"So that's how it is—"
By the time Haibara finished speaking, Kurosawa Hoshino finally opened his mouth. "Very good. I understand."
From what Haibara had described, he was almost certain it was the Gomera murder case episode. No problem.
Haibara had been quite detailed—she'd even mentioned the names of each suspect and some of the details from the scene.
"Hoshino-nii, who's the murderer?" Haibara no longer felt embarrassed saying "Hoshino-nii." There were only zero times and countless times for many things. After saying it a few times, it felt like no big deal. She could play the child. Since Kurosawa didn't know, she wouldn't feel ashamed.
On the filming set, Inspector Megure and the others held their breath, their eyes fixed on the phone in Haibara's hand. The call was on speakerphone. In the quiet, everyone present could hear Kurosawa's words clearly.
"Is that the high school detective, Kurosawa Hoshino?" Sakaguchi Yumi murmured, her face tense.
"Yes, big sister." Ayumi, standing nearby, overheard. "Hoshino-nii is always in the newspapers. And he's very fierce—he loves bullying children."
"Is... is that so?" Sakaguchi Yumi hesitated.
"Inspector Megure, can you hear me?" Kurosawa's voice came through the phone.
"Yes, I can hear you, Hoshino-kun. Go ahead." Megure moved closer, trying to appear serious, but his eyes were full of joy.
"Inspector, please gather the witnesses and suspects."
"Okay."
Without needing Megure's instruction, Sakaguchi Yumi and the other three moved closer together.
"If I remember correctly, the first person to discover the culprit was Mr. Matsui Hidehiro, right?"
"Yes, that's me." Matsui looked down at his injured leg and answered softly.
"I heard from Ai that you were stabbed by the culprit in the prop warehouse and then stayed inside until the police arrived?"
"Yes."
"Very good." Kurosawa's calm tone continued. "Now, the culprit vanished into thin air, threw the suit downstairs, and set it on fire."
Conan listened intently, thinking about all the details of the case. He wanted to deduce the culprit before Kurosawa revealed them—so he wouldn't lose too badly.
"I'll ignore those details for now. Inspector Megure, could you please have someone check the warehouse to see if they can find a bloodstained knife?"
Upon hearing this, Matsui's expression froze. He stared incredulously at the phone in Haibara's hand.
"Okay." Megure responded.
"Actually, Inspector, forget it for now. You can look for it after the case is over." Kurosawa's voice continued. "Mr. Matsui, if we find a bloodstained knife with only your blood on it—not the victim's, Mr. Kamei Osamu's—will you plead guilty?"
After hearing this, many people were confused. They didn't understand what was going on.
"Only Mr. Matsui's blood?" Conan muttered. Then realization dawned. His eyes widened. "So that's it! I was deceived by the murderer. No wonder he vanished into thin air."
Inspector Megure asked into the phone, "Hoshino-kun, is Mr. Matsui the murderer?"
"No rush. Let me ask again. Mr. Matsui, I believe you have many things left unresolved. Are you going to continue staying silent?"
Matsui sighed. He took two difficult steps back, then collapsed to the ground. He gave a bitter laugh and slowly said, "As expected of Kurosawa Hoshino. No wonder everyone online says you're the strongest high school detective. You're really something. Yes. I killed him."
"Why?" Adachi Ryota asked, puzzled. "Didn't you already get that promise from Kamei—a chance to make your next movie?"
"Yes, why did you do something so foolish?" Sakaguchi Yumi's voice trembled with tears.
"This is truly—" Mikami Daisuke opened his mouth but couldn't finish.
"I never intended to make that movie." Matsui looked at the three people he had known for ten years. "From beginning to end, I only wanted to make a good Gomera movie."
Mikami asked in surprise, "But didn't you say you wouldn't be a Gomera suit actor anymore?"
"That wasn't me. Kamei said it. By the time I found out later, you all thought it was me. I wanted to explain, but I doubt anyone would believe me. When I went to confront him, he even said that he wanted to use this last Gomera movie to milk the fans for everything they had—then never make those plastic-looking movies again." Matsui looked at Inspector Megure. "Officer, please help me. I'll take you to find the hidden evidence."
Megure waved his hand. Two officers stepped forward, one on each side, to help Matsui up.
Half an hour later, Professor Agasa left with the group of children.
"Were you shocked?" Haibara asked calmly, noticing Conan's continued silence.
Conan glanced at her and countered, "What do you think of Kurosawa? You made the call. Don't you have any feelings about it?"
No? How could she not? Haibara had only ever seen Kurosawa's deduction process online. Only after experiencing it firsthand did she realize how terrifying it was.
She had barely finished recounting the events and details when Kurosawa had already deduced the culprit—even pinpointing the flaws in the case with uncanny accuracy. It sent chills down her spine.
She felt an urge to never see Kurosawa again—terrified that her identity would be discovered.
"Hmph. No feelings." Haibara said defiantly, regaining her composure.
However, her gaze toward Conan held a hint of pity. "To be honest, it must have been tough for you to stay hidden while living with that terrifying guy."
Conan smiled bitterly. Being around Kurosawa Hoshino, he was naturally trembling with fear, walking on thin ice. After a while, he got used to it to some extent. It was just that his confidence was often shattered to the point of collapse—but otherwise, he was fine.
Meanwhile, after Kurosawa Hoshino hung up the phone, his Origin Points changed again. They became twenty.
Finally, his second superpower arrived.
When the information about this superpower appeared in his mind, his expression was strange. He scratched his head and said helplessly, "Damn. I'm really going to become a famous detective now."