A Little White Lie

"Two months ago, that should be when Mr. Shinna went missing, right?"

If Fujino remembers correctly, what the editor said should be a crucial breakthrough.

"That's right!"

Kaori Niina, standing to the side, wiped away her tears. "My father disappeared the week before the article was published in Bungei Jidai."

"That means Mr. Shinna disappeared after he restarted Detective Saburou."

Fujino pondered for a moment, then turned to the honest-looking man and asked, "Is there anything strange about Mr. Shinna's book?"

"There are some strange aspects."

The honest-looking man nodded and continued, "Mr. Shinna said in the prologue of his work: 'A warning to all the Great Detective in the country: anyone who thinks their reasoning ability surpasses mine, come and find out the truth of this case!' After the prologue was released, it attracted a lot of feedback from fans... Moreover, this time, Mr. Shinna also appears in the book and becomes an old friend of Detective Saburou... This is the first time since Detective Saburou was published."

Does Detective Saburou have many fans?

"That's right, there are a lot of fans, and they're very enthusiastic."

The honest-looking man nodded. "Just six months ago, a fanatic fan threatened us, saying that if we didn't resume serializing Detective Saburou, he would burn down our editorial office."

"In other words, Detective Saburou has many fans, and even a certain number of die-hard fans."

After a pause, Fujino continued, "Have those fanatical fans reached the point where they'd even threaten to burn down the editorial office?"

"Could it be that those fans kidnapped Mr. Shinna?!"

The honest-looking man shook his hands, then suddenly realized, "If those fans were to Detective Saburou, it wouldn't be impossible!"

I don't think so.

Fujino spoke, he turned to Kaori Niina and asked, "If I remember correctly, Mr. Shinna decided to restart the Samonji series before he disappeared. Before that, you should have been in frequent contact with the two of them, right?"

"That's right."

Kaori Niina nodded. "I had dinner at my parents' house the day before they disappeared... and stayed overnight. I only found the note that said 'I'm going out for a little while' the next morning."

"But if that's the case... then why did Ms. Shinmei disappear without a trace...? If she was kidnapped, then what was the culprit's motive?"

Just as the honest-looking man was wondering what was going on, the printer next to him suddenly made a sound.

It is a newly written original manuscript by Taro Niina.

Fujino stepped forward and picked up the new manuscript.

The kind-hearted man did not stop him, after all, it was now basically certain that Taro Niina had been caught up in some kind of trouble... or even met with misfortune.

The original manuscript still features a half-vertical section on one side, and the signature remains unchanged.

If Fujino remembers correctly, the code should be hidden in the halfway point of the apex.

After examining several manuscripts, Fujino suddenly said to everyone, "If that's the case, then I already know the secret hidden in the manuscripts."

"The secret hidden in the original manuscript?"

Upon hearing this, Kaori Niina and the honest-looking man both came over.

"The secret is actually hidden in the name of the original manuscript... Half of the Vertex."

As he spoke, Fujino displayed the manuscript in front of the two of them, pointing to the text on each page that exceeded the normal format. "If it's half the top, it should mean that every time Mr. Shinna appears in this book, the top of each line of dialogue with Zuo Ziwen is only half the text, that is, half the text... In that case, it should be 'Please come and save me quickly'."

"What?!"

"If that's the case, then my father must have been kidnapped!"

"Then these codes must have been deliberately written by Mr. Shinna to avoid suspicion, right?!"

"That's the theory, but the codes in the other manuscripts can't be deciphered using this method..."

As he spoke, Fujino placed the original manuscript on the table beside him. "Other interpretations based on this method will only result in meaningless text."

"Could it be a different format?"

The honest-looking man also came over, asking in confusion.

"I don't think that's the case; there must be some other hidden secret."

Fujino examined the manuscript, then glanced at Ai Haibara not far away.

To be honest, my memory of this period is rather hazy.

To solve a case, you need to know who the murderer is, piece together some memories, observe the scene, and use your reasoning skills to solve the case.

He knew that Taro Niina was in room 2407 of the Haido City Grand Hotel, but figuring out how to properly decipher the codes was a bit of a problem.

It was a bit troublesome, but we can still draw conclusions.

He pretended not to know all this to confirm one of his suspicions...

Under Fujino's Ai Haibara gaze, Ai Haibara silently approached Fujino, stood on tiptoe, picked up a manuscript from the table, and examined it.

After a moment, she suddenly said calmly, "Every time Taro Niina appears, it's in France. Based on the rule that the 'h' in French is silent, if we rearrange those words, we should be able to deduce the subsequent code, right?"

Then, Ai Haibara gently pinched a strand of hair by her ear, once again revealing her girlish demeanor. "Hey? I was right, wasn't I?"

Fujino: "..."

Okay, it's still a bit strange.

It feels a bit like Conan.

