Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 295: The massacre in the blue castle, no one survived!

In fact, Yingsheng also found some other suspicious points in Asai's house and had some guesses.

But now is not the time to dig into the matter. Just make sure that Dr. Aso has not committed suicide, and we can deal with the rest later.

After carefully observing Masayo Aida's facial expression, Yingsheng couldn't help but admire her psychological quality.

She was so calm from beginning to end. Could it be that her relationship with the other party is not close enough to be lovers?

Say goodbye, get in the car, and leave.

Yingsheng glanced at the time, it was ten past six.

It was still dark at this time, and the people in the villa had been drinking, so they might sleep a little longer.

But thinking that everyone in the karate club was diligent in their practice and might have the habit of morning exercises, Yingsheng stepped on the accelerator to the bottom and headed straight for Ebina City.

Standing at the entrance of Asai's house, Masayo Aida silently watched the black Volkswagen merge into the darkness between heaven and earth, and a strange thought arose in his mind.

Mr. Shuiyue seems to be still a minor and doesn't have a driver's license.

But compared to what he had done before, driving without a license was insignificant.

Aida Masayo turned around, glanced at the empty room, and sighed softly in his heart.

It's time for an outsider like me to leave.

For safety reasons, why don't you live in the detective agency from now on? I don't know if Mr. Shuiyue has found an office yet.

As for living with them, other things might be involved later.

Aren’t the issues I’m involved in deep enough now?

For example, just now, Mr. Shuiyue said not to tell others that he returned to Tokyo early this morning.

It's obvious that there's something else going on.

While cleaning the Asai house, Masayo Aida silently wondered where Asao would go, and from time to time she would drift to Hotaru's side.

Could it be that this person, who looks so gentle and kind, actually has blood on his hands?

slam-la-

In Ebina City, at the foot of Mount Daisen, Yingsheng kept washing his hands under the faucet, and strands of light red slowly flowed down the marble table.

"Well, young man, are you feeling better?"

A white-haired old lady in a wheelchair asked with a smile on her face on the wide flagstone road in the courtyard.

Yingsheng took a look at the purple-red stains on his fingers that could not be washed off for the time being, wiped the water on the yellow towel beside him, turned around and clasped his hands together to express his gratitude to the old lady.

"Thank you for the hospitality, old lady. It's really terrible to have a sudden hypoglycemia or something."

Although pitaya raises blood sugar very slowly, it is better than nothing. After a short while, Yingsheng's mind finally became clear again and he glanced at the time.

It's seven o'clock sharp in the morning.

I had been busy all night and hadn't eaten anything. Performing plastic surgery on Chiso Aoyagi was too exhausting, so I accidentally ran out of sugar.

I was so lucky to be fed by an old lady who got up early to relax when I was holding the door to catch my breath.

But after all, your physical fitness is not good enough. For the sake of endurance, should you keep more fat on your body?
Unfortunately, it’s hard to gain weight if you keep running around like this every day.

There's nothing I can do. It's my fate to be a hard worker.

The old lady was saying something like "You can drink some yogurt and eat a banana before morning exercise", and Yingsheng couldn't help but give her a thumbs up.

"You really know a lot, old lady. I will pay attention next time."

The rain has stopped in Ebina City. Although the sky is still hazy due to dark clouds, it is already quite bright.

Only then did Yingsheng look around and found that the courtyard was filled with stone sculptures of chess sets, and even the lawn was trimmed into the shape of a chessboard.

It seems that the owner of this house is quite fond of chess.

But, emmm...

These chess pieces look like they are placed randomly. Although I can't see the whole picture, what's going on with those six black pieces huddled together? Is there a real way to play this game?
"This chessboard was left by the master. Fifteen years have passed in a flash."

Apparently seeing Yingsheng looking around, the old lady began to explain, her tone quite emotional.

