Detective Conan: Death Note

The police boat arrived the next morning. Leading the team once again was Inspector Megure Juzo, and before the boat had even fully docked,

The police boat arrived the next morning.

Leading the team once again was Inspector Megure Juzo, and before the boat had even fully docked, the stout old man came ashore, clutching his hat against the sea breeze.

"Brother Hayashi!"

He marched straight up to Hayashi Yoshiki, who was standing nearby.

"I've already heard everything you said on the phone. What do you mean someone was killed by lightning?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Hayashi Yoshiki replied. "During last night's thunderstorm, the victim was swinging a shovel around like a human lightning rod and got struck dead."

"…Seriously, it was just lightning?"

Inspector Megure stared at Hayashi Yoshiki, stunned with disbelief.

He had seen countless bizarre and not-so-bizarre murder cases. But such a straightforward death? Hard to believe—especially on this island, where several detectives had gathered.

He trusted Hayashi Yoshiki's innocence. The real problem was that wherever Conan went, misfortune followed—and he had Hattori Heiji from Osaka and Hakuba Saguru, son of a top official, with him.

When he received Hayashi Yoshiki's report via satellite phone last night, Megure's heart had skipped a beat.

"It happened right in front of all of us. It really was just lightning," Hattori Heiji confirmed.

"However, there was another body inside the cabin," Conan added.

*"That death—Hiroo Tsuchio—was definitely murder."

Hakuba's words made Inspector Megure nod solemnly.

He quickly instructed his team to recover Tokitsu Junya's body and examine the site.

Last night, after witnessing the lightning strike, the group had not dared to retrieve the corpse due to the dangerous environment. Instead, they had used nearby items to cover it up.

As for Hiroo Tsuchio, his body was soon found inside the cabin—

He had collapsed on the bed, killed instantly by a blunt force blow to the head.

Once the investigation was completed and the two bodies secured, Hayashi Yoshiki and the others boarded the police boat.

"Good thing Yoshiki-kun had a satellite phone," Hakuba said with a sigh. "Otherwise, we really might've been stuck on that island for four whole days."

"Just like last time at the Sunset Mansion," he added. "Can't believe I didn't think of that this time either."

"A lot of locked-room cases in remote places go unsolved because of that," Hayashi Yoshiki said with a chuckle. "So I think a satellite phone should be standard gear for any detective."

The others, including Conan, nodded in agreement at this unexpected but sound insight.

As the boat docked, the group began disembarking—

That's when Hayashi Yoshiki noticed a car already waiting for him.

A white Mazda RX-7 FD3S.

Amuro Toru leaned against the front of the car, fiddling with his phone. When he saw Hayashi Yoshiki approach, he gave a small wave.

"What? A sports car?"

Hattori Heiji looked disappointed. "I was hoping to catch a ride."

"You could always ride in a police car, right, Hattori-kun?" Hayashi Yoshiki teased.

"Well, I guess I've never really ridden in one of Tokyo's police cars..."

Hattori scratched his head as Inspector Megure's squad cars rolled in.

"Aren't there any other options besides police cars?" Conan muttered.

"You can ride in mine," Hakuba offered. "I've asked my butler to pick us up. He should arrive in ten minutes."

While the others were chatting, Nanatsuki Koshimizu remained mostly silent.

Just as Hayashi Yoshiki was bidding everyone goodbye and walking toward Amuro Toru, she suddenly called out:

"Thank you, Mr. Hayashi."

Wearing her regular clothes now, the young girl bowed deeply, sincere gratitude in her eyes.

Junya Tokitsu was dead—

In a way no one could have predicted.

Even Hiroo Tsuchio had fallen by Tokitsu's hand.

Though she hadn't taken revenge personally, Nanatsuki felt that this ending was more than enough.

She had been stopped before doing anything foolish.

With last night's storm sweeping away all the darkness, she now sensed that today would be bright—and began to look forward to her future once again.

Hayashi Yoshiki gave a small smile.

"See you at my next signing event, Miss Koshimizu."

"Ah—yes!"

She blinked, then nodded quickly.

Hayashi Yoshiki walked toward Amuro Toru's car.

Once seated in the front passenger seat, he heard Amuro tease him:

"So, you've charmed another young lady, huh, Boss?"

"Please don't make false accusations like that, Mr. Amuro."

"Is that so? I just thought a female detective and someone like you would get along nicely."

VROOOM!

The white Mazda roared to life and sped away.

Seeing Hayashi Yoshiki looking a bit weary in his seat, Amuro Toru grew curious.

"So? What really happened this time?"

"Next time there's a thunderstorm, don't swing a shovel around like a lunatic, Mr. Amuro."

"Huh?"

Hayashi Yoshiki chuckled and briefly explained what had happened.

Amuro, stunned by the rare occurrence of death by lightning, was left speechless.

"Thanks to him breaking my window, I couldn't sleep a wink through that storm last night," Hayashi Yoshiki muttered, clearly annoyed.

"Next time I'm asked to go to some remote, rundown place like that, I'm definitely saying no."

"Sounds like a real ordeal."

Amuro laughed.

"By the way, you missed a call from Editor Asami at Futaba Publishing this morning. She couldn't reach you, so she contacted me instead. Something about your signing event."

"Did she say what exactly?"

"Not in detail. Just that your past work has been doing well overseas, so they'll promote the next release more aggressively. The signing event might be a bigger deal this time—several sessions, even."

At that moment, Hayashi Yoshiki forced a bitter smile.

He had just parted with Nanatsuki Koshimizu so gracefully, and now he could already envision his hand being completely out of commission for days.

"Mr. Amuro..."

"Hm?"

"Would you be willing to disguise yourself as me—with a mask and hat—and sign autographs in my place?"

"No."

"I'll give you a raise."

"Still no."

Amuro Toru, eyes fixed on the road, replied cheerfully:

"If your fans ever heard you say that, they'd be really disappointed, you know?"

Hayashi Yoshiki let out a long sigh.