Chapter Text
Shinichi collapsed onto the sitting room couch with a load groan. "I'm bored..."
Ran entered the room fully at the interjection. "You're bored?"
"Ee — I finished all my work for my classes, so I have nothing to do now."
Ran nodded tentatively, then cautiously sat down next to Shinichi and started inching closer to him. "Ma... if you're bored... there's always something we could do..."
As Ran's body finally made contact with Shinichi's, the latter's head perked up. "You're right." Without warning, Shinichi suddenly stood vigorously and walked briskly out of the room, leaving Ran frozen in confusion.
She eventually came back to Earth and followed Shinichi to find him swapping his slippers for his shoes. "... What are you doing?"
"I'm going to go ask Megure for some cold cases."
Shoes now on feet, Shinichi immediately opened the front door and walked out without any further fanfare, apparently unaware of Ran's shock. I'm not going to have the time for a cold shower...
Megure looked up from the folder he was holding at Shinichi's interest. "Kudo-kun! What are you doing here?"
Shinichi pumped his head in a nod in greeting. "I've found myself with some free time and was wondering if there were any cold cases you might be able to send my way."
Megure raised an eyebrow as Ran came in behind Shinichi, ostensibly out of breath. "Ma... I don't know about cold cases, but you're welcome to help with the case we're working right now. Here, take a look." Megure handed Shinichi the folder he was holding to allow the teen to read through it as he continued. "The victim's name is Tada Seito-san, 32 years old, stage actor — and a struggling one, at that, if the state of his website is any indication. He was found dead in room 421 of the Doitsu Hotel. The crime scene makes the sequence of events clear: our victim let the killer in then went to grab a bottle of water from the room mini-fridge before being shot once in the chest, after which the victim stumbled and fell to the ground, grabbing and taking one of the room's chairs with him in the process. No prints or hairs or anything were left behind by the killer, though."
Shinichi let out a moue of frustration. "This killing was calculated..."
Megure nodded. "Indeed — we talked to Tada-san's girlfriend, Hoka Amai, a fellow actor in a local troupe. She didn't take the news of Tada-san's death well at all. She claimed not to know of any enemies Tada-san may have had, but she did say Tada-san told her about a woman confronting him a few days ago at a café. We asked the staff at the café about it and they indicated it turned into a shouting match. We're having the woman in question brought in this morning — you're welcome to watch from observation, if you want."
Shinichi nodded as he continued reading. "Mochiron..."
Ran watched Shinichi look through the case notes as they waited in the observation room where a woman sat waiting. As she saw his eyes scan over the pages, she silently wondered if he was actually making an effort to ignore her. Is... is he...
Before Ran could finish her thought, the door to the interrogation room opened, heralding the arrival of Megure into the room, who closed the door behind him before making his way to sit opposite the waiting woman. "Mira Megumi-san?"
"Hai."
"Thank you for coming here today."
"Is this about Tada Seito-san?"
"Hai, it is."
"Good, because I did it." Shinichi lifted his head from his notes in surprise, mirroring Ran's own surprise.
Megure appeared to be just as shocked. "D-did what?"
"I killed Tada Seito-san."
A blanket of shocked silence covered the two rooms for a few seconds before Megure cleared his throat. "Just so we're clear — you're confessing to the murder of Tada Seito-san."
The woman nodded plaintively. "Hai, I am."
Megure's mind appeared to skip a beat before he cleared his throat again. "Let's... start from the beginning. Tell us what happened."
"I went to his hotel room —"
"Which hotel room was that?"
"Room 421, at the Doitsu." Megure raised his chin in apprehension as the woman continued. "I went into his hotel room —"
"Did you force yourself in?"
"Ie, I knocked and he let me in himself. He said that he had been waiting for me, then he turned around to grab a water bottle from the mini-fridge — that's when I pulled out my gun. Then when he turned around, I... I shot him."
"How many times?"
"Once, in the chest — he stumbled slightly and grabbed onto one of the chairs in the room before falling over and taking the chair with it."
Ran dropped an eyebrow in apprehension. The level of detail she's providing...
