There were no signs of outsiders entering the scene. The only thing captured by the surveillance camera at the door of the interest class was the figure of Nakayama Riku running in in a panic. About five or six minutes later, Hinata Hajime and Edogawa Conan appeared at the door.

If we add the time it took them to go upstairs, that means he was dead within ten minutes of Nakayama Rikyu entering the building.

"There are no signs of struggle, and no signs of anyone hiding in this room." Edogawa Conan murmured, "Could the criminal fly? This is simply an impossible crime."

Hinata Hajime was sitting on a chair next to him, his head lowered, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Hinata brother?" Edogawa Conan came over, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not yet." Hinata Hajime smiled helplessly, "After all, the scene was too clean. There were no clues at all. Even the murder weapon only had Nakayama Riku's fingerprints."

Edogawa Conan nodded, "That's true."

Yes, the murder weapon was next to Riku Nakayama's body. It was Riku Nakayama's liner pen. The pen pierced his chest, leaving a hole in his heart. After the pen was pulled out, it was thrown into the blood, and Riku Nakayama died lying on the easel.

Since it was Nakayama Rikyu's pen, it was quite normal to have his fingerprints on it.

"I hope everyone can find more clues through the autopsy." Hinata Hajime murmured.

"Although I hope so, the possibility is not very high." Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded in Hinata Hajime's ears.

Hinata Hajime raised his head, and saw Inspector Megure standing there with his hands behind his back. In his hands was a document. He nodded to Hinata Hajime as a greeting, "Nice to meet you again, Mr. Hinata."

"Inspector Megure."

"There's no need to shout like that. Since we're all in the same industry, just be casual." Inspector Megure said with a smile.

Conan Edogawa lay on Hinata Hajime's lap and asked in confusion, "What did Officer Megure mean when he said the possibility was not very high? Brother Hinata and Uncle Mori told me before that many clues can be found from the autopsy, why not this time?"

"I'm a little confused, but this case is really a little strange." Officer Megure sighed, "So far, there are more than one person who died strangely at home or at work, but when all of them died, there was no sign of outsiders entering, and there was not even any sign of struggle."

"well?"

"That is to say, they may have committed suicide." Inspector Megure also looked a little worried, "But these people don't seem like the kind of people who would commit suicide. Their lives are quite happy."

Hinata Hajime opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

He frowned slightly, thinking about how this matter would develop.

Making the target commit suicide is indeed something that the Fragment of Despair can do, but the main problem now is how to do it. Despair needs to be spread through a medium, there must be a form, and the Fragment of Despair has a Despair host.

How did this desperate host manage to kill Nakayama Riku within ten minutes?

"It's really strange, do they have anything in common?" asked Conan Edogawa.

"There is one." Inspector Megure said, "All the dead were painters."

"There are too many coincidences, and the logic is untenable. They couldn't really commit suicide, and there is no reason for them to commit suicide, but the clues tell us that they did commit suicide. Why do such strange cases keep happening recently?" Officer Megure sighed, "We can only set up an investigation team to investigate this case. No matter what, we have to find some clues."

Hinata Sou nodded, "Thank you for your hard work."

"It's not hard. This is the police's duty. Of course, if Mr. Hinata gets any clues, please tell me." Officer Megure said quickly.

Hinata Hajime agreed, then said goodbye to Inspector Megure and left the scene.

Conan Edogawa looked at the body that had been processed, then ran out with Hinata Hajime.

At this time, Hinata Hajime started talking to Nanami Chiaki after he walked out. There were many people outside, so he pretended to make a call and put the phone to his ear.

"Nanami, help me find out what they have in common, other than the fact that they are painters."

"Understood." Nanami Chiaki responded, "Hinata-kun, you have to be careful. If your speculation is correct, it is very likely that the murderer was not far away when you came here, but he was mixed in the crowd and we didn't see him. Don't let yourself get hurt."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Hinata Hajime forced himself to smile, "I'm not the only one fighting now."

"I still have you, and I still have De Liu."

"It will be fine."

Chiaki Nanami sighed helplessly, then turned around to investigate clues.

It's really too much trouble for Hinata to bear all these things.

"Brother Hinata!" Hinata Hajime heard the voice behind him. He turned around and saw Edogawa Conan chasing him on a skateboard. He skated at full speed next to Hinata Hajime, "Brother Hinata, who were you talking to on the phone just now?"

"She's my companion," Hinata Hajime said. "I asked her to help me find something."

"Huh?" Edogawa Conan blinked, "Hinata brother also has companions in Tokyo?"

Hinata Hajime nodded. "She is not very good at appearing in public, but she has been helping me investigate clues. She is a very important companion of mine."

There are companions.

