On the subway, Ran lowered her phone with trembling hands, her face completely drained of color.
Tears slid down and blurred her vision.
[Does Mom not want me anymore?]
[Is she really going to leave?]
[Were all my efforts… for nothing?]
Her mind was in chaos. She stared blankly as the train carried her past one platform after another.
At the hotel—
After showering, Eri Kisaki changed into a fresh outfit, checked out in a hurry, and headed straight back to the building.
"Heiji, what did you find?"
She was still dressed casually. Because she had just showered, she hadn't even tied her hair up—long brown strands spilling over her shoulders, giving her a kind of charm that felt completely different from her usual courtroom image.
Heiji's eyes lit up.
"Ms. Kisaki, dressed like that, you could drop half the women in Tokyo on the spot."
Eri froze for a moment, glanced down at herself, then smiled with her usual composed elegance.
"Thank you. Being 'young' once in a while isn't a bad thing."
"Come take a look at these two things."
"This is…?"
Eri's pupils contracted sharply. She stepped closer at once, solemnity rising in her eyes.
"Is that a sniper rifle?"
"Uh…" Heiji paused, then corrected himself. "It's a tranquilizer gun. The shape is similar to certain sniper rifles, but its function is anesthesia."
"A tranquilizer gun?"
"It's a tranquilizer rifle modified from a sniper platform," Heiji explained, eyes bright. "It can fire tranquilizer darts within about fifty meters and knock the target out."
Heiji's meaning hit her immediately.
Eri walked straight to the parapet and looked down. Her face shifted.
"You're saying the real killer shot Ito Kazuki from here… and then escaped?"
"The casing is right over there."
Following Heiji's line of sight, Eri saw a dust-covered casing lying quietly on the ground. Her expression grew increasingly grave.
"Heiji, we need to call the police immediately."
Just then, sirens rose from below.
Heiji smiled faintly.
"That should be Inspector Megure and the others."
A short while later, Inspector Megure came running up with Sato Miwako and the rest of the team.
"Hattori—what you said on the phone… is it true? You really found more evidence?"
Megure didn't even pause to catch his breath. He looked at Heiji with open urgency.
Miwako hurried over as well, her long strides quick, a trace of tenderness flashing through her eyes.
"Inspector Megure," Heiji said, "you came at the perfect time. We need you all to witness this."
"You're… Lawyer Kisaki?" Megure's eyes widened in surprise as he recognized her. "If you hadn't spoken, I wouldn't have known it was you."
With her current outfit, Eri looked like a completely different person—most people wouldn't connect her to the "Undefeated Queen" of the legal world.
"You're Lawyer Kisaki?" Miwako and the others echoed, equally surprised.
Eri smiled calmly.
"Changing style once in a while—does it really warrant this much shock?"
"If Mouri saw you like this, he'd probably regret the separation," Megure sighed.
Eri's smile thinned.
"Inspector Megure, we're here to investigate a case, not chat about things like that."
"Ah—right, right." Megure laughed awkwardly.
"Inspector Megure," Heiji said, "these two items are what we found on the roof."
Heiji guided them to the evidence.
"M2000-NL tranquilizer sniper rifle?" Officer Chiba said, startled.
"It really is the M2000-NL," Takagi said, just as shocked. "My God—this is the latest tranquilizer rifle model."
Megure's face hardened.
"Then it seems Shiratori wasn't necessarily wrong. His collapse may not have been from intoxication—it may have been deliberate."
"Could Officer Shiratori have planted it here himself?"
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Chiba.
"I— I was joking," Chiba said quickly, breaking into a sweat.
"Officer Chiba isn't completely wrong," Miwako said, analyzing coolly. "It's not impossible."
Heiji shook his head.
"Hattori?" Megure asked, hope returning. "Did you notice something?"
"I did."
Everyone's attention snapped to Heiji.
"From this spot to where Officer Shiratori was standing is roughly forty meters," Heiji said. "The range of this tranquilizer rifle easily covers that. But with this weapon's power, if it fired a tranquilizer dart into Officer Shiratori, it would be impossible for there to be no mark at all. Yet from Officer Shiratori's condition and behavior, there doesn't seem to be any indication of that. There's only one conclusion…"
"His collapse has nothing to do with this tranquilizer rifle!"
Miwako and Eri spoke at the same time.
"Correct," Megure nodded, but his eyes flashed with frustration. "In that case… Shiratori could still be the killer."
Heiji smiled faintly.
"Inspector Megure, I never said that."
"Huh?" Megure looked at him, completely confused. "Hattori—say it clearly. Don't stop and start like that. You're going to give me a heart attack."
"Someone interrupted me," Heiji said, dryly.
Miwako immediately gave an embarrassed smile.
Eri smiled lightly and folded her arms, watching Heiji without speaking.
The rooftop fell quiet again as everyone waited for him to continue.
"Before that," Heiji said, "I want to ask you something, Inspector Megure. On the night of the incident, roughly how long did it take you to reach the scene after the gunshot?"
"At the time," Megure recalled, "Takagi and I were nearby collecting information. It took about three minutes."
"Are you sure it was three minutes?"
"I'm sure," Megure said, nodding firmly.
Heiji nodded, confidence rising in the curve of his mouth.
"Just as Miwako and Ms. Kisaki said—Officer Shiratori's collapse has nothing to do with this tranquilizer rifle. But that doesn't mean this was a performance staged by Shiratori himself."
Heiji gestured toward the edge.
"At the moment the gunshot sounded, Shiratori was downstairs—about forty meters away from this rooftop. Even if he were a magician, he couldn't have placed this casing here within three minutes and then returned to his original position. Throwing it from below is also unrealistic."
"He could have held onto it first, then later found a chance to put it back," Chiba offered.
Everyone turned to Chiba again.
"I… did I say something wrong again?" Chiba asked weakly.
"We restrained Shiratori the moment we arrived," Megure said firmly. "He's been under MPD supervision ever since. When would he have had the chance to come back and plant anything?"
"Oh—right." Chiba nodded rapidly, finally catching up.
"And there's more," Heiji continued. "I said before: Ito Kazuki's landing position was inconsistent. But if the shot was fired from here, the force and direction of impact could very plausibly knock him into the flowerbed. If you don't believe me, Inspector Megure, you can run an experiment."
Megure didn't hesitate.
"Takagi—find a dummy with roughly the same weight as Ito Kazuki. Miwako—your marksmanship is solid. Later, you'll shoot from this position."
Takagi and Miwako moved at once.
"Ms. Kisaki," Heiji asked, "aren't you going to record this?"
Eri took the phone Heiji handed her and smiled.
"This is the second time I've watched you solve a case, Heiji. No wonder those two girls like you. When you're serious, you're genuinely charming."
After several trial runs, every single simulated fall point landed—unexpectedly—inside the flowerbed.
Everyone's eyes lit up with relief and excitement.
Officer Shiratori was saved.