The night was deep.
Inside the room, Kazuha and Sonoko were pressed against Heiji, one on each side. Their eyes were closed, and their breathing was soft and steady.
After a full day of sightseeing, they were exhausted.
The darkness outside was thick. The roads were quiet. From far away, the faint sounds of insects and birds could be heard.
Elsewhere, however, things had been anything but quiet. Many people had not slept at all through the night.
When the first ray of sunlight came in, Heiji opened his eyes. He looked at the two girls in his arms and smiled faintly. He carefully slipped out from the bedding, covered them both with the quilt, and walked out of the room.
Just as he stepped outside, Yukiko, who was staying next door, also came out after waking up.
"Oh my, isn't this Heiji? What a coincidence."
Heiji glanced at Yukiko. "Yukiko, are you really trying to force me to 'evolve'?"
"Evolve?" Yukiko froze for a moment. She understood immediately, and her face turned red. "Do you dare? I have a ninth-degree black belt in karate."
"A ninth-degree black belt in karate?" Heiji looked her straight in the eyes with a mocking expression. "Are you sure?"
Yukiko's face grew even redder.
She shot Heiji a fierce glare. "Hmph, you jerk, Heiji."
After saying that, she walked off at once.
Heiji shrugged and followed behind her.
"Are you going to buy breakfast too? I'll go get it."
Yukiko turned back to look at Heiji.
"I know you're going to buy breakfast, so there's no need for me to go too. I just want to go out for a walk."
Hearing that, Yukiko rolled her eyes at him, but her tone softened slightly. "Remember to come back and eat breakfast."
The two of them split up at a fork in the road.
Heiji headed toward the piano room that Keiji Aso had donated.
Along the way, he noticed many footprints—messy footprints.
[So last night really wasn't peaceful.]
After walking for about twenty minutes, he arrived in front of the piano room. But the room that had once been so well kept was now completely blackened. The wooden boards were still giving off black smoke, and the air was thick with the smell of char.
Several police officers were clearing the scene.
"Sir, this is a crime scene. Please leave."
They did not recognize Heiji.
Heiji looked at the burned piano room, scanned the area once, and then turned to leave.
His phone rang.
"Heiji, where are you? Yukiko bought breakfast. Come back quickly and eat."
Kazuha's voice came through the phone.
"Okay, I'll be right back."
The breakfast was very hearty. After they finished eating, the three women started discussing where to go sightseeing next.
"I'll call Ran first and tell her to come over."
After they finished talking it over, Sonoko took out her phone and made the call.
"Hello, Sonoko..."
Ran's voice sounded low and heavy.
"Ran, what's wrong?" Sonoko's brow furrowed.
"It's nothing. I just didn't sleep well."
Sonoko did not press further. "Ran, we're going out today. Hurry up and come over."
Ran was silent for a moment. "Sonoko, I'm sorry. I'm really not in the mood today. You all go have fun."
"Okay, then get some rest."
"Alright. Goodbye, Sonoko."
"Goodbye, Ran."
After hanging up, Sonoko looked at Heiji. A trace of worry appeared in her eyes. "It sounds like something happened to Ran."
As Ran's best friend, Sonoko understood her even better than Kogoro Mori did. She could tell right away that something was wrong. The reason she did not ask over the phone was simply because she did not want to make Ran feel even worse.
"Something happened to Ran? Let's hurry over and check on her." Worry flashed across Kazuha's face.
"Come on, come on. Don't waste time."
Yukiko was anxious too. She had always liked Ran very much.
Heiji followed behind them. He was not as anxious as the three women were.
The group arrived at the community center.
"What? Ran went out?" Sonoko's eyes widened.
"She said she was going out to clear her head. Why are you all so tense?"
Kogoro Mori looked at them strangely.
"What about Conan? Did he go out with Ran?"
"That kid... he's been holding that stack of sheet music all night and sitting on the sofa in a daze."
Kogoro Mori glanced at Conan, who was sitting inside, with clear annoyance.
Heiji walked over and looked at the score in Conan's hand. His brow furrowed. "Kudo, are you planning to hold onto that forever?"
"Heiji... I should have figured it out sooner. If I had, he wouldn't have killed himself."
Conan was blaming himself. If he had noticed the music sooner, if he had decoded the messages sooner, and if he had stopped Doctor Narumi sooner, then what happened last night would never have taken place.
A person had played sad, liberating music in the middle of the flames, right in front of him... and as the sound faded little by little, his heart had sunk with it.
"You're blaming yourself?"
A cold look flashed in Heiji's eyes.
"The reason he asked Uncle for help was because he wanted someone to stop him—to stop him before he committed those crimes. But as a detective, I didn't even notice it in advance. I feel useless." Conan lowered his head, his face full of gloom.
"Then keep blaming yourself."
Heiji completely ignored Conan's desire to play the savior. He turned around and walked away.
"Heiji, I want to go look for Ran."
"I want to go too."
Looking at the two girls' expressions, Heiji smiled faintly. "Then go."
Kazuha and Sonoko immediately smiled.
"Heiji, Kazuha, Sonoko—you three go on ahead. I'll catch up soon."
After saying that to them, Yukiko immediately hurried inside.
Heiji knew what Yukiko was going in to do, but... it would probably be useless.
"Shinichi, what are you doing?"
Yukiko shot Conan a resentful glare.
"Mom, please don't bother me right now, okay?"
Conan was in no mood to play along with Yukiko at the moment.
"I'm bothering you? Hmph, fine then. I won't bother you anymore." Yukiko turned to leave angrily. "But Shinichi, if you keep acting like this, Ran is going to be disappointed in you."
Her figure moved farther and farther away. Unfortunately, Conan still sat there in silence, without moving.
Yukiko shook her head in disappointment and quickened her pace to catch up with the others.
Heiji's group arrived at another fork in the road.
"Heiji, there are two paths here. What should we do?"
Tsukikage Island was not large, but the two roads led in different directions. They had not found Ran anywhere in town, which meant she had most likely gone deeper into the island.
Of course, there were no monsters or anything like that there.
Sonoko and the others were simply worried about Ran.
"Yukiko, take Kazuha and Sonoko and check the path on the left. I'll take the one on the right. We'll meet back here in two hours."
Heiji quickly assigned them.
The three women looked at each other, then nodded.
"Heiji, be careful."
Heiji nodded and headed down the path on the right.
That path actually led toward the coast. The farther he went, the louder the sound of seawater crashing against the rocks became, until it was nearly deafening.
After walking for about half an hour, the view suddenly opened up. On one side were mountain trees, and on the other was the wide, open sea. Waves slammed against the rocks beside the road, sending spray into the air.
In the distance, a figure sat quietly on a huge rock. Her long hair moved in the wind, and she looked like part of the scenery.