Detective Conan: Birth of the Demon Child

However, what Hideo Masuda didn't know was that the moment he agreed to ask the Junior Detective League for help, he was destined for a tragic end.

How many people who actively invite death to their door can have a good ending?

Led by Hideo Masuda, the group quickly arrived at the apartment where he was currently living.

Wow~ What beautiful flowers!

As soon as Ayumi entered the apartment, her eyes were drawn to the bouquet of carnations in a vase in the entryway.

Ai Haibara walked gracefully to the vase, stared at the pink carnations for a while, then shook her head and said, "It's a pity these flowers look a bit withered."

“These flowers were arranged by my wife before she died. Although I change the water for them every day, it seems they won’t last much longer,” said Hideo Masada, his face filled with sorrow.

???

Upon hearing this, Suzuki Seimei and Conan's expressions changed slightly.

This man is lying!

Hideo Masuda's wife passed away in a car accident three weeks ago.

Even if you change the water every day, carnations will wither completely in about a week at most.

If the carnations in the vase were truly placed there by Mrs. Mamoru before her death, they should have withered long ago.

If Suzuki Seimei had only suspected that Masada Hideo had a problem before, now he was certain that Masada had a problem and that he was very likely plotting something!

Chapter 383 Stocks are risky; invest with caution.

"Huh? What kind of room is this?"

Genta opened the hidden door next to the entrance with some curiosity. When he saw the decorations inside the room, he couldn't help but exclaim excitedly, "Wow, this is amazing!"

The room behind the hidden door is actually a small home theater. It contains a lot of projection equipment, and the cabinets around it are filled with all kinds of videotapes and comics.

"What a huge TV!"

"This place is just like a movie theater!"

"Come and see, this is the English version of Gomera."

Seeing Genta and the others casually flipping through his collection of videotapes and comics, a hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Hideo Masuda's eyes, but he smiled and said, "This English version of the Gomera videotape is one I bought specifically from America."

For Hideo Masuda, these videotapes and comics he had carefully collected were all very precious treasures.

Many of these are rare and limited edition collectibles, so we can't let these little devils damage them.

If it weren't for the fact that Hideo Masada was planning to use Seimei Suzuki and the others to create an alibi for himself, he would never have invited these brats to his house.

"Speakers, LD players, DVD players, channel selectors, and TV screen remotes—there are so many different kinds of remotes!"

Conan looked around and his gaze was drawn to the various remote controls on a table not far away.

Haruaki Suzuki chimed in with a comment: "With so many movie posters on the floor, it's no wonder you often lose things at home."

Ai Haibara said casually, "It's understandable that a bachelor without a wife to help take care of him would be a little sloppy."

(￣ ー￣)

Listening to Suzuki Seimei and Haibara Ai's吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or witty remarks), Masuda Hideo's lips twitched: "Um... actually..."

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong..."

Before Hideo Masada could finish speaking, a sudden, urgent doorbell rang, causing his expression to change slightly.

Noticing Hideo Masada's somewhat unusual expression, Haruaki Suzuki casually reminded him, "Uncle, it seems you have a guest."

"It seems so. You guys wait here for a moment, I'll be right back."

Hideo Masuda gave a few words of advice to Haruaki Suzuki and the others, then hurriedly walked towards the main gate.

As Hideo Masada opened the door, a middle-aged, overweight woman in a pink coat, heavily made-up, and ugly-looking appeared before him.

Upon seeing this repulsive fat woman, a cold glint unconsciously flashed deep in the eyes of Hideo Masada.

"Give it to me! I think you're ready, aren't you?"

Facing the fat woman's outstretched right hand, Hideo Masada took out a stack of 10,000 yen bills from his pocket and said, "I finally managed to scrape together 5 million yen after much effort."

Five million?!

The fat woman snorted coldly and said, "You owe me twenty million, so what about the remaining fifteen million?"

"The remaining 15 million yen should be enough after I sell the house."

Hearing what Hideo Masuda said, the fat woman's displeasure instantly turned into a smile, and she grinned, revealing her bright red mouth, saying, "Mr. Masuda, what are you saying? I'm not forcing you to sell the house!"

"Of course not! I should thank you for giving me a few more days!"

Although Hideo Masuda wished he could tear the fat woman in front of him to pieces, he suppressed his anger and smiled in order to prevent his murder plan from being ruined. "By the way! I found the videotape of 'Sakura Sanjuro' that you said you wanted to watch last time. To thank you for giving me so much time, I can let you watch this videotape."

"Really? Then I won't be polite."

The middle-aged fat woman took the videotape from Hideo Masada's hand and walked skillfully toward the room with the home theater.

As he watched the middle-aged fat woman's retreating figure, a cold glint flashed in Hideo Masada's eyes, and he subconsciously clenched his fists.

The ugly, fat woman in front of me is named Eiko Izuki, and she was also a good friend of Mrs. Masada.

However, Eiko Izuki is a wicked woman who preys on those she knows well. She tricked Mrs. Masada into secretly using the family's house and car to take out loans and buy stocks without Masada Hideo's knowledge.

