Juzo Megure: Keep Going, Kid-4k Bonus Chapter

"Since it's poisoning, the culprit must be someone who came into contact with the beverage."

Fujino turned to look at Noda Yumemi beside him and asked, "Ms. Noda, did Kamata buy his own drink?"

"No! I actually bought the drinks."

Nearby, a short-haired woman dressed in light clothing pointed to a beverage stall not far away. "I went to that beverage stall, bought four drinks, and then went back to my seat."

As she spoke, she turned to the chubby boy who was with her and asked, "Mitani, after that, I gave you the drink and went to the restroom. I didn't come back until the show started, right?"

"And what about Mr. Mitani?"

Fujino turned to Mitani, "Did you hand the drink to the deceased Kamata?"

"That's true..."

Mitani nodded. "However, I only kept my own oolong tea and Kou's iced coffee; the rest were distributed by Noda."

Noda Yumemi continued, "That's right, Mitani gave me both my orange juice and Kamata's iced coffee, and then I gave the iced coffee to Kamata..."

"Is that how it is?"

Mitani interrupted, "You took the iced coffee from my hand and then gave it to him."

"Huh?! What are you talking about?"

When Noda Yumemi saw that the blame was being shifted onto her, she immediately became unhappy. "So, in the end, it was you who handed me the iced coffee, wasn't it?!"

"Alright, you two calm down."

Takagi tried to smooth things over, asking, "May I ask what your respective relationships are with the victim Kamata?"

After Takagi questioned them, the group revealed that they were all graduates of this place and former members of the drama club.

The short-haired woman was named Kogami Mai, and the fat man was named Mitani Yota.

Since the group of friends happened to work in the same area, they would come to Teitan High School's school festival every year to watch the performances.

Because there were so many people watching the show today, only one person, Kogami Mai, went to buy drinks while the others went to reserve seats.

Originally, Kamata was going to follow, but suddenly he ran away in a panic...

As for the reason, it can only be said that it was the girl who was selling drinks at the time.

The girl's name is Ninigawa Ayako. She has short, shoulder-length black hair and wears rimless round glasses. She has a melancholic and beautiful look and is the only daughter of the director of Beika General Hospital.

"That means you must have known them when you were filling out the drinks."

Fujino looked at the group and said, "In other words, all of you had the opportunity to poison them back then."

"Etc!"

Kogami Mai was somewhat flustered. "If I wanted to poison him, to avoid accidental ingestion, I could just hand it over to him directly. There's no need to go through all this trouble, is there?"

"Then you could poison both cups."

Juzo Megure honestly replied, "You can just not drink that cup then."

"But I drank it all..."

Kogami Mai said helplessly, "If my cup had been poisoned too, I probably would be dead by now."

Uncle Mori then offered another outrageous explanation. "Then it's also possible that you poured it into the toilet."

"Didn't I already say that I went to the restroom after I gave them the drinks?"

Kogami Mai said impatiently, "By the time I came back, the play had already started, and I haven't left my seat since."

"I just shared the drinks with everyone."

Mitani Yota nodded. "If we're talking about poisoning, there simply wasn't time."

Noda Yumemi chimed in, "Me too."

"Shouldn't you at least open the lid and check what's inside?"

Juzo Megure then asked Mitani Yota, "After all, the cups are the same, so it's not impossible that they could have poisoned it during this opportunity."

"Of course I didn't open it, since the name of the drink is written on the lid of the cup."

Mitani Yota explained, and Noda Yumemi added, "And if it's iced coffee, the lid usually comes with honey and a scoop of cream."

"Then it's possible that you prepared the honey and cream balls in advance."

Mori Kogoro then suggested another outrageous method, "Why not just switch it out before handing it over to him...?"

"Ahem, Mouri-niisan."

Fujino interrupted, "If it were Potassium Cyanide, dissolving it all into that drink would turn it completely poisonous, and Kamata would kick the bucket if he didn't finish it."

"Oh? I see."

Mori Kogoro scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Then how did the murderer poison Kamata?"

"Inspector Megure!"

At that moment, Takagi suddenly found something in Kamata's pocket. "We found unused honey and cream balls in Kamata's pocket."

"Well?"

Noda Yumemi exclaimed in surprise, then asked the two people behind her, "I remember he usually adds it to his coffee... I think that's how it is?"

