Sunset.

"What was that supposed to be?!" Sonoko complained, pouting as they exited the theater.

"The plot was okay, I guess, but that one actor... he just stood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there wobbling like a cardboard cutout!"

"And he kept forgetting his lines! Like he hadn't prepared at all," Ran added, nodding in agreement.

"Maybe he was an understudy?" Suzuki Ayako suggested thoughtfully.

"Perhaps the original actor got injured, and they couldn't find a suitable replacement in time, so they just threw someone inexperienced on stage."

"Yeah, I think that's it," Fujino agreed, giving Ayako a subtle, knowing glance. As a 'spoiler,' he knew exactly what had happened to the original actor (thanks to Conan and the Detective Boys' meddling). But how did Ayako know? Was it a guess, or deduction? If it was deduction... Ayako's pretty sharp too. As expected, people with perpetually closed or smiling eyes are often secretly formidable.

Still, Fujino thought irritably, those kids really messed things up. They'd ruined what should have been a decent mystery play. (On the plus side, Fujino had discreetly recorded Conan's terrible acting using his glasses.)

"Hey, Sonoko, look!" Ran suddenly pointed to a stall by the roadside.

"Someone's doing fortune-telling over there!"

"Fortune-telling?" Sonoko's ears perked up.

Fujino followed their gaze. Not far off, a woman sat on a black blanket spread on the ground. She wore a dark robe with the hood pulled low, obscuring her face. A small table before her held a crystal ball.

"Excuse me, what kind of fortunes do you tell here?" Ran asked.

"Any question can be asked," the robed woman replied dismissively.

"Okay then..." Sonoko's interest was piqued. She leaned towards the crystal ball.

"What will I look like in ten years?!"

After a moment, an image began to form within the crystal ball. A woman in her late twenties gradually materialized – Sonoko, but with her hair down, looking more mature, exuding an air of sophisticated wealth.

"Whoa!" Sonoko stared at the image, amazed. She waved Ran over. "Ran, come look!"

"Did it really work?" Ran asked, intrigued. She leaned forward and asked about her own future appearance. As before, an image formed, showing a slightly older Ran, radiating a gentle, dependable aura.

Sonoko then beckoned her sister. "Sis, you try too!"

Curious, Ayako also tried. Like the others, she saw her future self – largely unchanged, but with an added layer of intellectual grace.

Fujino peered closely at the crystal ball. He couldn't figure out the mechanism, but it seemed... Conan-verse logical.

He found himself curious about his own future. Glancing uncertainly at the robed woman, he hesitated, then stepped forward.

"I'd like to see what I look like in ten years."

This time, the crystal ball didn't respond immediately. Ripples spread across its surface, then the image inside flickered erratically.

The figure distorted wildly, like a malfunctioning video feed. Finally, with a flash of red light, the crystal ball cracked!

Fujino blinked. "..."

"Uh," he said awkwardly to the woman, "that just cracked on its own, right? I don't have to pay for it, do I?"

The woman didn't look up, merely muttered, "The crystal ball was defective," and waved them away.

"Of course, you don't have to pay," she murmured once they were out of earshot. She slowly raised her head, revealing striking violet-red hair, and watched the group walk away.

"Compared to money... I've found something far more interesting."

After the festival, Fujino dropped the girls off at their respective homes.

As for Kogoro Mouri... after getting bopped on the head by Ran for hitting on college girls at the theater, he'd sulked off home early, presumably to drown his sorrows at a bar.

The next evening, in front of the Beika Library.

Fujino stood in the deepening twilight, observing the library, which should have been closed by now. He checked his system interface:

[Detective Profession Task: Library Murder Case]

Objective: Solve the Library Murder Case.

Location: Beika Library

Reward: 500,000 Yen, +100 Detective Reputation.

The Library Murder Case. Fujino remembered this one. The head librarian was involved in drug trafficking.

An employee working the night shift discovered this, so the librarian killed him to silence him, hiding the body somewhere within the library – specifically, on top of the elevator car.

Naturally, a missing person couldn't stay hidden forever. Earlier that afternoon, Inspector Megure had brought a team to search the library but found nothing.

Megure's failure, however, only spurred the... Detective Boys into action. Led by the pint-sized shinigami, the little troublemakers had secretly stayed behind after closing time, determined to find the missing employee's body.

In their search, however, the kids carelessly turned on some lights. The librarian, just leaving, noticed the lights from outside. Grabbing a heavy iron pipe, he headed back inside, intending to permanently silence whoever was still inside.

"Why are there drug dealers everywhere in this world..." Fujino sighed, then called Inspector Megure.

Hearing Fujino report a scream from inside the closed Beika Library, Megure immediately mobilized his team. Based on past experience, whenever Fujino called, it meant either a murderer or a criminal gang was involved.

He fondly recalled the last time Fujino tipped them off – they'd busted that Italian robbery gang, earning Megure significant praise from his superiors.

Meanwhile, Fujino hung up, popped a calming Chunghwa into his mouth, activated two enhancement cards, gripped his bokken pendant, and stealthily entered the library.

Inside the library.

Conan and the Detective Boys had just figured everything out – the murder, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the hidden body.

As they turned to leave and call the police, the elevator doors behind them suddenly slid open.

First, the librarian's eerie, shadowed face appeared, followed by his tall figure clad in a dark suit.

One hand was hidden behind his back, gripping a heavy iron pipe. He was just waiting for the right moment, for these 'little rats' to let their guard down, before starting a deadly game of whack-a-mole.

Sensing the danger, Conan quickly instructed the others, then bravely drew the librarian's attention, giving the kids a chance to dash into the elevator.

The doors began to close.

Just as the librarian realized what was happening and swung the pipe, Conan dodged the potentially skull-crushing blow.

He then executed a slick slide, slipping under the librarian's legs and squeezing through the rapidly closing elevator doors just before they shut completely.