"The deceased is Kawashima Hideo, male, fifty-six... From what we've seen at the scene, it looks completely like he just died suddenly on his own."
Conan vaguely remembered that the last person to die like this had been that armed robber. Why did people who went out to commit crimes these days have such weak nerves and constitutions?
Tsukikage Island's local police force was extremely limited. There was only one elderly police officer stationed at a tiny police box, and most of his time was spent mediating disputes between residents. Sometimes he was not even at the police box at all. It had taken Ran ages just to find him.
Asking him to handle a major case like this was simply too much.
The island also fell under the jurisdiction of Tokyo. Once the incident was reported, Inspector Megure, an acquaintance of Kogoro's, would probably arrive tomorrow.
Someone was definitely going to panic. If a person had simply died—even if it was murder—police sent over from the city might not necessarily uncover anything deeper. But now that the drugs had been exposed in front of everyone, the people coming over would probably be a specialized investigation team.
Kogoro made a simple judgment. "He probably got so agitated after his wrongdoing was discovered that his heart gave out. He wasn't young, after all. It's also possible that using the drugs himself had weakened his health. We'll have to send the body for an autopsy before we can say for sure."
"The former mayor..."
The mayor's assistant suddenly spoke in terror. "The former mayor died the same way. Cardiac arrest."
The moment he said that, a skinny man let out a frightened cry and staggered away at a run.
"Who's that?" Mouri Kogoro asked in confusion.
The mayor's assistant answered, "Nishimoto. He used to be a very influential man and spent huge amounts of money on alcohol, women, and gambling. But after the former mayor died, he seemed to become afraid of something and hardly ever left his house."
Narumi's gaze remained fixed on the corpse, though her thoughts drifted away for a moment.
At present, she was the only person on the island capable of performing even a basic examination of a body. In a situation like this, however, all she could really do was check whether Kawashima had been poisoned. That was not the reason she had lost focus.
He really just dropped dead on his own, just like that?
Even with Kawashima's face still frozen in terror from the moment before death, Narumi could not quell the fury in her heart.
Narumi had been the one who sent the letter to Mouri Kogoro. According to her original plan, once Kawashima learned that a detective had arrived, he would definitely choose a time when no one was around to check the place where the drugs were hidden. Narumi would then kill him and play a recording of Moonlight.
"Come to think of it, Narumi-onee-san ran over right away back then." Conan looked at Narumi while making his eyes appear as clear and innocent as possible.
"Ah, I happened to be passing by when I heard Conan's voice."
That was true. Narumi had not seen the two children pass through this room and go out the back door to play by the sea before Kawashima arrived either. When she heard a child's startled cry, she had rushed in almost on instinct without even understanding why, only to find Kawashima dead from sudden cardiac arrest.
And really, Narumi should no longer be referred to as "she."
Aso Seiji was his real name.
Twelve years ago, these people had forced his father, Aso Keiji, to participate in their illegal dealings. One day, when his father refused, they became afraid their activities would be exposed and brutally wiped out the entire family. Only Seiji, who had been hospitalized in Tokyo at the time, escaped.
"Asai" was the surname of his adoptive parents. After realizing that there was something suspicious about his family's deaths, Seiji returned to his hometown disguised as a female doctor so no one would recognize him. Yet when he revealed his identity to the former mayor, the man was so terrified that his heart simply stopped.
Afterward, Seiji played Moonlight, his late father's favorite piece, beside the corpse. Someone happened to hear it, and that became the origin of the piano's "curse."
"Don't be scared. That was a bad man's punishment. When you two grow up, you absolutely must never touch that white stuff, okay?" Narumi crouched down and comforted Yimi and Conan.
"Mmph?" Yimi stared at him.
Narumi felt a little uneasy under her gaze. Yesterday, this adorable little girl had apparently seen through his disguise.
"Sorry," Yimi suddenly apologized.
"Huh?"
Yimi lowered her head. "Yesterday I shouldn't have, said you were fake."
Narumi froze for a moment, then understood. He smiled and answered softly, "It's fine. But you have to keep something embarrassing like this a secret for me. Otherwise, onee-san will curse you to grow up as flat as me."
He held out his little finger.
"You can cast curses!" Yimi stared at him in surprise.
"That's right. A very scary curse." Narumi raised both hands beside his face like claws to frighten her, though it did not seem especially effective.
Just as he had thought at first sight, this little girl really was adorable.
The kitty immediately abandoned the subject of curses and tilted her head. "Then that white, stuff... what exactly is it?"
This time Kogoro answered her. "It's something very, very bad. Remember this: anyone who gets mixed up with that stuff will probably ruin their entire life. I'll explain it to you properly after we get back."
There were things like adultery that did not need to be explained to a child, but it was never too early to teach them how dangerous something like this is.
Mouri Kogoro looked at the others. "You can all go home. When the city police arrive tomorrow, they'll call you back if they need you. Don't go running around these next two days."
It almost felt like he had rediscovered the instincts from his days as a police officer. Still, police in a small place really could not handle something like this.
He looked again at the old police officer, who had done little more than state the victim's information since arriving. Kogoro felt as if even Conan and Yimi could knock the man over with a kick.
Kogoro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can't be helped. I'll sleep here at the scene tonight. Hiding this kind of thing in a public place probably means it was being traded with someone else. It'd be a problem if anyone came to destroy the evidence."
"I'll stay with Uncle too!" Conan immediately latched onto him.
Normally Kogoro acted like such a clown, but after Yimi uncovered that packet, he had suddenly started looking like a proper detective.
Kogoro did not appreciate the gesture. He brought a fist down on Conan's head. "You brats are going straight back to the inn. Do you even understand what the word danger means?"
If that stuff was involved, then there were definitely more people connected to it than just one or two. Someone might even come at night to douse the place in fuel and set it on fire. Still, splitting up under these circumstances could be just as dangerous. Even a murder case with an unknown culprit was better than stumbling onto hidden drugs.
Conan clutched the top of his aching head.
Why don't you lecture Yimi for running off and stumbling into danger too?! Though this was the first time Kogoro had caught him red-handed like this.
"Dad, it's exactly because it's dangerous that we're worried about you." Ran unhappily pulled Conan behind her to protect him.
Narumi chuckled. "You're quite serious, Detective. Then I'll go prepare some late-night food for everyone."
"Are you sure? Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"
Narumi shook his head and turned to leave. "It's the least I can do. I just hope this ends soon. I really don't want to have to examine another body."
But the remaining two had to die.
"Late-night food. I'm going too." Yimi immediately trotted after him.
"Yimi! Dad, please keep Conan safe." Ran chased after her.
"Hey! Don't go running around outside at night!"
She did not want to examine another body?
Conan stared thoughtfully at Narumi's back.
Had this young female doctor from a small island ever performed postmortem examinations before? Or... did she think there might be more bodies soon?
"Uncle, could that letter have called you here specifically to expose Kawashima-san's crimes?" Conan asked.
But that did not quite match what the letter actually said.
"Is that so? Looks like the reputation of the great detective Mouri Kogoro carries this much weight now." A couple words of praise were enough to make Kogoro puff up.
The corners of Conan's mouth twitched. He raised the crucial question. "But why did the sender use Aso Keiji's name?"
This was not that simple.
"Aso Keiji... that pianist, right?" The old police officer looked up and thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, there's some sheet music of his in the Civic Hall storeroom. But the key was left back at the police box."
Sheet music?
Conan looked up with his cutest expression. "Can I see the sheet music? Uncle might find an important clue in it."