Chapter 149 - Beika Grand Stage - Come If You Dare
Beika Grand Stage - Come If You Dare
Thirty minutes later, the police force deployed at Dr. Agasa's house arrived at the port, accompanied by Mouri Kogoro and Conan.
"Fujino-kun, is this guy the culprit?"
Megure Juzo looked at Sawaki Kouhei, lying unconscious on the ground.
"He brazenly attacked me with a crossbow right outside my house."
Fujino pulled a steel arrow from his pocket and handed it to Megure Juzo. "Luckily, I reacted quickly and escaped. Otherwise, Inspector Megure, you might never have seen me again."
"The steel arrow used to attack me was also this type."
Megure Juzo took the steel arrow. "It seems this guy really is the culprit."
Looking at the steel arrow in his hand, Megure Juzo couldn't help but feel a chill.
Vaguely, he felt the still-healing wound on his waist throbbing faintly...
Thinking this, Megure Juzo's face darkened.
He first glanced down at the unconscious Sawaki Kouhei, then waved to the officers behind him: "Take him back for interrogation."
"Yes, sir!"
Several plain-clothed detectives acknowledged, stepped forward, took out handcuffs, and restrained Sawaki Kouhei.
Without further questions, two detectives skillfully lifted Sawaki Kouhei by his shoulders and legs, carrying him like a dead dog, and tossed him into the back of the police car.
"Sawaki... how could he be the culprit..."
Mouri-san watched this scene with a strange expression.
Standing beside him, Conan harbored the same doubt internally.
Because just last week, he had seen this man...
He remembered him as a skilled bartender who seemed to be on good terms with Mouri-san.
"What's wrong, Mouri-kun?"
Megure Juzo noticed Mouri Kogoro's constipated expression. "Do you know this person?"
"I do know him."
Mouri Kogoro averted his gaze. "We've known each other for many years. I just went to the restaurant where he works last week."
"Did you offend him somehow, Mouri-kun?"
"I have no idea..."
Mouri Kogoro scratched the back of his head.
Honestly, he hadn't expected the person who poisoned Eri Kisaki to be Sawaki Kouhei.
"Speaking of which, I think I saw this guy last week."
Just then, Fujino's voice suddenly reached their ears.
"You saw him last week, Fujino-kun?"
Megure Juzo looked at Fujino in surprise.
The other two also turned their gazes towards him.
Under their scrutiny, Fujino pretended to think for a moment before saying, "Yes, it was in the morning, right downstairs from my place... There was a plainly dressed man who wanted to visit Mouri-san.
But finding Mouri-san wasn't home, the man intended to leave. Just as he was about to leave, this guy, Sawaki Kouhei, walked up and led the man away."
Of course, Fujino hadn't actually seen Sawaki Kouhei leading Murakami Jou away.
These words were entirely fabricated based on his memory.
Normally, Sawaki Kouhei should have killed several people before Conan figured him out, used the tranquilizer watch to put Mouri Kogoro to sleep, and revealed the truth.
But now, Sawaki Kouhei had been taken down prematurely by him.
Based on the current situation, without forcefully guiding the narrative, the matter of Murakami Jou's murder might be overlooked...
Currently, Sawaki Kouhei was only guilty of assault, attacking a police officer, and attempted murder.
If the murder charge was missed, it would be letting this guy off too easily.
"Just released from prison..."
Prompted intentionally by Fujino, Mouri Kogoro seemed to recall something, asking in surprise, "Could it be Murakami Jou?"
"If Fujino-kun's description is accurate, that man should be Murakami Jou."
Megure Juzo stated definitively, then looked puzzledly at Mouri Kogoro. "By the way, Mouri-kun, what were you doing that morning?"
"Hahaha..."
Mouri Kogoro laughed awkwardly. "I went to play mahjong early in the morning... and only came home at night."
Both Megure Juzo and Conan gave Mouri Kogoro a speechless look.
This guy was hopeless.
After complaining internally, Megure Juzo turned his gaze back to Fujino. "But why would Sawaki Kouhei be mixed up with Murakami Jou? Could they have colluded?"
"I don't think so."
Fujino put on a facade of serious deduction, paused, then continued, "Murakami Jou... might have already been killed by this Sawaki Kouhei."
"Murakami Jou has already been killed?"
Megure Juzo looked perplexed upon hearing this, then subconsciously asked, "Could it be, Fujino-kun, you've figured something out?"
The fish took the bait!
Fujino's eyes narrowed slightly as he asked Megure Juzo, "From the beginning, the police's primary suspect was Murakami Jou, correct?"
"Originally, yes. Although we didn't rule out other possibilities, based on the targets attacked, only Murakami Jou, recently released from prison, had a clear motive..."
Megure Juzo nodded.
