Hattori Heiji was totally thrown off, clueless about how he'd been figured out.
All he knew was that the guy had glanced at him once—just *once*—and saw right through him.
Not even a second look?
He felt a little down, and a lot confused.
This guy wasn't playing by Conan logic!
They were both detectives—how was the gap between them *this* big?
His original plan was to stick to his guns, insist he was Kudo Shinichi, and deny being Hattori Heiji to the bitter end.
But Fujino, that sneaky jerk, didn't play fair—he'd totally set him up!
Thinking fast, Hattori put on a calm face and said, "Wow, you're good. Didn't think you'd see through my perfect disguise…"
Fujino: "…"
*That's* what you call a disguise?
Haihara Ai: "…"
If you're gonna disguise yourself, at least do it properly like me.
—Though, to be fair, they were about on the same level.
"Ahem."
Noticing their weird looks, Hattori cleared his throat and explained, "I just thought it'd be fun to dress up as Kudo, y'know? Maybe freak everyone out a little."
"That's it?"
Fujino shot him a look, his eyes practically screaming *idiot*.
"Yeah, that's it! Yup, exactly!"
Seeing his excuse hold up, Hattori nodded eagerly. But he wasn't ready to drop the act yet. Leaning closer to Fujino, he whispered, "Hey, Fujino, let's keep this between us, okay?"
"You're almost an adult, and you're still pulling these lame jokes? Man, you're so childish…"
Fujino muttered under his breath, unimpressed. "I thought it was something big, but nope, just this."
Haihara Ai nodded silently beside him, fully agreeing.
"Ha… haha…"
Hattori scratched the back of his head, forcing an awkward laugh while inwardly screaming.
*Kudo Shinichi, you absolute moron!*
He was covering for the guy, so how'd he end up stuck with the "childish" label?
And they were *nodding* along!
"No! Ran, don't!"
"Araide Tomoaki, you idiot!"
Just then, another round of anguished yells rang out.
Fujino turned and saw Mouri Kogoro losing it, with Toyama Kazuha desperately holding him back to stop him from charging the stage and pummeling the Black Knight.
"Fujino, buddy, get over here and help!" Mouri shouted mid-struggle. "Grab a wooden sword and beat that jerk senseless!"
Fujino: *Why do I always get dragged into your embarrassing messes?*
But then he thought about it and kinda got where Mouri was coming from.
After all, watching the little cabbage you raised for seventeen years get snatched by a pig…
If it were him, he'd have already decked the punk.
Still, Fujino wasn't worried about Mouri losing his "cabbage."
He pulled out his phone and checked the time: [2:41:30]. His eyes narrowed. "The big one's coming soon…"
"Ahhh—!!!"
A woman's shrill scream pierced the air behind him.
Along with it came a system chime:
*Ding! New system task detected. Please check it out.*
Fujino opened the task interface, and a glowing screen popped up:
**[Detective Career Task: Solve the Murder Case at the School Festival]**
**Rewards: 1.5 million yen, 200 detective reputation points**
**Restrictions: None for now]**
As someone suddenly collapsed, the crowd jumped up, clearing a space. Others rushed forward to gawk:
"What happened to him?"
"Is he dead?!"
"Call an ambulance, quick!"
Fujino accepted the task, closed the screen, and glanced at the onlookers. "Classic Mihua crowd—always ready to munch popcorn at a crime scene."
He turned and saw Hattori—who was still trying to pass as Kudo Shinichi—dash toward the scene.
"Seriously, that excited?"
Fujino sighed, following along.
Haihara Ai trailed behind, mimicking Conan's usual vibe.
They pushed through the panicked crowd and spotted a man sprawled on the stone floor—legs stiff, chest down.
His mouth hung open, eyes wide, pupils unnaturally shrunk. A spilled drink lay scattered in front of him…
"Time of death: 2:41," Fujino said, slipping on white gloves from his pocket. He crouched, gave the pulse a token check, then studied the body. "Judging by the flush on his face, red eyes, and the faint smell from his mouth… it's potassium cyanide poisoning."
"Huh?"
Hattori, who'd been eyeing the corpse, turned to Fujino, puzzled. "How the heck did you smell potassium cyanide?"
"By smelling it, obviously."
Fujino glanced at him. "Good question. Don't ask it again."
Hattori: "…"
Okay, sure, he knew it was smelled—but from *this* far away? How?!
Haihara Ai, standing beside Fujino, mimicked Conan's voice through her mask. "His sense of smell's always been crazy good."
Yup, when it came to sniffing things out, no one beat her Fujino.
Hattori was at a loss for words.
Was this really just a "good sense of smell"?
Police dogs weren't *this* sharp!
Was he just that bad at this?
He stared at the ground, lost in thought.
Fujino ignored Hattori's existential crisis and focused on the drink cup next to the body, mulling it over.
From what he remembered, the method this time was poison hidden in ice cubes. The killer slipped them into the drink, and the victim's habit of chewing ice did the rest.
The technique was clear—now he just needed the culprit.
Fujino stood, activating his eagle-eye to scan the area.
With it, evidence around the scene lit up, saving him a ton of hassle…
With Osaka's Black Chicken and the Washing Machine duo here, he'd have to move fast.
Otherwise, they'd snag his gold coins.
"Hey, Black Chicken," Fujino called to Hattori. "Keep an eye on the scene. Don't let anyone near it. I'm gonna check around for more clues."
"It's Heiji!" Hattori grumbled.
He didn't get what Fujino was on about, but it felt off somehow.
