Conan's grammatical investigator

Chapter 1325 Manor Investigation
After discovering that the castle had disappeared, the old gardener found the servant who was still taking care of the manor and told him about it.

The servants of the manor told the old gardener that the master left Shrewsbury for London, and soon went to Japan, where he seemed to have established a new family.

So, the matter was left unresolved...

Bai Matan closed his eyes and pondered in his mind.

So far, there have been two testimonies spanning time that prove that there was once a castle similar in appearance to Twilight Annex, built on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury.

It was built about 110 years ago, but the exact time is no longer known.

But if the Twilight Annex in Gunma Prefecture is the castle built on the banks of the River Severn in England 110 years ago and then disappeared inexplicably, then there are too many secrets in it.

First, a building crossed the barriers of oceans and land and arrived in Japan.

This would have been absolutely impossible 110 years ago or today when science and technology are advanced.

However, after witnessing with his own eyes that the Twilight Villa suddenly disappeared that night, Baiba Tan felt that this was possible.

Although we don't know what unimaginable methods or means were used, we can at least be sure that this hypothesis exists.

Assuming that Dusk Hall was the castle on the River Severn 110 years ago, the culprit behind this incident should be the male owner of the manor at that time.

The male owner had a prominent status in the local area and later established a family in Japan.

110 years ago, shortly after Japan opened its door to the world and the Meiji Restoration was in full swing, the whole country was learning from the West.

In that context, it was entirely possible for foreigners to settle in Japan, especially since the British Empire was at its peak at the time.

If the family was established during the Restoration period, and given that the male owner already had a prominent status in the UK, and the fact that the Dusk Villa was built entirely of gold, he would definitely not be an unknown person.

He may even have had some interactions with the reigning Emperor Meiji!

Therefore, Hakuba has asked the Hakuba Research Institute in Japan to investigate historical data in this regard.

However, before getting the results of the investigation, Bai Ma Tan already had some guesses in his mind.

If the Twilight Annex in Gunma Prefecture really belonged to the tycoon Karasuma Renya as the legend goes, then the family established by this male owner is most likely the Karasuma family.

However, when Hakuba Tan first investigated the origins of the Dusk Villa, he had already used all his resources to investigate the Karasuma family.

But he didn't find any useful information.

The Karasuma family is very secretive, and aside from one tycoon, Karasuma Renya, there is no information about other family members.

Moreover, the property owned by Karasuma Renya himself is strictly confidential. Even Hakuba Detective, the son of the Superintendent and a member of the equally prominent Hakuba family, has no ability to touch it.

In today's Japan, there are several prominent families that are well-known to the world.

The Suzuki family is the largest financial group in Japan today. With wealth that rivals that of a country, it is the most well-known Japanese family in the world.

The Ooka family is mainly active in the political and business circles. Its financial strength is second only to the Suzuki Group. A Japanese prime minister once came from the family, so its political influence is greater than that of the Suzuki Group.

Although the Hakuba family is not as financially powerful as the Suzuki and Ooka families, and has not reached the level of the Prime Minister of Japan in the political arena, it has always maintained strong strength in the police force, has many supporters, and has a high voice in the field of scientific research.

In addition to these three major families, there are many very low-key families in Japan, such as the Haneda family, the Shiratori family, the Hattori family, etc.

However, it was the first time that Hakuba Tan knew of a family as big as Karasuma, which was so powerful and yet so low-key.

However, just because clues cannot be found in Japan does not mean that they cannot be found in the UK.

Since the current Wuhuan family cannot be found, then let’s check the ancestors three generations ago!

……

The car carrying the White Horse detective drove three miles along the Severn River and finally found the manor mentioned in the clue on the outskirts of Shrewsbury.

Today the manor is abandoned and its former glory is long gone.

Passing through the dark woods, a gloomy manor stood before us.

The periphery of the manor is surrounded by ancient red brick pillars and iron pointed railings as symbols of the territory, wrapping the entire manor.

Overgrown shrubs and rotten branches covered the entire fence, blocking the gaps so tightly that it was impossible to see what was going on inside.

