Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 239 Secret
In the [Witch and Troll Room] of Nadeshiko High School, the table is already piled with letters and notes taken out of the "Confession Box".

Not only was Shiraishi watching, Ayako was also helping to sort them...

However, Hongzi was obviously not interested in these, and she had only brought this up because Shiraishi needed it.

If Hongzi had come by herself, the incident would have been "satisfactorily resolved" by now.

It's because Shiraishi feels that there might be a more serious case hidden behind the "collective coma", so he asks Hongzi to cooperate with him in "playing tricks".

"The letters related to Ikegami Harukai, Yamasugi Kan'o, Hinata Ken, Shiraishi Ikka, the small temple... are all here." Ayako was standing aside and made a simple classification.

Ayako paused and asked worriedly, "But... although I scared the students with [Fox Trouble] before, if the strange things now are really man-made, I'm afraid they won't be exposed by themselves just because of the confession box, right?"

That’s right, Ayako has also realized that what Hongzi said during lunch break should be a “strategy”!
Of course, there were other people, both students and faculty, who noticed or even began to suspect that the “witch and the troll” were deliberately scaring people in order to collect information using the “confession box”?
But it doesn't matter if you are a little smart...

"It doesn't matter. The reason why I asked Hongzi to make such arrangements is to collect information in a big data manner, not to target any particular person. Gossip among students spreads very quickly. As long as most students provide information, it doesn't matter if a few people have doubts." Bai Shi said as a matter of course.

"By the way, Hinata-san and Ichika...didn't receive any letters, right?" Shiraishi confirmed.

"Well, although they are anonymous, I didn't see their handwriting." Ayako nodded - Shiraishi had asked Ayako to recognize their handwriting before.

Although Gina had mentioned before that the time when Ichika's mood was abnormal and the time when "strange things" occurred in school were quite different, Shiraishi suspected that there was a connection between the two, especially...

When Shiraishi asked Hinata about Ichika before, her reaction made Shiraishi realize that she should know something, but she obviously didn't want to say it!
And judging from her reaction, Ichika's abnormality was not caused by her, or she didn't want Ichika to be like this, so Shiraishi didn't ask immediately.

After all, she is just a high school girl, not a suspect, so Shiraishi can't force her to ask any questions. He can only guide her subtly later.

But now it seems that even after being scared like this, Hinata and Ichika still have no intention of speaking!
This gave Bai Shi a bad feeling...

Thanks to his skills in document processing, Bai Shi can read these very quickly.

Although no one admitted to any serious crime, a lot of important information did emerge!

such as……

Shiraishi Ichika had a good relationship with the missing teacher Ikegami, who was also one of the student council's counselors, and President Hinata once joined the biology society.

In addition, more than one student mentioned that Mr. Shanshan from the Biology Society often appeared in front of the small temple behind the school, worshiping in a mysterious manner, and sometimes even brought traditional offerings such as wine...

Among the teachers, the one who was mentioned the most, besides the missing Ikegami Harukai, was Yamasugi Mikio.

Most of them can be divided into two categories. One is to confess that they had slandered Teacher Shanshan behind his back, and the other is to expose and report some suspicious behavior of Teacher Shanshan.

There were even reports of peeping and theft, but...

Shiraishi didn't see any direct evidence!
In comparison, Chi Shen Chunlai is not only at the opposite end of the spectrum from Yamasugi Kan'ichi in terms of appearance and personality, but he is also very popular among students.

Regarding the disappearance of Ikegami Haruai, some people mentioned that he and Yamasugi Kan'ichi seemed to have had an argument over something before!

At the same time, Shiraishi discovered that Hongzi actually picked up the "letter" and started reading it, which surprised Shiraishi a little - normally speaking, Hongzi didn't need to help now and there was nothing she could do to help.

Then Shiraishi discovered that she was specifically looking at content related to "Yamasugi Kan'ichi"!
"Hmm? Are you also interested in the case?" Bai Shi asked curiously.

It’s not surprising that Hongzi would find something wrong with Shanshan, because... this guy is too dramatic!

However, Hongzi should not be interested in such "follow-up matters".

"He might... really have something." Hongzi seemed to have discovered something of interest.

At this moment, Gina came running over and informed: "Big guy, the teacher who was possessed by the fox demon just now has woken up."

"Looks like I have to talk to him...Are you going too?" Shiraishi said, glancing at Hongzi.

Hongzi nodded as a matter of course when she heard that.

Soon, Shiraishi and his group of five went directly to the biology laboratory, which was also the usual office of Yamasugi Kan'ichi - it was just upstairs from the dance studio.

dong dong dong-

"Huh? What are you doing here?" Shanshan looked at the five people who came in and asked with resistance.

