Daily Spy Life in the Detective Conan World

Chapter 251 The Legal Effect of a Will

The key point is that none of these people like chess, so it must be a strong demand from the person who set up the puzzle back then.

"Well, that's right."

Tian Yansheng was somewhat surprised that a child had noticed the problem with the design so quickly.

But so what? More than a decade has passed, and the landscape remains unchanged, but the mystery remains unsolved.

"I know what you're thinking, but so many years have passed, if there were any secrets in chess, they would have been solved long ago."

Little friend, you should focus more on this flower garden. It's the result of over ten years of hard work; the scenery is breathtaking.

Tian Yansheng waved her hand and glanced at the young man studying chess pieces in the corner, saying, "Look, that's the only son of the master who died six years ago and the mistress who died four years ago, the noble young master."

He had been living abroad for a long time, but he returned four years ago for the old lady's birthday.

After his wife died, the old lady was devastated and never recovered. He returned to the castle and never left again.

Tian Yansheng patted Conan's head: "If there were any secrets here, they would have already been solved. Kid, you shouldn't think too much about it."

“Not necessarily,” Xia Chuan interjected. “The secret of chess may not lie in chess itself.”

"Uncle Natsukawa, have you discovered the secret?" Conan asked anxiously, feeling a bit of urgency. Was Natsukawa about to use his brain?
Brother, the game has only just begun! Please, please let me find out what's going on first.

"No, I just think that the puzzle might not be about chess itself."

"Not chess itself?"

In one corner of the chess set, Noble Mamiya is carefully examining the pieces, seemingly trying to find something within them.

Upon hearing Xia Chuan's words, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. He pondered for a long time but had no idea what to do. He then got up and walked over.

"Looks like your decryption speed is a bit too slow, Kudo." Ai Haibara smiled.

“Impossible. Uncle Xia Chuan probably didn’t see any secret either. He’s just showing off.” Conan nodded to himself, “Yeah, that must be it.”

"Sir, do you know something?"

Noble Lady Mamiya walked over and asked.

He had long coveted this so-called secret. Although he would inherit the castle and its treasures decades later, he still wanted to solve the mystery as soon as possible.

He had always suspected that there was something fishy about his mother's death.

Fifteen people died in the fire that year, and one person went missing. The missing housekeeper, Nishikawa Kuni, has not been found to this day. There must be something wrong with this. His intuition told him that it must be related to the mystery left by his grandfather fifteen years ago.

Putting aside the treasure, he hoped to find out the cause of the fire years ago and avenge his mother.

As for the stepfather, well, this guy is also obsessed with money. The reason he married my mother back then was probably because of my grandfather's treasure.

In fact, the other party was his primary suspect.

He had noticed the other party talking to several people earlier, and he was careful not to make his intentions too obvious.

Of course, there is no evidence yet, but the only owners of this castle besides him are his stepfather and grandmother. Although it is possible that they were servants, the possibility is too small.

The servants from back then have all been replaced. The current batch, apart from the gardener, were all hired after the fire four years ago, so it's unlikely they were hired.

He had also observed the gardener and found nothing unusual.

Therefore, it's better to suspect the stepfather than the 83-year-old grandmother.

However, he did not intend to drive Xia Chuan and his group away because of his stepfather. These family members might be trapped in some kind of mental loop, which an outsider might be able to untangle.

"Oh, no, I was just expressing my feelings."

Xia Chuan naturally wouldn't tell the other party that the treasure of this ancient castle was inside the hall, behind the painting hanging on the other party's maternal grandfather's wall.

Moreover, to be honest, this so-called treasure is a bit disgusting.

It's a view of an old castle!

As for the secret of chess, he had actually forgotten, only remembering that the answer seemed to be related to looking down from a high place.

"Is that so?" Nobleman Mamiya nodded and left, looking preoccupied, glancing back at Natsukawa several times.

"Conan, can you see the problem with this chess game?" Natsukawa asked.

"Not yet, but judging from the situation, this chess puzzle does indeed have a hidden meaning. If the answer isn't on the pieces, then this riddle should have other forms of expression."

First, we need to understand what the puzzle is; otherwise, even if we think there's something wrong with this chess game, we won't be able to find any solutions.

Once we go upstairs, we might be able to spot some problems from the top.

Led by Tian Yansheng, the group arrived at the room and put their things down first.

