Since even the suspect, Kabuto Kiriko, had died, the case had to be re-investigated from scratch.
That night, at the church in Rokkaku Village.
At Fujino's request, the police brought the surviving heads of the six mansions – Shitoda Jusan, Kabuto Reiji, Kazamatsuri Junya, Gotou Ran, as well as Wakaba's fiancé Renjou Hisahiko, and Odagiri Susumu – to the scene.
"Fujino-kun!"
Chief Koga Shinobu of the Criminal Investigation Division walked in from outside the church: "As you instructed, we've sealed off the church."
"Thank you."
Fujino, wearing his fishing hat, turned his head and looked around at the people sitting inside the church: "Everyone, the motive behind this series of murders... I believe some of you already have a clear understanding. Both the killer's methods and their motive should be quite obvious. Furthermore, the culprit is among you."
"Fujino, what exactly are you talking about?"
Mr. Kazamatsuri looked at Fujino with a puzzled expression.
"Yeah, how could we possibly know the motive...?"
Gotou Ran, on the other hand, looked completely bewildered.
"Roughly a hundred years ago, a group of missionaries came to this remote village and found something they called 'golden apples.' And these so-called golden apples were actually hemp, planted in the mountain forest next to the village!"
Fujino pulled out a pinch of hemp from his pocket and showed it to everyone: "The six families in the village followed those missionaries, cultivated the wild hemp, and earned a vast amount of money over the past hundred years by selling it. In other words, this village was built with money from selling hemp."
"This is indeed hemp..."
Chief Koga stepped up to Fujino, surprised.
A glint of excitement flashed in his eyes. This was a huge accomplishment...
"The hemp fields were always jointly managed by the village's priest and the other six families living in the 'Ijinkan' (foreigner's mansions)."
Fujino continued: "However, twenty-seven years ago, a bloody incident occurred in this village because of the hemp... The heads of the six Ijinkan and the priest and his wife from the church had a disagreement over the hemp cultivation. They were brutally murdered with guns, and their seven adopted daughters were then burned alive. In fact, those mummies hidden in the villas are the priest's seven daughters."
"That's a lie!"
Kabuto Reiji couldn't stay seated. He stood up and roared at Fujino.
Fujino looked calmly at Kabuto Reiji: "You each kept the bodies of those girls, monitoring each other. The reason I can confirm they are the priest's daughters is because some of the bodies have obvious dental treatment marks. And the hemp field is right there in the mountain forest. What else do you have to say?"
"So, these mansion heads weren't just growing hemp, they were also murderers?!"
Chief Koga looked at the mansion heads present, stunned.
The achievement had just doubled!
Meanwhile, the few mansion heads present were all looking utterly dejected.
"If my speculation isn't wrong, the culprit behind this string of murders should be one of those girls from back then."
Fujino stated: "Now, all the bodies have different missing parts. Through those missing parts, the seventh girl miraculously escaped death. Today, twenty-seven years later, she has returned to this village to take revenge on the people here who murdered her family."
"So, the meaning of 'the seventh body' was this all along!"
"Detective Fujino, who killed Wakaba?!"
Shitoda Jusan had already given up caring and loudly questioned Fujino.
"Although I don't know what happened to that girl from back then, judging by the current situation... her child, or perhaps her child, has inherited her will and returned here twenty-seven years later..."
Fujino turned his gaze to Odagiri Susumu, stating gravely: "Odagiri Susumu, the killer who murdered Wakaba and the others... it should be you, shouldn't it?"
"What are you talking about, Detective Fujino?!"
Odagiri Susumu said, disbelievingly: "How could I kill Wakaba? I was right beside you at the time."
"That's true."
Fujino nodded, "However, strictly speaking, the person we found that night wasn't Wakaba, but Kabuto Kiriko."
"Kiriko?!"
Kabuto Reiji was astonished.
"That's right, it was indeed Kiriko, and the real killer was likely Wakaba."
Fujino continued: "Wakaba used some excuse to lure Kiriko in, managed to drug her, and swapped clothes. After Kiriko put on the wedding dress and lay on the bed in the church, Wakaba used a handkerchief to drug her again, then used the method I mentioned earlier to kill Kiriko. She then used a custom she was familiar with to draw our attention."
"After that, Wakaba went to meet you secretly at the agreed location. And at that time, you killed her. Waiting until late into the night, you carried her body back to the church, swapped her clothes back, and severed her head..."
"As for why Kiriko's body was missing a shoulder, I believe it's because her head had already been cut off. Only by cutting off the shoulder could it avoid arousing everyone's suspicion..."
Saying this, Fujino addressed Koga Shinobu: "Regarding this, you just need to examine the blood on the bed; it should become clear. I think there should be Kiriko's blood there."
"Wakaba... she was the killer..."
Shitoda Jusan stood up in disbelief, shouting at Fujino: "You're lying! How could my daughter be the killer?!"
"I actually didn't figure this out earlier, but only after seeing Kiriko's body did I understand..."
Fujino looked at Odagiri Susumu and said solemnly: "I think the only possible reason Wakaba would kill is because you proposed the same 'pulling a fast one' plan as back then. Wakaba killed Kiriko in order to elope with you. The bed was hung using the hinge from your car at the time."
