"A koto?"
Shirō Ogata frowned in confusion. "What was Big Brother doing looking for Grandma's koto in her room?"
"Probably for the stamps," Fujino said, glancing at Minoru Ogata. "After hearing 'Come, Spring' from the music box, you figured the stamps might be hidden in the koto. Then, while you were searching for it, you got unlucky and it smashed into you."
Minoru Ogata: "…"
His face darkened.
This detective had nailed it.
He *had* gone to that room looking for the stamps. Unfortunately, not only did he fail to find them, but he also got clobbered by the koto—blood streaming down his head—and ended up trapped there.
"But even if he was looking for the koto, how'd he end up with a bloody forehead?" Tsunetaka Ogata chimed in. "The room was pitch black. If he wanted to find it, he would've turned on the light."
"What if he *couldn't* turn it on?" Fujino mused, lowering his head in thought. "What if someone rigged it so the chandelier's pull cord was off its usual spot? In the dark, he couldn't find it. Panicked, he started fumbling around for the koto. Then, while he was crawling on the floor, he heard something, looked up, and bam—a trap with the koto smashed right into him."
He paused, then looked up at Kazuko Ogata. "Am I right, Mrs. Kazuko Ogata?"
"Mom?!"
Everyone turned to Kazuko in shock. No one had suspected their own mother.
"But Mom was with us the whole time…" Shirō said, puzzled, looking at Fujino. "How could she have used the koto to hit Big Brother?"
"With a mechanism, of course," Fujino explained. "All it takes is a fishing line. Loop the middle over the chandelier, thread the ends under the koto's strings, run them through to Haruna's room via the sliding door, tie them tight, and hoist the koto up. Then, secure the line to the door with a hairpin. Simple."
He pulled a hairpin from his pocket. "Finally, just open the door from Haruna's room, and the koto drops. Right, Mrs. Kazuko?"
Shirō instantly recognized the hairpin in Fujino's hand. "Wait, wasn't it Mom who opened that door?"
"But why would Mom hit *me*?" Minoru asked, staring at Kazuko in disbelief.
She looked down, guilt keeping her silent.
"She didn't mean to hit you specifically," Fujino clarified. "She didn't know you were in there. Her goal was to scare Haruna. If I'm right, the shadow from earlier, the pager messages, and this koto business—they're all her doing."
"Even if the hairpin's hers, that doesn't prove she's the one who hit Big Brother…" Shirō tried to argue. "Reeling in a long fishing line takes time, and Mom caught up with us right away."
"Stick some tape on the fan blades," Fujino countered, pointing at the whirring electric fan nearby. "Attach the fishing line to them, turn it on, and it'll reel the line in fast. As for the black paper, she'd have retrieved it too if I hadn't spotted it first."
"But still, this is kinda hard to believe…" Tsunetaka said, giving Kazuko a strange look. "How'd you even come up with such a complicated setup?"
"What's so hard about it?" Kazuko replied, a hint of pride in her voice. "I just borrowed from the pranks these two kids used to pull."
Everyone: "…"
Who knew she had such a knack for Mihana-style scheming?
"To be honest, I was really scared," Kazuko admitted, lowering her head. "When she said she collected stamps too and might visit again, I came up with this idea to spook her…"
Haruna frowned slightly. "So those messages on my pager before… those were you too?"
"Yep," Kazuko confessed, seeing no point in hiding it now. "I was genuinely worried you had your eye on those stamps."
"Mom, that's way too much!" Shirō couldn't hold back. "You wrecked Grandma's koto over something like this?"
Fujino: "…"
Shouldn't they be more concerned about the girl who got terrorized? What was with the fixation on the koto?
Little bro, you're missing the point!
"Oh, don't worry about that," Kazuko said casually. "I pawned the real koto ages ago."
"Huh?!"
The Ogata family gasped in unison.
"Haven't you noticed?" Kazuko looked at them, surprised. "The new modern kitchen stuff, Tsunetaka's new car, Minoru's computer—our savings couldn't cover all that."
Fujino: "…"
So they sold off the family heirloom koto to fund a lavish lifestyle? And she sounded *proud* of it?
"That's a problem then…" Shirō mused. "If that's the case, we'll have to sell Grandpa's music box."
Fujino: "…"
Selling heirlooms to cover reckless spending was one thing, but this? It's not like it was a necessity. Were they all just a family of spendthrifts?
Talk about filial piety…
"I actually took the music box to an antique shop," Haruna interjected, throwing cold water on their plans. "Turns out it's just a broken folk craft piece."
"That's weird…" Shirō said, scratching his head. "I remember Grandpa saying he'd pass down a music box worth two billion yen to me as a thank-you for being his behind-the-scenes helper—something he never told anyone else about."
"The music box is worth two billion yen?!" Kazuko exclaimed, stunned.
"No way it's two billion," Tsunetaka chuckled. "Your grandpa bought that thing for a few thousand yen at a hot spring."
"Huh?" Shirō blinked, dumbfounded. "No way. Grandpa definitely said it was worth two billion."
"Maybe he meant the stamps?" Minoru suggested, glancing at Haruna. "She said she had the music box checked at an antique shop…"
"Don't make stuff up, Big Brother," Shirō said. "I've already gone through that music box. There's no stamps in it."
"That's odd then…"
"If that's the case, the music box must be a clue to finding the stamps. But where's the hint?"