The car slowly stopped at the gate of the manor, and Bai Ma Tan and Ah Fu got out.

"Master, I'll go find the way in. Please wait here for a moment." Ah Fu said respectfully.

When Ah Fu walked towards the right wall of the manor, Bai Ma Tan first took a general look at the surrounding situation.

Then he came to the front gate of the manor.

The large iron gate in front of the manor was locked, and judging from the rust on the lock, it had not been opened for at least several decades.

The iron railings of the large iron gate were covered with plants, blocking most views of those who wanted to peek inside.

There is only a gap of about 20 cm in the middle of the road where plants cannot grow, leaving a small area where you can observe the inside.

Bai Ma Tan leaned his head over and saw a two-story building standing in the bleak moonlight.

Like most manor buildings of the last century, the building has a red brick exterior.

As no one has repaired the building for decades, most of the wall paint on the front of the building has fallen off, revealing grids of bricks, making it look a bit bare.

But other than that, the building is still in relatively good condition, the glass is intact, and there is no sign of any human damage.

Retracting his gaze, Bai Ma Tan looked at the red brick pillar next to the big iron gate.

At a height of more than one person on the pillar, there is an area with a different color from other places. It should be used to hang a doorplate, which will display the information of the manor and its owner to the public.

But now the sign is gone, and the whole pillar is bare.

Just then, Ah Fu came back and brought a way to enter the manor.

Ten meters to the right of the main entrance of the manor, a gap was formed by the collapsed wall.

Entering from the gap, there is a path inside the manor, leading to the two-story building.

The two came to the main entrance of the building, hoping to find another gap to enter, but found that the main door was not locked.

A rough wooden stick was placed across the door handles on both sides, and that was all.

In fact, this is a wise thing to do, because once it is locked, outsiders may speculate what valuables are hidden in the building.

In an empty manor like this, it would be impossible to stop them from invading if they found a way.

Faced with this kind of door bolt that was designed to prevent the bad guys from getting in, Bai Ma Tan and Ah Fu looked at each other, and Ah Fu stepped forward and took the wooden stick down.

Bai Ma Tan put his hand on the door handle and with a little force, the door was slowly pushed open.

A faint musty smell in the air instantly invaded my nose, mixed with a fishy smell from the soil.

Bai Matan frowned slightly, took out a white handkerchief from his pocket and put it in front of his nose, and took the flashlight from Afu with his other hand.

Click.

When the flashlight was turned on, two circular light circles instantly illuminated a corner of the dark building.

At this time they were in the main hall facing the door.

The main hall was very simple. Anything that could be moved away had been taken away, leaving only a dusty carpet and a broken lampshade in the corner.

There is a route on the left and right sides of the main hall.

"Afu, you go to the left." In order to save time, Bai Ma Tan sent Afu to the other side and started investigating from the right side.

The white-horned scout walked into the side hall, which was obviously a reception room.

The sofa and round table in the reception room were still kept at a distance, but almost everything else that could be moved away had been moved away.

Bai Ma Tan looked around with a flashlight, and suddenly, a flag on the wall caught his attention.

This flag is a shield, which is divided by a cross in the middle, and the four areas have two patterns respectively.

There is also a diagonal strip like a black ribbon from the upper left to the lower right of the shield, decorated with shell patterns.

Bai Matan stared at the pattern on the flag and couldn't help frowning slightly.

this is……

Detective Bai Ma has studied and lived in the UK for many years, solved countless cases, and established a good network of contacts.

With his White Horse family background, he was once invited to visit Althorp Manor.

Althorp Manor is located in Northamptonshire, north of London. It is where the Spencer family, one of the oldest aristocratic families in the UK, has lived for generations.

The Spencers first came to live on Althorp land from 1508 as a large sheep farming family.

The White Horse Detective still remembered that he had seen such a pattern when he was a guest at Althorp Manor.

This flag does not have an ordinary pattern, but the family crest and emblem of the Spencer family.

The Spencer family logo actually appeared here...

Could it be that the male owner of the manor at that time was related to the Spencer family?

But if they were members of the Spencer family, why didn't they live in Althorp Manor? Instead, they lived in the far north of England.

