"If it's poisoning, then the culprit must be someone who handled the drinks."
Fujino turned to Noda Mumei beside him. "Miss Noda, did Kamata-san buy his own drink?"
"No, actually, I bought it!"
A short-haired woman in a breezy outfit pointed to a drink stall nearby. "I went over there, got four drinks, and came back to our seats."
She glanced at the chubby guy next to her. "Mitani, after that, I handed the drinks to you and went to the restroom, right? I didn't get back until the play started."
"And you, Mitani-san?"
Fujino shifted his attention to Mitani. "Did you pass the drink to the deceased Kamata-san?"
"Yeah, that's right…" Mitani nodded. "But I only kept my oolong tea and Koga's iced coffee. Noda handed out the rest."
Noda Mumei jumped in. "Exactly. Mitani gave me my orange juice and Kamata's iced coffee, and then I passed the iced coffee to Kamata…"
"That's how it went, yeah?"
Mitani cut in. "No, you took the iced coffee from me and gave it to him."
"Huh?! What are you even saying?"
Noda Mumei bristled as the blame swung her way. "You're the one who handed me the iced coffee in the first place!"
"Okay, both of you, let's cool it."
Takagi stepped in to smooth things over. "Can you all tell me your relationships with the victim, Kamata-san?"
After Takagi's questioning, the group explained they were all Teitan High graduates and former drama club members.
The short-haired woman was Koga Mai, the chubby guy was Mitani Yota.
They all worked near each other, so they made it a tradition to visit Teitan High's festival every year.
Since today was packed, Koga Mai had gone to buy drinks alone while the others saved seats.
Kamata was supposed to tag along but suddenly bolted, looking flustered…
The reason? Likely the girl selling drinks at the time.
Her name was Ninagawa Ayako—shoulder-length black hair, frameless round glasses, a melancholic beauty vibe. She was the only daughter of Mihua General Hospital's director.
"So, you were the one pouring drinks and knew them," Fujino said, eyeing the group. "That means any of you could've slipped in the poison."
"Wait a sec!"
Koga Mai panicked. "If I wanted to poison him, I'd just hand it to him directly to avoid any mix-up. Why go through all that trouble?"
"You could've poisoned both cups," Megure Juzo said bluntly. "Then just not drink yours."
"But I drank all of mine…" Koga Mai sighed helplessly. "If mine was poisoned too, I'd be dead by now."
Mouri Kogoro tossed out a wild theory. "Maybe you dumped it in the toilet!"
"I already told you—I gave them the drinks *before* I went to the restroom," Koga Mai snapped, exasperated. "By the time I got back, the play had started, and I didn't leave my seat again."
"I just passed the drinks out, that's it," Mitani Yota added with a nod. "No time to poison anything."
Noda Mumei chimed in, "Same here."
"But didn't you at least pop the lids to check what was inside?" Megure Juzo asked Mitani. "The cups all look the same—perfect chance to slip something in."
"No way I opened them. The drink names were written on the lids," Mitani explained.
Noda Mumei added, "And if it's iced coffee, the lid's got honey and cream balls stuck on it."
"You could've prepared honey and cream balls ahead of time," Mouri Kogoro said, doubling down on absurdity. "Swap 'em out before handing it over…"
"Ahem, Mouri, my man," Fujino interrupted. "If it's potassium cyanide, dissolving it all in one drink would make the whole thing toxic. Kamata-san wouldn't even need to finish it to kick the bucket."
"Oh… right, gotcha."
Mouri scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "So how'd the killer poison Kamata-san then?"
"Inspector Megure!"
Takagi suddenly piped up, pulling something from Kamata's pocket. "We found unused honey and cream balls in Kamata-san's pocket."
"Huh?"
Noda Mumei blinked, turning to the others. "Didn't he always add those to his coffee? Right?"
"Yeah, that's weird…" Mitani nodded. "I remember him using both every time."
"Because it wasn't coffee in the cup—it was cola," Ninagawa Ayako said softly. "I figured when he noticed, he'd come back to swap it, and maybe we could call off our engagement while he was at it."
Everyone froze. "Engagement?"
*Eighteen and already a wife?* Fujino thought, stunned. *Weren't they, like, ten years apart…?*
Then again, it made sense.
In Japan, the marriage age limit was low.
Sixteen-year-olds tying the knot and having kids in elementary school by their mid-twenties wasn't rare…
Another classic "three classmates, one fiancée, pick one" scenario.
"Mm."
Ninagawa Ayako nodded, her gaze dropping as she spoke quietly. "I was supposed to marry him after graduation, but last week I got cold feet and called it off… After that, he refused to see me when I tried talking to him."
"Oh, I get it now!"
Koga Mai suddenly lit up, pulling two small packets from her pocket with a laugh. "Honestly, I almost added my honey and cream balls too."
"Hm?" Kudo Shinichi's brow furrowed.
"Hm?" Hattori Heiji's brow furrowed.
Both sensed something off.
This Koga Mai was fishy.
Fujino's eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on her. "Miss Koga, do you also add those to your iced coffee?"
"Of course," she said with a light laugh. "I love coffee, but I can't handle the bitterness…"
"So it's a habit for you too?"
Fujino's brows creased, his gaze sharpening. "And just now, you said 'almost,' right?"
"Yeah…"
Koga Mai squirmed under his stare, pressure mounting. Something felt wrong, but she kept her cool. "Good thing I caught it in time…"
"You said you got back to your seat after the play started, right?" Fujino pressed, his presence growing heavier. "I'm curious—how'd you figure out your drink was cola in the dark? They look pretty similar."
