"Fujino, my boy..."
Inspector Megure Jūzō understood Sato's feelings at the moment.
Turning, he looked at his reliable subordinate and asked with a hint of anticipation in his voice, "Have you seen this guy who's completely black?"
"Well..."
Fujino was slightly taken aback by the question about the 'figure in black' (小黑 - *Kuro*). He hadn't expected Inspector Megure to ask about him.
Hmm.
How should he answer?
*Kuro* was something he created with his shadow.
Saori Kadowaki was also kidnapped by him, and she was still hanging in the unfinished building.
Could he really say that *Kuro* was himself?
After thinking for a moment, Fujino speculated with a hint of regret, "I haven't seen this person who's all black either. It must be a new strange individual... It seems this case is going to be a bit troublesome."
"Yes..."
Inspector Megure sighed, nodding in agreement.
A kidnapping in broad daylight felt a bit outrageous to him too.
And if even Fujino, his reliable subordinate, hadn't seen him and there were no clues...
Then it was truly going to be difficult...
*Ding-a-ling!*
Ai Haibara suddenly sent a message: [Dinner is ready. Are you done with the case?]
Fujino glanced at it and replied: [Someone was kidnapped in broad daylight. We're currently investigating, so I might not be able to come back for a while. Don't wait for me for dinner.]
"Someone else was kidnapped?"
Ai Haibara murmured, looking at the message on the screen.
She glanced at the time at the top of her phone screen: 7:05 PM.
After thinking for a moment, she replied: [Will you be back tonight then? I'll save some dinner for you.]
Fujino: [No need to save dinner... I'll just grab something to eat outside. As for tonight, I should be back after 10 PM.]
"Sigh..."
Ai Haibara looked up at the table full of food she had made and let out a faint sigh: [Alright, be careful and thank you for your hard work.]
"Fujino, my boy?"
Inspector Megure noticed Fujino sending texts at that moment.
"It seems to be seven o'clock now," Fujino said with an awkward smile, explaining, "Well, my family is calling me home for dinner."
"Then you should hurry back and have dinner. It's quite troublesome to have you come help so late."
Inspector Megure nodded, understanding Fujino's situation. "You can leave the rest to us."
Being called home for dinner... he experienced that often too.
However, working as a detective in the world of Conan...
Well, just having time to eat was already quite good.
***
Leaving the police station, Fujino didn't go straight home. Instead, he headed to the unfinished building where *Kuro* had taken the unfortunate kidnapping victim.
As night fell, the neon lights of Tokyo flickered.
The severe light pollution meant you could see a faint glow even without a flashlight.
After parking his car in a nearby parking lot, Fujino scanned the surroundings. Seeing no one, he slowly walked up the stairs towards the top of a dilapidated, unfinished building.
The unfinished building was a mess, with construction waste everywhere.
Such places were not uncommon in Beika or even Tokyo.
Japan had a small land area, and land was extremely valuable, so cities were generally densely populated.
A few years ago, they had experienced an economic shock, and before the buildings were even completed, the developers had either gone bankrupt or fled.
Therefore, there were an unusually large number of buildings that were not finished, some not even topped out.
These unfinished buildings were uninhabitable; even homeless people felt it was too windy there. So, they were left idle, becoming a treasure trove for criminals to conduct their transactions.
Soon, Fujino reached the top floor of the unfinished building via the old stairs.
What greeted his eyes, besides the dilapidated rooftop, was the somewhat beautiful night view of Tokyo.
And in front of the beautiful scenery was a woman who had been tied up and hoisted.
The woman was bound in a strange, inescapable way with a red rope and was hanging from the incomplete steel frame on the edge of the rooftop.
With the stress, the rope occasionally spun a couple of times, swaying in the strong night wind from the high altitude.
It had a somewhat melancholic night scene atmosphere.
This woman was none other than Saori Kadowaki, who had been carried away in broad daylight.
As for this strange and unspeakable way of tying... it was precisely done by Fujino.
Strictly speaking, it should have been *Kuro*.
Fujino had mastered the knowledge of rope techniques a long time ago.
He had always used this method to tie people up.
After all, to impose maximum restriction, prevent them from untying themselves, and ensure firmness, this strange binding method was more suitable. The only drawback was that it used up a lot of rope...
