Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 154 Detective Kid
"What? We can't even move out before dawn?"

Maori Detective Agency.

The man with the mustache, who had originally planned to have a good time while Xiaolan was away, was now filled with anxiety.

"Inspector Megure, didn't you say that the Shadow Mage was going to kill someone, and that his target was those people in the chat room? If we don't hurry..."

"Calm down, Mori!"

"I am speaking to them at the police station," Megure replied.

"We've already sent people to check in the mountains. The suspension bridge leading to the villa is damaged, and climbing up another mountain path at night is too dangerous. We'll arrange for a helicopter to go there after dawn..."

"Isn't it the same now as it was in the past?"

"If I could get there now, I wouldn't be here calling you."

Megure looked outside, puzzled, as the wind and snow howled.

"Leaving aside the weather, low-altitude flights at night are also prone to crashing... In short, we will find a solution as soon as possible."

"Isn't there any way to contact them?" Conan interjected from the side. "At least let Ran and the others know what's going on."

“We tried, but the snow and wind got worse and worse in this area at night, and there was no other way to make contact.”

Megure pondered for a moment.

"Further investigation into that Shadow Mage revealed that the account belonged to an elderly man who had no connection to magic and had never been online... Someone had used his identity information to join the chat room."

"So, the Shadow Mage doesn't exist, and is just someone's alternate account in the chat room?" The man with the mustache couldn't sit still any longer. "Are you kidding me? The culprit is right next to Xiaolan..."

“That’s not all,” Megure said gravely. “There are still two people in that villa with unknown identities. One of them doesn’t even have any identity information. He appeared in the chat room like a ghost.”

"ghost?"

"It's the 'Shadow of Death' who only said one sentence from beginning to end!"

……

"call!"

A mountain villa shrouded in wind and snow.

Doi Takaki took a picture of the snow in the backyard, silently looked at Hamano's body lying alone in the wind and snow for a while, and then went into the villa's bathroom to check.

The bathroom window was broken, and shards of glass spilled into the bathtub. A crossbow bolt was stuck in the mirror on the wall.

After being attacked and murdered, Tanaka was somehow moved to Hamano in the middle of the snowfield; the suspension bridge was burned down; the telephone lines were cut...

There's also the Shadow Mage, the death of Harui Fuden, and the unreachable headmaster Nishiyama...

Doi Takaki scratched his head in anguish.

My mind is so confused.

It seems like they know everything, but they just can't see the truth.

A bunch of clues are mixed together, making it impossible to sort out a line of thought.

He is indeed better at creative art.

Why would a perfectly good phantom thief become a detective?
“Mr. Doi,” Gao Mo called out from the bathroom door, “I’ve told everyone to stay in the restaurant for now. If we’re lucky, we should be able to get some help by tomorrow.”

"sorry to bother you."

Doi Takaki nodded gently.

He had no other plans and came alone to attend a magic enthusiasts' gathering.

If there's absolutely no other way, we'll have to reveal our identities and leave by glider. We can then call the police to rescue these people.

“Actually, you’re the most dangerous one right now, Mr. Kuroba,” Doi Takaki said cautiously. “If I’m not mistaken, Chief Nishiyama may have already been murdered. The reason the murderer destroyed the suspension bridge and cut the telephone line was to deal with you after Hamano…”

As he spoke, Doi Takaki's expression became somewhat complicated.

"Actually, if you hadn't switched the draw, you would be the one lying in the backyard now."

Gao Mo didn't reply, but looked at the crossbow bolt on the bathroom mirror and asked, "Mr. Doito, who do you think the murderer is? Is it really that Shadow Mage?"

"Isn't that right?" Doi Takaki asked, his eyes filled with confusion.

“The core of magic is deception, performing the trick while diverting the audience’s attention,” Gao Mo reminded. “I wonder if the murderer also used this method, deliberately creating such a character.”

He seemed to be able to understand Kidd's current state.

Just like him before, he had clues, but lacked the reasoning ability to uncover the truth.

It seems everyone has their weaknesses, even a phantom thief like Kid is no exception.

"You mean the murderer is among us?" Doi Takaki's mind flashed with images of Tanaka and the others. "Who is it?"

"I can't say for sure, after all, I'm not a detective."

Gao Mo looked out through the broken glass of the bathroom.

"However, from my experience as a magician... it's really strange that Ms. Tanaka was attacked. How could someone who could kill Mr. Hamano without leaving a trace and create an impossible crime inexplicably shoot an arrow into Ms. Tanaka's room?"
The crucial point is that it didn't even hit the target... A good magician wouldn't make such a flawed design, especially since after Ms. Tanaka ran to the balcony, the other side shot an arrow towards the bathroom, it was practically like they were deliberately trying to lure us downstairs.

