Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 228 The Murder Case Involving Black Magic 2
monitoring room.

After Hattori Heiji made a phone call to his father's subordinate, the once arrogant and muddle-headed police officer's eyes cleared up considerably, and he stood obediently to the side like a lackey.

“Indeed, there is a clear video. Apart from Ms. Xingzi leaving for 5 minutes, everyone else only went out for one or two minutes.”

Heiji Hattori was even more troubled after reviewing the surveillance footage.

This only further confirms everyone's alibi.

"The only possible culprit is Miss Xingzi. Five minutes is enough time to make a round trip if we act quickly. If Mr. Jiuyao was murdered before midnight..."

“Don’t joke around,” the blond man said angrily. “Miss Hoshiko went to the kitchen to make tea. How could she have time to do anything else? Besides, the lights go out at 12 o’clock between ceremonies. Miss Hoshiko was in the kitchen at that time. I can vouch for her.”

"That's what I said..."

Heiji Hattori felt like he had entered a maze, as if there were traps everywhere.

It was as if a dark shadow was looking down from above and sneering – this murder case was no ordinary one; the perpetrator's methods were quite sophisticated, professional, and cunning, and it seemed that he had anticipated his arrival from the very beginning.

It felt like entering a giant spider web trap.

Wait, this case...

Hattori Heiji's gaze narrowed.

He finally realized what was wrong.

This meticulously planned, subtly beautifying crime, artistic criminal method... is it the work of that hellish puppeteer, Takato Yoichi?
Hattori Heiji turned around sharply, searching for Gao Mo's masked figure.

Why did it take him so long to realize this?
No wonder it felt so familiar.

Where is Mr. Black Melon?

"It seems like we went to that ritual room."

"Between the rituals?"

Hattori Heiji was startled.

Is it an attempt to destroy evidence?

"Kazuha, you stay here and keep watch!"

"Huh? Heiji!"

The old Western-style house seemed to be filled with an ominous atmosphere.

Gao Mo picked up the tea brought by the maid and sat leisurely at the magic table, with a floor lamp emitting a faint glow in front of him.

Police have taken away the body of Huo Si Jiu Yao and have also begun searching for suspicious individuals—it seems more likely that an outsider committed the crime.

Of course, the members of the Fire Sacrifice family were not cleared of suspicion, and all of them were restricted to moving around in the Grape House.

"Mr. Black Melon!"

Heiji Hattori arrived at the ceremony room slightly out of breath and found Gao Mo waiting for someone, his expression full of apprehension.

"You are……"

"Do you think Huosi Xingzi is the murderer?" Gao Mo asked in return.

“Well,” Hattori replied with a suspicious look, “if there are no external accomplices, then the most suspicious person right now is Hoshiko Hijiri. During the tea party, everyone else only left the living room for a maximum of 2 minutes, but she was gone for 5 minutes. And she also had a way of preparing the tea in advance…”

“At your speed, five minutes might have been enough to make the round trip, but when Hoshiko returned to the living room, she wasn’t out of breath or sweating,” Gao Mo glanced at Hattori, who was still panting. “Is she even more capable than you?”

"Then what other possibilities do you think there are?" Hattori Heiji was slightly annoyed, feeling deliberately provoked. "Is there anyone else in this villa? If it were an outsider committing the crime, there would be no need for all this trouble!"

There were indeed other people in the villa.

Gao Mo thought of the hidden Gao Yuanyao, but didn't say anything more.

“Have you ever considered the possibility that the murderer killed Huosi Jiuyao before 12 o’clock and only came here to set up the scene after the tea party ended?”

“It makes sense that the Nine Luminaries of the Fire Ritual were murdered before midnight,” Hattori retorted, frowning, unsure of what the masked man was up to. “But the surveillance footage clearly shows the windows in the ceremony room. The lights went out between 12:12 and 12:11, and then remained on. It couldn’t have been set up after the tea party, and…”

Hattori fell silent.

What he doesn't quite understand is why the lights-out time is 12 o'clock.

Even if there were a way to complete the procedure within 5 minutes, turning off the lights at midnight would still be a big problem.

"You probably didn't check this room carefully enough, did you?" Gao Mo reminded him. "Didn't you notice anything wrong with the wall clock?"

