Chapter 178
Usuha Izuki got tired from skiing, so he went to the restaurant at the rest area planning to catch his breath.
Since he had arranged to meet Hagiwara Kenji at the restaurant, he cautiously switched his identity back to Samukawa Shinryu to avoid exposing himself.
Coming early wasn't because he was hungry—he just wanted to buy a drink first and sit for a while, then order food when Hagiwara Kenji arrived... definitely not because he was too lazy to move.
Usuha Izuki and Hagiwara Kenji had discussed for a long time before and finally decided to eat at normal meal times. After all, the people in charge of the two schools probably also wanted the students to eat at staggered times. With two schools both trying to avoid peak hours, whatever time they chose would be about the same.
Based on the conversations Usuha Izuki heard, it should be Teitan Middle School's turn to eat now.
However, everyone's attention in the restaurant was focused on several people from the film crew that Hagiwara Kenji had mentioned, who came to the snow mountain for shooting.
The most eye-catching among them was a handsome male actor, surrounded by a circle of people. He was signing autographs for everyone while answering questions.
Usuha Izuki drank his juice while eagerly watching the drama unfold.
The fans were mainly asking about the content of the movie the actor was currently filming. It was said to be related to the legend of the snow woman, and then they mentioned that the movie's plot was adapted from real events—specifically, a case that happened here four years ago.
The actor said: "...He took the ski resort cable car alone, but when he came down, he was already dead with a gunshot to the head. The gun was in his own hand, and gunpowder residue was detected on his sleeve, as if it were suicide. But mysteriously, his personal bag was stuffed full of snow..."
The surrounding people immediately gasped in surprise.
"It's just like the snow woman legend that's been passed down here!" someone exclaimed. "They thought it was a gift from the snow woman, but after the person died and they checked, they found it was all snow."
"Right?" The male actor sighed. "It really doesn't seem like a crime committed by humans. Probably only a snow woman could do something like that. If it really was a crime, then this would be an impossible crime."
"Hah? A snow woman killing people? A crime impossible for humans to commit? How could such a thing exist? It was definitely committed by humans!"
A young person suddenly interjected: "Besides, only things done by humans can be called crimes, right?"
The actor was already the focus of the restaurant, and with someone suddenly speaking up like this, quite a few people couldn't help but look over.
The speaker was a middle school student. He made this declaration matter-of-factly, seeming to thoroughly scorn those who pushed the case toward snow woman legends.
The girl sitting beside him looked somewhat afraid of the snow woman legend, her face pale as she tugged at the middle schooler: "Shinichi, stop talking..."
Kudo Shinichi had already finished eating and didn't care at all about being watched by everyone. Fortunately, Mouri Ran had a small appetite and was also done eating, so they left directly, avoiding the awkward atmosphere.
The film crew wasn't experiencing this kind of unexpected situation for the first time. After chatting with the fans for a bit, the atmosphere eased back to normal.
Usuha Izuki watched the drama with great interest. He didn't know how much time had passed when Hagiwara Kenji also entered the restaurant. Following the description in the email Usuha Izuki had sent him, he searched around and finally found Usuha Izuki: "Alright, this is the place, right? What do you want to eat? I'll go buy it—you keep holding our seats."
He needed to find the person first, otherwise carrying a tray later would make it even more inconvenient to look for someone.
Usuha Izuki casually ordered curry rice, and Hagiwara Kenji went to queue up to buy food.
There weren't many students from Teitan Middle School left in the restaurant. Usuha Izuki heard a loudspeaker outside calling: "Students from Kaigata Academy Middle School, time for lunch—"
With the influx of students, Hagiwara Kenji returned carrying a tray, feeling very fortunate.
"We came at just the right time. A little earlier or later and there would have been so many people."
Usuha Izuki said: "If you'd come a bit earlier, you could have seen some excitement."
"What excitement?"
"Do you know about the murder case that happened here four years ago?"
At this mention, Hagiwara Kenji's expression became a bit more serious: "I know about it. I heard the personal bag was filled entirely with snow... Although it looked like suicide, there were suspicious points, just no evidence..."
Usuha Izuki gestured toward the male actor who was still signing autographs for fans: "The victim was someone from that film crew. They're making a movie adapted from that case, and that actor is playing the detective who solved the case."
"Eh." Hagiwara Kenji was somewhat surprised. "How are they going to film it? Do they already know what the method was?"
Just as he raised this question, the film crew had another incident.
A middle-aged man with a cigarette in his mouth nonchalantly joined the film crew's discussion: "That wasn't suicide—it was murder. It must have been done by one of you, right?"
A stunt actor from the crew named Mitsumata Kosuke frowned: "...Why is it you again? Didn't you already quit being a police officer?"
"I'm a detective now."
"Stop pestering us! It clearly looks like suicide no matter how you look at it!"
"I've known that guy since childhood—he couldn't possibly commit suicide. Besides, there are still suspicious points in the case..."
Hagiwara Kenji had originally wanted to go ask the director how they planned to explain the crime method in the movie, but seeing the chaos over there, he stopped and sat back down.
Then Hagiwara Kenji quietly asked Usuha Izuki: "What do you think about this case?"