Megure maintained an unperturbed front. "Why did you kill Tada-san?"
The woman donned an even more serious look. "I'm an alcoholic — he was responsible for my drinking."
"How was he responsible for your drinking?"
"... I... I'm not sure." Out of the corner of her eye, Ran saw Shinichi scrunch up his face in confusion.
Megure seemed just as disturbed. "You're not sure?"
"Ie..."
"Witnesses reported your confronting the victim at a café a few days ago."
"I wanted to warn him that I was going to hurt him."
"How did you know the victim in the first place?"
"... I don't know."
"But then... how do you know he was responsible for your drinking?"
The woman brought a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache. "I'm not sure about that either... gomen'nasai, the last couple of weeks have been a bit hazy for me..."
Shinichi appeared to be on the verge of a migraine himself, Ran wasn't surprised to see. After another moment frozen in shock, Megure quietly excused himself and left the interrogation room, prompting Shinichi and Ran to exit the observation room after him.
Shinichi waited until Megure closed the door behind him before speaking. "Is it possible her confusion is contagious?"
Megure huffed. "I wouldn't put it past her..."
"She's able to describe the crime to a T, yet she can't provide a solid motivation?"
Megure scratched his head. "This is definitely a first for me..."
From down the hallway, Takagi approached the trio. "We... have a problem."
Megure looked toward the detective. "Only one?"
Takagi appeared taken aback but didn't say as much. "Er... Mira-san has an alibi."
"She does?!"
"Ee — she was having dinner with her 12-step sponsor during the entire time of death window. Security cameras and wait staff at the restaurant were able to confirm it."
Ran's eyebrows collapsed as she risked a response. "Then... how does she have such a detailed knowledge of the crime scene?" No one clearly had an answer.
Megure shook his head before addressing Takagi again. "Send for a police psychiatrist, Takagi-kun — we need to have Mira-san assessed."
"Hai!"
As Takagi left, Shinichi spoke up. "Keibu, if you don't mind... I'd like a moment with Mira-san before the psychiatrist gets here."
Megure waved a tired arm toward the interrogation room. "You're welcome to it."
Shinichi closed the door behind him before approaching the table and sitting opposite Mira, who appeared to be intensely interested in her lap. He leaned back in his chair and fixed an eye on the woman, who was ostensibly unperturbed by the focus on her.
After a few seconds of consideration, Shinichi took in a deep breath. "You do realize providing a false confession carries a penalty of its own, right?"
Mira's gaze lifted from her lap to the table in front of her. "I'm... not providing a false confession. I killed Tada Seito-san."
"You have an alibi, Mira-san."
"Ie, I don't."
"Hai, you do — you were dining out at the time of Tada-san's murder. We have the surveillance footage to prove it."
"Then the footage was timestamped incorrectly."
"The wait staff also confirmed your presence."
"Then the wait staff is lying to you."
Shinichi regarded the woman curiously for another few moments before leaning forward. "Whom are you covering for?"
Mira finally lifted her gaze from the table to meet Shinichi's eyes. "I'm not covering for anyone — I killed Tada Seito-san."
The conviction in Mira's eyes gaze Shinichi considerable pause. He continued to hold her gaze to see if anything would change in her demeanor. Nothing had changed, however, by the time a knock came on the door.
Takagi poked his head into the room. "Kudo-kun — he's here."
Shinichi allowed himself a few more seconds drilling his eyes into Mira's skull before standing and leaving the room. As he passed the psychiatrist, he nodded and muttered a 'good luck' to the man before approaching Megure and Ran exiting the observation room.
"That woman is utterly obstinate."
Megure shook his head. "I hope the psychiatrist is able to pull more out of her, otherwise our case is dead in the water."
"Megure-keibu!"
The trio turned at the sound of the new voice to the sight of a uniform with a civilian accompanying him. "What is it?"
"This man said he needed to see you, keibu-dono."
"And you are?"
The man nodded. "My name is Karewa Hidari."
"How can I help you?"
"I'm here to confess."
"... Confess to what?"
"I killed Tada Seito-san."
