Nakamichi Kazushi's brilliant master plan was simple:
First, he'd invite Horikoshi Yumi to a table tennis match during the school reunion trip, casually bring up "some business matters" mid-ping-pong, then use the classic "sudden death during exercise—faster post-mortem rigidity" gimmick to mess with the time of death.
That way, he could fudge the timeline so it looked like Horikoshi died during the table tennis game, clearing himself of suspicion.
—This was Nakamichi Kazushi's very thoughtful murder plan.
At this point in time, no one—except Jiangxia, who can "predict" things—suspected anything odd about Nakamichi's enthusiastic table tennis proposal.
Conan and Ran didn't think much of it and just tagged along with Kogoro Mouri to play.
Ran had originally wanted to invite Jiangxia along, but seeing him deep in a book and already seated with someone he knew, she decided not to disturb him and quietly left.
Before the festival began, Kogoro and the rest wrapped up their match and went out.
Jiangxia and Amuro Toru stayed behind in the hall, waiting for the elusive writer.
During this time, Imatake never came downstairs.
His friend, Sasai, left the hotel and supposedly headed toward the festival. On his way out, he made a point to stop at the front desk and ask the time, claiming his watch had broken.
Jiangxia noticed him from a distance. Sasai had serious murderous vibes. That sort of "deliberately making an impression" behavior? Classic rookie murderer trying to build an alibi.
Amuro Toru also noticed Sasai Norikazu. But as a Detective Conan universe detective, his "murder spidey-sense" only kicks in after the crime, so he didn't think too much of it.
As the festival drew closer, the hotel got quieter and quieter.
After about ten minutes, with the festival nearly starting, Amuro glanced at his watch, looked upstairs, and said uncertainly, "...Did Imatake forget there's a festival today?"
Just then, a man in sunglasses, scarf, and a hat—covered head to toe like a wrapped dumpling—pushed open the door and hurried upstairs.
Jiangxia took one look. Although the guy's face was hidden, he immediately recognized him as Sasai Norikazu, who'd supposedly left.
The shikigami-making machines were all assembled.
Jiangxia stood and asked Amuro, "Want me to go check upstairs?"
Amuro nodded.
He didn't follow—Jiangxia's supposed "coincidental" encounter with the writer needed to look accidental. Two guys going up at the same time? Way too deliberate.
Besides, this hotel had more than one staircase. If Jiangxia went up one and the murderer came down the other, someone had to stay in the lobby to intercept them.
Jiangxia headed up to the second floor.
According to his ghost informants, two murders were happening simultaneously on the second floor.
In Room 201: Nakamichi Kazushi and Horikoshi Yumi, two of Kogoro Mouri's old classmates. Yumi had been blackmailing Nakamichi with incriminating photos. Just earlier, Nakamichi had lied to her, saying he'd swiped the photos back. Yumi, panicked, had rushed back to her room and was now frantically digging through her backpack.
Behind her, Nakamichi was aiming a gun at her, ready to shoot the moment she turned around and stage it as a suicide.
In Room 202: Imatake Satoru and Sasai Norikazu.
They had started out on equal footing, but while Imatake had gone on to fame, Sasai remained an anonymous failure. Eventually, resentment brewed. Sasai had spent a whole year meticulously planning Imatake's murder.
At this festival, bonfires shaped like the kanji "Heaven" (天), "Earth" (下), and "One" (一) are lit on the mountaintop in order.
Last year, Sasai had taken a photo with the "Heaven" and "Earth" bonfires using an old-school camera. This year, his plan was to kill Imatake, change clothes, rush to the mountain, and take a new photo in the same outfit with the "One" bonfire—creating the illusion that he'd been at the festival the whole time.
Sasai, now in disguise, returned to his room and started ransacking it to make it look like a robbery.
Imatake, a hardcore otaku with zero interest in festivals, was only here because Sasai insisted they meet in person to "talk about something important."
Hearing the noise, Imatake opened the door, confused, and saw a fully disguised Sasai standing there.
He blinked. "You are…?"
Sasai smiled and whipped out a gun.
…
Jiangxia reached the second-floor landing just in time to see distant fireworks explode outside the window.
At the same moment—BANG—a gunshot echoed through the hotel.
Technically, there were two sounds: one from the festival fireworks and one from the hotel. But they happened so close together, it sounded like a single, muffled bang.
…
Sasai shot Imatake, grabbed his things, and bolted from the room pretending to be a robber.
Guests peeked out from their rooms in confusion. Was it fireworks? Was it a gunshot?
Sasai shouted, lowering his voice menacingly: "Out of the way!"
Seeing the gun in his hand, the guests let out sharp gasps and immediately slammed their doors shut.
As Sasai scanned the hallway, he spotted a lone young man standing nearby—Jiangxia.
He eyed Jiangxia warily. The guy hadn't run or screamed, but also didn't try to stop him. Just stood there like a bystander.
Satisfied, Sasai dashed past him.
He got maybe one step.
Then something yanked his collar—hard. The next thing he knew, he was airborne.
Then came a crack on his wrist. He shrieked and dropped the gun.
He was spun in midair like a sack of laundry, and SLAMMED to the floor.
As a purely mental laborer, Sasai was wildly unprepared for physical violence. He blacked out the instant he hit the ground.
But it wasn't just the gun that flew from him—a camera also tumbled out of his bag.
The camera arced through the air… and landed neatly in front of Room 201.
Click.
A soft blob of shikigami clay had slipped out from under the door and silently pressed the shutter. The camera's faint click was almost inaudible beneath Sasai's body hitting the floor.
Mission complete, the camera rolled a few more inches… just about to fall down the stairs—
—and was caught neatly by a hand.
Amuro, who'd rushed up after hearing the gunshot, looked down at the camera in his hand.
Behind him were Ran and Conan. They'd been on their way to the festival, but halfway there, Ran remembered that Horikoshi Yumi hadn't shown up and figured she might still be sulking in her room. So they'd come back to check.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 26/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*