Heiji Hattori returned to the dining room only to see Natsuki Koshimizu waving a piece of white paper covered in writing.
"You guys need to come look at this! It's a letter written by Mr. Kouya!" she called out.
Heiji snatched the letter from her hand and began to read it aloud.
"I know that I am already steeped in sin. Receiving this punishment is only right, and paying this price for my silence back then is my destiny."
"One year ago, at the young lady's estate, I knew she was suffering from deep depression and eventually chose to end her own life."
"Later, a detective cast suspicion on the estate's maid. I thought a simple investigation would clear her quickly, so I didn't speak up. But my silence drove that poor maid to commit suicide!"
"I am truly sorry. I have spent the last year in a state of constant repentance. Now that this has happened, I can finally find peace!"
The text ended there. Heiji turned his gaze toward Kenzo Kouya and said, "So that's it. You lost your tongue as a price for your silence back then."
"But what about you, Mr. Tsuchio? Why did you lose your right hand?"
At that moment, Saguru Hakuba walked in from outside.
"I suspect that is because this gentleman is actually a common thief. Am I right, Mr. Tsuchio?"
Hiroo Tsuchio's expression instantly turned into one of pure terror.
"How is that possible? I'm a member of a drama club! How could I be a thief?"
Hakuba produced a padlock he had found in the warehouse.
"You said you went to the warehouse. But that building was locked, and the key was in Mr. Kouya's possession. How did you get inside?"
"Naturally, you used your skills as a thief to pick the lock using the wire from your toolbox."
"Furthermore, the right hand you keep clutching in your left has betrayed you. Those fingers are covered in the calluses and scars left behind by years of lock-picking practice!"
As soon as Hakuba spoke, Tsuchio hurriedly lowered his right hand and tried to hide it.
Hakuba pressed him further: "You are the most dishonest person here. Confess! What else are you hiding?"
Tsuchio let out a long, defeated sigh.
Conan immediately asked, "Does this have to do with the Lavender Case from a year ago?"
Tsuchio finally spoke: "It's true. As you've deduced, I am a thief. I only recently started acting. A year ago, I sneakily dismantled the window of that young lady's room from the outside."
"I used pliers to snip the screws and then held it in place with glue. I intended to come back when no one was home to rob the place."
"But I never imagined a detective would see my handiwork and suspect the maid. When she was driven to suicide, I was terrified and never dared to return to that lavender-scented estate again."
"That's why I was so scared when you mentioned it today. It seems my premonition came true. Now my right hand has been cut off!" Tsuchio finished with a bitter smile.
Heiji remarked, "I can't believe all of you were involved in that Lavender Case. And this lodge is filled with lavender... but I'm curious, who was that high school detective? Could they be among us?"
At that moment, Kenzo Kouya began to shout with agitation. Natsuki hurriedly brought him paper and a pen.
With a trembling hand, Kouya wrote: "The high school detective who framed the maid was Junya Tokitsu! I recognize him!"
The group stared at the paper in stunned silence.
Heiji spoke up: "Could it be that he realized he made a fatal error and, out of guilt, designed this plan to lure Mr. Kouya and Mr. Tsuchio to this island? Did he punish them both before committing suicide to atone for his sins? That's incredibly twisted!"
Hakuba added, "The facts seem to support that theory. Look, I found this bottle of fluorosulfuric acid on the body. This is what was used to poison the soup."
"Fluorosulfuric acid is a superacid. When poured into soup, it produces white smoke and is extremely corrosive. The fact that Mr. Kouya was silenced by just one sip proves its potency."
"You bastard! Why didn't you say anything when you found it?" Heiji complained.
Hakuba smirked. "None of you were paying attention while I was performing the autopsy."
Tsuchio muttered, "So the one who did this to us was Tokitsu... Unforgivable. He was going to kill himself anyway, yet he had to make us suffer like this!"
Conan felt something was off. His intuition told him Tokitsu didn't commit suicide. Who uses a hammer on their own forehead when hanging or jumping off a cliff is an option?
But based on the clues at the scene, he couldn't think of any other possibility.
In the end, he had to accept Hakuba and Heiji's deduction.
Letting Tokitsu "commit suicide" was the final bit of dignity Yuu Hoshimiya afforded him. He had driven an innocent maid to suicide; it was only fitting he "killed himself" in return.
If the truth from a year ago were ever exposed, his reputation would be destroyed even in death.
Well, it was pretty much destroyed now anyway. People would simply say he had a shred of conscience left to repent.
In this world, detectives enjoyed immense privilege, but they had to pay a heavy price for a wrong deduction.
"But more importantly," Tsuchio groaned, now numb from the pain, "is a boat coming for us tomorrow? I don't think I can hold on much longer!"
