The establishment of the Time Travelers Alliance began in the first year of Conan

Chapter 264 The Delayed Adagio (Part 3)
When Conan saw the blue castle in the distance through the highest treetops of the forest, he initially thought that the village mansion and the castle were the same building.

He had even mentally prepared himself for the fact that the castle was actually fraught with danger.

For example, the unknown killer has already laid out numerous traps and mechanisms, and at any moment a small black figure could suddenly emerge from underground and strike you, who knows the pointer...

Then Conan was stunned by the bizarre architectural art that combined classical and modern elements.

"Huh? What a strange design!"

Ran Mouri helped Conan ask the question that had been bothering him.

She looked up at the village mansion, which was about three stories high, and then at the towering ancient castle next to it—the difference between the two was too great.

A somewhat puzzled gaze swept back and forth between the two buildings.

Who would build a simple and inexpensive village house, mostly made of brick and wood, right next to a Western-style castle?
It could even be said that it was almost like a makeshift warehouse, standing side by side against a thick wall on the west side of the castle, with a high cliff leading straight to the sea behind it.

—It looks like someone built a thatched hut next to the castle.

Xiaolan remembered what Mr. Shimizu had said before, and she asked, "The village mansion... shouldn't it be a castle?"

Kogoro Mouri and Conan looked at Masato Shimizu, wondering what kind of explanation he could give.

“That’s how it was supposed to be,” Shimizu Masato continued, “but after Kameyama Isamu died two years ago, the relocation plan was put on hold indefinitely.”

"After all, there aren't many people on the island, and most things can be done at the village office. Apart from important events like religious ceremonies, the village office isn't really used much."

"In addition, ever since the incident at Kameyama, many people have said that the ghosts of Kameyama Isamu and Aso Keiji have been trapped in the castle."

"Even the security guard who stayed on duty at the museum said he kept hearing some strange noises."

"Therefore, although the castle looks beautiful, not many people want to go inside."

Masato Shimizu sighed. He knew in his heart that there was one more crucial point—money.

"In addition, the annual maintenance costs will be a large sum of money if it is actually put into use."

"Furthermore, the original gift contract stipulated that we could not alter the castle's structure, otherwise the renovations would be..."

He shrugged, indicating that no one was willing to take on such a large project—not even Kuroiwa Tatsuji, who succeeded him.

Conan felt increasingly that something was strange about the castle, and he tried to find out more information.

"Uncle Shimizu, why not move the village mansion down the mountain? That way, we won't have to go up and down the mountain every time."

"Move downstairs?" Shimizu Masato chuckled. "Little brother, you might not understand yet."

“Relocation will cost a lot of money, and no one wants to take on this hot potato.”

He shrugged, indicating that it was completely impossible.

"Furthermore, if you were the new village chief, would you tell the villagers that it would cost a large sum of money to move it back?"

“Unless it’s paid for by themselves, any village chief who dares to make such a suggestion should just wait to be removed from office. After all, the villagers’ taxes shouldn’t be wasted like this.”

"So, this is the final solution—"

"That guy Kuroiwa Tatsuji took charge and built this smaller mansion next door, using local materials. The electrical wires can also be directly connected to the castle, so it's a way of making use of waste."

"Those strange noises from the old castle—"

Conan had yet to voice another question in his mind.

A young man, also dressed in a black suit, emerged from the glass door that was an octave shorter than the castle gate next to it.

He hurried over and greeted the group of people who were standing by the car door.

He is the current village chief's secretary, Hirata Kazuaki.

"Mr. Shimizu! Dr. Narumi! I thought you should have arrived by now, since the Buddhist ceremony is about to begin."

"Ah."

Masato Shimizu nodded and looked at Narumi Asai beside him. "Dr. Narumi, let's go over there first."

Then, he turned around and introduced Kogoro Mouri and the others to Hirata Kazuaki.

Then, as if he had just remembered something, he added softly, "Hirata, before the ceremony officially begins, let's take them to see that room first."

Hirata Kazuaki's expression was hesitant, as if he wanted to refuse.

"This...this is probably..."

But Masato Shimizu agreed to the whole thing for him, turning to Kogoro Mouri with a calm tone tinged with expectation:
"After all, Hirata was the first to discover Mr. Kameyama's death."

"If Detective Mori can find any details we've missed, that would be even better."

As he said this, Shimizu Masato leaned close to Hirata Kazuaki's ear and whispered something to Conan, who looked on with suspicion.

After hearing this, Hirata Kazuaki's expression stiffened for a moment, then he gave a wry smile and said, "Alright, I'll take you there now."

……

Just as Shimizu Masato mentioned, the interior of the village mansion does indeed look very simple, more like a temporary expansion of a meeting place.

