" I am not comfortable having a detective here " said someone as the whispered it to another person.
He ignored this as they were all whispering about him and the murder that had just happened, as they all watched him not taking a single eye off him.
It was creepy as they were all watching him as if he was the criminal or a thief that was going to steal from them and take all of their secrets and tell everyone the truth about them. Something that no one would want here because they were all magicians or fans with secrets that they kept. And they were worried that he would solve them all and they would be left with nothing.
He sighed as he sat down to think but he was still cold.
*****Coughing*****
He coughed heavily as he closed his eyes and was started to feel dizzy again and was cold as he shivered.
And he then opened his eyes to see Ran smiling as he handed him a jumper.
" I made this for you for your birthday but because of everything that happened I did not get the chance to give you it. And well...now seems like the perfect chance for you to wear it because you are freezing " said Ran.
He smiled as he held the jumper in his hands, he could see that it was homemade and that she had worked really hard on it. And that it was red, the colour that she thought was his favourite colour and this made him smile nervously because he was going to have to lie about that from now on. It was something that he could live with and even though red was her favourite colour and his was blue it did not really matter because he could live with it. As long as she did not keep making things and buying things that were red because it was a colour that he did not like to see that much on a daily basis because when he saw it he could not help but think of death.
" Thank You " he said smiling.
But he was still cold and his clothes were still a little damp.
" Err huh I have...I mean I found some clothes that you could wear to keep you dry " said Doi Katsuki.
He looked up to see the smiling guy at him as he handed over the clothes.
" Hmph Thank You? " he said stunned.
And then he was given a creepy large grin.
" You are welcome Detective " said Doi Katsuki.
And with that he was already getting a splitting headache from this guy and the grin was far too creepy. And it was far too wide and familiar to him as if he had seen it before, somewhere and someplace he just could not place it as his head was still swimming.
" Shinichi what did happen to your clothes? " said Sonoko.
" Oh! " he said snapping out of his thoughts.
Everyone could feel the tension in the air and turned around to look at him.
" Shinichi? " said Ran.
" When I and your father got here, the bridge was on fire and already burning but to make it here I had to quickly run across it and it broke just before I got to the end. I am afraid to say that there is no escape for any of us because the bridge was set on fire and collapsed to the ground leaving everyone stranded here. Just like the killer wanted and I am guessing that this is just the beginning " said Shinichi.
They all looked shocked.
" Without the bridge then we are stuck here and there is no way out, and the phone line was cut I am guessing that was the killer too " said Yoshinori Ara.
He just nodded.
" We could just use our phones " said Kikue Tanaka.
" I am afraid that there is no signal anywhere on the mountain, we are out of service sorry " said Doi Katsuki.
They all sighed in despair.
In the end Shinichi did not go to change his clothes.
" Could it be my fault? " said Sonoko.
" Because I was the one to choose him to go to his room " said Sonoko.
She started to think back of the happy moment that was just a while ago.
" If Hamano was not in his room, then he would have not died..." said Sonoko.
She began to cry.
" He died because I choose him " said Sonoko in tears.
" Sonoko " said Ran comfortingly.
" Don't blame yourself " said Doi Katsuki reassuringly.
She looked up at him wiping away the tears.
" Remember that you were blindfolded, you had no idea that you would mark his name or what would have happened " said Doi Katsuki.
" He is right the only person to blame is the killer and the killer alone " said Shinichi.
He nodded in agreement with Doi Katsuki.
" And you were just after all his assistant " said Doi Katsuki.
'Assistant?' thought Shinichi.
" Is it ok that we are just sitting here doing nothing, while we wait for someone to come to our rescue? " said Naoko Kuroda.
He closed his as he was starting to get tired.
" It will be ok " said Shinichi.
They turned around to look at him listening to his every word.
" When the bridge burned Ran`s father was on the other side of it, that he would get the police and that he wanted us to stay inside. He said that the police would be here by the morning " said Shinichi.
Everyone then looked happier by this.
" Well I can rest easier now that..." said Kikue Tanaka happily.
" What if the Dark Master is the criminal." said Yoshinori Ara.
" So, it could have been because of that chat room? " said Naoko Kuroda.
" Chat room? " said Ran.
" We all talk on a private chat room online and sometimes they tend to get ugly " said Naoko Kuroda.
" But why would that be a motive to kill? " said Ran.
" Huh? " said Sonoko.
" Didn't I tell you? " said Sonoko.
Now he was listening.
" Everyone was disturbed because of a certain magician " said Sonoko.
" If you did not know, there was a man called Hallowief and he performed certain kind of tricks, they were eccentric performances " said Yoshinori Ara.
