Artists Tend to Be Extreme

As soon as Fujino finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Seto Ryuichi of the three disciples.

Just now, only Seto Ryuichi made a phone call.

Based on Fujino's reasoning, the only possible culprit is him.

Seto Ryuichi clearly wasn't going to confess so easily. He glanced around at everyone, a little flustered, and said repeatedly, "Hey, wait a minute, why is it definitely me? I really didn't kill anyone!"

As he spoke, he pointed to his fellow apprentice beside him. "Even though Otani went out of the living room, he might have made a phone call too!"

"..."

Fujino watched the actors' performance silently.

It's obvious that getting this guy to confess is impossible.

Now this is the ultimate skill of the Rice Flower Man: to deny to the death that he can drag others down with him.

Fujino pondered for a moment, then stared directly at Seto Ryuichi: "Do you think we're all idiots?"

Seto Ryuichi was taken aback. "Huh?"

"Do you really think your sophistry will work?"

Fujino stepped forward and asked Ootani Kaoru, who was standing to the side, "Mr. Otani, how long did it take you to get from the living room to the victim's room?"

Ootani Kaoru thought for a moment and said, "It was probably only about ten seconds, I don't remember exactly."

Arita Yoshihiko chimed in, "About the same, it should be about ten seconds."

Fujino asked the policeman who had just returned with the news, "Officer, what kind of landline did you check over in the living room?"

"It's a turntable design."

The man in the police uniform immediately replied, "It's one of those old-fashioned rotary dials, the kind where you have to turn the dials one by one to enter a phone number."

"The old-fashioned rotary dial is very slow to make a phone call. No matter how familiar you are with it or how fast you are, it is impossible to complete the call in just over ten seconds. Moreover, after the call is connected, it takes some time for Ms. Masuko Tsuchiya to wake up and hang herself."

Fujino looked at Seto Ryuichi and continued, "So, among those present, you are the only one who had access to that phone, made a call during that time period, and had enough time."

Seto Ryuichi was silent for a moment, then sighed, "I should have used an alarm clock, but if I had used an alarm clock, it would probably have been discovered in the end anyway... After all, if you check your phone, it will definitely lead back to you."

Fujino: "..."

Do people from Mihana nowadays even rush to answer questions and provide directions for the search?

"Hey, why did you do this?"

Arita Yoshihiko was puzzled, "What did the young mistress do to offend you that you would kill her..."

"She didn't offend me, but I just couldn't stand by and watch her use my master's name and my works as his personal items to commit fraud!"

"A scam?!"

Everyone present was taken aback upon hearing this.

Fujino and his group were not surprised, since they had already thought of this when they returned to the hotel last night.

"That's right, she sold my work as her master's to those blind, rich fools!"

Seto Ryuichi shouted, "By the time I found out, she had already sold more than a dozen items. When I went to her, she said that my items were all copied junk, and that I should thank her for selling them!"

Sonoko: "...?"

A blind, rich fool?

What did rich people do to you?

I feel like you're insulting me, but I don't have any proof.

What should have been a scene of Mikado kneeling down to apologize, instead, Sonoko felt like she was being targeted.

"But you didn't have to kill her..."

Arita Yoshihiko hesitated for a moment, "So, does that mean you haven't produced any new works lately?"

"I did it on purpose, because I didn't want her to continue using my things to damage my master's reputation!"

Seto Ryuichi's face darkened. "But she continued to threaten me, saying that if I didn't continue making fakes for her, she would expel me from the sect..."

"Idiot!"

Kikuemon, who had been listening intently, suddenly shouted, then slowly walked to Seto Ryuichi's side, hesitated for a moment, and then walked out of the warehouse dejectedly.

Arita Yoshihiko watched the departing figure and sighed, "Seto, why didn't you tell Master about this beforehand?"

How could I possibly say that?

Seto Ryuichi lowered his head, "The apprentice's work actually sells better than the master's original pieces..."

"So what about the Feng Shui Pill?"

Fujino slowly stepped forward. "The Feng Shui Pill you smashed yesterday was also part of your plan. The real Feng Shui Pill shouldn't have been destroyed yet, right?"

"Even this was noticed. Well, it makes sense. Doing something like this in front of Great Detective is probably foolish of me."

Seto Ryuichi explained, "I've already hidden the real thing away. After I'm taken away, Arita, please take it out for me and also look after Master."

"I see..."

Fujino actually thought the motive for this murder was quite reasonable.

In Fujino's view, there are many reasons why Seto Ryuichi didn't tell Kikuemon about this.

Perhaps it was because she was afraid of incurring her master's resentment towards her daughter-in-law; perhaps it was because she didn't want the fact that she had surpassed her master to be exposed; or perhaps she genuinely didn't want to bring shame upon her master...

However, these are just guesses. Who can know what people are thinking, especially in a world where people kill each other so easily?

Moreover, it becomes even more difficult to understand when it comes to artists.

After all, people who work in the arts tend to be more extreme.

For example, an architect, a painter, or a Museum curator.

It can only be said that in the Conan World, there are basically no kind souls among those who work in the arts.

As for Kikuemon...

The old man didn't seem overly saddened by his daughter-in-law and apprentice's situation; he just looked much older and seemed somewhat disappointed.

Although Fujino was arrested by his apprentice, he did not hold any grudge against Fujino. He simply said that if he had time next time he came to Izu, he would visit Fujino's house.

In his own words, what is meant to be will be, and what is meant to be will be.

Compared to the others, the old man felt more guilty.

In his view, he had entrusted all those matters to his daughter-in-law, and then his daughter-in-law did those things, resulting in the loss of an excellent apprentice.

All I can say is that Kikuemon's state of mind was indeed exceptionally high.

After saying goodbye to the old man, Fujino drove back to Tokyo, dropped Sonoko off at home, and then returned to 5-chome.

I had just parked my car in the underground garage when a phone call suddenly came in.

The contact name is: Akemi

Fujino was still a little puzzled as to why Akemi would call him, especially since he was already home...

After the call connected, Fujino listened to Akemi explain the situation and understood what was going on. It turned out that the client they had contacted earlier had arrived and was currently in Snow King Ice City.

After entering the Snow King Ice City, Fujino glanced around and immediately spotted his client.