Chapter Four: He Is Not Human; He Is a Ghost!
It was a full ten minutes later when Inspector Megure finally arrived at the crime scene, accompanied by officers from the Third Investigation Division.
Seeing the crowd gathered around the exterior of the Renhe Building, he inquired about the situation and soon learned that shots had been fired.
Without hesitation, Inspector Megure led the officers up to the third floor of the Renhe Building, intending to assess the specifics of the incident.
If there had been another robbery or shooting in Mihama Town, well... although such cases had become somewhat common recently...
Still, it was better if none occurred—after all, it would affect their performance evaluations and damage the police department’s reputation.
Though Inspector Megure himself knew that, in reality, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s reputation was more of a joke than anything else...
“What happened? Who fired the gun? Could it be that same person again...?”
“What are you all doing? Playing hide-and-seek?”
The chubby, round-faced Inspector Megure looked on in surprise as officers from the Owatari Police Station searched the interior of the Renhe Building’s third floor, his face clearly marked with several large question marks.
The officers from the Owatari Police Station only turned their heads toward Inspector Megure when they heard his voice.
Upon seeing Inspector Megure’s credentials, the young officer immediately stood at attention, albeit somewhat uncertainly.
“Well... the shooter just disappeared a moment ago...”
“Disappeared?!!”
Inspector Megure’s voice instantly shot up eight octaves.
He thought, “They’re not kids. How can a living person just vanish?”
So all this searching around and playing hide-and-seek was just their way of trying to find the person who fired the shot?
The reason the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s reputation was so tarnished was exactly because of ineffective investigations like this!
He raged silently in his mind but didn’t voice it.
Because Inspector Megure knew that, in truth, the Investigation Division at headquarters was no better.
The Investigation Division’s slackers were even worse than these Owatari officers...
At least the officers from Owatari Police Station would search around a bit; the Investigation Division wouldn’t even try, guaranteed to overlook some glaringly obvious clues. The most ridiculous incident was when those slackers failed to notice the obvious bloodstains on the wall!
“Y-yeah, the shooter was a man dressed in black wearing sunglasses. He was standing right here a moment ago...”
“But we blinked, and he just vanished...”
The police officers from the station added what they knew.
Suddenly, Officer Takagi, who had accompanied the response team behind Inspector Megure, snapped to attention and exclaimed,
“Ah, could it be that urban legend—the ‘Half-Human, Half-Ghost’?”
“I remember that figure is said to take action against criminals at night. Could it be that this time he dealt with the kidnapping gang that Detective Kudou mentioned? Is this urban legend the real identity behind it?”
“…Urban legend? That’s nonsense!”
Inspector Megure shot a sharp glare at Takagi, who immediately fell silent.
How could such things be spoken of by officers in the Criminal Investigation Division?
At least not during working hours—couldn’t they wait until after hours at the tavern?
However, if it was truly that “urban legend” at work again, then it was highly likely they wouldn’t catch the culprit...
He sighed, knowing he’d probably have to write thousands of words in the investigation report once more.
Still, Inspector Megure felt little resentment.
At least that Half-Human, Half-Ghost urban legend always acted cleanly, never causing innocent casualties.
That was a small mercy amidst misfortune.
“Well, at least the kidnappers have been caught... huh? Aren’t you the Silver Fox?!”
Inspector Megure sighed and turned his gaze toward the handcuffed criminals sitting on the floor.
One glance was enough to startle him.
The woman trembling in fear, her makeup smeared from crying, was none other than the “Silver Fox.”
A notorious counterfeit printing thief wanted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department—unexpectedly caught here!
Hmph, a backwater thief, unaware that Mihama Town was guarded by our brave officers of the Third Investigation Division!
Watching Inspector Megure tidy up the mess left by the black-clad assailant,
The little Grim Reaper Elementary School student was still puzzled and confused.
Originally, he had thought the black-clad woman was a member of the Black Organization, but seeing her so frightened, that seemed unlikely.
The black-clad man who fired the shot to subdue the woman could be a member of the Black Organization, but according to Officer Takagi, he was some kind of “Half-Human, Half-Ghost” urban legend...
Really, what on earth was going on?
Half-Human, Half-Ghost? An urban legend? Should such things even exist in Mihama Town?
Conan felt that nine out of ten things were off-kilter.
This terrifying black-clad figure seemed completely out of place!
He muttered softly,
“Damn it, why am I the only one unaware of this urban legend...?”
“Even Inspector Megure and Officer Takagi know about it. There’s no way I wouldn’t, right?”
Standing beside Conan, Ai Haibara glanced at the shrunken detective.
Although she wasn’t very familiar with the urban legend either, she certainly wasn’t as clueless as Shinichi Kudou.
The terrifying twin-gun black-clad figure originated from the Mihama Town urban legend of the “Half-Human, Half-Ghost, the Number One Sharpshooter.”
He had repeatedly killed or seriously wounded criminals who appeared in Mihama Town, even eliminating several peripheral members of the Black Organization, earning the title of Mihama Town’s Dark Knight.
Of course, Ai Haibara was surprised to encounter this mysterious figure, who existed only in legend, here.
But given Mihama Town’s tendency for mysterious figures to appear wherever there was a case, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
Ai Haibara thought it unlikely she would meet this living urban legend of Mihama Town again.
...Even a shrunken detective wouldn’t encounter cases—and urban legends—every single day, right?
Right?
She decided to think instead about how to coax Shinichi Kudou to take her home and then sneakily scare him along the way.
“…That person already left, right? He’s gone, isn’t he?”
The Silver Fox, still trembling as she was escorted downstairs, nervously asked Officer Takagi behind her.
Though Takagi was somewhat puzzled by her reaction, he responded,
“Yeah, he’s gone. But... why are you so scared?”
He asked curiously.
Usually, when the Half-Human, Half-Ghost made a move, few lived to tell the tale, and even then, no one had ever seen what he looked like.
The Silver Fox was probably the first fortunate criminal in Mihama Town to escape the Half-Human, Half-Ghost’s grasp.
As one of the investigators verifying the urban legend of the Half-Human, Half-Ghost, Takagi couldn’t help but ask as they got into the police car,
“What exactly does that mysterious Half-Human, Half-Ghost look like? Is he really that terrifying?”
Still shaken, the Silver Fox whispered,
“He’s terrifying... more terrifying than any criminal or killer in Mihama Town!”
“He’s not human—he’s a ghost! He, he... ahhhhh!!!”
Her eyes widened in horror.
Outside the police car window, not far away, a figure clad in black and wearing black sunglasses stood at the alley’s entrance, watching her as if issuing a warning.
Officer Takagi turned toward the alley but saw nothing.
Finally, he could only mutter,
“Ah, if only I could see him with my own eyes once.”
“Like a superhero straight out of a comic—so mysterious and formidable!”