Because the place seemed a bit unsafe, they only booked two rooms in total.

Natsukawa and Professor Agasa each put a group of children to sleep.

Since we're going to decipher the secrets, we'll definitely need to stay overnight.

Afterwards, Conan and the other kids ran up to the second floor and looked down from the top.

Xia Chuan knew the answer and wasn't interested in such behavior. Instead, he walked to the huge hanging picture in the living room.

It's hard to imagine that such a large painting is displayed here, and the "treasure" is right behind it, yet no one has discovered it for fifteen years.

That's outrageous! Don't Japanese people do spring cleaning?

If a thorough cleaning had been done, and the painting had been taken down and cleaned, the passageway behind it would have been discovered long ago.

"Doesn't it look alike?"

Mamiya Mitsuru suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stood next to Natsukawa.

"Ok?"

"The nobleman looks a lot like my wife's first husband, Mamiya Masaki."

“Yes, it does look very similar.” Xia Chuan nodded, then changed the subject with a strange expression, asking, “Don’t castles have a tradition of deep cleaning?”

"A thorough cleaning?" Mamiya Mitsuru was somewhat taken aback. "Did Mr. Natsukawa discover something? Could it be that the chess puzzle left by my father-in-law can only be solved with a thorough cleaning?"

"But we do a thorough cleaning at least once a year, and the chess pieces are moved from their original positions and cleaned. If there were any secrets involved, they would have been discovered long ago."

Mamiya Mitsuru's mood immediately soured, and she suddenly felt that the man in front of her might be there to sell her housekeeping services.

Xia Chuan saw the other person's expression, kept silent, and continued to admire the oil painting. The painter's skills were indeed superb.

"Genta, be careful, don't fall!"

The shouts of several children from the second floor caught their attention.

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan rushed over. Genta had been extremely restless at the door; could something have happened now? "Are you alright?"

Xia Chuan arrived at the source of the sound, rushed into the room, and found that Genta was clinging to the windowsill with only one arm. He quickly went over and pulled him up.

"Don't go near the window again next time!" Xia Chuan warned sternly.

Immediately afterwards, Conan ran out of the next room, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Genta was alright, and then suddenly realized something, staring blankly at the window behind Genta.

"Any questions?"

Ever since entering the castle, Anya has been following Conan with great curiosity, as if waiting for something to happen.

"fine."

Although Conan said this, he was actually already thinking about it in his mind.

The windows of both rooms are against the same wall, about 1.5 meters apart, but when he looked at Genta from the window of the next room just now, there was at least a 5-meter distance between them.

If we deduct the three meters between the two windows and the wall, where are the remaining two meters? Were they swallowed up by the wall?
Of course not, so there must be something wrong with this two-meter-thick wall.

Secret passage!

The word instantly entered Conan's mind.

"Oh~"

Anya listened with great interest, then pointed to the wall in front of her and said directly, "Father, there seems to be a secret passage inside this wall!"

"A secret passage?" Xia Chuan was taken aback. He knew there was a secret passage here, but how did Anya know? Shouldn't it be Conan?
He turned his gaze to Conan and found that the other was also looking at Anya with surprise, as if he couldn't believe that Anya could say such a thing.

Following closely behind, Mamiya, his face flushed and eyes shining, exclaimed, "There's a secret passage here? How is that possible? Where's the entrance?"

Despite his disbelief, he asked anyway, and then approached the wall and started knocking on it.

The secret passage might be connected to the treasure!
So, the chess set referred to this room?

"what's going on?"

Not only were Mamiya Mitsuru and Natsukawa drawn by Genta's voice, but the old lady Mamiya Shiro was also pushed to the door by her grandson Mamiya Norito.

"Uh, Father, what are you doing?"

Mamiya Nobleman narrowed his eyes; he already found Mamiya Mitsuru suspicious, and the current situation only deepened his suspicions. The other man's expression was terrifying, like a hungry wolf, his eyes bloodshot as he clung to the wall.

Is there something on the wall?

Seeing Mamiya Mitsuru clinging to the wall, the elderly woman in the wheelchair, Mamiya Yori, almost stood up immediately.

She was the only person in the castle who knew all the secret passages inside, and she immediately realized that Mitsuru Mamiya was most likely looking for a secret passage!

What happened? Why did Mamiya Mitsuru suddenly discover this secret passage?
However, this is not the time to think about these things.