A wooden main corridor extends out, with several rooms arranged neatly on both sides, each with a small note on the door indicating its purpose.

There is also a staircase on both the top and bottom sides.

At the end of the corridor was a rather heavy wooden door, which looked more "important" than the other rooms.

After everyone parted ways with Masato Shimizu and Narumi Asai, Kazuaki Hirata led Conan and his group to the end of the corridor.

"That room at the end is the one with Keiji Aso's piano."

He explained as he walked.

“Some people suggested that we sell the piano, saying that keeping it would bring bad luck. But in the end, Mr. Kameyama bought it with his own money.”

Conan's eyes lit up immediately.

In other words, there must be something wrong with that piano!

Perhaps Keiji Aso left some mark on it at the time; otherwise, as the village chief, Isamu Kameyama would have had no reason to buy this "cursed piano."

Kogoro Mouri, however, hadn't considered this at all. He nodded in agreement and began to offer his opinions haphazardly.

"After all, Keiji Aso is quite a celebrity on the island. Maybe this piano will appreciate in value in the future!"

For Kogoro Mouri, the piano issue had already been decisively ruled out in his mind.

The key lies in the Crimson Fire Sacrifice, he thought.

This is perhaps the biggest difference between Kogoro Mouri and Conan when they are solving cases:
One of them focuses more on the criminal's emotional logic, while the other focuses more on the criminal's methods and evidence of the crime.

This also leads to Kogoro Mouri often making mistakes in his reasoning because his logic is completely different from the criminal's motive.

after all--

The motives for crimes in the Conan world are often not so "normal".

In Kogoro Mouri's view, the piano was not important at all—what he cared about was the geographical location.

He noticed that the Aso residence and the port ruins were located very close to each other.

This makes it clear why Keiji Aso was burned to death.

If the Red Fire Festival's treasure might exist in the port, then ten years ago, Keiji Aso was likely silenced because of some discovery.

Kogoro Mouri believed half of what Masato Shimizu said.

For example, he said that the Crimson Fire Ritual was likely a cover-up provided by the murderer.

He even boldly took this idea a step further:
If the Crimson Fire Festival is a cover-up, then what about the "cursed piano"?

Since only two people have died from the "curse" in the long period since Keiji Aso's death...

This suggests that the same could be true for a piano.

This is also why Kogoro Mouri thinks the piano is unimportant.

He was already thinking about how to go to the site to scout it out the next day; he had noticed it when he peered down the sea cliff—

There was a shipwreck that looked somewhat "new," and it was located in an abandoned berth blocked by fallen rocks.

Kogoro Mouri remembered very clearly that Masato Shimizu had said that hardly anyone ever came to that abandoned port.

……

Of course, Conan's thoughts are exactly the opposite of Kogoro Mouri's.

Even the ramblings of this confused old man made Conan sigh inwardly.

"Sigh—that muddle-headed old man is at it again. Can't he realize that the way the two dead men died must be related to the treasure of the Crimson Fire Sacrifice?"

"And they all died on the night of the full moon, and the Moonlight Sonata that Keiji Aso played before he died."

However, this may be because Conan knows more information than Kogoro Mouri.

He knew directly that "the shadow of Moonshadow Island" meant "pointer," which allowed him to connect the two cases, "the cursed piano" and "the Crimson Fire Festival," which were far apart in time and space.

Conan went through the names of the people Shimizu Masato had mentioned earlier in his mind once more.

According to the information Shimizu Masato mentioned earlier, only the village chief has the knowledge of the "Red Fire Festival".

Then these people running for village chief become highly suspicious.

Moreover, because Hirata Kazuaki was the village chief's secretary, Kogoro Mouri had met with the other two candidates as a detective just before Shimizu Masato and the others parted ways.

Conan took the opportunity to observe at the time.

Without a doubt, the two most suspicious individuals are the current village chief, Kuroiwa Tatsuji, and Kawashima Hideo, who is competing with Shimizu Masato.

After all, only they have the ability and motivation to maintain this deception disguised as the Crimson Fire Ritual.

Oh, and the suspicion surrounding Masato Shimizu can't be ruled out immediately either—

What exactly did he say to this person?

Thinking this, Conan once again used his clear, childlike voice and took the lead, immediately starting to gather intelligence.

"So, Uncle Hirata, what did Mr. Shimizu just say to you?"

"Ah...it's nothing really."

Hirata scratched his head somewhat honestly.

To be honest, he couldn't see what kind of ability this adult and two children had to decipher the "Crimson Fire Ritual".

"Actually, I secretly gave that document about the 'Red Fire Festival' to Mr. Shimizu, so he asked me to secretly show it to you later."

"Huh!" Xiaolan exclaimed in surprise.

Kogoro Mouri also felt that he had discovered a flaw in Masato Shimizu's character.

