The Dump Truck Returns

"Fujino- kun?"

"Officer Sato?"

At the crime scene, Fujino heard a familiar voice and turned around. In the blink of an eye, he saw Sato Miwako leading a group of people to the scene.

How did you get here?

Sato Miwako was the first to come to Fujino.

"I was invited to participate in a variety show."

Fujino scratched the back of his head. "Who knew this would happen right after the show was recorded..."

"So that's how it is."

Gazing at Fujino before her, Sato Miwako couldn't help but sigh softly.

This guy is just like Kudo Shinichi, he seems to run into cases wherever he goes!

She then led the accompanying police officers to begin searching the crime scene.

Suwa's body slumped against the windowsill of the fourth-floor conference room; the bullet had pierced his skull and shattered the glass behind him.

Meanwhile, the splattered blood also stained the glass of the flip-up windows red.

A pistol and a portable telephone were scattered beside his body.

The upper half of the portable phone was stained red.

After investigation by the Forensic Science Division police, two scattered bullet holes were found on the wall behind Michihiko Suwa's body.

There are two on the poster and one next to the alarm clock on top, with the bullets embedded in the wall.

In the corner of the conference room, the police found four remaining bullet casings.

It matches the bullet that remained on the wall and pierced Michihiko Suwa's head.

After interviewing and investigating people in the surrounding area, the time of the victim's death can be basically determined, which is roughly between 8:15 and 8:55 when the program was being recorded.

Fujino stood to one side of the crime scene, staring grimly at the corpse lying on the ground not far away.

There was no discomfort whatsoever, nor any sense of shared sorrow or sympathy...

Purely, he was simply staring at a cold, lifeless corpse.

Without realizing it, he had become numb.

Thinking of this, Fujino shook his head, trying to shake off the unrealistic idea.

Even if he had watched all the cases in Conan's more than 1,000 episodes from a third-person perspective in his previous life, he would still inevitably miss some things if he experienced them firsthand without any system hints.

Gathering her thoughts, Fujino took a deep breath and shouted to Sato Miwako, "I already know how the murderer killed Mr. Suwa!"

"So fast?"

Upon hearing the sound Sato Miwako turned to look at Fujino and was momentarily stunned.

It wasn't because of Fujino's speed in solving the case.

But at this moment, the expression on Fujino's face was... far too somber.

"I think Mr. Suwa was not actually shot from the front, but from above."

As he spoke, Fujino pointed to the right side of his forehead, "Generally speaking, if it's a frontal shot that penetrates, then the bullet hole should form a parallel line on the front, right?"

"From above?"

Upon hearing this, Sato Miwako frowned.

After quickly examining the bullet holes on the body, he nodded. "If the body was shot from the front, the bullet holes should indeed be pointing in opposite directions. However, the bullet holes on this body are diagonal lines, running from the upper right part of the forehead to the lower left part of the cerebellum."

"And then there's that window."

As he spoke, Fujino pointed to the window behind Michihiko Suwa's body and said in a deep voice, "If Mr. Suwa was murdered in front of the window, then logically the window should be covered with bloodstains. However, apart from the glass, there is not a single bloodstain on the window frame."

"Therefore, I deduce that the murderer did not kill Michihiko Suwa- on, but rather shot him vertically from mid-air."

As he spoke, Fujino walked to the window and leaned against it to demonstrate for himself, "The murderer first lured Mr. Suwa to stick his head out of the window, and then took the opportunity to shoot him directly from a room upstairs."

"But why did Mr. Suwa out of the window, giving the murderer the opportunity to kill him...?"

As she spoke, Sato Miwako abruptly stopped.

Then he looked at the blood-stained phone next to the body. "Could it be...?"

"That's right."

Fujino nodded to Sato Miwako and pointed at Takashi Matsuo: "The murderer is none other than Takashi Matsuo, the host."

"He first created those bullet holes in this room, and then during a commercial break in the studio, he used the excuse of having an upset stomach to run to the corresponding room on the top floor, called Mr. Suwa, lured him to the window, and shot him dead... After that, he threw the gun in."

"That way, he'll have a solid alibi!"

"By investigating his phone, we can determine whether he actually called Mr. Suwa."

"After all, these portable mobile phones, like the 'Big Brother' (a type of early mobile phone), can remember the number they last dialed..."

Under Fujino's reasoning, Takashi Matsuo quickly confessed to his actions.

Meanwhile, police discovered gunpowder residue on the ceiling above the room on the seventh floor, and also found the deadly bullet downstairs.

Because Takashi Matsuo fired in such a hurry without having time to prepare, his sleeves were also affected by gunpowder smoke.

And so, the case came to an end.

Late at night.

Snowflakes drifted down gently, turning the road into a blanket of white, with a few tire tracks winding their way forward along the pristine street.

Having solved the case, Fujino rode his motorcycle back to 5-chome from the TV station.

Watching the scattered snowflakes hit the visor of his helmet, Fujino couldn't help but sigh softly.

Yesterday was a warm and sunny day, how come it's snowing today?

The weather in the Conan World is just as bizarre as time itself...

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he glanced at the rearview mirror, staring at the reflected headlights, and frowned. "Could it be such a coincidence that we're going the same way?"

Amidst the falling snow, less than ten meters behind him, a white flatbed dump truck was also driving on the snow-covered street.

The dump truck was using its high beams, so the driver couldn't see the situation inside the cab very well.

From the very beginning, this dump truck had been following him closely, even driving alongside him, and had already made several turns.

Why is that dump truck still following me?

Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly, then deliberately turned in the opposite direction from home.

Looking in the rearview mirror, the dump truck was still following closely behind.

"They're after me?"

Fujino gripped the motorcycle handlebars tightly, glancing at the dump truck in the rearview mirror out of the corner of his eye, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

[Detective Enhancement Activated: Host's Body 200% Enhanced]

"Buzz!"

System enhancements have just begun.

Suddenly, the roar of an engine came from behind.

The dump truck that was moving at a steady speed behind suddenly accelerated, and its tires made a screeching sound due to insufficient friction.

Then, the dump truck rushed straight toward Fujino's motorcycle at a speed of 70 or 80 kilometers per hour.