" Sadly, he died just over a month ago " said Doi Katsuki sadly as he held his head down.
" Yes, and when everyone was talking about it online, the 'Dark Master' said something odd very odd " said Yoshinori Ara.
" That great magician died because of all of you! " he said dramatically.
There was a pause.
" What does that mean? " said Ran.
" It was just over a month ago "
" Everyone was discussing the tricks of him and his career. Everyone said they wished that they could have witnessed his accident " said Naoko Kuroda.
He could feel a knot in his stomach that people would actually want to see something so horrible and they actually discuss this. It made him feel sick to his stomach.
" The way 'Dark Master' put it, he made it sound like we were responsible for his death " said Naoko Kuroda.
She sounded rather guilty to him as she avoided all eye contact.
" That does not make any sense " said Kikue Tanaka angrily.
" Everyone was worried, so we asked the leader Nishiyama . Last month in the chat room but he did not log on. And the ID alone could not be his so I thought someone might have seen our discussion, so I talked to him about it and we decided to hold this meeting " said Yoshinori Ara.
" That way, we could invite the people from the chat room and check on it " said Yoshinori Ara.
" I ... I see " said Sonoko.
" The 'Dark Master' did he just not just join recently? So how on earth would he know about our past conversations " said Naoko Kuroda.
" In order to solve this, we invited him here " said Yoshinori Ara.
" I see...and he did say some weird things " said Kikue Tanaka.
She looked directly at him when she was saying this.
" I can fly in the skies, I can conceal myself " said Kikue Tanaka.
"...? " said everyone.
" Wait then that means, the killer really is 'The Dark Magician' " said Yoshinori Ara.
" Then this impossible murder would have and could have been performed by him "said Doi Katsuki.
" He performed a magic show, of death " said Shinichi.
Everyone was silent.
" Right "
She shivered.
" I am getting cold and I am going to get my coat " said Kikue Tanaka.
" Achoo " sneezed Shinichi.
He was handed a handkerchief by Ran.
" I will come with you too " said Ran.
" Shinichi, you should get some sleep " said Ran.
He was about to respond to that...
" Then I will come with you, best to stick in numbers " said Doi Katsuki reassuringly.
And now his headache was getting worse as he was hustled out of the room.
He did not want to go to sleep because he was not tired and his work was not done yet, he still had his job to do and there was a killer likely amongst them. Instead he took some medication that Doi Katsuki had given to Ran for him, but they were left in her room and they went to get them so he could take them.
Both Shinichi and Ran entered the room first as the other two just waited at the doorframe.
" Really, just being this nervous to get a sweater " said Kikue Tanaka.
" What was Sonoko talking about when she said she was the assistant? " said Ran.
" Hamano used her to determine everyone's role " said Ran.
And she then went on to explain it more in detail.
" Come on " said Kikue Tanaka hurrying them.
They quickly walked out in room seeing the panic look expression on her face.
'Is the 'Dark Master' really the criminal?' thought Shinichi.
And then they went to Kikue Tanaka`s room so that she could get the things that she needed and quickly. As he looked at her she looked generally shaken and scared of what was happening, and out of everyone she was the most scared and her reaction was normal.
'He was never seen' he said to himself inside his head.
'But everyone has an alibi?' he said to himself inside his head.
He was thinking to himself asking these questions as Kikue Tanaka went in her room and they all stood in the doorway.
" To me it seems like the killer wants us to be trapped up here and something else I can just feel it in my bones " said Kikue Tanaka.
'I will never let that happen' thought Shinichi.
'If he kills again then it is going to get so much worse' thought Shinichi.
He watched as she picked the coat off the bed.
SMASH
And at the exact same time an arrow came through the window smashing it and hitting the wall, just flying past her head and narrowly missing it.
" Huh! " said Doi Katsuki.
" What! " said Kikue Tanaka.
" Ah " said Ran.
Shinichi remained speechless.
" Where is this arrow come from? " said Ran.
Kikue Tanaka ran to the curtains and opened them looking out the window, to see where it came from.
" How could this happen? " she said to herself as she stepped out to the balcony.
" Who is there, come out! " she screamed determined as she stepped further outside.
" W-wait! " screamed a panicked Doi Katsuki.
" Close the window! " screamed Shinichi.
Both was said at almost the exact same time.
SMASH
And then they heard another smashing sound of glass breaking coming from downstairs.
" What was that sound? " said Kikue Tanaka.
SCREAMING
They heard the sound of a girl screaming downstairs.
" Sonoko! " said Ran.
" Dammit " said Shinichi as he ran to find out what was happening.
And then followed by Doi Katsuki.
Then Ran.
As they ran down the stairs they could see the other two men standing at the stairs.
