Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 314 "A Creative Guide to Mystery Novels" (5 stars)

"Boom!"

It was nearly 10 p.m. when the sky outside the villa was overcast, and thunder rumbled intermittently in the darkness.

The five candidates studied the code for a while, but in the end they came to no conclusion. Each of them had their own ulterior motives. On the surface, they seemed to be discussing things with each other, but it was obvious to everyone that they were wary of one another.

No matter how good the relationship is, when it comes to inheritance disputes, no one else can be included.

After all, according to Yamanouchi's message, there can only be one successor, and even if two people solve the puzzle at the same time, it may not count.

The video clearly stated that the goal was to retrieve the hidden suicide note.

Everyone is afraid that someone else will gain the upper hand.

Koji Takarada, his face grim, observed the others who were secretly leaving the clock tower, and couldn't help but curse inwardly.

What famous detective? What Kindaichi or Kindaichi? All he knows is running around aimlessly.

What's so interesting about visiting this awful villa?
Once he receives the inheritance, he can look at it however he wants.

restaurant.

Koji Takarada entered last with a gloomy face. He glanced at the seats where Professor Agasa and Ai were sitting, and his expression became even more unpleasant when he couldn't find Gao Mo.

I should have hired another famous detective.

I told them there was a video to watch at 10 o'clock, but Kindaichi hasn't come at all.

Is this how you help?
“Professor Agasa,” Koji Takarada urged in a low voice, “where has Mr. Kindaichi gone again? This time he might have a new code.”

"Uh, this..."

Dr. Agasa awkwardly touched his beard.

"Don't worry, we're keeping an eye on things. Kindaichi might be looking for clues."

Ai Haibara remained seated to one side, still holding the black cat. Upon hearing this, she raised an eyebrow and glanced at the people in the restaurant out of the corner of her eye.

Besides Gao Mo, the busty maid they had encountered earlier was also absent.

Recalling Gao Mo's expression as if he had solved all the mysteries, Xiao Ai's eyes twitched slightly, and she stroked the cat more vigorously.

"That Kido guy..."

"Boom!!"

The clock tower of the villa.

Another rumble of thunder sounded, and a flash of lightning illuminated the Lucia doll in front of the window, its shadow stretching all the way to Gomer's feet.

It was as if a switch had been flipped outside; the long-accumulated clouds suddenly unleashed a torrential downpour, turning the surrounding lakes into a misty expanse, making the villa seem completely isolated from the world.

Gao Mo waited with his hands behind his back for a while, and then the large clock below suddenly struck ten o'clock five minutes early, and the sound of a mechanism being activated could be faintly heard.

A few more minutes passed, and the downpour had soaked the doll through the open window. Just as the water was about to slide down the locker, a petite figure finally climbed in through the window.

"boom!"

The lightning illuminated the room again.

The moment Tongjiang Xiangzi saw Gao Mo's figure, she froze outside the window, seemingly forgetting what to do.

"Mr. Jin, Kindaichi..."

"Let's talk after you come in."

Gao Mo sensed a murderous intent for a moment, but ignored the expressive Tong Jiang Xiangzi and sat down on the sofa.

"Kick!"

Tong Jiangxiang swallowed hard, closed the window with a stiff face, and cleaned the water off the table with trembling fingers.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Kindaichi? I came here to check the large clock..."

Do you know why Yamanouchi is waging this inheritance battle?

Gao Mo calmly looked at the cautious Tongjiang Xiangzi.

"Those five people don't seem like suitable heirs. High school detective Inukai Takashi used to be Yamanouchi's neighbor. On the surface, he seems fine, but according to my investigation, Inukai kept many hunting dogs when he was a child, and had many conflicts with other neighbors due to noise and other issues."

But Yamanouchi, who needs a quiet environment to write, never said anything...

The problem is even bigger for others. Critic Mr. Kamimei criticized Yamanouchi's works more than once, yet he became Yamanouchi's friend.

Editor Mr. Takarada seems to have a good relationship with Yamanouchi, but within the Jodansha publishing house, Mr. Takarada is known for his strictness, especially when it comes to urging manuscripts.

Ms. Umezuno only made her famous debut after leaving Yamanouchi's side. Based on my deduction, she probably stole a trick idea from Yamanouchi. Although Yamanouchi didn't say anything, this work later won the grand prize he had been longing for.

And then there's the illustrator, Ms. Yuzuki, who hinted at the answers to the puzzles in the novel's illustrations, practically ruining one of Yamanouchi's painstaking works..."

Gao Mo looked at Tong Jiang Xiangzi, who was hugging her wet body in a daze.

"Do you really think Yamanouchi is so noble that he not only forgives these people and becomes their friend, but also leaves his estate to them after his death?"

Even if he was truly noble, why did he have to organize this duel of reasoning instead of simply dividing the inheritance among them? Or rather, why should only one person receive the inheritance?

"This……"

Tong Jiangxiangzi's expression finally changed, and the way she looked at Gao Mo gradually changed as well.

"What is Mr. Kindaichi trying to say?"

"This is a revenge operation that Yamanouchi has been planning for a long time, and you are the one he chose to carry it out. His goal is to kill five candidates through you."

"How could that be? How could I help Professor Yamanouchi kill someone?"

"Really not?"

Gao Mo smiled gently.

He didn't think this woman was as innocent and weak as she appeared.

"You should have seen the will under the clock. Let me guess what it says. It'll probably add at the end—that when the deadline for deciphering the code has passed and all five candidates are no longer alive, the inheritance will be given to whoever solves the code, regardless of their identity..."

"how come?"

Tongjiang Xiangzi was completely stunned, her eyes momentarily unfocused, and she didn't even notice an old notebook falling out of her apron.

