Conan: The Heart Thief

When everyone heard this, some speculations quickly arose in their minds.

However, the dummy was the first to reveal more information.

"I'm sure you detectives have noticed since you entered the house that bloodstains can be seen everywhere in this villa... Yes, these bloodstains were left on a certain night forty years ago."

"This villa once gathered political and economic celebrities. Ostensibly, it was to mourn the death of Karasuma Renya at the age of 99, but in fact, it was to hold an auction of his art collection during his lifetime. The number of items to be auctioned was more than 300, and it was expected to last for three days and three nights."

"On the stormy night of the second day of the auction, two soaking wet men claimed to be lost and asked for a place to stay."

“The organizer initially refused, but the man pulled out a small package containing something that looked like a cigarette, and the organizer changed his mind after taking a puff.”

“Other guests were tempted by this, and soon the villa was filled with a strong smell of cigarettes.”

A smoke that can confuse people...

The veteran detective Kogoro Mouri immediately noticed something was wrong.

"Wait, that smoke could be——"

"Marijuana." Lin Xiao said it in jargon.

At first, the guests were arguing about the two uninvited guests, but as cigarettes circulated, the situation changed suddenly.

"A man suddenly screamed, threw away the artwork he had bought, and ran out."

"A woman covered her face and cried bitterly, as if begging for forgiveness, until her tears dried up."

"There was also a man who was so excited that he stabbed his wrist with a pen."

"Eventually, all the guests began to scramble for the auction items, and some even hacked at each other with famous swords. The auction site became a living hell."

"After that night, eight people in the villa died, more than ten people fell into a coma, and the two uninvited guests disappeared with all the auction items."

The dummy's account sounded like a fictional horror story, but everyone present knew that it was real.

The bloodstains found everywhere in the villa are irrefutable evidence.

Maori Kogoro still held out a glimmer of hope: "If such a tragedy really happened, why was it not reported at the time?"

"I think the problem may lie with the guests attending the auction." Dashang Zhushan answered the question.

"After all, they were all political and economic celebrities at the time. They would rather suppress the matter than let the world know that they were deceived by two little thieves."

"That's true..."

"Now you understand why I chose this villa as the stage for my game." The dummy seemed to laugh contemptuously, "I want you to reenact the tragedy of forty years ago and witness you killing each other for the treasure."

"We will kill each other for treasure? What a joke." Mogi was the first to sneer.

The dummy ignored him and continued, "Considering the size of the villa, searching for treasure is like finding a needle in a haystack. I will give you a hint - a hurried traveler observes the sky at night, the devil descends on the castle, the king flees with the treasure, the princess pours tears into the Holy Grail and prays for mercy from the heavens, the soldier draws his sword and commits suicide, and the earth changes color."

"Eh? Isn't this what happened in the villa we were just talking about?" Yukiko suddenly realized.

Lin Xiao finished his coffee, put down the cup, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're full of lies. According to what you said, the tragedy that happened in the villa is fictional, because the story was adapted from the code. In this way, the source of the bloodstains in the villa has become a mystery again."

"Besides, I've been wanting to say this for a long time. You seem to only be able to say fixed phrases, huh?"

Before he finished speaking, Lin Xiao suddenly stood up, grabbed the top of the dummy's head with one hand, and lifted it up like a basketball, and actually pulled the dummy's head off.

It’s not that Lin Xiao is extremely strong, but the dummy head was designed to be detachable and is only placed on the body.

At this moment, the dummy's head is removed, revealing the internal audio part, which is connected to a retro Walkman and needs to be loaded with a tape for playback.

"Now the secret is revealed~" Lin Xiao turned to the crowd holding the dummy head and shook the stopped tape below.

"I thought it was strange before, and after testing it, I found it was true. And this thing is controlled by someone, otherwise, not to mention the length of the tape, it would be impossible to even grasp the timing when we finished our meal."

"By the way, remote control is also impossible. Although the villa is full of cameras, the organizers can theoretically monitor us in real time from somewhere else, but this Walkman... can't do that."

"The principle is very simple. Today's remote control functions basically rely on WiFi, but this old-fashioned Walkman does not have WiFi function."

Lin Xiao shrugged and put the mannequin head on the table.

"So the answer is obvious. The one who brought us here is all around us...even, among us."

As soon as these words were spoken, the looks of all the detectives changed.

Among them...

This statement is like a ghost in human skin mixed into a horror movie.

Lin Xiao calmly glanced at everyone at the table.

"I suggest that we search each other's bodies right now. Whoever has the remote control will be the one playing tricks. What do you think?"

After a moment's silence, Haruhi Mogi knocked on the table.

"I agree. Let's do it."

Ikumi Gunda also raised her hand to show her agreement.

"I agree."

Next is the White Horse Detective.

"Well, it does sound like a simple and effective method."

Although Qianjian Jiangdai did not say anything, judging from the way she nodded thoughtfully, she was also inclined to this move.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Kogoro Maori also hurriedly raised his hand.

"me too!"

After a round of voting, the vast majority of people expressed their attitudes. Lin Xiao turned to Dashang Zhushan, who was still biting his thumb and looking conflicted.

"Mr. Okami, what do you say?"

When a group of people face the same problem, it is normal for one of them to make a well-reasoned analysis and offer a reasonable solution, and for others to agree with him.

But if everyone else agrees and only one person is hesitant and cannot give a valid reason for his opposition, then there is obviously something wrong with this hesitant person.

Currently, six out of the seven detectives agreed, and the only one who was still hesitant was Ogami Zhushan, who was known as the gourmet detective.

In fact, as Lin Xiao said before, it would be fine even if he came out and admitted that it was him.

After all, all detectives received a check worth two million yen before they came. Although this might be the entire commission, it was still considered generous to give them so much money before they started working.

