Inside Ono Yoko's room.
Several officers were still investigating the scene. After Shu Yunwen entered the room, he took a quick look around.
A beautiful young woman stood with red-rimmed eyes and her head lowered. Mori Kogoro, meanwhile, was bouncing around like a monkey, full of energy, while Ran stood nearby, softly comforting Ono Yoko. Shu Yunwen glanced around a few more times and, sure enough, spotted Conan, Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko hiding behind the sofa.
Inspector Megure stood by the door, looking rather troubled as he watched Shu Yunwen, Tsukamoto Kazumi, and the others. He asked Takagi Chosuke, "Officer Takagi, I thought I only asked you to bring Ms. Ikezawa Yuko to the scene. But... why did you bring so many unnecessary people?"
As he said "unnecessary," Inspector Megure's gaze lingered especially on Shu Yunwen.
Inspector Megure had complicated feelings about detectives who often showed up at crime scenes like this. On the one hand, thanks to their keen powers of observation, the police could solve cases and arrest criminals quickly with their help. But on the other hand, the fact that these detectives could solve cases quickly while the police couldn't only showed how incompetent the police were, which left Inspector Megure feeling rather unhappy.
Takagi Chosuke explained, "Inspector Megure, when we found Ms. Ikezawa Yuko, all these people were with her, so I thought they might be connected to the case and brought them along. Also, that high schooler with the middle-aged man's face seemed very certain that a murder had taken place here. I thought he might know something..."
"Shu-san?" Inspector Megure immediately looked at Shu Yunwen with a grave expression.
By now, Shu Yunwen had already walked over with a smile and greeted Mori Kogoro and Mori Ran. Then he went over to Conan and the others, first giving Genta a pat on the head. "Genta, why aren't you going home after school? What are you doing here? Does your mom know you're here?"
Genta hurriedly held his schoolbag in front of himself. "Brother Yunwen, we just happened to run into the case while looking for Conan to play with. Besides, the officer already called home..."
"Hmm, all right. Get ready, and we'll go home together later."
After greeting Genta, Shu Yunwen looked down at Conan, who was resting his chin in his hands as he thought. With a cheerful smile, he asked, "Edogawa Kid, have you figured anything out?"
Conan was still thinking and gave a slight nod. "I've got a few clues, but I can't say for sure who the culprit is yet. One thing I can say is that Ms. Ono Yoko and her manager, Yamagishi Eiichi, definitely know something. Also, Ikezawa Yuko left an earring at the scene, which is suspicious..."
"Is that so?" Shu Yunwen smiled and patted Conan on the head.
Conan finally came to his senses and hastily tried to cover it up. "Haha! I'm playing a detective game! You're the culprit! Hahahaha..."
Honestly, Conan trying to hide something after turning small made him seem like a total goofball!
Shu Yunwen patted Conan's head again and said with a grin, "Then keep playing. If you find anything, be sure to tell me, got it?"
"Y-yeah, got it!" Conan grinned innocently, scratching his head.
Conan had barely finished speaking when a fist suddenly came down on his head, making stars spin around him. "You little brat! Don't cause trouble for people here, understand?"
Conan nearly burst into tears.
For fuck's sake, he'd been hiding behind the sofa and behaving himself!
Shu Yunwen turned his attention away from Conan and looked over. Inspector Megure was questioning Ikezawa Yuko, and had already more or less concluded that she had sneaked into Ono Yoko's room. She was now a major suspect.
This was Tsukamoto Kazumi's second time at a murder scene, and she still seemed a little frightened. After taking a few glances around, she excused herself to Shu Yunwen and went over to stand with Ran.
Shu Yunwen murmured a Sorcerous Curse and cast "Ghost Sorcery: Ghost Eye." The scene before him changed at once. A cloud of mist clung firmly to the wooden floor, seemingly drawn to something. Right in front of it, a forensic officer was investigating something, his face nearly pressed against the cloud of mist!
Shu Yunwen narrowed his eyes slightly.
Ghosts—especially newly formed ones—could be harmful if someone accidentally came into contact with them. Prolonged exposure could leave a person tainted with ghostly and yin energy. They might get sick, and they would almost certainly have nightmares.
"You there, crouching on the floor..." Shu Yunwen called out. The officer immediately turned to look at him in surprise. "Oh, it's Yunwen! What can I do for you?"
Shu Yunwen paused. "Oh, damn! It's Tomi! The world he lived in was different from the manga. Shu Yunwen had seen Tomi at the scene of both of the previous murders."
What's more, what was going on with him now?
Tomi was actually surrounded by quite a bit of yin energy and ghostly energy.
