An infinite journey starting from paradise

Because the wooden planks would distribute the killer's weight, evenly distributing the force, and the special properties of the powdery snow here, the victim's footprints would remain intact, though shallower due to the surrounding snow pressing down on them. The killer would also leave no footprints, only shallow marks left by the wooden planks, which could be covered up with the surrounding powdery snow as they moved. Furthermore, since the snow was still falling, this mark could be completely concealed without much effort. This way, the killer could sneak into the Imperial Baths and kill without leaving a trace, leaving only the victim's footprints.

The idea of ​​covering the deceased's footprints with a wooden board and then walking over them may sound absurd, but it's not impossible. A similar method even appeared in the original Detective Conan (the "Snowy Night Long-Sleeved Kimono Incident" in episodes 410-411). However, Hayashi Naoto quickly overturned Hoshino Terumi's speculation:

"While the method Ms. Hoshino mentioned might work, you've overlooked one point. If a murderer truly used this method, they wouldn't be able to leave no trace at all—at least the snow near the victim's footprints would be much more compact than the surrounding snow due to the compaction of the wooden planks. But..."

Lin Shangren inserted the black umbrella into the snow next to the footprints and further away.

"There was no difference in the thickness and compactness of the snow between the two times. It can be confirmed that only one person walked on this side."

"Is that so?" Hoshino Terumi was a little disappointed, but her purpose was achieved. At least she showed herself in front of Lin Shangren.

Lin Shangren continued: "However, Ms. Hoshino, you are indeed correct. Maki Sawara's death was not an accident, but murder."

"what?!"

Everyone was shocked, especially Conan who was still thinking. He had just come up with some clues, but you figured out the truth before him?!

Lin Shangren raised his hand to take a picture of the pile of clothes, then climbed back into the room. He then asked Tsujii Yukito, who had discovered the body, "Mr. Tsujii, was this window open when you found the body?"

"Ah... that's probably it, I didn't notice..."

"It was open." Conan raised his hand. "The window was open when I came in. Unless it was opened by the first person to discover the body, Tsujii-san, it is certain that the window had been open before the body was found."

"Okay. That's right."

Lin Shangren smiled, and then he asked everyone present: "Let me ask you a question. Why did the deceased Miss Sawara Maki put her clothes outside the window? It was snowing outside. Why didn't she take off her clothes and put them inside?"

"Perhaps she's afraid of being discovered?" Tsujii Yukito said. "If someone suddenly enters the Imperial Bath, Miss Sawara can simply hide underwater, behind the floating towel. The Imperial Bath is large enough, and there's mist on the surface, so it's hard to spot someone hiding in the water without careful observation—I just didn't immediately notice there were two bodies underwater."

However, if you leave your clothes indoors, your fluorescent green ski suit will easily attract attention. As soon as you see someone wearing someone else's clothes, my grandfather and I will quickly think that someone has sneaked into the Imperial Baths to take a bath.

"That's not right!" Kisaki Eri suddenly said, "If she hid her clothes outside because she was afraid of being discovered, then she wouldn't have left the window open without locking it."

Hoshino Terumi also reacted: "Yes, if you see the window is open, even if Mr. Tsujii didn't think that someone had sneaked into the Royal Bath at the first time, as long as he walked over to close the window, he would definitely see the clothes outside the window and the two footprints.

In other words, this window was used to attract attention. And... the same goes for the clothes left outside. The deceased's clothes were deliberately placed outside, allowing snow to accumulate on them, in order to mislead others into judging the time the deceased entered the Imperial Bath based on the thickness of the snow on the clothes. Actually... actually..."

Hoshino Terumi felt like she was about to grasp the truth, but there was just one ray of light missing. Just as she was thinking about what that ray of light was, Conan, who had suddenly realized something, rushed to the wall opposite the window and jumped onto the windowsill on that wall.

"Sure enough, this window is not locked either!"

Conan opened the window with his gloved hands. The cold wind howled in, stinging his face. He turned on the flashlight on his tranquilizer gun and carefully examined the snow outside. Although the image was not clear, he could just make out a streak stretching off into the distance, slightly lower than the surrounding snow, as if it had been pressed down by something. If the wind and snow were allowed to blow, it would soon be completely buried and disappear.

"This is…?"

"This is the real entrance the murderer and the deceased used to enter the imperial bathhouse!" Lin Shangren explained. He then smiled and looked at Hoshino Terumi who was standing beside him. "The deceased and the murderer did use the wooden planks to hide their footprints that Ms. Hoshino came up with, but they only used it here."