Conan Edogawa increasingly felt that Hinata Hajime came to Tokyo to deal with something. He appeared in Tokyo as a policeman with extremely sharp observation skills, and his companions were secretly helping him collect information. Such a complete combination did not seem like he was just here for vacation.

Is it a secret mission?

Is that the black and white bear that Hinata Sou called out unconsciously?

"Hinata brother, what is a black and white bear?" Unable to figure it out, Edogawa Conan decided to ask in person.

It would be best if Hinata Hajime explained it, but if he didn't explain it would be evasive and Edogawa Conan would understand that it was indeed something he couldn't know, and he wouldn't continue asking.

"Black and white bear." Hinata Hajime's eyes were complicated. "You can think of it as a landmark."

"Huh? A marker?"

"There was once a person who did something terrible, but in order to hide the fact that she did it, she controlled a black and white bear as her stand-in, and it eventually became her symbol." Hinata Hajime murmured, "Once this thing appears, it means that person is spreading despair again."

Edogawa Conan tilted his head in confusion, "Is that so?"

I didn't understand anything except that there was a terrorist using this thing to disguise himself.

Besides, he didn't seem to have heard of such a thing.

"Conan, you don't need to know so much. Don't you have things to do?" Hinata Hajime smiled. "This is my battle, something that only I can do."

Edogawa Conan shook his head, "I don't think so."

"If it's someone who will hurt everyone, each of us has an obligation to stop him, whether it's the police or the detectives, everyone wants to protect themselves and the precious people, so, Hinata brother doesn't need to fight alone."

"You need to learn to rely on everyone."

Hinata Hajime was stunned for a moment, then he laughed out loud. He squatted down and rubbed Edogawa Conan's hair.

"If my partner heard this, she would definitely scold me for being so fussy about something that even a child would know."

"well?"

"I understand." Hinata Hajime said with a smile, "I will try to rely on you all."

In the spiritual space, Kamijou Izuru tilted his head, his long black hair slid down from his shoulders, and his red eyes showed a little relaxation.

【A worrying family. 】

…

"We found the common ground." Nanami Chiaki said, "So far, the police have been able to find four dead bodies. I found another one in private, but that person suffered from depression. His family thought he committed suicide due to depression, so they did not call the police and buried him directly."

"What they have in common is that, besides being painters, they all participated in a very important competition."

"competition?"

"Yes." Nanami Chiaki nodded, "Hinata-kun, do you still remember the art museum you visited? This competition was hosted by that art museum."

Hinata Sou recalled the painting he had drawn with Kamukura Izuru, and then he frowned slightly, "Even though I've only visited the museum, I can still feel that the atmosphere is very good, very user-friendly, and the level is much higher than that of ordinary galleries."

"That's why this game has so much weight."

Chiaki Nanami put on her hood, with a complicated expression, "That art museum is indeed a very famous place in the painting world. As long as you win this competition, the champion will receive a large amount of funds, but of course it's not just that. He will also gain a lot of fame."

"Whoever wins this competition will undoubtedly become a famous painter."

"So, the other party is targeting the painters participating in this competition?" Hinata Hajime murmured.

"Or maybe it's targeting the organizer." Nanami Chiaki thought, "After all, the artists who participated in this event committed suicide one after another. Yes, in everyone's eyes, everyone committed suicide. So, if this continues, the organizer will be cursed."

Hinata Hajime nodded and said, "Go ask the director of the museum."

"Yeah." Nanami Chiaki nodded, "I also noticed one thing. Nakayama Riku's art hobby class and Goto Mingtaro's home are in completely different directions. I didn't find any evidence that they knew each other during my investigation. It might not be a coincidence that he went to Goto Mingtaro's home."

This is indeed a suspicious point. If Nakayama Riku didn't know Goto Mingtaro at all, why would he appear at the door of Goto Mingtaro's house?

And his attitude is really strange.

What is he afraid of?

All of these require going to the art museum to inquire, hoping to find enough clues there.

So Hinata Hajime came to the art museum, and after showing his ID, the other party very politely took Hinata Hajime into the innermost office, where the director of the art museum sat.

The gray-haired old man smiled kindly and stood up from behind his desk to greet Hinata Hajime.

"The policeman is really young. I never thought that such a thing would alarm the police."

Hinata Sou politely nodded, and after the greetings, the director invited him to sit down, and then he took out a stack of information from his cabinet.

"That's why the police officer came here. Here is the list of painters participating in this competition." The curator placed the information in front of Hinata Hajime. "These twelve young people are the best talents we selected after going through layers of screening. But as of now, five of them have been confirmed dead."

“All suicides.”

Hinata Hajime looked at the information. Because more detailed information was needed to register for the competition, it not only marked each person's address, but also the college they graduated from and what works they had produced. Some of them were still students.

"I don't know if the museum has offended anyone. This competition has been held for more than a dozen years, and this is the first time this has happened."

