Fujino feigned contemplation, then turned to Nao Kawagoe beside him. "Ms. Kawagoe, do you have any thoughts?"
"Thoughts?"
Nao Kawagoe was clearly taken aback. "What thoughts could I possibly have...?"
"Whether it's Saori Kadokawa or Ms. Sumi, the pattern of that person's attacks seems to be targeting your social circle."
Fujino met Nao Kawagoe's gaze. "Earlier, I heard from people on the island that you, Ms. Kawagoe, Ms. Sumi, and Saori have all been good friends since childhood."
"That's true. Kimie, Sumi, and Saori and I have been good friends since we were little," Nao Kawagoe affirmed their relationship. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"It appears two people have already been targeted by 'Kuro,' and the characteristics of the crimes are particularly clear."
Fujino murmured, "I think the next target might be either you or Ms. Kimie."
Heiji Hattori and Conan both lowered their heads in thought.
They felt Fujino's words made a lot of sense.
Although it seemed simple, given the people who had already been attacked, this conjecture aligned well with the pattern.
Heiji Hattori stroked his chin, then turned to Nao Kawagoe and asked, "By the way, Ms. Kawagoe, Ms. Kimie, do any of you have any enemies?"
"Enemies?"
Nao Kawagoe frowned. "Where would we have any enemies...? We've always been on this island, we've barely left a few times... even the people on the island wouldn't hold a grudge... Could it be the mermaid?!"
At this, her words suddenly paused, followed by a silence, her face turning pale.
The reason was none other than that she suddenly remembered the mermaid she and two other friends had burned three years ago.
As a believer in mermaids, she immediately connected it to her previous thoughts, imagining it was the ghost of the mermaid seeking revenge.
Now, the other two who had committed arson with her had faced retribution...
So, was she next?
"Ms. Kawagoe, did something come to mind?"
Fujino's eyes narrowed slightly, noticing Nao Kawagoe's unusual expression.
Just as he thought, she was panicking.
Yes, that's right, you're next!
"Nothing... I just remembered I have some things to do."
Nao Kawagoe shook her head, not intending to reveal the arson incident with her friends. She then turned and casually said, "Let's leave it at that for today, I'm going now..."
"That's strange..."
Conan watched Nao Kawagoe's hurried departure, curious. "It's like Ms. Kawagoe is deliberately hiding something from us."
"I feel the same way."
Heiji Hattori was also somewhat puzzled. "Ms. Kimie, do you know anything?"
"I don't know either... Although they've been friends with me since childhood, our relationship isn't particularly close. It's more like a social network centered around Saori."
Kimie Shimabukuro shook her head helplessly, then glanced back at Nao Kawagoe, a hint of murderous intent in her eyes.
"Is that so?"
Fujino nodded at her words, then continued to ask, "By the way, I just heard Ms. Kawagoe say that you usually stay on the island and don't have any enemies from the mainland, is that right?"
"That's correct..."
Kimie Shimabukuro nodded. "We usually live on this island and rarely go out. Even when we do, it's just for travel."
"So that means 'Kuro' is very likely someone from this island."
Fujino pondered. "If it's due to a grudge, then the person who would attack you all would probably only be someone from this island."
"No way?"
Kimie Shimabukuro was surprised.
"I think there's a strong possibility."
Heiji Hattori interjected, "As you said before, if there's a grudge, it should be someone from the island. Besides the two victims being friends, they also both possessed the Mermaid's Arrow. I just can't figure out why, I remember Ms. Sumi should have drawn the Mermaid's Arrow yesterday, but why were all three people present?"
"I remember that too!"
At this point, Conan chimed in. "That sister clearly said she won, but in the end, besides Kazuha-neechan, the other two who claimed the prize were that drunkard who looked like Uncle Mouri, and the sister who just left."
"What did you say?"
Kogoro Mouri felt displeased at being called a drunkard.
Conan sweatdropped. "Haha... nothing."
"But if you ask me, she must have misread it."
Uncle Mouri once again displayed his knack for disrupting cases and leading everyone into a maze. "If you ask me, she must have misread her own number and the winning number, which is why she said that. I've encountered that before when I was betting on horses... *cough cough*."
