"She was found floating in the river this morning." The policeman near them explained
"She was shot three times in the chest." Minuora added "We don't know when or where it happened. We haven't found the bullets."
"Any known motives?" Ranpo asked
"We don't know." Minuora answered "As far as anyone in the office knows, she wasn't in a relationship either."
"So that means you don't know anything, right?" Ranpo said smugly as he put his hat back on.
This did not sit well with Minuora, as he furrowed his eyebrows slightly before getting up. "All the more reason for us to not let an amatuer to handle this."
But everyone's attention soon was brought to one of the criminalists who shouted in an alarming way "There's something caught in the net!"
"What's that?" Atsushi asked, as they watch the criminalists stand at where the crane was stationed at
"We strung a net across the river to get evidence." The policeman replied
"It's a man!" Another criminalists shouted, who was just uneasy as everyone else. "A man is caught!"
"What?" Minuora gasped
"Could there be a second victim?" Atsushi asked in a panicked manner
While everyone went over for a closer look, Voyager had a hunch of who they manage to pull in.
Her hunch was right, because they walked over to only see a familiar upside down alive man who was, Dazai who was stuck on the net. "Hey, Atsushi-kun." He greeted with a wave. "What a coincidence."
"Another drowning attempt?" Asked Atsushi with a deadpanned expression and one eyebrow lifted.
"What?" Dazai sighed, treating his current situation like it was an everyday occurrence. "Committing suicide alone? That's so yesterday, Atsushi! I have realised that if I am to die, I should die with a beautiful lady!" He said, turning around in the net, swooning. "Ah~ Double Suicide. What a sweet ring it has! In comparison, it feels to lonely to say farewell to this world by myself." He turned back to a shocked Atsushi and continued, "So, I'm currently looking for a beautiful woman to die with me."
"In that case, how did you end up here?" He asked
Dazai let out a huff, "I was simply drifting in the river." Was his reply, which made Voyager actually picture him drifting in the river.
With more drips of sweat, Atsushi said "I see."
******
"But I have yet to actually accept the case" Ranpo answered
It seem to have caught Dazai's attention as he turned to face him "What? Why?"
Ranpo pointed at Minuora and said, "Ask this man."
"We don't need detectives." Minuora stressed "In fact, my subordinates are far more superior to private detectives."
"Oh?" Out of nowhere, Ranpo pointed at the other policeman and said, "You. What's your name?"
"What?" He said, confused but quickly gave a salute and stated, "I am Officer Sugimoto. The victim, Miss Yamagiwa, was my senior colleague!"
With a wide grin, Ranpo placed his hand on the officers shoulder and said, "Alright, Sugimoto-kun! Solve this case in 60 seconds, starting now! V-chan, start the timer!"
The said female nodded, pulling out a stopwatch, while the officer shouted in surprise.
"I can solve it under a minute." Ranpo bragged, "If your as good as he claims, you can do it too. Well then Sugimoto-kun, give it a try!"
Sugimoto panicked as he held his head, "Okay, well 60 seconds is a little crazy, right?" He asked, hoping that Ranpo would give him extra time.
"50.." Voyager announced.
"What!?" He gasped
******
"Time's.. up." Voyager said, as she kept the stopwatch back in her pocket.
"Too bad, you've got a long way to go before you can reach my level." Ranpo said, while patting the defeated Sugimoto on the back, with a grin. "At the very least, this proves that your subordinates are not at all superior to me."
"Stop messing around!" Minuora said sternly, "You've been going on about deduction and great detectives. Too much Pulp Fiction. Cases are solved by interviewing people and investigating the crime scene."
"Huh?" Ranpo mocked, "You still don't get it? Great detectives don't do investigations. My Ability, Super Deduction, can instantly identify the killer as well as when and how the murder was committed. Furthermore, I can see in my mind, how to make the killer confess and where the evidence is. I do have powers, after all."
"Due to my work, I know of the existence of people with powers." Minuora retorted. "But with such a convenient ability, you don't need us, right?"
"That's right." Ranpo said with a smirk. "You finally caught on."
******
"Watch closely, Atsushi-kun." Dazai instructed, "This ability supports the Agency. When he puts on those glasses, Ranpo's Super Deduction is action."
'Ranpo's ability reveals the truth about a case' The silver haired man thought 'Does such a power really exist?' While Voyager could only admire Ranpo's ability with a smile plastered on her face.
"Ability: Super Deduction!" As he said those words, a gust of wind blew around him before it stopped when he pushed the glasses up his nose bridge "I see."
"Oh please." Minuora mocked, "You're saying you know who the killer is?"
"Of course." Ranpo replied, which the policeman obviously could not believe. "The killer is.. you." Everyone watched in anticipation when he raised his hand to point at the culprit. But they didn't expect him to point at the least suspected person. "That's right, the criminal is you, Officer Sugimoto."
"Huh?" Was the man's response.
"Ranpo-san?" Atsushi called out, who was just as confused as the policeman.
Minuora could only laugh at him, not believing his statement. "Officer Sugimoto is my subordinate." He said.
