Conan: The Heart Thief

"Strange, he obviously brought a more convenient digital camera, but he didn't use it. Instead, he used a film camera to take pictures." Lin Xiao frowned, "Does he usually have this habit?"

This sentence seemed to touch upon some key point, but Lin Xiao was still unable to determine what it was.

However, Ayako's answer broke his guess: "No, he actually prefers to shoot videos. Almost all of yesterday's content was recorded by video."

"You prefer videography?" Lin Xiao asked sharply, "Then can you let us see what we filmed yesterday?"

"Of course I can..." Yazi hesitated, "But there are many memory cards in his bag, and I'm not sure which one is from yesterday."

"It doesn't matter, just find them all and take a look." Lin Xiao said casually.

"All right……"

"Wait, I think we should not look at it." The two rough-looking old hunters looked at each other, and one of them frowned and said, "After all, these are photos taken by the deceased. What if... they captured something dirty..."

These two people were joking about the legend of the Snow Girl during the day, but now they look so secretive, it is really hard to believe.

"You two, didn't you take pictures of something that shouldn't be made known to others?" Lin Xiao glanced at them coldly.

Poaching rare animals is a serious crime wherever you go, and these two hunters don't look like law-abiding citizens at all.

"How is that possible!" The two of them quickly denied it.

Since no one was trying to stop them, everyone played the video together in the living room.

The content of the video is very ordinary, mostly showing Ayako and Konakawa practicing making chocolate under the guidance of Grandma Yuasa.

What’s strange is that even though we’ve been practicing for a long time, the official production has been delayed until today - is it because today is Valentine’s Day?

In addition, the key injury scene was not captured because the cameraman himself was Eryuan, and the camera was unable to record his injuries.

"It looks like there's nothing to be gained. It's just an ordinary home video." Kyogoku Makoto sighed helplessly.

At this time, Fenchuan, who had been developing photos in the bathroom, came out with a serious look on his face: "It's not completely a loss. At least we know the real time of Niyuan's death."

As expected, the key clue came from the photo?

Lin Xiao's heart moved slightly and he looked at the photo in her hand.

Fenchuan spread out a photo on the table. It was an ordinary photo of a snowy scene. The camera was pointed at the sky, and from the light, one could roughly guess the time of the photo.

In the picture, in addition to a standing big tree, there are three regular circular marks deeply imprinted on the snow.

That shape was clearly the mark formed by a drop of blood falling.

"This must be the bloodstains left when Eryuan was attacked!"

"Why are you so sure?" Sonoko asked puzzledly.

"Because this is the last photo in the camera." Fenchuan pointed at the photo, "and there is no blood in the previous photos. In addition, we just took a few test photos and the same marks appeared on the photos, which means... there is blood on the lens."

Kyogoku Makoto clapped his hands immediately: "So, the murder happened during the day!"

Kyogoku was very excited as he had rarely surpassed Lin Xiao in reasoning. However, his enthusiasm was soon dampened by the hunters' rebuttals.

"How do you explain the chocolate?" One of the hunters sneered. "You came out after 8pm, and the chocolate was still in the villa. You're not saying that we came back to steal it and put it next to the body? It's a blizzard outside, who would do such a life-threatening thing?"

"Well, that's true..." Kyogoku Makoto was speechless for a moment.

Lin Xiao added calmly, "And in fact, none of us had time to put the chocolate. After all, it took us more than 20 minutes to follow Sanlang from the villa to where Eryuan's body was. Even if someone took a detour, it would take more than half an hour to go back and forth."

It was impossible for Itakura to meet them halfway.

Jiu Jian saw the avalanche in another direction, and based on the time disclosed by the police, it was impossible for him to have committed the crime.

The only person who went out alone before dusk was Grandma Yuasa, who had been with them since returning to the villa, so she was naturally cleared of suspicion.

Fenchuan and Ako went out at night, so the time also didn't match.

