"Right beside me?"
Fujino wasn't surprised to hear that. He was just wondering who it could be.
The killer was right beside him...
A classic line when it came to picking one of three suspects in Beika.
After a moment's thought, he said, "You've brought up Fumiya Karen's older sister so many times. Don't tell me it's her."
"Bingo, Fujino. You got it."
Hiroki set off a huge burst of confetti on the phone screen. Ever since the kid had gained free rein over the internet of things, Fujino felt he'd been getting stranger by the day.
"So what is it this time? The older sister resented her younger sister for having too good a life?"
After thinking it over, Fujino offered another guess. "Or did she see her younger sister being abused and kill someone in a rage?"
"Not exactly, though you're not entirely wrong."
Hiroki paused before explaining, "After the incident back then, Kitami Renko's identity died. The woman alive today is Fuwa Narumi, a police officer who's solved countless major drug cases with the Hokkaido headquarters."
"Huh?"
Fujino froze, caught off guard. "You're saying that policewoman is Fumiya Karen's older sister?"
"You're sure you didn't get it wrong?"
"I'm sure," Hiroki said with absolute confidence.
Fujino's brow lifted slightly as he thought it over.
Were those two connected?
Not at all, as far as I can see.
How could there be a connection...?
Hiroki explained, "I didn't think of it at first either. I only came across her while digging into the connection between Bandai Hiroki and Bandai. When I looked into her background, I found that she'd been to a cosmetic surgery clinic."
"That felt off, so I investigated Fuwa Narumi more closely."
"Fuwa Narumi had no family. She was an orphan, though her parents had