After the four of them reached an agreement, Tsukamoto Sumi—intending to prove that the recent incidents were nothing more than rumors—decided to show the three of them the results of her investigation. She led them to a storage room beside the gymnasium, the very place where the rumors had first begun.
"This is where the problem first appeared."
"I know, I know!"
The moment Sumi opened the warehouse door, Sonoko grew excited, eager to show off her knowledge. Meanwhile, faced with the pitch-dark interior, Ran—who had originally agreed to help—unexpectedly hid herself behind Sonoko.
"The Sighing Sports Storage Room! Legend has it that on a rainy morning, several members of the gymnastics team came here to retrieve equipment before starting their morning practice."
"But before opening the door, they suddenly realized that from a warehouse that was supposed to be empty… they could hear the sound of someone sighing! And then, when they opened the door—!"
"They misheard it."
Tsukamoto Sumi ruthlessly cut her off and walked straight into the storage room.
Sonoko was interrupted right at the climax, nearly choking on her own words, looking visibly frustrated.
"Look—over there."
Sumi raised her hand, guiding their gaze toward a small window high up on the side of the warehouse.
"That skylight is broken and can't be closed. Whenever the wind blows through, it makes a woo—woo sound."
"I've already confirmed this several times."
The others walked inside as well. Sonoko and Ran looked up at the window and nodded silently, clearly accepting Sumi's explanation.
Shimizu Koji, however, only glanced at the window before his attention was drawn to a table placed in the corner of the warehouse.
The table was covered with cloth—and it radiated a faint sense of malice.
Yes. Malice.
An indescribable psychological discomfort.
For a moment, Koji thought he might be imagining it. But the longer he stared, the stronger the feeling became.
Frowning, he walked over and pulled the cloth away. Beneath it was a desk that still looked practically brand new.
"Shimizu-kun, what are you looking at?" Ran asked.
"Nothing… just a desk."
All three of them turned their gaze toward Koji. When they saw the desk in front of him, everyone except Ran showed subtle changes in expression.
Sonoko was about to launch into another ghost story, but once again, Tsukamoto Sumi gave her no such chance.
"That desk is actually one of the origins of this so-called supernatural incident. It belonged to Hosaka Hideaki."
A supernatural incident is called supernatural because someone died.
Koji had already learned the rough outline of the case on the way here.
Hosaka Hideaki—the central figure of this rumor—had fallen to his death in a school corridor two years ago.
Yet upon hearing this, the strange feeling in Koji's heart not only failed to fade—it grew heavier.
Lately, he had begun to suspect that something about this world was… off. But after a long stretch of peaceful days, he'd convinced himself that he was just overthinking it.
Now, however, this sudden "ghost story" felt genuinely unsettling.
Koji trusted his instincts.
"Did you notice something, Shimizu-kun?" Sumi asked.
"No."
Koji covered the desk again with the cloth. At the same time, Tsukamoto Sumi stepped over to stand beside him, her eyes also fixed on the desk.
"There's something I didn't tell you earlier," she said quietly.
"Hosaka Hideaki was actually my classmate."
Koji turned his head to look at her. Sumi's expression was calm, tinged with a trace of reminiscence.
From the side, she reminded him a little of Officer Sato—the one he'd met before—both of them possessing that same heroic, upright air.
Though compared to the capable police officer, Sumi was still just a high school girl. Standing this close, Koji could faintly smell the light scent of perfume on her.
"After Hosaka died, we found portraits he had drawn of our classmates inside his desk. Everyone was devastated."
"And on this desk, there was even his signature written in pencil. So later, we discussed it with our teacher and pooled money together to buy a new desk, storing this one here to preserve it."
"But recently, someone started spreading rumors—saying Hosaka was murdered, and that his ghost had returned to haunt the school."
"That kind of behavior, desecrating the dead, is unforgivable. That's why I decided to find the person spreading those lies."
Her explanation neatly connected all the pieces. Only now did Ran truly understand why someone like Tsukamoto Sumi would take such an interest in this matter.
Koji, standing nearby, fell into thought.
From Sumi's description, Hosaka Hideaki sounded like a gentle, mild-mannered boy. And yet, why did his desk give off such a chilling, uncomfortable feeling?
Koji had called it "malice," but that might not be entirely accurate.
Still, because of this subtle detail—something no one else seemed to notice—the rumors surrounding the supernatural incident felt more real to Koji.
Not that he believed Hosaka's death had been murder.
Rather, he began to suspect that something beyond conventional science might exist.
After all, this world already had more than enough things that defied logic. Accepting the existence of something like lingering spirits didn't seem entirely impossible.
Koji was surprisingly adaptable.
After thinking it through, he made a decision.
He glanced out the window at the sky, then turned back and spoke.
"It's getting late. If we stay any longer, the school's probably going to lock up. Let's pick another time and come back tomorrow."
Ran and Sonoko followed his gaze outside, then nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it is getting late. I should head back soon too—if I don't make dinner, Conan and my dad will end up starving."
"Seriously, Ran," Sonoko sighed.
"You're only a second-year and you're already living like a housewife. That unreliable dad of yours still won't apologize to your mom, huh? Honestly—because of him, you're stuck in the middle, cooking for him and everything."
"Sonoko, stop it!" Ran protested.
Having her family situation brought up made her feel embarrassed, even though Koji and Sumi clearly didn't mind.
Sonoko wasn't just teasing out of habit this time—she did it deliberately in front of Koji and Sumi. Both of them were the kind of people who wouldn't gossip, so she felt safe saying it.
Her goal was to nudge—no, pressure—Ran into not indulging her father so much anymore.
Just thinking about Mouri Kogoro made Sonoko angry. What kind of father behaves like that?
Sure, he'd raised Ran himself, but despite living so close to her mother, Ran had grown up separated from her all these years. Sonoko knew well that this was a painful knot in Ran's heart.
And all of it stemmed from a marital fight. Even if both sides were at fault, Sonoko instinctively sided with Kisaki Eri.
Setting aside that bit of well-meaning scheming between best friends—
After Koji spoke, Tsukamoto Sumi also nodded in agreement. The four of them soon parted ways.