Right after he was shot by the steel arrow, Murakami Jou had been listed as a prime suspect.
But despite their investigation, they hadn't found any useful clues.
They didn't even know Murakami Jou's current whereabouts.
Originally, they believed the culprit was Murakami Jou.
But who could have expected the culprit to be Sawaki Kouhei, whom he hadn't even met...
And according to Fujino-kun's words, the person they were investigating seemed to be already dead.
No wonder they couldn't find anything.
"That makes sense."
Fujino nodded and continued, "Sawaki Kouhei's assassination attempts on Attorney Kisaki, you Inspector, and me were actually intended to confuse the police investigation, pointing all evidence towards Murakami Jou.
Although I don't know who he ultimately intended to kill, it's certain that the scapegoat, Murakami Jou, could absolutely not be allowed to surface.
A week ago, I didn't know Sawaki Kouhei or Murakami Jou, so I didn't pay attention. But looking back now, Murakami Jou, being led away by Sawaki Kouhei... is probably now..."
"No wonder we couldn't find Murakami Jou anywhere. If that's the case..."
With things laid out so clearly, Megure Juzo understood the implication in Fujino's words, sighing, "If it's really as you say, Fujino-kun, is Murakami Jou likely already dead?"
"I'm afraid so."
Hearing this, both Mouri Kogoro and Megure Juzo's faces darkened involuntarily.
The criminal they personally arrested had been murdered shortly after completing his sentence.
This feeling certainly didn't sit well with either of them.
Conan, however, frowned slightly, his gaze towards Fujino growing considerably more intense.
With Fujino's prompt, the police found eyewitnesses near Sawaki Kouhei's apartment who reported seeing him leave one night carrying a suitcase.
Simultaneously, inside Sawaki Kouhei's apartment, the police found a device resembling an explosive trigger.
Soon, Sawaki Kouhei was brought back to the police station for interrogation.
His revenge plot foiled, utterly defeated, Sawaki Kouhei's psychological defenses crumbled.
Breaking down, he confessed to the crimes of attacking Eri Kisaki, Fujino, Megure Juzo, and murdering Murakami Jou.
Based on his description,
a large quantity of explosives was discovered at the Crystal Building.
Murakami Jou's body was also quickly found in a nearby small river.
When found, the body inside the suitcase had been dismembered into several pieces.
"This guy is completely psychotic!"
The Beika Iron Lady (Sato), responsible for the interrogation, commented thusly.
That night.
Fujino's home.
"Are explosives really that easy to get in the Conan world?"
Sitting on the sofa in his fourth-floor bedroom, Fujino put away his phone, commenting with a strange expression.
First, there was Moriya Teiji blowing up the Beika City Hall, now Sawaki Kouhei blowing up the Crystal Building... and both happened in Beika.
It really lived up to the old saying:
"Beika Grand Stage, come if you dare.
Here dwell the craziest bombers and psychopathic killers who murder without batting an eye..."
Thinking about it carefully, it seemed almost anyone in Beika City could get their hands on a large amount of explosives and build bombs.
He really didn't know where those psychopaths got their bombs or learned bomb-making.
Truly 'Conan Science'.
Just then, a system notification interrupted Fujino's thoughts:
[Detected Detective Profession Task: The Eleventh Target completed]
[System Rewards: 1,000,000 Yen, +100 Detective Reputation, +1 All Profession Point Distributed]
[Current Balance: 6,200,000 Yen]
[Congratulations Host for Detective Level Up!]
[Current Detective Level: Intermediate One Star]
[Current Detective Profession Allocation Points: 1]
[Current All Profession Allocation Points: 2]
"Intermediate level?"
Fujino looked at the Detective Profession interface, thought for a moment, then allocated all available points.
One Detective point went to Detective Enhancement, and the two All Profession points went to Body as a Sword.
[Detective Enhancement: Primary Five Stars (Temporarily enhances physical abilities by 225%)]
[Body as a Sword: Lv 5 (Man is Sword, Sword is Man. Host gains 140% All Attribute Bonus)]
After the long-awaited point allocation, Fujino turned his attention to the system balance.
Looking at the six million yen balance, he felt refreshed.
However, he didn't plan to draw from the gacha just yet.
The reason was simple: he wanted to try a ten-pull for Intermediate Profession Orbs.
With the Student profession's 8.9 discount, ten Intermediate pulls would cost about 8.9 million yen.
He currently had 6.2 million, short by about 2.7 million.
Roughly one or two profession tasks.
"Wonder if this will trigger any bounties."
Following past patterns, leveling up the Detective profession often triggered a bounty mission.
Bounty mission rewards were quite lucrative, usually around two or three million yen.
If one triggered, he could enjoy a happy ten-pull...