Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

"That's right, she should still be nearby. Let's all go look for her!"

"..."

Although the head of the Torada family felt it was making a mountain out of a molehill, Ayaka Ryūo's previous behavior was indeed very strange.

Just in case, everyone decided to go and find Ayaka Ryūki first.

Soon after, led by Kogoro Mouri, Tatsuno and his group walked into the woods, calling out Ayaka's name as they searched for her.

Apart from Longye and his group who walked normally, the other people made all sorts of different choices.

The head of the Torada family chose to ride a motorcycle, the head of the Ryūo family chose to drive a car, and several others chose to ride horses.

Although Longye and the others wanted to complain, they didn't say anything more because finding the person was the priority.

After walking for a while, Ryūno and his group suddenly spotted Officer Yamato not far away.

Just as everyone was about to step forward and tell him about the disappearance of "Dragon Tail Ayaka", they found him standing still, staring seriously in one direction.

Driven by curiosity, everyone followed Officer Yamato's gaze.

—Ryūo Ayaka was "hanged".

A rope was wrapped around her neck and tied to a tree branch, and a strip of cloth was tied around her mouth.

It seems he has been dead for some time.

A few minutes later, accompanied by Kazuha's scream, the group of people on horseback arrived.

After telling everyone to stay put, Officer Yamato went up and carried Miss Ayaka down from the tree.

Although Officer Yamato performed CPR on her, Miss Ayaka ultimately could not "come back to life".

"Uehara! Give me the time!" Officer Yamato shouted.

Upon hearing this, Yui Torada immediately raised her arm, glanced at her watch, and replied, "8:59!"

Upon hearing the time given by Ms. Yui, Officer Yamato realized what was happening and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, this was a habit of mine..."

"N-nothing..." Miss Yui was also stunned for a moment, then turned her head to look to the side.

This scene was witnessed by Conan and Heiji Hattori, who both frowned and seemed to be deep in thought.

After this brief incident, Officer Yamato immediately took out his phone to contact the police station, ordering his subordinates to bring forensic personnel to the scene as soon as possible, and explaining that this was a serial murder case.

Seeing that Inspector Yamato had hung up the phone, Kogoro Mouri stepped forward and asked, "Serial murders?!"

Upon hearing this, Officer Yamato immediately put down his phone and turned to look at the crowd:

“That’s right! First of all, the perpetrator failed to provide any assistance to Yoshiro Torada, who was seriously injured in the tornado. This is the first case.”

"In the second case, the perpetrator tied up Koji Ryūo, buried him in the ground, and beat him to death."

"And now, the murder of Ayaka Ryūki shares the same suspicious points as those two cases!"

At this point, Officer Yamato looked down at the ground beside him.

Everyone followed his gaze and looked over.

"At the feet of Miss Ayaka, who was hanging from the tree, there was also the corpse of a dead centipede!" Officer Yamato said, enunciating each word clearly.

Upon seeing the dead centipede, everyone's faces showed surprise.

Officer Yamato is right!

Similar to the previous two cases, dead centipedes that shouldn't have been there appeared near the victims.

Although we don't know what the dead centipede meant, it's clear that the death of Ryūki Ayaka was the work of this serial killer!

the other side.

Conan and Hattori stared at the soil on the ground for a long time, entering a state of deep thought.

It had rained before, and the soil on the ground was very wet.

Anyone who steps on it will inevitably leave a mark.

However, on the ground beneath the feet of the deceased, Ms. Ayaka, there were only the footprints and cane marks of Officer Yamato; there were no other footprints.

Around the tree trunk, besides Officer Yamato's footprints, there were only the horse footprints of Ryūo Kei, Torada Tatsue, and Torada Yui when they rode over.

If it wasn't Officer Yamato who murdered Miss Ayaka, then the nature of this case would become the legendary crime method—an impossible crime!

At that moment, Kogoro Mouri, who was standing nearby, also realized this.

He turned to Inspector Yamato, narrowing his eyes, and said, "However, if there were already your footprints here before you put Miss Ayaka down... then it's a different story! Don't you agree? You're a particularly swift officer, aren't you?"

Upon hearing the question posed to him, Officer Yamato turned his head and chuckled, "When I arrived at the Torada residence, I heard that everyone had come to this forest in search of Ayaka Ryūo, so I rushed here."

"Oh? But your timing is too perfect~ Could it be that you used your phone to call out Miss Ayaka who was hiding in the toilet, then knocked her unconscious and faked it as if she had hanged herself?" Kogoro Mouri continued his 'attack'.

Chapter 319 Footprints That Are Not Human

Before Inspector Yamato could speak, Conan suddenly interjected, "Uncle, I don't think that's the case~"

"Because before Officer Yamato put Miss Ayaka's body down, we checked the ground, and there wasn't a single footprint or any trace of a cane."

Upon hearing this, Kogoro Mouri immediately narrowed his eyes and looked at Conan with ill intent.

Noticing Kogoro Mouri's look that seemed to say, "Wait till I teach you a lesson," Conan broke out in a cold sweat and turned to look at Ryūno beside him.

"Brother Longye must have noticed too, right? Brother Longye~"

Looking at Conan's fawning expression, Ryūno curled his lip in disdain, then looked at Uncle Mori and nodded: "Conan is right."

