Chapter 48: Then Let Conan Film an Episode at Your Place

“Because Mr. Nagai has been a regular at the shop since his university days,” the clerk answered upon hearing Kiichi’s question. “That was, hmm, about three years ago. I recall he was pursuing another employee here, Mizuki.”

“Mizuki?” Kiichi asked immediately.

“Her full name is Mizuki Saegusa.”

“Where is she now?”

“Mizuki resigned quite a while ago and returned to her hometown in Fukuoka Prefecture.”

“Why did she resign?”

“Simply because she wanted to go back home,” the clerk replied, puzzled.

“Did anything happen around the time she resigned? Was it voluntary?”

The clerk found Kiichi’s questions odd. “Of course it was voluntary. I remember Mizuki happily saying she was going home to live properly with her parents.”

Kiichi furrowed his brows and inquired further about how Tatsuya Nagai had pursued Mizuki. He also obtained some old photos of Mizuki from the store.

Like Saya Kamihara and Miho Nishitani, she had medium-length hair and appeared gentle.

Kiichi asked no more.

“I never would have guessed it— the stalker used to court girls properly,” Chie sighed.

“No,” Kiichi sighed, “I’m seeing the transition from when he was just harassing a private tutor to becoming the aggressive stalker he is now. What he did to Ms. Saegusa is exactly the same as what he’s doing to Ms. Nishitani now, only back then, as a criminal, he was immature and still learning.”

“Stalkers have to learn?” Chie was surprised.

“Of course. Do you really think an ordinary person could easily follow someone who’s trying to avoid them all the way to a strange city?” Kiichi sighed.

Perhaps Tatsuya Nagai’s feelings for Mizuki Saegusa were genuine, but given his possessive nature, every relationship likely felt real to him.

It’s also possible that Mizuki’s departure fully awakened Nagai’s dark side.

He could never accept rejection, let alone someone leaving him.

So afterward, he immediately chose Miho Nishitani, who had a similar aura, as a substitute and poured all his possessiveness onto her.

Moreover, his prior experience stalking Mizuki Saegusa enabled him to display such strong tracking skills when targeting Miho Nishitani.

Everything seemed to fit.

---

Kiichi used the bakery’s phone to call the police in Fukuoka.

“Are you referring to Mizuki Saegusa?” the officer on the other end sounded surprised.

“Yes, I have a case and would like to learn more about Ms. Saegusa,” Kiichi said, hoping to clarify the situation.

“Chief Inspector Higashino, I don’t know how you came across that name, but Mizuki Saegusa has been missing for five years,” the police officer replied. “I remember so well because for the past five years, her parents have come to the station periodically to inquire about their daughter’s whereabouts.”

Kiichi was stunned.

Mizuki Saegusa, who was pursued by Tatsuya Nagai three years ago in Yokohama, had actually disappeared from her hometown in Fukuoka five years ago?

“Could you provide more details?” Kiichi pressed.

“Five years ago, after an argument with her parents, Ms. Saegusa ran away from home and was never heard from again,” the Fukuoka officer responded. “We also questioned her friends but found no leads, so she was officially listed as a missing person.”

“Please fax Ms. Saegusa’s photo to the Yokohama police station.”

“Understood,” came the prompt reply.

“What’s going on?” Chie was confused again, noticing Kiichi’s face had grown dark and intimidating.

“We can’t be sure yet. Let’s head back to the station first.”

At the station, the fax from Fukuoka had already arrived.

“How does this connect back to Fukuoka again?” Shigeto Yokomizo was even more baffled. “We’re investigating a stalker who followed someone from Yokohama to Tokyo. Now it’s Fukuoka, then Shizuoka? What’s going on?”

Kiichi ignored him and compared the photos obtained from the bakery.

Sure enough, it was the same person.

He picked up the phone and called Sato.

“Increase surveillance on Tatsuya Nagai. Don’t let him out of your sight for a moment.”

Although unclear about the full situation, Sato arranged everything without hesitation.

Takagi and Chiba were assigned to 24-hour monitoring.

After making the arrangements, Chie asked, “Isn’t this a bit much? We’ve already hidden Ms. Nishitani in a safe house. Nearby colleagues confirmed that guy hasn’t been near it. He probably hasn’t found her yet.”

“No, it’s not just about protecting Ms. Nishitani anymore,” Kiichi said. “I suspect he has already killed someone before targeting Ms. Nishitani.”

---

For a moment, both Shigeto Yokomizo in Yokohama and Miwako Sato at the Metropolitan Police Headquarters were speechless.

“So, until I fully understand the situation, he absolutely cannot escape. Understood?” Kiichi said firmly.

The other side responded energetically.

Let’s hope Takagi doesn’t get caught up in some absurdly cruel twist.

After hanging up, Yokomizo asked anxiously, “Why do you suspect Tatsuya Nagai has already killed? Who’s the victim?”

“Mizuki Saegusa,” Kiichi answered. “I’m sorry—I severely underestimated Nagai’s mental state. He had already transformed from a harasser into a predatory killer. I believe the trigger for this shift was Mizuki Saegusa’s decision to return to Fukuoka.”

“But why didn’t anyone report Ms. Saegusa missing?” Chie asked.

“Of course no one did. Didn’t we already get the answer from the bakery? To them, Mizuki had gone home, so her disappearance seemed natural. Over in Fukuoka, Mizuki was already considered missing for two years, so nobody noticed she’d vanished again.

“This wasn’t some carefully planned scheme by Nagai. It just so happened that in his very first impulsive crime—when he was inexperienced and likely to make many mistakes—due to the victim’s unique situation, he committed a murder that no one realized.

“From harassing his high school tutor to this coincidental yet astonishingly successful murder, he completed a psychological and mental transformation.”

Chie shuddered involuntarily.

This was terrifying.

Just thinking that when she once met Miho Nishitani’s close friend, that twisted killer might have been lurking nearby gave her chills.

“So... what do we do now?” Chie’s trembling voice betrayed her wishful thinking of being some protagonist who deduces the truth and shocks everyone. That fantasy was already shattered.

She would rather remain blissfully ignorant and live as a simple office worker.

Kiichi picked up the phone again.

This time, he called Shigeto Yokomizo in Shizuoka.

“Mr. Mouri helped you crack a murder case in Izu, right?” Kiichi said. “If they haven’t left yet, I have a favor to ask.”

Good news: Conan’s grim reaper team happened to be on assignment in Izu.

So, asking them to film an episode at Tatsuya Nagai’s hometown in Shizuoka should be no problem.