"But I don't think that's the case."
Heiji Hattori's eyes narrowed slightly. "At that time, Sumi's wooden tag wasn't on her... If that's the case, then one of the two people who claimed the prize must have used Sumi's wooden tag."
At this point, Kogoro Mouri suddenly had a realization. "Then if we just figure out whose hands that wooden tag ended up in, wouldn't we be able to figure out who the attacker is?"
"If only it were that simple."
Conan sighed helplessly. "None of us saw Ms. Sumi's number tag, so it's impossible to determine the attacker based solely on this evidence."
Kimie Shimabukuro's expression subtly changed. She wanted to say something, but after a moment of hesitation, she remained silent.
Actually, she wanted to say that she had the list of lottery participants at her house.
However, on second thought, if it was really as these detectives had deduced, then "Kuro" might be exposed.
Although she didn't know who "Kuro" was, she thought it might be Nao Kawagoe or Benzou Kadokawa.
But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't figure out which of them was "Kuro."
One was a well-known drunkard in the village, and the other was one of her mother's murderers.
No matter how she looked at it, neither of them seemed logical.
"Given her current condition, it's too difficult to get the number from the tag."
Rokuo Fukuyama, who had just returned from comforting Sumi Ebina in the hospital room, walked out and heard their conversation. He suddenly mentioned, "Regarding the number tags, I remember the shrine should have records, right?"
"There's something like that?" Heiji Hattori asked, puzzled.
"To avoid confusing the names of the people who win each year, we do indeed keep records in a register."
Kimie Shimabukuro gave Rokuo Fukuyama a resentful look, then sighed. "It's just that with what happened last night, I haven't had time to check this year's list yet."
Conan's eyes glinted. "Then, Ms. Kimie, could you take us to see that register?"
"This, no problem."
Kimie Shimabukuro was somewhat reluctant, but with three detectives there, she couldn't very well refuse.
...
About ten minutes later.
Led by Kimie Shimabukuro, Fujino and the others returned to the Shimabukuro residence, arriving at the storage room.
"It's right here, the list of those who drew the Mermaid's Arrow."
Kimie Shimabukuro handed a thick stack of notebooks to them.
"So many..."
Heiji Hattori surveyed the large pile of records, a headache brewing.
"These are the lists from previous years."
Kimie Shimabukuro said, pulling a notebook from the stack and explaining, "This year's list is here."
Heiji Hattori sighed, beginning to slowly flip through it.
Fujino, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes, casually pulling out two or three lists from the past two years.
If he remembered correctly, these lists seemed to have the signatures of Gin, his subordinate, and Sherry.
He wanted to confirm Gin and Vodka's real names.
It was only two or three books.
Under the effect of his heightened perception, Fujino quickly found the page.
His rapidly flipping hands stopped, and he focused on the notebook, seeing the names: [Kurozawa Jin], [Uozuka Saburo], [Miyano Shiho].
"Not much different from what I remembered..."
Fujino pondered, feeling that Gin's name was a bit...
It seemed to fit his demeanor.
He had always been unsure about the names.
Now that he had seen them with his own eyes, he had a bit more certainty.
After all, it would be a waste to use a White Wolf cigarette for a mistaken name.
But even if he knew, he still had to consider it carefully.
Miyano Shiho used her real name, so there was definitely no problem.
As for Uozuka Saburo, Kurozawa Jin, and these names...
He couldn't be sure if they were real or fake.
He could only find an opportunity to put them to the test.
"Fujino-nii-san, what are you looking at?"
At this moment, Conan noticed Fujino flipping through the book.
Recalling how Fujino had quickly identified the culprit from multiple screens before.
He had reason to suspect that Fujino was secretly gathering evidence behind his back.
From his perspective, Fujino, that sly old fox, always did things secretively.
Sometimes, he would even see through the truth directly, and before Conan could figure it out, Fujino would already be proving it.
"Nothing."
Fujino shook his head, not saying much.
He was just a little exasperated, silently complaining about Conan, "Why is this kid always staring at me?"
"Found it!"
At this moment, Heiji Hattori suddenly shouted.
"You found it already?"
