At the Yoshino residence.
Night had quietly fallen, and Yoshino Chie was busy making dinner. She had heard that the herbal medicine Fujino gave her could help expel toxins from the body... so she went ahead and brewed a batch.
However, at the same time, her mind was occupied with the thought of the poison in the air conditioner.
"I'm home."
Just then, a male voice called out from the entranceway.
"Welcome back, Akio. You must be tired after a day of work."
Seeing her husband return, Yoshino Chie greeted him as usual.
After a seemingly elaborate but slightly rich dinner was ready, the two of them sat down at the dining table to eat, as they always did.
"Has something happened?"
Yoshino Akio noticed the slightly strange expression on his wife's face and asked curiously.
But at the same time, his impatience grew stronger. After so many years of marriage, he found this nagging woman more and more unbearable.
"Nothing, really. Just someone I know gave me a prescription for some traditional Chinese medicine, but I'm not sure if it will work."
Yoshino Chie had originally intended to tell her husband about what happened during the day.
But after thinking about it, she decided against it. Something like being poisoned was probably better left unsaid. Her husband was already very tired, and if he found out she had been poisoned, he would surely worry a lot.
"Traditional Chinese medicine?"
Yoshino Akio frowned upon hearing this. He hadn't expected his wife to have a friend who practiced Chinese medicine...
His poisoning attempt hadn't been discovered yet, and his wife was already showing symptoms. He figured it wouldn't be long before something happened while she was driving. Then he could collect the large insurance payout... If that herbal medicine prescription actually worked, then everything he had done would be for nothing.
Thinking this, Yoshino Akio said with feigned concern, "It's probably better not to drink random folk remedies like that. It wouldn't be worth it if it messes up your body."
Chie didn't sense anything wrong with Yoshino Akio's words. "But my friend..."
"Even Western medicine couldn't figure out your illness, so what use would traditional Chinese medicine be?"
Yoshino Akio's tone suddenly became sharper. Realizing his words might have sounded a bit off, he quickly added, "If you ask me, you're just under too much stress. Taking a couple of days off would fix it."
Yoshino Chie was taken aback by his attitude and couldn't understand it. Then, she shook her head and reluctantly refused to take time off. After all, their family's financial situation wasn't great, and if she took two days off, all the pressure would definitely fall on her husband. She didn't want that. Besides, the poisoning issue could be resolved tomorrow morning. She decided to just bear with it for now.
...
Early the next morning, before it was even light, Fujino took Conan, Ran, and Sonoko with him to Chie's house in Beika Town next door.
At the same time, Miwako Sato, the detective in charge of this case, also began secretly deploying her team, waiting for the culprit to appear before immediately apprehending them.
Inside the Yoshino house.
Chie, wearing a red blouse and a red bodycon skirt, with black stockings covering her legs, was sitting at her vanity table, getting ready.
"I have a client meeting when I go to work later, so breakfast is up to you."
Yoshino Akio was dressed in casual clothes. "I'll go for a walk first."
Yoshino Chie turned around. "How about bacon and eggs for breakfast?"
"Hmm, I'll probably be starving by the time I get back from my walk... Remember to prepare a little extra for me."
Saying this, Yoshino Akio walked out of the bedroom and closed the door. However, after closing the door, a cunning, almost twisted, evil grin appeared on his face. That nagging woman was too naive; she still didn't know he had poisoned her... He had been planning this scheme ever since they moved here. First, he took out a massive 100 million yen insurance policy, and then he found her a high-paying job in Shizuoka... Afterward, by using pesticide, he could cause an accident on the road. Even if there was an investigation, it would only be considered a simple traffic accident, and he would get his 100 million yen insurance money.
Thinking this, he took out his car keys and went to the front door. He opened the red car, then looked around left and right. Seeing that no one was around, he let out a sigh of relief. Then, he pulled out the diluted pesticide he had prepared beforehand from his pocket, covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and sprayed the car's air conditioner twice. Coming out of the car, he felt exceptionally relaxed. After putting the pesticide away and locking the car door, he glanced up at the house behind him. Seeing that the annoying woman hadn't seen him, he put his hands in his pockets and prepared to go for his walk.
"Mr. Yoshino, are you in a good mood?"
Fujino had watched everything happen. Then, he slowly walked forward and looked at Yoshino Akio, asking in a low voice.
"Huh?"
Yoshino Akio was clearly taken aback by this.
"Mr. Yoshino..."