Like Conan's husky-like personality, Ai Haibara is a spoiled little girl.

The two are not comparable.

However, this also confirmed Fujino's suspicions...

After pondering for a moment, Fujino picked up the manuscript, examined it, and said, "If we follow the rules of silence, then these codes can indeed be deciphered. The first code is 'Please come and save me quickly,' the second is 'My current location,' the third is 'Haido City Grand Hotel,' and the last one is 'Room 2407.'"

"The information we get from putting them together is that Mr. Shinna is currently in room 2047 of the Haido City Grand Hotel."

"Then let's hurry over there!"

Kaori Niina said anxiously, "If it were now, my dad might still be..."

"Let's call the police first!"

The honest-looking man took out his phone. "If Mr. Shinna has really been kidnapped, rushing over there might just result in them killing him!"

As the editor, Taro Niina's life was directly related to his interests.

If Taro Niina dies, the Detective Saburou series will definitely be over.

At that point, his performance will not only be ruined.

The editorial office will also suffer considerable losses.

I don't think so.

At that moment, Fujino suddenly called out to the honest-looking man, "If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Shinna wasn't actually kidnapped at all."

"You weren't kidnapped?"

"It's a bit complicated to explain..."

As he spoke, Fujino looked meaningfully at Kaori Niina: "Miss Shinmei, once we get to the Haido City Hotel, everything will be revealed."

Kaori Niina seemed a little confused. After a moment of hesitation, she still chose to believe Fujino.

Afterwards, the group drove to the Haido City Hotel.

Haido City Hotel, Haido Hotel, and Haido Hotel are all actually the same place.

It's just a different name...

Come to think of it, the last time Kaito Kid appeared was on the rooftop of this hotel.

At the door of room 2407, Fujino, carrying Wooden Sword, gently knocked on the door.

A moment later, the door opened, and a middle-aged woman came into view.

He was probably in his forties or fifties, and the disappointment on his face was evident even without him saying a word.

"Mom?!"

When Kaori Niina saw the woman, she couldn't help but cry out.

"Kabori?"

The middle-aged woman couldn't help but gasp in surprise when she saw the Kaori Niina.

"Where's my dad?!"

Kaori Niina asked anxiously, "Were you kidnapped by someone?"

"Kidnapping?"

The middle-aged woman frowned, pondered for a moment, and was about to say something when a voice came from the room behind her, "Is that Kaori?"

"Dad?"

After entering the room, Kaori Niina walked quickly towards the room opposite the door.

Fujino and his group followed them in, and what they saw was an old man lying on the bed, with gray hair and a haggard face.

"Dad, what exactly is going on...?"

Looking at her father's haggard face, Kaori Niina asked anxiously.

"I orchestrated this whole thing myself."

Taro Niina forced a smile across his pale face. "I found out I had cancer two months ago. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you... After all, I wanted the code to be more convincing... And given my current condition, you would definitely be sad too."

"Dad..."

Tears streamed down Kaori Niina's face.

"Okay, stop crying."

Taro Niina Niitaro struggled to raise his hand, his withered fingers wiping away Kaori Niina's tears. "Since you were able to get here, someone must have cracked my code, right? Didn't this alert the police?"

"The police weren't alerted, but someone did indeed decipher the code you left behind, Dad."

Kaori Niina nodded and turned her gaze to Fujino beside her. "It was Detective Fujino who cracked your code, Dad... and the fact that you didn't call the police was also at Detective Fujino's request."

"Detective Fujino?"

Taro Niina struggled to sit up in bed, leaned against the headboard, and looked at Fujino: "The fact that you didn't call the police means you already saw through the truth behind this... You even guessed that I orchestrated this whole thing."

"Yes, it's a bit complicated to explain, but that's really how it is."

Fujino nodded without saying anything more.

He could tell that the old man in front of him was already at his last gasp.

Wasting time is tantamount to wasting the other person's life.

At this moment, Taro Niina spoke again, his words sounding somewhat powerless. "The recognition of my work by readers is the happiest moment of my life. I've walked the path of a writer for 40 years, but there's still a kind of happiness I haven't experienced, and that is hoping that someone will rush up to me and say that they've already solved the mystery of this old man's life..."

Your wish has been fulfilled.

As he spoke, Fujino hoisted the Wooden Sword onto his shoulder. "Speaking of which, I'm also a fan of Detective Saburou."

Is that so?

A relieved smile appeared on Taro Niina's face.

Of course, Fujino told a little lie. He wasn't a fan of Detective Saburou, but to fulfill the wish of a dying old man, this little lie was acceptable, and he could always make up for it later.

Later, in the last days of her life, Kaori talked a lot with Nittaro and would occasionally exchange a few words with Fujino.

And just like that, midnight arrived.

After a moment of silence, Taro Niina fell completely silent.