"Hey! What are you all doing? How can you use such a big boat on this stretch of sea! If you're not careful, you'll end up injuring other tourists!"
"What's the big deal? I won't let go!" Sonoko supported the small boat and grumbled, "The waves aren't that big right now, and they're just here for the experience. Isn't this boat meant for people to play with by the seaside?"
After playing volleyball, in order to cheer up the little ones who had been bullied by her, Sonoko saw the small boat parked on the shore and volunteered to take the little ones on the boat, offering to push it and play with them.
But unfortunately, before they could even start pushing the boat, they were scolded by a lifeguard with medium-length hair nearby.
"Alright, Sonoko, stop arguing." Ran came over to persuade Sonoko and then apologized, "Sorry, we'll put the boat back now."
"Noboru, keep your voice down." Just then, a chubby man came over and patted Noboru's shoulder, consoling him.
"Yuta... why are you here?"
"Isn't it because you were so fierce that you scared the other tourists?"
Yuta glanced irritably at him and then smiled at Ran and the others. "Sorry about that. This guy got dumped by his girlfriend recently, so he's naturally in a bad mood."
"Nonsense!" The man named Noboru immediately shouted in frustration, "It was me who broke up with her!"
"Alright, alright, I know, you broke up with her." Yuta waved his hand as if comforting a child, then turned to Ran and the others, saying with a smile, "Let us take care of the boat."
"We were the ones who brought it here, so we should take care of it."
Senichi, who had rushed over after noticing the situation, had already heard the whole story of what had happened. He took the initiative to walk towards the boat and decided to lend a hand.
"It's no problem, we'll just take the boat away."
Yuta smiled as he pulled the small boat and said, "We brought it over in the first place, and cleaning up the garbage on the sea is also part of our Lifeguard job..."
"Hoho? So you're Mr. Lifeguard?"
At this moment, a bald, bearded man sitting on a beach chair in front of them, holding a beer, suddenly sneered, "I thought you guys were fishermen, but it turns out you switched to being garbage collectors because you couldn't make a living from fishing, huh?"
"What? We couldn't make a living from fishing?" Noboru, standing nearby, heard the mocking words and shouted angrily, "It's all because of you, you bastard, that we can't catch any fish!"
"Let it go, Noboru." Yuta held back the impulsive Noboru and then turned coldly, changing the subject, "Tonight at 8 o'clock, we'll meet in the East Wind Hall at the Queen's Hotel, Mr. Aramaki, you haven't forgotten our appointment, have you?"
"You bastard, don't you dare run away when the time comes!" Noboru raged by the side.
"Heh-heh, there's nothing worth running away from." The bald, bearded man took a sip of beer and said disdainfully, "I'll be waiting for your grand entrance tonight."
"Hey... brother-in-law... that place they mentioned..."
"Oh, that's the restaurant we're going to tonight."
Senichi casually replied, watching the two angrily departing individuals and then casting a thoughtful glance at the bald, bearded man on the beach chair, who wore a contemptuous smile. A hint of amusement crossed his face.
As I calculate with my fingers, the destined victim of this murder case is most likely you, Mr. Bald Head!
All of this is the choice of the "Conanverse Law"!
According to the Conanverse Law, when Conan, Ran, or anyone including Kogoro Mouri encounters strangers who are in conflict with another stranger and exhibit characteristics such as taunting and disdain, clearly indicating elements of evil intent.
Then, the next victim to open the case for Conan is more than 90 percent likely to be this person with an attitude that rubs people the wrong way.
Although that Noboru guy's attitude wasn't great this time either, but that guy...
He has companions!
With companions and a shared target of hatred, it fits the classic multiple-choice case perfectly.
After all, if you commit a murder, you need to have a group of like-minded individuals among the suspects. Otherwise, with such a clear motive, you'd be the prime suspect right away. How else can you let Conan show off?
And since, based on Conanverse law, the likely victim has been narrowed down, it doesn't matter if we don't know who the culprit.
Just wait and see.
However, besides this, Senichi felt it was necessary to conduct further investigation into this person. After all, if someone is so resented, according to Conanverse law, they must have done something wrong.
Generally, lifeguards at beach resorts are recruited from nearby residents, and during the conversation earlier, Senichi heard that the guy named Aramaki referred to those lifeguards as fishermen.
This means they are all local fishermen, which makes it simpler.
Because in areas near the ocean, there's usually a fishermen's association, and among them, there might be someone who knows what Aramaki, the bald guy, did to earn such hatred.
But before that, of course, it's time for lunch~
Returning to Izu once again, Senichi was quite familiar with the place. After all, he had been to Izu many times, even though there weren't many pleasant memories in between, he never felt disappointed in terms of food.
Bamboo shoot rice bowls, succulent tuna, sweet shrimp, and a series of freshly caught seafood from the ocean made it seem like you could taste the vitality of the sea, and it was absolutely irresistible.
After lunch, Senichi and the others returned to the hotel, and when they were discussing what to do in the afternoon, Senichi took a leave of absence from Ayako and asked the hotel front desk for the location of the local fishermen's association. He then took a taxi there to gather information.
Due to his status as a police detective, the employees of the fishermen's association were very polite and welcomed Senichi inside.
After explaining his purpose, and seeing the angry expressions on their faces, Senichi finally learned why Noboru, as well as the employees of the fishermen's association, were so dissatisfied with this guy named Aramaki.
Although their fishing grounds had explicit rules limiting the catch, they conducted annual cultivation work to ensure the fish population didn't deplete, so that there were fish to catch every year.
However, in reality, these regulations couldn't be enforced. To put it bluntly, it was a matter of how much one wanted to catch. In ordinary times, it all depended on the fishermen's self-discipline, which had kept this stretch of sea well protected.
But after Aramaki, this outsider, arrived, things changed dramatically. He set up dragnets in this sea, trying to clean it of all its fish, which crossed their bottom line.
Apart from this, thanks to Senichi's deliberate inquiries, he also learned an expected piece of information from them.
Perhaps it was precisely this past event that was the true root cause of this murder case!
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