As he spoke, Lin Shangren pointed to the inconspicuous dent in the snow outside the window.

"The deceased and the murderer used this method?" Kisaki Eri immediately grasped the key point in Lin Shangren's words.

"Yes, the deceased and the murderer. My guess is that the deceased, Miss Sawara Maki, wanted to try bathing in the Imperial Bath, so she and the murderer came up with a plan to sneak in.

Taking advantage of filming a documentary, Ms. Sawara Maki secretly unlocked this window. Then, while the crew was out skiing, she and the killer sneaked back to the hot springs. They used a similar method to Ms. Hoshino's earlier description of using wooden planks to conceal their footprints, entering through the west window of the Imperial Baths. This was likely done because the killers assumed that leaving obvious footprints would allow the bathhouse staff to identify them.

After sneaking into the Imperial Bath without leaving a trace, the murderer drowned Miss Sawara, then put on the victim's clothes, left his ski suit and two boards in the snow pile outside the east window, and then left without a trace from the west side using boards such as wooden planks.

Then, around six o'clock, the murderer deliberately walked toward the east side of the bathhouse wearing Ms. Sawara Maki's ski suit and snow boots, aiming to be witnessed by the bathhouse patrons. He then walked through the snow on the east side to the window. He then removed Ms. Sawara's ski suit and boots and placed them outside. He then put on his own clothes and shoes, which had been left there, and entered the bathhouse. He then exited through the west window using a wooden plank or similar material.

In this way, the murderer fabricated the story that Miss Maki Sawara sneaked into the imperial bath alone and drowned in the pool due to shock caused by the sudden change in body temperature.

He also used the snow on Ms. Sawara's ski suit and the testimony of eyewitnesses at the bathing area to push back the time of her death. Even if the police suspected Ms. Sawara's death was not an accident, they would ignore the suspect's alibi between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM because the estimated time of death was after 6:00 PM.

In this case, the murderer only needs to enter the hot spring bath immediately after leaving the scene, make some noise to let others see him, or simply stay with a certain person or a group of people, providing each other with alibis, so as to clear himself of suspicion in the murder of Miss Sawara Maki.

"Hiss... Is that so? If that's the case, then the murderer should be a member of the TV production crew from Okinawa, right?" said Terumi Hoshino.

Yukito Tsujii scratched his head, recalling what happened in the bathhouse after six o'clock. "The person who met the above conditions... and appeared in the bathhouse after six o'clock... was Mr. Gen Ohira?! Yes, he suddenly shouted in the corridor, saying that he was looking for the missing Miss Sawara. Then he left the bathhouse with Miss Hira."

"So, he's a strong suspect indeed." Lin Shangren rubbed the back of his neck. "As for the evidence and motive for the murder, we need to investigate further."

As he spoke, Lin Shangren suddenly handcuffed Tsujii Yukito's hands.

"Mr. Policeman?! What are you doing?!" Yukito Tsujii was shocked.

"The truth behind Maki Sawara's death is almost confirmed, so it's time to investigate the other victim, right?" Hayashi Naoto looked into Yukito Tsujii's eyes. "When I was checking for footprints just now, I also checked the entire area nearby. Aside from those left by Maki Sawara and her killer, there aren't any other suspicious traces. So, how do you think the other victim, Noriko Sonoda, entered the imperial bathhouse?"

"Then it can only be the main gate." Hoshino Terumi continued.

"Conan witnessed Sonoda Noriko around 4:50 to 5:00, which means she entered the Royal Bath after this time. But you said that the door was locked during this time and no one would enter. So, I would like to ask you, how did she get in?"

"I...I..." Faced with the aggressive Hayashi Naoto, Tsujii Yukito finally confessed the truth, "I brought her in. She gave me a large sum of money and said she wanted to experience the feeling of bathing in the imperial bath where the royal family bathed. In order to earn this pocket money, I secretly brought her to the imperial bath.

I had originally planned to stand guard at the corridor entrance. But then, Hijikata-san and the others suddenly called me away to serve wine and prepare snacks... and then... it was almost half an hour later that I was free again. When I went back to the corridor to check, I found that Miss Sonoda's yukata, which she had left at the entrance to the Imperial Bath, was gone. I assumed she had finished her bath and gone home. That's why I locked the door.

"Really?"

