There was nothing flammable connected to the area surrounding the Civic Hall. With the damp air by the sea, the fire would not spread anywhere else even if no one deliberately tried to put it out.
Once the flames burned themselves out, the building that had carried both a curse and filthy secrets would be reduced to nothing but a blackened frame and ashes, waiting to disappear with the sea breeze.
Because the matter was serious, Inspector Megure arrived with a group of officers before dawn. Other than Yimi, however, no one at the scene had slept well that night.
Watching the body bag holding Nishimoto being zipped shut, Conan looked up at Inspector Megure and asked in an innocently childish voice, "How did he die?"
"We won't know details like that until the body is examined in the city." Inspector Megure casually brushed Conan aside and turned toward Mouri Kogoro.
Yimi was clutching Kogoro's clothes and rubbing her eyes, looking half asleep.
"Come to think of it, you really do always have children hanging around you. And now there's a new face."
Kogoro steadied Yimi's head so she would not topple over from sleepiness. "This one's different. I guess she's Kisaki's... my adopted daughter."
Inspector Megure gave him a surprised look, then turned to comfort the silent Narumi. "The deceased, Kuroiwa Tatsuji, pulled out a gun and threatened you. Given that he also set the building on fire overnight and apparently intended to silence witnesses, this will probably be treated as self-defense. But if the victim's family insists on pursuing it, you may need to hire a lawyer to fight the case."
Too strange.
Conan looked toward the Civic Hall. It was still smoldering, but with the island's limited firefighting resources, there had been no way to save it. Kawashima's body was still inside. By the time the fire died completely, there probably would not be much left to examine.
Kawashima's death could be explained as his heart being overstimulated by panic after his crime was exposed. As for Nishimoto, perhaps the sudden realization that the thing he had feared for so many years was not actually a curse had caused such an intense emotional swing that his heart stopped...
How could there be such a coincidence?
Conan had not forgotten that the former mayor, Kameyama, had also died of cardiac arrest. Three out of four men dying from the same kind of accidental heart problem—was that even possible? He certainly did not believe in supernatural curses.
It was also possible that they had all used the same drugs, but Conan thought it more likely that there was some kind of toxin difficult even for a forensic examiner to detect. Without evidence, however, he could not simply declare that.
He knew something was wrong here. Forget him—any normal person would find three men sharing the same cause of death suspicious. This was most likely a poisoning method that was extremely difficult to detect.
Yet having absolutely no way to prove it left him frustrated. If any evidence had remained at the scene, that fire would probably have destroyed it completely.
Still, Narumi's true identity would prove that he had a motive to kill Kuroiwa beyond simple self-defense. Interrogating a suspect and making them expose contradictions was also part of police work.
Conan remembered what Ran had said earlier about him ignoring other people's feelings. His raised hand paused.
"Inspector Megure, there's a piece of sheet music Aso Keiji left behind." He chose to tell the truth after all, though he did not intend to announce it in front of everyone.
Narumi lowered her head without arguing or defending herself.
This revenge had ended in a way she never expected. Perhaps because only one person had actually died by her own hand, she felt a faint emptiness inside.
From the beginning, Narumi had never held much hope of escaping punishment. Had her revenge gone according to plan and left her hands stained with all three men's blood, there would have been no road back. Her second choice had been to play Moonlight, her father's favorite piece while alive, and be buried together with them in the fire where she should have died twelve years ago.
Narumi pressed a hand against her chest.
At last, she noticed the faintest hint that something was wrong.
* * *
"Can Yimi blow it up herself? Do you want me to help? Don't break your brand-new toy."
Because their trip to Tsukikage Island had not gone the way she hoped, Ran had planned to spend today properly playing with Yimi and Conan. Conan, however, had used an innocent, slightly wheedling voice to say that he needed to speak with Inspector Megure alone.
Ran was talking about the beach ball she had bought for Yimi. It was the kind made specifically for children, with a plug that could be opened to let the air out. There was even a little plastic fish inside.
Compared with bouncing it around, though, Yimi seemed much more interested in getting the fish out, so she let all the air out of the ball.
"Here." After successfully extracting the fish, Yimi held the limp ball up to Ran.