"From the information I've heard, it really shouldn't be suicide." Usuha Izuki glanced at the film crew members. "But rather than the case from four years ago, I think it's better to worry about the present."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...Ah?"
"With people who have so many grudges gathering together because of something from years ago, it's possible someone already knows the truth and is planning a new case for revenge."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..........."
He thought about it and felt it made sense!
How many of the murder cases handled by their Criminal Investigation Division were due to old grudges? From his experience, the configuration of today's film crew did indeed seem somewhat dangerous!
Hagiwara Kenji felt restless and wanted to go ask these people about the specific situation. But that ex-police officer turned detective, as a friend of the deceased, had more right to confront the film crew than he did. Even so, the crew still wasn't giving him a good face. Hagiwara Kenji felt that if he went over now, he probably wouldn't get any answers either.
Under the detective's interrogation, the film crew people started repeating the same old arguments like "it was definitely suicide, otherwise it was the snow woman, or could it be a perfect crime?"
Just at that moment, someone suddenly shouted loudly: "Idiot! Only things done by humans can be called crimes! And there's no such thing as an impossible crime!"
This sounded very familiar. Usuha Izuki had just heard Kudo Shinichi say almost the same thing. Looking up, he discovered that the person making this declaration was indeed Hattori Heiji.
What a connection. It felt like these detectives really couldn't stand hearing about perfect crimes and such—it was like stepping on a landmine, exploding at the slightest mention.
What had been quite a serious topic became lighter with Hattori Heiji's sudden appearance, making the film crew people unable to help but laugh.
"Someone said almost the same thing as you just now... and about the same age, also a middle schooler..."
Hattori Heiji was stunned: "Ah? Similar to me?"
He thought it might be that great detective Conan. After all, things like impossible crimes and snow woman murders were things no detective could tolerate—they'd definitely argue back.
But it turned out to be a middle schooler similar to him...
Hattori Heiji was at a loss. He really hadn't met many detectives, let alone middle schoolers. If there really was a middle school detective, he would definitely have heard about it.
Probably just someone who couldn't stand it and spoke up randomly.
Hagiwara Kenji stopped eating entirely. He'd been holding a chopstick of ramen in the air for ages without moving, just turning his head to watch the film crew, as if waiting for an opportunity to rush over and ask about the situation.
Usuha Izuki quietly finished his curry rice by himself, then kicked Hagiwara Kenji's leg: "If you don't eat, the noodles will become inedible."
"Ah? Oh..." Hagiwara Kenji was absent-minded, his thoughts entirely on that snow woman murder case. After taking a bite of noodles, he couldn't help but say: "I'm planning to go find that senior to ask about the specific situation later. Do you want to come along?"
Usuha Izuki was speechless: "Didn't you say you were tired and wanted to come here for vacation?"
Hagiwara Kenji smiled embarrassedly: "I'm a bit worried."
Police officers like Hagiwara Kenji truly had a sense of responsibility. Not only did he want to ask about unsolved cases and try to solve them when he encountered them, but now he was also starting to worry about possible revenge killings, wanting to observe carefully just in case.
However, Usuha Izuki had known it would turn out this way, so he said very calmly: "You go deal with that side, I'll go look around other places."
"Thanks for understanding." Hagiwara Kenji didn't ask what he was going to look at, completely trusting him. "Call if anything happens."
Usuha Izuki finished his curry rice in a few bites, picked up his tray, and left first.
When passing by Hattori Heiji, Hattori Heiji noticed the familiar ski outfit and instinctively looked up.
They were indoors now, so Usuha Izuki had put down his hood, but he hadn't removed his winter hat. From Hattori Heiji's angle, he could see dark blue hair under the winter hat.
Not silver hair.
Hattori Heiji sighed in disappointment.
He had thought it was that guy, but it turned out to be just the same style of ski outfit... However, this person gave him a somewhat subtle feeling, though he couldn't say what was subtle about it.
Hattori Heiji stared at the other person's back, watching him return his tray and walk straight toward the exit...
Toyama Kazuha turned her head and asked him: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Hattori Heiji replied absent-mindedly. "I want to go investigate that cable car that had the incident."
While Hattori Heiji was still thinking, Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran had already gotten on the cable car.
Kudo Shinichi was explaining the snow woman legend to Mouri Ran when his phone suddenly rang.
"Ah, wait a moment." Answering a phone on a cable car was somewhat risky—one careless move and the phone could fall. Kudo Shinichi took out his phone and saw it was an unknown number.
Who could it be at this time?
Kudo Shinichi answered with confusion: "Hello?"
"Shinichi? Where are you right now?"
Kudo Shinichi felt the voice was somewhat familiar.
"You are... Ah! Usuha!"
That guy who had chatted well with him before but left without even leaving contact information!
His phone number was probably given by his mother. Kudo Shinichi wasn't too surprised, just curious why the other person would suddenly want to find him now, considering how long it had been since they last met: "I'm at a ski resort right now... Does Usuha need something from me?"
"Are you investigating that snow woman case? What have you found so far?"
Kudo Shinichi: "...??? I haven't investigated anything yet... But how do you know I'm investigating this..."
This couldn't be another case of deducing everything from one sentence, could it? There are so many ski resorts in Japan... Could Usuha also be here?