"Ran might not recall, but to Takahashi, she was the only one who saw his true self," Tsuneo nodded.
When Ran bumbled into the guys' room, she didn't look closely, but the killer didn't think so.
"When did you suspect him?" Conan asked, feeling thoroughly outdone. Tsuneo had prepared while he was still connecting clues.
"At afternoon tea, when he thought I badmouthed Atsuko. His glares were off after that."
"Walking from the forest to the villa, I felt someone watching us three—a dangerous sign."
"And one more thing," Tsuneo said, grinning, pausing.
"What?" Conan looked up, curious.
The first two points were suggestive but not conclusive. The last one had to be key.
"Appetite!" Tsuneo said, smacking Conan's head.
At dinner, Takahashi claimed he was dieting, eating one portion.
Yet he sat chatting without a hint of wanting more.
From a god's-eye view, Tsuneo found that odd for a 200-pound guy.
"That makes sense," Conan said, recalling Ran avoiding the table entirely when "dieting."
"But you…" Conan gave an exasperated look. Were you watching him so closely to guard your food?
"Heh, I figured if he saw someone in the room, he'd ditch his plan. But nope," Tsuneo said, tossing the empty cake wrapper in the trash.
…
The next day, from a conscious Takahashi, they learned the truth.
The Blue Sky, now in theaters, was Atsuko's script, stolen and published by her trusted friend Chikako.
Unable to bear the betrayal, Atsuko called Takahashi to say goodbye, then took her life in the clubroom.
A friend's betrayal led to a friend's death, turning a friend into a devil.
Yes, when Takahashi planned to kill Ran to cover his tracks, and swung an axe at Tsuneo over a jab at Chikako, he was no longer seeking justice—he'd become a devil.
(End of Chapter)
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