It was weak, but shouldn't an ordinary person in this situation already be having nightmares?
Shu Yunwen waved a hand and said with a smile, "N-no, it's nothing. Um... if you start having nightmares every night after you get home, Detective Tomi, please contact the Keqin Exorcist Agency. I'll help you take care of it. Matsushita-kun, give Detective Tomi a business card."
"Yes, Lord Yunwen." Matsushita quickly replied, then took a business card from his pocket and handed it to Tomi with a bow.
Tomi paused, then thought it over before accepting the card. "Thank you," he said to Shu Yunwen and Matsushita Heisaburo.
Inspector Megure walked over from the side, looking utterly exasperated. "Yunwen, did you notice anything?"
As he spoke, Inspector Megure glared at Shu Yunwen.
You can show up at the scene if you want, but what's with trying to drum up business from the officers here? Don't push your luck!
Shu Yunwen smiled as if he hadn't noticed Inspector Megure's expression. "Sorry, Inspector Megure, I haven't noticed anything."
Inspector Megure turned and walked away. Shu Yunwen looked around a couple more times, then suddenly asked Matsushita Heisaburo, "Matsushita-kun, do you still not believe in ghosts?"
"No, of course not..." Matsushita Heisaburo hurriedly denied it.
"Would you like to see one?" Shu Yunwen asked with a smile.
Matsushita Heisaburo shuddered, then stammered, "C-can I? It won't be too much trouble?"
"It's no trouble. It's just a simple spell. People like us call it opening the yin-yang eye. It's easy."
Matsushita Heisaburo hesitated, then gritted his teeth. "Of course, if you can..."
He wanted to see for himself whether ghosts really existed in this world! More than anything, though, he wanted to confirm whether Shu Yunwen truly had that strange ability. If he didn't... Matsushita wasn't the sort of person willing to lower himself to serve a little kid who hadn't even grown up yet!
Shu Yunwen waved his hand and cast the simple "Ghost Sorcery: Ghost Eye" on Matsushita Heisaburo.
In an instant, the scene before Matsushita Heisaburo's eyes shifted, becoming slightly different from before. What drew his attention most was the cloud of mist in front of Detective Tomi. It was only faintly visible, but he could clearly sense that a human face seemed to form on its surface from time to time...
"Ah..." Matsushita Heisaburo let out a quiet cry.
Several people nearby looked over. Inspector Megure asked gravely, "Mr. Matsushita, did you notice something?"
"N-no," Matsushita Heisaburo hurriedly replied.
After everyone else had looked away, Shu Yunwen quietly said, "Matsushita-kun, there's no need to make such a fuss. That's just an ordinary newly formed ghost. It's no threat to people..."
Matsushita Heisaburo nodded, then suddenly asked, "Why does Detective Tomi seem to have some of it on him too...?"
"Oh, that?" Shu Yunwen said casually. "He accidentally got some ghostly and yin energy on him. He'll definitely have nightmares when he sleeps tonight. If he's unlucky, he might even fall seriously ill..."
Wait—hadn't Shu Yunwen just said newly formed ghosts posed no threat to people? How had nightmares and serious illness come into it?
Are you messing with me?
Shu Yunwen smiled. "Don't worry, Matsushita-kun. Detective Tomi has so much ghostly and yin energy on him mainly because he often goes to crime scenes like this. Ordinary people don't get that kind of exposure."
As he spoke, an officer happened to walk right through the newly formed ghost. The cloud of mist immediately dissipated a little.
At the same time, Shu Yunwen's face showed a flicker of surprise. "Strange. It didn't move at all?"
As he spoke, Shu Yunwen ignored Matsushita Heisaburo and went straight over to Detective Tomi. He stared carefully at the floor, then finally spotted something on it—
A strand of hair.
A smile tugged at Shu Yunwen's lips as he thought, No wonder it didn't move. It has an attachment—it's waiting for something. Right, that hair seems to be...
Shu Yunwen recalled some of the story.
That strand of hair seemed to belong to Ono Yoko. Before the man who died by suicide passed away, he had clutched it tightly in his hand, trying to frame Ono Yoko.
It looked like his attachment was to that strand of hair...
Ghosts with attachments like that could be terrifying. If no one dealt with newly formed ghosts like these, and they somehow managed to survive, they could become powerful demons or evil spirits. Then they'd be much harder to deal with.
Still, given that Detective Conan had run for over seven hundred episodes and Ono Yoko kept showing up as a minor character, the man who killed himself clearly hadn't turned into an evil spirit. If he had, Ono Yoko would have been dead by now.
