That's Right, You're Next!

Fujino pretended to ponder, then turned to look at Kuroe Naoko beside him. "Ms. Kuroe, do you have any thoughts?"

"Idea?"

Kuroe Naoko was clearly taken aback upon hearing this, "What could I possibly be thinking..."

"Whether it's Kadowaki Saori or Ms. Kotobuki, it seems that the pattern of that person's attacks is to start with your social circle."

Fujino met Kuroe Naoko's eyes. "I heard from people on the island that Ms. Kuroe, you, and Ms. Kotobuki are all close friends who grew up together with Kadowaki Saori."

"That's true. Kimie, Toshimi, Saori, and I have been good friends since we were little."

Kuroe Naoko remained noncommittal about the relationship between the group. "But what does it matter?"

"It now appears that two people have already been targeted by Xiao Hei, and the modus operandi is particularly distinctive."

Fujino whispered, "I think the next target might be you or Ms. Kimie."

Hattori Heiji and Conan both lowered their heads and pondered for a moment upon hearing this.

I think what Fujino said makes a lot of sense.

Although it seems simple, this conjecture is quite consistent with the patterns observed in the people who have already been attacked.

Hattori Heiji twitched his chin and turned to Kuroe Naoko, asking, "By the way, Ms. Kuroe, Ms. Kimie, do any of you have any enemies?"

"An enemy?"

Kuroe Naoko frowned. "How could we possibly have any enemies... We're usually on this island and rarely go out... Even if they're from the island, they wouldn't hold a grudge... Could it be a mermaid?!"

At this point, she paused abruptly, then fell silent, her face turning deathly pale.

The reason wasn't anything else, but she suddenly remembered that she and two other friends had burned the mermaid to death three years ago.

As a follower of mermaids, she immediately connected with her previous thought and realized that it was the ghost of a mermaid seeking revenge.

The other two people who set the fire with her are now getting their comeuppance...

Wouldn't she be next?

"Miss Kuroe, have you remembered anything?"

Fujino narrowed his eyes, noticing the unusual expression on Kuroe Naoko.

Just as he expected, they panicked.

Yes, that's right, you're next!

"It's nothing... I just remembered I have some things to do."

Kuroe Naoko shook her head, not intending to reveal that she and her friends had set the fire. She then turned around and casually said, "That's enough for today, I'm leaving now..."

"That's so strange..."

Conan watched Kuroe Naoko's hurried departure and asked curiously, "It seems like Naoko is hiding something from us."

"I feel the same way."

Hattori Heiji was also somewhat puzzled. "Miss Kimie, do you know anything?"

"I don't know either... Although I've been friends with them since childhood, our relationship isn't particularly close. It's more like a network of relationships with Saori as the core."

Shimabukuro Kimie shook her head helplessly, glanced back at Kuroe Naoko, and revealed a hint of murderous intent in her eyes.

Is that so?

Fujino nodded upon hearing this, then continued, "By the way, I just heard Ms. Kuroe say that you usually stay on the island and don't have any enemies on Honshu, is that true?"

"That's right..."

Shimabukuro Kimie nodded in agreement, "We usually live on this island and rarely go out. Even when we do go out, it's just for tourism."

"That means that Xiao Hei guy is very likely from this island."

Fujino pondered for a moment, "If it's because of a grudge, then the only people who would target you are probably the people on this island."

"No way?"

Shimabukuro Kimie was taken aback by what he heard.

"I think it's very likely."

Hattori Heiji picked up the thread. "Just as you said before, if there is any grudge, it should be the people on the island. In fact, apart from the fact that the two people who were attacked are friends, they also both possess the Arrow of the Dugong. However, I don't understand why all three of them were present yesterday, even though I remember that Miss Sumi drew the Arrow of the Dugong yesterday."

"I remember too!"

At this moment, Conan chimed in, "That lady clearly said she won, but in the end, besides Kazuha, the other two people who received the prize were that drunkard who looked like Uncle Mori, and that lady from before."

"What did you say?"

Mori Kogoro felt a surge of displeasure upon hearing himself called a drunkard.

Conan, embarrassed, said, "Haha... it's nothing."

"But if you ask me, she must have seen it wrong."

Uncle Mori once again demonstrated his skill in interfering with cases and leading everyone into a maze. "If you ask me, she must have mistaken her own number for the winning number, which is why she said that. I've encountered this before when I was betting on horses... cough cough."

