Conan: The Heart Thief

After listening to Lin Xiao's explanation, the two women felt relieved.

Mrs. Yuasa also said with some displeasure: "Mr. Nigaki, don't talk about these scary topics in front of young girls."

"Yes, yes, I'll go to work right away." The man called Eryuan put on goggles and seemed to be preparing to go into the mountains.

"Mr. Eryuan, although I know you are enthusiastic about this, you should know when to stop. Don't let the Snow Girl be bewitched and get lost and trapped to death in the snowy mountains." At this time, a long-haired woman walked out of the villa with concern in her tone.

When Lin Xiao was wondering if they were a couple, Eryuan responded with a smile: "Don't worry, even if there really is a snow girl, I will tell her that I already have someone I love...right, Azi?"

The person he called affectionately was another short-haired woman. As he spoke, he kissed Yazi in front of everyone.

"Really? There's someone else here!" Yazi said shyly.

Eryuan laughed loudly, then turned and walked into the distant forest.

"Is he a photographer?" Lin Xiao asked. After all, usually only photographers would go deep into the mountains with cameras.

"No, he's a freelance journalist," Yazi explained. "He's been looking for relevant information here since five years ago."

"Related information?" Lin Xiao was a little curious.

"Wait, could it be a snow woman or something?" screamed Mao Li Ran, who was afraid of ghosts.

“No.” Ako smiled and shook her head. “He was tracking an endangered animal. It is said that after the last Japanese wolf was captured 100 years ago, this animal became completely extinct.”

"Then who are you?" Lin Xiao looked at the long-haired woman and asked casually.

"I'm the photographer working with Nigaki, Mika Konakawa," the long-haired woman introduced herself. "You guys are here to make chocolate, right?"

"Yes!" Sonoko answered excitedly.

"So, you two are a couple?" Fenkawa Miko's eyes moved between Yuanzi and Lin Xiao, as if trying to judge whether this pair were really a couple.

"You'd better be careful, young man. If you go into the forest and receive a gift from a strange creature, don't accept it." A deep voice suddenly interrupted.

Everyone turned around and saw a sturdy middle-aged man walking out. He was wearing a thick hunting suit, carrying a hunting rifle on his back, and exuding a sturdy aura.

"Who is this person?" Lin Xiao asked curiously.

"His name is Shujian. He's a hunter and has often come to my place in recent years." Old Mrs. Yuasa explained, but there was a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone.

"Really? These guys are so fascinated by the wolf they have never seen before. It's like they have met a snow girl." The old lady shook her head, obviously not liking Jiujian and Niyuan very much.

"By the way, I have to go out for a while. If any friends who want to drink come, you can entertain them as you please." After saying this, Mrs. Yuasa turned around and prepared to leave.

"Mother-in-law, are you going out too?" asked Mao Lilan.

"Well, let's go sweep my husband's grave." The old lady nodded and then disappeared into the snow.

While the girls were busy in the kitchen, Lin Xiao sat in the living room bored. Suddenly, he noticed another guest coming in.

The new guest was tall and dark-skinned, wearing a karate uniform and occasionally a pair of glasses. His eyes were dark blue, his hair was short and black, and there was a Band-Aid above his left eyebrow near his temple.

Lin Xiao looked at the new guest and felt that he looked familiar.

Chapter 468 I Have More Than Two Feet

Lin Xiao looked at the familiar face in front of him, frowned slightly, and asked tentatively: "Are you... Kyogoku Makoto?"

The man was stunned, his eyes fell on Lin Xiao, and then he showed a surprised expression: "Lin Xiao? You two-timing scumbag!"

Lin Xiao shrugged and responded in a relaxed tone: "Mr. Kyogoku, that's a bit rude. I'm not a scumbag, and I've been dating more than two people."

"You bastard!" Kyogoku Makoto was obviously enraged, clenching his fists as if he was going to swing at it the next second. But fortunately, he didn't really do it - otherwise, he would be the only one to be beaten. "Mr. Lin, I don't actually hate you, but you, as a scumbag, disappoint me!"

