Escorted by his secretary Takada, Hayashi Yoshiki returned to the top-floor suite of the hotel at the entrance of Fantasy Park.
"Thank you for your hard work, Detective Hayashi. The client has been waiting for you for a long time."
"OK, thanks."
Takada was a little surprised to hear Hayashi Yoshiki being so polite.
Hayashi Yoshiki was just too lazy to express emotion to the dead.
He walked straight into the living room. Behind him, Takada pulled a remote from his pocket and pressed the power button. The screen above the fireplace lit up.
Ito Suehiko appeared once more, still seated, facing forward in a stiff and eerie posture.
"Mr. Hayashi has returned."
Takada's voice echoed quietly.
"The deadline I set was 10 p.m. It's just past 3 p.m. Are you confident you've uncovered the truth I wanted?"
"You asked us to investigate the armored car robbery on Bashamichi on April 4th and the linked shooting of Masaharu Nishio. But that was only the surface—"
Hayashi paused.
"What you really wanted was information about Shimizu Reiko, wasn't it?"
That name caused the tiniest flicker of reaction from the man on the screen.
"...As expected of a famous detective known for his terrifying efficiency. My expectations were not in vain."
"If it's not too much trouble, Mr. Ito... let's speak face to face."
Ito said nothing.
But the screen in front of Hayashi Yoshiki went dark. Moments later, a bookshelf slid open with a heavy, mechanical rumble, revealing a hidden passage.
Takada, adjusting his glasses, didn't react at all. He'd clearly known from the beginning.
Hayashi Yoshiki stepped toward the passageway—
And at that exact moment, the suite door behind him slammed open.
Takada turned in shock just in time to see Reiko Shimizu, beautiful and lethal, raise a pistol at him.
Before she could pull the trigger, Takada suddenly clutched his chest, staggered, and collapsed.
"...?"
Reiko froze.
But after a quick check, she realized: he was dead. Truly dead.
Mr. Hayashi... you took care of it already?
The timing—perfect. The method—invisible. Just one second before she had pulled the trigger.
Unquestioning of Hayashi Yoshiki's godlike capabilities, Reiko stepped past the body and followed him into the hidden room.
Inside, Ito Suehiko sat with his back to them, staring into a blinding screen.
"Sorry. I can't turn around."
"I won't live much longer. I hired so many detectives hoping one of them would give me clarity... Tell me what you found."
"What you should really care about is Shimizu Reiko."
"...You're right."
Ito Suehiko didn't care about the truth.
He already knew it. He was the perpetrator.
"Reiko vanished a month ago. I tried everything but couldn't find her. If it's you, Mr. Hayashi, I'm sure you—"
"I'm touched, Ito. You still care about me in this state."
Ito's head whipped slightly toward the familiar voice.
"Reiko?"
He was stunned. His voice trembled with hope.
But Reiko Shimizu walked past him without a glance, resting herself against Hayashi Yoshiki's arm.
"You handled it yourself, Mr. Hayashi? Afraid I wouldn't do it cleanly enough?"
"If you'd fired in the living room, the cleanup would've been a pain."
"Wha... What?"
Ito's voice broke. The conversation was bizarre. He couldn't grasp it.
"Reiko, you and Detective Hayashi...?"
Reiko smiled, twirled her gun flirtatiously, and cooed:
"That's right~ I'm Mr. Hayashi's adorable little puppy now~ Woof woof~"
But Ito, blind and facing the wrong direction, could not see the expression behind her voice.
His mouth opened—but no words came out.
This can't be happening. Reiko, so docile? Reiko, obeying another man?
Then what was I, who committed murder and robbery for her? A clown? A fool?
His mind raced, confused and panicked.
"It's almost time to wrap things up, Reiko."
"Okay~"
With the sweetest smile, Reiko raised the pistol and approached.
"If you're angry, Ito, be angry at your own incompetence. You're so boring. So useless. Even Nishio was the same—just a brute."
"Compared to Mr. Hayashi? You were uncivilized monkeys trying to play chess with a god."
Click.
She loaded the gun.
Ito, perhaps sensing the barrel aimed at his head, let out a furious scream:
"You bastard! YOU BASTARD!!!"
"HAYASHI YOSHIKI!!!"
"You're a fraud! A monster pretending to be a detective—!"
"...And what does that have to do with me being a detective?"
Hayashi Yoshiki's tone was ice.
And in that moment, Ito Suehiko fell silent.
"From the very beginning, the world has had no rules or morals—only power and ability."
"It's just that you couldn't see the truth."
"I live among the masses. I am labeled a detective. So what? Just because of that label, I must be righteous?"
"Don't make me laugh."
"Habitual thinking is the greatest accomplice to my success."
"...I've said this before."
"Life is a game. The winner takes everything. The loser becomes part of the rubble."
"Your crime... is utterly worthless."
Without a glance, Hayashi Yoshiki removed his bomb-laced ID watch and tossed it into the center of the room.
Ito shuddered.
This man... this being... was not human.
He was a monster in a detective's skin.
And finally—
Bang.
Reiko Shimizu pulled the trigger.
Ito Suehiko collapsed.
Hayashi Yoshiki picked up the discarded ID and calmly put it back on.
"We still have thirty minutes before detonation. Reiko, move Takada's body into the room."
"Okay~"
Using the bombs—not just the one in the ID, but all the explosives under Ito Suehiko's control now bound by the Death Note—the room would be annihilated.
"Wipe my gun. Leave it with Ito."
"Understood."
Hayashi Yoshiki dialed Megure.
"Officer Megure, there will be an explosion on the Red Castle Hotel's top floor in twenty minutes!"
"What!?"
"I'm heading to evacuate the guests now! Also, the IDs on Ran and the others are safe to remove."
"Got it! I'll dispatch officers immediately!"
Hayashi Yoshiki hung up before Megure could reply.
Shimizu Reiko slipped away in the chaos.
And then—
BOOM!
The suite erupted in flames. The dark room was vaporized.
Megure Juzo arrived at the scene, astonished.
"Brother Hayashi, what happened?!"
"The client shot himself after revealing the truth, but started a bomb countdown before that."
"Was it Ito Suehiko?"
"Yes. And Takada, his secretary, was assigned by Soichiro Fukayama of Fukayama Shoji."
"...You suspect Fukayama's behind this?"
"Highly likely."
Police investigations yielded no surprises. Hayashi Yoshiki had covered everything.
Even Ito Suehiko had followed the Death Note instructions to the letter.
In the police station, Conan and Hattori arrived.
"Is it over!?"
"The bombs are defused. Everyone's safe."
Kogoro Mori collapsed in relief.
Conan and Heiji looked at Hayashi Yoshiki—calm, cold, and unshakably in control.
"What was he trying to make us investigate, really?"
"...To be honest, I still don't fully know."
"Huh?"
"His death felt more like a burial... for the secrets of Soichiro Fukayama."
Hayashi Yoshiki had written Fukayama's death into the Death Note as well.
And now, all that remained was to wait.
Back at Fantasy Park, the group reunited.
"Brother Yoshiki!"
"You're back!"
"We played all day!"
"But it was weird... a staff member came and swapped our ID bands."
Hayashi Yoshiki smiled warmly.
But his attention shifted—
Haibara Ai stood still, head low, face pale with unease.
Something was wrong.