Science: The Little Shota of the Maori Family

Mrs. Yoshida was also Xiaolan's age. Seeing Xiaolan's reaction, she knew that her guess was almost right. She teased, "It seems that I guessed right. Which boy is so lucky that he can win Xiaolan's heart?"

Xiaolan whispered, "Actually, I don't know whether he likes me or not."

"Huh?" Mrs. Yoshida was stunned: "Aren't you together?"

"No." Xiaolan shook her head. "We grew up together. He's a very smart boy, especially in reasoning. He's even helped the police solve many cases."

“That’s really amazing.”

"Aunt Yoshida."

Watanabe Toru, who had been listening attentively to the conversation between the two women, suddenly interrupted: "You've also seen the person that Xiaolan mentioned. He's the high school student who showed up at your house on the day Uncle Yoshida died."

It was him!

Mrs. Yoshida's face darkened. That day was the most thrilling day in her life. Everything was going very smoothly under her own conspiracy, but when that high school student appeared and raised questions, the situation suddenly changed.

If Watanabe Toru had not taken out the suicide note in time, he would probably not be in the hot spring pool but in prison.

So although Mrs. Yoshida couldn't say she hated Kudo Shinichi, she definitely had no good feelings towards him.

When Mrs. Yoshida heard Toru Watanabe say that the person Xiaolan liked was the boy who almost sent her to jail, she opened her mouth slightly and said with a wry smile: "So it was him."

"Have Aunt Yoshida and Shinichi met?" Xiaolan was also surprised.

"Yes, we met once." Mrs. Yoshida didn't want to change the subject to the case and continued to ask about their relationship: "So, that boy named Kudo Shinichi, didn't come with you?"

"Shinichi is not in Tokyo right now. He called me a few days ago and said there was a case he needed to investigate. He even asked for a long vacation from school. This guy is really abominable. He disappeared for so many years and only called me. He has no idea how worried I am about him."

"Disappeared?" Mrs. Yoshida looked puzzled.

"Yeah, we went to Tropical Paradise together some time ago..."

Xiaolan briefly recounted what happened that day to Mrs. Yoshida: "Aunt Yoshida, do you think he doesn't care about me at all?"

She didn't dare say these words to Kogoro Mori, but she didn't seem to have so many concerns when talking to Mrs. Yoshida.

Seeing Xiaolan's melancholy expression, even though Mrs. Yoshida disliked Kudo Shinichi, she couldn't bear to say anything derogatory about him at this time. After thinking for a while, she said, "Maybe he has his own difficulties."

"It's just a phone call, what's the hardship?" Xiaolan was more sober and sighed: "In his eyes, I'm afraid the case will always be more important than me."

Mrs. Yoshida did not explain for Kudo Shinichi. She smiled and said, "Ran is so beautiful, she must have no shortage of suitors, right? That Kudo Shinichi is so tactless, he will regret it sooner or later."

"Aunt Yoshida." Xiaolan blushed and said angrily.

Because it was a special day, the few of them did not soak in the hot spring pool for too long. After getting rid of their tiredness, Mrs. Yoshida and Xiaolan got up to take the clothes in the basket.

The graceful body, water droplets sliding down.

……

Inside the room, Kogoro Mouri was still sleeping soundly.

Xiaolan was a little annoyed: "I shouldn't have let Dad drink so much."

"It's okay, just let Mr. Maori sleep." Mrs. Yoshida smiled and said, "It's nothing anyway."

"But……"

beep, beep...

Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard in the corridor outside. Kitahara Jun opened the door and walked in. Seeing Mrs. Yoshida, he said anxiously, "Oh no, Madam, they... they are arguing."

"What?" Mrs. Yoshida was shocked and hurried out.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the mourning hall can be described as tense.

Takashima Heisuke and Takashima Yota glared at each other, with Takashima Chimi standing between them, looking bewildered. A middle-aged man in glasses and a suit sat solemnly beside them.

(Wang Liaozhao) "I will not recognize this will." Takashima Heisuke pointed at Takashima Yota emotionally: "Why should my father's estate be handed over to an outsider like you?"

Takashima Yota sneered, "What's the point of not admitting it? It seems that you are the one who has to leave this house, Brother Heisuke."

"What did you say! Bastard!"

"What happened?" Mrs. Yoshida, who came over, interrupted their quarrel and asked.

"Akiko." Takashima Chimi looked over and pursed her lips: "Just now, lawyer Yukimura came over to read out the will left by Ryuichi, allowing Yota to inherit all his property."

