# Unveiling the Truth
Kimie Shimabukuro had kept her mother's dying wish a secret, never reporting the incident to the authorities. She believed she was the only one who knew, so how could this person calling himself "Little Black" know?
"Evidence? Of course, I have it."
Under her watchful gaze, Little Black, who had been silent on the shrine roof, smirked cunningly. He then grabbed his stun gun and pressed it against Naoko Kuroe's neck. "Three years ago, you lot set fire to the warehouse, didn't you?"
"N-No... it wasn't..." Naoko Kuroe glanced at the villagers below. Despite her usual boldness, she hesitated, unwilling to admit to setting the fire in front of so many people.
"Hmm?" Little Black frowned.
*Zzzzzt!*
The stun gun crackled again.
"Yes, it was us! We set the fire!" Naoko Kuroe shivered. "We were all drunk at the time. We saw Obaa-sama go into the warehouse, so we thought we'd set it on fire to see if Obaa-sama was truly immortal... But who knew we'd accidentally burn the Mermaid-sama to death!"
"Good girl." Little Black's grim expression softened. He picked up the stun gun and zapped her unconscious again.
"So, they were the ones who burned down the warehouse..."
"Does that mean...?!"
"No one still understands what happened to that mermaid's corpse."
"Could that person calling himself 'Little Black' really be the ghost of the mermaid?"
"Are you out of your mind? Would a mermaid use a stun gun?!"
"What if it's some strange kind of magic?"
"Mermaids are clearly female, though."
"What if some strange magic made it change gender?"
"Heheheh..."
"But why did she say Obaa-sama? Obaa-sama is still alive and well!"
"What nonsense!"
This time, hardly anyone cared about Little Black on the roof anymore. Instead, they began to focus on what Naoko Kuroe had just said about burning Obaa-sama to death. As for believing Little Black was the ghost of a mermaid, no one would believe it except for the mermaid's most devout followers.
Just as many despicable individuals in Japan refuse to acknowledge their past transgressions and frantically rewrite history, some young people among them had only a partial understanding of the events from back then. At the mention of Obaa-sama, they instinctively turned their gaze towards Kimie Shimabukuro.
"Was the person burned to death back then really Obaa-sama?"
"Miss Kimie, what exactly happened?"
"Why would she say that Obaa-sama-sama was burned to death?"
Kimie Shimabukuro was flustered by the questions from those around her. She didn't know that some on the island already knew the truth about Obaa-sama. At this moment, she was desperately trying to figure out how to explain without revealing that Obaa-sama was an impersonation by her family.
"It's alright, Miss Kimie," Fujino-san said, slowly walking towards Kimie Shimabukuro. "Combining what Little Black said, if I'm not mistaken, the middle-aged woman who was burned to death should be from the Shimabukuro family, right?"
"Huh?" Kimie Shimabukuro was startled, lifting her head blankly.
"Actually, I realized it earlier. Last night's Obaa-sama was you, Miss Kimie, in disguise," Fujino-san's voice was low and calm, as if stating a fact. "Wearing a disguised mask, tying your legs with ropes, and moving slowly on your knees—was I wrong?"
Conan-kun and Heiji Hattori were initially surprised, but they quickly caught on to Fujino-san's line of thought. Thinking about it carefully, it did seem that way. As for Kogoro Mouri, Kazuha, and Ran, they were completely bewildered, still not following Fujino-san's pace.
After a brief silence, Kimie Shimabukuro lowered her head and sighed softly. "I didn't think it would be exposed." She looked up at Fujino-san, her eyes complex. "I'm quite confident in my disguise. When exactly did you...?"
"The first moment I saw Obaa-sama," Fujino-san interrupted before Kimie Shimabukuro could finish. "Whether it was the proportion of her limbs or her overall demeanor... But most importantly, when you were in disguise, you didn't change out of that shrine maiden outfit, and your bust... *ahem*, wasn't disguised."
"Huh?" Kimie Shimabukuro paused, then immediately flushed crimson. She had considered countless possibilities for exposure, including her voice being recognized. But her bust revealing her... She never thought she'd be exposed by something like that... After all, who would think someone would specifically pay attention to someone's bust!
Conan-kun: "..."
Heiji Hattori: "..."
*So, why were you looking at her bust?*
*And to think that the disguise was seen through because of her bust...*
*Everyone knows you have sharp observation skills, but couldn't you at least try to hide that detail?!*
"Bust..." Ran and Kazuha both paused, then carefully looked at Kimie Shimabukuro, their faces turning red as well.
"Ahem, let's not dwell on that," Fujino-san cleared his throat, feeling some unfriendly glances. He then changed the subject. "If that's the case, then the legless corpse in the warehouse three years ago was probably the previous impersonator of Obaa-sama..."
"Yes, just as you said, Detective Fujino, the previous Obaa-sama who was burned to death was my mother," Kimie Shimabukuro said, lowering her head, her cheeks still tinged with red. "A pitiful woman who inherited my grandmother's work, desperately impersonating Obaa-sama for the benefit of the entire island, only to be burned to death."
"Burned to death..." Kogoro Mouri frowned, finally grasping the situation. "So, the three of them set fire and burned Miss Kimie's mother to death?"
"You're just realizing that now, Old Man?" Conan-kun grumbled, then turned to Kimie Shimabukuro, curious. "Miss Kimie, did you already know that they killed your mother?"
From Kimie Shimabukuro's reaction after learning the truth, he felt that she must have known something, or rather, already knew the truth. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said, "only to be burned to death."
"Yes, I only found out about this recently," Kimie Shimabukuro nodded, not denying it. "To be honest, if Saori hadn't accidentally let it slip when she came to ask me to take her to the mermaid's grave because she lost the Mermaid's Arrow, I wouldn't have known."
"So, what Little Black said was all true?" Yuichi Shimura, who had been listening silently on the side, finally understood what was happening. He had originally come to investigate the assault case. He never expected to stumble upon an opportunity to solve a murder case... And it was a sensational cold case from years ago that had never been solved. This was an opportunity he couldn't miss!
Thinking this, Yuichi Shimura's heart swelled with joy. He then turned and shouted at Little Black, "Mr. Little Black, we can absolutely agree to what you said. As soon as we find evidence, we'll immediately arrest those three. Can you release the person now?"
"It's not over yet," Little Black said, looking around the shrine plaza. "I'm not the only one who knows about this... The people in this village should know about this too, right?"
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