Shinichi felt his jaw drop involuntarily, then looked over to see Ran wearing a look of shock of her own. What is going on...
Ran felt a headache coming on as she saw Shinichi ostensibly attempting to rub away one of his own from their position in the observation room for the second interrogation room. The entry of Megure into interrogation allowed her to note the sweating man already in the room was just as large if not larger than the inspector, and not in muscle.
Megure slapped his file against the table across from the man but did not down. "What are you two on about?"
Karawa looked up in confusion. "Haah?"
"Are you and Mira-san colluding to let the real murderer get away?"
"Who's Mira-san? We're not colluding, and I'm the real murderer!"
"Mira-san is claiming the exact same thing."
"Then she's wrong, because I killed Tada Seito-san."
Megure pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine — where did you kill him?"
"In his room at the Doitsu hotel."
"Which room is that?"
The man paused, then brought a hand to his forehead, though whether in nervousness or in thought Ran couldn't tell. She saw Shinichi tilt his head in doubt as Megure appeared to have the same doubt and picked up his folder.
Before the inspector could exit the room, however, Karawa finally spoke up. "Room 421."
Megure froze — as did Shinichi — before finally sitting down across from the claimant. "And how did it happen?"
"I was in his room —"
"Hold up — were you hiding in his closet? Did you kick the door down?"
"Ie, I knocked on his door and he let me in, said he had been waiting for me. He turned to get some water from the mini-fridge, then when he turned back around I shot him — once in the chest. He stumbled a little before falling backward, grabbing and taking a chair with him." Shinichi, Ran wasn't surprised to see, brought both hands to his temples in what looked close to despair.
Megure himself remained frozen for a few moments before recovering. "Why did you kill Tada-san?"
Karawa didn't hesitate. "Because I have anger issues, you know — I just... I saw him and I was... I was just so filled with rage!"
"How did you know the victim?"
"I... I don't know."
Shinichi hands shot out minutely from his temples in muted frustration. "What the hell..."
Megure himself held up a hand palm up. "If you don't know, then how could he have filled you with rage?"
"I don't know that either... I'm sorry, I just... things have been hazy for the past two weeks..."
Shinichi seemed to straighten up at the last offering, and Ran understood why. There's a common link we may be able to work with...
Megure stood and made for the interrogation room exit, prompting Ran and Shinichi to make for the observation room exit. As the three of them arrived in the hallway, the door to the first observation room opened as well to herald the return of the police psychiatrist.
Megure quickly approached the psychiatrist. "Please tell me you have something."
The psychiatrist tilted his head in a sideways shrug. "Not much, I'm afraid — my examination of her found her to be mentally competent, though somewhat disoriented. By all accounts, she appears to be telling the truth — or, at least, she thinks she is."
Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "And the disorientation — what can you say about that?"
"Could be any of a number of things... could be a traumatic event causing retrograde amnesia, could be an underlying medical condition, could be —"
"Drugs?"
The psychiatrist leaned back slightly at the interruption. "Hai, it could be an adverse reaction to drugs. Why?"
Ran beat Shinichi to the response. "We just had a second person confess to the same crime and profess to the same period of confusion — we're hoping that's not just a coincidence."
The psychiatrist nodded. "Ma, I am having a blood sample taken from Mira-san sent for further analysis, so we should be able to find out one way or another."
Megure held out a hand for the psychiatrist. "Thank you again for your help."
The psychiatrist shook the inspector's hand and nodded toward the two teens before taking his leave of the trio. Before another word could be spoken, Megure's phone started buzzing. The inspector pulled out his phone to inspect the caller ID.
"Ah — it's Takagi-kun." Megure hit the accept button. "You have me, Kudo-kun, and Ran-kun."
"Megure-keibu — Chiba and I have been searching Mira-san's home and Karewa-san's apartment, respectively. We didn't find any links between the two, but we both found some things in common."
"And what are those?"
"The two of them both have paper calendars whose entries for the past two weeks have been ripped out. We checked their computers and everything from the past two weeks has been deleted as well."