"Huh." A hint of surprise flashed in Mrs. Yoshida's eyes. She glanced at the smug Takashima Yota and said, "I have no right to change my brother's decision, but Yota, Heisuke is your brother. You are family. How could you say such nonsense as asking Heisuke to leave this family?"

078. Murder is the best sobering medicine

Takashima Yota snorted coldly.

Mrs. Yoshida continued, "How long has it been since my brother passed away? Even if you want to argue, you have to bury him first. What do you think, sister-in-law?"

Takashima Chimi heard the dissatisfaction in Mrs. Yoshida's words and nodded without further explanation, "I'll take care of it."

……

"Aunt Yoshida, is the relationship between Mr. Heisuke and Mr. Youta really bad?"

After returning to the Japanese-style room, Xiaolan asked about the doubts in her heart. They were obviously brothers, but the performance of Takashima Heisuke and Takashima Yota just now made them look more like a pair of mortal enemies.

Mrs. Yoshida sighed slightly: "They are not brothers."

"what?"

"My current sister-in-law is my brother's second wife." Mrs. Yoshida explained: "The first sister-in-law passed away due to illness five years ago. After that, my brother married the current sister-in-law, and Yangtai was brought by her. He is my brother's stepson."

"So that's how it is." Xiaolan suddenly realized.

"It's just that I didn't expect my brother to actually leave all the inheritance to Youta." Mrs. Yoshida said in disbelief: "Heisuke is his biological son. I don't know what my brother is thinking."

It was someone else's private matter, so Xiaolan couldn't express too much of her opinion. She made a cautious guess: "Maybe Mr. Takashima thinks Mr. Heisuke has no sense of consumption, and if he inherits the estate, he might..."

Mrs. Yoshida heard that Xiaolan was hinting at Takashima Heisuke's squandering of the family fortune, but she didn't care. She shook her head and said, "Although I haven't been back many times, in my impression, Heisuke isn't that kind of person... Forget it, there's no point in saying more now. No matter who inherits my brother's inheritance, as long as they can get along, there won't be any problems. I'm just afraid..."

Xiaolan comforted him, "Mrs. Takashima seems to be a sensible person. I think she can handle it."

"I hope so."

11pm, guest room.

Xiaolan spread the mattress on the tatami, turned around and said to Watanabe Toru and Ayumi who were playing around: "Okay, the mattresses are all spread out, Xiao Toru, Ayumi, let's go to bed."

Mrs. Yoshida went to the funeral home to keep vigil, and Xiaolan took the initiative to take on the task of taking care of Ayumi.

Watanabe Toru looked at Maori Kogoro, who was finally brought back by several people and asked, "Is it okay, uncle?"

"It's okay." Xiaolan casually covered him with a blanket and said, "Just let him sleep like this. It's really embarrassing. I won't let Dad drink so much next time."

Having said that, Watanabe Toru feels that the same situation will happen again.

"I turned off the lights~"

"Good~"

"Good night~"

After sitting in the car for nearly a whole day, the three of them were tired. After a while, the only sound in the room was Kogoro Mouri's snoring.

……

Watanabe Toru heard faint footsteps in his sleep.

And, it's getting closer and closer.

squeak--

The sound of the sliding door startled him awake. Even without opening his eyes, he could feel the glare of the light. Then, he heard Mrs. Yoshida's anxious voice: "Mr. Maori, it's bad. Yota... he's been killed."

Takashima Yota was murdered?

Watanabe Toru suddenly opened his eyes, and Xiaolan and Ayumi beside him woke up one after another after hearing the noise.

"Aunt Yoshida, is something wrong?" Xiaolan rubbed her eyes, looking sleepy.

Mrs. Yoshida repeated, "Just now, my sister-in-law and I went to look for Youta, and found that he had been murdered in his room. I would like to ask Mr. Maori to go over and take a look."

"Ah..." Hearing that someone had died, Xiaolan shuddered instantly and reached out to push Maori Kogoro: "Dad, wake up, Dad..."

"Hmm..." Kogoro Mouri muttered and turned over.

"Dad." Xiaolan was furious. She grabbed Maori Kogoro's ear with her hand and shouted loudly: "(bhcj) Something happened——"

"Ah..." Maori Kogoro finally opened his eyes dazedly, then frowned: "My head hurts..."

How could he not have a headache when he was so drunk? Xiaolan didn't bother to complain: "Dad, Mr. Yangtai was killed."

"Mr. Youta? Who is Mr. Youta?"

Watanabe Toru: “…”

As expected, Xiaolan was right not to let Mouri Kogoro drink.

