BONUS CHAPTER #10
The deceased was a very fat man, with a bruise on his neck, a knife stabbed into his heart, and a hemp rope tied around his waist. He'd fallen from a building, been stabbed, and strangled… Any single one of those could've done the job, but together? Overkill. Very thorough overkill.
His oversized corpse landed square on the front of a car, completely caving in the hood. May it rest in pieces.
When Hattori Heiji and Conan rushed up to the rooftop, Jiangxia Tongzhi stared up at the elevator-less high-rise, then down at the pancaked car hood. He briefly considered that this might be a good spot to hang up his soul for a bit. After all, this was still the setup phase of the case—no need to fast-forward just yet.
…
The driver who'd brought them here was Detective Yusuke Sakata from the First Investigation Division. Impressively, Officer Sakata managed to report the crime even faster than Mouri Ran.
An hour later, everyone gathered at the main branch of the Osaka Police Department.
There, they learned the worst-kept secret in town: this was actually part of a serial murder case. Two people had already died in exactly the same way.
Technically, the case was still under wraps. But Hattori Heiji, being the son of Osaka's police chief, Hattori Heizō, and a high school detective with full career bonus buffs, got the full scoop anyway. Honestly, it was like having his own cheat code.
The third unlucky soul who crash-landed on their car today? A taxi driver named Kazuto Noyasu.
All three victims had been strangled, then stabbed in the heart with a knife that had their wallets stuck to it. A very pointed fashion choice.
But beyond the method, the victims didn't seem to have any connection.
Until Officer Sakata burst in, holding a VHS tape like he'd found the Holy Grail.
"Heiji! We've got something—turns out the victims had a link!"
Heiji and Conan perked up immediately, eyes on the tape like it was Christmas morning.
Jiangxia glanced at the three shikigami crouching neatly around Sakata's legs and tried to mirror their enthusiasm.
But since he was currently supposed to be "hanging up," he simply sipped some tea that Toyama Kazuha had thoughtfully poured for him, repressing any suspicious expressions.
Kazuha noticed him move, felt the cup, frowned at the lukewarm temperature, and took it back. A moment later, she returned with fresh hot tea and placed it back in Jiangxia's hands like a caring hostess.
From her perspective, Jiangxia was a guest from out of town. Heiji, of course, was too busy running around solving murders to entertain anyone, so she took over the job.
She'd also noticed Jiangxia had been a bit "off" ever since that corpse had dive-bombed their car. Clearly not the type who handled violent crime scenes well. Poor thing.
Kazuha didn't know the deeper truth, only that Heiji had "case magnet" syndrome and dragged others along for the ride. So, she felt it was her job to help mitigate the damage he caused.
Meanwhile, Hattori Heiji was watching the tape.
He glanced toward Jiangxia's side and suddenly felt annoyed for no clear reason. Something was off, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
His eyes bounced between Jiangxia and Kazuha. He frowned, tried to think it through—and failed.
In the end, he just exhaled through his nose like an angry kettle and turned his attention back to the videotape.
The tape showed a senator, Goshi, being mobbed by reporters. In the background, you could clearly see both his secretary and his driver—the first two victims in this case.
Although the third victim wasn't in the video, after a week of zero leads, this was finally something.
Heiji immediately asked Sakata to drive them to the senator for questioning. Conan tagged along, of course.
Just before leaving, Heiji finally remembered: right, he'd invited people over today. Maybe he should at least ask Kazuha to help keep the guests company…
But when he turned around, he found her fluffing up two pillows. She tucked one behind Jiangxia's back and handed the other to him like she was setting up a nap station.
Apparently, she thought he'd been sitting still too long and needed to optimize his hang-up experience.
Heiji: "..."
Conan had taken a few steps, noticed Heiji had stopped, and turned back curiously.
Following Heiji's line of sight, he saw the scene too.
Conan sighed, walked back over, and gave Heiji a nudge in the leg.
"Come on," he whispered. "Jiangxia's not that kind of person."
And even if he was, staring won't change anything. You're just giving yourself stress +1…
Sakata looked at the time and coughed. "S-should we get going?"
Heiji, caught mid-glare, answered on autopilot: "Of course!"
With that, his brain snapped back to the case, and he strode toward the parking lot.
Officer Sakata sneaked a glance back at Jiangxia as he followed.
Still sitting. No signs of getting up. Thank goodness.
Truth was, Sakata Yusuke had been planning to commit another murder later that night—and was counting on Hattori Heiji to be his airtight alibi.
One detective was risky, sure, but manageable. But if Jiangxia—rated even higher than Heiji by the media—joined in? No way.
Originally, Sakata had been panicking. But now that Jiangxia looked too "unwell" to move, he felt a divine wave of relief.
Truly, the heavens were on his side today.
Meanwhile, Jiangxia had no intention of tagging along.
This case was taking forever. And since the two high school death gods had already set the wheels of fate in motion, he could afford to fast-forward through his own parts a bit.
After Heiji and the others left, there was no reason for the rest of them to stay at the station.
Kazuha made a call and arranged for their friend, Inspector Otaki, to act as the new driver.
Jiangxia checked the time. Perfect.
He reconnected, looked at Inspector Otaki, and casually dropped a hint: "This serial murder case… Have you checked the DMV records?"
Otaki blinked. "The DMV?"
…
The three previous victims were all easy to identify because their driver's licenses were still in their wallets. And those wallets had been stabbed directly into their hearts. That wasn't a coincidence—it was a clue.
Before, the police had assumed the wallets pointed to financial disputes.
But after digging into their finances, that theory fell apart.
Now, thanks to Jiangxia's casual spoiler drop, Otaki realized: the driver's license angle might actually be worth something.
Time, place, suspects, evidence... In this world, anything could change.
—
*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*
Glossary:
Hang up – Slang for Jiangxia disconnecting from the scene, either mentally or spiritually. Often used when he's pretending to faint or check out.
Death god – Used to describe characters like Conan or Heiji, who always seem to bring murder cases wherever they go.
DMV – Department of Motor Vehicles, an unexpected but surprisingly relevant murder clue in this case.