Chapter 322: Suicide or Homicide?
Watching Natsume suddenly bolt from the room, Conan and Ran exchanged a bewildered glance. The abruptness of her departure left a heavy silence in her wake.
Conan shifted his weight, his sharp instincts urging him to follow her, but a sudden movement drew his attention back. Bamba Raita, having just scrambled up from his clumsy tumble with Bourbon, brushed off his suit jacket. His face was pale and tight with anxiety. Pulling out his phone, his trembling fingers punched in Kamon Hatsune's number.
The line connected after a few agonizing rings.
"Hello, Hatsune? Where are you right now?" Bamba asked, his voice strained.
A brief pause followed. The color completely drained from his face.
"Huh? Goodbye forever? What are you talking about?!" He gripped the phone tighter, his knuckles turning white. "Hatsune? Hatsune! Hatsune! Where are you right now?!"
Whatever response he received sent him into a sheer panic. He screamed her name into the receiver, his voice cracking with desperation.
The moment the last syllable left his lips, a deafening explosion shattered the evening air. The floorboards vibrated beneath their feet, and the restaurant windows rattled violently in their frames. Heads whipped toward the glass. Outside in the parking lot, a massive pillar of orange fire tore into the night sky, completely engulfing a parked car.
Bamba stared at the inferno, his phone slipping from his grasp to clatter against the floor. "C-could it be... that car is... is Hatsune's..."
Kogoro Mouri and Ran gasped in unison. "What?!"
Snapping out of his stupor, Kogoro immediately shifted into his professional detective persona. He sprinted toward the exit, shouting over his shoulder. "Ran! Call the police! Get the fire department and an ambulance down here now!"
Conan did not hesitate, his small sneakers squeaking against the floor as he bolted right on the older detective's heels. As he ran, a cold knot formed in his stomach. Natsume had just rushed out in that exact direction. She had to be okay. She was too smart to get caught in a blast like that, right?
Kogoro and Conan burst through the restaurant doors and sprinted toward the blazing wreckage. The intense heat washed over them in suffocating waves, forcing them to raise their arms to shield their faces. Thick, acrid black smoke billowed from the chassis, stinging their eyes and tearing harsh coughs from their throats.
Desperation clawed at them. They scanned the inferno, trying to figure out how to possibly check if Kamon Hatsune was trapped inside the melting metal. Before they could risk stepping closer, a shift in the billowing smoke revealed something on the asphalt a short distance away. Two figures lay motionless on the ground, their silhouettes flickering and blurring in the harsh, dancing light of the flames.
Conan squinted through the haze. Judging by the familiar clothing and the cascade of blonde hair, the two people were undoubtedly Natsume and the woman everyone assumed had just burned to death, Kamon Hatsune. Natsume was curled protectively over the bride-to-be, her body acting as a physical shield against the shockwave and flying shrapnel. The scene painted a clear picture: Natsume had somehow managed to drag Hatsune out of the vehicle in the final, critical seconds before the gas tank ignited.
Seeing them relatively intact, Kogoro and Conan let out a collective breath they did not realize they were holding. They rushed over, dropping to their knees beside the pair.
"Natsume! Are you two okay? Can you get up?" Kogoro asked, his voice laced with genuine concern.
Natsume groaned softly, her eyes fluttering open as she reoriented herself to the chaotic surroundings. She gave a weak nod. Reaching down, Kogoro gently grasped her arm and carefully hoisted her up from the soot-stained concrete.
While Kogoro attended to Natsume, Conan immediately shifted his focus. He crouched beside the unconscious Kamon Hatsune, his small hands moving with practiced care as he checked her pulse and breathing. A trickle of crimson blood marred her forehead. Even with Natsume taking the brunt of the blast, the sheer concussive force of the explosion had still managed to knock the woman out cold.
"Don't move her," Conan warned, looking up at Kogoro. "We don't know if she has a concussion or spinal injuries."
Kogoro nodded in agreement. Out of strict concern for causing any secondary damage, they left Hatsune exactly where she lay, keeping a watchful eye on her breathing while they waited for the paramedics to arrive.
Fortunately, the wail of sirens soon pierced the night, growing louder until an ambulance screeched into the parking lot, its red and blue lights flashing wildly against the smoke. Paramedics spilled out, quickly loading Hatsune onto a stretcher. Because Natsume had been caught in the immediate blast radius, the medics insisted she go with them. Even though she lacked any obvious burns or broken bones, the risk of internal bleeding or a severe concussion made a thorough hospital examination absolutely necessary.
, Hatsune needed a familiar face to accompany her. Since everyone else inside the restaurant was technically a suspect in what could very well be an attempted murder, Natsume was the only logical choice. She climbed into the back of the ambulance, taking a seat beside the stretcher as the doors slammed shut, whisking them away toward the nearest hospital.
Shortly after the ambulance departed, the fire department managed to extinguish the blazing wreckage, leaving behind a charred, smoking husk of metal. Police cruisers cordoned off the area with yellow tape.
Standing near the center of the chaotic scene, Inspector Megure pressed a phone to his ear. "Mm-hmm, I understand," he said, nodding as he spoke to Natsume on the other end of the line. "Then please rest well, Natsume. Remember to notify me the absolute second Miss Kamon regains consciousness."
Megure ended the call and walked back into the restaurant. He gathered the remaining patrons and suspects, his gaze landing heavily on Bamba Raita, who looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The Inspector quickly relayed the details of the rescue, assuring the frantic groom that his fiancée was out of critical danger and resting safely at the hospital. Hearing those words, the tension visibly drained from Bamba's shoulders, his legs nearly giving out from the sheer relief.
"However," Inspector Megure continued, his tone turning grave. "Natsume stated that when she pulled Miss Kamon from the vehicle, she was completely alone inside. She was conscious at the time, though highly emotional and erratic. Given the urgency of the blazing fire, Natsume did not have the luxury of observing much else before the blast." He adjusted his hat, looking around the room. "Based on the victim's final phone call and the circumstances, we are currently treating this as an attempted suicide."
Bamba stared at the Inspector, his mind rejecting the very concept. Suicide? How could Hatsune possibly try to kill herself? They were supposed to walk down the aisle tomorrow. It made absolutely no sense.
But before the groom could voice his outrage, a high-pitched, inquisitive voice chimed in from beside Kogoro.
"But Inspector," Conan asked, tilting his head with an innocent yet piercing gaze. "What about that fake nail we found on the ground near the car? It had a small amount of skin debris caught right on the tip. Doesn't that mean that right before Natsume-neechan arrived, Miss Kamon likely got into a struggle with someone else?"
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