Mamiya Shiro coughed twice forcefully to draw everyone's attention to herself, and raised her hand shakily, saying, "Mitsuru Mamiya, what are you doing? You really have designs on my daughter. Look at your behavior, it's like that of a thief! When my daughter comes home tonight, I'll make her divorce you!"

The group of children were stunned by what they heard. Tian Yansheng had said before that the mistress of the castle had died four years ago. What did the old lady mean by saying this?
"Could it be that the lady who died four years ago actually didn't die?" Conan tried to find something from the other person's expression, but after observing for a while, he couldn't find anything.

"Uh..." Mamiya Mitsuru realized he had lost his composure and stood there awkwardly as punishment.

"Grandma, don't talk nonsense. I'll handle Father's matter. You should go back to your room and rest." Noble Lady Mamiya beckoned a servant and had him push the old lady back to her room.

Upon hearing the old woman's voice, Mamiya Mitsuru stopped what he was doing, looking somewhat embarrassed. However, his hand remained on the wall, clearly indicating that he was not yet ready to give up.

“Father, aren’t you being a little too hasty?” Nobleman Mamiya squinted and looked directly at Mitsuru Mamiya.

"Hehe, I didn't. After all, I am the owner of this place. It's not normal to be surprised and want to find out if I suddenly discover that there might be a secret passage in my house."

Both Mitsuru Mamiya and Nobleman Mamiya wore smiles, but their conversation was full of sharp arguments.

"Whoever can solve the mystery of this castle will receive the most precious treasure I left behind. That's why you married my mother, isn't it?"

Mamiya said angrily, "My lord, I am your father! How can you think of me like that!"

"Inherited."

“Isn’t a stepfather a father?” Mamiya said with a righteous expression. “Even if he is a stepfather, I am still your mother’s husband in the legal sense.”

"Uh, let me interrupt you for a moment. Was the sentence you just said the last words left by the father of the woman who died four years ago, which is also the mystery?" Xia Chuan asked, raising his hand.

"Correct."

The father and son turned to look, wanting to see what Xia Chuan would say.

Did he leave a will?

"will?"

The two shook their heads unconsciously. Fifteen years ago, wills were not common practice. It seemed that the other person was giving verbal instructions on their deathbed.

“Without a will, the claim that ‘you will receive the most precious treasures I leave behind’ is invalid.” Xia Chuan glanced at the two of them and then continued, “In the absence of a will, the first-order heirs to the property are the property owner’s parents, wife, and children.”

"Is there a problem?" the two asked curiously, wondering why Xia Chuan had suddenly brought this up.

"You may not know this, but the first heirs do not include the daughter's second husband or the grandson, not to mention that the old lady is still alive."

Therefore, even if you find the treasure, you cannot legally inherit the property directly based on this will. Instead, you must pass it on to the only surviving first-in-line heir, the old lady who just passed away.

Nobleman Mamiya looked indifferent. His grandmother was already so old, and he was the only bloodline of the Mamiya family. Once the old lady passed away, all these things, including the huge castle, would be his. This treasure did not attract him much.

The only thing that interested him was whether it was related to his mother's death.

Mamiya Mitsuru didn't think that way; after hearing it, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

If that's the case, then what's the use of finding the treasure?
No, if that's the case, then there's no problem.

"Nonsense, I'm not the kind of person who would covet the Mamiya family's treasure."

With some thoughts swirling in his mind, Mamiya turned and left. Mamiya Noble watched her departing figure without saying a word, and then followed her away.

Xia Chuan and his party were left alone.

"Hey, Uncle Natsukawa, did you discover something? I remember the inheritance law isn't like this, is it?" Conan might not know much about the law, but it's definitely not as absolute as Natsukawa said.

The inheritance law is quite flexible, with different distribution methods depending on different family circumstances; it is not simply a matter of first and second priority.

Although Mitsuru Mamiya and Nobleman Mamiya are not in the first line of succession, they still have the right to inherit if the treasure is discovered.

"No, what I mean is, whoever solves the mystery will own the treasure. They don't need to act like this now. Look at them, all tense and hostile. Do they still look like a family?"

Conan thinks that Natsukawa must have discovered something and then chose to use this method to trick people... I mean, to solve the case.

As for the last sentence, well, it seems to make sense, but Conan doesn't think Natsukawa is the kind of pushover who meddles in other people's family disputes.

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(End of this chapter)