---
Soon, Inspector Megure and his team rushed to the scene.
"The victim's Kamata Kohei, 27 years old, employed at Mihua General Hospital…"
Megure flipped through his notepad, questioning Noda Mumi, who'd been with Kamata. "According to witnesses, he collapsed halfway through the play, right?"
"Yeah…"
Noda Mumi, with her tea-colored curls and red dress, looked shaken. "He suddenly stood up, looking like he was in pain, then just dropped."
"Could it be he drank this and then collapsed?"
Takagi Wataru, crouched nearby, picked up the empty drink cup and handed it to Megure.
"There's not much left in the cup… Looks like the drink might've been poisoned," Megure said, inspecting it before passing it to a forensic officer. "Test the residue in this."
After giving the order, he turned back to Noda. "Miss, do you know exactly when he went down?"
"The play started after 2:00…" Noda thought for a sec. "But I don't remember the exact time."
"Around 2:41, probably," a voice with an Osaka accent cut in.
Megure turned, spotting a cap-wearing guy approaching, and frowned.
This guy… kinda looked like Kudo?
But that Osaka twang…
Nope, definitely not Kudo.
"It was around 2:40, yeah," Ran said, stepping up in her princess dress. "It was right at the big mid-show moment, so I remember it clearly."
She glanced at the Black Knight beside her. "Right, Dr. Araide?"
The masked Black Knight didn't respond, leaving Ran confused. Something felt weird.
"Ran?!"
Megure finally noticed her, staring at her princess getup in surprise.
"Inspector, didn't you know?" Takagi stood up. "The festival's at Ran's high school."
*How would I know that…?* Megure thought, swallowing hard as he scanned the area.
If this was Ran's school, that guy was probably here too…
And if Fujino was around…
"Inspector Megure!"
Mouri Kogoro waved, shrugging on his jacket as he stood, curiously looking around. "You looking for someone?"
"I'm looking for *you*…"
Megure muttered, giving him a half-lidded glare.
Of course, this walking disaster was here!
The guy didn't care who he dragged down—now he'd brought his bad luck to his daughter's school.
Snapping out of it, Megure sighed and asked Mouri, "So, no one touched the body before we got here, right?"
"Not exactly…" Mouri thought for a moment, then pointed at Hattori, still pretending to be Kudo. "That kid and Fujino were messing around near it earlier."
"Fujino's here too?!" Megure blurted, startled.
"Yeah, he drove me and Conan here this morning," Mouri said, strolling over to Hattori. He squinted suspiciously. "So, who the heck are you? You look kinda familiar…"
"Caught, huh?"
Hattori smirked, tipping off his cap. "I'm Kudo Shinichi, yo!"
Everyone: "???"
Ran's eyes widened: "?!"
The real Kudo Shinichi (as the Black Knight): "…"
Haihara Ai: "…"
Fujino, just back from gathering evidence: "…"
"Heiji! What are you *doing*?!"
Toyama Kazuha rushed forward, rubbing at Hattori's face. "Did you slap on all this foundation to play a kabuki actor or something?"
"Ahem!"
Hattori dodged back, revealing his dark skin but doubling down. "What Hattori Heiji? Never heard of him. I'm Kudo Shinichi!"
He sounded so sure!
"You little—!"
Mouri stomped over, pointing at the exposed dark skin. "Your tan's showing, you brat! What are you even up to?!"
"Exactly!" Megure couldn't help but chime in. "One idiot like Mouri's enough for us!"
"Huh?"
Mouri whipped around, staring at Megure in shock.
Megure: "…"
Oops, said that out loud.
"Man, this is ridiculous… How'd you all figure it out…?"
Hattori sighed, giving up and wiping off his makeup. "And here I thought I'd surprise you guys."
He couldn't figure out how he'd blown it.
Fujino made sense, but everyone else saw through him too?
Was he really that bad?
No way—his disguise skills were solid!
Yeah, it had to be Kazuha's fault for not playing along!
"Ahem, Hattori, your Kansai accent gave you away," Fujino said, pointing out the flaw. "One word, and it's over."
"Kansai accent?!"
Hattori blinked, turning to the group. "Was it that obvious?"
Ran nodded. "Super obvious."
Kazuha piled on. "You opened your mouth and blew it, dummy Heiji!"
Fujino: "Not just obvious—I'd say only an idiot would buy you as Kudo Shinichi."
Sure, Ran was a little naive and might miss a fake Kudo at first.
But using a Kansai accent to impersonate him? You're really treating her like a fool.
The real Kudo Shinichi, still in his Black Knight getup, nodded in silent agreement.
Hattori: "…"
No wonder he got busted so fast—it was *that*!
He shot Fujino a resentful look. *This jerk knew the whole time and didn't tell me… So shady. Made me look like a total clown.*
The Black Knight seemed to feel his pain, nodding along.
Though, knowing this tanned goof was pretending to be him? Kinda cringe.
"Oh! Fujino, my man!"
Megure finally spotted his trusty sidekick and greeted him warmly.
Finally, a normal person!
He felt a little bad for Fujino, though—dealing with these weirdos all the time couldn't be easy.
Shaking it off, Megure asked, "So, Fujino, got any leads?"
"The victim died of potassium cyanide poisoning. The poison was probably in the drink."
"Hmm… Poisoned drink matches our hunch," Megure said, rubbing his chin. He turned to the forensic team. "Is it potassium cyanide?"
"Yup, just like Detective Fujino said—potassium cyanide poisoning."
(End of Chapter)