Just as everyone was lost in thought, Jiu Jian suddenly sneered: "Ha... No, there is indeed someone among us who can do it."

"Who?!" Kyogoku Makoto asked subconsciously.

The air seemed to freeze at this moment.

"Of course it's Miss Ako who found the chocolate at the production site!" Sakumi pointed at Ako confidently, "The first time she went out was also during the day. Although she was with Miss Konakawa, they should have separated during the journey, right? As long as we make an identical chocolate in advance, kill Nigaki and put the chocolate away when we go out for the first time, and then quietly take the chocolate away and throw it away when we go out for the second time, wouldn't it be perfectly possible to avoid suspicion?"

However, Fanchuan immediately refuted it with facts: "Impossible! When we first went out, it was already snowing outside, and in this photo with the blood shadow, the sky is still clear."

Jiujian frowned, still unwilling to give up: "How do you explain the chocolate?"

"Since you are obsessed with chocolate, let's compare them." Fenchuan raised an eyebrow and said, "I have taken pictures of the chocolates everyone made today. You will know after comparing them."

Kyogoku immediately took the chocolate out of the plastic bag and compared it with the photo. Although it was slightly melted, there was almost no difference in the shape of the letters drawn with the cream or the color and outline of the chocolate itself.

"How is it?" Fenchuan looked at Shujian proudly, "Even a professional chocolate maker would find it difficult to replicate such perfection by hand, let alone Ako."

Jiujian's face changed slightly, but he was still unwilling to accept it: "But if we continue to reason like this, the murderer is not any of us... Could it be that the Snow Girl is really behind this?"

"Could it be Shan Tong?" Xiaolan's voice trembled a little.

Itakura shook his head: "Yamado is probably not that 'humane'."

"Or is it -- a complete lunatic?" Sonoko looked around nervously.

"Haha, what are you afraid of!" Jiujian and Itakura laughed, "There are so many of us together, and we have guns. Even if there really is a madman, he won't be able to do anything to us."

However, this laughter now sounded more like a deliberate intimidation.

Lin Xiao knew that the murderer must be among them. Otherwise, those women who acted alone before would have met with misfortune long ago.

So, he suddenly said, "By the way, about those rolls of film - are you sure these photos were taken today? Could it be that the murderer took them in advance and then switched them?"

Fenchuan was slightly startled, then said: "I'm not sure about this... but you can compare it with the video."

The results of the comparison were soon revealed - the clothing of the people in the photos completely matched the timeline in the video.

"So, these photos were indeed taken today." Kyogoku Makoto said firmly.

Yazi added: "Besides, we just arrived yesterday. Before Eryuan went out today, we stayed in the villa the whole time. We didn't have the chance to take that photo at all."

"As for the authenticity of the photo—" Fenchuan looked back at Xiaolan and Sonoko, "They have always been by my side and can testify that I did not tamper with it."

However, the key words in the system prompt are "photo" and "camera", which must contain key clues. Lin Xiao's eyes darkened slightly, and then he asked, "When developing the photos, was there anything strange?"

Sonoko thought for a moment and looked at Xiaolan. Xiaolan nodded and whispered, "If there is anything strange... it's that before the last photo, there are two completely black photos."

In an instant, a possibility flashed through Lin Xiao’s mind—this was a mechanism carefully designed by the murderer!

More importantly - that crucial chocolate!

According to the existing reasoning, it is impossible for anyone in the villa to put the chocolate next to the corpse, but if it was not them, then who was it?

Lin Xiao frowned, thinking about another possibility. At this moment, he accidentally caught a glimpse of San Lang wandering around in the living room.

"Speaking of which, does the name 'Sanlang' have any special meaning?"

In Japan, numbers in names often have symbolic meanings, usually representing the ranking in the family. For example, "Saburo" is most likely the third boy in the family.