"A wall clock?" Hattori shifted his gaze, looking at the ringing clock with suspicion. "It's more than 10 minutes slow... It's not a wind-up one, it's electric?"

Hattori's mind went blank when he found the socket in the corner that was blocked by the wall clock.

“If it’s not just unplugging the floor lamp, but a complete power outage in the room… that can be done from the main building; the circuit breaker seems to be in the kitchen…” Hattori Heiji turned to Gao Mo with a puzzled expression.

The person suspected of being behind the scenes helps him deduce what kind of conspiracy or trap there is.

“If it was through the power switch, then everything makes sense. But that makes Hoshiko even more suspicious. Only she and the programmer arrived at the living room after midnight, and she happened to be coming out of the kitchen at that time…”

"Didn't I say she couldn't set up the scene in 5 minutes?"

Gao Mo crossed his fingers.

"Furthermore, the cursed doll has a distinct vanilla scent, and she's the only one who tends the garden herbs. If the police use sniffer dogs, they might find it on her... Do you think the killer would make such a simple mistake?"

Heiji Hattori became increasingly confused.

It's like a trap, but it's not quite a trap either.

"What exactly do you mean? Maybe you were just careless?"

“She’s just a puppet,” Gao Mo said, ignoring Hattori Heiji’s probing gaze. “A pathetic scapegoat who will most likely end up committing suicide to atone for her sins after the next person dies… and you, the high school detective, are the catalyst.”

"What?" Hattori Heiji's eyebrows twitched.

"The murderer will gradually provide you with clues and pin all the crimes on Hoshiko."

"You're the one who gave me the clue, so are you the murderer?"

Hattori Heiji sneered and stared directly at Gao Mo.

"What exactly do you want? Hell Puppet Master—Takato Yoichi! What's your purpose in telling me all this on purpose?"

"I'm not the Hell Puppet Master you're talking about; I just want to tell you the truth."

Gao Mo's eyes were calm.

"Think carefully, who said that Hoshiko was in the kitchen at 12 o'clock?"

"That programmer?" Hattori Heiji's mind conjured up the image of the handsome, golden-haired man protecting Hoshiko.

From the moment he arrived here, the blond handsome guy seemed to have a crush on Hoshiko, always following her around, barely noticeable... Could he actually be the hidden culprit?

"But what about his alibi? If it weren't during lights-out time, there would be no way to set up the scene."

Hattori Heiji pointed to the carpet and floor lamp.

"The floor lamp's power cord was sewn into the middle of the carpet, with no signs of removal, and it had been threaded under the outer edge of the carpet before the incident—the carpet was cut in three places in the middle, so it would have been impossible to pull it out without unplugging it..."

"Impossible? Have you ever seen magic? Magic tricks that seem unbelievable are actually very simple when viewed from a different angle."

Gao Mo got up and walked out of the ceremony room.

"The murderer deliberately staged the scene by taking advantage of the impossibility of common sense. The so-called curse killing was just a cover to make outsiders have a preconceived notion."

"What kind of magic trick?" Hattori Heiji tried to stop Gao Mo. "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm just an actor who happened to be passing by, an actor invited by Gao Yuanyao."

Gao Mo easily avoided Hattori.

"Hurry up, the next victim is that President Xiao. The culprit will make his move as soon as the police finish their preliminary investigation... With so many clues, solving the case should be easy for you."

Preventing crime won't save Kakeru Hijiri's life, but his goal is simply to thwart Takato Yoichi's plan.

It's not safe to make Gao Yuanyao a Death Agent yet.

It's best to keep him hanging in the air as long as possible, to restrain death and buy yourself more time.

As for whether the Grim Reaper will give up on Takato Yoichi and choose another candidate... it's unlikely in the short term.

In his premonition, Takato Yoichi was bound to become the agent, and it was impossible for him to change him so easily.

“By the way,” Gao Mo paused slightly, “your father has such a wide network of connections, why not investigate what happened to the Huo Si family 10 years ago?”
And then there's that genius programmer, Gao Yuanyao. He sees crime as art and justice, and his deep-seated obsession with revenge inevitably influences his choice of puppets.

"call!"

Hattori Heiji's breathing quickened as he watched Gao Mo disappear into the end of the corridor.

"Just who is this guy?"

They seemed to know Gao Yuanyaoyi very well, even with a hint of scrutiny.

actor?

(End of this chapter)