Before Bai Shi could ask, Hong Zi spoke first: "You found the [Angel Hair], right?"

"Eh?" Shanshan immediately showed a frustrated expression, as if his thoughts had been exposed.

Originally, he was prepared that the other party might doubt him, question him, or even ask about things related to Chi Shen, but he didn't expect... the other party actually asked about his biggest secret?

"Angel hair?" Ayako looked strange when she heard that.

Shiraishi Mikoko started talking about this first, and she didn't interrupt. She just explained to Ayako: "Well, it's a legendary monster. Not only is its power the weakest, but it rarely moves... There have been legends about it since the Edo period, but people can't even be sure whether it is a plant or an animal... No, it should be said that they can't be sure whether it is a living thing."

This time Shiraishi knew what Anko was talking about!
Because in the "Red Magic" heritage, there is knowledge about this kind of thing, which is different from the previous nonsense about "Fox Demon".

When Hongzi discovered that Baishi knew what she was talking about immediately, he showed a teachable expression - after all, the name recorded in the inheritance was different!
In the tradition of red magic, this thing is called "Dandelion of Courage".

After receiving the inheritance, Bai Shi also compared the legends and determined the Dongdao names of some "magic items", such as [Courage Dandelion → Angel's Hair].

When Ayako heard this, her expression became even weirder: "Is there really such a thing?"

"Who knows? But Mr. Yamashan must have believed that what he got was the Angel's Hair... In the students' notes, more than one student mentioned that Mr. Yamashan hid a strange wooden box and was always carrying it on his back.

"There is always a strange smell on his body... There is also a smell that seems to be rouge, mixed with rotten wood! Because of this, some students even misunderstood that Mr. Yamashan often sneaked into the girls' dormitory." Shiraishi then recounted the students' "reports".

I believe Hongzi discovered it this way too...

Because in the legend of the East Island Country, the way to preserve, or "raise", [Angel Hair] is to put it in a wooden box and feed it rouge every day!

"Can you show it to me?" Hongzi asked proactively.

Seeing Shanshan hesitate, Bai Shi said, "We just take a look, otherwise... we can only report to the principal and the chairman."

"Okay..." Shanshan said helplessly.

Then Shanshan carefully took out a wooden box from the locked cabinet.

It has the unique rotten smell of old wood, and there are several air holes drilled on it...

The most curious people at the scene were undoubtedly Ayako and Gina - after all, everyone else either knew what it was but had never seen the real thing, or had already seen it.

It was the first time for the two of them to have close contact with the "mysterious object"!
Bai Shi reminded him, "There is a saying that you can only see Angel Hair once a year. When you feed it, you must be careful not to look directly at it. Otherwise, it will not only affect your luck, but in serious cases, you may suffer a bloody disaster."

Hearing what Shiraishi said, Ayako and Gina became even more nervous.

"Why would you collect such a dangerous thing?" Gina looked at Yamasugi Kan's husband in confusion.

Shanshan was usually not only dull but also looked a little mean. When he looked at people, he always lowered his head and squinted. He did not answer at this time. It was Baishi who said, "If you offer it correctly, it is said that it will bring good luck to people and can even be used as a family heirloom."

Compared to Yamasugi, Hongzi's actions were much more careless - after all, what Shiraishi just said was just the content of "East Island Legends"...

Although many of them can match the characteristics of [Courage Dandelion], but...

After all, it is not as detailed as the records in "The Legacy of Red Magic"!
More importantly, Shiraishi and Hongzi possess supernatural powers themselves and are not worried about the influence of such beings.

After Hongzi opened the wooden box, she saw something shaped like a "dandelion" placed on a white cloth inside. Its hair was swaying gently and emitting a faint phosphorescent light... but there was no sign of a "living thing"!

"This is... angel hair?" Gina said somewhat disappointedly.

"So, we can't be sure whether it is an animal or a plant. It's just a legendary existence." Bai Shi said as a matter of course.

Hongzi's eyes were burning at first, then he calmed down and said, "It is indeed a living thing, but I don't know if it is true or not, it may bring disaster, so you should be careful to keep it."

Shiraishi understood that Hongzi just wanted to see...

The two of them knew the effect of this thing very well. It was not magical, but... very rare!
Especially in this Dharma-Ending Age, there might not be a chance to see it a second time, so Hongzi wanted to take a look, not really interested in its effects.

As for Shanshan getting this thing, it is not surprising - he himself is very interested in strange creatures at home and abroad, and has read a lot of information. Since he is also a scholar of biology, he often goes out for scientific research. This is what he happened to discover in the wild.

