Double Chapter
It was honestly a bit comforting — Kazuha Toyama realized that even though this situation felt like something out of a horror movie, they had eight people total. Twice the number of people who'd gone missing. There was safety in numbers.
…Well, that comforting feeling lasted all of five seconds.
Jiangxia turned to Kazuha. "You stay here with the children. We'll go out and look."
Kazuha: "…"
Stay in this creepy, man-eating hotel with a bunch of bear children?
She shivered. Instinct took over, and she forced a dry laugh. "I-I think I should come with you. It's not safe for the children to be left here either…"
"…Alright." Jiangxia didn't really see what was unsafe about the hotel, but it didn't matter to him where Kazuha wanted to stand. He just nodded and walked to the door. "Quite a few people are missing. Let's split up and search."
…
Haibara Ai pointed Jiangxia down the mountain path in the direction she'd seen Etsuko Nonoyamiya slip away.
They trudged along the winding trail for a while but found nothing.
Haibara mentally replayed Etsuko's speed earlier — they really should have caught up to her by now.
Had they gone the wrong way?
She frowned and adjusted her mental map, about to speak — when her collar suddenly yanked back. Jiangxia had grabbed her, pulling her out of harm's way.
A split second later, something heavy crashed past them, landing with a sickening thud.
Kazuha, one step behind, yelped and swept her flashlight over — a young man was sprawled face down on the mossy path, hair sticking up like an angry sea urchin.
"…Mr. Futagawa?!"
It was Hajime Futagawa, the hedgehog-haired editor.
Jiangxia stared at the crumpled body, then tilted his head back.
Futagawa had fallen from the cliff above them — the famous stargazing spot.
The drop was steep, nearly vertical. In pitch dark, a normal flashlight beam couldn't even brush the top.
But Jiangxia didn't need a flashlight — he'd borrowed a ghost's vision the moment they stepped out. He saw the glint of a shiny bald head peering over the edge — the editor-in-chief of the astronomy magazine was up there, checking if the drop had worked.
The editor-in-chief didn't sense Jiangxia's gaze — he just squinted at the bouncing flashlight beams below, then quickly backed away, taking a shortcut back to the hotel.
Seeing that the mjurderer up there wasn't planning to toss rocks at them, Jiangxia dropped his eyes back to Futagawa. He squatted and checked his pulse. "Cervical spine's broken."
Haibara Ai pointed at the man's clenched hand. "He's holding a cigarette pack."
Normally, this would be whatever — but an hour ago, they'd just heard about how Kawano had left a dying message with cigarettes from a pack. So now, this second pack basically screamed: New riddle!
Jiangxia put his gloves on again, fished out the pack, and tipped it over.
Just like before, a mix of long and short cigarettes spilled out — five long, two short.
How do these people have the energy for riddles even when they're dying… Jiangxia stared at the cigarettes, mentally piecing it together, half-lost in thought.
A few moments later, Haibara's Detective Boys badge buzzed.
Professor Agasa's voice crackled through: "Up there! Look up there!"
Jiangxia looked up — sure enough, flashlights flickered across the cliff top. Professor Agasa, Robert, and the kids had made it up the mountain.
By the time they got there, the editor-in-chief had already ghosted — no suspicious figure, just an old flip phone left open on the rocks.
The Professor picked it up and squinted at the screen. A drafted suicide note.
He read it aloud back at the hotel lobby, voice echoing around the group's mixed expressions:
"The reason I sent out invitations and gathered everyone here was to confess the crime I committed a year ago.
"That's right, I killed Kono — Hajime Futagawa.
"That day we argued on the cliff about astronomy, of all things. When I came to my senses, I'd pushed him off.
"After that, the guilt ate away at me. I always wanted to come clean, but the longer I waited, the harder it became. Finally, my heart couldn't take it anymore. I decided to turn back the clock and end it on the same day as Kono, in the same way, before the police arrived at dawn.
"I hope my death brings peace to the ghost in the woods.
—Hajime Futagawa"
Jiangxia strolled into the lobby, took one glance at the phone in Agasa's hand, and thought it was a pretty well-typed cover story.
While Agasa had been reading the note out slowly for dramatic effect, Jiangxia had wandered around, quietly checking each guest's room, peering inside for a quick once-over.
He didn't even need to find much — just enough to keep up the "great detective deduction" vibe.
The rest? Well, the "high school detective's imagination" explains everything. Easy pot.
Just as they returned with the phone and the "suicide note," the three guests who'd vanished — the hotel owner Ryuji, Etsuko Nonoyamiya, and the shiny-headed editor-in-chief — quietly shuffled back into the lobby.
Perfect. Three suspects, lined up like offerings.
Jiangxia emerged from the corridor and paused in the corner, behind the trio.
He felt like he should lean back against the wall, hands in his pockets, eyebrows arched in that "I'm two steps ahead" pose that high school detectives love so much. Maybe throw in a cold sneer for dramatic effect.
But just as he tried to slide his hands in, a small head popped up next to him.
Haibara Ai had slipped in from somewhere. Her eyes said: Well?
"I mostly understand," Jiangxia muttered, giving up on the pose. He whispered, "Time to let the police come clean up."
"…." Haibara Ai just stared.
That tone — it didn't sound like a sunny high school detective at all. It sounded like a certain cadre mocking the police for being clueless.
What do these people even say in front of the young peripheral members…? Wait, never mind. The point wasn't the weird mocking tone — the point was that Jiangxia, an organization member, had just said "call the police to clean up."
Which… honestly felt even weirder.
She looked him over, squinting, then let it slide. After all, who else but this guy could juggle a pot like this?
Haibara Ai pressed her forehead, silent for a moment at the weird sense of misalignment she felt… then she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.