Fifteen years ago, did someone die?
Yingsheng hurriedly comforted her: "Old lady, please accept my condolences. If your husband is still alive, he would definitely want you to live a good life. This chessboard and this beautiful blue castle are what he left for you to keep you company."

Yingsheng looked back and saw that the blue castle was quite large. He had vaguely seen it in the cover of the forest before and seemed to have thought that he had come to a Nordic forest.

It’s a pity that the lighting is not good, otherwise it would definitely be a fairy tale-like place.

Well, forests, blue castles, and golden brilliance.

Romantic enough, perfect for a date.

"Yes, it's all over."

The old lady laughed and looked quite relieved.

But Yingsheng clearly noticed that there was a hint of unwillingness in her eyes.

Alas, is she blaming God for taking away her husband's life?

Since he had nothing to do this morning, Yingsheng sent Xiaolan an email to tell her that he had returned and went down the mountain for morning exercise.

Afterwards, he walked behind the old lady, pushed her wheelchair in the courtyard for her to relax, and chatted with her to relieve her boredom.

After all, this person had given him two dragon fruits.

In fact, the sun had not yet broken through the clouds and the weather was still a little chilly. Yingsheng suggested that she go into the house to avoid catching a cold.

The old man is in poor health and is already in a wheelchair. If he catches a cold, I’m afraid the pain in his legs will not heal.

But the old lady said that she was used to walking around the courtyard every morning, and she covered her knees with a thick blanket, so she would be fine.

This made Yingsheng sigh that the old lady was really affectionate towards her deceased husband.

So I paid attention to the topic of conversation and guided the old lady to talk about some past events, intending to comfort her.

The old lady probably hadn't had a good chat with anyone for a long time, so she was quite talkative, allowing Yingsheng to learn a lot.

The Mamiya family, the old man's last words about mowing the lawn, the fire in the stone tower four years ago, and so on.

Yingsheng glanced at the stone tower not far away. There were indeed traces of burnt flames on it. The shape inexplicably reminded him of the fairy tale of Rapunzel.

The witch came to the tower and called out, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let your hair down."

Ah.

The stone tower caught fire and burned so fiercely. It was originally used as a bedroom for everyone. It is impossible that there was a lot of gasoline and firewood piled downstairs.

More than a dozen people were burned to death, and not even one person jumped out of the building to escape. If those people were not all idiots, this must have been an intentional arson.

Those who died were probably killed first, or drugged, and the fire was just a trick to destroy the bodies and cover up the evidence.

If the police performed an autopsy, they should be able to easily determine the cause by looking at the respiratory burns and signs of struggle.

I didn't hear the old lady talk about how the murderer was caught afterwards, she just said that the flames suddenly shot up for no apparent reason.

Didn't they call the police?

Or are the police really that incompetent?

It's impossible that everyone was burned to ashes. How could the fire in such an open space be so fierce?

Yingsheng thought about it casually in his mind, without asking any further questions, he just listened to it.

This matter had nothing to do with him. He was mainly just a listener, letting the old lady talk to entertain him.

But it is said that the old lady had a cold and was sleeping in another bedroom on the day of the fire, so she escaped the disaster.

Such a coincidence also raises suspicion of arson.

Yingsheng continued to push the wheelchair, and soon they circled the courtyard.

Yingsheng looked at the layout of all the chess pieces and was 100% sure that this thing was just randomly placed.

The black pieces moved in a circle, and the white pieces were scattered around, only seven in total, which was confusing.

Didn’t the old lady just say that her husband loves chess?
As long as you are not a dilettante or pretending to be knowledgeable, even if you do not have symmetry obsession, you should at least set up a famous layout if you do not place it in the initial position.

Lucena position, Philidor position, etc.

This kind of positioning...

It must be intentional.

Is there a hidden secret?

Thinking of this, Yingsheng decided to ask directly. The old lady walked around here every morning, maybe she just wanted to know what her husband left for her.

By chance, I'll see if I can help solve the problem so that she doesn't feel sad in vain.