Is this the magician's experience?

Doi Takesuki felt a little confused.

"The problem is that everyone was inside when Ms. Tanaka was attacked..."

“What if the arrows weren’t shot from outside?” Gao Mo interrupted, “Was it only Miss Tanaka who saw someone in the woods?”

"Haha, are you saying that Ms. Tanaka staged this herself?" Doi Takaki shook his head and laughed, "Ms. Tanaka couldn't possibly have killed someone..."

"You are very familiar with Ms. Tanaka?"

"Well... I only found out by chance. Ms. Tanaka is actually the granddaughter of Harui Kaze. She is very talented and loves magic. She would never use magic to kill someone..." Doi Takuki's voice grew weaker and weaker.

"I didn't say it must be Ms. Tanaka. It's also possible that Ms. Tanaka was being used by someone."

Gao Mo turned and left the bathroom.

"Someone may have set up a trap on Ms. Tanaka's balcony... The bathroom is right above Ms. Tanaka's balcony. I went out to check just now, and there were still staples left. Anyway, if it were me, it would be easy to set one up."

Doi Takki looked grim.

The previously stalled line of thought suddenly found its direction, with all clues pointing to Tanaka Takahisa.

No matter how much he denied it, in the end, Tanaka Kikue was the most suspicious one.

Fortunately, there's no evidence, but without evidence, there are other possibilities...

“I’m going to go check out the woods in the backyard,” Gao Mo suddenly stopped and said. “Although it was used for murder, the magic tricks they performed were really impressive. I want to know what techniques they used.”

"Are you crazy?" Doi Takaki's eyes widened. "Even if the criminal is among us, you alone..."

"You guys should be fine with me, right?"

"But……"

“That’s it,” Gao Mo stopped Doi Takaki, who was about to speak, looked at the corridor outside, and said in a low voice, “I can tell that you are actually a detective or a police officer, right?”
"I'm a magician too, and I can't stand seeing people kill with magic. If possible, let me help you lure the culprit out; waiting like this isn't a solution."

"Uh." Doi Takaki reacted with a slight surprise.

Oh no, he's overacting a bit; it's not befitting his current role.

"You actually figured it out... That's right, I'm a detective."

Doi Takaki shamelessly admitted it, cleared his throat, and immediately adopted a detective's stance.

"From now on, Mr. Kuroba, you will stay by my side. I can protect your safety... and by the way, as you said, I will test the murderer."

"Actually, I already had a clue that there were no footprints around Mr. Hamano's body, and I also needed to go into the woods to confirm it." "You already know the method of the crime?" Gao Mo asked in surprise.

“Yes,” Doi Takuki said confidently, “I’m a detective, how could a little trick possibly fool me? I figured it out after Ms. Tanaka was attacked. The other party used archery to set up the props… I’ll tell you the details later.”

"I'm ashamed to say that even I, a professional magician, couldn't figure out what the technique was."

"It's nothing. Detectives are just picking up scraps from other people's work; they're far inferior to creative magicians."

Villa restaurant.

Doi Takaki and Gao Mo returned to the group together.

Huang Yi was still discussing the Shadow Mage.

“I should never have held this gathering,” Aragaki sighed. “It was supposed to clear up a misunderstanding, but it ended up being used by Shadow Mage to commit murder.”

"It's still not certain whether the Shadow Mage is the murderer."

"Didn't that guy say something like 'I can fly across the sky and disappear without a trace' in the chat room? Performing magic tricks with Mr. Hamano's corpse... it must be that guy!"

Tanaka's face still showed anger.

"Are we really going to keep waiting like this? What if the police don't find this place?"

She knew, of course, that the police would come during the day, and she deliberately left a message after killing the chief of the department, Nishiyama, to avoid being trapped and dying in the villa in the end.

The original plan was to deal with Hamano and Kuroba at the same time, which would have been more than enough time in one night, but the plan went wrong right from the start.

Kuroba is actually a magician, and I don't know how he switched the notes.

Unlike dealing with Hamano, Kuroba was like a poison, impossible to find an opportunity to strike.

Now they're even more restricted to the restaurant, unable to do anything they want.

There's only one night to kill "Kuroba Rokuro," and if it drags on until the police arrive tomorrow, the things she left in the woods won't be able to be destroyed.

We need to think of something...

“Mr. Kuroba and I are going to check out the woods in the backyard,” Doi Takaki said. “You guys should stay here and not go anywhere, especially Ms. Tanaka. The killer’s target might be you…”

"No, I want to go too!"