"How do you know?"

"Is this the source of the trickery in Yamanouchi's novels?" Gao Mo's gaze swept over the pages of the notebook.

My suspicions were further confirmed.

"But it's not Yamanouchi's handwriting. If I'm not mistaken, it should have belonged to the owner of this villa."

“This is my father’s life’s work,” Tong Jiang Xiangzi said, hurriedly picking up the notebook as if waking up, her face a mixture of pain and hatred. “Although my father inherited the family business of trading Russian antiques, he always dreamed of becoming a mystery novelist, and he wrote down these ideas bit by bit since his student days…”

As a child, I sat on my father's lap and heard him talk about his dream of becoming a novelist more than once, but...

When that man came here to borrow money from my father, he said that these tricks could not be written into a novel, and told my father to give up his dream.

After my father's accident, that despicable guy immediately turned his idea into a novel and published it, making a grand entrance as a writer!

Despite having mediocre writing skills, he became a top-notch mystery novelist thanks to the unexpected twists and rich imagination of his plots!

Tong Jiangxiangzi looked at Gao Mo again with red eyes.

"That's why I would never help someone like that kill! Didn't I write it in my last will and testament? I can inherit the estate as long as the five-day deadline is over, there's no need to kill anyone..."

"What if everything was Yamanouchi's plan? Whether or not you kill someone is not up to you."

Gao Mo opened the novel by Yamanouchi that was lying to the side.

"It's true that this person made his fortune based on your father's notes, but it can't be said that he was completely without talent. In the last year of his life, he really put a lot of effort into creating his final novel."

The five candidates faced various life difficulties for different reasons. Editor Baotian was heavily in debt due to stock speculation, and the high school detective had to mortgage his beloved hunting dog because his family's company went bankrupt.

Miss Umehara, a mystery novelist, could have lived off her debut novel for the rest of her life, but a car accident left her with a huge debt.

Mr. Shenming's career is going poorly, and he has also divorced his wife, requiring him to pay a large sum of child support.

Miss Youyue also needs a huge amount of medical expenses to treat her younger brother, who is in a vegetative state.

Gao Mo paused.

"And of course, there's you too. Because your family fell on hard times, you were sent to an orphanage. You had to support yourself before you were even an adult, and eventually you even lied about your age to become a hostess. You fell from heaven to hell as a pampered young lady..."

You want this inheritance more than any of them, and you happen to know all about the traps and mechanisms in this villa.

"Gulu!"

Tong Jiangxiang swallowed hard, his mouth dry, and groped his way to sit opposite Gao Mo.

She doesn't understand.

Why is this man able to explain it so clearly?

It was as if I had seen it with my own eyes.

But she was certain that she had never seen this person when she was working at the country tavern.

She couldn't possibly forget such a handsome older man.

Do you know why Yamanouchi released the video in segments?

Gao Mo continued.

"Actually, it was to give you an opportunity. The reason we chose this room for your first visit was to let you see those Lucia dolls and connect them to the big clock outside."

The second option, choosing to reveal the location at the restaurant at 10 o'clock, is to allow you to find the suicide note while avoiding other people.

If I'm not mistaken, you know the answer because of the notebook—or perhaps Yamanouchi deliberately let you obtain it.”

“How could that be?” the maid retorted. “I stole it from his safe…”

"Such an important thing was stolen by a maid like you?"

Gao Mo interrupted Tong Jiang's last hope.

"To tell you the truth, Yamanouchi's posthumous work was completed long ago. He was just waiting for you to be trapped on this island before publishing it. He must have only really gotten the idea after he learned your identity. He designed this new Lucia doll murder case to prove that he is no less capable than your father."

Even if you don't take action, he will definitely find a way to get others closer to the truth, thus forcing you to kill. The reason he doesn't restrict finding helpers is also to put pressure on you.

This person has studied you very thoroughly, which is probably the real reason why it took a year to prepare.

"Haha, to prove yourself?"

Tongjiang Xiangzi covered her face, crying and laughing at the same time.

"If it weren't for him, my father would have become a bestselling author, and that accident wouldn't have happened because of the trade... My life, this painful life, is absolutely terrible."

Because of Death's little prank, I lost the happiness, wealth, and fame that were rightfully mine... A great detective like you probably wouldn't understand, would you? What does it feel like for someone who's seen heaven to go to hell...?

To fill my stomach, and unable to find a job, I had no choice but to lie about my age and go to those kinds of places. Do you know how disgusting those drunkard uncles are?

Haha, how could the great detective possibly understand? I was only 16 years old back then, and my peers were still in school, haha..."

“I may not understand, but there are others who do understand you.”

Gao Mo thought of the last wish in the projected notes.

He couldn't see the spirit of the dead, but he could feel the deep love of his father.

Ordinary spirits cannot exist for more than ten years, travel from Hokkaido to Tokyo seeking help, and would certainly not willingly allow the notebook to be consumed.

These absorbed souls, though not destroyed, are not much different from the real thing.

Unless one day he gains greater power and releases it voluntarily.

“Miss Xiangzi, you are still very young and have a lot of hope in your life. It’s not too late to start over. Even if you can’t be a rich lady and don’t have this huge inheritance, you can still create your own wealth.”

Gao Mo saw the projected text change.

[5 stars from "The Creative Guide to Mystery Novels"—from a father who misses his daughter]

[Acquire Talent: Deceptive Creativity]

"Wow!"

The 5-star career book comes with a talent entry note, which merges with the original "Trickster Design" to gradually evolve into the new talent "Trickster Genius".

Although he has a natural talent for detective novels, it seems somewhat subtle for him.

Some of these ideas seem to be achievable in reality.

(End of this chapter)