You pay the money, we do the work, it's a transaction that we both agree on.

Unless there is another plot...

Chapter 424 A teasing smile

Since Dashang Shanzhu refused to admit it, Lin Xiao took decisive action, restrained him and searched him. Seeing this, Mao Mu quickly cooperated with Lin Xiao and soon found a remote control from Dashang Shanzhu, thus catching him red-handed.

"Anything else you want to say? That phantom who claims to be God's abandoned son is trying to make us kill each other for the treasure?" Mogi mocked mercilessly.

"I, I..." Da Shang Shanzhu wanted to say something but stopped. However, it was useless to say anything at this moment and he still tried to struggle.

However, the next second his eyes suddenly widened, his mouth opened wide, his hands tightly pinched his neck, making a "ho ho" sound, and his eyeballs were covered with blood, almost popping out.

"Wait, he doesn't look right!" said Kogoro Mouri in surprise.

This state lasted for about five seconds. Dashang Shanzhu's head tilted and he became motionless. The hideous look before death still remained on his fat face.

“…Huh?” Mogi also opened his mouth slightly, and an illusory question mark seemed to slowly appear above his head.

"He's dead." Bai Ma Tan, who was sitting across from the long dining table, took out his pocket watch, glanced at the time and said, "Record the time of death, 7:25:22."

Mao Mu scratched his hair, looking confused: "Then how did he die?"

"Judging from the symptoms before death, it should be poisoning." Ikumi Qingtian, who once served as a coroner, walked over, leaned over gracefully, pinched open Okami Zenju's mouth with her hands, and waved her hand to breathe air into his nose.

"There is a distinct almond taste in his mouth, which is potassium cyanate poisoning. But the question is, how did he get poisoned? Here, everyone eats the same food, and I didn't find any poison container in Mr. Okami's mouth."

"I remember he was chewing his finger before." Lin Xiao recalled seriously, "About a few minutes ago, when the tape played the code part, he kept chewing his thumb."

"That might be a personal thinking habit, right?" Mao Mu said with a squint, "Some people are used to making some movements when they are thinking, such as stroking their beards, or looking out the window with their chin in their hands..."

Qiangtian Yumei shook her head helplessly. When she took out a copper coin from her wallet to test the poison, the face of this fair-skinned, long-legged sister suddenly changed.

"In that case, why don't we go check the bridge first?" Someone suddenly suggested. The person who spoke was Chikan Kyoudai, and she seemed a little strange when she suddenly suggested going to the destroyed wooden bridge to check.

As soon as the words came out, Lin Xiao immediately raised his eyes to look at Mao Mu, Mao Mu received the signal and looked at Qiang Tian, ​​and Qiang Tian turned to Bai Ma Tan. In a very short time, the three of them had exchanged glances and returned to normal.

Mao Mu coughed lightly and said, "Okay, since Sister Qianjian said so. But it's still raining outside, and it's not a short distance to walk from here to the bridge. And if nothing unexpected happens, the car we parked at the front door should have been blown up."

"Speaking of cars, I remember seeing one outside the back door before. Maybe it hasn't been blown up yet." Bai Ma pinched his chin and said thoughtfully.

"is it?"

"Um..." At this moment, the voice of the maid in the restaurant sounded weakly, "The car parked at the back door you mentioned should be mine. I didn't feel any explosion at the back door when I went to the kitchen to get food, so I think it shouldn't have been blown up. If you need it, I can borrow it."

"That's great! Let's go to the back door and take a look!" After saying that, Mogi stood up and walked out of the restaurant first, and the others followed.

Seeing that Chikan Kyoudai also followed the main force to the back door, Lin Xiao secretly reached out his hand, took the ten-yuan coin from Gunda Ikumi, and handed it to Conan who "happened to pass by" next to him, raised his eyebrows at the latter and gave him a look that said "you know".

Ten minutes later, the only surviving vehicle in the entire annex quietly stopped in the open space at the back door. It was an ordinary family car, not very comfortable or high-performance, just a simple means of transportation. But at this critical juncture, they could not afford to be picky.

"Hey~ This car definitely can't accommodate all of us. There's not enough room." Mogi looked around and said, "How about we flip a coin and whoever gets heads gets to go together."

"I'll provide the coins!" Conan took out his wallet and scattered the coins on the hood. No more, no less, exactly six coins, one for each of Lin Xiao, Maori Kogoro, Mogi Harushi, Qiangtian Yumi, Hakuba Tan, and Chikan Kyoudai.

"Then take your positions, ready - toss!" With the command, six coins flew up together, and then fell down together while spinning.

Lin Xiao caught the coin accurately with the back of his hand, moved his hand away and took a look: "It's heads."

Soon, Mogi's voice was heard: "I am positive too."

Then it was Maori Kogoro who said, "Me too."

Finally, Chikan Kyoudai said: "And me."

There were exactly four people, just enough to fill the small car. Mogi Harushi took the lead, opened the door and sat in the driver's seat, and reached out to fasten the seat belt skillfully.

"Okay, then I'll drive... By the way, would you like to sit in the front, Sister Qianjian?"

"Wow, Mogi, you really take care of the elderly." Chijian Kyouyo smiled and sat in the passenger seat.

Soon, as all four people got into the car, the roar of the engine broke the tranquility of the back door of the villa. The car started slowly and drove towards the broken bridge.

Perhaps it was because the dark clouds had not yet dispersed after the rain, the forest at night was even darker than in the evening. It took Mogi nearly ten minutes to drive a short five-minute journey.

When they arrived, the sturdy wooden bridge they remembered had completely collapsed, with more than 70% of the bridge missing, leaving only the charred marks of the fire. Next to the bushes opposite the bridge, the Lexus that Lin Xiao had the foresight to not drive over was still intact.