"Shut up!"
Hosui Kisaragi suddenly erupted with a roar, murky tears welling in his eyes and spilling over.
"Back then... I was just a fool for a moment! That was the shame of my life... and it's all that bastard Sai's fault!"
Master Kisaragi's trembling fingers brushed over the fragments on the floor, as if he were touching a past he couldn't bear to remember.
"Ten years ago... I was just a starving artist. I worked hard every day, but I could barely keep myself fed."
His gaze grew distant, seemingly drifting back to those difficult years.
"Until one day, Sai—a man who specialized in art dealing—found me. He said he could make me a star, make me a world-renowned painter... I couldn't resist the temptation, so I agreed to work with him."
"Sai first arranged for people to hype up the value of my works. Then, he used a staggering price of two hundred million yen to buy this very Mount Fuji at auction... In reality, I didn't get a single cent from that. It was just him moving money from his left hand to his right."
"After that auction, just as Sai predicted, I became one of Japan's most famous painters overnight. Everywhere I went, people looked at me with reverence. The queue of people begging for a painting was endless, but..."
At this point, Master Kisaragi gritted his teeth and fell silent.
Yusaku Kudo picked up the thread of his story softly. "Everything comes with a price. Sai made you famous, and in exchange, you had to keep producing paintings for him like a machine."
Hosui Kisaragi closed his eyes in pain. "Correct... Over the years, I tried to break free from him several times. Every time, he would use this painting and the truth of that auction as a threat. In the end, I could only yield."
He took a deep breath, his voice low and raspy.
"I thought I'd only be free after Sai died. After all, he's already over sixty; he doesn't have many years left. But when I heard the Beika Art Museum was going to exhibit this Mount Fuji, I couldn't wait any longer. My original plan was to hire someone to hijack the painting and destroy it... That way, I could be rid of Sai forever."
"And so you contacted them? These guys were doing an armed robbery in a museum. What if they had hurt someone?" Hayashi Shuichi listened with a look of utter disbelief. "You could have just found someone reliable to steal the painting quietly!"
"Like the Phantom Lady, perhaps?" Yusaku Kudo adjusted his glasses, a playful, teasing smile dancing on his lips. "If she had taken the job, the painting would have been stolen with ease."
Shuichi shot him an annoyed glare. That big-mouthed Chikage Tomizawa... her identity really didn't stay a secret from Yusaku for long.
"I don't know the Phantom Lady..." Master Kisaragi gave a bitter smile. "These men were gang members I met at a nightclub. I didn't expect them to turn this into such a violent scene..."
His voice grew smaller and smaller. "I didn't want to hurt anyone."
"You should save those words for the judge and the reporters," Inspector Megure said, shaking his head as he handcuffed Master Kisaragi to the bald-headed thug.
Hosui Kisaragi was taken to the Metropolitan Police Department.
As a world-renowned master of painting, the news of his arrest acted like a heavy bombshell, sending massive shockwaves through society. Not to mention the reason for his arrest: masterminding the Mount Fuji heist at the Beika Art Museum.
The media reporters arrived like a pack of sharks scenting blood, instantly blockading the police station until not even a drop of water could leak through.
Flashbulbs popped incessantly. The piercing white light made Hayashi Shuichi instinctively squint as he stepped out of the police station gates.
Damn it. No wonder Yusaku pawned this off on me and refused to even set foot in the station. He must have known this scene was coming!
Fortunately, after the "lessons" from his previous two interviews, the Tokyo media didn't dare pull any stunts with Shuichi. They behaved themselves and asked their questions respectfully.
"Hayashi-kun, how did you discover Master Kisaragi was involved?"
"We heard this case was solved by the joint efforts of you and Yusaku Kudo?"
"Is it true the masterpiece Mount Fuji has been destroyed?"
It took over an hour of fielding questions before Shuichi felt like his throat was made of sandpaper. He quickly hailed a taxi and escaped from the police station like a man fleeing a fire.
After everything that had happened, it was already past eight in the evening by the time he returned to the Izakaya.
Shuichi had originally intended to stay closed for the night, but when he stepped out of the taxi, he saw the Izakaya brightly lit. Kogoro Mouri was standing at the door, greeting customers.
"Shuichi, you're finally back!" Seeing his friend, Kogoro hurried over.
"I wasn't here. How are you guys even operating?" Shuichi asked, a bit slow to process the scene.
"Because Yukiko is back, of course," Kogoro laughed. "Didn't she say last week that she'd be coming back every weekend from now on?"
"I completely forgot about that..." Shuichi slapped his forehead and hurried inside.
"Onii-chan, you're back!" Reiko greeted him joyfully.
"Master!" Rei Furuya followed right behind her.
"You haven't gone home yet?" Shuichi asked in surprise. "There won't be any more trains back to Haido if you wait much longer."
"Master, even if I go back, there's no one else at home," Rei scratched his head, a trace of loneliness flickering across his face. "Tomorrow is the weekend anyway. Let me stay here tonight! I can sleep in the shop!"
Since the boy had put it that way, Shuichi, as his master, didn't have the heart to refuse.
Besides the two youngsters, Eri Kisaki and Midori Orikasa were there as usual—one busy at the register and the other weaving between tables, serving guests with a professional air.
"Woof!"
Wancai trotted over to its master's side, wagging its tail proudly as if it had something to boast about. Unexpectedly, Pudding—the puppy Midori had taken in—was following right in its shadow.
Shuichi patted the dog's head and made his way toward the kitchen counter.
"Well, well, our great detective is finally home," Yukiko, dressed in a chef's uniform, teased as she saw him approach. Her bangs were slightly damp with sweat, clinging to her smooth forehead.
"Thank you for your hard work," Shuichi said with genuine sincerity.
It wasn't easy for her to travel back, yet she spent her time laboring away in the Izakaya.
"As long as you know it," Yukiko huffed playfully. "Now get over here and help your head chef! We're running low on side dishes!"
Since she refused to budge from her position, Shuichi had no choice but to take up the role of sous-chef.
They remained busy until eleven at night. Worried that Yukiko would overexert herself, Shuichi closed the shop early. Reiko and Rei, being children, couldn't stay up that late and had already headed to the second floor to rest.
Although Rei had said he could sleep in the shop, Shuichi didn't want to mistreat his disciple, so he let the boy sleep in his own bedroom instead.
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