"Still not awake?"
Fujino glanced at Saori Kadowaki, which was within his expectations.
He had used a sufficient dose of anesthetic darts. She hadn't slept for two hours yet, and without external stimulation, she naturally wouldn't wake up.
After a pause, Fujino took out his assassin's robe from his portable space.
After changing into the robe, he also casually turned on the recording function of his visual enhancement glasses.
Having prepared himself, he walked forward, lowered Saori Kadowaki, and used a dagger to cut the red rope binding her. Then, he took out a black, long, and hard stun baton from his pocket.
"I wonder how effective it is..."
Fujino examined the dark stun baton in his hand for a moment. He flicked it out like an expandable baton, and its length immediately reached about seventy-five centimeters.
He had tested the electric baton before, and it was definitely effective on people, but due to individual physical differences, it seemed that everyone's tolerance for electric shocks varied.
Dealing with a younger girl, this was the first time he had done so since getting this expandable baton.
He didn't intend to kill her.
Indeed, killing was the simplest solution.
But for such a small beast, killing her directly seemed a bit too easy on the beast.
Moreover, unless it was absolutely necessary, he didn't really want to kill people...
Of course, drug dealers and those major beasts, he would kill without hesitation.
*Crack!*
Accompanied by the sound of electricity.
A silvery-white arc of light directly hit her body, spreading throughout.
Under the stimulation of the current, her eyes suddenly widened, and she sat up straight from the ground.
At this moment, her gaze kept scanning the surroundings.
Looking at the night view around her and the strange person in a white robe in front of her holding a black stick, whose face was somewhat unclear, she was a bit dazed and confused.
She remembered that she had just been with Shimabukuro, planning to enter the train station...
How did she end up here?
After a moment of confusion, a wave of pain spread throughout her body.
Fortunately, the pain only lasted for a moment, just making her feel uncomfortable...
And as the pain spread, it also cleared her mind considerably.
She recovered her senses and looked at the strange person in the white robe in front of her, feeling a burst of shock.
*Crackle crackle.*
Fujino glanced at the somewhat startled Saori Kadowaki and pressed the button on the stun baton in his hand without replying.
He felt that this person's mental state was quite normal. If it were a normal criminal, they would probably wet their pants after experiencing this.
Staring at the discharging stick, Saori Kadowaki swallowed hard, realizing that the thing that had just made her uncomfortable should be this one.
"Saori Kadowaki?"
Fujino used a voice changer, his voice becoming deep.
"Who... who are you?!"
Saori Kadowaki was slightly stunned, "How could this be..."
Without waiting for her to finish, Fujino picked up the stun baton and thrust it towards her stomach.
*Crack!*
"Ah—"
A fierce electrical sound rang out.
Accompanied by a scream.
Saori Kadowaki immediately curled up, desperately covering her stomach.
It felt as if it had been twisted by a knife.
"I ask, you answer."
Fujino said concisely, "You don't need to say anything I don't ask."
Saying that, he stepped forward, brought the dark hood close to her face, and his voice became even colder: "Do you understand?"
Saori Kadowaki shed two tears and nodded.
She felt somewhat wronged.
Mainly because it hurt.
Where did someone just start randomly stabbing with a stun baton...
Saori Kadowaki was slightly stunned upon hearing this, looking at the pitch-black hood with wide-open eyes.
Fujino didn't give her a chance to react, and swung the stun baton, smashing it heavily onto her left shoulder.
The immense force of the blow sent her flying backward several dozen centimeters before she stopped.
Fujino turned around and rhythmically patted the stun baton on his palm.
At this moment, Saori Kadowaki had not yet recovered from the pain. She just lay on the ground, naturally looking as if she had been thrown, constantly touching her body, feeling as though her entire body had been electrified.
The stun baton's capability was quite good. It was very painful to be shocked by it, but it wouldn't kill you.
Seeing no reply, Fujino grabbed her by the collar and asked darkly, "You were the one who set the big fire at the Mermaid Festival warehouse three years ago, weren't you?"
"Who are you...?"
Saori Kadowaki only then heard that the other person was talking about the big fire three years ago, and her face instantly turned pale.
