\"Everything okay with you guys?"
Fujino, with a faint smile, slowly put away his wooden sword and glanced back at the few kids who were all sprawled out on the ground.
"We're fine," Ai Haibara responded, the first to recover. She looked at Ayumi and the others before speaking.
"But why did the department store's neon sign suddenly fall?" Mitsuhiko was lost in thought. "Just before the billboard fell, there was a screw. Could it be...?"
"That's right, it was deliberate." Conan had already moved closer to the fallen sign, his voice serious. "The cable for the neon sign has cut marks. The screw that fell earlier must have been loosened beforehand, and the cable was cut to make sure it wouldn't get tangled when it fell."
"So it was a random attack?" Ayumi wondered. "If that's the case, anyone walking by could have been hit, right?"
"I think the culprit was targeting Genta Kojima," Ai said, sizing up the vending machine on the side of the street. "Look, isn't this the Kamen Rider gashapon machine that Genta stops to look at every day after school? If he had been under the machine at that moment, he probably would have been crushed by the neon sign."
"That person has Genta's movements down," Fujino mused. "It seems he's been tailing Genta for more than just a day or two. The previous attacks on Genta were probably his doing, too. He also knows Genta's home phone number, address, and all sorts of other things."
"In that case, let's hurry and check inside the department store!" Mitsuhiko suggested. "The culprit might still be in there!"
"How are we supposed to find him?" Conan asked, a little frustrated. "We don't know what he looks like, and he doesn't have any distinguishing features. Even if we saw him, we wouldn't recognize him."
"Besides, the culprit's attack was premeditated," Ai said, her arms crossed as she scanned the area. "Given how carefully it was planned, he probably blended in with the crowd and has already escaped the scene. He might even be watching us right now."
Fujino looked around. By this point, the massive thud of the falling neon sign had drawn a huge crowd of onlookers from Beika. The people of Beika, as always, were eager for gossip. Don't they worry that the next neon sign might fall and crush a whole bunch of them? Fujino grumbled to himself.
On second thought, he realized Ai was right. It would be incredibly difficult to find the culprit in this situation. After all, what kind of idiot wouldn't run away after committing a crime? Well, this culprit just might be that kind of idiot. If you ask him, it's way easier to just stab a kid with a knife on the way home from school. This guy is going through all this trouble just to take out a kid, only to fail in the end. This culprit must be a complete fool!
"Genta, let's just go to the hamburger shop across the street for now," Conan said, pointing to a nearby burger joint. "Once we're there, you can tell us how you ended up being targeted by this guy, and we can figure out our next move."
Fujino looked up at the remaining neon signs on the building. "Before we go to the burger shop, we should stop by the department store."
"Why go to the store?" Conan asked, confused. "Even if we do, we won't find the culprit."
"We're not going to look for the culprit," Fujino explained, shaking his head. "After all, we were almost hit by their neon sign. It'd be a huge loss if we didn't get some compensation, right?"
The kids were stunned, a little dumbfounded by this line of thinking. As kids, they didn't really have a concept of money or liability. Fujino thought for a moment and added, "If we get compensation, I'll treat you all to hamburgers."
"Can we have eel rice instead?"
"Sure..."
"In that case, let's go find the manager of this department store!"
As Conan watched Fujino and the kids "angrily" march into the store, he fell silent for a moment. They were almost hit by a neon sign, and the first thing he thinks about isn't finding the culprit, but taking the kids to demand compensation? It felt less like a detective and more like the leader of a collection agency with his crew. Fujino, you truly are something else!
Ai smiled to herself and quietly followed them inside.
In the department store's break room.
"I just heard about the neon sign incident. I'm so sorry you were frightened!" The portly manager sat on the sofa opposite them, looking sincere.
"I'm fine..." Fujino said calmly, not falling for the act. He looked at the kids beside him. "But you should know, these kids are completely traumatized."
"Oh... I'm so sorry, children. Please forgive us..." The manager frowned, having picked up on Fujino's intentions. He continued, his expression unchanged. "This was an unpredictable accident, but we promise we will regularly inspect our neon signs to ensure nothing like this ever happens again."
"It's already happened. Your promises won't do anything now," Fujino said, putting on a righteous face. He reached for his phone. "I believe this incident has caused serious psychological trauma to these kids, and I think we need to call the police!"
The manager started to panic. Even though they weren't sure if the neon sign's fall was deliberate or an accident, the department store was definitely liable. If the police got involved and started an inspection, it would be a huge headache for them.
"If you don't mind, we can offer you a certain amount of store credit vouchers..." he proposed.
"They're just children!" Fujino immediately cut him off, his voice full of righteous indignation. "Do you have any idea how much psychological damage a neon sign falling on them could cause?"
"Well..." The manager was speechless. It was clear this young man wasn't satisfied with the offer, but the reason he gave was impossible to argue with.
He sighed. "In addition to the vouchers, the department store will also compensate you with five hundred thousand yen..."
"This is not about money at all," Fujino said, shaking his head and subtly showing off his Rolex. "I think you're not taking these safety hazards seriously at all. If something like this happens again and injures a child, it won't be something an apology can fix. If a huge department store like this doesn't take responsibility, I'll have to have my media reporter friends write an article about it..."
"Wait!" The manager knew how bad the press would be if it got out that a child was almost crushed by a falling sign. "One million yen, plus the vouchers. We hope you can forgive our department store's negligence. We promise, something like this will never happen again."
"Sigh..." Fujino sighed and put his phone away. "In that case, we will begrudgingly forgive you. Oh, and remember to draft the agreement. Since you suggested it, we'll just have to accept it. Sigh!"
The manager was speechless. You're trying to blackmail me, but you're acting like the victim? We're the victims here! You're making a fake agreement because you're scared we'll sue you for blackmailing us!
The kids sitting next to them were wide-eyed and open-mouthed. They had no idea Fujino had this side to him... Conan raised an eyebrow, looking away, a little embarrassed. To think you can get compensation like this, and so skillfully too... He must do this all the time, right?! Is this guy really a proper detective, or just a repeat offender of blackmailing people?!
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