Shinichi let out a moue of thought. "That potentially indicates intent to confuse the two of them."
"There's more — we both canvassed the neighborhoods and both received reports of a white van appearing to surveil Mira-san and Karewa-san. Chiba said one of Karewa-san's neighbors took a picture, he should be sending you a copy in a few minutes."
"Good work, Takagi-kun! Keep us apprised of anything further."
"Hai!"
Megure ended the call and pocketed his phone. "Finally, an honest lead..."
"Megure-keibu!"
Megure turned at the sound of the uniform calling for him. "Hmm?"
"We got another one."
"Another what?"
The short man next to the uniform held up a nervous hand. "My name is Sukaitsuri Toride."
"And you're here because..."
"I'm here to confess to the murder of Tada Seito-san."
Ran bit back a laugh as Shinichi and Megure simultaneously pinched their eyes.
This time, Shinichi decided to follow Megure into the interrogation room, though he opted to lean against the wall next to the door rather than follow Megure to the table. The man at the table, Sukaitsuri, appeared to startle at the entrance of the two, but nonetheless kept his back relatively starched at the inspector approached him.
Megure slapped a large printed photo onto the table. "Have you seen this man before?"
Clearly confused, Sukaitsuri leaned forward slightly to look at the photo of a bald man looking out the driver side window of a white van. "I... he looks familiar, I guess —"
"Where and when did you see him?"
"I — why are you asking me about this guy? I killed a man!"
"Ee, ee, room 421, he let you in, he grabbed you a water bottle, you shot him, he fell taking a chair with him."
Sukaitsuri understandably reared back in surprise. "How did you —"
"So do you remember where and when you saw this man?"
"I... I don't know, the last two weeks have been kind of a blur for me — but what does it matter? I'm a murderer!" Megure huffed in frustration before picking up the photo and stomping away toward the exit, leaving Sukaitsuri considerably perturbed. "D-does anyone here care that I killed someone?!"
Shinichi followed Megure out and gingerly closed the door behind them, catching Ran exiting the observation room out of the corner of his eye. From the other two interrogation rooms, Takagi and Chiba exited from their own interrogations shaking their heads toward Megure, prompting another groan from the inspector.
"How are we supposed to make a case when multiple people are confessing?"
At something of a loss himself, Shinichi grabbed onto one last hope. "Let's try putting them all in the same room and comparing stories."
"OK, everyone — the three of you, please go step-by-step through the crime committed. Any little thing may be important, so don't spare us any details." On Megure's instruction, the three confessors looked at each other nervously before nodding tentatively. "Mira-san, why don't you start?"
"Ano... OK — I knocked on the door to 421 three times. It was maybe... two seconds after that when Tada-san opened the door."
Karewa and Sukaitsuri both nodded. "I can confirm that."
"Ee, so can I."
Mira appeared slightly annoyed by the interruption but continued nonetheless. "He smiled at me, flirtatiously, when he said he had been waiting for me —"
Sukaitsuri raised a hand. "Er... it definitely wasn't flirtatious for me."
Karewa nodded in response. "Ee, he was very business-like with his greeting."
Shinichi filed away the disagreement in his head as Mira brushed aside the second interruption. "He then offered to get me a water bottle and walked over to the mini-fridge. I remember very specifically that there five water bottles in the fridge."
"Ie, there were six."
Mira turned toward Karewa in annoyance. "There were five."
Sukaitsuri raised a hand again. "Er... are you not counting the bottle Tada-san pulled out?"
"Ie, I am counting that bottle."
"Then he is right, there were six bottles, not five."
"Look, I am telling you, there were five!"
"Ma, there were actually six, so —"
The rest of the room's occupants variously rubbed their foreheads or pinched their eyes in frustration as Megure gathered them away from the ongoing argument. "How are we supposed to get anything useful out of them if they can't even agree on the contents of the fridge?"
Shinichi had a sudden realization. "Actually, keibu... that may be all the information we need."
"Eh?"
"May I see the crime scene photos again?"
"U-uhn."
