Conan's grammatical investigator

Chapter 1288 Hades

"Or are you just Hades?"

Facing the aggressive Sera Masumi, the man could only explain the reason for his appearance here.

It turned out that someone was paying him to stay near the station all day long and keep walking back and forth.

After listening to the man's explanation, Sera Masumi's eyes were still wary, but at least her suspicion of the man was reduced by most.

Because she had been observing this man for a long time, if Hades himself had come to place the key clues and props, he would have left long ago and would not have stayed at the station for such a long time.

Mouri Kogoro came over and asked seriously: "Then did you see the person who paid you?"

Sera translated the question of Mouri Kogoro for the bald man.

The bald man looked at Seriang and shook his head, "No, we all contacted online. He asked me to come to the station, put on the clothes and boxes in the locker, and put the money in there... "

"box?"

Mouri Kogoro lowered his head and looked at the box in the bald man's hand. His head immediately became alert and he exclaimed: "Could it be that inside this box is..."

He didn't say the last word "bomb".

Sera was also suddenly shocked. If Hades was nearby and they were so close to the bomb, the bomb might detonate at any time.

After all, Hades was not the kind of criminal who would obey the rules honestly.

In previous incidents, the police were clearly instructed by experts to unlock the code in advance, but Hades detonated the bomb in advance, causing a large number of civilian and police casualties.

"Hey, uncle, have you opened and looked at the contents of this box?" Seriang asked with panic in his eyes.

"Well, the box is empty."

The bald man opened the briefcase in his hand, and it was indeed empty.

"Eh?"

Looking at the inside of the box with only gray lining, Sera and Mouri Kogoro looked at each other. Are they thinking too much?

Dr. A Li also said at the right time: "It seems that Hades did leave a key clue..."

"It's better to call Shinichi and tell him the current situation here."

"Okay, I'll just..."

Mao Lilan responded, and just as he was about to take out his mobile phone, Shiliang raised his hand to stop him.

"Wait a minute, I think I already know what the clue is this time."

Sera stared at the bald man's knees with interest, which made the bald man feel nervous.

She walked forward with a smile, rubbed her hands and said, "Um...can you please let me see your pants?"

"Pants?"

"Yes, these are the pants. Strictly speaking, just look at the inside of the knees of the pants."

The bald man glanced at the strange short-haired girl in front of him, as well as the horned girl and the bearded uncle behind him, and knew that he had no ability to resist, so he could only roll up his trouser legs.

There is nothing on the inside of the right knee.

Then he lifted up the inside of his left knee, and there was an English letter written on it.

"Have it!"

"It's U!"

Mao Lilan also shouted excitedly, "I found another one!"

"The letters found in this way are T, N, A, A, S, U..."

She looked at Sera again in confusion, "But Zhenzhun, how did you guess that the letters were on the inside of the knees?"

A confident smile appeared on Sera's lips, "It's very simple. Sherlock Holmes once said a famous saying - when I observe women, I first pay attention to the cuffs of clothes; when I observe men, I first look at the knees of trousers."

"Combined with the fact that the uncle's clothes were given by the murderer, it is not difficult to guess that the key clue is at the knee..."

"Wow!" Mao Lilan looked shocked, "You are so awesome! Do you know this?"

Shiliang was a little embarrassed by the praise and scratched his head, "Haha~ What is this..."

Although she is not a senior Holmes fan, this is one of Sherlock Holmes's most classic reasoning methods. Sherlock Holmes used this method to pretend to beep many times in the book, so she must have been deeply impressed.

"Okay, it's already 4 p.m., let's go to the last location quickly!"

……

Half an hour later, Seriang, Mao Lilan and their group arrived at the boutique Flea Street in London.

Because this street is not far from the flea market, it is also called Flea Street.

But unlike flea markets, the shops here sell unique and high-quality goods from all over the world.

Meissen Porcelain from Germany is one of them, and it is also the place referred to in the last sentence of the code.

The streets are bustling with pedestrians, and there are boutiques on both sides of the road. Various exquisite products are displayed through the shop windows to attract passers-by to stop here.

