Conan, I'm an actor

The director grabbed the glass in front of him, drank it all in one gulp, and after calming himself down, slowly began to speak, "He was born on this island and was a very famous pianist. It was a full moon night twelve years ago. After many years, he returned to his hometown and held a piano recital in the village's community center. Unfortunately, after the recital, he locked his family in the house and set it on fire. It is said that he killed his wife and daughter with a knife, and in the raging flames, as if he were entangled by something, he continued to play the piano, Beethoven's Piano Sonata, Moonlight Sonata."

Although it was already known that Keiji Aso had been silenced by those criminals, hearing it from the perspective of this director still inevitably carried a ghost story flavor.

Kogoro Mouri was alright, but his facial expression was a little unnatural. Koshimizu had already pressed herself against Shinjo's arm, gripping it tightly with both hands.

After the director finished speaking, Kogoro Mouri asked a few more questions about Keiji Aso, but the director didn't know much and was very reluctant to discuss the matter, so he didn't get much useful information. Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of him, Kogoro Mouri could only leave the office with Shinjo and Koshimizu.

"If I didn't know part of the truth, I would really suspect this was someone's prank." Kogoro Mouri looked at the envelope in his hand, lost in thought. "But what was the sender's purpose?"

“The fire will destroy many traces, and the murder will be turned into a suicide.” Yue Shui looked up at the two of them and said, “The sender’s purpose may be to hope that we find out the truth of what happened back then and bring those murderers to justice.”

“But that’s the problem. I only knew two members of that gang back then.” Shinjo sighed. “Asou Keiji has been silenced, and his successor, Kameyama, has been dead for almost three years.”

"Aren't there any suspects?" Yue Shui asked directly.

“Yes, there are the current village chiefs, Kuroiwa and Kawashima, and there’s also Nishimoto who’s in charge of sales.” Shinjo stroked his chin. “Kuroiwa and Kawashima are both strong contenders for this term’s village chief, so finding them should be relatively easy.”

"Just ask anyone, that should be fine," Yue Shui said as she walked toward the clinic next door.

At the entrance of the clinic, Asai Shigemi was saying goodbye to a child. While reminding the child to take his medicine, she also noticed three strangers approaching her.

Shinjo stroked his chin, thinking to himself, "This Dr. Sung-sik is really good at disguising himself. If I didn't know he was a man dressed as a woman, I would have been fooled the first time we met."

Just as he was sighing, Koshimizu had already gotten the information he wanted, and then said to Kogoro Mouri, "Uncle, if you walk that way you'll reach the village's community center. Kameyama's inheritance ceremony will be held there this afternoon."

"Inheritance ceremony? That old guy has been dead for three years, hasn't he?" Mori scratched the back of his head in confusion.

But he soon found out the answer: a large group of islanders had gathered at the entrance of the community center, chanting slogans such as "Resist the tyranny of Chief Blackrock!" and "Give us back our farmland!"

Shinjo was also a bit troubled by this scene. He patted Kogoro Mouri on the shoulder and said, "You and Koshimizu go find them first. I'll go find Nishimoto."

"It's not really appropriate to split up now," Kogoro said, clearly not wanting to part ways. "We're unfamiliar with this place."

“You’re unfamiliar with this place, but it’s different for me. I came here to scout it out a few years ago.” After saying that, Xincheng picked up his suitcase and went back to the hotel.

As he passed the dock, his pupils suddenly contracted, for a brand-new yacht was moored there, and the familiar logo on it sent chills down his spine. He had intended to summon the organization's people, but he hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly.

Just then, a ship's horn sounded in the distance, and the ship that had carried them that morning reappeared on the sea.

"That's strange. It's only 1 p.m. now. Wasn't this ship supposed to arrive at 4 p.m.?" Shinjo frowned as he looked at the hull number.

“The weather at sea is bad today, and it’s too risky to go back to Tokyo tonight. If there are too few passengers and they arrive early, the ship’s departure time will be earlier,” a local islander next to him said with a smile.

A dozen minutes later, as the ship docked, the somewhat obese Professor Agasa walked shakily across the wooden plank, with Conan behind him.

"Professor Agasa, and Conan, what a coincidence," Shinjo said. "I didn't expect the testing ground for our work to be Tsukikage Island."

Professor Agasa stared blankly at the man before him, seemingly not recognizing him. Conan, on the other hand, looked extremely embarrassed. He had anticipated running into Uncle Mori and Shinjo on the island, but he hadn't expected to be caught red-handed so soon after arriving.

