Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 109 The Invisible Hand
"What's wrong, Heiji?" Kazuha asked in confusion.

"Did you see the woman with the short hair?"

"Ms. Naoko?"

"Yes, find her quickly!"

Sweat broke out on Hattori Heiji's forehead.

It is not known whether the two deaths were homicides, but there is definitely some connection between them and the mermaid legend.

These people may have some common secret.

Just ask the short-haired girl Naoko...

"What? Miss Naoko didn't come home yesterday?"

There was only an old lady in the short-haired girl's family. Facing Hattori Heiji's questioning, she answered calmly, "That child always likes to be alone. Occasionally, she will stay at a friend's house."

"Heiji!" Kazuha panted as she ran after him. "Someone just said they saw Miss Naoko this morning. It seemed like she went to the forest over by the waterfall!"

"Now that you mention it, I remember something," the old lady sat down tremblingly. "That child came back the night before last and was still muttering about the location of the grave... They're always thinking about finding the mermaid's tomb, and they won't listen to anything I say!"

Mermaid Falls scene.

Shimabukuro Kimie watched her friend's body being carried away by the police, her eyes looking as if she had experienced a major earthquake.

what happened?

The second person she planned to take revenge on, Sumi, also died.

Is it really an accident?
Looking back and around, Gao Mo was nowhere to be found.

It seemed that "Maru Goro" was not seen when I came out, as if he had disappeared.

There is also the high school detective Hattori Heiji, who also disappeared after going to Sumi's house.

"What the hell..."

"What the hell is going on? Heiji!"

Mermaid Forest.

Hattori Heiji gritted his teeth and ran, not even paying attention to Kazuha's call from behind.

The bad feeling in my heart is getting stronger and stronger.

It seems that there is a real mermaid curse on this island, and it is killing people one by one through "accidents".

"It absolutely couldn't have been an accident!"

It was so terrifying. Saori Kadowaki was burned to death in the kitchen, and her body was obviously in pain.

There is running water right next to me...if worst comes to worst, I can run out and ask for help.

There was also Sumi Ebihara who was inexplicably entangled to death in a fishing net in a pond... The way the net weaver's daughter died was also very strange.

It's almost like imitating the mermaid legend - the mermaid caught in the fishing net.

No evidence of murder has been found yet...

But we can start with the motive for the murder.

As long as it is not a random killing, the murderer can be identified in advance even without evidence.

He even has a chance to catch the murderer now.

The key to everything lies in the "mermaid" - the charred body of a middle-aged woman found three years ago.

The unresolved fire three years ago was also treated as an accident, and the true identity of the deceased has not been determined until now.

"Accident", "fire", "mermaid"...all fit the description.

This is a revenge that has taken place three years ago, and the three people whose attitude towards mermaids is very different from that of other islanders are the targets of revenge.

"rustle!"

Gao Mo walked out from behind the tree holding a roll of rope and watched Hattori Heiji and Kazuha go deeper into the forest.

Osaka Black Chicken doesn't know what he is chasing...

Perhaps because someone helped him take the blame and was contaminated by the rules of death, the death process on this small island was significantly accelerated.

Like a machine running, it continues to move towards Hattori's death.

If what he saw was correct, Hattori should be the last one in line, after Naoko.

"call!"

Gao Mo quickly chased after him.

He wasn't entirely sure the rules of death remained unchanged.

Even though he had been dealing with death for so long, layers of sweat still appeared on his forehead.

It feels more tiring than facing the threat of death.

"Heiji!"

At the forest intersection, Kazuha finally caught up with Hattori. Before they could say a few words, they saw Hattori walking through the bushes towards a stone tomb.

There are some offerings in front of the tomb and incense sticks burning at the bottom.

"How could there be such a tomb in the wilderness?"

Hattori Heiji squatted in front of the grave in confusion and checked it around but didn't find any name engraved on it.

"Could this be the tomb of the mermaid?"

"careful!"

Suddenly, a shout rang out from behind. Before Hattori Heiji could react, he felt his grip loosen, and his body fell forward, tumbling out of the bushes along with the tumbling stone tablet.

The wide cliff valley finally came into view.

Hattori Heiji was horrified and couldn't keep his balance in such a hurry. His feet slipped and he completely lost his balance.

"Heiji!"

He Yefei rushed forward and grabbed Hattori's arm with both hands, but he couldn't pull it off at all. His petite body slid off the cliff and he could only grab a branch at the bottom of the cliff.

"He Ye..."

"Hold on to me!"

Even though she had practiced Aikido, Kazuha still couldn't bear the weight of Hattori Heiji. Fortunately, she endured the pain and held on to the branch tightly.

"Don't let go!"

"Idiot! Neither of us will survive this!"

Hattori Heiji could clearly feel Kazuha's condition.

One person cannot hold up the weight of two people for very long.

"He Ye you..."

"If you dare to let go, I will fall down with you!" He Ye's arms trembled.

"sand!"

At this moment, half of the bushes on the cliff suddenly poked out.

It was the short-haired girl the two had been looking for for a long time.

Hattori Heiji quickly called out: "Ms. Naoko, go get someone!"

The short-haired woman had a tense and gloomy face, as if she didn't hear the shouting. She looked at the mermaid's tomb beside her and her eyes fell on the dugong arrow dropped by Hattori.

"Ms. Naoko!"

Hattori shouted again, but he only saw the short-haired female ghost grabbing the edge of the cliff step by step as if possessed by a ghost.

"careful!"

"what--!"

Suddenly there was a scream in the valley.

Hattori Heiji's eyes narrowed, and he almost watched the short-haired girl fall from the other side.

A frightened face with wide eyes flashed by, and soon a loud noise came from the bottom of the valley.

what happened?

This sense of déjà vu...

This time he witnessed the death firsthand.

Hattori was sweating profusely.

It's as if an unknown hand is secretly manipulating everything.

Even he and He Ye were involved.

"Heiji, she..."

He Ye's fingers gripped tighter, but he couldn't stop the sweat from forming on his palms.

"Heiji!"

"brush!"

There was another movement above the cliff.

But this time it was a rope that was thrown down.

"Catch it quickly!" A hoarse voice sounded above his head.

Hattori came back to his senses from the death of the short-haired girl, tried to pull the rope, and found that it was firmly fixed.

"Hurry up!" the hoarse voice urged again.

Not caring who it was, Hattori shifted his weight to the rope, and his tense expression finally relaxed.

But the crisis has not been resolved.

"He Ye, hold on tight!"

Hattori Heiji pulled Kazuha in return, allowing her to stabilize herself by using the branches, and then he climbed up the rope himself.

By the time the two of them supported each other and returned to the top of the cliff, the owner of the hoarse voice had disappeared.

There was only a rope tied firmly to the big tree.

Hattori took a breath, still a little shocked.

"Who saved us?"

"I seem to see a fox mask." He Ye said uncertainly.

"It's him?"

Hattori's mind flashed with the image of Gao Mo wearing a fox mask, and he looked at the surrounding forest with a surprised expression.

The other party was indeed investigating.

Detective or...

(End of this chapter)