"It's absolutely true... I was afraid that grandpa would find out that I secretly collected money from people to take a bath in the Imperial Bath, so I kept it a secret and didn't tell the truth..." As he said this, Tsujii Yukito lowered his head, not daring to look into Hayashi Naoto's eyes again.

"If that's true, then how did Miss Sonoda die?" asked Kisaki Eri in confusion.

Hoshino Terumi proposed a hypothesis: "Could it be that after killing Maki Sawara, Gen Ohira hid her under a white bath towel at the bottom of the bath to prevent anyone from entering the bathhouse and discovering her body while he was away? When he reentered the bathhouse, he happened to encounter Miss Sonoda bathing there. To prevent his murder from being exposed, he killed Miss Sonoda as well. Then, he used his prepared alibi to exonerate himself?"

"When did Noriko Sonoda enter the Imperial Bath?" asked Lin Shangren.

Tsujii Yukito's voice trembled slightly. "Around half past five. A little after six, I saw from afar that Miss Sonoda's yukata, which had been placed at the entrance to the imperial bathhouse, was gone, so I locked the door."

"Ohei Gen re-entered the Imperial Bathhouse around six o'clock, so the timing matches perfectly," Hoshino Terumi said. "So he was also the murderer of Miss Sonoda?"

"Whether it is true or not, we'll know once we catch him." As he said that, Lin Shangren reached out and grabbed the handcuffs that were handcuffing Tsujii Yukito. He pulled it lightly and easily pulled it off like magic, and put it back into the dark shadow inside his sleeve.

Seeing Lin Shangren preparing to arrest the suspect, Da Pingxuan, Conan still stood there, his chin tilted, thinking:

"No... That doesn't make sense. Would someone who just ran through the hot springs really go back to soak in the hot springs half an hour later? Or, if she was going to soak in this secret bath, why would she go to the ordinary women's bath first? There's no way Lin Shangren didn't realize this."

Looking at Lin Shangren's receding back, and then at Tsujii Yukito who was standing still, Conan fell into deep thought.

"Isn't he trying to sting the police?"

The author says:

Author's Note: In the next chapter, the case is solved, a fierce battle on the hot springs takes place, Eri Kisaki and Ran Mori share a close relationship, and Terumi Hoshino tragically loses a life. Meanwhile, through the interpersonal relationships of Yukito Tsujii, the "Another" and "Irenkanmura" murders are officially introduced.

Chapter 293: First Battle at the Open-Air Hot Springs

Ohira Gen is dead.

He died in the public men's bath at the hot springs.

The cause of death was the same as the previous two deaths - drowning.

When Ohira Gen and Hira Ie met Hayashi Naoto and Kisaki Eri, they both had varying degrees of hypothermia. So, after returning to the hot springs, they each went back to their rooms to keep warm.

Taira Ie was doing relatively well, as the kindhearted and enthusiastic Kaoru Kusano took it upon herself to care for her. Ohira Gen was in a less favorable situation. Since most of the men on the Ultraman set were drunk, and the Okinawa TV crew had just received the news of Maki Sawara's death and hadn't yet returned, Ohira Gen was left to rest alone in his room.

When Lin Shangren deduced the truth from the Imperial Bath and went to arrest him, he found that he had drowned in the men's bath on the first floor of the bathhouse.

Similar to the cases of Noriko Sonoda and Maki Sawara, there were no obvious external injuries on Gen Ohira's body, and the cause of death was also drowning.

"Could this... be an accident?" asked Tsujii Yukito, who had followed Hayashi Naoto all the way here. "Mr. Ohira was feeling the discomfort of hypothermia and wanted to quickly recover his body temperature, so he chose to soak in the hot springs. However, the rapid rise in body temperature and the resulting dilation of blood vessels caused a sudden drop in blood pressure, leading to his passing out. He ultimately drowned here."

Ohira is from Okinawa, right? It's tropical and never snows there, so it makes sense that he lacks common sense about hypothermia."

Listening to Tsujii Yukito's speculation, Hoshino Terumi couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Haha... He wanted to use hypothermic shock to cover up the fact of intentional homicide, but ended up dying from hypothermic shock himself. If that's really the case, it's quite ironic.

But, do you think someone who wants to use hypothermic shock to cover up his true crime tactic doesn’t know how dangerous it is to soak in a hot spring while suffering from hypothermia?!”

"Ah...ah..."

"You're too concerned, Tsujii-san."