"It's Uncle Shinjo." Conan scratched the back of his head awkwardly, rolling his eyes inwardly. This guy must have guessed that he would come to the island, so he deliberately waited for him here.

Shinjo walked straight to Conan's side, put his arm around his shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Do you see that yacht over there?"

"It must be some kind of wealthy person," Conan said hesitantly. "This kind of yacht seems to be quite valuable."

"Besides the wealthy, who else came to mind?"

"Who?"

"His mode of transportation is that guy in a Porsche."

Conan's pupils contracted instantly. Could it be such a coincidence? He'd just casually stepped out the door and bumped into the Black Organization. This yacht looked like it could hold quite a few people; could it be the entire Black Organization mobilized? While he desperately wanted to solve Keiji Aso's case, he didn't want to gamble with the lives of those close to him.

Just as he was hesitating about whether to go back, the ship's horn sounded, and the boat that had taken them to the island had left the dock. He would have to stay there for at least one night.

Chapter 30 The Legend of the Cursed Piano

"Alright, don't overthink it. Just do what a child should do." Shinjo patted Conan on the shoulder. "Don't do anything unnecessary; they won't notice a child like you."

"You must have lured them here," Conan said in a low voice.

"Who knows?" Xincheng stared at the yacht not far away. "Alright, let's go. There might still be some of their people at the dock."

After Conan's introduction, Shinjo and Professor Agasa quickly became acquainted.

At this moment, Shinjo was pondering a question: Had Gin's head been kicked in the door, or was he plotting something else?

The organization usually hunts down traitors through assassination, and some traitors don't even know they've been discovered until they die. Gin's pursuit of him this time was a bit too high-profile. Using a private yacht is understandable, since they were carrying firearms, and being caught would be troublesome. However, the yacht being docked at the pier is rather strange.

I just observed it; the yacht is just sitting there, without any intention of refueling, resupplying, or bringing in food or fresh water. Being there is like a declaration of sovereignty, telling certain people that Moonshadow Island is now under Gin's control.

He took out his phone, intending to call Vermouth, but considering that he had deliberately exposed his whereabouts, and that Vermouth probably wouldn't help him but would only push him into a fire pit, he put the phone back in his pocket.

Meanwhile, in the village chief's office

"Honestly, they're holding a funeral service for the former village chief tonight. What a bunch of rude guys," a pot-bellied bald man complained, glancing at the shouting crowd outside the window.

"Honestly, these guys are so noisy." The woman looked at her secretary beside her. "What are you standing there for? Go tell those guys outside to shut up."

The man and woman are the current village chief, Kuroiwa Tatsuji, and his daughter, Kuroiwa Reiko.

Hirata's face was full of bitterness as he was given the order, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.

"Hey, hey, hey, there won't be any problems, right?" A man wearing sunglasses walked in from outside. It was Murasawa Shuichi, Kuroiwa Reiko's fiancé.

"Shuichi?" Kuroiwa Reiko frowned when she saw her fiancé; she didn't want him to see her family's predicament.

"I heard from the villagers that your dad doesn't have much of a chance in this village chief election, does he?"

"What did you say?" Although Kuroiwa Reiko knew these things, she did not expect Shuichi to say them directly, especially in front of her and her father.

Just as Kuroiwa Tatsuji was about to lash out, a voice interrupted their small group's conversation.

“That’s right, it seems I’m the most popular person among the villagers on the island.” Kawashima walked in with his hands in his pockets.

"That's because you know how to use money to buy people's hearts." Kuroiwa Tatsuji stared at the middle-aged man in front of him and said, word by word.

"Isn't this what I learned from you?" Kawashima said meaningfully.

Outside the community center

After waiting for half an hour, seeing that the protesting islanders showed no signs of dispersing, Kogoro Mouri had no choice but to bite the bullet and squeeze into the crowd.

After he gave his name, his secretary, Hirata, told him to wait in the reception room outside while he went to inform the others.

Just as Kogoro Mouri was growing impatient, Koshimizu arrived at the door of a room and, seeing only a grand piano inside, couldn't resist going in. After hearing the legends about the piano from the headmaster, she had developed a strong interest in it.

After circling the piano twice and finding nothing amiss, she decided to open the keys to check them out.

"Don't...don't touch that piano, that piano is a cursed piano." Just then, Hirata's terrified voice rang out behind Koshimizu.

"A cursed piano, but it doesn't seem to have anything special about it." Yue Shui opened the piano lid and casually pressed a few notes.