Ran, wearing a dark blue shirt-vest and white shorts, placed her hands in front of her and looked at Yoshino Akio with a hint of sadness. "What is that thing you have in your pocket?"
Did they see everything that just happened?! A sudden sense of dread washed over Yoshino Akio.
But then, he calmed down. He took out the bottle of pesticide from his pocket and chuckled. "It's just a simple air freshener. It can protect Chie from mold and viruses."
"Stop trying to lie!"
Sonoko, wearing a light yellow dress, clenched her fists and looked quite indignant. "That stuff in your bottle must be diluted pesticide!"
"What..."
Yoshino Akio was instantly stunned.
"About a month ago, you've probably been poisoning Ms. Chie the whole time, and you even introduced her to a high-paying job in Shizuoka, trying to cause an accident on her way to school... That way, you could get a large insurance payout..."
Fujino's gaze turned cold as he looked at Yoshino Akio. "You knew that the devoted Ms. Chie would definitely accept the job... Even if she noticed the poisoning, under normal circumstances, she wouldn't suspect it was you. And if she found out, she would definitely tell you, allowing you to get away clean... I'm right, aren't I, Mr. Criminal?"
"You...!"
Yoshino Akio clenched his teeth, his eyes fixed on Fujino with cold malice. Now his poisoning attempt had been discovered, and even his motive and method had been seen through. Clearly, he had been exposed... Thinking about this, he couldn't help but feel a surge of irritation.
"Why did you have to ruin my plan?! It was so close to succeeding!"
The rational thread in his brain snapped, and Yoshino Akio fiercely charged towards Fujino. As an adult who exercised regularly, he was confident he could take down a combination of one man, two women, and a small child.
"Seriously... why do other people just kneel down and admit fault, but I always have to go through the step of taking down the bad guy right here..."
Fujino sighed silently. His eyes shifted slightly, instantly catching the other's movement, and then he whipped out a leg kick.
"Thud!"
With a muffled sound, Yoshino Akio was kicked away.
Sonoko, like a trainer on the sidelines, shouted, "Ran, quick, use your karate to teach him a lesson!"
"Hah!"
A still upset Ran followed closely, throwing several heavy punches at his abdomen.
"Pfft!"
The force behind Ran's punches in her angry state was obvious. These few punches caused Yoshino Akio to spit out a mouthful of bitter liquid. But before he could react, Fujino, who was right behind him, followed up with a sweep kick that slammed his body heavily onto the ground. Then, he pressed down on his shoulder and used a knee strike to pin the back of his neck with his knee.
"Nice job, Fujino!"
Just then, Miwako Sato drove up in a car from the side. Getting out of the car, she immediately put handcuffs on Yoshino Akio's hands.
"Though I really didn't expect this guy would try to kill his wife for 100 million yen and the insurance..." Miwako Sato pulled Yoshino Akio up, sighing with a hint of emotion.
"Detective Sato..."
Fujino glanced towards the small house nearby.
"Hmm..."
It was then that Miwako Sato noticed that Chie had come out.
"Akio..."
Watching her handcuffed husband, tears streamed down Chie's face. Although she couldn't believe it, the reality was right in front of her. She truly couldn't understand what she had done wrong.
Ran turned around and walked towards Chie, who was leaning against a pillar by the doorway and sobbing, wanting to say something. "Ms. Chie..."
"It's okay..."
Chie wiped away her tears, glanced at Yoshino Akio being escorted into the police car, and sobbed softly. "Just leave me alone for a bit, please."
Ran felt a mix of emotions. Although she had suspected it was Chie's husband who intended to kill her for the insurance, confirming it still felt... When Chie's body suddenly went limp, Ran reacted quickly and helped support her. "Ms. Chie!"
Sonoko stepped forward, worried. "What's wrong with her?"
Ran shook her head. "I don't know..."
Fujino touched her pulse. "She's just overwhelmed by grief, and the pesticide residue in her body was already making her weak. She fainted, but there's nothing serious."
...
By the time Chie woke up, it was already noon. After Fujino and the others finished watching the interrogation and giving their statements at the police station, they went to visit her.
Yoshino Akio's motive for murder was indeed that 100 million yen. And the purpose of getting that 100 million yen was to buy a car and fill the void created by him stealing money from the insurance company to gamble.
After hearing this, Chie was silent for a long time, ultimately unable to speak. Truthfully, Fujino also felt the reason was unbelievable. Rejecting a devoted wife just to become a gambling addict. No, at least gambling addicts have the courage to jump off a roof. He's worse than a dog.
"Chie-nee..."