"But Mr. Shimizu said that he himself wasn't the one being controlled by the current village chief, Mr. Kuroiwa..."

We've reached the end of the corridor.

Click——

With a slightly muffled thud, Hirata Kazuaki pushed open the wooden door that seemed to have been sealed for a long time.

Perhaps because it was located at the highest point of the island, the room was not dark even though the lights were off.

Now, everyone can see the sun slowly sinking into the sea.

The light of dusk streamed in through the two windows, sprinkling like gold dust onto the piano in the center of the room, creating a scene that was both gentle and somewhat eerie.

The piano stood there quietly, as if waiting for a certain melody.

“You could say that.”

Hirata Kazuaki explained, "It was indeed the village chief who asked me to reveal some information to Mr. Shimizu, and Mr. Kawashima even got angry about it a few times."

He paused, then added, "Actually, if you ask the villagers who are seventy or eighty years old about the Crimson Fire Festival, they might still remember it." "Moreover, people from outside the island came here to pan for gold at that time, and a scholar had also come before."

Hirata Kazuaki explained, "Actually, if it weren't for concerns about the impact on the reputation of the fishing grounds and Tsukikage Island, the village chief had considered making it public before, but he didn't do so due to Mr. Kawashima's opposition."

So, was it Hideo Kawashima who opposed Tatsuji Kuroiwa's public announcement of the "Red Fire Festival"?
Conan silently memorized this clue, then turned his gaze and pressed for an answer:
"Mr. Kawashima...are you very close to Mr. Kuroiwa?"

Hirata Kazuaki's lips twitched slightly, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"They used to have a very good relationship. In fact, they used to have a very good relationship with the deceased Mr. Kameyama and Mr. Nishimoto. They grew up together."

Mouri Kogoro nodded.

This was something Taguchi Sōjin had mentioned before after telling them about the "cursed piano".

Thinking of this, Kogoro Mori remembered that Masato Shimizu had just said that it was Kazuaki Hirata who discovered Isamu Kameyama's death.

He pointed to the piano in front of them, and casually picked up one of the little devils who was sneaking towards the piano.

"And what about that cursed piano?"

"Ah! That rumor actually started because of me."

At this point, Hirata Kazuaki's voice trembled slightly—

Nothing is more frightening than witnessing a "ghost story" originate from your own actions.

This is also why he quietly sided with Masato Shimizu, who supported "solving cases" or "public discourse."

Now that Kuroiwa Tatsuji is facing criticism for polluting the fishing grounds, he is certainly not going to be re-elected, while Kawashima Hideo's idea is to continue to cover it up.

"After all, trapped vengeful spirits can only become Buddhas after fulfilling their wishes, which is why I hope Mr. Shimizu can be selected."

"That was two years ago, I just happened to be passing by this area that day..."

Hirata Kazuaki's narration seemed to materialize and bring everyone into his perspective.

That night, the mountain breeze blew, and the entire mansion seemed to be asleep under the full moonlight.

"Logically, there shouldn't have been anyone in the village mansion at the time, but as I passed by the window, I suddenly heard the sound of a piano coming from inside, so I stood at the window and shouted inside."

"Who's in there!" Hirata Kazuaki shouted toward the source of the music.

Then, the music suddenly stopped.

Hirata Kazuaki's tone became somewhat hurried:

"Then I went inside and opened the door to find Mr. Kameyama lying on the piano keys, already dead!"

"And the song I heard back then was—"

Ran Mouri swallowed hard, then moved closer to her father and grabbed his clothes.

Kogoro Mouri's voice deepened as he finished speaking to Kazuaki Hirata.

"And that piece of music is Moonlight Sonata, right?"

Before Hirata Kazuaki could even nod in agreement...

"Boom, boom—"

The cursed piano suddenly started playing.

The three people froze.

"But Uncle—" Conan reached out and pressed a key, looking completely innocent, "There's nothing wrong with this piano at all?"

Xiaolan has always been vulnerable to horror things like ghosts.

Conan's sudden action startled her, so she picked him up from the chair and told him not to touch the deceased's belongings.

"Conan! Stop causing trouble!"

“That’s not the case. There’s a reason why everyone says this is a cursed piano,” Hirata Kazuaki explained.

"Because ever since then, people have heard the same music on nights with a full moon, even though the room is completely empty!"

"Mr. Kuroiwa didn't believe it at first either, so he initially hired a security guard to keep watch here at night, but, but—"

"But what?" Kogoro Mouri asked.

"The music in this room has indeed disappeared."

Hirata Kazuaki's face showed a hint of fear as he pointed out the window.

"But that person heard the sound of a zither coming from the other side of the sea cliff! And he also saw some dark shadows!"

