Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 222 The Great Detective is Here

"Eryuan!"

"Mr. Eryuan!"

Fine snow drifted in the mountain forest as the group of people with mustache shouted in the biting cold wind. When they passed through a valley, Saburo, who was with Granny Yuasa, suddenly barked and rushed out first.

"Saburo?"

"Hurry up and keep up! It must have found something!"

The man with the mustache was the quickest to react, immediately following behind Saburo. However, when he spotted the long-faced reporter standing stiffly under the big tree in the ravine, he felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water.

Perhaps due to the blizzard and the fact that the body was backed by a large tree, there wasn't much snow covering it, so the lingering look of shock on the corpse's face was clearly visible.

"It's hopeless. He didn't freeze to death; he was beaten to death."

The man with the mustache quickly checked the condition of the body.

"The fatal wound was to the head, and the murder weapon was likely a wooden stick found nearby. He was beaten to death relentlessly..."

"Jiagui!"

"do not come!"

The man with the mustache stopped the short-haired woman who was making a scene, and looked around at everyone with a serious expression.

"This is no longer a simple accident, but a murder, and the murderer is very likely among us."

"Who...who are you?" The long-haired woman's voice trembled. "Why do you suspect us? Er Yuan is our friend..."

"Didn't Ran tell you?" The man with the mustache asked sharply. "I am the famous detective Kogoro Mouri, and I used to be a detective in the Metropolitan Police Department. In my experience, the possibility of someone known to the victim committing the crime is very high."

"Are you Kogoro Mouri? That great detective?"

Exclamations of surprise rippled through the snow, and even the usually expressionless old woman, Yuasa, looked astonished.

"How did the famous detective end up here?"

"Don't overthink it, it's just a coincidence," the man with the mustache cleared his throat, finally finding his purpose. "Anyway, we'll preserve the scene as much as possible before the police arrive."

"Can't you find the murderer?" the long-haired woman asked anxiously. "Ayako and I could never have killed Futagaki!"

“The killer’s footprints have long been covered by the snow,” the man with the mustache said in a deep voice. “The only direction of the investigation now is that there may be bloodstains on the killer’s clothes. Your clothes are still here from last night until now, so we can wait for the police to come and conduct a preliminary investigation…”

Furthermore, it is believed that Mr. Nigaki was murdered during the day. Although his body was frozen stiff, making it difficult to determine the time of death, he was wearing goggles, indicating that he was killed while it was still bright before the blizzard.
Because it's dangerous to move around in a blizzard with poor visibility while wearing goggles; no normal person would do that.

“I see,” the long-haired woman said, relieved. “Then it couldn’t have been me and Ayako. When we came out to look for Nigaki, it was already dark and a blizzard had started.”

"As expected of a famous detective, such amazing reasoning!"

"Humph."

The man with the mustache looked smug.

"This is nothing..."

Conan quietly slipped past the mustachioed man and ran to examine the body.

There was a lot of blood flowing from the temple, and it seemed that the murderer had moved the body after killing the victim.

Strangely, the bloodstains on the face showed signs of having been wiped away.

In addition, the goggles had been tampered with, and the strangest thing was the chocolate in his arms—if he remembered correctly, it was the chocolate that Gan Liya had made during her teaching session today, and it even had Yoshitaka Futagaki's name carved in butter on it.

Just as my uncle said, the murderer is most likely someone from the villa.

However, the estimated time of death is incorrect, and...

Conan pondered for a moment, then took out a handkerchief and reached for the chocolate on the corpse. The next moment, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his head, and a bright red bump quickly swelled up.

"boom!"

"You brat, I told you to keep the scene intact!!" The man with the mustache raised his iron fist, his face dark. "Xiao Lan, keep an eye on this guy!"

"gross profit!"

Gao Mo, with Xiao Ai in tow, caught up with the main group and immediately spotted the long-faced reporter lying dead in the snow.

My outfit was exactly the same as before I left home: a hat worn backwards, goggles, a camera hanging around my neck, and a hiking backpack on my back...

"What about those two?" The man with the mustache didn't stop Gao Mo from approaching to examine the body. "Mr. Eryuan seems to have been murdered yesterday while taking photos. Those two guys are very likely the killers!"

"You can't say things like that, Mr. Mori!"

A man with a round face and a thick beard walked into the mountain valley carrying a hunting rifle.

"Why would we kill this reporter for no reason? I was hoping he could find clues about the Japanese wolf."

"Why are you all alone?" the man with the mustache asked, puzzled. "Where did your friend go?"

“Him,” the bearded man pointed to the ravine above, “we found a cemetery over there, so we went to take a look. He said he saw suspicious animal footprints and is still investigating there.”

"Animal footprints?"

"That's right!"

