Fuji in Spring Snow.
That was the title of Hosui Kisaragi's newest masterpiece. But for the moment, the aesthetic quality of the painting was the last thing on anyone's mind. It seemed a certain famous detective was about to have a very bad night.
Kogoro Mouri had just taken the "reaper child" back from Toshihiko Kazama's arms. He opened his mouth to offer a profuse apology, but a sudden, familiar dizziness washed over him. His knees buckled, and he sank to the center of the stage, sitting cross-legged in front of the entire audience with his chin resting against his chest.
"Sorry, Uncle. I need your help for this one," Conan whispered. He reached out, subtly adjusting Kogoro's posture before pinning the voice transmitter to the man's lapel.
It was clear the adults on stage weren't going to listen to a child's warnings. Giving the Great Detective a quick sedative dart was the only way to ensure the truth came out.
"Mouri-senpai?" Mio Tokiwa stepped forward, leaning down with a look of concern. Why had he suddenly sat down the moment he walked onto the stage?
"Wait... could it be? Is that the legendary...?!" Someone in the crowd, familiar with the detective's reputation, let out a sharp gasp.
"It's the Sleeping Sleuth! Kogoro Mouri!"
A wave of hushed excitement swept through the banquet hall. No one understood why he had suddenly entered this trance-like state, but the spectacle was undeniable.
"Ahem... Tokiwa-gakumei, I apologize for disrupting your ceremony. But for now, would you please call the police?" Standing at the edge of the stage, Conan spoke into his bowtie, his voice projecting as Kogoro's deep, authoritative baritone.
"Whoa!"
"I didn't expect to see a live performance like this tonight," Tsuneo remarked, clapping his hands lightly. He watched the stage with an expression of genuine intrigue.
"..." Haibara shot him a sideways glance, her expression unreadable.
Mio Tokiwa looked at her teacher, Hosui Kisaragi, who remained hauntingly silent. She then turned and signaled her secretary, Miss Sawaguchi, to make the call.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems our opening ceremony will have to be put on a brief hiatus..."
As luck would have it, Inspector Megure was already in Nishitama City on official business. When he received the call concerning the Twin Towers, he arrived at the scene in record time.
"Mouri-kun, Tsuneo-kun—so you're both here," the Inspector said, walking behind the now-closed velvet curtain to greet them.
The scene appeared peaceful enough at first glance, which made the sight of Kogoro in his "Sleeping Sleuth" pose all the more jarring.
"Let us get straight to the point," the Sleeping Kogoro began. "Mr. Hosui Kisaragi, that pearl necklace was a gift from you to Miss Tokiwa, was it not?"
Kogoro sat perfectly still, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. Conan knew he had to move fast; if the police took too long to arrive, the sedative might wear off before he finished the deduction.
"It was," Hosui Kisaragi replied, leaning on his cane. His expression didn't flicker. He admitted the fact without hesitation.
Mio Tokiwa's hand drifted to her bare throat, a cold knot of dread tightening in her chest.
"The clasp on that necklace was intentionally designed to come loose with the slightest touch," Kogoro continued. "Once the three of you took your positions on stage, you intended to swap the original necklace for a rigged one you had prepared in advance."
The deduction hung in the air. Only Mio and Hosui truly understood the mechanics of what he was saying. Mio, as the intended victim, felt a chill of half-realized terror.
"A rigged one?"
"A swap?" Inspector Megure asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"The weapon in question is an identical pearl necklace," Kogoro explained. "However, this one was connected to the curtain's hoisting mechanism by a length of piano wire."
He paused for a beat to let the weight of that statement sink in.
"In other words," the Inspector mused, looking up, "he planned to use the darkness to approach Miss Tokiwa, unfasten her necklace, and replace it with a wire that would have turned the rising curtain into a gallows?"
"Inspector, look there!" Officer Takagi pointed toward the painting, Fuji in Spring Snow.
There, against the backdrop of the snow-capped mountain, a strand of pearls hung quietly from a thin, almost invisible wire. It was suspended three or four meters above the stage—a silent, glittering trap.
"My God..."
The realization hit the room like a physical blow. If Mio Tokiwa had been wearing that necklace when the curtain rose, the sheer mechanical force would have hoisted her into the air instantly. She would have been dead before anyone could even reach her.
Mio's face drained of all color. She remembered how her teacher had moved toward her the moment her necklace "fell." If that little boy hadn't intervened, she wouldn't be standing here talking to police; she would be a corpse on a forensic table.
"I suppose there is nothing left for me to say," Hosui Kisaragi said quietly, his eyes fixed on his own painting.
"Not quite," Conan pressed, using Kogoro's voice. "You still need to account for Councilman Oki."
"The shattered Mount Fuji... yes, that was my doing as well," Hosui sighed, finally tearing his gaze away from the canvas. The sake cup he had smashed at the previous crime scene—split perfectly down the middle—had been his grim representation of a ruined mountain.
"But why?" Mio asked, her voice trembling.
"You've been to my studio, haven't you?" Hosui Kisaragi's motive was as simple as it was tragic. "Ever since you built these towers, I haven't drawn my curtains once."
He had spent his life's earnings to build a studio on a hill with a perfect, unobstructed view of Mount Fuji. And then, these towers had risen like a jagged scar, splitting his view of the sacred mountain in two.
"So you killed Councilman Oki for pushing the zoning changes, and Miss Tokiwa for building the towers?" Inspector Megure shook his head. To kill over a view...
"Actually," Miss Sawaguchi, the secretary, spoke up softly. "Miss Tokiwa had already reserved an entire floor in Tower A for you to use as a private studio."
Mio Tokiwa was a complicated woman. She had ruthlessly bought her teacher's paintings at low prices to resell them for profit, yet in her own twisted way, she deeply respected him. She had intended to give him the best view in the city.
"..."
"Is that so?" After a long silence, Hosui Kisaragi looked at his student. Then, slowly, he slipped something from his sleeve and moved it toward his lips.
"Life is a journey of stopping and starting," a calm voice interrupted. "If the view here is blocked, you simply find a new vantage point to admire the scenery."
Tsuneo's hand shot out, his fingers locking around the old man's wrist like a vice.
Artists were always so prone to tunnel vision, he thought. To have poison ready to go...
Inspector Megure reacted instantly, taking Hosui into custody and securing the small vial.
"If only I had told him about the studio sooner, perhaps none of this would have happened," Mio Tokiwa whispered, watching her former mentor being led away in handcuffs.
"A-choo!"
The tension snapped as Kogoro Mouri let out a massive sneeze and jolted awake.
"Inspector Megure? When did you get here?" the detective asked, rubbing his eyes and swaying slightly as he stood up.
"Excellent work as always, Mouri-kun!" Megure laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "We actually came to Nishitama City because we were tracking a lead on the 'Dark Knight,' but it seems we've ended up witnessing another one of your brilliant deductions!"
"The Dark Knight...?"
Conan turned his head, his eyes landing on Tsuneo, who stood with his hands casually tucked in his pockets.
I knew it... the boy thought.
(End of Chapter)
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