Megure handed Shinichi the file, who immediately opened it to one of the photos included to confirm his suspicions before handing it back to Megure. "Take a look at the mini-fridge."
Megure looked at the photo, then donned a flash of understanding on his face. "The fridge door opens toward the room entrance, not away."
"Ee — there's no way the killer would be able to know how many bottles were in the fridge. None of our three confessors committed the crime."
"But then how do they know all the other details of the crime scene?"
"I don't entirely know that yet... but what I do know is that the Doitsu Hotel chain prides itself on all of its hotels being identical in layout regardless of the location — in fact, they would probably be horrified to hear about the differences in mini-fridges. Somehow, these three may have had an experience in a room 421 in another Doitsu that left such a strong impression that they experienced the mental break they're having now."
"Ne, Shinichi?"
Shinichi turned at the sound of Ran's voice. "Hai?"
"Sukaitsuri is drawing something on his hand..." Ran stepped forward tentatively. "Ano, Sukaitsuri-san — what is that you're drawing on your hand?"
Sukaitsuri startled at the question before dropping his gaze in abashment at his hands. "I-it's just some symbol that's been stuck in my head, I don't even know what it is."
Ran turned back toward Shinichi and Megure. "I remember seeing the same symbol on Mira-san's written confession — I thought she had just been doodling, but maybe..."
Megure flipped through his file to the two written confessions and inspected them. "The same symbol is present on Karewa-san's confession as well." Shinichi held out his phone and took a picture of the symbol, then ran the resulting picture through an image search.
Once the search returned results, Shinichi let out a relieved sigh for having hit gold. "The symbol is the logo for a rather shady-looking self-help organization — Maindoatama, it calls itself. Their website indicates they provide 'alternative' solutions to problems such as anger issues, assertiveness issues, alcoholism —"
"Just like Karewa-san, Sukaitsuri-san, and Mira-san!"
Shinichi nodded toward Ran. "Ee — our confessors here likely engaged this organization's services, which, if my read on them is correct, probably included engaging in the use of a room 421 in a Doitsu. It might be worth canvassing other Doitsu hotels in the prefecture to see if that's the case."
Ran appeared to perk up. "And if this organization is as shady as you infer... then they likely have some way to wipe two weeks' worth of memory from someone if something goes wrong."
"Exactly — fortunately for everyone involved, their website lists an address."
Megure's phone buzzed as he and the two teens exited the elevator into the Maindoatama lobby, prompting him to answer the phone immediately on speaker. "You have the three of us, Takagi-kun."
"The psychiatrist came back and told us that Mira-san had an unusually high level of Propranolol in her blood stream."
"Propranolol?"
Shinichi raised his chin in understanding. "It's a blood pressure medication, but in larger doses it's known to alter or destroy memories."
"So that supports the theory our confessors had two weeks' worth of memory deliberately wiped."
"Another thing, Megure-keibu: our canvassing of Doitsu hotels paid off. We found that a month ago, the entire fourth floor of the Hachioji Doitsu was reserved for a special event in Maindoatama's name. Security footage shows the head of the organization talking with our victim at the front desk during that time."
"That should definitely be enough to get a warrant, if we can't get the man to talk today. Good work, Takagi-kun! We'll let you know how it goes."
With that promise, Megure ended the call and started marching down the hall, both he and the teens ignoring the receptionist attempting to stop him. They eventually arrived at the door with the leader's name engraved prominently.
Megure knocked twice before opening the door without an invitation and letting the trio in. "Tagayasu Eiko-san — we have some questions for you." The man in question, much to Shinichi's interest, appeared to be ready for the interruption, already having folded his hands on top of his desk in ostensible expectation.
The man stood with the slickest of insincere smiles and swept his hand across the three chairs in front of his desk. "Welcome to Maindoatama. I will forgive you your social faux pas as I'm sure it's something we can work to correct as part of your time with —"
"We're not here to enroll, Tagayasu-san — we're here on a police investigation."
"I assure you, keibu-dono, I have nothing that will help you with your investigation."
"Don't be so sure." Megure placed the photo of the man in a white van down on the desk. "Do you recognize this man?"