His bushy beard and piercing gaze were intense.

"It might just be the Japanese wolf we've been looking for!"

"What Japanese wolf? I think those are just footprints left by Saburo," the mustachioed man scoffed. "The grave above must be the one the boss was visiting, right?"

“My husband’s grave is indeed over there,” Chiyoko Yuasa sighed. “I never expected Mr. Nigaki to be here.”

"Didn't you find anything when you came here to pay respects at the graves yesterday?" the man with the mustache pressed.

“No,” Chiyoko Yuasa shook her head. “You can’t see this side from the cemetery at all.”

At this time, Gao Mo had also collected all the information from the scene. After taking a series of photos, he checked the body's pockets and backpack.

The bearded man frowned and instinctively reached out to grab the hunting rifle.

"Did you find anything?" The man with the mustache tried to read Gao Mo's expression.

"This chocolate must have been made by you yesterday, right?" Gao Mo turned to look at the short-haired woman, Gan Liya.

“It seems so,” the long-haired woman frowned. “Almost exactly the same… Wait, you don’t suspect Ako, do you? Mr. Mori said that Nigaki was murdered during the day, and the chocolate was properly left in the kitchen when we left, right, Ran?”

“Yes,” Xiaolan nodded and looked at Yuanzi beside her, “We stayed in the kitchen afterwards.”

"But why is chocolate here?"

Sonoko hugged Ran's arm tightly.

"Could it be... the legendary Yuki-onna (snow woman)? Isn't it said that chocolates are always placed next to the bodies of the victims whenever it snows?"

“It should just be a coincidence,” the man with the mustache said, not taking it to heart. “Mr. Nigaki was undoubtedly murdered, and as for the chocolate… it has nothing to do with the murder.”

“Mori,” Gomer called over the man with the mustache, “the chocolate has melted edges, like it was bitten by something… could it have been brought here by some kind of animal?”

"Have it?"

The man with the mustache raised an eyebrow and examined the chocolate closely. "Really? Did Saburo sneak it over last night?"

“Impossible,” the long-haired woman denied. “Sanlang was kept in a cage all night.”

"Could it be a Japanese wolf?" The chubby-faced man with the bushy beard became increasingly excited. "In this kind of weather, it's normal for Japanese wolves to be looking for food everywhere..."

The man with the mustache squinted and retorted, "Then tell me, what do Japanese wolves eat?"

These people can't stop talking about Japanese wolves; they're hopeless.

"This……"

The chubby-faced man with the bushy beard couldn't answer for a moment, and seeing the suspicious looks on him, he quickly explained.

"Besides Japanese wolves, what other possibility is there? Brother Itakura and I never left the mountain villa after that. And if you don't believe me, you can go to the cemetery and see. There are really animal footprints there, left after the snow stopped. No matter how you look at it, it can't possibly be Saburo's footprints, right?"

The cemetery is not far from the valley, just above a clearing on a snow-covered slope.

As the group climbed the snow slope, they indeed saw the man with the horse-faced glasses carrying a hunting rifle, following the footprints.

In addition to three intact graves, there are also many damaged tombstones in the cemetery.

“This is my husband’s and his ex-wife’s grave,” Chiyoko Yuasa explained. “Next to it is the grave of the person who died with my husband four years ago…”

“This is my brother’s grave,” the short-haired woman said as she stepped forward to sweep the snow off the tombstone. “The other nameless gravestones of the victims in the forest are usually destroyed by animals because no one comes to pay their respects. So we built it next to our former boss’s grave because Granny Yuasa comes to pay her respects every day.”

“My husband used to come to sweep the grave every day before he passed away,” the old woman said, clearing the snow as she did so. “So now I’m used to bringing Sanlang here every day, because Sanlang almost always stays at the mountain resort. He only comes out with me when we go to the grave, and he’s always very happy to do so…”

Gao Mo noticed that the animal footprints the bearded man mentioned were mainly around the three graves. They could be identified as wolf footprints, but he could still tell they belonged to dogs because they were exactly the same as Sanlang's footprints.

It may seem unbelievable, but there is a dog here that is a clone of Saburo, and it will be replaced when Chiyoko Yuasa visits her grave.

Based on what we know so far, it seems that Chiyoko Yuasa is completely unaware of the situation.

Gao Mo's gaze swept over the mustachioed group and paused briefly on Conan, who was deep in thought.

This murder case is nothing special; there are many ways to find the short-haired woman, and the method is not sophisticated at all.

What Conan can't understand is the mystery of the chocolate and the hidden truth behind it, namely the incident that happened 4 years ago.

"call!"

Gao Mo continued to survey his surroundings in the gentle breeze.

He was able to determine that Xia Ye's body from four years ago was located in a snowy valley, but he didn't know the exact location.