"Shouldn't you know that better than anyone, 'Fake Director'?" Heiji retorted.
Tsuchio quickly replied, "Since you know I was just following a script, you should know I have no idea about the exit strategy."
"What about Mr. Kouya?"
Kenzo Kouya quickly wrote: "I was also hired for this. I don't know if there is a boat."
Heiji's brow furrowed tight. "This is bad. If the mastermind was the dead Tokitsu, then he's the only one who knew if a rescue was coming."
"Hey, Hakuba! You arrived half a day early. How did you get here? Is a helicopter coming for you tomorrow?"
"I'm afraid I have to disappoint you," Hakuba shook his head. "I came on a supply boat that makes deliveries to the island. I paid a large sum and didn't tell anyone, so no one is coming for me."
Just then, Natsuki Koshimizu spoke: "Don't you find this island strange? The moment I stepped on it, I felt something was off. Everything is damp, the plants are salt-tolerant, and there's sand everywhere."
The group's expressions shifted. Hakuba asked, "What are you implying?"
"I've seen this kind of terrain before," Natsuki explained. "It happens to land that is frequently submerged by seawater."
"In other words, when the tide rises tomorrow morning, things are going to get very bad. The entire island might be swallowed by the ocean!"
While the others were filled with worry, Yuu Hoshimiya—who had already made arrangements—was currently holding Ran in a sweet, peaceful sleep.
Tsuchio and Kouya were struggling against their intense pain, while Natsuki was secretly trying to figure out how Yuu had pulled everything off.
As for Heiji, Hakuba, and Conan, the three were exhausted, searching every room for any useful clues.
They couldn't believe Tokitsu was the type to commit suicide, but the locked-room trick was impossible to crack.
They knew about the window trick from the Lavender Case and the first test on the island.
The technique involved removing the window, snipping the screws, applying glue to the edges, and then putting it back in place from the outside to create a locked room.
But the problem was that the room where Tokitsu died wasn't like that at all. The screws were perfectly intact, and there wasn't a trace of glue anywhere.
Natsuki, who had returned to the scene later to inspect it herself, was even more shocked.
She remembered specifically putting the window back in from the outside, but now it appeared as though it had never been moved.
Clearly, this was Yuu's doing, but how on earth had he managed it?
This method, just like his sudden disappearance from her room, was magical and eerie!
Countless mysteries began to pile up in Natsuki's heart.
Conan's small face was grim. He could swear Tokitsu hadn't killed himself, but he couldn't break the locked room either.
He had searched the entire lodge, and with his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, he still found nothing.
Eventually, the physically and mentally drained Conan and Heiji returned to the dining room, followed by a dejected Hakuba.
Unable to solve the case, the three self-proclaimed great detectives had no heart for sleep.
The dining room remained brightly lit as they all stayed awake until dawn.
Early the next morning, Yuu's biological clock woke him up on time.
In truth, if he weren't worried those three kids would come begging him for help, he wouldn't have needed to sleep at all.
Of course, even if he didn't sleep, he wouldn't have done anything with Ran here.
The conditions were too basic; even with magic to block sound and light, it wasn't as comfortable as being at home.
"Ran, wake up. It's time to go home."
"Mmm..." Ran let out a cute, sleepy groan.
But she soon regained her energy. "Brother Yuu, is everything settled?"
"Mmm. Everything is just like you heard last night. Those who needed to pay the price have paid it."
Before meeting with the others, the two whispered for a moment to get their stories straight.
Compared to the refreshed Yuu and Ran, the people in the living room looked terrible.
Due to the previous poisoning, everyone was paranoid. They didn't dare touch the food on the island and were all starving.
The night had passed, and except for Natsuki—who had slept for a bit after her revenge—no one had closed their eyes.
Mr. Kouya and Mr. Tsuchio couldn't sleep because of their injuries.
And Hakuba, Heiji, and Conan had spent the entire night obsessing over the locked room. Failing to solve it had drained the sharp energy they'd had upon arrival, leaving them dejected and frustrated.
They watched as the sea level rose outside, already swallowing the dock. Their brows were knit with anxiety.
Hakuba spoke: "This is a disaster. Miss Koshimizu was right. At this rate, the entire island will be underwater. According to the calendar, the tide will peak at nine o'clock. if we're still here then... we won't survive!"
Natsuki added, "And we're a two or three-hour trip from Tokyo Harbor. Even if we could swim, we'd never make it back!"
Heiji shouted, "Then we have to save ourselves! I suggest we tear up the floorboards of this lodge and build a raft to row back to Tokyo!"
"That's ridiculous," Hakuba sneered. "We don't have enough time to build a boat. Besides, do you even know how to build one?"
"So we just sit here and wait for death?" Heiji countered.
