Science: The Little Shota of the Maori Family

Kogoro Mouri got up cursing.

"This..." Xiaolan squatted down beside him: "It's Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. I don't know why it fell on the road. We have to help it up quickly..."

Just as Xiaolan was about to lift up the statue, a car coming from behind braked to a stop beside it.

"Don't move! Put it down!" the people in the car shouted, "If you lift that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva up, you will all be cursed!"

Watanabe Toru and others turned their heads and were stunned.

It was an acquaintance, rookie police officer Yamamura Sou from Gunma Prefecture.

Yamamura Cao also recognized Watanabe Toru and his group. He drove the car forward a little, stuck his head out of the window, and said, "Isn't this the famous detective Maori Kogoro? What brings you here today?"

Maori Kogoro pointed ahead and said, "I just have something to do. I need to go to the Aoiya Hotel in front."

"Are you going to investigate the unidentified deceased man in the red coat?" Yamamura Cao asked again.

Maori Kogoro nodded: "Yes."

"I'm going to the Aoi-ya Inn this time because of this case," Yamamura Cao said. "The body was found in this 'Tou Shen Forest.' 'Tou Shen' is the plague god who causes headaches. If someone with a headache walks into this forest, they will be bewitched by the Tou Shen and unable to leave. That's why this place is also a suicide sanctuary."

"Suicide...suicide holy land?" Xiaolan's face changed, and she suddenly felt a chill on her back.

"Right," Yamamura Tsou nodded. "That statue you were trying to lift up just now is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the one used to ward off evil spirits. It's said that lifting it up will attract evil spirits, so it's been lying there ever since. Well... since we're all going to the Aoi-ya Inn, I'll give you a ride."

"No, my daughter said..." Just as Kogoro Mouri was about to refuse, Xiaolan had already opened the back door and sat in.

Maori Kogoro:"……"

On the way, Shancuncao talked about the murder again.

Maori Kogoro listened quietly for a while and said, "Oh? The person who found the body was an employee of the Aoiya Hotel?"

"Yes, I heard that the employee found it when he was picking wild vegetables." Shancuncao said, "But the body is very strange..."

"Strange?" Maori Kogoro asked, "What's strange about it?"

"The deceased had car keys but no driver's license," Yamamura Cao recalled. "He had cigarettes but no lighter or matches. Moreover, he died in the summer, but was wearing a winter sweater."

"How do you know he died in the summer?" asked Kogoro Mouri in confusion.

Shancuncao explained, "Because we found a bottle of milk and bread in the deceased's backpack. The expiration dates for both items were exactly July 12th, four years ago. There was also a receipt in his wallet from a purchase at a nearby convenience store, so there was no mistaking it. However, the bottle of milk and bread had been crushed beyond recognition by the impact of the body falling to the ground."

"¨‖ fell to the ground?" Kogoro Mouri looked confused again.

"There was a rope around the deceased's neck, and next to him was a branch tied to the rope." Shancuncao said, "The branch must have broken after the deceased was hanged..."

"It sounds like just an ordinary suicide case..." said Kogoro Mouri, touching his chin.

"Yeah." Yamamura Cao agreed with Maori Kogoro's inference: "So I want to ask the staff of that hotel again if they know what those strange places are like. What about you? Mr. Maori, why did you go there?"

Maori Kogoro said: "I heard that the owner of Aoiya Hotel saw the man in the red coat."

"Huh?" Shancun Cao asked in surprise, "When did that happen?"

Maori Kogoro recalled: "He said that in October five years ago, the man in the coat suddenly visited the hotel and asked the hotel owner to give him 100,000 yen to keep a suitcase and a letter for him... After a year, even if he died, he would come to pick them up. It's strange, isn't it?"

"Suitcase and envelope?"

"Yes, the man seemed to have told him, 'A year from now, if I come to pick it up, give me the briefcase. If someone else comes to pick it up, give him the envelope.' I'm not sure if the body found was the man in the red jacket, but he seemed to have repeatedly reminded the hotel owner not to forget his red jacket and long hair, so he must be right."

Shancun Cao summarized, "In other words, when that man handed the things to the boss five years ago, he said he would come back to retrieve them even if he died. He did come here a year later in the summer. I just didn't expect him to suddenly commit suicide while passing through this forest..."

Shancuncao said, and scared himself: "Haha... That man is so stupid, how can he get things after he died..."