"But I don't think so."

Hattori Heiji narrowed his eyes slightly. "At the time, Kotobuki's wooden plaque wasn't on her... If that's the case, then one of the two people who received the award must have used Kotobuki's wooden plaque."

At that moment, Mori Kogoro suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "If we find out who has the wooden sign, wouldn't we be able to figure out who the attacker is?"

"If only it were that simple."

After a moment of silence, Conan said helplessly, "None of us saw what number Miss Kotomi's number was. It's completely impossible to determine the attacker based on this kind of evidence alone."

Upon hearing this, Shimabukuro Kimie's expression changed slightly. She seemed to want to say something, but hesitated for a moment and ultimately remained silent.

What she really wanted to say was that there was a list of people who would be drawn in her home.

But then I thought, if it really is the same as what these detectives deduced, then Xiao Hei is very likely to be exposed.

Although she didn't know who Xiao Hei was, she figured it was probably either Kuroe Naoko or Kadowaki Benzo.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure out which of the two people was Xiao Hei.

One was a notorious drunkard in the village, and the other was one of the murderers who killed his own mother.

It's unreasonable to think that these two people are like this.

"Given her current condition, it would be extremely difficult to get the number on her ticket."

Fukuyama Rokuro had just returned to the ward to comfort Ebihara Sumi, came out and overheard their conversation. He suddenly asked, "If it's a number tag, I remember the shrine should have a record of it, right?"

"There's such a thing?" Hattori Heiji asked in confusion.

"In order to avoid getting the names of the winners wrong each year, we do keep a record in the roster."

Shimabukuro Kimie gave Fukuyama Rokuro a resentful look, then sighed, "But because of what happened last night, I haven't had time to check this year's list yet."

Upon hearing this, Conan's eyes flashed with a sharp light. "Then, Sister Junhui, could you take us to see that roster?"

"No problem."

Shimabukuro Kimie was somewhat reluctant, but with three detectives in front of her, she couldn't very well refuse.

A dozen minutes later.

Led by Shimabukuro Kimie, Fujino and his group returned to the Shimabukuro residence and entered the room where miscellaneous items were stored.

"Here it is, the list of those to be drawn from the Arrow of the Dugong."

Shimabukuro Kimie handed a thick stack of notebooks to everyone.

"So many..."

Hattori Heiji looked at the huge pile of records in front of him and couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

"These are all lists from previous years."

As she spoke, Shimabukuro Kimie pulled out a notebook from the stack of notebooks and explained, "This year's list is here."

Hattori Heiji was somewhat helpless, and could only slowly begin to flip through the pages.

Fujino, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes and randomly picked out two or three lists from the last two years.

If I remember correctly, these lists seem to include Gin's signature, his underlings' signature, and Sherry's signature.

He wanted to confirm Gin's and Vodka's real names.

It's just two or three books.

With the added benefit of his enhanced perception, Fujino quickly found the leaf.

He stopped flipping through the pages and focused his gaze on the notebook, where he saw the names: [Kurosawa Jin], [Uotsuka Saburo], and [Shiho Miyano].

"It's pretty much the same as I remember..."

Fujino pondered, feeling that Gin's name was a bit...

It seems to suit the other person's temperament quite well.

As for his name, he has never been sure.

Now that he has seen it with his own eyes, he has a better understanding of the situation.

After all, it would be a waste to use up a White Wolf Cigarette just because of a name you misremembered.

Even if you know, you still need to think it over carefully.

Shiho Miyano is using her real name, so there's definitely no problem.

As for names like Uotsuka Saburo and Kurosawa Jin...

He wasn't sure if it was true or false.

The only way to find the truth is through practice.

"Brother Fujino, what are you looking at?"

At that moment, Conan noticed Fujino through a book.

This reminded me of the time when Fujino quickly identified the perpetrator from multiple screens.

He had reason to suspect that Fujino was secretly gathering evidence behind his back.

In his opinion, Fujino, that old sly fox, does everything in secret.

Sometimes, they even see right through the truth, and before he can even figure it out, others have already started proving it.

"Nothing."

Fujino shook his head and didn't say anything more.

He was just a little speechless, secretly complaining to himself about Conan, who was always watching him.

"Found it!"

At that moment, Hattori Heiji suddenly shouted.