Just then, Yuu arrived in the dining room with Ran, feigning curiosity. "What are you all arguing about?"
In his best 'cute child' voice, Conan explained their current predicament.
"I see," Yuu chuckled. "You don't need to worry. A boat I arranged will be here to pick us up shortly."
Everyone in the room froze.
Ran offered a perfectly timed assist: "Before we joined this program, Brother Yuu went to Nichiuri TV to ask about it. The management confirmed there was such a project, but it hadn't been greenlit for production yet."
The detectives realized the truth instantly.
Conan was the first to have an 'aha' moment. "No wonder you and Ran-nee-chan were so calm after the murder. You already suspected something was wrong!"
"Exactly," Yuu nodded, playing along.
"I also had the station check who proposed the show, but we only found an anonymous letter. I came to this island just in case, but I still couldn't prevent the tragedy."
"No wonder!" Heiji looked enlightened, the weight lifting from his heart. "I was wondering why Teacher Hoshimiya—who usually hates deductions—would volunteer to be a judge. That explains it."
The only remaining headache was Tokitsu's death.
If they couldn't solve the locked room, no matter how absurd it seemed, it would have to be closed as a suicide.
As they say: The victim committed suicide by shooting themselves three times in the back.
Natsuki let out a brilliant smile. "Thank goodness for Mr. Hoshimiya. Otherwise, we would have been in real danger."
She had originally planned to go down with everyone else if she were caught after her revenge.
But since she'd met Yuu, achieved her revenge perfectly, and hadn't been caught, she was more than happy to keep living.
Hakuba heard the talk and simply said, "I hope so!"
He then turned and headed upstairs.
He had heard of Yuu Hoshimiya but didn't respect him and certainly didn't like him.
Yuu didn't need him to like him anyway; there was no more experience to be milked from Kaito Kuroba's side.
But Hakuba's arrogant attitude was annoying. Yuu planned to mention it to Superintendent General Hakuba later, suggesting he teach his child some respect for his elders.
Yuu was on equal footing with Hakuba's father; calling himself an "elder" was perfectly accurate.
"Hey, you! What are you doing now?" Heiji shouted, equally annoyed by Hakuba.
Both were rich kids, but they walked completely opposite paths.
Hakuba replied, "You idiot. I'm going to photograph the crime scene. If the tide rises, the evidence will be destroyed. You all had better pack up and get to the second floor; it should stay dry a little longer!"
With that, he marched up the stairs.
Time slowed to a crawl as the tide rose higher and higher. Soon, only the central lodge remained above the water.
Looking at the endless expanse of ocean surrounding them, the group began to feel a surge of panic once more.
"Mr. Hoshimiya, when is that boat coming? We're about to be submerged!"
The one-handed fake director was the first to lose his cool.
Yuu glanced at him and said indifferently, "Soon."
While there was no cell signal, Noah had already hijacked a satellite. Yuu was still able to communicate with the outside world perfectly.
The boat had departed half an hour ago; it would be arriving any minute now.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, as the water began to flood the first floor of the lodge, the roar of an engine reached their ears.
The rest went smoothly. Everyone lined up to board the ship and returned to Tokyo.
During the trip back, Yuu found an opportunity to exchange contact info with Natsuki Koshimizu.
As they drew closer to the harbor, cell signals began to return to their phones.
Heiji immediately called in the report and explained everything to Inspector Megure.
Soon, the ship docked. An ambulance was already waiting on the shore, along with Inspector Megure and Officers Takagi and Chiba.
Mr. Kouya and Mr. Tsuchio were quickly loaded into the ambulance and rushed to the hospital.
The rest of the group—Conan, Heiji, Hakuba, and Natsuki—were invited to the MPD for questioning and investigation.
Yuu and Ran should have been included, but since Juzo Megure didn't say a word, no one else was stupid enough to bring it up.
Megure, having worked with Yuu many times and even having "offered" his own wife to him, knew exactly what was going on when Yuu refused to offer an opinion on the case.
He was certain this incident was tied to Yuu!
But intuition wasn't evidence, and Megure had no intention of exposing him.
One piece of human trash dead, two deserving scumbags crippled.
If the sons of the Tokyo and Osaka Police Chiefs couldn't find a single lead or piece of evidence, he would follow the old rule: close the case in the most convenient way possible!
Junya Tokitsu, driven by a guilty conscience, planned the Koshien event to punish his accomplices before committing suicide to atone for his sins.
Mmm. A perfect summary for the file!
Once the police and ambulance had left, Yuu led Ran to their car to head home.
The driver was Seimi Asai; she was the one who had coordinated the sea rescue today.
To fool three detectives like Conan and his rivals, one had to choose someone who could actually act and was completely trustworthy.