The curator was very helpless. The old man looked at his wall, which was covered with the champions of each competition and their works.

"We hold this competition only to provide a platform for young people. No matter what, we cannot harm those children."

Hinata Hajime looked at the old man, "Don't you think they committed suicide? So far, all the investigations have concluded that they committed suicide."

The curator sighed, "Mr. Policeman, I am different from you. You are an expert in solving crimes, and I am just an old man who paints. But I have lived long enough and have been in this world until now. I know better than anyone how low the probability of five people committing suicide in succession is."

"It's almost impossible."

"I see." Hinata Sou nodded and smiled. "Then let me ask another question. Has Nakayama Riku been here before?"

"Nakayama Riku..." The museum director frowned slightly. After a moment, he walked to his desk and made a phone call. After understanding the situation, the museum director came back and nodded to Hinata Hajime, "He has been here."

Hinata Hajime asked, "What is he here for?"

"I was in a meeting when he came. My secretary received him. He asked my secretary for the list of contestants in a panic. My secretary thought there might be something wrong, so she told him the address of one of the contestants. I just confirmed that it was Goto Mingtaro's address."

So, Nakayama Riku went to Goto Akitaro's house because he came to the art museum and asked about it, but when he came there he happened to see Goto Akitaro's body.

[It is very likely that he noticed that everyone participating in the competition was dying, so he wanted to remind them.] Hinata Hajime speculated in his heart, [Or he had some thoughts in his mind about this and wanted to find someone to discuss it with. After all, this concerns their lives, so he wants to discuss it with people who are in the same trouble.]

[He might even be an insider, and what he saw caused him to be so horrified.]

Hinata Hajime murmured, "Izuru, do you think Nakayama Riku is someone who likes to keep records?"

[Whether it is true or not, in this case, he will record it somewhere.] Kamukura Izuru answered calmly: [It concerns his life, and he doesn't know when he will die. People who realize this will be terrified and will definitely want to leave clues.]

Hinata Hajime thanked the director, and just as he was about to leave, the director called him.

"Mr. Policeman."

Hinata stopped and looked at the gray-haired director, who was standing in the center of the room with a cane in his hand. He asked in a low voice, "When will this matter be over?"

"I don't know either." Hinata Hajime said, "I hope it can be over as soon as possible, but many things can't be done quickly."

"I understand. It's like painting. When you are anxious, you will not be able to paint what you want. You need to feel with your heart and look for inspiration that comes to you unexpectedly." The curator smiled kindly. "I shouldn't be craving for anything, but I want to tell the policeman one thing."

"What is it?"

"I don't want to see the children get hurt again. I will hold on a little longer, but if things continue to go wrong, I will probably give up this competition." The old man's voice was somewhat helpless. "Compared to awards and fame, life is indeed more important."

…

Hinata Hajime sent the entire list to Inspector Megure, hoping that Inspector Megure could protect the remaining contestants. It is not certain whether this desperate incident is aimed at the painters themselves or the museum itself, but the desperate host of this incident is definitely related to painting.

But this is not a special clue at all, and it cannot be identified to an individual.

"I hope we can find some clues from Nakayama Riku. This should be the only way to break through."

"Yes, it must be possible." Nanami Chiaki murmured, "I have already investigated the black and white bear video that Hinata-kun saw, and I found nothing at all. It was just a video and it will disappear after it is played. It is really not surprising."

"Besides, there's no sense of despair." Hinata Hajime clutched his phone tightly. "It's clearly a murder scene, but there's no sense of despair at all. Why?"

【Calm down, Hinata Hajime.】 Kamuzuru Izuru spoke.

[It’s not the time when there are no clues at all. Don’t let anger take over. If you want to find the real culprit of this incident, you’d better completely erase the influence of that video and pretend that you have never seen it.]

Hinata Hajime was stunned for a moment, [Outflow?]

[Don't think about its relationship with Monokuma, but simply consider it as a case.] Kamukura Izuru covered Hinata Hajime's eyes from behind. There was a lightness in his voice that he himself didn't even notice, as if he could throw away all his indifference on Hinata Hajime.

[Hinata Hajime, you are a normal person. It is normal for you to be angry about this, but now is not the time to be angry.]

He put his hand down, then gently hugged Hinata Hajime from behind, "You have to learn to rely on others instead of fighting it alone."

Hinata Hajime blinked, he stretched out his hand hesitantly, and then placed his hand on Kamukura Izuru's hand.

"……good."

Hinata Hajime shifted his gaze again and looked around with his heterochromatic eyes.

He exhaled heavily, then smiled at Chiaki Nanami.

"Okay, let's go find the next clue."

Nanami Chiaki looked at Hinata Hajime, and seemed to have realized something. She and Hinata Hajime smiled at each other, "Yeah!"