Apparently, some stranger seems to believe that a curse of some sort will make him die prematurely like his uncle and other men in his family. This makes me wonder, does this curse exist or maybe he is hiding something.
Compared to the last three mysteries, this one doesn’t seem to focus on any murder or corpses at all. This one focuses on a family curse with Fujioka thinking that he will die early because of the family dog he inherited. He believes that Hector, the family dog is cursed and he based that assumption on that every owner died prematurely from a disease. His wife also thinks that the painting that he inherited that he hanged in one of the rooms is also cursed.
To me, I do think that Sakurako might be right that Fujioka is probably worrying too much since she doesn’t think that such a curse exists. However, there is some things that might rule this out such as preexisting health problems, such as asthma. It is apparent since he is seen coughing while he was in the car. Not only that, he smokes too, which would worsen the problem. With that, there is a good possibility that Fujioka might be hiding his illness or something by making people believe that it’s some kind of curse instead. This aspect is what makes this mystery fishy.
From the look from some of the clues and observations, I have a feeling that Fujioka might be hiding something. It’s clear when he meets someone on his way home and promises to follow the advice from the letter. With this and the painting not in storage, it’s apparent that he is trying to cover up something by making everyone believe that his inevitable death is caused by some curse. Either way, it seems that Sakurako got the green light to proceed with the mystery given how suspicious Fujioka’s claims are. Perhaps she will uncover some shady stuff during the investigation along with revealing Fujioka’s health problems in the second half. Either way, it will be interesting.