Seeing that Hongzi had remained silent, obviously her curiosity had been satisfied, Shiraishi continued to ask about the matter: "Teacher Yamashan, the temple behind the school was demolished by the Biology Society, right?"

"Right, so... am I cursed?" Shanshan said sullenly, without the excitement he had when he talked about "Angel's Hair" before.

"It seems so, but... now I want to ask another question. When the Biological Society demolished the temple, they should have discovered something special, right?" Shiraishi asked bluntly. "No!" Shanshan denied it flatly.

But just then...

Hinata rushed over and said, "Officer Shiraishi, Her Majesty the Witch... It's bad! Behind... Under the ruins of the temple behind... A body was found!"

"Corpse?" Ayako's face changed again when she heard that.

"That's right, Vice Principal Samejima just brought a few physical education teachers over there, and they dug up the ruins of the temple, and they found... the body of Teacher Ikegami!" Hinata hurriedly explained.

"It's okay, we'll go over and take a look." Hearing this, Bai Shi had no choice but to rush over.

……

Samejima is braver than expected. He can't stand watching the students being frightened by the "fox demon" and actually...

He took a few male teachers with him and dug up the demolished small temple, and found a corpse underneath!

In this case, no matter how reluctant the school is, it has no choice but to call the police - with such a large body here, it is unlikely to remain secret.

However, Kuzunoye still used his privilege to contact the Metropolitan Police Department directly, and did not ask the police from the local police station to come, so there were not many police officers on the scene, only the search police and the necessary forensic personnel...

The person who came was someone Shiraishi knew...

"Inspector Megure, long time no see." Shiraishi greeted.

That’s right, the ones who came to the scene were the Sou Yi San Xi.

Megure looked at Shiraishi helplessly and said, "It's not that long..."

Immediately, Megure shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about that for now. What they just said... witches, fox demons, etc., do you understand?"

Megure's tone also became a little strange - because according to other people's descriptions, Shiraishi was also present at the time, and... he has not stopped these "nonsense", and even seems to be supporting these weird things!
This made Megure deeply confused. In his opinion, Shiraishi should never believe in these things.

"About this...actually it's like this." Bai Shi was just about to find an excuse to deal with it.

At this moment, without Shiraishi having to make any more excuses, a teacher immediately ran over and said, "Officer! This is bad... Mr. Yamasugi suddenly went crazy and kidnapped Hinata-san!"

"What? Hijacking?" Megure was also shocked when he heard that.

However, Officer Sato noticed that when Shiraishi heard the news, he frowned instead of being shocked...

There was no time to say anything else. The police officers, including Shiraishi, rushed to the biological laboratory on the third floor.

The door of the laboratory was locked at this time, but from the corridor, through the glass in front of the door, Hinata could be seen fainted on the table, and Yamasugi was holding a metal pair of laboratory scissors in one hand, mumbling something, and looked mentally unstable...

Seeing this, Megure knocked on the door and said, "Mr. Shanshan, don't be impulsive!"

"Not only that, but come in! Otherwise I will kill...eat her! Hehehe..." Shanshan was still laughing strangely with a choked voice.

"Is this bastard going to pretend to be possessed by a fox? Damn it!" Megure muttered - Inspector Megure certainly would not believe such a statement, and even in his heart, he complained about the so-called "witch". In his opinion, this was just a professional psychic who was out to cheat people out of money.

At this time, Shiraishi Ichika seemed to have made up her mind. She came to Shiraishi and said, "Brother Hei... I have something to tell you!"

"Hmm? Okay, let's talk on the way." Shiraishi nodded when he heard that, and then asked Ichika to follow him.

Seeing Shiraishi walking out of the teaching building, Megure only glanced at him and didn't look at him any further, fearing that he would alert the "kidnappers". Seeing this, Sato followed him...

……

After a while...

"Mr. Yamasugi, calm down first. If you have anything to say, just say it and we can talk slowly... Is Hinata-san okay?" Megure comforted Yamasugi while attracting his attention.

Just at this moment, Megure saw a big hand reaching out from the window behind Yamasugi and making gestures to him - although it was the third floor, Shiraishi had already climbed up!

"Okay, I'll come in now, don't get excited..." After understanding the gesture, Megure said as he inserted the key that the chairman had just given him into the keyhole of the laboratory.

"Stop! Don't come in!" Yamashan immediately shouted hysterically, with his attention completely on Megure.

at the same time……

wow-

While Yamasugi's attention was not behind him and he took two steps away from the unconscious Hinata, Shiraishi immediately climbed up completely and broke into the room through the window using inch power!

By the time Yamasugi turned around and saw Shiraishi, he was surprised and waving his scissors, but Shiraishi had already stood between him and the hostage Hinata.