As a result, Mrs. Masada ended up with a huge debt, while Eiko Izuki made a fortune and became her biggest creditor.

By the time Mrs. Masuda realized she had been tricked, it was too late. She left Masuda Hideo a suicide note and the watch, then ran into the road and committed suicide by hitting her car.

At first, Hideo Masada thought it was an accident, but after he found the suicide note his wife left for him, he learned that she had been secretly financing and buying stocks without his knowledge.

The thought of his wife being deceived by Eiko Izuki, forcing her to take her own life, and having to sell his house and car to pay off debts, made Hideo Masada unable to control his murderous intent any longer.

"Huh?"

Upon seeing Suzuki Haruaki and the others, Izuki Eiko couldn't help but ask with some confusion, "Who are these kids?"

"They came to help me find my watch."

Hideo Masuda offered a casual explanation, then said to Haruaki Suzuki and the others, "Excuse me, could you please wait for me outside?"

"Ding! Congratulations on successfully signing in and obtaining Yueyingzi. You are rewarded with one year of [Lifespan], which you can claim at any time."

Hearing what Hideo Masuda said, Genta and the others could only reluctantly leave the room, while Suzuki Seimei took the opportunity to secretly touch Eiko Izuki's thigh while leaving.

Judging from the system notification sound in his ear, Suzuki Harumi guessed that Izuki Eiko must be the victim in this case, but she did not make any move to stop it this time.

Since his one-month trip to the world of "The Deer and the Cauldron," Suzuki Seimei's personality has become increasingly mature and cold.

Towards his close friends, Suzuki Haruaki remained as warm and generous as ever.

However, when facing strangers, Suzuki Haruaki's attitude was not as friendly as before.

Suzuki Seimei might even choose to help a stranger he finds agreeable.

As for those strangers he didn't like, even if he knew they would die, Suzuki Seimei couldn't be bothered to ask them a single question.

For example, in the case of the bandaged man murderer in the mountain villa, the reason why Suzuki Seimei chose to save Ikeda Chikako was more because his saintly heart was acting up.

At that time, Suzuki Haruaki was actually closer to Conan in terms of personality, because he felt that Ikeda Chikako did not deserve to die, and he did not want to see Takahashi Ryoichi commit murder and go to jail, so he chose to save her.

Chapter 384 The Clever Criminal

If it were the current Seimei Suzuki, and he encountered a case like the "Mountain Villa Bandaged Man Murder Case," he would probably choose to stand by and do nothing.

Neither Chikako Ikeda nor Ryoichi Takahashi can be considered good people; at best, they're just dogs fighting each other.

The reason why Suzuki Seimei chose to help Kanariko at Fukito Villa was mainly because he liked Kanariko and wanted to take the opportunity to test the power of the Blood Coagulation Claw.

However, what Suzuki Seimei did not expect was that Yoshiki Nigaki would be shot dead by the two hunters before he could activate the Blood Coagulation Claw.

Needless to say, today's case is a different story. The victim was a middle-aged, overweight woman who didn't look like a good person, and she wasn't a great beauty either, so Suzuki Seimei naturally couldn't be bothered to help her.

Hideo Masada, who wanted to use children to commit perjury, was also hardly a good person, so Seimei Suzuki was too lazy to kill for him.

"Uncle, which room should we look for next?" Genta and the others couldn't help but ask Hideo Masuda after leaving the home theater room.

"Let's find the living room first."

Hideo Masuda glanced at Eiko Izuki, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes, then slowly closed the door to the home theater. He then led Seimei Suzuki and the others into the living room to search for the watch.

Because the watch left by Mrs. Masada was actually always on Hideo Masada's person, even though Seimei Suzuki and the others searched the entire house, they were unable to find it.

As dusk approached and the mechanism designed by Hideo Masuda was about to be triggered, he guided the six children to shift their attention to the washing machine at home.

According to Hideo Masuda, the washing machine at home was too complicated to use, and he simply didn't know how to use it, so he hadn't used it since his wife died.

"Found it! It's really here!"

"The watch hands are still moving, so it doesn't seem to be broken."

"We finally found it! Can we go eat now? My stomach is growling."

After successfully finding the woman's mechanical watch in the pocket of the washing machine, Ayumi and the others couldn't help but shout with excitement.

"wrong!"

Seeing that the hands of the mechanical watch were still moving, Conan immediately sensed something was wrong, and a look of doubt flashed in his eyes.

Unlike electronic watches, mechanical watches will stop moving if they are not used for three or four days.

If the washing machine in Hideo Masuda's house really hadn't been used for more than three weeks, and the watch had been left inside the washing machine, then the hands on the watch should have stopped moving long ago.

Therefore, Conan immediately realized that Hideo Masada was lying. However, he couldn't understand why Hideo Masada would lie and why he asked them to help find his watch.

"boom!

! ”

Just as Conan was racking his brains trying to figure it out, a loud thud came from the home theater room.

What was that sound?

Before Ai Haibara and the others could react, Conan dashed towards the home theater room like a rabbit.