There had been four people involved in the arson that killed Narumi Asai's family.
Among them, the former village chief, Isamu Kameyama, had discovered Narumi's identity three years ago. Mistakenly believing the young man had returned for revenge, he died of a heart attack—out of pure fear.
At the memorial service held three years after Kameyama Isamu's death, the current village chief, Tatsuji Kuroiwa, had a vision of Keiji Aso returning for vengeance—and similarly succumbed to a fatal heart attack.
Now, the only ones left on Moon Shadow Island were Hideo Kawashima, the wealthy capitalist, and Ken Nishimoto, a vagrant and former criminal.
Ken Nishimoto pounded on Hideo Kawashima's door, shouting in panic.
"Kawashima! Kawashima!!"
The violent noise tore Hideo from his dreams. Irritated, he stormed to the door."What the hell are you doing in the middle of the night!?"
"Kawashima... I saw him. I really saw him..."
Nishimoto's face was twisted with terror. He stared at Kawashima, voice trembling, words scattered.
"What are you talking about? Who did you see?"
"Keiji Aso... It was Keiji Aso!!"
Hearing Nishimoto's panicked cries, Kawashima's face fell.
The horror inflicted on Aso Keiji's family had been a shared crime between the four of them. While he didn't believe in ghosts, Kawashima couldn't deny that Kuroiwa's death earlier that night—and that haunting letter bearing Aso Keiji's name—had rattled him.
But still, this? No. It was too absurd.
Grabbing Nishimoto by the collar, Kawashima glared at him.
"What's going on? Don't mess with me!"
To Kawashima, Nishimoto had always been a coward and a failure.
Years ago, the four of them built their wealth through drug trafficking. Kameyama and Kuroiwa bought up swaths of land and became village leaders. Kawashima used his earnings to climb the capitalist ladder on the island. But Nishimoto? He squandered his wealth on women and booze. Since Kameyama's death two years ago, he'd barely set foot outside, trembling like a bird under threat.
"I saw him. I saw Aso Keiji—his whole body on fire... walking slowly toward me..."
Nishimoto's pupils were dilated, lips trembling, voice high-pitched. He was clearly unwell—mentally fraying.
"He looked right at me and said—"
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting!?"
Kawashima lost patience and shoved Nishimoto against the doorframe.
Was this idiot high on something?
But then—his hands were wet.
"I'm telling you, it was really Aso Keiji!" Nishimoto wailed.
And with a click, he pulled out a lighter.
Before Kawashima could stop him, flames erupted with a roar.
The inferno swallowed Nishimoto whole.
Kawashima stood paralyzed, mouth open in horror, unable to utter a sound as Nishimoto twisted and writhed in flames.
A voice emerged—warped, almost inhuman—from within the fire.
"Aso Keiji said... you're next, Kawashima."
Inspector Juzo Megure had barely started his day when the first report came in.
>"The deceased: Ken Nishimoto. Occupation: none. Homeless."
>"Time of discovery: 7:21 AM. Location: at the doorstep of Kawashima Hideo's residence. Cause of death strongly suggests self-immolation."
>"Gasoline containers were found in his home. From the scene, it appears he doused himself in gasoline and walked to Kawashima's door before setting himself on fire."
>"Hideo Kawashima is currently missing."
While the police were busy with forensics, Conan was buzzing with curiosity.
He managed to sneak into the scene to investigate—only to find nothing conclusive, and get smacked in the head by Kogoro Mouri in the process.
Dejected and rubbing his forehead, Conan noticed something odd.
Hayashi Yoshiki hadn't moved. He hadn't even tried to investigate.
Could it be... that he already knew there was nothing to find?
At that moment, Hayashi Yoshiki was quietly reading his phone.
Gin: "Come over tomorrow at 3 p.m. for a psychological evaluation." (This guy is seriously following up…)
Hayashi sighed and pretended to ignore the message.
Gin: "Reply when you see this. Vodka will come pick you up."
Resigned, Hayashi Yoshiki typed out: "OK."
Sliding his phone away, he looked back at the scene.
Everyone was murmuring theories about Kawashima Hideo's disappearance.
"Maybe he fled because he's guilty," said Hayashi calmly.
Everyone turned to look at him. Conan jumped in
"You mean he was involved in Nishimoto's death?!"
"No. I'm talking about his drug trafficking."
Hayashi Yoshiki produced the old music score given to him by the elderly police officer.
Using the notes as a cipher, aligned with the alphabet, he had decoded a message Keiji Aso had hidden in the music.
"Also, evidence of their trafficking is hidden inside the piano at the community center," he added, handing the sheet to Inspector Megure.
"...This is amazing, Brother Hayashi! But when did you find all this?"
"Yesterday afternoon. I didn't say anything because I wanted to secure real-time evidence first. This score dates back twelve years. Luckily, they weren't very clever. The rest was easy."
Drug trafficking cases, far more than the usual murders, were the kind of major victories police captains loved.
He dispatched part of his team to continue combing the scene, and sent others to the community center to collect the remaining evidence.
Watching him go, Hayashi Yoshiki turned to Kogoro and the others.
"Well, that wraps up the case. Shall we buy some roasted seaweed and head back to Mihua?"
"Uh… sure."Kogoro nodded absently, then blinked.
"Wait, Hayashi, are you saying you already knew who the client was?"
"Yes. The client was actually Dr. Narumi Asai. I confirmed it with him yesterday."
"That's right. He was mentioned in the musical score's decoded message. If you're curious, I can explain later."
The gap in their efforts was staggering.
Conan, overwhelmed with frustration, couldn't help but sulk.
He had spent the entire previous day running in circles like a headless chicken, while Hayashi Yoshiki had already solved the case and confirmed the client!?
But something still felt... wrong.
Kuroiwa's death, Nishimoto's self-immolation, Kawashima's disappearance…
There may not have been a clear murderer, but everything reeked of something unnatural.
Even that ominous line in the authorization letter—a murder announcement? It still stuck in Conan's thoughts.
"Brother Hayashi, don't you think all this is very strange?"
Hayashi Yoshiki paused, looked at him—and his expression changed slightly.
"It's definitely strange, but..."
"...Well, every time I meet you, Conan, someone ends up dead."
He stopped, then smiled wryly.
"Sorry, I said something weird."