“You…” Shanshan was also stunned—I’m on the third floor!
next moment……

Shanshan seemed to be angry and stabbed towards Baishi with a pair of scissors - of course, in terms of actual combat power, even a machete would be useless.

boom--

Bai Shi casually used two fingers to make a "hand knife" and hit him on the neck, making him unconscious!
The police officers outside rushed in upon seeing this, held down the unconscious Yamasugi, and carried him away. Shiraishi checked on Hinata, and after getting a little closer, he saw his nose twitch...

"It's okay, his breathing is steady. He must have been knocked unconscious by the ether." Bai Shi smelled a faint residual odor.

Upon hearing this, Megure and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"He actually kidnapped students at this time. It seems that Chi Shenchunlai's death was most likely caused by him!" Megure said in a deep voice.

Sato on the side also hurriedly stepped forward and said: "That's right! Just now..." Sato said and looked at Shiraishi.

After seeing Shiraishi nod, Sato continued, "Just now, Shiraishi provided clues that prove that Yamasugi Kan's father had sufficient motives to commit the crime!"

"Shiraishi-san?" Megure looked at Sato strangely - why do you call her so cute?
"I'm talking about Ichika Shiraishi! She is...Inspector Shiraishi's sister who is currently in an orphanage!" Sato immediately added.

"Oh oh oh, what did she say?" Megure then realized that she was not calling Shiraishi.

Shiraishi Ichika had just told her "secret" to Shiraishi and Sato. Since she was mainly talking to Shiraishi and Sato was just overhearing, she looked at Shiraishi for his opinion before speaking out.

"Actually... Shiraishi and Hinata were threatened by Mikio Yamasugi because they were discovered working part-time during the holidays. Shiraishi asked him for help before Mr. Ikegami was murdered." Sato explained simply at this time.

However, Shiraishi corrected a point at this time: "To be precise, it was Ichika who discovered that Yamasugi might be threatening Hinata-san, but she herself was not directly threatened."

Megure ignored Shiraishi's correction of details at this time, and wondered: "Part-time job? Is working during the holidays so serious?"

"Well, after all, this is Nadeshiko High School. Not only is part-time work prohibited, but the school rules are very strict. Once discovered, you will be expelled immediately, and... you are working as a maid waitress in a maid cafe." Shiraishi explained at this time.

Yixiang is an orphan and already eighteen years old, so it is impossible for her to still be raised in an orphanage.

Hinata Ken also comes from a single-parent family, and even though the special enrollment students are exempt from tuition, the family is already unable to make ends meet.

So during the winter vacation, the two of them secretly worked outside together, and the job was indeed not very good.

But to Shiraishi and other police officers, there was actually nothing shameful about it - it was not illegal, it was not a crime, it was not selling one's body or soul... it was very legitimate!
She was just wearing a maid outfit, acting cute, and trying to cheer up some otakus. In the eyes of the criminal police, this was far from being "shameful."

However, Shiraishi Ichika and Hinata Ken are, after all, 18-year-old female high school students, especially in an aristocratic school like Fude Girls High School, so their sense of shame must be much greater.

And once the school finds out, they will definitely be expelled for "corrupting the school's morale"...

Both of them have passed the university's self-recruitment exam and are just waiting to graduate from high school. Ichika, in particular, was admitted to the University of Tokyo, so she certainly doesn't want anything unexpected to happen at this time.

Because Ichika will work there and was introduced by her good friend Hinata, Hinata feels that it is his responsibility to protect Ichika, so he is threatened by Yamasugi and helps him take pictures of the locker room!
Shiraishi Ichika didn't know the specific threat. She found out at work one day that Hinata had secretly met with Yamasugi Mikio and seemed to be very embarrassed. When she asked about it, Hinata refused to say anything and said he could handle it himself.

And after school started, Shiraishi Ichika also discovered that Hinata Ken and Yamasugi Mikio had contact, and even...

After school started, she followed Hinata one time and found that Hinata was in the locker room and had secretly installed a camera!
When she was trying to persuade Hinata not to be threatened and to go report it together, she was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Yamasugi.

Ichika was convinced that it must be Yamasugi who happened to find out that she and Hinata were working in the maid cafe, and then threatened Hinata with it. Hinata was worried about her, so she didn't say it...

On the evening of January 1, Ichika wanted to go directly to Vice Principal Samejima to report Yamasugi Mikio, but Samejima happened to be away that day. Ichika met Ikegami in the vice principal's office. After Ikegami learned about this, he told Ichika not to make it public yet. He would go and talk to Yamasugi to avoid affecting Ichika and Hinata's further studies...

The result was that from that day on, Chi Shen disappeared!

(End of this chapter)