Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 229 The Murder Case Involving Black Magic 3
2nd floor of the villa.

Gao Yuanyao tapped the table lightly with one finger, calmly meeting Gao Mo's gaze.

The crime plan was progressing fairly smoothly, the only flaw being this dramatic stand-in.

While her acting skills are good, her desire for self-expression is excessively strong.

No wonder he's not very famous—if he were a director, he wouldn't like someone like that either.

"Your mission is now complete; any further performances are invalid."

Gao Yuanyao took out the final payment envelope.

"Once the police leave, just leave."

His perfect crime cannot be compromised, and the stand-in in front of him is precisely the one who could ruin things.

He just received news that the Metropolitan Police Department might come to investigate, so having a stand-in to distract the police and divert the investigation's focus was a good idea.

This also makes it easier for the puppet to commit crimes.

This is the only value a stand-in has.

"I've already booked a taxi for you, and you also have a Shinkansen ticket. Get back to Tokyo as soon as possible."

"No problem, I'm tired too. Let's meet again next time."

Gao Mo calmly accepted the envelope, gave Gao Yuanyao a deep look, and then turned and walked out of the room.

The subsequent script arranged for him to remove his mask in public and prepare a number of testimonies that were detrimental to Huosi Xingzi.

It seems that Takato Yoichi is indeed dissatisfied with his unauthorized actions.

"Boom!"

The once clear sky was suddenly covered with dark clouds, and thunder rumbled, as if a heavy rain was about to fall.

Gao Yuanyao turned away with a cold expression: "See you again? Never again. Farewell, substitute. With such a performance, your life's end is spectacular enough."

I'm sure the police's expressions will be priceless when they finally find the body of the body double after their relentless investigation.

"But I really didn't expect there to be an actor who looks so much like me."

Takato Yoichi still felt regret.

He also wanted to reuse excellent dolls.

"It's about time I left. The seeds have been sown, and the puppets are enough to complete the rest of the artistic crimes..."

"Ok?"

Gao Yuanyao suddenly frowned.

Through the room window, you can see Hattori Heiji finding Hijiri Hoshiko in the courtyard and catching her red-handed, witnessing her setting up the cursed dolls.

"That idiot, he exposed himself so easily."

Gao Yuanyao remained calm and looked towards the courtyard.

The fire spirit, surrounded by fragrant herbs, looked ugly, completely lost its composure, and was dumbfounded.

They were just scapegoats anyway, so it doesn't matter if they get caught red-handed.

But it was precisely at this moment that we wondered if the other puppet had completed its mission.

Gao Yuanyao regretted sending the stand-in away too early.

He couldn't personally get involved at this point.

and……

A sense of unease welled up in Gao Yuanyao's heart.

Because of the trees in the courtyard, Hattori Heiji's expression was not visible, but Hoshiko's expression was clearly visible.

From panic to astonishment to disbelief, and finally to anger and confusion.

Something is wrong, very wrong.

Did this Osaka detective uncover the truth?
Gao Yuanyao paced back and forth.

The reason for bringing in Heiji Hattori is that he understands the situation well enough to make targeted plans.

But now it seems something unexpected has happened.

Upon noticing the police returning to the villa, Gao Yuanyao completely lost his composure, his previously confident face becoming slightly distorted.

With his exceptionally high intelligence, even though he didn't know what was going on, he still deduced that the plan had failed.

Someone disrupted his plans.

Even if the puppet manages to kill President Kaji Akatsuki in time, the plan will no longer be perfect.

"What went wrong?"

After seeing Huo Sixiao and the genius programmer being taken away from the private room in the ceremony room by the police, Gao Yuanyao took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

It was a failure. Not just an imperfection, but a complete and utter failure!
……

living room.

The group of people in the villa reunited, including the handsome blond man who was handcuffed and remained silent with his head down.

This genius programmer was also completely bewildered. He was clearly committing the crime according to plan, but he didn't know what happened. He was caught red-handed just as he was about to do it.