But Ranpo stood his ground. "Officer Sugimoto is the one who killed her."
"Don't be stupid!" The officer yelled, "It's impossible for the killer to be this close!"
"It's exactly because he's the killer that he wants to stay close." The detective added. "Didn't I say it earlier? I also know where the evidence is." He said, looking over to Officer Sugimoto, "Lend me your gun."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Sugimoto said, who had beads of sweat on his head, "Giving a government issued firearm to a civilian is against the law!"
"And here I thought you had a point." Minuora remarked, "Are you private investigators just idiots?"
"If we examine the gun and find nothing, then sure. I'm just all talk and a idiot." Ranpo said
Minuora only scoffed at him, "I've had enough, listening to you! Show him your gun, Sugimoto!"
"But.." the said man trailed off, who was obviously reluctant to do so.
"He pushed too far. If we prove him wrong, he'll shut up. We can't waste anymore time! Show him your gun." His superior reasoned, but the officer could only keep silent and hand his head low. "Hey, what's wrong, Sugimoto?"
"Even in this city, it isn't easy for an amatuer to get spare ammunitions. It's even harder if the firearm is government issued." Ranpo stated
"Why are you silent, Sugimoto?" Minuora said, when he saw that the officer didn't say a word.
The detective made a deduction based off the man's odd behaviour, "He thinking quite furiously right now, about the three bullets he used and how he'll explain that." Sugimoto gasped, he was out of luck.
"Sugimoto!" Minuora yelled, he still somehow believed that his subordinate was innocent though his facial expression showed uneasiness. "You're not the criminal! Show us your gun!" Silently, the officer hesitantly reached for his gun and open his holster, "That's right, Sugimoto."
However, everyone did not expect him to cock and aim his gun at Ranpo. "This is bad." Dazai muttered, as Atsushi could only look in shock.
"Sugimoto!" His superior yelled, "Stop!"
The sound of a gunfire soon went off at the same a play of a violin was heard. The bullet flew, but it didn't hit Ranpo, more like it bounced off of him. Atsushi looked around in shock, before his eyes landed on Voyager, who had an annoyed look, holding her violin. 'Is this Voyager-san's ability?' He thought as Dazai said, "Now, Atsushi, go!" Before shoving him to Officer Sugimoto. He dove in and without thinking, he pinned the officer to the ground with his arm twisted to his back. Just in time for other policemen and criminalists to come to the scene after the gunshot was heard.
"Let go of me! I had nothing to do with this!" The desperate man yelled, while Voyager walked over to Ranpo, checking if he was alright.
"It's useless to run. The murder took place yesterday morning at the abandoned shipyard, 140 meters upstream from here." Ranpo said, while Voyager looked at him head to toe, finding no injuries she let out a sigh of relief, 'Phew.. Yes, great.' she thought.
Sugimoto let out a gasp, he tilted his body to look at Ranpo, "How do you know?"
******
After bidding him farewell, the four detectives made their way back to the Agency. Ranpo was walking ahead of them, leaving his colleagues behind to talk. "Ranpo-san was amazing." Atsushi praised, while recalling the events, "I didn't think he'd find out everything, his ability, Super Deduction is amazing!"
"I think I got about half of it." Dazai commented
"Half of what?" Atsushi asked
"If the case just now, about how Ranpo-san figured it out." His senior colleague replied
"But he said that his ability lets him find it out instantly." Atsushi highlighted.
"Oh.. you don't know." Voyager's soft voice came from beside the young detective, as she pointed down at his pocket.
Atsushi was confused, he reached in his pocket and found a piece of paper in there? Did Voyager-san put it in? "Voyager-san, when did you put this in?"
To which she put a finger to her lips, saying "It's.. a secret."
Atsushi opened the paper and read it aloud "Ranpo-san doesn't have supernatural powers." To which he was very confused about.
"Ranpo-san is a very rare civilian without powers in the Agency." Dazai added, "Though he thinks he's using an ability. And despite his young appearance, he's actually 26. The reason why everyone respects Ranpo-san is because he doesn't have a supernatural ability."
"I've only heard about his Super Deduction myself, but I only just witnessed it's power firsthand today" Dazai continued. "Actually, while he was using his Super Deduction, I secretly pinched his hair behind him. As you know, my ability is to neutralise anyone's ability when I touch them. I'm anti-gifted. As long as I'm touching someone, they can't use their ability. In other words, Ranpo's Super Deduction is not an ability."
******
"Hey where are my guides?" A voice came from in front of them, Ranpo was waving his hands high to the three detectives. "I can't get back to the Agency myself, you know! V-chan, you can play me a song when it's time for dinner!"
Voyager nodded, responding by playing *A happy piece* as she walked over to him.
"I think I kind of get it now." Atsushi said, making Dazai look at him in confusion. "Why everyone at the Agency respects Ranpo so much." The two of them smiled at this, looking over to the other two detectives in front of them, one had a wide grin on his face while the other played what she would call, *A dreamy piece* as they all made their way back to the Agency.