Tanaka slammed his hand on the table and left his seat.

"I can't take it anymore! I'd rather die than stay here! Why are so many of us avoiding him? He's the one who should be avoiding him! I want to see who he is!"

Before he could finish speaking, Tanaka rushed out the back door.

"Ms. Tanaka!"

Huang Yi and the others were shocked and tried to stop them, but it was too late.

"Going outside at this time..."

"It's you, Shadow Mage?" Tanaka ignored everyone and ran around the snowy backyard into the woods. "Get out here! What kind of bullshit reason for killing us? We didn't offend you!"

"what!"

When the group chased into the woods, Tanaka cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

Doi Takaki's face grew even uglier. Looking at Tanaka, who was being helped up by Ara Yoshinori, his mood sank deeper and deeper. He silently stared at Tanaka's tall leather boots.

“Ms. Tanaka,” Araki said nervously, glancing around, “you’ve been too reckless, running out like that all of a sudden…”

"You weren't the one attacked by that guy, so of course you don't understand how I feel!"

Tanaka grumbled and slapped the fine snow off his body.

"I can't forgive that guy no matter what..."

"Whom is it that cannot be forgiven?"

Doi Takaki closed his eyes, struggled for a moment, and then clenched his fists again.

“Ms. Tanaka, I know that Harui Fuden is actually a deception of the boy. We had private contact before, so we were pen pals.”

I came to check it out because it was strange that the deceased Deceitful Child was active in the chat room again..."

"Is Harui Fuden a deception of children?"

While still wary of his surroundings, Huang Yi turned around in surprise.

"What do you mean? Tanaka, she..."

"Tanaka Takahisa is the name of Harui Fuden's granddaughter."

Doi Takaki reopened his eyes and stared directly into the field.

"Your grandfather loved magic so much, but you... you actually took your anger out on the other people in the chat room because of a magic accident! You even risked someone's life to perform magic!"

"Wait a minute, why are you talking as if I'm the murderer?" Tanaka frowned. "I am indeed Harui Kaze's granddaughter, but so what?"

I was just using my grandfather's account, and he was already using my personal information to access the internet.

“No wonder,” Araki said suddenly, “I was wondering why the boy’s chats have been so strange lately… Are you trying to get revenge for Harui Fuden?”

"Please, my grandfather died accidentally while performing magic, what revenge do I have to take?" Tanaka said angrily. "Besides, I was attacked too, wasn't I?"

"For a magician, faking an attack is the easiest thing in the world."

Doi Takaki felt heartbroken and wanted to stop there, but looking at the innocent Gao Mo beside him, he couldn't convince himself to run away and could only grit his teeth and continue reasoning.

The police don't know when they will arrive.

He couldn't let Tanaka continue killing.

"The arrow in the bathroom must have hit the mirror beforehand. The sound we heard was just the window breaking, and the same thing happened to the balcony window in your room... The arrow that attacked you was probably shot from your room, right?"

Doi Takaki's voice was stern.

"The crossbow bolts should be hidden somewhere in the room. The reason you broke the bathroom window was to retrieve the props set up on the balcony while we went to check the situation..."

The reason I did all this was, of course, to clear you of suspicion... but unfortunately, it only proves that you are the murderer!

"And the magic trick Mr. Hamano performed before, I think that was your idea, the purpose of which was to assign himself the task of boiling water so that he could kill someone. You also designed the two punishment tasks, didn't you? You used magic to create opportunities for yourself to kill people. How can you face your deceased grandfather?"

"I……"

Tanaka's face was grim, and he glanced at Gao Mo with cold sweat on his face.

Her magic was perfect; the only exception was Gao Mo, who was also a magician.

At that time, it was because Gao Mo was a magician that they thought of making the first move...

"Enough already?" Tanaka coldly crossed his arms. "You're not my grandfather, what right do you have to lecture me? Besides, where's the evidence? You need to have evidence to back up your claims! What makes you think I'm the murderer?"

"Of course there is evidence."

Doi Takaki recalled Harui Kaze's graceful figure and felt a pang of regret.

Harui Fuden can be considered one of his magic mentors. After meeting in the chat room, they exchanged a lot of magic knowledge and became close friends despite their age difference.

"Buzz!"

While deducing the reasoning, Doi Takuki suddenly paused, feeling a faint vibration from his communicator.

The old man came over.

"Young Master, the police have noticed you. Evacuate as soon as possible... Also, one of you is hiding his identity just like you..."

(End of this chapter)