343: Fake Detective

"That's why the owner of that hotel asked me to investigate." Maori Kogoro shouted, unable to bear it any longer. "Because he accepted money from that man and promised him not to tell the police, so he never told anyone."

Shancuncao looked embarrassed: "Is... is that so."

Then he asked, "Then no one came to pick up the suitcase?"

"No, I heard that the day after that guy left the stuff with the hotel owner, a man came claiming to be his agent." Maori Kogoro lit a cigarette. "The man wore a hat and sunglasses, and had a big beard. Although the hotel owner was a little hesitant, he still followed the instructions of the man in the red coat and gave him the envelope. But he took out the letter from the envelope, looked at it, and angrily tore it up and threw it in the trash can. He walked out of the hotel and never went back."

"So, what was written on that piece of paper?" Shancuncao suddenly became nervous and asked stutteringly.

"The hotel owner was very concerned, so he picked up the fragments of the note from the trash can and pieced them together. There were only seven words written on the letter." Maori Kogoro said in a deep voice: "It looked like seven scarlet words written in blood - May you be cursed and die."

"Ah!" Xiaolan finally couldn't control the fear that she was suppressing in her heart, and hugged Watanabe Toru beside her, screaming in surprise.

Shancuncao was so frightened by the scream that he almost overturned the car and stopped with an emergency brake.

Maori Kogoro almost threw himself against the front window, sat up and said speechlessly: "Xiaolan, you are such a coward. I told you not to come but you still insisted on coming."

"Sister Xiaolan..." Watanabe Toru's head was buried tightly in Xiaolan's chest, and he said in a muffled voice: "I can't breathe anymore."

"Ah... sorry, sorry." Xiaolan quickly let go of Watanabe Toru.

Watanabe Toru breathed a sigh of relief and said comfortingly, "Don't worry, Xiaolan. As long as we ask the boss to show us the suitcase, uncle will be able to solve the mystery."

"That's right." Xiaolan's expression eased slightly.

"Then...what's in that suitcase..." Shancuncao said in horror: "Could it be that man's long hair?"

"Ah--" Xiaolan screamed in fright again and hugged Watanabe Toru's head tightly.

Watanabe Toru: “…”

……

After finally arriving at the hotel, a hotel employee helped Yamamura Cao park the car. Maori Kogoro and others walked into the hotel and ran into Urakawa Eiji who had discovered the body.

After the group exchanged greetings, (dabe) Urakawa Eiji touched his head and said, "I was really shocked at that time. I never thought that anyone would die there, but when I found it, it was already a pile of bones."

Maori Kogoro asked, "Were you the only one who discovered the body?"

"Correct."

"So you're the only one who goes to the forest to pick wild vegetables every time?"

"No," Urakawa Eiji shook his head. "Jinbo, Mr. Toda, the inn owner, and I took turns picking wild vegetables in the mountains. However, I was the one most likely to find the body out of the three of us, because I had a feeling it would be there."

"Yes... is that so." Shancuncao's face looked a little unhappy.

"That's because I'm the one who usually goes to pick wild vegetables after every game, so I have more opportunities." Urakawa Eiji said with a smile.

Shancuncao was stunned: "What does this mean?"

Urakawa Eiji explained, "Every year, we take a break before summer vacation and organize an employee trip. After each trip, I'm responsible for picking wild vegetables. Many people commit suicide in this forest, so this isn't the first time a body has been found."

Maori Kogoro adjusted his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose: "If it's suicide, then there's no use for me."

"Huh?" Urakawa Eiji looked at him in surprise: "Isn't this gentleman wearing sunglasses a police officer?"

"Ah, no." Yamamura So immediately introduced: "This is a famous detective who even children with something to hide would be terrified of..."

"Ah... you must be Mr. Kogoro Mori's follower, right?" Urakawa Eiji looked suddenly enlightened.

Maori Kogoro stumbled: "Follower?"

Yamamura Cao explained: "You misunderstood, he is actually..."

But he was interrupted again by Urakawa Eiji: "Mr. Maori has arrived first and is waiting for you in the room."

"what?"

Several people were stunned.

……

Upon learning that a fake Kogoro Mouri appeared here, who not only took away his suitcase and occupied the room he booked, but also signed for the hotel owner in his own name, Mouri Kogoro was furious.

Xiaolan angrily asked the hotel owner, "Where is the person you mentioned now?"