" Sonoko, Sonoko where is she? " said Ran.
" She went to the bathroom with Kuroda " said Yoshinori Ara.
The three of them immediately ran there.
They saw Naoko Kuroda standing outside the bathroom.
" What happened?! " said a panicked and demanding Doi Katsuki.
They looked at her for answers.
" I heard glass break when Sonoko went into the bathroom " said Yoshinori Ara.
Both Shinichi and Doi Katsuki ran into the bathroom.
To see Sonoko sitting on the floor on the right sitting on the floor and an arrow on the left side, with it stuck in the mirror. And that was where the smashing sound came from and where the glass was broken, with all over the floor.
'With the arrow in the mirror, that meant that someone must have shot from the window' thought Shinichi.
Sonoko looked panicked and in shock, but she was fine with barely a scratched. And he knew that she would be fine because she is always fine.
He began to analyze the room, to put the pieces together of what had just happened.
" Someone attacked us from outside! " said Yoshinori Ara.
They were all now surrounding the bathroom.
" Don't joke, now I am mad at this bastard " said Kikue Tanaka.
And she ran away panicked and mad.
" Wait " said Ran as she chased after her.
Followed by Yoshinori Ara.
And then they all followed her as she ran outside into the darkness and the freezing snow.
And then into the woods.
" I don't know who you are, but just come out already you coward " screamed Kikue Tanaka.
They all looked around waiting for something to happen.
" Look here, at all these footprints in the snow " said Naoko Kuroda.
" Looks like someone has been out here " said Yoshinori Ara.
They both looked at the snow.
" W-what? " said Sonoko panicked.
And then she slipped and fell.
" Be careful " said Yoshinori Ara.
And then it was Kikue Tanaka to slip and fall in the snow as she was standing beside a tree.
" Are you alright? " said Ran as she ran over to help her.
" Why is someone doing this? " said Kikue Tanaka angrily.
" Why? " she said angrily as Ran helped her to her feet.
Yoshinori Ara began to look around and then noticed something at the corner of his eye.
" What is that? " said Yoshinori Ara.
He walked over to the unknown object.
" Bow gun? " he said as he looked at it.
And he then picked it up as everyone started to surround him as they realized what it was.
It was the almost murder weapon.
" Now I see it, the killer is not amongst us " said Kiyohiro Sugama.
As they all studied it looking slightly happier ad feeling safer.
" But that is good that means the killer left it before anyone got hurt " said Yoshinori Ara.
Shinichi watched in the distance watching the conversation and everyone's reaction to this.
" Arggh " came out on an angered Doi Katsuki as he punched into the snow heavily in anger as he kneeled on the ground.
" Damn " he said as he was giving up.
Shinichi observed this behaviour as not suspicious but out of place as he looked at him closely thinking and just thinking as he looked over his shoulder.
Kiyohiro Sugama was still angry while others were slightly happier and relieved.
" That bow and arrow was aimed at me, and that only means one thing I am next " said Kiyohiro Sugama.
Ran wanted to make thing easier and with less tension.
" L-let's just get inside, in the nice and warm...besides it is dangerous out here " said Ran reassuringly.
" Your right " said Kiyohiro Sugama.
Sonoko looked over to the dead body.
" Hamano he looks so sad " said Sonoko.
" Should we cover him or something, it would be respectful " said Naoko Kuroda.
They all looked again.
" Sorry but that would destroy the evidence and as much as you want to respect the dead, you would do so better leaving him so that the evidence will remain and his killer will be caught. And that is what he would want for his killer to be caught " said Shinichi.
They all looked at him.
" And besides he will still just look the same underneath " he said letting it slip out.
" Shinichi! " she Ran scolding.
" This is an Art of work. If our foot prints cover it, then it becomes meaningless " said Kiyohiro Sugama.
Leaving Ran and Sonoko a little shaken by these words.
And deadpanned faces all around.
" A-art? " said Naoko Kuroda shaking.
It was starting to get colder.
" Cold " said Sonoko shivering.
And then she began to run inside.
But then she noticed something on the ground, and kneeled down to pick them up.
" T-these are arrows from the bow gun " said Sonoko as she looked at them.
They all counted them.
" They would have been for the rest of us " said Naoko Kuroda.
" We were lucky " said Yoshinori Ara.
They all took this information in standing there in the freezing cold.
" Anyway, everyone we should get inside now " said Doi Katsuki taking charge.
And they all began to follow him as he said this and walked away to go inside.
But Shinichi suddenly stopped to observe and think as he noticed something suspicious.
'Only the outside part of the tree is covered in snow from the branches' he thought.
He walked closer to the tree and crouched down looking.