Fortunately, Maori Kogoro reacted in time, his eyes widened, and he was half sober. "What did you say? Mr. Youta was killed?"

"Yes, Mr. Mori," Mrs. Yoshida said. "Ten minutes ago, my sister-in-law received a text message from Youta, asking me and her to go to the [Pinmenjian] to find him. He said he wanted to discuss his brother's inheritance with us. However, when my sister-in-law and I arrived at the [Pinmenjian], we heard Youta's screams from inside. After that, no matter how much we knocked on the door and shouted, there was no movement from inside. As a last resort, my sister-in-law went to get the key, and when we opened the door, we found... found that Youta had been murdered inside."

The murder case seemed to be the best sobering medicine for Maori Kogoro. After Mrs. Yoshida finished speaking, Maori Kogoro also regained some sobriety. He stood up from the tatami and said, "Take me to see it quickly."

"Uncle, I'm going too." Watanabe Toru shouted.

Before Maori Kogoro could agree, Xiaolan grabbed him and said, "Xiaotuo, you should stay here with your sister and Ayumi. Leave the case to the adults."

"But... I also want to learn how my uncle solves cases." Watanabe Toru said.

Kogoro Mouri had not originally planned to take Toru Watanabe to the scene, but when he heard him say that, he remembered that the other party had paid the apprenticeship fee. Since a murder had occurred, he should indeed take him to the scene to teach him some real skills.

After a pause, he said, "The scene might be scary. Are you sure you want to go with me?"

Watanabe Toru said without hesitation: "I'm not afraid of uncle. Besides, I saw a corpse in Miss Yoko's apartment before."

"Okay then." Maori Kogoro nodded and said, "But I have to remind you, when you get to the scene, you can't move things around, and you can't touch the bodies, understand?"

"Don't worry, uncle, I won't cause you any trouble." Watanabe Toru promised.

"Well, let's go together." Maori Kogoro looked at Xiaolan: "Xiaolan, just stay here."

"Okay." Although Watanabe Toru followed his father to the scene, Ayumi was determined to stay, and of course she had to stay here too: "Little Toru, listen to your father."

Watanabe Toru responded obediently: "I understand, Sister Xiaolan."

079. Hidden secret door

After passing the mourning hall and turning a long corridor, Maori Kogoro saw a wall in front of him and stopped in his tracks. "Huh? There's no way forward, ma'am. Did you take the wrong road?"

"It's okay, please follow me." Mrs. Yoshida continued to move forward, reached out and gently pushed the wall. With a creaking sound, the wall actually rotated.

"It turns out to be a secret door. This is what is meant by 'between the doors'." Kogoro Mouri suddenly understood and followed closely.

Behind the secret door, in the "inter-door space", everyone is there.

Chimi Takashima was wearing a plain kimono, her face was sad with tears on it, and her eyes were red.

Takashima Heisuke stood beside his stepmother with an expressionless face. Lawyers Yukimura Shibuta and Kitahara Jun looked solemn and said nothing.

After carefully examining the condition of Takashima Yota's body, Maori Kogoro turned back to Takashima Chimi and asked, "Madam, have you called the police?"

Takashima Chimi sobbed and said, "The police said the mountain road is difficult to travel late at night, and we can only come after dawn."

Maori Kogoro nodded and said, "I heard from Mrs. Yoshida that Mr. Yota sent you a message before he was killed?"

"Yes, Yang Tai said upstairs that he wanted to discuss my husband's inheritance with me and Akiko, and asked us to come to Pinmenjian to find him."

"Can I see that message?"

"Okay." Chimi Takashima handed the phone to Kogoro Mouri.

While Kogoro Mori was looking at the message, Toru Watanabe was also looking at the layout of the room.

The area was only the size of a study, with almost no furnishings. There was a small window on the two-meter-high wall, just big enough for a thin person to pass through. Outside was an abyss, five or six meters away from the land in front.

"Xiao Che, aren't you afraid?"

Mrs. Yoshida stood behind Toru Watanabe, bent over and looked at him, and asked in a low voice.

When she entered the room and saw the scene inside, she was so scared that her face turned pale. She looked at Watanabe Toru, who was calm and composed, as if she was visiting an amusement park.

"I'm not afraid." Watanabe Toru shook his head and looked up at Mrs. Yoshida: "If you are afraid, go back to your room first."

Mrs. Yoshida felt that she was being looked down upon and denied it flatly: "Why would Auntie be scared? But you, little detective, have you found anything after watching for so long?"