"But here, there's only one piano here!"

Sea cliffs?

Conan looked up at the window and saw a small, deserted open space shared by the castle and the village mansion. Beyond that was the edge of the sea cliff.

"In any case, since Mr. Shimizu invited you to come and investigate, I will go to the archivist tomorrow to get the key to the archives room."

"A copy of the documents related to the 'Crimson Fire Festival' will be made and given to you tomorrow morning."

Hirata Kazuaki looked up at the clock on the wall.

"However, it's almost six o'clock now, and I also have to go to the Dharma assembly, so please wait here or in the corridor for a while until the assembly ends."

……

"Dad, why don't we go out into the hallway?"

After Hirata and Akira left the room, the gradually darkening room sent a chill down Ran Mouri's spine; she was somewhat frightened.

"Uncle Mori, I'm scared too!" Conan immediately chimed in.

"Really..."

Kogoro Mouri scratched his head, feeling a bit of a headache coming on. He had just thought he was about to grasp that inspiration.

"Never mind, let's wait in the hallway for a while."

As for Kuroiwa Tatsuji, who was at the Buddhist ceremony...

Shortly after the Dharma assembly began, he whispered to Hideo Kawashima, who was standing next to him.

"Kawashima, you called that detective over, didn't you? You're here to dig up information about the fishing grounds."

"What are you talking about?"

Hideo Kawashima frowned. He had already won over most of the villagers in this village chief election, so how could he possibly do something like this on his own initiative?

As he spoke, he stood up and said, "I'm going to the restroom."

Hideo Kawashima did not run into Conan and the others who were waiting in the corridor.

Under Conan's persistent pleading, and because Ran was genuinely curious about the castle—

Under Conan's prompting, Kogoro Mouri complained that the two children were disturbing his investigation while protecting them as they left the village mansion.

Yeah, it's the same old trick of acting cute.

"Sister Xiaolan! I want to see that beautiful castle!"

In addition, he inadvertently revealed a bit of curiosity about "ghosts".

"Sister Ran, do you think we might encounter the ghost Uncle Hirata mentioned?"

Xiaolan is most afraid of ghosts and monsters.

She froze halfway down the corridor, leaving Conan behind as he ran towards the stairs—Kogoro Mouri had gone upstairs, and he wanted to look for any clues.

"Wait a minute, Conan, I'll go get Dad!"

……

Visiting the castle was just a pretext, of course.

Just like now, after Ran and Kogoro Mouri led him into the castle, Conan's expression immediately became serious.

He had initially thought the case was gradually becoming clearer.

But Hirata Kazuaki's description immediately dispelled the few thoughts that had just surfaced in his mind.

"The piano was in perfect pitch, which means that someone must have tuned it secretly."

Conan remembers that Kameyama Isamu died two years ago.

In other words, it must have been done by the murderer.

However, Hirata Kazuaki said that even with someone keeping watch at night, the sound of the piano could still be heard coming from outside the sea cliff.

Is it a recording device?

Conan recalled what had just happened in the corridor.

At that time, when Xiaolan went to call Uncle Maoli, he wanted to take this opportunity to go to the piano room again.

After all, there were only a few people in the piano room before, so it wasn't appropriate for me to check carefully in that setting.

But when he put his hand on the doorknob, Conan immediately heard a faint sound.

Yes, it was felt rather than heard, because it was a kind of subtle vibration coming from inside the wall.

At that moment, a flash of white light immediately appeared in Conan's mind.

That is——!
He couldn't be mistaken; the voice came from... next door.

However, their exploration of the castle ended at the entrance.

Kogoro Mouri then read out the words on the sign at the entrance.

"No visitors allowed during renovations?"

He tried pushing the castle gate, but it wouldn't budge, as if it had been welded shut.

Xiaolan was a little confused, "But Dad, the date on this sign looks like it's from two years ago!"

"Yes, it seems that Masato Shimizu wasn't lying to us."

Kogoro Mouri remembered what Masato Shimizu had just said.

"It's probably because, as he said, the restoration work stopped after Mr. Kameyama died."

Kogoro Mouri nodded and looked around.

"After all, it does look quite big, and it must cost a lot of money to repair it."

With that, he waved his hand, put his hands behind his head, yawned, and walked back.

"Let's go, Ran, Conan, let's go to the village mansion and see if the religious ceremony is over yet, we'll definitely need to deal with that later—"

The words have not yet fallen.

Suddenly, the sound of a piano drifted faintly from the direction of the village mansion.

A piano melody drifted on the evening breeze.

It is faint yet extremely clear.

The three of them were startled and turned around abruptly to look back in the direction they had come from.

"That is--!"

Conan immediately ran towards the village mansion!

The first movement of the Moonlight Sonata began to play.

(End of this chapter)