Seeing Kyogoku Makoto's eyes red and jealous, Lin Xiao just smiled faintly. There were too many Japanese men who were jealous of him, and he was used to it.

"Why are you here, Kyogoku?" Lin Xiao changed the subject.

"I'm practicing in the snowy mountains and happened to stay here." Kyogoku Makoto replied coldly.

"I see." Lin Xiao nodded and said nothing more.

At this time, the girls who were making chocolate came out of the kitchen.

"Eh? It's that man, Kyogoku Makoto." Xiaolan recognized him at a glance. After all, he was a senior in the karate world.

"Oh, Kyogoku Makoto, the karate champion." Sonoko shrugged, not caring at all. She only had Lin Xiao in her heart.

Kyogoku Makoto completely ignored Xiaolan and stared straight at Suzuki Sonoko. He fell in love with this lively and beautiful girl at first sight, and even though he knew she was already Lin Xiao's girlfriend, he couldn't suppress the throbbing in his heart.

"How can such a wonderful girl like Suzuki Sonoko be possessed by a scumbag? I have to find a way." Kyogoku Makoto thought to himself, thinking about how to strike up a conversation with her.

At this moment, Fenchuan Shiguo hurried over, with a hint of anxiety in his tone: "Excuse me, we are a little worried about Eryuan-kun, and we are going to go out and look for him. Could you please look for the next home here?"

"The wind and snow outside look like they're going to get stronger. Is it okay for you two girls to go out?" Lin Xiao asked.

"Don't worry, we have been here for five or six years, we won't get lost." Gan Liyazi answered confidently.

Lin Xiao couldn't help but complain in his heart: "Then why are you still worried about Eryuan who has been here for five or six years like you and won't get lost?"

However, after all, it is someone else's business, and Lin Xiao does not intend to meddle in it.

A few minutes after the two left, Mrs. Yuasa also came back. However, Sakumi and his friends were still nowhere to be seen.

Lin Xiao vaguely felt that something was wrong.

Sure enough, when it was almost completely dark, Fenchuan and Ako came back with grim faces and brought bad news.

"What? Niyuan is not found anywhere?!" asked old lady Yuasa in surprise.

"Well, we've searched all the spots he often goes to, but we didn't see him at all!" Yazi said anxiously, obviously very worried about her boyfriend's disappearance.

"Then let's go and help look for it, while we can still see clearly outside, maybe we can find it!" Kyogoku Makoto suggested seriously. His sense of justice made him unable to sit idly by.

Everyone decided to search for the missing Eryuan together, and brought the dog Saburo with them. Saburo's sense of smell was indeed very sensitive, and he almost led them in a straight line.

"It looks like we'll be able to find Mr. Nigaki soon." Kyogoku Makoto said optimistically.

"Yeah, I hope he's okay." Fenchuan also nodded, with a hint of joy on his face.

However, Yazi was still frowning, as if he had a premonition of something bad happening.

Just as they were about to speed up their pace, a gunshot was suddenly heard in the forest.

"Is that... the sound of a shotgun?" Lin Xiao judged subconsciously. In fact, he had already heard the sounds of a pistol and an assault rifle today, and instantly recognized the unique sound of a shotgun.

"It seems that guy got there first." The person who responded to him was not someone else, but a tall and thin man whom he did not know.

"Who are you?" Kyogoku Makoto asked warily.

"I'm a guest staying at Chuidu Villa. The old lady and the two beauties there should know me." The tall and thin man said with a smile, but the hunting rifle on his back made him look a little malicious.

"His name is Itakura Hajime, the friend that Shumi mentioned." Old Mrs. Yuasa said in a bad tone, obviously very dissatisfied with the two guests.

At this moment, Sanlang suddenly started barking wildly, and then ran directly in a certain direction in the wind and snow.

"Sanlang?!"

"They must have discovered something. Let's catch up quickly!"

Everyone followed Saburo to a place in the forest, where he had stopped at the root of a tree, barking at a corpse, trying to wake up the lost traveler.