"Why not let Detective Fujino handle the music box investigation?" Tsunetaka suddenly proposed. "A famous detective like him could figure it out fast…"
"That could work," Fujino nodded. "If it's a treasure hunt job, I'd take a five percent cut after it's done—about ten million yen."
That price was fair. Finding something worth two billion yen and getting paid a measly few hundred thousand? That'd be absurd. A percentage cut made sense here.
"Huh?!"
"Ten million?!"
"What a rip-off!"
"Some famous detective…"
The family instantly turned sour, grumbling that Fujino was asking too much. Sure, they'd get two billion, but ten million? They weren't having it.
"Forget it then," Fujino said, clicking his tongue at their reaction.
He glanced at the memorial tablet on the shrine, adding cryptically, "Still, I've got a hunch. Maybe those stamps are still with Mr. Akiwu."
"What?!"
The family's faces fell.
If it was still with the old man, didn't that mean it got cremated with him…?
Of course, that wasn't what Fujino meant—they just took it that way.
The real stamps were actually inside the memorial tablet.
Fujino had noticed it earlier with his sharp senses.
He'd given them the clue. If they couldn't find it, too bad. They wouldn't even pay five percent. Complaining before even officially hiring him? If he took the job, they'd probably stiff him entirely.
This family—Fujino had them figured out.
A rude older brother, a scheming mom straight out of a palace drama, a spineless dad, and a mostly normal younger brother (with a touch of the family traits).
Even if he helped them for free, they wouldn't be grateful. They'd probably just complain, "Why didn't you find it sooner?" or "If you had, Minoru wouldn't have gotten hurt!"—that kind of nonsense.
…
The next morning, the sky was still dreary.
Fujino's job was done. His balance hit 8.08 million yen, and his reputation reached 950.
The Ogata family was still racking their brains over music box clues. After last night, even without saying it, their attitudes were predictably sour.
To them, Minoru getting hurt was all Haruna's fault. And now, not finding the stamps? All Fujino's fault.
Fujino was beyond words with these people.
When they left, only Shirō—the one semi-normal guy—came out to see them off.
Haruna handed over Akiwu's old pager, looking like she still wanted to chat.
Fujino glanced at her, thinking she was a bit naive.
She'd seen what the Ogata family was like—yet she still wanted to keep talking? It was baffling.
When it comes to relationships, you've got to check out the family—guys or girls, same deal. Even if you click, a family like the Ogatas… well, good luck with that.
…
Afternoon. The rain kept drizzling.
"Look, I just ran into a case out of nowhere, that's why I had to leave…"
Conan stood in a phone booth, chewing on his bowtie voice changer, explaining to Ran about a murder case he'd stumbled into yesterday while they were supposed to eat out. His tone was无奈无奈 helpless.
"I wonder if Conan's home…"
Outside, Ayumi walked by under an umbrella.
"If he's not, we're in trouble," Genta grumbled, trailing behind. "We came out in the rain for nothing…"
"Even if Conan's not there, it's fine," Mitsuhiko said, following along. "We could check on Haibara instead. She just got back from her relatives today, and we haven't seen her in days."
The little trio chattered away, their big eyes completely missing the grim reaper schoolboy in the phone booth.
"Sorry, Ran, I've got another case on my hands—gotta go!" Conan said, spotting them. He quickly hung up after a brief excuse.
The kids met up, solved a riddle, then tried to jaywalk—only to be stopped by a detective uncle.
Then, while the detective was making a call in the phone booth, a shadowy figure opened the door and shot him dead.
…
"Cases, cases, always cases!"
"Shinichi, you jerk!"
Fujino sat on the third-floor living room sofa, Rain's voice carrying through the downpour. He glanced at Ran, who'd been fuming since earlier, and chuckled lightly.
"She's still mad?" Haibara Ai asked, carrying a tray with a white teapot and cups.
"Yeah…" Fujino checked the time on his phone. "Almost ten minutes now. No idea what that Shinichi guy did to tick her off this bad."
Haibara didn't reply, just poured some tea into a cup and set it on the coffee table.
She looked up at Ran across the room.
Both of them knew the deal.
Yesterday, Shinichi Kudo had run into a case during their date, missed the planned time, shrunk back into Conan, and left Ran hanging.
That's why the girl across the hall was so pissed.
"Phew…" Akemi Miyano blew on her hot tea and took a sip. "By the way, Ai, did you have fun at your distant relatives' place abroad these past few days? How was the weather there?"
She was always worried about Haibara's far-off relatives. If it weren't awkward for an outsider like her to tag along, she'd have gone too.
"They were nice enough, and the weather was pretty decent," Haibara said, sitting on the sofa. After a moment, she added, "But I still like it here better."
Fujino glanced at her, a flicker of thought passing through his eyes.
*"Spring, oh distant spring, if I close my eyes, you're there…"*
His phone's ringtone cut through his musings.
Fujino pulled it out and saw "Megure Jūsan" on the screen.
"Hey, Brother Megure," he answered.
"Brother Fujino!" Megure greeted back, urgency in his voice. "Conan and the kids ran into a shooting case. I can't reach Mouri—his phone's off, and the agency line too. Hurry and track him down!"
"A shooting?" Fujino blinked. "You mean Conan and them?"
"Yeah, right near your place at Mihana Park," Megure said grimly. "The victim's a detective from our precinct. Shot dead."
(End of Chapter)