However, Sera and his party had no intention of stopping and went straight to the door of the Mason Porcelain store.

On the signboard in front of the store, there are two scimitars crossed in an "X" shape, with blue blades printed on a white background.

"End it all, pierce the white back with two swords..."

Sera stared at the sign on the wall and murmured: "It seems that the last location is here...but what is around here?"

Sera was about to look around when Kogoro Mouri, who was standing not far away, suddenly yawned heavily.

"Ah!"

"Ah, ah - ah sneeze!"

Mao Lilan looked back with concern in her eyes: "Dad, do you have a cold?"

Mouri Kogoro rubbed his nose, frowned and explained: "Probably not, I don't feel uncomfortable at all..."

"But did you smell a strange smell?"

Everyone looked next to Mouri Kogoro and saw a spice shop next to the Mason Porcelain shop.

In the transparent display window, there are cloth bags containing a large number of spices of different colors.

"I guess it's the smell coming from this store?"

As soon as Dr. A Li finished speaking, the door of the spice shop opened from the inside, and a burly black man walked out.

This black man is wearing a gray-yellow Egyptian cloth robe, and the hair on his head is like the uneven pattern printed on the surface of chocolate cookies against the backdrop of his black scalp.

Those hairs probably formed a certain pattern, but it was difficult for outsiders to see clearly, let alone recognize it.

"I'm sorry, maybe the smell in my store bothers you..."

"I apologize to you."

The corners of the black man's mouth were raised and he was smiling broadly.

Seeing the black shop owner's polite attitude, Mouri Kogoro was a little stunned for a moment. He lost his composure for a while before waving his hands and becoming polite.

"No, it's just that my nose is more sensitive..."

The black man nodded, then turned to look at Seriang and others, and introduced himself: "My name is Efiq Said, and this is the spice shop I open."

"Look at your faces...are you Asian? You should be tourists visiting London, right?"

"Then my spice shop is a place you can't miss. Please come in and take a look..."

Efik bowed slightly, making a humble gesture of invitation.

Facing the black man's invitation, Mao Lilan could only show a forced smile. She wanted to refuse, but was too embarrassed to open her mouth.

"that……"

At this time, Shiliang walked up and said, "Uncle, we are not here to have fun, we are here to do something..." "Excuse me, uncle, have you seen any strange props around your store in the past two days?"

It was Serang's eloquence that made him turn the other party's solicitation into a means of providing information for himself with just two simple sentences.

Moreover, this spice shop is right next to the Mason Porcelain Store. If there is anything abnormal, the owner of this shop will also be able to notice it.

Facing Seriang's question, Efik slightly raised his dark and shiny forehead, a trace of thinking flashed in his eyes.

Suddenly, a low startling sound came from his throat.

"Oh! I think you are talking about that little thing?"

"In the past two days, someone has indeed hung some strange decorations on the sign of the Mason store next door..."

"Mason's shop owner thought it was dirty and would affect the sign, so I put it all away."

Upon hearing this, Seriang, Mao Lilan and others immediately showed happy expressions.

Because according to Hades' usual method, the key clue should be the so-called decoration.

"Can you show it to us?" Shiliang asked quickly.

"Well, yes." Efik nodded his dark head, "But you have to come into the store to have a look. I put it in the warehouse..."

Seriang and Mao Lilan looked at each other.

……

In this way, the two girls and Dr. Ali followed Efik into the spice shop.

Mouri Kogoro couldn't stand the smell of spices, so he could only wait at the door of the store.

In the spice shop, the dim lighting, antique decoration, and a special aroma permeate the shop, which makes it really unique.

The counter facing the door is filled with various colorful spices, including small bags of trial packs and large quantities of spices in cloth pockets.

"You can take a look at whatever you want, I'll go inside the warehouse and search..."

Efik opened the curtain and left the business area of ​​the store.

The remaining Sera, Mao Lilan, and Dr. Ali could only hang out in the store.

This is said to be a spice shop, but behind the spice counter, there are some special-shaped utensils on display, and it is not said whether they are not for sale.