Mrs. Yuasa smiled when she heard this: "Because my husband's name is Taro, the two Shikoku dogs he and his ex-wife raised were named Jiro and Saburo. Later, his ex-wife passed away, and Jiro seemed to be too sad and didn't last long... Now only Saburo is left."

"Jiro and Saburo... are both Shikoku dogs." Lin Xiao's eyes moved, "So, they look very similar?"

"Of course, sometimes when I look at the photos of my husband and them receiving search and rescue medals, I can't tell who is who," said old Mrs. Yuasa, nodding.

——I see. The mystery about chocolate has been solved.

Next, comes the last question - who is that mysterious person still wandering around in the snowstorm?

"Since there is no murderer here, let's go back to our rooms and rest." Jiu Jian stood up and stretched. "When the police come tomorrow, we will go back to our homes."

However, Lin Xiao slowly spoke at this moment: "Don't leave in a hurry, listen to my reasoning and then make your decision."

Jiu Jian was slightly stunned, then looked at Lin Xiao with a slightly cold gaze: "You?"

"What, you don't believe it?" Lin Xiao raised his eyebrows.

"If you mean to say that the murderer is a mysterious man hiding in the forest, then don't waste your time." Itakura sneered.

"Of course not," Lin Xiao said calmly, "because the murderer is among us."

He slowly stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

The kitchen is very spacious, equivalent to a large living room, and on the other side, there is a back door leading outside the villa.

"Hey, you're not going to have amnesia at such a young age, are you?" Jiu Jian sneered, "Didn't we discuss this just now? It's impossible for any of us to put the chocolate next to the body, so the murderer can't be us."

Lin Xiao stopped, turned around and smiled faintly: "What if... the chocolate was not given by someone?"

As soon as these words came out, the air froze instantly.

Sakumi and Itakura looked at each other, then burst into laughter.

"Huh? You don't mean to say that the Snow Girl sent it?"

"If it's a snow girl, she probably wouldn't use a branch as a weapon." Lin Xiao shrugged, "But this doesn't affect the facts."

Jiu Jian's smile froze slightly, and his brows furrowed: "...What do you mean?"

Lin Xiao slowly said, "What I want to say is that the real 'accomplice' in this case is not a human."

"Everyone knows about search and rescue dogs, right? Trained dogs can deliver high-calorie food to victims in critical moments and guide search and rescue teams to find their targets quickly."

As soon as Lin Xiao finished speaking, everyone understood what he meant.

"But Saburo has always been with us! He didn't bring any chocolate when he went out, did he?" asked old lady Yuasa puzzled.

"Saburo doesn't have it...but Jiro can."

Lin Xiao smiled slightly and opened the back door of the kitchen. A cold wind carrying snowflakes blew in his face. Then, a woman in a white coat walked in with a Shikoku dog.

"Sanlang? No...what is this?!" Old Mrs. Yuasa widened her eyes and looked at the scene in front of her in disbelief.

She turned around abruptly and ran towards Saburo's kennel - in an instant, two identical Shikoku dogs stood side by side.

"In fact, I proposed this possibility at the beginning, but everyone thought it was unrealistic, so I didn't pursue it further. But now the answer is obvious - Saburo is not the only one."

There is no need for further explanation, these two identical dogs are enough to solve the mystery of chocolate.

"Chocolate is a high-calorie, easily digestible food. Mr. Taro must have trained Jiro and Saburo to deliver chocolate to the trapped during search and rescue missions - this is why chocolate appeared next to Nigaki's body."

Chapter 470: Battle with Xiaolan and Sonoko

"What about the motive?" Fenchuan asked the last question.

Lin Xiao pondered for a moment and replied, "I can't be completely sure until she admits it herself. However, I think the motive may be related to the death of Miss Yazi's brother four years ago. This plan seems to be impromptu, and Eryuan's injury was also caused by an accident yesterday, which is completely uncontrollable. Therefore, I speculate that the motive came about after that. Maybe she discovered something while taking care of the injured Eryuan."