Lin Shangren patted Tsujii Yukito's shoulder, then took out the handcuffs and said to the grandfather behind him, "Grandpa Tsujii, please hold out your hands."

"Ah? Mr. Lin...Mr. Lin...what do you mean?"

Facing the dumbfounded old man Tsujii, Hayashi Naoro said calmly, "To silence him, because you know that Ohira Gen was the one who killed Sawara Maki before you killed Sonoda Noriko. If he were caught, he would never admit to any involvement in Sonoda Noriko's death. And his testimony would only reveal the flaws in your crime. Therefore, he must die."

"Wait!" Tsujii Yukito quickly interrupted Hayashi Naoto, "That's impossible. Grandpa wasn't with us just now, and he didn't hear your reasoning. How could he know that Miss Sawara's death was not an accident? How could he know the identity of Mr. Ohira's murderer and his methods of committing the crime?"

"He doesn't need to know Da Ping Xuan's modus operandi. He only needs to be sure of one thing - Da Ping Xuan had bathed in the imperial bath this afternoon!" Lin Shangren said.

"It's not hard to understand. Ohira Gen killed Sawara Maki between 4:30 and 5:00. He then closed the windows and left the Imperial Bath. And Mr. Tsujii murdered Sonoda Noriko between 5 and 6:00.

My guess is that Mr. Tsujii discovered Miss Sawara's body hidden under a bath towel only after he had killed Miss Sonoda. This completely disrupted his original plan. In a panic, he had no choice but to leave Miss Sonoda's body in the imperial bath and then leave.

Around 6:30, he received my call and arranged for you to clean the bathhouse, and also to be the first person to discover the body. After he arrived at the scene, he was surprised to find that Miss Sonoda's body, which should have been outside, had been hidden inside. The window on the east side of the bathhouse had been opened by someone.

From this moment on, he was certain that someone had sneaked into the Imperial Bath and done something wrong after he had killed someone and left the scene. This meant that Miss Sawara's death was not an accident, and the person who had sneaked in again must be the murderer.

This made things easier. Mr. Tsujii quickly sorted out the order of events. He came up with the same optimal solution that you, Mr. Tsujii, had just come up with in the Imperial Bath:

The murderer of Miss Sawara happened to see Miss Sonoda Noriko taking a bath when he returned to the crime scene for the second time. In order to prevent the fact that he murdered Miss Sawara from being exposed, he killed Miss Sonoda as well.

And Mr. Tsujii only needs to make the murderer die in an 'accident' so that there is no evidence, and he can completely clear himself of the suspicion of murder."

"Wait, you've said so much, but you still haven't explained how my grandfather knew that Mr. Ohira was the murderer of Miss Sawara?! If my grandfather didn't know Mr. Ohira's killing method, he would have no way of identifying the murderer!"

"I said, he doesn't need to know Da Ping Xuan's method of killing. He just needs to find out who took a bath in the imperial bath this afternoon." As he spoke, Lin Shangren lifted the right arm of Da Ping Xuan's corpse. He was wearing a black ring on his right ring finger.

"Is there something wrong with this hand?" asked Yukito Tsujii.

Kisaki Eiri instantly understood what Hayashi Shangren meant. "It's a ring. This ring should be made of silver, right? When silver comes into contact with the sulfur in the hot spring water, a chemical reaction will occur, forming a layer of black silver sulfide on the surface of the ring."

"That's right. The people at Okinawa TV didn't go to the hot springs because they were afraid that soaking in the hot springs would affect their physical strength for skiing. But Ohira Gen's silver ring turned black, which means he had spent some time in the sulfur hot springs." Hayashi Shangren explained, "It was because of this that Mr. Tsujii was certain that he was the murderer of Maki Sawara, and that's why he killed him, right?"

"But...what if his ring turned black just now while soaking in the hot spring? This kind of thing..."

"When I met him and Miss Pingliang halfway, his ring was already black. Lawyer Fei and I can prove this."

As he spoke, Lin Shangren looked at the silent old man Tsujii and said, "I'm a little curious. What methods did you use to make their deaths look exactly like drowning in a hot spring?"

"It's medicine. High-purity valerian. Apply it to the tip of a needle and insert it at the base of the ear. Just a few grams is enough to put someone into a deep coma. Even an autopsy would be difficult to find any traces."

Elder Tsujii said frankly, "I originally only intended to kill that woman. I'd knock her unconscious and then throw her into the Imperial Baths to drown her, making it look like an accident. Unexpectedly, I discovered someone else had already killed someone in the Imperial Baths. What bad luck."