Although her music theory knowledge wasn't great, she could still tell that the piano was in good pitch.

She had just checked the room; the rest of the room was very dusty, with even cobwebs in the corners, but the grand piano was spotless.

“It’s the piano that Mr. Aso played on the day he died. This piano is cursed.” Hirata’s face showed a look of horror.

"Being cursed..." Mori looked incredulous.

Even if he didn't know that Keiji Aso's death was suspicious, a detective like him wouldn't believe such superstitious and bizarre claims.

“Besides Mr. Aso, the same thing happened to the former village chief.”

"Is that Mr. Kameyama Isamu? The one we're going to perform the ritual for today?"

“Yes.” Hirata said, bowing his head. “That was two years ago. Like Mr. Aso’s incident, it happened on a full moon night. I happened to be passing by this area. Logically, there should have been no one at the community center at the time, but suddenly the sound of a piano came from inside.”

Upon hearing this, both Koshimizu and Kogoro Mori frowned. Why were the people on this island so mysterious, and everything they said sounded like a ghost story?

“I was curious, so I mustered up the courage to shout ‘Who’s in there?’ and the piano music stopped abruptly. When I went inside, I found Mr. Kameyama lying on the piano keys. He had already passed away.” Hirata raised his head, his face filled with fear. “The cause of death was a myocardial infarction. The piano piece he was playing before he died was the Moonlight Sonata that Mr. Aso kept playing in the flames.”

Koshimizu shrugged at Kogoro Mouri, not quite believing the claim.

"From then on, this piano gradually came to be called the cursed piano, and the villagers on the island dared not touch it at all."

Just then, the prelude to Moonlight Sonata suddenly began, and Kogoro Mouri and Hirata's expressions changed instantly.

“There’s absolutely no credibility to what you’re saying.” Yue Shui raised her hands. “If no one has touched this piano for three years, its pitch couldn’t possibly be that good, unless someone tunes it regularly. Besides, the fact that there’s no dust on the piano proves that. This rumor seems more like someone is trying to prevent others from touching this piano.”

Seeing that Koshimizu was about to continue inspecting the piano, Hirata suddenly had a fit and pushed her out of the room.

Yue Shui shrugged helplessly. These people really are impossible to reason with.

"In short, please wait outside until the ceremony is over," Hirata said angrily, his unwelcoming attitude evident in his words.

"Oh, it's you guys." Just then, a familiar voice rang out.

"It's Narumi-san." Koshimi's mood improved considerably upon seeing Narumi.

"Have you seen the village chief?" Cheng Shi asked with a smile.

"Not yet." Yue Shui sighed. "Is Miss Narumi here to attend the memorial service for the former village chief?"

Chapter 31 The Assassin at High Tide

“Yes, because the first body I examined after arriving on this island was Mr. Kameyama's, so I wanted to offer him some incense.” Narumi suddenly remembered something and turned to the man beside her. “This is Mr. Shimizu, one of the candidates for village chief.”

"Hello, I am Masato Shimizu. Nice to meet you."

After exchanging greetings, Kogoro Mouri and Nanatsuki Koshimizu were ushered out of the community center.

After being asked to leave the community center, Kogoro Mouri sat on the steps smoking, feeling somewhat dejected. If it weren't for the excessively high commission fee and the fact that the matter involved a criminal gang, which triggered his sense of justice, he would have turned around and left with that attitude.

At this moment, he noticed that Yue Shui next to him had been typing and communicating with someone.

"Is it Shinjo? Has he discovered something?" Kogoro Mouri asked, looking at the setting sun.

"No, it's Conan. He seems very curious about what's going on here," Yue Shui said with a smile. "It's a good opportunity to share those ghost stories with him and keep him in line."

Inside the hotel

"Hey Shinichi, who's that guy named Shinjo? Is he with the police?" Professor Agasa asked, looking at Conan who was staring at his phone. "I get the feeling you seem a little afraid of him."

“Most fears stem from the unknown. I don’t know enough about him; I only know he’s a very dangerous person,” Conan said while pressing the buttons. “Based on the information we’ve gathered so far, it seems like we can’t figure anything out. The only clue should be that piano.”

"What piano?" Professor Agasa was clearly unable to keep up with Conan's train of thought.

Conan didn't answer Professor Agasa's question. He went straight to the hotel corridor, found Shinjo's room, and knocked on his door.

I knocked several times, but there was no response from inside the room, so there must be no one there.

After asking at the counter and learning that Xincheng had gone to the beach, he immediately ran to the beach.