The unsuspecting hotel owner, Yoshiro Toda, replied truthfully, "He lives in room 209."

"I'll go and argue with him right away."

"Wait a minute, Xiaolan." When Xiaolan was about to go find the fake Maori Kogoro, Maori Kogoro suddenly grabbed her and whispered, "Isn't this the kind of plot that happens in TV dramas? The fake one cheats and meets the real one. We should take advantage of the situation and endure it for a while. When that guy asks everyone to come over and make random deductions, I will suddenly appear and show my amazing deduction ability. Then, I will scare him to death in one fell swoop."

Xiaolan was speechless: "What a stupid plan."

Shancuncao looked expectant: "This is a good idea. You must let me help you when the time comes."

"Forget it, I don't want to bother with you." Xiaolan turned around and left speechlessly.

The boss, Yoshiro Toda, was about to register and asked, "By the way, sir, what is your name?"

Maori Kogoro pretended to be deep and said, "I am Echigo Koemon, an insignificant little man. You don't need to greet me."

Shancuncao leaned in to support the man: "Well said, hero."

"Just give us the cheapest room." said Kogoro Mouri.

"Okay." The boss registered the information.

"This gentleman."

The clerk Masao Jinbao, who had been helping with parking, came in and handed a cell phone to Maori Kogoro: "It seems your daughter left her cell phone in the car. Is this your daughter's?"

Maori Kogoro took it and looked at it, then said gratefully, "I'm so sorry, thank you for getting it back for us."

"You've worked so hard." Shancuncao laughed.

"Then let's go." Maori Kogoro put his arm around Yamamura Cao's shoulder and walked inside: "Let's take a bath later and then have a drink together."

"Ah? No, no, I'm still on duty..." Shancuncao said hurriedly.

……

into the night.

The low table in the room was filled with food and wine. Kogoro Mouri and Yamamura So, who had said he didn't drink, had already had three rounds of drinks.

"Oh, Mr. Maori can really hold his liquor." Yamamura Cao, his face flushed from drinking, applauded Maori Kogoro. "It seems that imposter is no match at all. Maybe we'll get to see some exciting deductions today."

"Hahahaha." Maori Kogoro laughed: "Just wait and see."

344. The Secret in the Suitcase

Half an hour later, Shancuncao was the first to get drunk. He fell on the table with a red face and fell into a deep sleep.

Maori Kogoro stood up with his hands on the table, walked to the door, opened it and looked outside: "Why hasn't that impostor started reasoning yet?"

"I just said I was going to confront him, who told you to stop me?" Xiaolan said with dissatisfaction: "The imposter may have already run away by now."

Watanabe Toru looked out the window: "I've been paying attention outside, and it seems that no one has left the hotel yet."

"Then I'll go and teach that impostor a lesson." Mouri Kogoro went out, walked to the room of the impostor Mouri Kogoro, and knocked on the door.

"Hey! Fake, come out quickly! Hey."

No one answered inside.

Kogoro Mouri simply turned the doorknob, opened the door and walked in.

"It's pitch black in there. Could it be that he couldn't figure it out and just went to sleep?"

Maori Kogoro pushed open the sliding door and shouted, "Okay, get up quickly, Maori Kogoro is here-."

But in the next moment, his expression changed and he sobered up.

In the room, the fake Kogoro Mori was hanging from the beam, his face stiff and blue.

"what--"

Xiaolan screamed again.

……

Soon, everyone rushed to the room where the incident happened.

Yamamura Cao hurriedly came to the body of the fake Maori Kogoro, tears in his eyes and a look of grief: "Mr. Maori, how did you become like this? I didn't expect that the person who sheds tears is also crooked. How could you do such a stupid thing? The sleeping Maori Kogoro actually passed away. What's wrong with you, Mr. Maori?"

In the tearful atmosphere, the hotel owner and employees standing outside the door watching had tears in their eyes.

Maori Kogoro, who was standing behind Yamamura So, finally couldn't help but speak up. "Hey, what are you talking about? I've tried my best to keep the scene intact. You should call the detectives or forensic personnel from the Gunma Prefectural Police Department as soon as possible."

Yamamura Cao stared at Maori Kogoro's face, then suddenly stepped back in horror and screamed, "There's a ghost!"

……

After explanations from Kogoro Mori and So Yamamura, everyone in the hotel finally understood the whole story.