"I don't understand, my alibi should be sufficient."

"Of course it's sufficient, because the crime didn't happen during the tea party at all."

Heiji Hattori, facing everyone's gaze, got straight to the point.

"The killing of Huo Si Jiu Yao actually occurred before 12 o'clock, but the arrangement of the hanging took place after the tea party ended."

"what?"

Not only the members of the Fire Sacrifice family, but the police were also completely bewildered.

"But the lights-out time is from 12:00 to 12:11, and the magic lamp stays on after that!"

"Right, how could the murderer have arranged this after the tea party?"

Koizumi Akako, who wasn't in a good mood, looked up at Hattori Heiji.

Just now, while investigating the reason for the disappearance of the evil spirit, the last prop she had—the bone chain used to cast spells—also cracked.

Another 20 dead souls were lost, leaving them completely drained.

Now, despite possessing immense magical power, she is no different from an ordinary person and dares not act rashly anymore. She can only try her best to appear harmless.

As for why...

She suspected that someone was targeting her.

She used to believe that this world belonged to ordinary people and that only she possessed extraordinary powers.

And that is indeed the case; even the magic tricks used by Kaito Kuroba were nothing more than deception.

However, her magic is real, and the power she inherited has surpassed the world's conventional wisdom. If it weren't for the ancestral restrictions that required her to hide her identity, it wouldn't be impossible for her to become a queen in a small country.

Now she seems to understand why the ancestral precepts exist—it's not just because she's worried about being purged like the witches in history, but also because there are other extraordinary beings in this world.

"Strange, where is that dark magician?"

Koizumi Akako sat upright like a mature woman, glancing subconsciously to the left and right, only to find that one person was missing.

"No way? Could black magic really be real?"

“Of course the black magic is fake,” Hattori Heiji said, giving Koizumi Akako a strange look before continuing, “If you look closely at the surveillance footage, you’ll see that the lights flickered repeatedly after the tea party. To my shame, because I was thinking about black magic, I was also misled by the culprit and didn’t think of any magic tricks.”

"Magic trick?"

"That's right, the murderer didn't unplug the magic lamp at all. Instead, they set a preconceived psychological trap for us, making us think that the lights went out because the plug was unplugged!"

Hattori Heiji played the copied surveillance footage for everyone, and couldn't help but think of "Black Melon Ghost Gate" again.

Even after the real culprit was caught, he still didn't quite understand the purpose of "Black Melon Ghost Gate".

"Mr. Black Melon saw through this from the beginning, and it was only after his reminder that I..."

"Impossible!" the blond hottie reacted vehemently. "How could he possibly warn you? Absolutely impossible!"

Huo Sixingzi looked bewildered.

Why such a big reaction?
"What exactly happened with Teacher Black Melon? He said he could kill people with curses, and he even killed the Fire Sacrifice Azure Dragon for me for free..."

"What curse? He designed the entire murder method!"

The blond heartthrob felt deceived and betrayed, and struggled so much that he wanted to bite Hoshiko to death.

"I should have just attacked directly and killed you too! You bastard!"

……

Karuizawa Station Hotel.

Gao Mo took out Gao Yuanyao's final payment envelope, hesitated for a moment, and then casually threw it into the stove.

I don't know what Gao Yuanyao has prepared, but he certainly doesn't have good intentions. Just get rid of him.

He doesn't need that 500 million to buy his life now.

As the envelope was burned, Gao Mo continued his work, disposing of all items related to the "Black Melon Ghost Gate," including masks, disguise skins, wigs, and fake gloves.

By the time he left the hotel, Gao Mo had completely changed into a different outfit.

Even if Gao Yuanyao were to meet him in person, he would never associate it with "Black Melon Ghost Gate".

"It should be over over there by now, right?" Gao Mo looked back in the direction of the Grape Pavilion.

Heiji Hattori is quite capable, but he is easily framed. Once he is enlightened, solving the case is not difficult.

(End of this chapter)