Let's rewind to just before Ran's condition improved.
Kurosawa Hoshino and the others had chosen a café with outdoor seating and sat on the chairs outside. Ran kept her head down, occasionally glancing at her mother out of the corner of her eye, her expression filled with complex emotions. This scene puzzled Eri and Sonoko, who had no idea what Ran was thinking.
Kurosawa chuckled. "Ran, just say what's wrong. We can all tell from that expression that something's bothering you."
"Yeah," Sonoko nodded. "Just say what's on your mind. Are we outsiders?"
Eri asked softly, "Ran, you've been acting strange since just now. What's wrong?"
"I—I—" Ran finally raised her head, looking at her mother, her eyes red. "I remember now. I remember who Murakami Joe is. He was the one who took Mom hostage, and Dad shot and wounded Mom—that's why you separated. I... I don't know how to face Dad anymore—"
Sonoko's eyes widened. She had always heard Ran say that Kogorō and Eri had separated after a fight, but she never imagined it was because of something like this.
Suddenly, Eri laughed. Both girls looked at her in confusion. How could she laugh about something so serious?
After laughing, Eri looked at Kurosawa, whose expression remained unchanged, and asked curiously, "Hoshino, aren't you shocked? Or do you know the key to this?"
"Aunt Kisaki, let me explain briefly." Kurosawa pondered for a moment, then said to Ran, "Prisoners usually take hostages to escape from an encirclement. I don't know the situation at the time, but Uncle Mouri chose to shoot. Aunt Kisaki is fine now, and Murakami was just released from prison. That means—" He stopped there, feeling that he shouldn't finish the sentence himself. He looked at Eri.
Eri chuckled again, reaching out to pat Kurosawa's head. Looking at the three children, a gentle expression appeared on her face. "I know Kogorō's thoughts, even though we've never explicitly said them to each other. Hostages are used by criminals to facilitate their escape. But if a hostage is injured, they become a burden to the criminals—actually increasing the hostage's chances of survival. Back then, I uncontrollably collapsed to the ground, and Murakami panicked. He couldn't pull me up. In the end, he was captured, and I was successfully rescued."
Ran and Sonoko were stunned. They had completely not expected this. But after thinking about it, they felt it made perfect sense.
"Wait a minute," Sonoko suddenly said. "Shooting is such a dangerous thing. Was Uncle Mouri really that confident in his marksmanship back then?"
Eri said with a hint of pride, "He was a renowned sharpshooter at the police academy. He hit the bullseye with all twenty bullets on his first shot. I heard that no one has surpassed that record to this day."
"You never really see it in him normally," Sonoko remarked, finding it strange that Kogorō wasn't as clueless as he seemed. She then added, "Come to think of it, that makes sense. If Uncle Mouri didn't have any redeeming qualities, Auntie, you wouldn't have fallen for him."
"I regret it now," Eri replied haughtily, though her tone lacked the intended meaning, sounding more like a joke.
Ran asked, puzzled, "Then, knowing Dad's thoughts, why did you storm off that night?"
Mentioning this, Eri's face darkened. "Your stinky old man! That day, I endured the pain in my legs and painstakingly prepared dinner for him. And he still complained that it tasted bad. I really wanted to thank him properly, but he was so insensitive. In a fit of anger, I left home while he was in the bathroom."
Kurosawa pursed his lips, trying hard not to laugh out loud. Even though he already knew about these things, he still found them very amusing.
After a while, seeing that the atmosphere had relaxed, Kurosawa got down to business. "Aunt Kisaki, if you receive any food recently, don't eat it. Just call me directly. Anyway, don't accept anything from strangers—just throw it away."
These words stunned Ran and the others. They all looked at him, their eyes full of confusion.
Eri asked, "Hoshino, have you heard some rumors? Is someone trying to harm me?"
"Aunt Kisaki, it's that Mr. Sawaki we met before. I feel like the way he looks at me, and the way he looks at you, Aunt Kisaki, are all strange."
"Looks?"
"Yes. Very accurate. Several times I've noticed something off about the killer's eyes—and that's how I figured out who the killer was."
As soon as he said this, Ran and Sonoko believed him without a second thought. After all, they were usually by Kurosawa's side when he solved cases, and they had never seen him make a mistake. That meant his judgment was really accurate.
"Mom," Ran said anxiously, "Hoshino said so. You have to believe him."
"Aunt Kisaki, it's just that you shouldn't accept things from strangers. That's not difficult," Sonoko added.
Kurosawa instructed, "Aunt Kisaki, even if it's something from an acquaintance, you should call and ask first."
"Okay, okay." Eri reassured the three children. "Don't worry. I'll do as you say."
"I'll make a call." Kurosawa thought of Inspector Megure, who had been attacked in the original story. He said this as he got up and went to the roadside. He took out his phone, found the number, and dialed it directly.
Less than two seconds later, the call was answered. Inspector Megure's cautious tone came through. "Hoshino, you just solved a case this morning. You didn't encounter another case before noon, did you?"
"Inspector Megure, you misunderstood. I was playing a lottery game on my phone and drew a bad one. It said that the person who calls me 'brother' will encounter danger recently—especially outdoors."
"Ah? It's not me, is it?" Inspector Megure's tone revealed helplessness.
Kurosawa reminded him, "Inspector Megure, my sixth sense is very accurate. The moment I saw this fortune slip, I felt it was very likely to come true. So for the next few days, go straight to the Metropolitan Police Department when you go to work and go straight home after work. Don't wander around outside in your free time. I feel that this calamity should pass after a while."
"Uh, Hoshino-kun, your sixth sense—"
"I've solved several cases with it." Kurosawa interrupted him lightly.
Suddenly, there was silence on the other end of the phone—only heavy breathing could be heard.
Oh no. Megure thought. Someone wants to kill me. Is Hoshino-kun going to use his quick case-solving method on me?
After a long while, Megure said tremblingly, "I—I understand. Don't leave home or the Metropolitan Police Department in my free time, right? Hoshino-kun, thank you for your reminder. I promise I will obey."