"Speaking of which, I found it a bit strange that you, visiting for the first time, would drive that kind of car, and conveniently have a hinge. I suspect you had been here many times before, conducting reconnaissance."
"Don't be ridiculous! We were lovers, she could have just copied my key..." Odagiri Susumu quickly retorted: "And the car thing is just a coincidence! You have no proof that I'm the killer!"
"There's no proof, indeed. From beginning to end, it's just speculation. However, your identity, Odagiri Susumu, might not withstand scrutiny, might it?"
Fujino mused: "The girl who was thought to have died back then... logically, she shouldn't have an official identity. And even if you were born as her child, you shouldn't have been able to register your residency. Without residency, how did you become a teacher?"
"I think you must have killed the original Odagiri Susumu and taken his place. All these years since you entered that high school, you've been plotting this murder plan."
Fujino's aura turned somewhat imposing, and he said gravely: "I imagine it would be quite simple to find out if we just investigate your identity a little, wouldn't it? After all, you're someone without an official identity..."
"Shut up!"
Odagiri Susumu suddenly exploded and lunged fiercely towards Fujino.
Seeing this, Koga Shinobu immediately rushed forward, trying to apprehend him.
After all, with the discovery of the hemp field and a famous detective getting injured in a brutal murder case, he'd likely be held responsible!
But after a brief exchange, he was kicked flying to the side.
The police officers present also rushed forward one after another, but without exception, they were all taken down by Odagiri Susumu.
"You're right, I really don't have a residency registration... After that incident, my mother and I wandered everywhere. With no job registered, she could only do arduous work for meager wages..."
Odagiri Susumu slowly walked towards Fujino: "Every day after coming home from work, she would always show me her burn scars and tell me that the purpose of my birth was to kill these hateful people!"
"In a life like hell, my motivation to live was to seek revenge on these hateful people in Rokkaku Village!"
Roaring, he delivered a roundhouse kick towards Fujino's head: "The meaning of my existence is to make everyone here taste the pain my mother and I have endured throughout these years!"
"Do you think your actions are revenge?"
Fujino lowered his head, raising his left arm, and easily blocked Odagiri Susumu's roundhouse kick.
"Don't be ridiculous..."
Fujino looked directly at Odagiri Susumu, and at the same time, swung his right fist out fiercely: "From the moment you started killing innocent people, your 'revenge,' morally speaking, was already just slaughter!"
"What do you know?!"
Odagiri Susumu was hit in the chest by a punch and staggered back several steps, directly kneeling on the ground: "What right does a famous detective, living comfortably without hardship every day, have to say such things?!"
This time, Fujino didn't reply.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kazamatsuri beside him shouted: "Shiori, where is your mother?! How is she now?!"
"Dead..."
Odagiri Susumu coughed up a mouthful of blood: "I killed her."
"You... killed Shiori!?"
Mr. Kazamatsuri's eyes widened upon hearing this, and his legs even trembled slightly.
"That's right. For this day, Mother had been training me constantly, teaching me many ways to kill. And on that day, she told me to kill her, to complete the final step, in order to take revenge on all the mansion heads!"
Saying this, he stood up again, pulled a dagger from his pocket, and fiercely lunged towards Fujino again: "Nobody can stop me!"
Fujino remained silent, then delivered a powerful roundhouse kick that, accompanied by a strong gust of wind, directly struck Odagiri Susumu's wrist.
With the force of that one kick, Odagiri Susumu's wrist was fractured, and the knife in his hand fell to the ground.
"The mansion heads who were murdered were indeed at fault, but why did you kill Wakaba, who loved you deeply, was willing to elope with you, and even committed murder for this matter?"
Then, Fujino turned around and swept out another roundhouse kick, hitting Odagiri Susumu hard in the thigh, throwing him forcefully to the ground. He then dropped a knee onto his neck: "Did you really not understand her feelings at all?"
"In the end, your goal wasn't revenge at all. You were simply using Wakaba to satisfy your twisted pleasure in killing."
"Of course I understand..."
A slight smile appeared on Odagiri Susumu's lips, and tears flowed uncontrollably: "That fool was deceived and didn't even know it... desperately doing things for a hopeless person like me..."
Odagiri Susumu was taken away by the police.
At the same time, the mansion heads in the village were also taken away for murder and suspicion of organized drug trafficking.
Since there were quite a few people involved, the police had to forcibly bring in a large bus.
Before being taken away, Fujino found Kazamatsuri Junya.
"Mr. Kazamatsuri, you were the one who saved the seventh girl back then, weren't you?"
Fujino asked Kazamatsuri Junya, who was being escorted by the police.
"You noticed, did you?"
Mr. Kazamatsuri's eyes seemed to lose their light: "That's right... I was the one who saved her back then, but after I sent her to the hospital, she disappeared... Her name was Shiori. We were engaged back then. That child... his name is Ryuichi. He is my son. I never expected things to turn out like this..."
"If I hadn't let her go back then, perhaps none of this would have happened... But I just couldn't bring myself to kill her..."
Saying this, he sighed: "But maybe this is for the best. We knew all along this village was built on smuggling hemp, but we kept making mistakes. Now, with things like this, the village's 'poison' has truly been eradicated..."
(End of Chapter)