Black on the Inside

"How could I possibly know the deceased?!"

The manager gave an awkward laugh, though a trace of guilt showed through his smile.

"Though it was only for an instant, I clearly saw the shock in your eyes when you looked at the corpse."

Fujino stared straight into the manager's eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, you deliberately slipped just now to take the hair clenched in the corpse's hand!"

"What?!"

Juzo Megure hurriedly gestured to an officer from the Forensic Science Division. "Go check whether the corpse really has a strand of hair in his hand, just as Fujino said!"

"Inspector Megure!"

"The victim was indeed clutching a long strand of an adult woman's hair!"

Juzo Megure took the evidence bag, examining the woman's hair inside as he said in a low voice:

"Can you two explain what exactly is going on?"

"I did know him."

"Yoko!"

The moment Yoko Okino spoke, the manager shouted.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Eiichi. I really can't keep this hidden anymore..."

She bowed slightly to Eiichi Yamagishi in apology, lowering her head as she explained, "Not only did I know him, he was... he was the boyfriend I dated in high school, Akiyoshi Fujie!"

"Nani?!"

Juzo Megure cried out in surprise, then questioned her, "In that case, you were the one who killed Mr. Fujie, weren't you?!"

"You killed him to end your relationship and keep it from affecting your popularity!"

"That's not true!"

Yoko Okino hurriedly explained, "He was the one who wanted to break up first, not me..."

"Something's off..."

At that moment, Conan, standing by the door, muttered to himself.

A strand of Yoko Okino's hair really was clutched in Fujie's hand, but something still felt wrong.

If only he could get into the crime scene...

Just as Conan was racking his brains, a voice pulled him from his thoughts. "Inspector Megure, Yoko Okino is not the killer!"

Fujino suddenly interrupted Juzo Megure's questioning and said gravely, "I already know who the killer is!"

"Nani, Fujino, if it wasn't her, then who was it?"

Juzo Megure looked at Fujino in surprise.

From what Fujino had been saying earlier, hadn't the killer been Yoko Okino?

If it wasn't her, then who could it be?

Could he have killed himself?

"There is usually only one truth!"

After taking a deep breath, Fujino slowly pointed at the corpse lying on the floor. "The person who killed Mr. Fujie was actually himself!"

It really was?

Juzo Megure was bewildered. "That can't be right. Fujie was stabbed in the back with the murder weapon. How could it have been suicide?"

"It's actually very simple."

As he spoke, Fujino pointed at the puddles around the corpse. "Did any of you notice the water on the floor?"

"Water? What does that have to do with the case?"

Juzo Megure was still confused.

Fujino scratched the back of his head, privately lamenting how severely the police in Conan World had been dumbed down before explaining:

"If Mr. Fujie used ice to hold the knife in place, then raised the temperature of the air conditioner before killing himself, the ice would melt as the temperature rose. Then these puddles would be inextricably linked to this case!"

"I see..."

Juzo Megure thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "If that was the case, then it would have been entirely possible for Fujie to disguise his suicide as murder."

He gave Fujino an approving look. For a moment, he seemed to see a familiar figure.

A new little brother!

"But Fujino, if the deceased committed suicide, why was he clutching Yoko Okino's hair?"

At that moment, Conan somehow broke free from Ran's restraint, rushed into the room, and asked Fujino.

Fujino was not surprised by Conan's appearance.

He merely crouched down with a mischievous smile, patted Conan's head, and teased, "Remember to use honorifics when addressing a Senior, Conan!"

Ow! Can't this guy see the huge bump on my head?!

He definitely did that on purpose! What a jerk!

But for the truth of the case, I'll endure it!

The corner of Conan's mouth twitched as his gaze toward Fujino gradually turned resentful. "I understand... Big Brother Fujino!"

"Good boy, Conan!"

Fujino chuckled, then continued his deduction. "If I'm not mistaken, the reason he went to such lengths to arrange this entire case was to frame Miss Yoko for his own death."

"Frame Miss Yoko?"

"But if he had already broken up with Miss Yoko, why would he come back to take revenge on her?"

Conan was somewhat puzzled.

Something about it still felt unreasonable.

"That's why this whole thing was a tragedy from beginning to end."

Fujino shook his head and asked Yoko Okino, "Miss Yoko, is it all right if I reveal the details of this request?"

"That's fine."

Fujino nodded upon hearing that and continued, "Just now, Miss Yoko hired me to investigate someone who had been stalking her recently. If I'm not mistaken, the person stalking Yoko Okino was her ex-boyfriend, Mr. Fujie..."

"Mr. Fujie still loved Miss Yoko. He only asked to break up with her because he was under pressure."

As he spoke, his gaze settled on the manager, Eiichi Yamagishi. "Am I wrong, Manager Yamagishi?"

"W-what?!"

Yoko Okino's eyes widened as she stared at Eiichi Yamagishi in disbelief.

"N-No."

The manager lowered his head. "Back then, I was the one who asked him to break up with Yoko. Her career was on the rise at the time, and I didn't want her popularity to suffer because she had a boyfriend."

"Why... why would you do that..."

Yoko Okino weakly sank to the floor, tears shimmering in her eyes.

Fujino sighed softly at the sight. "I think that strand of hair was pulled from Miss Yoko's head by Mr. Fujie last night."

"Actually, the person following you last night was Mr. Fujie... He wanted to explain everything one last time, but you were too frightened to hear what he was saying..."

As he spoke, Fujino put on the air of a middle-aged man. "Sincere love gradually turns into hatred. The deeper the love, the deeper the hate."

"This guy..."

Conan frowned as he watched Fujino.

Kudo Shinichi admitted that this guy's deductive ability was impressive. It even seemed as though he had seen through the truth from the very beginning.

But why did he keep feeling like this guy was black on the inside?