He paused, then continued, "Plus, most people don't sniff their drink before sipping. You'd assume it's iced coffee when you add stuff."
"Miss Koga, the reason you didn't add them wasn't because you 'caught it.' You opened the lid when you brought the coffee back and checked it, didn't you…?"
His eyes locked onto hers. "And you opened it to slip in the poison ice cube you'd prepared."
Koga Mai stumbled back, her calves hitting a chair. Her pupils dilated as she stared at Fujino in disbelief.
"Poison ice cube?!"
The crowd gasped, all eyes darting between Fujino and Koga Mai.
Kudo Shinichi, disguised as the Black Knight, was itching to jump in.
He'd clocked Koga Mai's slip-up ages ago and had the same theory.
A case right in front of him, and he couldn't flex? Torture…
"You hollow out part of an ice cube, inject the poison, and refreeze it. That way, it takes a while to melt in liquid," Fujino explained.
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"To dodge suspicion, you put ice cubes in both coffees from the start. Going to the restroom was your chance to ditch the container—because you needed one to carry poison ice cubes."
"A plastic wallet with dry ice inside would keep them solid for hours. If I'm right, you hit the restroom to toss the dry ice."
Fujino pulled an evidence bag with a familiar wallet from his pocket and handed it to Megure Juzo. "Inspector Megure, I found this by the gym bathroom earlier. To lure out the killer, I held onto it for a bit—sorry about that."
"Oh… no worries."
Megure took the bag. "Keep going, little brother."
"Miss Koga, after buying the coffee, you slipped the poison ice cubes in at the counter. After ditching the container, you strolled back to the theater like nothing happened, waiting for Kamata to swallow that ice cube. Am I right?"
Fujino glanced at the faint glint on her jacket. "If we're lucky, the police might even find potassium cyanide residue on you."
"Since that ice cube was in your cup too, you'd have to hide it to avoid your drink testing positive for poison."
"…"
After a tense silence, Koga Mai took a deep breath. "Didn't think I'd slip up over something so small…"
"Yeah, just that one mistake," Fujino said, nodding with a sigh. "If you'd destroyed that bag and dealt with the ice cube somehow, this case might've stayed unsolved…"
"Didn't expect a detective to coach a murderer."
Koga Mai smirked wryly, then admitted, "Fine, I killed him… As for why? I couldn't stand that guy—who didn't deserve to be a doctor—snuffing out patients' lives on his own."
"There was a terminal patient in our hospital who fit his theory perfectly," she continued, taking a shaky breath. "To prove his theory, he dosed them up and killed them… I only found out a while back when he got dumped and spilled it while drowning his sorrows."
"Is that so?"
Fujino met her gaze, then turned to Megure Juzo. "Given the situation, this counts as a confession, right?"
"Uh…" Megure pondered. "If we haven't arrested her yet, yeah, it does."
"You heard the inspector," Fujino said to Koga Mai. "How about turning yourself in? You'd at least get a shot at a lighter sentence—maybe out in less than a decade."
---
Koga Mai was hauled off by the police, her buddies dragged along to give statements.
That left two detectives standing there, dumbfounded.
"藤野前辈真是厉害!" ("Fujino-senpai's amazing!")
"Fujino's so cool!"
"I think Kudo Shinichi's better—if he were here, he'd have cracked it faster."
"Nah, Kudo's MIA—who knows where he's at."
"Hard to say who's better, Fujino or Kudo…"
The onlookers—mostly students—chattered away, debating their school's top detectives.
Hattori Heiji: *Am I just a soy sauce cameo now?*
Kudo Shinichi (as the Black Knight): *So I'm irrelevant here?*
"This guy…"
Kudo Shinichi peeked through his mask at Fujino, who was basking in Megure's praise, his lip twitching.
Once again, his thunder had been stolen…
He'd planned a grand entrance to spook Fujino, the old-timer.
But before he could even make a move, he got upstaged.
As regret gnawed at him and he let out a quiet sigh, a sharp pain exploded from his chest outward.
"Wait—am I shrinking again?!"
Kudo Shinichi's heart raced as he glanced at Haibara Ai nearby. "Didn't Haibara say the antidote should last until tomorrow…?"
No time to think—a wave of weakness hit. He dropped to one knee, gasping for air.
"Dr. Shinde, what's wrong?!"
Ran noticed and rushed over.
Kudo Shinichi, panting hard, glanced at Ran, his fists clenched…
Then his vision faded, his mind blanked, and he passed out.
"Are you okay?!"
Belmod, posing as Shinde Tomoaki, clocked the situation and hurried out from backstage.
She stared at Kudo Shinichi on the ground, worry etched in her eyes.
She'd known it was him since earlier.
Switching roles had been her call…
Seeing him collapse now? She was genuinely concerned.
He was her son, after all—who else would she care about?
"Dr. Shinde?!"
Ran blinked at "Shinde Tomoaki," startled. "Then he's…?"
"He's Kudo-kun," Belmod said, barely holding her disguise together, her voice steady as she removed the Black Knight's mask.
"Shinichi…?!"
Ran stared at the familiar face, momentarily lost.
"Ran, what's going on?"
Fujino walked over, Haibara trailing silently behind.
"Just now, I noticed something off," Ran said hurriedly, pausing when she saw "Conan" before continuing. "By the time I realized, he was already down."
"Is that so? Let me check…"
Fujino's eyes narrowed. He reached out, lightly feeling for a pulse.
Still alive.
Pulse seemed fine.
No happy pulse, thankfully.
*(Chapter End)*