"Hoshino-kun, should I take some men in to search?" Inspector Megure asked.
Kurosawa Hoshino glanced at Mamegaki Taeko, who remained silent, then replied, "Inspector, I'd suggest looking for any freshly washed clothes. The bloodstains might have been washed away, but blood is stubborn. Even after several washes, traces can still be detected."
At these words, Mamegaki Taeko finally wavered. She swayed, then took a step forward.
"I killed him."
"I did it," Shimazaki Yuji suddenly spoke up instead.
"Yuji?" Mamegaki Taeko stared at her fiancé in shock.
Shimazaki Yuji faced everyone, his voice agitated. "I killed him. I even left false clues by the body to frame someone else. I didn't go near the body just now—if I weren't the killer, I wouldn't have known that."
Conan frowned. Kurosawa was clearly focused on that woman the whole time. He probably thought she was the murderer. Could we be wrong this time?
Kurosawa Hoshino said calmly, "Inspector Megure, just go and see whose clothes have blood on them."
"That makes sense." Megure waved his hand and prepared to lead his officers inside.
"I already said it was me—"
"Yuji, that's enough." Mamegaki Taeko cut him off, her voice rising. "I killed him. The washed clothes inside are mine too. You'll see for yourselves."
Shimazaki Yuji lowered his head, his eyes closing in anguish.
"Taeko, why?" Kyusaku Mamegaki stared at his granddaughter in disbelief. He couldn't accept that she had committed murder.
"Grandfather, I never meant to kill him. I just wanted him to stop blackmailing me. I threatened him with a knife, but he lunged at me..."
Mamegaki Taeko then revealed that she had known Anzai Morio for a long time.
Back in high school, after her parents died in an accident, she had fallen into a rebellious phase—skipping class, running with the wrong crowd. Anzai Morio was one of the friends she'd made during that time.
She admitted that she had carelessly mentioned the valuable priestly items stored in the shrine's warehouse. That information led to a theft. The warehouse keeper, consumed by guilt, had taken his own life.
Terrified, Mamegaki Taeko had cut off all contact with Anzai Morio and his group, never revealing the truth.
She thought the past was buried. Then, years later, she ran into Anzai Morio again—and he was blackmailing her with the same old story. It all ended in tragedy.
With Mamegaki Taeko's confession, the case quickly wrapped up.
On the road below Beika Shrine, most of the crew had returned to the inn. Only a small group remained.
That small group, of course, was Ran and the others. The three girls stood watching Kurosawa Hoshino chat with Inspector Megure nearby, not wanting to interrupt.
"Hoshino-kun, do you think the police are useless?" Inspector Megure asked, a little sheepishly.
Kurosawa Hoshino chuckled. "Inspector Megure, not at all. Without you, I couldn't hand criminals over to you—and I don't have the authority to make arrests."
"Haha, so we are still somewhat useful."
"..."
Kurosawa Hoshino wasn't sure if he was joking or genuinely meant that.
"Ahem. Hoshino-kun, I've said it many times, but I'll say it again—thank you. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
"Yeah, I need to get back to the inn too. Time to sleep."
"Alright."
Inspector Megure nodded, got into the police car, and led his team away.
"Let's go." Kurosawa Hoshino turned to the three girls and called out, walking back with them.
Soon, only the four of them remained on the road.
Sonoko skipped along, beaming. "Hoshino, watching you solve cases is so easy!"
"Yeah," Yoko Okino quickly agreed. "It makes me feel like I could do it too."
Ran said softly, "We're just bystanders, so it seems easy. If we were in that position, we definitely couldn't."
"I don't believe that. Next time I run into a case like this, I'm checking their clothes first." Sonoko said confidently, already imagining herself as the Queen of Detectives. She skipped even more energetically.
Kurosawa Hoshino glanced at her. "It's dark on the road. Be careful. Don't twist your ankle."
"How could I? I—"
Before she could finish, Sonoko's foot landed on a small stone. Her body wobbled. Instinctively, she reached out for her best friend beside her.
"Ran, save me!"
"Huh?"
Ran barely had time to react. She raised her hand—and watched Sonoko tumble straight down at her feet, still clutching something.
"Oww, that hurts." Sonoko rubbed her arm, then looked at what she was holding. A sash.
Her expression froze.
She looked up at her best friend's inn yukata.
The simple, cheap fabric was slowly coming undone.
For a moment, the air went completely still.
"Ahem."
Kurosawa Hoshino coughed deliberately and averted his gaze. He turned around quickly and spoke in a rush.
"Ran, hurry up and fix that. Lucky there's no one around—just us. No one saw anything."
Ran finally snapped out of it. Her pretty face flushed bright red as she fumbled to pull her yukata closed.
Sonoko scrambled up from the ground and helped tie the sash back around her best friend's waist.
"Um..." Yoko opened her mouth, then closed it. She had no idea what to say.
"Ran, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Sonoko's eyes welled up with tears.
"You two take your time. I'm heading back to the inn first."
Hearing the commotion settle behind him, Kurosawa Hoshino assumed everything was sorted. He announced his departure and hurried off.
As he walked, he thought to himself:
Good going, Sonoko. You really kept your word. You said you'd show me Ran, and you showed me Ran. Thank goodness she was wearing underwear underneath—otherwise, that would've been way more awkward.
Back at the inn, Conan had just come out of the bathroom and was walking down the corridor when he suddenly stopped and slapped himself on the forehead.
"Damn it. How could I be so stupid? I didn't even think about the yukatas. Everyone was wearing them except those two in casual clothes. They must have been outside."
"And with all that blood splattered at the scene, their clothes would have been hit too. I was too distracted by that dying message."
He shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. Just then, he saw Kurosawa Hoshino hurrying back alone.
"Hoshino-nii, where are Ran-neechan and the others? Didn't they come back with you?"
"They're behind me. They'll be here soon."
"Oh." Conan nodded, not thinking much of it, and followed Kurosawa Hoshino back to their room.