Ran pressed a hand on her head. "Honestly, you can't treat toys like this in the future... and don't put that little fish in your mouth!"
"Mmph."
After finishing Yimi's lesson, Ran looked toward the room being used temporarily for questioning. Just then, Conan walked out with a completely blank expression.
Something was wrong. This was wrong.
In an era when making a phone call meant finding a landline, even the police had difficulty investigating someone's background. There were countless fugitives who simply changed their names and identities. Narumi's identification did not even clearly state sex or the precise reading of the name.
Given enough effort, they could still uncover Narumi's identity. But wasn't there a much simpler way to verify it? Just check whether she was male or female.
Behind Conan, Narumi walked out wearing a perfectly composed "0v0" smile. Inside, however, she was just as numb as Conan.
Gone.
Why had she actually become a woman?!
How could something like this possibly happen? The thing she used to have was gone, and in its place were things that made even her blush to look at. Why? This made no sense!
Her mind had been completely occupied with other matters, so she had not noticed the changes in her body until now. Even after realizing it, she had been too shocked to react immediately.
Inspector Megure had a female officer verify that Narumi was indeed physically female. There were no signs of surgery at all. And because Narumi wore skirts as part of her disguise, she had even been wearing women's underwear.
Narumi thought back to last night's fire and began to wonder whether there had been more drugs hidden in the Civic Hall. Maybe she had inhaled something when it burned and was hallucinating. Or had she actually suffered from delusions all along?
"It was really just a coincidence??" Conan tangled both hands in his hair. His head felt ready to explode.
He had not heard the moment when Narumi revealed her identity to Kuroiwa.
His first thought had even been that the sheet music had been forged to clear Narumi of suspicion, or that the Narumi in front of him was actually Aso Keiji's daughter, who should have died in the fire.
But the old patrol officer on Tsukikage Island could confirm that Aso Keiji's daughter had died in that fire, and an autopsy from back then could establish the same thing. Aso Keiji had definitely had a son.
He should have been happy that the gentle big sister was a good person. Yet every piece of the puzzle had become jammed at the crucial point, leaving him with the disorienting feeling of carrying the answer from one world into a parallel one where it no longer fit.
"Dr. Narumi, is everything all right now?" Ran walked over to greet her, casually placing another ball in Conan's hands.
Narumi nodded softly. "The police seem to have decided I am no longer a suspect."
Completely unaware that Conan suspected someone had been poisoned, she saw nothing particularly strange about that. After all, she had only killed one person. Even if her identity had been exposed, the killing itself could still be explained as ordinary self-defense. Motive alone was not evidence.
Narumi's gaze settled on Yimi, who was bouncing the ball.
That's right. It was that bottle of water Yimi had given her—the one called Spring of Drowned Girl!
Would she have to live as a girl from now on? She did not actually hate the idea... but where had this child gotten something like that? This was not scientific at all. All those years she had spent studying medicine had just been completely overturned!
"Something like this must have been a huge shock for you too, Dr. Narumi. I can introduce you to my mom. She's famous in the legal world for never losing a case," Ran comforted her.
Mouri Kogoro walked over with a cigarette in hand. "What does a kid know? Kuroiwa's family is also suspected of being involved in the drug trade. They're going to have their hands full dealing with the police for a while. Still, if you ask me, you'd better not stay here. Someone might try to retaliate."
And from Kogoro's experience, even if a case like this was ultimately ruled self-defense and Narumi was found not responsible, returning to ordinary life in the same place would probably still mean enduring strange looks from people.
"I'll think about it." Narumi brushed her hair aside and looked toward the horizon.
In her mind, she could almost see her father speaking in the voice she remembered, echoing the message in the score and telling her to live well.
Leave this place and start life somewhere else.
Narumi looked back at Yimi. Inside the transparent beach ball the little girl had tossed into the air, the plastic fish had somehow returned to the inside even though the ball was fully inflated.
It was very simple. Yimi had first put the little fish into her storage space, then released it from the storage space while holding the beach ball.
"What a mysterious child."
Wait!
Conan also found his gaze involuntarily drawn toward Yimi.
Thinking carefully, hadn't there been someone else before this who had died suddenly in exactly the same way?