After Ryūno finished speaking, Mōri Kōgōrō nodded, temporarily dispelling his doubts.

Seeing that the suspicion against him had been temporarily cleared, Inspector Yamato looked at everyone and asked, "By the way, I heard that Miss Ayaka acted very strangely before she hid in the restroom. Do you know why?"

“Oh, we were discussing the armor that appeared in the middle of the night. After she overheard our discussion, she was terrified and ran into the bathroom by herself,” Hattori Heiji explained.

"Armor that appeared in the middle of the night?" Officer Yamato's brows furrowed.

“Yes, last night, Takeda saw a person wearing armor. Judging from the description, the helmet looked a lot like ‘Takeda Shingen Suwa Hosei’s helmet.’ When we got to this point, Miss Ayaka screamed and ran away.” Hattori Heiji nodded.

"—This is retribution! She was cursed and killed because she offended Lord Takeda Shingen. That dead centipede is the best proof!!"

At this moment, the old woman, Ryūo Moriyo, who had been silent all along, pointed to the dead centipede on the ground, her face grim.

Upon hearing this, Kogoro Mouri, who was standing to the side, looked puzzled.

Takeda Shingen? What's the connection between this dead centipede and Takeda Shingen?

Before Kogoro Mori could ask, Tamefumi Ryuo explained, "Lord Shingen has always referred to the messengers on the battlefield as 'centipede soldiers,' and he would have them carry centipede flags on their backs."

"Ah?! I see, no wonder I felt like I'd seen this centipede pattern somewhere before!" Torada Shigeji exclaimed in sudden realization.

The head of the Torada family roared in anger, "Hmph! You don't even know this kind of thing, yet you keep dragging them around looking for Shingen's treasure?!"

Upon hearing this, Ryuno and the others remembered that this Torada Shigeji had mentioned before that he was looking for some treasure in the cave.

"So, the treasure you're looking for is Takeda Shingen's 'buried gold'?" Kazuha asked, turning his head.

Torada Tatsuei sighed and closed his eyes, saying, "That's right. Ever since he found the relevant books and maps in the family warehouse, Hanji has been obsessed with finding the treasure."

“Not only him, but the two who died a few days ago, and this Ryuuji Kagami... they were all involved.”

As Torada Tatsuei finished speaking, everyone looked at Torada Shigeji and Ryūo Kei.

Regardless of the "curse of Takeda Shingen," if Torada Tatsuei is right, then these three deceased individuals have another thing in common—they were all searching for Takeda Shingen's treasure.

"We're not doing this for our own selfish gain! If we really find the treasure, we want to make our village even better!" Ryuuji shouted. "But why... Ayaka only went to the excavation site a few times to bring us lunchboxes? Why is she cursed..."

“This isn’t a curse,” Inspector Yamato said, putting on his gloves. “This is an outright murder!”

“The mustachioed detective is right. I have confirmed the contents of Miss Ayaka’s belongings according to his reasoning, and the cell phone is not in her waist bag.”

"This means that during the time she was hiding in the bathroom, someone called her out. That person is the murderer who committed these three crimes!"

After speaking, Inspector Yamato looked at Shigeji Torada and Kei Ryūo beside him and instructed them, "If you don't want your corpses to be hung up, you'd better not wander around aimlessly. Especially you two who are looking for buried gold!"

Upon hearing this, Torada Shigeji and Ryūo Kei's faces instantly turned pale.

The police officer is right. Although the motive for the murders is unknown, three members of the "treasure-hunting five" have already met with misfortune...

……

Soon after, the police finally arrived.

In order to investigate the scene, Officer Yamato asked Tatsuno and the others to leave the woods.

Ryūno and the others returned to the Torada residence and sat down in the living room.

It wasn't until the last "outsider" beside them—Torata Yui—left to pour tea for everyone that Hattori Heiji and Conan both turned to look at Tatsuno.

"Takeda, now you can tell me, what exactly happened last night?"

Hattori Heiji's sudden words startled Kogoro Mouri, Ran, and Kazuha.

Longye chuckled and asked, "What do you want to know?"

Hattori Heiji narrowed his eyes: "Given your personality, if you really saw someone wearing armor in the middle of the night... you would definitely chase after them and punch them away, right?"

Ryūno: "???"

Is this the kind of person you see?!

Conan, standing to the side, looked at Ryuno with the same expression.

They didn't believe that Longye would do nothing after seeing the armor.

At this moment, Kogoro Mouri and the other two understood what Heiji Hattori meant and looked at Tatsuno with curiosity.

Longye is so powerful, even if he failed to capture the person in armor, he must have found some other clues.

"Compared to the armor, you've overlooked a small detail. Under the tree where Miss Ayaka was found, there were indeed only Officer Yamato's footprints... but what if they weren't human footprints?" Ryuno said, spreading his hands.

"Not human footprints?" the people in the room murmured to themselves.

The next moment, Hattori Heiji immediately stood up, excitedly saying, "Horse tracks? You mean horse tracks? I understand!!"

Conan also stood up, his eyes wide open.

If the murderer used a horse... then it's no longer an "impossible crime"!

Ryūno nodded: "There were only three people on horseback at the time: Ryūo Kage, Torada Yui, and Torada Tatsue..."

"So, the culprit is one of the three of them!" Heiji Hattori and Conan exchanged a serious glance.