Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 134 Find the Murderer of My Brother
"Crack!"

Before Gao Mo could say anything, the red-faced, high-nosed Tengu mask fell to the ground and cracked in two with a crisp sound.

"What happened?" Kuan Nian, the eldest disciple, rushed over in a panic after hearing the commotion outside, but could not see the situation inside the toilet.

"Uh, it's nothing, the cat just got its tail stepped on."

Gao Mo hid the two halves of the mask he had picked up behind his back and moved his feet with his back to Kuan Nian.

Dr. Agasa, who had come running up panting, looked at Gao Mo with a puzzled expression and asked Ai with concern, "Are you really alright?"

"Ah."

Ai and the black cat nodded repeatedly, pretending not to see Gao Mo's little tricks.

The person and the cat were still in shock.

Compared to the demise of the real Tengu, the fact that the mask cracked is really insignificant.

Unfortunately, even Gao Mo himself didn't know the truth.

I don't know how to tell Gao Mo.

"what?"

Gao Mo leaned against the wall and looked at the doctor and the others.

The projected faint light reappeared at some point.

Dr. Agasa's mission is to "bring Amo and Ai home safely."

Kuan Nian's motto is "Attract business and revitalize the mountain temple."

Ai-chan – [Should we tell Amo about eating ghosts?]

Black cat — [Meow meow meow].

? ?
What kind of ghost eats?
“Brother Kuan Nian,” the short Xiu Nian called out, “dinner is ready.”

Xiu Nian – [Find the truth behind her brother's death].

Dining hall.

Monk Tianyong and two other monks sat on the ground.

Everyone has their own small dining table, and the meals have already been allocated.

The dishes were all simple vegetarian fare, and there was even a small dish of natto—local food that Gao Mo really didn't like.

The tofu soup tasted pretty good, so I'd give it a positive review.

“Actually, people have a lot of misunderstandings about us,” Kuan Nian and the others said in a harmonious atmosphere. “Monks also have holidays. We go to the beach during our holidays, and our master likes to stare at bikini-clad women…”

"Shut up!" the old monk snapped, annoyed and embarrassed.

Gao Mo stared at the monks in the temple and quietly took a sip of soup.

Tun Nian — [eating].

Mu Nian – [Repair the roof].

Abbot Ten'ei – [Making money through the legend of the Tengu] and [Finding a way to resolve Xiu Nian by faking an accident].

The projected text has stabilized and has not changed since.

This old monk actually wanted to kill Xiu Nian.

The human heart is the real monster, far more terrifying than any ethereal spirit or deity.

【Extraction】

Find the murderer who killed my brother.

Gao Mo glanced at the absent-minded little monk Xiu Nian.

This task doesn't seem too difficult.

However, two years is a long time, and it is practically impossible for any evidence to remain.

Dinner didn't last long. Gao Mo used the excuse of wandering around to revisit the entire temple. In the end, he was only unable to visit the locked room below the waterfall.

"You wanted to see me?" The young monk Xiu Nian came to Gao Mo alone.

"Could you tell me more about what happened two years ago?" Gao Mo asked the little monk, using the sound of the waterfall as cover. "The others seem to be very reluctant to talk about it."

Xiu Nian hesitated: "But..."

“Even if you don’t tell me, I already know a little. You came here to cultivate because of what happened two years ago, right?” Gao Mo said calmly. “I heard you only came a year ago, but today you went to the forest to offer sacrifices… If I’m not mistaken, there was a murder at the temple two years ago.” “Ah?” The young monk Xiu Nian looked up in surprise. “How did you know?”

"Two years ago, the legend of the Fog Tengu made tourists afraid to come here... I think it was because the Fog Tengu killed someone. If it weren't for the murder, business here wouldn't be so bad."

Gao Mo chuckled.

"I run a detective agency in Tokyo and know a lot of detectives and police officers. I can help you."

The young monk was surprised and a little flustered: "Help me with what?"

"Don't you want to know the truth?" Gao Mo asked, observing the little monk's subtle expressions. "Perhaps I know who the murderer is."

The young monk shuddered, his eyes trembling as he lowered his head.

"I... I don't actually know much either. Two years ago, a monk hanged himself in this meditation room. Because there was absolutely no possibility of homicide, the police could only close the case as a suicide."

After word got out, many people said it was the Tengu who killed him—because even suicide seemed incredibly unlikely.

As he spoke, the little monk pointed to the locked room behind Gao Mo.

"This is the meditation room. I heard it was originally a place where monks who made mistakes were punished and imprisoned. The beams inside are very high, and the only window is upstairs by the waterfall. When everyone found him, the monk was hanging high on the beam, as if he had been hung up by a tengu."

Furthermore, a large hole appeared in the wall of the training room overnight, and everyone said it was the work of the Mist Tengu.

"You should have found out it wasn't suicide, right?" Gao Mo continued to observe the young monk. "You kept peeking at the others while we were eating, and you were also subtly testing your senior brother when you were showing us around... You suspect the murderer is among them?"

Xiu Nian's eyes narrowed sharply as she looked at Gao Mo with a hint of fear, feeling as if she had no secrets at all.

"I... I just don't understand. How can they act like nothing happened when one of their fellow disciples died two years ago? And they're so scared every time it's mentioned... Don't they know whether or not there's a Tengu?"
"It is truly tragic that the dead are also forgotten by those around them."

The young monk couldn't hold back his tears.

"I have indeed been investigating for the past year... Even if someone wanted to commit suicide, why would they go to such lengths to climb up to the height of the meditation room to hang themselves? Not to mention the great effort required to break down the wall... Let alone how much time it would take, it's impossible for everyone not to hear the noise at all."

Unfortunately, we haven't found anything. My master and fellow disciples refuse to talk about it, and two years have passed with virtually no evidence. Even if we know it wasn't suicide, what's the use? I don't even know who the murderer is..."

“If you just want to find the murderer, it’s not difficult,” Gao Mo could sense that the little monk was still hiding something, “provided you can trust me.”

"you……"

Xiu Nian's eyes flickered.

"Are you really a detective?"

"Does it matter whether I'm a detective or not?" Gao Mo turned to observe the walls of the meditation room, which had clearly been repaired.

With a gentle push of his fingers, he removed the large lock from Xiu Nian's bewildered sight.

Enter the meditation room.

The interior is indeed very tall, spanning two floors, and the walls are covered with tung oil.

A cherry blossom petal drifted in through a small window next to the beam.

Gao Mo's eyes gleamed as he gathered clues, and then he and Xiu Nian climbed the stairs to the waterfall viewing platform.

The clues weren't complete yet, but he had roughly figured out the modus operandi.

After all, it's such a small place; excluding other interfering factors, there are no other possibilities left.

"Crack!"

Gao Mo carefully lifted the wooden lattice panel covered with flowing water and flower petals, revealing old cutting marks underneath, and finally understood the case from two years ago.

My level 4 deduction skill is still a long way from being a true master.

But his extraordinary ability to collect clues, coupled with the four top talents of "photographic memory", "logical reasoning", "flash of inspiration" and "mental palace", makes him even more remarkable.

This kind of trickery involving a fixed location is relatively easy to crack.

"Wow!"

"Did you..."

The water flow continues.

Xiu Nian stared wide-eyed at Gao Mo's calm figure.

It took him more than half a year to finally figure out the killer's method of murder.

So the person in front of me seemed to know after just a few glances?

(End of this chapter)