I'm in Detective Conan, and the system has appointed Batman.

"Don't worry, that kid's swordsmanship is pretty good."

"If we really encounter a murderer, who knows who might be in danger!"

Chapter 847 Unexpected Help

Heiji Hattori was unwilling to believe that Conan's deduction was true.

Even after eliminating all the impossibilities, the only remaining possibility is the truth.

However, Conan has not ruled out all the impossibilities.

Drawing conclusions so easily is not something a detective should do.

He quickly entered the Mermaid Forest, preparing to find the legendary Mermaid Tomb.

Although it now seems that the mermaid arrow was most likely just a simple smokescreen.

But if I'm not mistaken...

The murderer should have been very interested in the so-called mermaid legend.

Perhaps we can find some new clues at the legendary mermaid tomb, which was supposedly moved to the interior of the Mermaid Forest.

Kazuha Toyama hurriedly followed behind.

Hattori Heiji, noticing that Kazuha had followed, immediately stopped.

He turned his head and asked with some confusion.

"Kazuha, what brings you here?"

Kazuha Toyama took a few breaths and then complained.

"Heiji, didn't you say you wanted me to stay by your side forever?"

When did I say that?

Hattori Heiji was taken aback.

Then it dawned on me.

He does seem to have said that.

That was right after Ebihara Tomi was hanged.

At the time, there was a legend on the island that if someone lost their mermaid arrow, they would be killed by the mermaid in retaliation.

Because they felt that might be the killer's pattern of murders.

Therefore, Heiji Hattori had Kazuha Toyama, who possessed the Mermaid Arrow, stay by his side for protection.

But now the murderer is known.

Moreover, they have already escaped into the forest.

Clearly, the murderer could not possibly return to the crowd to attack Toyama Kazuha.

Therefore, Kazuha Toyama is completely safe as long as he stays among the crowd.

Following him now would only put me in danger.

"I really can't do anything with you, so come with me then."

Hattori Heiji said this, then took Kazuha's hand and they walked together into the depths of the Mermaid Forest.

He said it casually on the way.

"That guy Kudo actually told me that the real culprit is Shimabukuro Kimie."

"This is outrageous... I must find this Kadowaki Saori and give him a good slap in the face!"

Kazuha, whose hand was being held by Heiji Hattori, blushed slightly.

She didn't notice what Hattori Heiji was saying at all.

Otherwise, she would definitely ask why Shinichi Kudo was said to have made deductions when he didn't even go to the island.

The two continued forward until they finally stopped at a certain place.

The scent of incense lingers here.

Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha's gazes simultaneously fell on the source of the incense smell.

This is a tombstone.

There were only four characters written on it.

The Grave of the Mermaid.

They couldn't help but recall the story of the mermaid who was burned to death in the warehouse that they had heard when they first arrived on the American island.

That mermaid was most likely a living person, whose legs were simply broken by something, which is why it couldn't be found.

And their true identity has not been confirmed to this day.

Because they were worried that someone might harm the mermaid's corpse.

So the Longevity Granny asked a trustworthy person to move the Mermaid's Tomb from its original location to inside the Mermaid Forest.

Hattori Heiji had previously asked the old woman where that person was.

But the old woman told him that even the person he trusted had passed away, and now no one knew where the mermaid's tomb was...

However, there was the smell of burning incense in front of the grave.

Some people lit incense at the grave to pay their respects.

"How strange, who would be burning incense here?"

Hattori Heiji frowned and said in a low voice.

He had a bad feeling.

And it's getting stronger.

He went into the mountains to find Saori Kadowaki and prove that Shinichi Kudo's reasoning was wrong, but the situation before him told him that Shinichi Kudo's reasoning was very likely correct.

It would be absurd to say that Saori Kadowaki would offer incense at the grave of a mermaid in the mountains.

It's less that Saori Kadowaki would offer incense at the mermaid's grave, and more that Kimie Shimabukuro would do so.

Could it be that the person who set fire to and killed the mermaid three years ago was actually one of the three victims in this case?

Did Kimie Shimabukuro orchestrate these heinous murders to avenge the mermaids?

"I'm so unwilling... he actually got it right..."

Hattori Heiji sighed.

Meanwhile, Toyama Kazuha, standing nearby, merely twitched his nostrils.

She seemed to smell something strange nearby.

Could it be that some offering was carried away by a small animal?

Probably not.

This is the tomb of a mermaid, how could any small animals possibly come and steal the offerings?

Although Toyama and Kazuha thought this way, they felt a vague unease in their hearts.

She instinctively wanted to put her arm around Hattori Heiji.

Suddenly, my foot slipped.

He slid straight towards the tombstone of the Mermaid's Tomb, knocked it over, and slid out of the forest. His mind went blank for a moment before he realized that there was a cliff in front of him.

It's just that it's hidden by the trees in the Mermaid Forest, making it impossible for people to see it.

Hattori Heiji was shocked and quickly reached out to grab Toyama Kazuha's hand.

However, the terrain here was too slippery, so much so that he was constantly sliding down the cliff, and in the vastness, he could only grab a tree branch on the edge of the cliff with his hand.

However, how could a single branch possibly support the weight of two people?

The branches creaked under the weight, as if they might break at any moment.

Hattori Heiji looked up at the tree branch, gritted his teeth, and then spoke to Toyama Kazuha.

"Hey Kazuha, don't let go! I'll pull you up!"

But Toyama and Kazuha also saw the branches that were overburdened.

She realized that if she didn't let go, they would probably both die here.

Thinking of this, she took out the mermaid arrow from her pocket.

He looked somewhat hesitant.

But in the end, I made up my mind.

Just as the branches began to groan under the strain once again.

Kazuha Toyama raised her mermaid arrow, preparing to stab Heiji Hattori's hand to make him release his grip.

But in that instant, a grappling hook suddenly slid down from above, catching the mermaid arrow in Toyama Kazuha's hand and snatching it away.

Both Kazuha Toyama and Heiji Hattori looked up in shock at the direction from which the grappling hook had come.

The next instant, an unexpected person appeared in their line of sight.

"I was wondering why it was so noisy over here. Turns out it was the two of you."

Chen En frowned slightly.

Behind him, Koizumi Akako, having just completed her ritual magic, peeked somewhat disgruntledly at Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha, who were putting on a melodramatic act, and then muttered something.

"Don't use that thing to poke people, it really has a curse effect now."

Kazuha Toyama, Heiji Hattori: ?