"That man has not been employed by Maindoatama for quite some time, keibu-dono."
"So you do know him?"
"Only insofar as I used to employ him — but I assure you, I know nothing about what he's been doing since he left us."
Megure laid down three more photos. "So you have no knowledge of the man appearing to stalk three of your former clients?"
"The people in those photos have never been a part of Maindoatama."
Megure raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You just happen to know that off the top of your head, do you?"
"I make a point of knowing every person who goes through our program, keibu-dono."
"Ma, I'll make sure to put that in our warrant request for our murder investigation."
Tagayasu's smile dropped instantly. "Wait, what? Murder? Who was murdered?"
"Tada Seito-san was murdered, Tagayasu-san — don't pretend you don't know who he is, we already have security footage of the two of you talking."
"Tada-kun was murdered?"
"And this 'former employee' of yours is our prime suspect."
"Wait, wait, hold on — we don't have any reason to kill Tada-kun!"
"Then would you mind telling us about your relationship with him?"
In response, Tagayasu opened his laptop then unleashed a flurry of keystrokes before turning the laptop around for his guests to view the video he pulled up.
A hand knocked three times on the door to room 421 and pulled back. A couple of seconds later, the door opened to a man — Tada Seito — greeting the knocker with a smile. "I've been waiting for you — here, let me grab you a water." The man turned and walked to the mini-fridge and bent down to pick out a water bottle. As he stood, the knocking hand pointed a pistol at the man and shot once. The man responded by grabbing his chest with his free hand, stumbling, then dropping the water bottle and grasping at the chair head next to him before falling backward taking the chair with him, playing dead.
Tagayasu closed his laptop as the video ended. "We shot that video for our image therapy program — we shot two versions, actually, one for men and one for women. The viewer would use that video to project their problems onto Tada-kun and literally shoot the problems dead. In order for it to work, though, we had to put the viewer in a chemically suggestive state, which unfortunately proved disastrous — they internalized the experience as if they had actually killed Tada-kun."
"Hence the Propranolol?"
"That was after they had threatened to sue, hai — we brought them in for one last session and... corrected the problem. We were just trying to help them!"
"And this former employee of yours, what was his role in the matter?"
"He only talked with Tada-kun to remind him of his confidentiality agreement, which Tada-kun observed to the letter."
"And yet Tada-san was killed in a manner which replicated that video almost exactly."
Tagayasu's eyes bulged. "I — ie, ie, that can't be. Someone must be targeting us, someone who knew about the video."
"We'll need a list of names aware of that video."
Tagayasu turned the laptop back around toward him and started typing again. "I'm afraid it's quite a long list, keibu-dono — we're being sued for a separate incident a few years ago and that video was part of the discovery process. I'll email you all the names involved with the video itself and all the names involved in that discovery."
Megure's phone buzzed in response, to which he pulled the phone out and found he had received the email in question. Apparently not deciding to question how the man knew his email address, he opened one of the attachments and started scrolling through it.
Shinichi reached out to stop the scrolling partway through. "I see a familiar name there."
Ran remained rooted in the observation room as she watched Megure and Shinichi enter interrogation to sit across from the woman already occupying the room. As the two men sat, the woman turned her focus from the window to the men in question, but kept silent in apparent anticipation.
Soon enough, Megure allowed himself an entrance. "You held back on us in our first interview, Hoka-san."
Hoka raised an eyebrow. "I did?"
"Ee — you didn't tell us about your brother." Hoka remained silent, prompting the inspector to continue. "Your brother was one of the victims of a sauna accident while on a... 'trip' for Maindoatama. You're listed as one of the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against the group."
"I am — what of it?"
"You must have felt betrayed when you found out your boyfriend was involved with Maindoatama." Hoka turned her head at Shinichi's interjection, but still gave the teen room to continue. "As part of discovery for the lawsuit, you became aware of the video Tada-san shot for Maindoatama — the organization responsible for your brother's death."
"He's an actor for whom money is money, what does it matter?"