When the old lady heard what he said, she immediately turned around and a bright light flashed in her cloudy eyes.

"What did you see?!"

The old lady's voice was urgent, and she sounded a lot younger than just now.

Yingsheng thought that this gift was not bad, so he smiled lightly and pushed the old lady back to the castle.

"You have to tell me first whether the old man said anything back then."

The old lady said without hesitation: "He said that he would give his most precious treasure to anyone who could solve the mystery of this castle."

The Jianmiya family would tell passers-by about this kind of thing and ask the smart ones among them to help them decipher it. Now Yingsheng took a walk around the courtyard and saw the problem herself, so she took the initiative to ask about it. Of course, she would not hide it.

"You can see the whole view of the courtyard from the second floor. I'll take you there," she said again.

"Don't bother. I've already seen it."

Yingsheng drew an 8×8 chess board in his mind and placed the chess pieces he saw one by one, clearly distinguishing black and white.

In an instant, everything became clear.

These black spots, no matter how you look at them, look like a counterclockwise arrow.

Turn, what to turn?
The white pieces should not be placed randomly. Try to read them out one by one in the order of the chessboard 1-8, AH.

With the current arrangement, the chess pieces cannot be positioned and the position of 1A on the chessboard cannot be determined, so there are four possibilities.

BACHFGD;

EGGHEAD;

EBCAFHG;

EHDABBD.

At a quick glance, the second spelling is the most likely, egg head, egg head, nerd.

Didn’t the old lady say before that the old man often used this to mock himself when he was alive?

Yingsheng had already pushed the old lady into the gate of the castle. The castle had a red base and a very high ceiling, and the overall look was quite simple and heavy.

The most eye-catching thing is, of course, a large portrait facing the door.

The man in the painting has a beard and wears a blue suit, looking quite heroic.

Yingsheng looked around and saw two smaller portraits, a man and a woman, probably a couple.

This should be pretty obvious, but we still need to confirm it first.

"That's your husband?"

Yingsheng asked, pointing at the portrait in front of him.

"Yes, young man, have you discovered anything?"

The old lady looked at the portrait of her husband. There was no trace of nostalgia in her eyes, but her tone was quite anxious.

Yingsheng didn't take it seriously. The person had been dead for so many years, how could he think about him every day?

"Maybe. I'll go over and try it. Ma'am, please wait here for me."

Yingsheng let go of the wheelchair and walked towards the portrait. As he climbed the stairs, he felt that his guess might be wrong. It was too naive to think that turning the painting would reveal something or a passage.

There must be a butler and a maid in such a big castle. Wouldn't this kind of thing be exposed immediately when they are cleaning?
Walking to the platform between the first and second floors, Yingsheng raised his hand, pressed the lower left corner of the picture frame, and gently pushed it to one side.

Amidst the sound of friction, a hole appeared, inside which was an upward passage with an iron staircase.

Yes, it's really that childish.

Yingsheng was quite speechless. He felt that this family probably did not respect the master very much. In the past fifteen years, they had never thought of maintaining and restoring the painting.

When he looked back, he saw that the old lady's face was filled with shock and she stood up excitedly.

hiss--!
Medical miracle?

This is the power of love!

"Old lady, please sit down quickly, don't get hurt."

Yingsheng quickly jumped off the platform, ran to the door, and helped the old lady back into the wheelchair.

He took back what he had said before. The old lady must still care about her husband. The reason why he hadn't solved the mystery for so long was probably simply because his brain was not working well.

Or are her children unfilial and don’t listen to her?
"Young man, you, you..."

The old lady's voice trembled as she spoke, and she didn't utter a complete sentence for a long time. Yingsheng waited quietly beside her.

But before the old lady calmed down, another voice came from upstairs.

"Who was shouting just now? Are there any guests at home?"

A slightly plump man in a gray-purple suit came out from upstairs and saw the rotating oil painting at first sight.

