BONUS CHAPTER #1
The reverse harem was stunned that an honest guy like Ichieda could actually be a murderer. They were about to protest, but then they remembered the tragedy from two years ago—and immediately fell silent.
After a moment of quiet, the young talents still felt that there were too many mysteries. They couldn't help but mutter, "But if the murderer really is Ichieda, why did he attack a child? And where's Miss Reika? …Could it be that when I pushed the window open earlier, she slipped into the woods? Are they accomplices? Is she helping Ichieda lure us away?"
Jiang Xia shook his head. "If only Nikaidou had been attacked, that might be possible. But Shiro was attacked in the same way... I don't think Miss Yotsui's current situation is looking good."
The young talents—who had still been dreaming of marrying Reika Yotsui—suddenly tensed up. "What do you mean? Where is she now?"
Jiang Xia put on a thoughtful expression and started spoiling the plot: "When you searched the villa just now, did you check the bathtubs or other places that could hold water?"
They all looked at each other, uncertain. Maybe they had checked, maybe they hadn't... But that wasn't the point. The real issue was: "You mean, Miss Reika is hiding there?"
"I have that suspicion." As he spoke, Jiang Xia's eyes "lit up," as if he'd just had a flash of genius.
Without another word, Jiang Xia dashed off to the bathroom like a detective answering a dramatic cry for help.
The others followed, half out of trust in the famous detective, half out of sheer confusion. "But why would Miss Reika hide near water?"
Jiang Xia glanced back at them. "After the first two attacks, if a third person is found drowned by a water tank, what do you think everyone will assume killed her?"
Ponytail Brother parroted the question blankly: "...Drowning?"
Jiang Xia nodded. "Exactly. More precisely, drowned by someone forcing their head underwater—just like what happened to Nikaidou and Shiro. Shiro's clothes were soaking wet, which shows he was in contact with water for quite a while. But Shiro is a kid, he's easier to overpower than Nikaidou. Still, the reality is Nikaidou is dead and Xiaobai survived."
"So in the second attack, I think the goal wasn't to kill, but to reinforce the idea of 'death by drowning'. That way, when a third body turns up—"
"—everyone will automatically assume she was killed the same way, and not realize that she actually drowned because the water level rose on its own. That way, Ichieda could easily fake an alibi."
Talking as they went, the group hurried down the corridor and into the bathroom.
Jiang Xia pushed the door open, yanked aside the shower curtain, and looked into the bathtub, where water had filled about halfway.
The others squeezed into the bathroom too, peeking around Jiang Xia—and immediately gasped, "Miss Reika!"
Reika Yotsui was sitting in the bathtub, taped tightly to the wall like some kind of bulky cocoon. The water had reached her chest, but her nose and mouth were still above the surface.
Jiang Xia's expression relaxed a little, and he looked downright cheerful after managing to save someone. "Fortunately, Ichieda was exposed early, so his plan failed."
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki had already covered their eyes.
Hearing Jiang Xia's words, they cautiously peeked through their fingers and sighed in relief.
The young talents, dreaming of pulling off a hero-rescues-beauty moment, rushed forward to get Reika Yotsui out of the bathtub.
Conan, too small to help much, turned to watch Jiang Xia instead.
—Jiang Xia had just witnessed a mini-replay of the classic "Corpse by the Water" scene, but he stayed totally composed, even managing to rescue someone for once... Was this a breakthrough? Just like that time during the Sherlock Holmes tour, Jiang Xia seemed to have survived the second impact.
…With all these emotional rollercoasters, though, if this keeps up, isn't he going to end up with some serious psychological issues?
Conan frowned slightly, wondering if Jiang Xia had found a new psychiatrist yet. Hopefully one who wasn't another scumbag this time.
While Conan was thinking dark thoughts, a commotion broke out by the bathtub.
He looked over, frowning, just as someone shouted in horror: "Miss Reika isn't breathing!"
Jiang Xia glanced over, his eyes widening slightly.
Ran Mouri, Sonoko Suzuki, and Conan immediately noticed his reaction. The three of them exchanged glances, deeply sympathetic toward the late Reika Yotsui. Without hesitation, they teamed up to shove Jiang Xia out of the bathroom. "Don't look anymore—you did your best..."
…
Because of the heavy blow of "I tried to save someone but still failed," Jiang Xia collapsed dramatically onto the sofa and logged out of life for a bit.
Meanwhile, the young talents carried Reika Yotsui to the warmer dining room, still determined to perform some heroic rescue. Ran and Sonoko, after a moment of shock, hurried over with towels to help dry Reika off.
Conan could tell it was already too late, but saying so outright felt cruel. So he simply stood by, helping correct their amateur CPR attempts—though not much could be done now. Still, maybe someday these corrections would save another innocent bystander. In the Detective Conan universe, there were always more murder scenes waiting. Always.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Jiang Xia quietly steered Xiaobai's puppet into action, discreetly vomiting up the coffee he'd swallowed earlier.
Then, using his non-dominant hand, he scribbled a crooked note: "My mother came to pick me up, I'm leaving first — Shiro Tanaka."
After that, he activated the puppet's escape mode and slipped away without a sound.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 3/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*