"That's really strange..."

Mitani Yota nodded. "I remember he usually adds both."

"Because the cup doesn't contain coffee, it contains cola."

At this moment, Ninigawa Ayako said softly, "Actually, I originally planned that after he found out, he would come to me to switch places and then break off our engagement."

Everyone present was taken aback. "A marriage contract?"

'She's going to be a wife at eighteen?'

Fujino seemed somewhat surprised, muttering to himself, 'I remember these two are about ten years apart in age...'

But on second thought, it makes sense.

After all, the marriage age limit is not high in Japan.

Many women get married at sixteen and already have children in elementary school; there are quite a few who are only in their early twenties...

It's another classic situation: three classmates and one fiancée – a choice between four.

"Um."

Ninigawa Ayako nodded, lowered her eyes and said softly, "I actually planned to marry him after graduation, but last week I suddenly felt uneasy and canceled the engagement... Since then, whenever I go to see him, he refuses to see me."

"Oh, I see."

At this moment, Kogami Mai suddenly realized something, took out two small boxes from her pocket and laughed, "To be honest, I almost put the milk ball and honey in there just now."

"Um?"

Kudo Shinichi frowned.

"Um?"

Hattori Heiji frowned.

Both of them realized that something was wrong.

There's something wrong with this Kogami Mai.

Upon hearing this, Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly and asked her, "Ms. Kou, do you add these two things when you drink iced coffee?"

"Of course."

Kogami Mai chuckled lightly, "After all, I quite like drinking coffee, but I can't stand its bitterness..."

"So, you're also used to adding those two things?"

Fujino frowned slightly upon hearing this, narrowed his eyes, and turned his gaze to Kogami Mai: "And just now, you said almost, right?"

"Yes..."

Kogami Mai felt uneasy under Fujino's gaze, a sense of pressure washing over her, and she felt something was amiss, but she still feigned composure and said, "Luckily, I noticed in time..."

"I remember you said you returned to your seat after the performance had started, right?"

Fujino's gaze remained unchanged, but his aura was even stronger. "I'm very curious, how exactly did you discover that your drink was cola in the dark? The two drinks are very similar."

After a pause, Fujino continued, "Besides, normal people don't smell their drinks before drinking them. When they add the coffee, they will subconsciously assume it's iced coffee."

"Miss Hongshang, the reason you didn't add those two things is because you actually opened the lid and checked the contents when you brought the coffee back, right...?"

At this point, he looked directly at Kogami Mai: "And the purpose of opening it is to put the poison ice you prepared in advance inside."

Kogami Mai took two steps back, her calf bumping into the stool behind her. Her pupils gradually dilated as she looked at Fujino in disbelief.

"Poisonous ice?!"

Everyone present was surprised upon hearing this, and all turned their gazes toward Fujino and Kogami Mai.

Meanwhile, Kudo Shinichi, disguised as the Black Knight, was starting to lose his composure.

In fact, he had already thought of this when Kogami Mai gave him away.

The case is right in front of me, but I can't show off. It's frustrating...

"Dig out a portion of the ice, inject poison into it, and then freeze the ice. That way, a poisoned ice block that won't melt even after being placed in water for a while is created."

Fujino explained, "In order to clear yourself of suspicion, you actually put ice in both cups of coffee from the beginning. Going to the restroom was to dispose of the container containing the ice, since you need a container to carry the poisoned ice."

"Using a plastic wallet filled with dry ice, the toxic ice inside won't melt even after several hours. If I'm not mistaken, your purpose in going to the bathroom was to get rid of the dry ice inside."

As he spoke, Fujino took out an evidence bag containing a well-made wallet from his pocket and handed it to Juzo Megure: "Inspector Megure, this is what I found at the entrance of the gymnasium restroom. I kept this evidence in my possession as soon as I found it if I wanted to lure out the culprit. Please forgive me."

"Ah... it's okay."

Juzo Megure took the evidence bag. "Brother, you can continue."

"Miss Hongshang, after you bought the coffee, you put two poisoned ice cubes in the service counter, cleaned the container, and then returned to the theater... acting as if nothing had happened, waiting for Kamata to eat the ice cube, am I right?"

As he spoke, Fujino glanced at the glittering dots on Kogami Mai's jacket. "If we're lucky enough, the police might be able to detect traces of potassium cyanide on you."