He circled the tree as he was on the ground, then he felt something as his hand ran across something and he felt it.
'A hole!' he said inside his head.
He looked at it closer as he touched it, as he observed it.
'And it is freshly made' he said inside his head.
'Was it accidental?'
'Someone was out here' he remembered the footsteps.
'Then that would mean' he was thinking.
'That person`s reaction was the most suspicious' he thought.
' Doi Katsuki?' he thought as he watched Doi Katsuki catch Sonoko as she slipped in the snow again.
And then inside he began to ask everyone what they were doing when he was asleep.
" But why do you ask? " said Yoshinori Ara.
" I know why, he thinks that one of us is the killer " said Naoko Kuroda.
" But Detective the arrow came from outside " said Kiyohiro Sugama pointing out the obvious.
" The bow and arrows were outside "
" How could someone do this from here? " said Kiyohiro Sugama.
" We have yet to see the killer, so let's not jump to conclusions just yet " said Shinichi boldly.
" Shinichi! " said Ran.
" He is right, and it is better that we talk about this instead of dodging it " said Doi Katsuki.
And Doi Katsuki went on to tell him everything that happened while he was asleep.
It was all normal until he noticed something weird.
" Does it really take you eight minutes to get the wine? " said Shinichi questioning Yoshinori Ara.
" Yes, I forgot about the new locks, so I had to come back for the key " said Yoshinori Ara.
" New locks? " said Kikue Tanaka questioning him as if he was a suspect.
" I can show you them " said Yoshinori Ara.
And they all went outside to see if this was true.
" Look see, new locks " said Yoshinori Ara.
They all looked to see that there were new locks and that there was a lot of them.
" It is true, and there is three of them " said Sonoko.
Shinichi just looked around as they were discussing the locks.
He then saw something and wanted answers.
" Hey, is that the door to the kitchen? " questioned Shinichi as he pointed at the door.
" Yeah " said Yoshinori Ara.
He looked at the ground.
" There seems to be a lot of footsteps here, just like there was in the forest " said Shinichi.
" Probably when everyone was wandering around earlier " said Kikue Tanaka sounding annoyed.
" Seems logical " said Yoshinori Ara reassuringly.
" Now can we go back inside? " said Kikue Tanaka.
" Just one more stop, I want to see the water heating room " said Shinichi.
"...? " said everyone.
But they all went anyway.
" There is not much snow on the roof " he said as he observed it.
" Probably because of the steam, it will melt it " said Yoshinori Ara.
" That window where does it lead to? " said Shinichi as he noticed the window.
He could see that it still had snow on it.
" That window leads to the second hall " said Yoshinori Ara.
" If you use the window, then you can climb in, Tanaka? " said Shinichi.
" Yes, but I did not have the time to do it because I was preparing the water the entire time " said Kikue Tanaka.
They started to argue and blame each other, giving him a chance to walk away and be alone to look at his surroundings.
And look at the broken bathroom window.
'The criminal shot the arrow from the tree, but there is something...wrong' he thought.
And he began to walk around with his hands in his pockets.
' I see how the arrow shot into Tanaka`s room because the killer would be able to see the shadows' he thought.
'But why the bathroom?' he thought as he put his hand to his mouth.
Then he noticed something on the ground and leaned down to pick it up.
" A staple? " he said to himself.
'Why is here?' he thought.
He then looked up at the window.
And then it lights up like a Christmas tree in his mind.
He pulled himself as he leaned on the frame of the window his elbow as he was able to see two some holes in the wall.
" Hey " he said.
He felt two pair of hands of him as he was being pulled down and then was put to the ground.
" Are your investigations going well Detective? " said Doi Katsuki.
He was pulled down by him and Ran, rather humiliating.
" Shinichi, you got snow all over yourself " said Ran wiping at the snow on his arm.
" Coe on everyone is inside " said Ran walking away.
But he had one more question to ask.
" Sonoko how did Hanamo determine the jobs? can you give me the details " said Shinichi.
And she did.
And they all went back inside.
They all sat at the dining room table drinking tea and coffee.
' I see'
He thought as he was drinking his coffee.
'The case is solving itself'
But he was left with one final problem and key to the case, and that was the impossible murder.
It would determine who the killer was and put everything into place.
He was thinking of crane would make it possible, but realized that was just too much.
Stakes, but they would leave marks.
" Anyone want some red wine? said Yoshinori Ara.
And he was snapped out of his train of thoughts.
Curiously he picked up one of the bottles, and held it upside down looking at it.
There was a picture of a boat with sails on it.
'I see, so that is how it happened'
He smiled as he solved the trick to the impossible murder.
And he knew who the killer was as he smiled more.
But the motive still remained as he put it together piece by piece.