"That outfit, could it be..." Kyogoku Makoto said with a grim expression.

At this time, Yazi was already crying out in sorrow: "Jiagui! No, it can't be, how could this happen!"

"Don't move, he's dead." Lin Xiao said calmly.

The deceased was the Eryuan Jiagui that everyone was looking for.

In other words, the few people who appeared in this villa at this time of year in recent years are likely to have committed crimes...

Come to think of it, these guys have gone out alone before.

Lin Xiao looked at these suspicious characters with suspicion.

At the same time, Kyogoku Makoto walked over to check the body.

"He was hit on the head. That should be a fatal injury..."

As Kyogoku Makoto spoke, he searched for clues in the surrounding snow and finally found a very thick branch.

"This should be the murder weapon."

"Wait, are you saying someone killed him?!" Old Mrs. Yuasa shouted in panic.

"It's very obvious, and I infer that the time of death should be during the day. Although such heavy snow makes it difficult to infer the time of death from the body, and the footprints are all covered by the wind and snow, the body was wearing goggles, and blood was flowing down the side of the forehead. Although it seems to have been rubbed by something in the middle, it is basically certain that he was killed while wearing goggles. Because the lenses of the goggles are UV-proof sun lenses, the time of death should be before dusk." Kyogoku Makoto reasoned seriously, obviously wanting to show off in front of Sonoko.

However, this reasoning is full of loopholes.

Lin Xiao immediately pointed out the problem: "Mr. Kyogoku, first of all, there is the problem with the goggles. If you look closely, there is a contact lens in one side, but there is no contact lens in the other side, whether it is in the goggles or in the eye, which proves that it must have fallen somewhere else. In other words, Niyuan was not wearing goggles when he was beaten, but the murderer put them on him later."

"So, is it to deliberately confuse the time of death?" Kyogoku Makoto realized what was happening and immediately looked at Konakawa and Ako suspiciously. Because they were the only two who had been out alone in the evening and at night, and they were the most likely to have done such a thing.

"And look at this piece of chocolate on the corpse..." Lin Xiao said, pointing at the heart-shaped chocolate that had been frozen hard.

A few English letters - "yoshi" - were squeezed on it with special cream.

"How could that be? The chocolate should still be in the kitchen when I went out!" Yazi exclaimed in surprise.

Indeed, the two of them left in a hurry, and the finished chocolates were placed in the kitchen. If she had taken them away at the time, it is impossible that Yuanzi and Xiaolan, who were tidying up the kitchen later, would not have noticed it.

Chapter 469: The accomplice is a rescue dog

"It seems that the murderer sneaked into the villa after we left and took away the chocolate when no one was there, and deliberately placed it next to the body. He probably wanted to put the blame on one of us." Kyogoku Makoto said firmly, but his reasoning still had obvious loopholes.

If the criminal was really an outsider, there was no need to go to the trouble of stealing chocolates. Doing so would not only make the case more contradictory, but would also make it easier for him to be exposed. The risk and benefit are not proportional at all.

"Anyway, let's go back to the villa and call the police and let them handle it." Kyogoku Makoto decided.

However, the reality was far more complicated than he had imagined.

"The police won't be coming." A deep voice broke the brief silence. "The tunnel leading to here from the bottom of the mountain was blocked by an avalanche. It will take at least a day to repair it."

The one who spoke was Jiujian, the hunter who had fired the warning shot earlier. At this moment, he seemed to be the only one who could move around alone and carry a hunting rifle.

This bad news made everyone's expression change. They realized that there was no point in staying at the scene, so they had no choice but to return to the villa.

After returning to the villa, everything seemed to be the same, except that the chocolate made by Azi was missing from the kitchen. Other than that, there was nothing unusual on the surface.

When the police were unable to arrive in time, Kyogoku decided to investigate on his own. He put on gloves and began to examine the cameras and digital video cameras that he had brought back from the body.

However, there seemed to be no recordings in the digital camera, but the photos developed by photographer Funakawa using a film camera revealed some unusual clues.