"W-what's going on?!"

His tone was also full of surprise, and he walked quickly over there.

"Don't go over there! I discovered it first!"

The old lady suddenly shouted loudly, her voice was extremely sharp, just like the old witch in the fairy tale.

Yingsheng almost covered his ears. He shook his head and thought that although this old lady looked frail, she was actually quite strong.

"mother in law?"

On the stairs, the man in the suit stopped and looked back, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he tilted his head slightly to look at Yingsheng.

"Who is this?"

Yingsheng nodded to him as a greeting and was about to say that he was just passing by, but the old lady next to him spoke first.

"I commissioned a detective to come here to investigate the mystery left by the master. Ah Man, please get out of the way."

"What! Mother-in-law, you hired a detective?!"

Mamiya Mitsuru exclaimed in shock, glanced at Yingsei who was nodding, then glanced at the passage revealed under the portrait, and then glanced at the old lady with an excited face.

He gritted his teeth and rushed straight towards the passage.

"I'm the first person to solve the puzzle!"

"Asshole! Stop right there!"

The old lady stood up again and rushed directly to the stairs with great agility.

She and Mitsuru Mamiya were one above and one below, and were quite close to the passage, so they arrived almost at the same time.

"Damn old woman!"

Mamiya Mitsuru had a ferocious look on his face and attacked with heavy punches.

"I should be the first one!"

The old lady threw the thick blanket that was originally used to cover her knees onto Mamiya Mitsuru's face and kicked it away, almost kicking the flustered Mamiya Mitsuru down the stairs.

Mamiya Mitsuru fell to the ground, and the old lady hurriedly entered the passage and climbed up.

"It's mine! It must be mine!"

She was still mumbling like crazy.

"Damn it, don't even think about taking it all for yourself!"

Mamiya Mitsuru finally tore off the blanket on his face, entered the passage and climbed up.

In the huge hall, Yingsheng was the only one left in a blink of an eye. He glanced at the wheelchair beside him, which was disheveled in the wind.

No, is this old lady in such good health?
I used to hear that Japan has a silver economy, which is an unhealthy social phenomenon brought about by aging.

But if every elderly person could walk as briskly as Mrs. Mamiya, then they could just go to the construction site and carry bricks, and driving a taxi would be nothing.

As for the retirement age, it must be delayed to at least 85 years old.

"What's going on here? Why do I hear people arguing?"

On the other side of the second floor, another young man in red silk pajamas ran out and looked at Yingsheng at the door.

Yingsheng pointed to the passage without hiding anything.

"It probably contains the treasures left by the old master. Mr. Mamiya Mitsuru and the old lady have both gone in."

"what?!"

The young man was shocked, and immediately ran downstairs in three steps and went in without hesitation.

Yingsheng sighed and said, "Is this guy so anxious? He didn't even ask who he was."

He finally realized that these people were purely after the treasures in the castle. Sorry, they didn't have any feelings for him at all.

Forget it, it has nothing to do with him anyway.

Yingsheng yawned and went out to breathe some fresh air to refresh himself.

After walking a few steps, another man in gardening clothes came hurriedly. When he saw Yingsheng, he immediately asked what had just happened here. He heard the quarrel from a distance.

Yingsheng continued to tell the truth and asked him to hurry over, otherwise he would not have a share of the treasure later.

But this time the man did not leave, but just sighed with a complicated expression.

"So this is ah."

Yingsheng looked at him curiously and said, "You are not from this family? But gardeners can also have dreams. Anyone who sees it can have a share."

The man smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I have received too many favors from the Mamiya family. I am Tabata, a servant of this family. May I ask who you are, sir?"

"A detective passing by."

Yingsheng felt around for a while, but didn't find a business card. Then he remembered that he hadn't done it yet, so he said directly: "Aida Detective Agency, we accept all kinds of commissions, and our efficiency is first-class. Mr. Tabata, would you like to leave a phone number?"