"After all, that ice cube is in your glass. If you don't want to have poison detected in your drink, you have no choice but to hide it."

"..."

After a brief silence, Kogami Mai took a deep breath. "I never expected that it would all be because of this one mistake..."

"Yes, just this one mistake."

Fujino took a deep breath, nodded, and looked at Kogami Mai with a sigh, saying, "If we could have destroyed that bag as well, and also found a way to dispose of the ice, perhaps this case wouldn't have been so easily solved..."

"I never imagined that Great Detective would actually guide a murderer."

Kogami Mai teased Fujino, then said frankly, "That's right, I killed him... As for the reason, I just couldn't stand that guy who wasn't fit to be a doctor taking a patient's life without permission."

"We have a terminally ill patient in our hospital who happens to agree with that man's theories..."

Kogami Mai took a deep breath and continued, "In order to make his theory stand, that guy took medicine without authorization and killed that late-stage patient... I only heard about it a while ago when he was drowning his sorrows in alcohol after being dumped."

Is that so?

Fujino glanced at Kogami Mai, then asked Juzo Megure, "Given the current situation, shouldn't she be considered to have turned herself in?"

"Forehead..."

Juzo Megure thought for a moment, "If we didn't make the arrest, then it counts."

"You've heard what Inspector Megure said, how about turning yourself in?"

Fujino looked at Kogami Mai, "At least this way you can get a suspended sentence or a reduced sentence, and you'll be out in less than ten years."

Kogami Mai was taken away by the police, and her friends were also taken to the police station to give statements.

The two detectives were left completely bewildered.

"As expected of Fujino- Senior!"

"Fujino is so awesome!"

"I feel that Kudo Shinichi is more capable. If he were here, he would have solved the case long ago."

"Forget it, we don't even know where Kudo has gone."

"It's hard to say about Fujino and Kudo..."

The students watching chattered amongst themselves, arguing about who was the best Great Detective in their school.

Hattori Heiji: Am I just a background character now?

Kudo Shinichi, disguised as the Black Knight: So this has nothing to do with me?

"This guy..."

Kudo Shinichi Fujino peered through his mask at Fujino, who was being flattered by Juzo Megure, and a slight twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth.

This time, the limelight has been stolen again...

He had originally planned to make a grand entrance and give that old man Fujino a shock.

I didn't expect to be snatched away before I could even make a move.

Just as he felt a little regretful and sighed softly.

A sharp pain suddenly exploded from his heart outwards.

"Could it be that it's going to shrink again?!"

Kudo Shinichi was startled and looked in the direction of Ai Haibara not far away. "Didn't Ai Haibara say that the effects of the medicine should not be seen until tomorrow..."

Without thinking much, a feeling of powerlessness washed over him, and he knelt on the ground, panting heavily.

"Doctor Shinide, what's wrong?!"

Ran noticed his unusual behavior and quickly went over to check on him.

Kudo Shinichi, panting heavily, glanced at Ran, his fists clenched tightly...

Then, consciousness gradually faded, the mind went blank, and she fainted.

"How are you?!"

Vermouth, disguised as Tomoaki Araide, also noticed something was amiss and quickly ran out from backstage.

She gazed at Kudo Shinichi lying on the ground, her eyes filled with worry.

From the moment she spoke, she knew that this was Kudo Shinichi.

She agreed to the role change...

Now that she has suddenly collapsed and can't get up, to be honest, she is still very worried.

After all, he's her own son; if she doesn't love him, who will?

"Doctor Shinide?!"

Ran glanced at Tomoaki Araide, looking quite surprised, "Then who is he...?"

"He is Kudo-kun."

Although Vermouth was very anxious, she managed to maintain her disguise and tone as she removed the mask of the Black Knight.

"Shinichi...?!"

Ran stared at the familiar face before her, slightly lost in thought.

"Ran, what happened?"

Fujino walked over at that moment, with Ai Haibara following silently behind him.

"I just noticed something was wrong."

Ran hurriedly explained, then paused again when she saw Conan, before continuing, "By the time I came to my senses, he was already lying on the ground."

"Is that so? Let me see..."

Upon hearing this, Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly and reached out to gently check his pulse.

The person is still alive.

The pulse is fine.

There is no pregnancy sign.