—From Jiangxia's words, he definitely already knew who the culprit was.
It's just…
Haibara's eyes swept over everyone clustered in the lobby.
She'd been there when Hajime Futagawa tumbled off the cliff — she'd seen that spiky-haired young man clutching that box of "death message" cigarettes in his stiff hand. Which meant the suicide note couldn't have come from him — this wasn't a suicide. There had to be another killer.
Worst case, there might be two murderers here — one who'd killed Kono last year, and another who'd just pushed Futagawa off the edge.
And there were only three suspects total…
A two-thirds chance. Haibara Ai suddenly found everyone suspicious.
She frowned, calculating. They had too many people on their side with zero combat power. If Jiangxia cornered the culprit now and things got messy, the murderer might panic, grab a hostage, and flip the pot entirely — that truck fiasco just now proved that Rob wasn't on Jiangxia's side, at least not fully. Dr. Agasa was hopeless in a scuffle, the kids were all bear children, and that ponytail high school girl looked like she'd get blown away by a strong breeze…
When you thought about it, Jiangxia was basically the only real fighter on their team.
Haibara Ai glanced at the suspicious Mr. Ryuji, then at the sweaty bald editor, then at Rob — who still wasn't exactly a trusted cadre — then at the kids, Professor Agasa, and delicate Kazuha Toyama. She sighed.
Finally, she leaned close and whispered, "How about we pretend we don't know anything for now? Wait until dawn, then call the police… or, if you want, I can help you find some rope?"
Her plan was straightforward — wait until these tool people fell asleep, then sneak up, knock on their doors one by one, break in, and tie up the killer. Nice and neat.
Besides, she'd come prepared: a few tubes of anesthetic, stashed ever since Ms. Anonymous had casually accepted her as a peripheral member of the Anonymous Organization.
It wasn't that she needed it for school — it was just her way of keeping in sync with the organization. Gave her a weird sense of security, too.
But Jiangxia just shook his head. "It's too long until dawn. Don't overestimate the murderer's nerves — if he figures out he's been exposed, he might grab his luggage and vanish overnight. That'll be a headache later."
Plus, there was still that whole Spider Mansion case. He'd need to wrap this up fast so he could meet Gin and Vodka before they stomped off to Moonlight Island without him. The European Emperor duo was not exactly patient.
Haibara eyed Jiangxia's serious face, sensing he'd already come up with something. "Do you have a way to call the police?" she asked.
Then she remembered the weird inn phone.
—In past cases like this, the line always got cut.
But this time, the entire phone line was just… gone. Not broken — hidden.
Her eyes lit up. "So you know where it is? You can get it?"
Jiangxia was about to nod — then paused.
He looked at calm, composed Haibara Ai, who, apart from her innocent exterior, looked every bit the mature adult she secretly was.
He suddenly remembered that bit from the original timeline — the scene where this fake child clutched her stomach, rolled around pretending to have appendicitis, and forced the person hiding the line to hand it over.
…It was kind of embarrassing to admit, but he was a little curious.
Jiangxia glanced at Haibara, suppressed his tiny spark of conscience, then looked at her again… and suppressed it again.
Innocent cadre or not — he wanted to see it.
Haibara waited, eyes expectant for the "method" he was about to share. But nothing came.
She frowned up at him.
He was just staring at her, clearly wrestling with something in his brain.
"…?"
"Um…" Jiangxia finally leaned down and whispered, "If you pretend to have acute appendicitis — you know, roll on the floor like you're dying — that person might hand it over."
Haibara Ai: "…"
She pictured that humiliating scene in her mind. Her solemn expression froze.
It'd be one thing if no one here knew her secret. But Jiangxia did. Dr. Agasa did. And the children were just nosy enough to repeat it forever.
She shifted her gaze, looking at her calm reflection in the dark window, mentally bracing herself.
…If someone else in the organization made her do this, she'd definitely squeeze a new luxury bag out of them as payback. Not that she couldn't buy it herself — but it felt good to watch their wallet cry.
Still… Jiangxia wasn't exactly wrong. If she wanted the line back with zero injuries, that really was the cleanest way.
Haibara stared at the spotless lobby floor, calculating how she'd roll around and what tragic lines she'd use. She took a small breath.
Then her mouth moved on its own, mumbling to lighten the mood, "A child pretends to have appendicitis, so he just hands it over? Is that guy really that soft-hearted? Wait — does this mean you already know who's hiding the line? If you know, shouldn't there be another way?"
It was just awkward filler talk — but she caught Jiangxia's eyes drifting aside again, like he'd been found out.
"…?"
She replayed his tiny tells, then grabbed his arm. "You really have another way?"
"…." Jiangxia's gaze shifted again, and he gave the world's tiniest nod.
Haibara Ai: "…."
So she'd almost ended up rolling around for nothing.
She immediately dropped the "rolling on the floor" plan and glared at the shiny floor like it had just scolded her. She stood up straight and snapped, "If you have a way, go do it yourself!"
Jiangxia gave a tiny sigh, almost regretful. He looked at her like he'd just lost out on premium entertainment.
A second later, his expression shifted back to calm pot-juggler mode. He glanced at the lobby suspects.
Haibara watched him, then grabbed his sleeve again. "Wait — what is your method? If it's dumb, I'll still… help."
"It's fine. It's reliable," Jiangxia said, patting her head like a buddhist sensei calming a novice. "You can help with something else."
He whispered a few words to her, then waved her off like a benevolent cadre dismissing his tool.
Haibara took one more suspicious glance at him — then watched as he strolled up to the three suspects.
Before anyone could react, Jiangxia planted a hand on Mr. Ryuji's shoulder, reached into the man's pocket, and — with zero drama — pulled out a neatly coiled bundle of phone lines.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 33/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:4/10*