Sera pointed to an oval carving the size of a palm under the counter, "Is this the Egyptian scarab?"

"Scarab?" Mao Lilan had some confusion on her face.

Sera smiled and explained: "The scarab is both a dung beetle and a dung beetle."

"The ancient Egyptians saw dung beetles pushing balls of dung and creating things out of nothing. They believed that they had the power to push the sun and plunder the earth, so they regarded scarabs as gods that could bring protection and good luck."

"There are thousands of images and materials of scarabs like this, and there are many in the Egyptian exhibition area of ​​the British Museum..."

"Oh I got it."

Mao Lilan nodded in understanding, thinking about buying some souvenirs for Sonoko and Kazuha before returning to Japan.

But it seems that these two people are not interested in patron saints such as insects.

But the solemn ancient mirror placed on the counter looks good.

Mao Lilan looked at the silver mirror and adjusted the angle of the "horns" based on herself in the mirror.

Sera looked at other things under the counter, including stone statue noses, miniature millennium blocks, Canopic jars, scales, etc.

"It seems that the owner of this store is an Egyptian. These are all things related to Egypt..."

At this moment, Dr. Ali, who was wandering to the other side of the store, spotted a big guy.

"Wow, there is a coffin here..."

Seriang and Mao Lilan walked over and saw a huge coffin as tall as a person standing vertically beside the wall near the corner of the shop.

The coffin has a strong Egyptian style. The golden coffin lid has a statue of an Egyptian pharaoh lying on it with his arms crossed and a scepter in his arms.

"What's inside this...can't be a mummy, right?"

Mao Lilan retreated behind Seriang with some fear, her voice trembling.

She had seen some videos of mummies on TV, with bandages all over their bodies. They were simply dried versions of bandage freaks.

Seriang looked at the coffin in front of him and swallowed nervously.

Although there are mummies and Egyptian coffins in the British Museum, there are no opportunities to touch them up close.

And when an Egyptian coffin appears in a place like this, there is always a curiosity to find out what is inside.

Just as Seriang slowly stretched out his hand towards the golden surface of the coffin, a voice suddenly came from the side and behind.

"That's just a look-alike, there's actually nothing in it..."

Sera, Mao Lilan, and Dr. Ari turned around and saw Efik had come out at some point and was standing behind the counter.

"Ah ha, I'm a little curious too~"

Sera took his hand back sarcastically and scratched his head with a smile, "But there are so many Egyptian things in your store, uncle shopkeeper. Are you Egyptian?"

Efik showed his dark smile, "Yes, I am Egyptian, but I have been in the UK for more than 20 years."

"I see..." Sera nodded.

"By the way, this should be what you are looking for, right?"

Efik took out a wind chime-like decoration and placed it on the glass counter.

It is said to be a wind chime, but this wind chime is very simple. It has a wooden stopper on top, and copper bells connected by various colored silk threads under the wooden stopper. Each bell has a letter on it.

Sera held the ornament in his hand, and the bell swayed, making a tinkling sound.

"This should be it..."

"Eh? There seems to be writing on the cork?"

Seriang took a closer look and saw that what he thought was just a tattered cork actually had a string of English written on it.

"A study of scarlet..."

"It's a study in scarlet."

As the first story in which Conan Doyle introduced the character of Sherlock Holmes, Sera is the most familiar with this story.

Among them, Holmes made a speech, which roughly means that the detective's job is to peel off the cocoons and find the blood-red red thread called murder.

"I understand!"

"Uncle shopkeeper, can you give me this?"

Sera asked Ephik excitedly.

Efik smiled and nodded, "Okay, anyway, I still have this thing..."

"Thank you!"

After saying that, Sera ran out. Mao Lilan and Dr. Ali thanked him and followed Sera out of the spice shop.

Efik watched the people leave until the store door closed, and the raised corners of his mouth slowly returned to an indifferent state.

"It seems that someone has solved your password."

"Hades..."

On the inside of the wall behind the counter, a hooded man was leaning against the wall, grinning ferociously from the corner of his thin mouth.

"hehe……"

"No, it's not that easy to untie."