"Has it been found yet?"

Conan was immediately drawn to the question and turned around to ask, "Who is it?"

"It is Benzo."

The service staff member, whose face was already somewhat dark, darkened further. "This list has the names of Ebihara Sumi and Kuroe Naoko, but not Kadowaki Benzo."

"What?!"

Conan was startled by what he heard.

"Could it be that guy who attacked Ms. Kotobuki?"

Mori Kogoro guessed, "After hearing that Miss Sumi had drawn the Arrow of the Dugong, that guy harbored malicious intentions, attacked her while drunk, and then came back pretending nothing had happened to exchange for the arrow."

"But why would he attack someone and steal a number plate..."

Hattori Heiji was still somewhat doubtful. "And if he is indeed Xiao Hei, then his daughter was probably kidnapped by him as well."

He couldn't understand why anyone would attack another person for something like this.

"Maybe it's for the money."

Fujino pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "I remember this thing could sell for a million yen if it were expensive."

"One million yen?!"

Mori Kogoro was clearly taken aback by Fujino's words. "Is this thing really that valuable?"

"Although the Arrow of the Dugong may not seem very valuable, if it were given to someone who really needs it, I estimate that it would sell for several million yen and someone would still be willing to buy it."

Fujino nodded. He remembered that the arrow that Kadowaki Saori Kadowaki Benzo Saori sold for one million yen. "In desperate situations, people will always pray for something ethereal, and they will try their best to obtain it even if there is only a one in a billion chance... Kadowaki Benzo is Saori's father, and thinking about it, it is not impossible that he sold his own daughter's arrow."

"If that's the case, then it's quite possible."

Mori Kogoro frowned slightly. "After discovering that his daughter had hired a detective, he went to Tokyo and kidnapped her. And yesterday at the Dugong Festival, he discovered that Miss Sumi had also been struck by Arrow of the Dugong and attacked her..."

"Forehead..."

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet, and Conan, Hattori Heiji, and Fujino all glanced at Mori Kogoro speechlessly.

As a detective who is considered a normal person, Mori Kogoro's idea was definitely not adopted.

The group decided to go to Men Xie's house first to check the situation and ask the uncle what exactly happened.

Before leaving, Fujino went to the toilet again.

Fujino sat on the toilet, his gaze level with the shadow in front of him.

A moment later, the shadow began to peel away from his body, and then, as if it were consciously aware of its surroundings, it crawled out through the crack in the door.

Fujino watched his shadow gradually recede into the distance, his expression somewhat strange.

While this method of action is quite convenient, it feels a bit strange in practice, like the tentacle magical girl dance.

After the shadow was peeled away, it slowly crawled out of the Shimabukuro house and transformed into human form in the grove outside.

After sensing that Xiao Hei was in place, Fujino also walked out of the restroom.

Now, his envisioned plan is finally underway.

Inside the souvenir shop on the island.

Kuroe Naoko stood in front of the shelf, looking down at the Arrow of the Dugong hanging on her chest, appearing somewhat uneasy.

The reasoning just now clearly startled her.

The idea of mermaid ghosts might sound far-fetched, but to her, a believer in mermaids, it became increasingly absurd.

She was terrified. The other two arsonists from three years ago had been retaliated against, and as one of the arsonists, she was also afraid of being retaliated against.

"Arrow of the Dugong protect you..."

Kuroe Naoko devoutly placed her hand on the arrow in front of her chest, praying for the blessing of the Life Lord 'Mermaid Power.

In her eyes, as long as she doesn't lose her Arrow of the Dugong, she won't be in danger; on the contrary, she will live a long and healthy life.

Even if the mermaid's ghost really came, she wouldn't be afraid at all.

As for the retaliation against the other two, she thought about it and could only blame them for their own bad behavior.

One of them was arrogant for getting such a good thing as the Arrow of the Dugong, and the other was a fool who dared to lose such a treasure. If they don't get revenge, who will?

"Naoko, you finally got this arrow."

The store manager, who was standing in front of the cashier, couldn't help but tease when she saw this scene, "You've been asking for it for so long, and now you've finally gotten your wish. But I really don't understand why you young people would be superstitious about this kind of thing."

Mermaids definitely exist...

Nao Kuroe didn't refute too vehemently. "Saori and Kotomi, they must have been attacked by the ghosts of mermaids."