Ran comforted her. "Don't be too sad..."
"No... I just feel, a bit strange."
Chie sighed. "To be honest, I really don't know what I'm going to do next. But, I really do thank you all. If it weren't for you, maybe I would have already..."
"Don't think about it too much."
Fujino interrupted her before she could continue. "No matter what, you still have to keep living your life."
"Yeah, Chie-nee, you have to pull yourself together!"
Sonoko smiled and nodded. "Even without that guy, you can definitely live a good life on your own."
"Hah... yes, my life still has to go on."
Taking a deep breath, Chie nodded, a rare smile appearing at the corner of her mouth. "Anyway, thank you all for this time. Although it's a bit hard to accept, I'll recover quickly. I'll thank you properly then."
"It's a promise then!"
Sonoko, looking a bit lively, joked, "When that time comes, you absolutely have to treat us to a big feast!"
Seeing that Chie's mood was relatively stable, the others didn't say anything further, allowing her to have some quiet time alone to slowly emerge from the shadows.
Just after returning home, a system prompt echoed in Fujino's ears:
[Detected that the host has completed: (Design of a Murder Case) has been completed. System Rewards: One Million Yen - Fifty Detective Reputation points have been distributed.]
[Current Balance: 255,370,000 Yen]
[Current Reputation: 0-2000]
[Congratulations to the host! Detective Level has increased! Current Detective Level: Intermediate Five Stars; Current Detective Profession Assignable Points: 1]
[Next level up will break through Detective Profession level to Advanced. Note: System Detective Profession will undergo advancement, requiring 20,000,000 Yen. Please prepare the required amount for the upgrade.]
"As expected, the next level is Advanced..."
Fujino looked at the system prompt in front of him and muttered, "If the Detective Profession advances, it should be similar to those breakthroughs... But 20 million yen, that's really expensive."
But on second thought, if the breakthrough effects for a few million were that high, what kind of effect would the breakthrough for the main Detective Profession achieve? Fujino started to feel a bit excited.
Collecting his thoughts, he turned his attention to the Detective Profession interface. His current Detective Time was still at the Novice level; it wasn't very useful to him. What was currently more useful to him and could have points added were Detective Enhancement and Detective Intuition. Detective Intuition improved perception and reaction time, which he wasn't lacking for the moment. Detective Enhancement had already reached 350%, which was temporarily sufficient... After some thought, he added the earned point to Detective Enhancement Time.
[Detective Enhancement Time has been upgraded to: Novice Four Stars]
[Detective Enhancement Time effect has been improved. Current Enhancement Time: Sixteen Minutes]
After adding the point, Fujino took out a fortune slip from his spatial inventory again.
"Hah... I wonder what kind of luck I'll have today."
Fujino looked at the fortune slip and murmured. Although fortune slips were very un-Conan-like, they were quite effective when it came to predicting luck and such. The last time he tried gacha, he didn't use the Lucky Coin or predict his luck with a fortune slip, which is why it failed. It seems like before trying gacha, he still needed to use some unorthodox methods...
Thinking this, Fujino tossed the Lucky Coin, layering a buff, then shook the small wooden cylinder for the fortune slips.
"Clatter!"
A wooden slip flew out of the small wooden cylinder and hit the floor with a crisp sound. Hearing this, Fujino bent down and picked up the wooden slip. It read: [Great Luck! Everything is auspicious today]
"Hmm, does this mean I'll be able to draw good things?"
Fujino murmured, put the fortune slip away, then opened the system Profession Orb Gacha interface and activated the Gacha function.
[8,900,000 Yen has been consumed for the host.]
[Current Balance: 246,470,000 Yen]
As the system prompt sounded, the items drawn this time appeared simultaneously on the light screen in front of Fujino: [Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Purple Profession Card (Civil Engineering) Black Phantom (Gold)...]
"One profession and one gold item?"
Fujino ignored the other useless items, his gaze drawn to the profession and item on the light screen.
[Item Name: Black Phantom]
[Darkness is hidden beneath the light, wandering... every shadow is a substitute for a 'person']
[Form: Host's shadow]
[Effect:]
[Black Phantom: (Host can separate their shadow from themselves and move freely {Duration: One hour; Cooldown: Five minutes})]
[Light and Darkness: (Shadow inherits all of the host's abilities, with no side effects)]
[Note: (A shadow is still a shadow. Although it has a physical form, the shadow appears completely black. Be sure not to suddenly appear in the dark, otherwise there's a risk of scaring people to death)]
(End of this chapter)