"You want what you want."

Katsuo Tabata quickly took out his cell phone to write down the number. This puzzle that had troubled the Mamiya family for years was easily solved by this person. The difference in IQ was obvious.

How can we put it? The gap between people is greater than that between people and dogs.

"This is impossible!!!"

They had just left their phone number when a heart-wrenching roar came from the sky.

From the sound of the voice it was Mamiya Mitsuru.

Hotaroo and Katsuo Tabata looked at each other and were just as they were puzzled when they heard another male voice shouting.

"It was you who hid the treasure, wasn't it, old woman?"

Hotaru looked at Katsuo Tabata.

Tabata Katsuo looked bewildered: "It's the voice of the noble young master. He is the only son of the madam and Master Zhen Zhao. He is usually a very gentle person."

Yingsheng shrugged: "It seems that the gentleness is just an appearance. Now the real intention is exposed."

"How could this be... How could this be!?"

The old lady's voice was finally heard, accompanied by a shrill cry, like a night owl flying out of a dark cave with a ball in its arms.

Bang Dong——!
There was the sound of another body hitting the wall.

Katsuo Tabata looked worried and walked inside. Hotaru held his shoulder and gave him a kind reminder.

"Why don't we call the police? It sounds pretty intense. What if someone gets hurt by mistake?"

"This……"

Tabata Katsuo looked hesitant, Master Aman...

"Ah!! Damn it! You are definitely not an old woman!"

Mamiya Mitsuru screamed.

Katsuo Tabata shuddered all over, nodded quickly, and took out his cell phone to call the police.

It's not that I don't want to repay your kindness, sir, but I'm just a weak servant and you are the masters of the house, so it would be useless for me to go up there.

Katsuo Tabata told the police that the situation was very serious, but the Ebina City police responded at a snail's pace.

Yingsheng and others were yawning, and called Xiaolan to tell her about this, and told her that she could call the classmates who wanted to visit here yesterday to come and watch the fun.

This left Katsuo Tabata speechless. You, detective, are really leisurely.

"Mr. Tabata, is breakfast ready in the villa? I'm starving."

After hanging up the phone, Hotaru looked at Katsuo Tabata with hope.

"…………have."

What could Katsuo Tabata say? After all, this was a guest.

Moreover, the sounds of fighting and screaming in the attic gradually weakened. Katsuo Tabata had some bad guesses in his mind, and his legs felt a little weak.

Yingsheng was so calm and composed, and seemed to have seen through everything, so he subconsciously regarded her as his backbone.

With French soup with bread and three foie gras sandwiches, Yingsheng was able to fill his stomach.

Not long after, Xiaolan arrived with a group of classmates and looked at Yingsheng somewhat awkwardly.

"As soon as everyone heard about the case, they all followed."

"..."

Yingsheng was speechless. People in Tokyo are so bloodthirsty.

At 8:30 in the morning, the police finally arrived and went up to the attic under the guidance of Katsuo Tabata.

"what--!!"

The policeman in front let out a scream and fell down the stairs, "Bang, bang, bang..." The people below were affected and rolled into a ball.

Everyone on the platform formed a circle around him and saw the policeman covering his right eye tightly with blood still oozing out from between his fingers.

"It was an old woman with white hair! She attacked me with a stick with nails on it!"

The policeman screamed in pain and told what had happened through gritted teeth.

Katsuo Tabata, who had just crawled up from the ground, trembled all over and looked at Hotaru with gratitude in his eyes.

Yingsheng shook his head and sighed in his heart, thinking that this was definitely directed at him.

The reason is very simple. Blame myself for shattering the hope she had been holding on to for more than ten years.

Her life has come to an end, and the person who caused all this is Yingsheng.

Anyway, she has killed so many people, she definitely doesn't care about taking another life.

Ten minutes later, the police finally went up to the attic.

All I saw was a pile of corpses.

(End of this chapter)