"Too bad he killed himself. If someone had murdered him... tsk tsk... that would've been another delicious meal for me."
As Shu Yunwen was thinking this, he was about to casually disperse the man's spirit when he suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Ono Yoko, whose eyes were still red.
Hmm, if he could turn this lovely young woman into his next client, that would be pretty great too~
With that in mind, Shu Yunwen turned to Matsushita Heisaburo again. "Matsushita-kun, give Ms. Ono Yoko a business card."
Matsushita Heisaburo paused, then replied and hurriedly fished another card out of the case in his pocket. He handed it to Ono Yoko. "Ms. Ono, please take this."
"Huh? Oh..." Ono Yoko took the card in a daze and looked at what it said: Keqin Exorcist Agency...
Could someone tell her what kind of place this was?
Shu Yunwen stepped forward with a smile and explained, "Ms. Ono Yoko, I'm Shu Yunwen, the director of the Keqin Exorcist Agency. You may encounter some strange things over the next few days, but there's no need to be afraid. If you need help, please contact our agency, and I'll take care of whatever's troubling you."
"Ah... thank you," Ono Yoko replied, looking confused.
Inspector Megure came over again, his expression dark, and stared at Shu Yunwen. "Yunwen, are you sure you haven't noticed anything?"
As he asked, Inspector Megure was fuming inwardly. Hey, you! Don't push your luck! First you hand out business cards to our officers, and now you're handing one to Ono Yoko. This isn't your agency's office!
Shu Yunwen looked embarrassed and scratched his head. "Sorry, Inspector Megure, I haven't noticed anything yet. I'm no famous detective. Shouldn't you be asking Detective Mouri over there about something like this?"
Inspector Megure slapped a hand to his forehead, pointedly ignoring Shu Yunwen's mention of Mori Kogoro. "Is that so? But Yunwen has helped us solve two murder cases before, so I thought you were pretty good at reasoning, too..."
Inspector Megure hadn't finished speaking when the cell phone in Shu Yunwen's schoolbag started ringing again.
Shu Yunwen gave Inspector Megure an apologetic gesture, then fumbled for his cell phone. After answering, he greeted the caller. The moment he heard who it was, he quickly continued, "Is that you, Aunt Mie? I'm really sorry. Something came up at the agency today, and I seem to have gotten caught up in another case. Oh, I saw Genta here, too... Yes! I understand. I'll be back as soon as I can. Sorry for the trouble, Aunt Mie."
After hanging up, Shu Yunwen could think only of solving the case as quickly as possible. He immediately turned to Inspector Megure, who was still standing in front of him. "Officer, I have something to report. This person seems to have died by suicide, right?"
Inspector Megure's face darkened even further. In his mind, a little version of himself grabbed Shu Yunwen and slapped him back and forth across the face. Yunwen, you just said you hadn't noticed anything!
Shu Yunwen paused, then scratched his head sheepishly. "Huh? Did I say that? Maybe you misheard, Officer?"
Inspector Megure's mouth twitched twice. He couldn't be bothered to argue about that, so he asked seriously, "Then, Yunwen, if you're saying this person died by suicide, do you have any evidence?"
"Evidence?" Shu Yunwen's memory of this case was already hazy. He only remembered that it had been suicide; he couldn't recall anything more specific. "Well... I can only guess that it was suicide. As for evidence, I feel like Detective Mouri would be more qualified than me, wouldn't you?"
"Y-you're guessing?" Inspector Megure felt an urge to beat Shu Yunwen senseless right there. "Yunwen, could you please take this seriously? This is a murder case, not a game!"
Mori Kogoro came over to join in, too. "Shu-san, suicide? How could that be? What normal person could stab himself in the back? As it happens, I already know who the real culprit is. That's right, it's you, Yamagishi!"
Mori Kogoro had just pointed at Yamagishi Eiichi when an ashtray suddenly flew in from behind and hit him on the back of the head. Mori Kogoro groaned and collapsed, landing right on the sofa with his head slightly bowed.
Shu Yunwen froze at the sight.
An ashtray to the back of the head? And that pose... Was this Sleeping Kogoro?
Come to think of it, every time Mori Kogoro fell over, he groaned before going down—and always landed against a wall or on a sofa, stool, or chair.
Was this guy using a cheat code?
As Shu Yunwen's thoughts wandered, the place where Mori Kogoro was sitting spoke up:
"Inspector Megure, allow me to take back what I said earlier. The real culprit who killed the deceased was indeed the deceased himself, just as Yunwen said. In other words, the deceased..."
"...died by suicide!"
Before you continue