The white horse detective put his thoughts aside and continued to investigate further.

Walking out from the other side exit of the side hall, you will reach the area where servants are active in the back.

The kitchen, utility room, bathroom, and stairs leading to the second floor are all here.

The white horse detective just took a quick glance at these unimportant areas and went up to the second floor via the spiral staircase.

The entire second floor is the owner's leisure and rest area, with a living room, study, piano room, etc.

However, the situation is similar to the first floor. All the valuable things in these rooms have been moved out, leaving only some old furniture.

Although these pieces of furniture were exquisite aristocratic items in their day, after so many years, the old paint surface is covered with dust, and now it is just a pile of old stuff that is so dirty that people don't want to touch it.

However, in the study, Bai Ma Tan found a mezzanine in the second drawer of the desk.

The mezzanine is separated by wooden boards, and if it weren't for Bai Ma's keen observation as a detective, it would be difficult to find.

He picked out the wooden board and found two pieces of paper underneath.

After taking out the pieces of paper and shining the flashlight on them, I found that they were a letter and a photo.

The photo is a yellowed black-and-white photo, and the edges of the photo are slightly warped due to moisture.

However, the middle of the photo is well protected because it has been applied with a layer of wax.

This is a photo of a young man and a woman.

The young men were dressed very luxuriously, the kind of exquisite attire only worn by the nobles at that time.

The mother's outfit was relatively ordinary, a white fluffy lace dress that didn't match her thin body and didn't look like it was tailor-made for her.

On the back of the photo, there is a line of neat handwriting: Son Spencer Lane and mother Shiliang, taken on July 1870, 7.

Lian ye...

This name reminded Hakuba Tan of the tycoon Karasuma Renya.

Could this person be the young Karasuma Ren?
Detective Hakuba recalled the tragedy that happened 40 years ago that was told to him by old lady Qianjian in the Twilight Villa.

In her version of the story, Karasuma Renya was already a centenarian 40 years ago.

If this is the case, Karasuma Renya was indeed a young man in 1870.

But later, the White Horse Detective used the police database but still could not find any information about the tragedy that happened 40 years ago.

The existence of this photo now seems to really prove that Karasuma Renye is indeed an old man beyond ordinary age.

Bai Ma Tan turned the photo over again and looked at the face in the photo carefully again.

The woman among them had a pretty appearance, with a kind of oriental beauty that Westerners did not possess.

The son next to him was also very handsome, with some mixed-race features, a handsome face as if it was chiseled by a knife, and a tall and thin figure.

Although the photo at that time was not very clear, he always felt that there was a heroic spirit between the eyebrows of this "Lian Ye", and he looked very similar to someone.

Who is coming?

Bai Ma Tan couldn't remember it for the moment, so he put the photo in his pocket and picked up the letter to read.

Due to its age and moisture, most of the handwriting on the letter has become blurred and unreadable.

However, there was still a small edge portion on the letter paper, which allowed Bai Ma to see it clearly.

The first letter begins with the salutation: Dear Mr. Xia Gai.

(blurry) Settled in Japan (blurry)…

(A large area is blurred)

(blurred) Move the temple to Japan (blurred)...

……

The white horse detective looked hard for a long time, but could only see these contents clearly.

Temple...

Are you talking about Twilight Villa?

There is also this letter, which seems to be written to the servants who stayed on to take care of the estate.

However, judging from the respectful address "Dear Mr. Xia Gai", the relationship between this person and "Spencer Lianye" is more than just that of master and servant.

Just as Bai Ma was trying to figure out the contents of the letter and the photo, a muffled sound suddenly came from downstairs.

The white horse detective raised his head alertly, walked to the stairs and called out tentatively.

"Afu?"

No one answered at the bottom of the empty staircase.

Realizing that something might have happened, Bai Ma Tan quickened his pace and went downstairs. Passing by an empty room, he saw Ah Fu lying on the floor.

"Afu!"

Bai Ma Tan quickly ran over, put the flashlight aside, and picked up the man.

But when he turned Ah Fu's body over, Bai Ma Tan felt some kind of wet and sticky liquid on his hand.