Conan's attention was immediately drawn, and he turned to ask, "Who is it?"
"It's Benzou."
Heiji Hattori's already somewhat dark face darkened further. "This list has Sumi Ebina and Nao Kawagoe's names, but it's missing Benzou Kadokawa's name."
"Nani?"
Conan was surprised.
"Could it be that guy who attacked Ms. Sumi?"
Kogoro Mouri speculated, "After that guy heard Ms. Sumi drew the Mermaid's Arrow, he harbored ill intentions, attacked her while drunk, and then pretended nothing happened and came back to exchange for that arrow."
"But why would he attack someone and steal their number tag...?"
Heiji Hattori was still somewhat puzzled. "And if he's 'Kuro,' then his daughter was probably kidnapped by him too."
He couldn't understand why someone would attack another for such a thing.
"Maybe for money."
Fujino pondered for a moment, then spoke in a deep voice, "I remember this thing, if it's valuable, it can sell for millions of yen."
"Millions of yen?!"
Kogoro Mouri was clearly startled by Fujino's words. "Is this thing really that valuable?"
"The Mermaid's Arrow, while it may not look valuable, if it's given to those who truly need it, even if it sells for a few million yen, someone will recognize its worth."
Fujino nodded. He remembered that the arrow Benzou Kadokawa stole from Saori Kadokawa sold for a million yen. "In desperate situations, humans will always pray for something intangible. Even if there's a one in a billion chance, they'll try their best to achieve it... Benzou Kadokawa is Saori's father. Thinking about it, it's not impossible that he sold his daughter's arrow."
"If you put it that way, it's indeed possible."
Kogoro Mouri frowned slightly. "After he found out his daughter hired a detective, he ran to Tokyo specifically to kidnap her, and then yesterday, during the Mermaid Festival, he discovered Ms. Sumi also drew the Mermaid's Arrow and attacked her..."
"Uh..."
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet. Conan, Heiji Hattori, and Fujino couldn't help but look at Kogoro Mouri speechlessly.
As detectives who were considered normal, Kogoro Mouri's idea was certainly not adopted.
They decided to go to the Kadokawa residence first to check the situation and ask the uncle what was going on.
Before leaving, Fujino went to the restroom again.
...
Fujino sat on the toilet, his gaze fixed on the shadow in front of him.
A moment later, the shadow began to peel away from his body, then, as if it had a will of its own, it crawled out through the crack in the door.
Fujino watched his shadow gradually move away, his expression a little strange.
Although this method of movement was convenient, it felt a bit odd in practice, like a tentacled magical girl or something.
After the shadow peeled off, it slowly crawled out of the Shimabukuro residence and transformed into a human form in the small grove outside.
After sensing that "Kuro" was in position, Fujino also walked out of the restroom.
Now, his planned strategy was truly beginning.
...
Inside the island's souvenir shop.
Nao Kawagoe stood in front of the shelves, looking down at the Mermaid's Arrow hanging on her chest, appearing somewhat restless.
The recent deduction had clearly startled her.
The ghost of a mermaid, while it sounded absurd, was not at all absurd to her, a mermaid believer.
She was terrified now. The other two who had committed arson three years ago had been retaliated against, and as one of the arsonists, she was afraid of being retaliated against as well.
"May the Mermaid's Arrow protect me..."
Nao Kawagoe devoutly covered the arrow on her chest with her hand, praying for the blessing of the revered mermaid's power.
In her eyes, as long as she didn't lose her Mermaid's Arrow, she wouldn't encounter danger; on the contrary, she would live a long life.
Even if the mermaid's ghost truly 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 what they deserved.
One was boastful after getting such a good thing as the Mermaid's Arrow, and the other was a scatterbrain who dared to lose such a treasure. If they weren't retaliated against, who would be?
"Naoko, you finally got this arrow."
The shop owner, an older woman standing at the counter, saw this and couldn't help but tease, "You kept asking for it, and now you finally have your wish. But I really don't understand why you young people are so superstitious about this kind of thing."
"Mermaids absolutely exist..."
Nao Kawagoe didn't vehemently refute. "Saori, Sumi, they must have been attacked by the mermaid's ghost."