"How could I possibly know the victim?!"
The manager forced an awkward smile, though a hint of guilt flickered behind it.
"Even if it was just for a second, I saw the look of shock in your eyes when you glanced at the body."
Fujino locked his gaze on the manager's eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, you deliberately pretended to slip just now to take the strand of hair clutched in the victim's hand!"
"What?!"
Inspector Megure immediately gestured to the forensic officers. "Quick, go check the victim's hand—see if there is a strand of hair like Detective Fujino says!"
"Inspector Megure!"
"In the victim's hand, we did indeed find a strand of long adult female hair!"
Megure took the evidence bag, examining the long strand of women's hair inside, his tone grave.
"Both of you—care to explain exactly what's going on here?"
"Actually… I do know that man."
"Yoko!"
Just as Chouno Yoko started to speak, her manager shouted out in panic.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Eiichi, but I can't hide this any longer…"
She bowed slightly to Yamagishi Eiichi in apology, then lowered her head and explained, "Not only do I know him… that man was—he was my boyfriend back in high school. His name was Akira Fujie."
"Nani?!"
Inspector Megure was visibly shocked by this revelation. He immediately pressed her, "If that's the case, then you must be the one who killed Mr. Fujie, right?!"
"You killed him to sever your relationship and prevent it from affecting your popularity!"
"It's not like that!"
Chouno Yoko hurriedly explained, "He was the one who wanted to break up with me, not the other way around…"
"Something's not right…"
At that moment, standing at the doorway, Conan muttered to himself.
Even though it was Chouno Yoko's hair found clutched in Fujie's hand, something about this whole situation didn't sit right with him.
If only he could get inside the actual crime scene…
Just as Conan racked his brain trying to piece things together, a voice suddenly cut through his thoughts:
"Inspector Megure, the culprit isn't Chouno Yoko!"
Fujino suddenly interrupted Megure's interrogation, his tone firm. "I already know who the real murderer is!"
"What?! Fujino, if it's not her, then who could it be?"
Inspector Megure looked at Fujino in confusion.
Based on Fujino's earlier deductions, wasn't Chouno Yoko the obvious culprit?
If not her, then who?
What, was the victim supposed to have killed himself?
"There's usually only one truth."
Taking a deep breath, Fujino slowly raised his hand—and pointed directly at the corpse lying on the ground.
"The one who killed Mr. Fujie… was himself!"
What?!
Megure's eyes widened in disbelief. "That doesn't make sense—Fujie was stabbed in the back! How could that possibly be suicide?!"
"It's quite simple."
As he spoke, Fujino pointed at the puddles of water surrounding the corpse. "Did no one else notice the water stains on the floor?"
"Water stains? What do they have to do with the case?"
Inspector Megure was still confused.
Scratching the back of his head, Fujino silently cursed the tendency for police in this 'Conan World' to have dramatically lowered intelligence, then explained patiently:
"If Mr. Fujie used ice to fix the knife in place before adjusting the air conditioning to blow hot air, then stabbed himself—once the room warmed up, the ice would melt, causing these puddles of water. And that melting ice is closely tied to the nature of this case!"
"I see…!"