~Chapter 3: A Great Detective~

"His name is Murayama Takeshi, age 34, works as a fantasy novelist and is currently involved with a group of writers." Takagi read from his notebook.

Megure and Satou, along with forensics, had closed of that section of the festival and ushered everyone away. Shinichi, of course, looked at the scene with a calculated detective eye. Ran stood a ways away, not wanting anything to do with the dead body, but also not wanting to leave Shinichi's side. That, and she had to give a witness statement. A knife ran through the man's heart, which was determined to be the cause of death.

Shinichi looked over the body for any inconsistencies as the police handled the rest. They had rounded up three people that the man had come with. Murayama Hana, his wife, Aomori Taka, his editor, and Yanagi Fuku, a member from his author circle. "So, you're saying Shinichi-kun pushed you out of the way of where the body fell, right Ran-chan?" Satou asked to make sure.

"Yeah, that's what happened." Satou scribbled something in her notebook, while at the scene, Shinichi made a few discoveries.

"There are rope marks on his hands, so he was bound for some time. Also, there's some black fuzz on his shirt. We'll have to wait until they get back from investigating the roof."

Speaking of which, as if on cue, two officers exited the building. "Megure-keibu, this building wasn't built with a passage to the roof. We can't get up there without a ladder."

The Inspector nodded. "Alright, I'll have one brought here."

Knowing that fact got Shinichi to start thinking. "If the roof is inaccessible, then how did the criminal manage to get the body up there in the first place? There has to be something around there that would make that possible..."

"Megure-keibu!" Shinichi watched the interaction between the Inspector and forensics. "We found a ladder in the trees."

Shinichi took into account that the criminal might have used it. "Don't use that one, it might be evidence for the crime."

The forensics team started examining it, so Shinichi decided instead to listen to the alibies of those suspected. "I was playing the koi fish catching game when my husband fell from the roof." Murayama-san stated.

Satou nodded. "Go confirm that." An officer then left for the koi stand.

The next to be asked was the editor. "I was talking on the phone with one of my other clients around that time. If you don't believe me, you can check my call log." Aomori-san handed Satou-keiji his phone, and his alibi checked out.

"I was buying a plush from the stand over there. I have the receipt for it." Yanagi-san said as she handed it over.

To a normal person, it would seem that the three of them were innocent, but Shinichi's detective instincts told him that one of them was lying. It was hardly ever an accident when he was around. Finally, the ladder that had been called for, was being delivered to the side of the building. Shinichi decided he would conduct his own roof investigation. "Let me use this for a second!"

Shinichi quickly started climbing, wanting to hurry to the roof as fast as possible. Once he actually made it there, he turned on his flashlight watch and began to look around. A few officers followed and started looking around themselves. Shinichi shone his light on some blood spatter, indicating the roof as the scene of the crime. "Hey, there's some gloves and a jacket over here!"

Shinichi turned to where the officer had called, and found the proof that the killer had been on the roof. He also noticed something in the corner. "What's that over there?"

He shone his light on a black blanket that was messily thrown about. After approaching it, he found that the blanket was the source of the mysterious black fuzz that was found on the body. Shinichi picked it up, but it seemed that the blanket was hiding some rope. A whole thing of it rested there, however, some of it was obviously cut, and there was also some rope running off the side of the building. Shinichi stood and walked around the roof, contemplating his thoughts. "I almost have it put together, but there's just one piece missing..."

While he was walking around, he accidently kicked something metallic, judging by the way skidded across the concrete roof. "What the..."

Shinichi hurriedly shined his light on the object, and something struck his mind. The final missing piece was lying right in front of him. He knew how the trick was done, but he now needed to figure out the criminal. It was then that something he hadn't noticed before caught his eye.

He shone his light on what looked to be a bunch of equal signs made from blood. Wanting to confirm something, Shinichi peered over the edge of the roof to watch the suspects as they talked amongst each other. Smirking in success, Shinichi knew he had his killer.


Ran stood off to the side and watch her childhood friend smirking with pride. "Is it true that you know who the killer is?" Takagi-keiji asked.

"Yeah, and in fact, it's one of these three standing right here." He pointed towards the three suspects, gaining shocked reactions from all three.

"Well, out with it!" Megure ushered, wanting to move everything along.

"Before I reveal the culprit, we're going to recreate the trick used in the murder." Shinichi motioned towards the roof, where the black blanket was hanging, using the support of the rope. "You all might want to stand back."

Taking his advice, Ran, as well as everyone else backed away, and once Shinichi gave the signal, a sandbag dropped to the ground in the exact location of the body. Their attention was diverted back to the blanket, which disappeared before their eyes, being pulled back up to the roof. "What just happened?" Megure asked, astonished.

Shinichi smirked. "I asked Chiba-keiji to help me with the trick. Here's what happened. The killer showed up beforehand an hid the latter as fake evidence. When the festival started, the killer asked to meet with the victim, and instructed them to use the latter to climb to the roof. While the victim was waiting, the killer disposed of the latter in the forest once again, and this time, used the rope to climb to the top."

A member of the forensics team presented the metallic object that Shinichi had run into. "You all recognize this, right? It's the end of a grappling hook, and it was previously attached to the end of the rope. The killer used this to climb up to the roof, in order to take the victim by surprise and to disguise their method of climbing."

Ran continued to watch as her friend busted a killer once again. To her, it seemed that everywhere he went, a case happened, which was weird but she didn't question it too often. "After the culprit stabbed the knife through the victim's chest, they tied the end of the rope around the victim's wrist, and cut it only slightly. The culprit then hung his body off of the building and covered it with the black blanket, with it being harder to see in the dark. Using the leverage of both their weights, the culprit climbed back down the building, and tied the rope to a tree. The cut on the rope would soon grow, and eventually, the rope would snap, making it the perfect murder trick."

Ran tried to comprehend the trick in her head, and realized that, although she was against murder, it was rather creative. "But who would be able to pull off a trick like this?" Satou asked.

Smirking, Shinichi didn't hesitate to point out the criminal. "That would be you! Murayama-san!"

The victim's wife didn't show any sign of shock, but instead, she smirked a little. "That was a very well-thought trick, perfect for mystery novels, but you can't prove that I actually used it."

Smirking back, he replied. "Oh really? Then why, exactly, are there bloodstains on the roof? Bloodstains that match the prints of the festival shoes you're wearing?"

Now, the woman had a shocked look on her face. "Y-You're going to suspect me just because of my shoes?" She pointed frantically at Yanagi-san. "She's wearing the same shoes as I am!"

Shinichi shook his head. "Not quite. The stilts on her shoes are shaped like cylinders, however, yours are shaped like thin rectangles. If you lift up your shoes, I'm sure we'll find all the evidence we need."

Realizing she had nowhere else to go, the woman broke down and admitted to killing her husband.


The festival was finally over, and most everyone had gone home. Shinichi stood alone in the open field under the moonlight. For Shinigami, it wasn't healthy for them to stay cooped up inside their human forms all the time. Every once in a while, they needed to change into their Shinigami forms and let them breath, and the best place to do that was under open skies, alone and at night.

Being sure that no one was around, Shinichi stood under the moonlight and let the darkness transform him. The festival clothes he was wearing started to turn black, and his eyes took on a darker blue color. His hair seemed to turn darker and his skin practically glowed under the moonlight.

Like this, he was afraid he looked like the very epitome of death itself. Just as well, if Ran or anyone else was to see him like this, his secret would be out. All he needed was a scythe, really. Looking down at his leg, he found a little blue Hitodama from the recently killed victim. It must have been drawn to his glow, he supposed.

Gently, he picked it up and helped whisk it off into the next world.