"Oh, it matters a great deal to you, I'm sure — to have him associate with people with your brother's blood on their hands... I know the feeling of someone for whom you care deeply turning out to be acting in direct conflict with your morals." Ran allowed herself a small gasp, thankful for the glass between them as Shinichi continued. "The difference for you, I suppose... was that you were handed the means of murdering him on a silver platter — a means that would only further point fingers at your brother's killers."
Hoka remained stoic. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Megure leaned back. "Deny all you want — security footage at the Beika Doitsu places you in the building last night, so we know you weren't home alone last night like you said. If it's any consolation, we can promise you Maindoatama will be going down for what they've been doing if we have anything to say about it, regardless of whether or not you confess. If you don't confess, though... then you'll risk putting three more of their victims behind bars instead — your stunt in recreating the video goaded them into confessing in your place, and their grasp of the details of the crime scene are bound to convince a jury."
Hoka finally appeared to break at the mention of the confessors, her eyes widening briefly before closing with tears starting to fall. "I... I tried to ask him about it, but he stonewalled me. I just... I just... I couldn't stand those murderers going free, and for him not even to acknowledge what he did for them... I couldn't let it stand."
Ran wiped a few tears of her own before exiting the observation room as Hoka was given a notepad. She closed the door gingerly behind her and allowed herself a deep breath.
"Is it true?"
Ran startled at the sound of a voice close by, only to turn toward the trio of confessors with a question on their face. "I... haah?"
"Did someone else commit Tada-san's murder and try to frame us?"
Ran allowed herself a calming exhale. "Ee — none of you killed Tada-san, you were the victims of the killer recreating a video you all saw of his being shot." The trio all showed signs of relief at Ran's response, though she noticed Sukaitsuri's relief appeared to be mixed with some disappointment.
Mira apparently noticed as well. "What's wrong, Sukaitsuri-san?"
Sukaitsuri startled at being addressed, then dropped his head with a blush. "I... it's just... I know it's crazy, but I... I never got to confess like you two did."
Mira allowed herself a stunned chuckle before smiling widely. "Ma, if the police won't listen, I'm willing to hear out your confession."
Karawa placed a hand on Sukaitsuri's shoulder. "I'm all ears as well. Come on, drinks — er, dinner is on me!"
Sukaitsuri smiled as the trio started walking toward the elevators. "OK — so, I... I knocked on the door to 421, right? Then Tada-san answered and..."
Ran faded the conversation out of her mind as the interrogation room door opened to Hoka being led away by a uniform, followed by Megure and Shinichi ostensibly deep in conversation. The conversation went on for a while, leading Ran to split her focus between the two men and the trio of former confessors entering the elevator going down.
Eventually, Shinichi shook Megure's hand before making his way back to Ran, inviting her with a hand to follow him out. "I may just have to email tou-san about this case, I have a feeling he'd want to incorporate the premise into a book."
Ran allowed herself a snort. "Three people brainwashed into confessing to a crime they didn't commit — certainly sounds like fiction material."
Shinichi called for an elevator. "As does much of my life..."
Ran looked at Shinichi with concern at that mumbled utterance, but decided against pressing him on it. "What were you and Megure-keibu talking about there?"
"Oh — he said he was going to see to having cold cases organized so that I could take my pick whenever I had the inclination."
Ran stared at Shinichi with a blank face. "So you were serious about that."
Shinichi quickly entered the elevator as it arrived and called for the ground floor. "Ee — if nothing else, they could provide you with some exercises in deduction as well."
"Exercises... right..."
As the elevator doors closed, Ran glanced at her watch absentmindedly. Only three o'clock — and Karawa-san was already talking about dinner...
"Ne, Ran?"
"Hmm?"
Before she could register what was happening, Ran found herself on the receiving end of an ambush kiss — a very deep kiss which caused her to lose track of time and her knees to buckle slightly. How does he...
Shinichi broke the kiss as the elevator doors dinged open. "Don't think I didn't notice earlier."
With that pronouncement, Shinichi briskly walked out of the elevator, leaving Ran to take a moment to recover before racing to catch back up with him, knowing exactly how the time before dinner would be spent.