Ideally, he should be able to find the location where the other party and the boss died, so that he can make accurate deductions.

The key clue is the videotape that the two hunters are looking for; the deceased Yoshiki Futagaki may have filmed something four years ago.

But he had already checked the backpack and the body.

The bag contained only unopened film and videotapes. The videotapes in the camcorder were unused, but the film in the camera had just run out...

It's obvious that the murderer tampered with things; the extra items were taken away or even thrown away somewhere.

The videotape from four years ago was very likely disposed of as well.

The two hunters searched the room thoroughly but couldn't find it, so it's highly likely that it was on the deceased's person.

Or perhaps the murderer hid it?

Gao Mo turned his gaze to the short-haired woman, Gan Liya.

Gan Liya, still wiping away tears in the wind, turned around sensitively and, seeing Gao Mo, asked in confusion, "Is this gentleman Detective Mouri's assistant?"

She felt that Gao Mo was always looking at her intentionally or unintentionally, starting yesterday, but it wasn't the kind of admiring look in his eyes.

We can't just assume she's the murderer.

Even the famous detective didn't suspect her...

"Can we put the matter of the Japanese wolves aside for now?" Gan Liya wiped away her tears. "Isn't finding the murderer of Jia Gui the most important thing right now?"

"Well," the man with the mustache said, slightly embarrassed, "the main problem is that we don't have any leads, and there's nothing I can do before the police arrive."

"Doesn't Jia Gui have a camera on him?" the long-haired woman added. "What if he took some pictures?"

“I know, but we have to wait for the forensic team to wash it…”

"You can leave the film developing to me; Futagaki always carries his developing equipment with him!"

"Brother, I'd love to see you!"

The horse-faced man with glasses returned empty-handed. Seeing the crowd in the cemetery, he quickly whispered to the fat-faced hunter about the situation.

"So? Did you find the videotape?"

“No way,” the chubby-faced bearded man said grimly, “that pretty boy took the backpack, and the videotape should be in there too…”

“We can’t let them hand it over to the police,” the horse-faced man frowned. “It would be troublesome if the police saw the contents of the videotape.”

“Don’t even mention the police, they seem to be planning to investigate right now,” the fat-faced bearded man said warily. “With a famous detective involved, they might discover the truth very soon.”

The horse-faced man's expression changed several times upon hearing this, finally gritting his teeth and saying, "Let's do it. Find a way to lure them down there and use an avalanche to solve all the problems at once..."

Gao Mo noticed the two hunters acting suspiciously.

Besides the videotape, the two men probably also knew the location where the short-haired woman's brother died.

"Everyone," the horse-faced man called out to the group who were about to return to the manor, "When I was chasing the Japanese wolf just now, I saw a strange man in the forest. I thought it was a bear and almost shot him... Could that guy be a murderer?"

"A strange man?" The long-haired woman stopped in her tracks, as if she had become a different person, and rushed towards the horse-faced man. "It's Xia Ye! It must be Xia Ye, he's still alive! Take me to him quickly..."

“Sister Shiguo,” the short-haired woman bit her lip, “It’s impossible. My brother is dead. He died in the avalanche four years ago along with his former boss!”

"But the body hasn't been found, has it?" the long-haired woman exclaimed excitedly. "Perhaps there's been a mistake, and Xia wasn't caught in the avalanche, perhaps..."

"My brother can't possibly still be alive! Because..."

"Anyway, let's catch that guy first," the horse-faced man frowned, interrupting the two women who were reacting strongly. "We'll find out what's going on by asking him, before he leaves."

“That makes sense,” the man with the mustache nodded, but he didn’t order everyone to act together. He turned to Gao Mo, watching the horse-faced man’s ugly expression. “Kichido, you take the others back to the manor first. We’ll talk about the rest when we get back.”

The horse-faced man and the fat-faced man with a thick beard stared at each other again, feeling an indescribable discomfort.

As expected of a famous detective, he's already starting to suspect the two of them?

If they act separately, they won't be able to make a move easily.

"Honestly, wouldn't it be better to just come along obediently?" The horse-faced man pointed his gun at the mustachioed man. "Sorry, great detective, this is the only way I can ask you to come."

"you……"

The man with the mustache narrowed his eyes sharply. Before he could say anything, he saw the fat-faced man with the bushy beard also take down his hunting rifle, pointing the muzzle at Xiaolan and Yuanzi.

"Hurry up," the horse-faced man urged, "Everyone, get to the front with this detective. Don't try anything funny, bullets don't have eyes!"

The man with the mustache was sweating profusely. With two hunting rifles and so many people being held hostage, he racked his brains but couldn't come up with a solution.

(End of this chapter)