Fujino stood up and lifted Saori Kadowaki by the armpit, then pinned her next to the edge of the rooftop.
Looking at the ground dozens of meters below, Fujino gently patted the back of her head.
Indicating that if she didn't speak, he would push her down.
Understanding the meaning of this action, she felt a prickling sensation and stammered, "Yes, I set it!"
Fujino didn't reply. Seeing that he had gotten a satisfactory answer, he pulled her back from the edge of the balcony and continued to state, "You weren't the only one who set the fire at that time."
"Huh?"
Saori Kadowaki's mind suddenly felt muddled.
"Three people..."
Fujino thought for a moment: "If I remember correctly, there should have been three girls, right?"
Although the voice was just calm and slightly deep.
But for Saori Kadowaki, hearing it made her brain feel as if something had pierced through it, and her heart pounded uncontrollably.
From the beginning, she had felt that something was off.
Starting with an attack meant there was definitely a grudge...
Now he even said 'remember'? Could it be...
"The... the Mermaid?!"
Saori Kadowaki suddenly felt as though she had fallen into an ice cellar.
She had never mentioned this matter to anyone except her close friend.
The other three definitely wouldn't say anything either, as it had resulted in a death.
If they spoke out, they would definitely all go to prison.
And now the other person actually knew about this... and even knew that it was the three of them who had set the warehouse on fire.
Then there was only one possibility...
—This strange person in the white robe in front of her was the Mermaid.
'Hmm?'
Fujino was also slightly taken aback when he heard this. He looked at Saori Kadowaki, whose face was already extremely miserable, and felt a bit confused.
This woman's ability to overthink is really something...
However, immediately, a sly smile spread across Fujino's lips.
He felt that using the Mermaid or something similar to deceive a young girl was quite interesting...
Last time it was the Mushroom Mountain God, this time it was a mushroom trampled into the grass, right?
So, he adjusted his tone, making his voice sharper: "That's right... I am the Mermaid who granted the life force to the *Myō-sama* mermaid who was burned to death by you three years ago!"
"Ah—!!!!"
Saori Kadowaki let out a tragic scream.
Fujino narrowed his eyes, extended the stun baton, increased the power, and fiercely thrust it into her stomach.
The effect was outstanding!
After being hit, she immediately stopped screaming.
She completely fainted. Her body didn't even get a chance to be rescued; the efficiency, honestly speaking, was indeed high.
"Looks like the power was a bit too high..."
Fujino turned off the recording function of his glasses, looked at the warm liquid on the ground, raised his eyebrows slightly, and murmured.
***
After simply re-planning his speech, Fujino 'woke up' Saori Kadowaki again.
"Mermaid-sama... I'm truly sorry!!"
Saori Kadowaki knelt on the ground, every word full of piety: "We didn't receive your blessing, so we felt resentful. After getting drunk, we wanted to set the fire to see if the blessing you granted to *Myō-sama* could truly resurrect her... We are truly your loyal believers!"
As a loyal believer of the Mermaid legend, at this moment, she no longer cared about her image.
She just wholeheartedly wanted to try and obtain the forgiveness of 'Mermaid-sama'.
As for why the one who was burned to death was a female mermaid, and the one who appeared now was a 'Mermaid' wearing a white robe...
She believed that this must be Mermaid-sama's disguise to avoid attracting attention!
If Fujino could hear her inner thoughts, he would definitely say, "You really know how to make things up, kid."
However, Fujino didn't pay attention to this but noticed the key point, saying in a sharp and strange tone: "You were drinking at that time?"
"Mhm mhm!"
Saori Kadowaki nodded repeatedly: "It was precisely because of the alcohol and the resentment that we did that..."
*Crackle crackle!*
An electric sound rang out.
Saori Kadowaki immediately understood: "No, we definitely weren't drinking, we did it on purpose!"
Fujino glanced at Saori Kadowaki.
He secretly felt that using legends and curses was really too easy to manipulate people who believed in such things...
Or perhaps he should say that people who believed in such things were inherently strange.
However, thinking about it, it made sense. A person who was suddenly burned to death, with the fire burning for a day and a night, and nothing happening afterwards, was simply too unbelievable.
(End of this chapter)