"grandfather……"

"It's okay... Mr. Lin is right. It was indeed me who killed that woman and this guy. I admit it. Arrest me now."

"Can you tell me why?"

"Revenge... for my son. It was that woman who tricked him into borrowing high-interest loans to invest in real estate. After making a killing, Yasuo had already decided to call it quits. But it was that woman's instigation! In the end... he lost everything, and his family was destroyed." At this point, Mr. Tsujii wept bitterly. "That woman had already vanished without a trace, changing her name. I never thought she'd dare to come to me ten years later. So I planned to kill her. But I didn't expect another murder case to disrupt the situation."

After the prisoner finished his final statement, Lin Shangren did not delve into the specific tragic experience behind it. He just tortured old man Tsujii and locked him up in an empty room. Due to heavy snow blocking the road, the police would not be able to arrive tonight, so they had to let the prisoner and the three bodies stay in the hot spring bath for one night.

Now that the matter has been resolved, it's time for Lin Shangren to take a break and deal with his own personal affairs.

First, there's the divorce agreement between Eri Kisaki and Kogoro Mouri. Unfortunately, when Hayashi Naoto and Eri Kisaki entered the Ultraman crew's private room, they learned that Kogoro Mouri, already drunk, had been carried back to his room by Snorlax Void Snorlax... er... Sayuri's bedside. Upon hearing this, Ran Mouri, distraught, tried to drag Eri Kisaki along to "catch them in adultery," but she remained unmoved. Initially believing her mother was simply sulking, Ran realized that something serious was afoot when she realized Eri Kisaki was genuinely nonchalant.

"Let that guy do whatever he wants. It has nothing to do with me anyway. Lan... Actually, I've already made up my mind. I want to divorce your father."

"Ah? Ah!"

The sudden explosive news made Xiaolan's brain freeze: "Mom...you...are you kidding me? Why..."

The moment she asked "why", countless answers flashed through Xiaolan's mind: "Because he is a slob who never does housework", "Because he is an alcoholic who is addicted to horse racing", "Because he is a pervert who is addicted to chasing stars", "Because he has never taken the initiative to try to save this relationship in the past ten years."

"Because I don't care anymore." Kisaki Eri sighed, "Ran... let's talk. Come to my room."

Hayashi Naoto, one of the parties involved, did not follow Kisaki Eri and Maori Ran, but simply watched them walk towards the VIP suite on the west side of the bathhouse. As for the reason, partly because they needed some alone time, and partly because a naughty little hand had grabbed his trouser leg.

"Conan, what's going on?"

Lin Shangren squatted down and touched Conan's head.

"It's Brother Shinichi... He called me and said he wanted to ask Uncle Lin something..."

……

Eleven pm.

Although two murders occurred during the team-building process, the Ultraman crew was not affected much: they soaked in hot springs, tasted local delicacies and sake, became closer to each other in the process of bragging and chatting, and also met a great detective and a wealthy real estate developer. In short, they had a great time.

It was approaching midnight, and it was time to rest.

Everyone in the crew returned to their rooms. The young couple, Mamegaki Taeko and Shimaki Yuji, planned to have some fun. While taking care of Taira Ie, Kaoru Kusano got along quite well with her, so luckily she stayed in her room for the night. Most of the other men in the crew, such as Director Mikami, Hijikata Yukisaburo, and Kimura Tatsuya, were drunk and fell asleep as soon as they returned to their rooms. As for Hoshino Terumi, who was alone in the empty room, if Kaoru Kusano was not there, it would be more convenient for her to change into her "battle suit" and attack Hayashi Naoto at night.

Just as Hoshino Terumi put on a bikini and took out the prepared props, a "real night raid" was quietly happening in Hijikata Yukisaburo's room.

After Hijikata Kozaburo turned off the lights and fell asleep, the wardrobe door in the room suddenly opened slowly, and a dark figure flashed out. He was holding a poison needle between his fingers and was quietly walking towards the sleeping Hijikata Kozaburo.

As long as he is eliminated, he will have a chance to completely get rid of the crime.

"Cough cough."

Just as he was about to make his move, Hijikata Kozaburo suddenly coughed a few times. Immediately, the lights in the room were turned on.

"If you weren't planning on attacking Brother Hijikata, I'd actually considered following your grandfather's lead and letting him take the blame for you. After all, you'd be avenging your father."