Conan Rick's Investigator

"Yes, the box is empty."

The bald man opened the briefcase in his hand, and it was indeed empty.

"Eh?"

Looking at the inside of the box with only gray lining, Sera and Mouri Kogoro looked at each other. Are they thinking too much?

Dr. Agasa also said at the right time: "It seems that Hades did leave a key clue..."

"I better call Shinichi and tell him about the current situation here."

"Okay, I'll just..."

Mao Lilan responded, and just as he was about to take out his mobile phone, Shiliang raised his hand to stop him.

"Wait a minute, I think I know what the clue is this time."

Sera stared at the bald man's knees with interest, which made the bald man feel nervous.

She walked forward with a smile, rubbing her hands and said, "Um... can you please let me see your pants?"

"Pants?"

"Yes, it's these pants. Strictly speaking, you only need to look at the inside of the knees."

The bald man glanced at the strange short-haired girl in front of him, as well as the horned girl and the bearded uncle behind him, and knew that he had no ability to resist, so he could only roll up his trouser legs.

There is nothing on the inside of the right knee.

Then he lifted up the inside of his left knee, and there was an English letter written on it.

“Got it!”

"It's u!"

Mao Lilan also shouted excitedly, "I found another one!"

"The letters I found are t, n, a, a, s, u..."

She looked at Sera again in confusion, "But Masumi, how did you guess the letters were on the inside of the knee?"

A confident smile appeared on Sera's face. "It's simple. Sherlock Holmes once said: 'When I observe a woman, I first look at the cuffs of her clothes; when I observe a man, I first look at his trouser knees.'"

"Considering that the uncle's clothes were all given to him by the murderer, it's not hard to guess that the key clue is at the knee..."

"Wow!" Mao Lilan was surprised. "You are amazing! You know all this?"

Shiliang was a little embarrassed by the praise and scratched his head, "Haha, this is nothing..."

Although she is not a senior fan of Fu,

But this is one of Holmes' most classic reasoning methods. Holmes used this method many times in the book, and it must have left a deep impression.

"Okay, it's already 4pm, let's hurry to the last spot!"

……

Half an hour later, Seriang, Mao Lilan and their group arrived at the boutique Flea Street in London.

Because this street is not far from the flea market, it is also called Flea Street.

But unlike flea markets, the shops here sell unique and high-quality goods from all over the world.

Meissen Porcelain from Germany is one of them, and it is also the place referred to in the last sentence of the code.

The streets are bustling with pedestrians, and there are boutiques on both sides of the road. Various exquisite products are displayed through the shop windows to attract passers-by to stop here.

However, Sera and his party had no intention of stopping and went straight to the door of the Mason Porcelain store.

On the sign in front of the store, there is a picture of two Western scimitars crossed in an "X" shape, with blue blades printed on a white background.

"Let's put an end to everything. Pierce the white back with two swords..."

Sera stared at the sign on the wall and muttered, "Looks like this is the last spot...but what's nearby?"

Sera was about to look around when Kogoro Mouri, who was standing not far away, suddenly yawned heavily.

"Ah sneeze!"

“Ah, Ah—A-choo!”

Mao Lilan looked back and asked with concern: "Dad, do you have a cold?"

Maori Kogoro rubbed his nose and frowned as he explained, "I don't think so. I don't feel unwell..."

"But do you smell anything strange?"

Everyone looked next to Mouri Kogoro and saw a spice shop next to the Mason Porcelain shop.

In the transparent display window, there are cloth bags containing a large number of spices of different colors.

"Is it the smell coming from this store?"

As soon as Dr. A Li finished speaking, the door of the spice shop opened from the inside, and a burly black man walked out.

This black man is wearing a gray-yellow Egyptian cloth robe, and the hair on his head is like the uneven pattern printed on the surface of chocolate cookies against the backdrop of his black scalp.

Those hairs probably formed a certain pattern, but it was difficult for outsiders to see clearly, let alone recognize it.

"I'm sorry, maybe the smell in my shop bothered you..."

"I apologize."

The corners of the black man's mouth were raised and he was smiling broadly.

Seeing the black shop owner's polite attitude, Mouri Kogoro was a little stunned for a moment. He lost his composure for a while before waving his hands and becoming polite.

"No, no, it's just that my nose is sensitive..."

The black man nodded, then turned to look at Sera and the others and introduced himself, "My name is Efik Said, and this is the spice shop I own."

"Looking at your faces...are you Asian? You must be tourists visiting London, right?"

"Then my spice shop is a great place you absolutely cannot miss. Please come in and take a look..."

Efik bowed slightly, making a humble gesture of invitation.

Facing the black man's invitation, Mao Lilan could only show a forced smile. She wanted to refuse, but was too embarrassed to open her mouth.

"that……"

At this time, Shiliang walked up and said, "Uncle, we are not here for fun, we are here to do something..."

"Excuse me, uncle, have you seen any strange little props around your shop these past two days?"

It was Serang's eloquence that made him turn the other party's solicitation into a means of providing information for himself with just two simple sentences.

Moreover, this spice shop is right next to the Mason Porcelain Store. If there is anything abnormal, the owner of this shop will also be able to notice it.

Facing Seriang's question, Efik slightly raised his dark and shiny forehead, a trace of thinking flashed in his eyes.

Suddenly, a low startling sound came from his throat.

"Oh! I suppose you're talking about that little thing?"

"Someone has been hanging some strange decorations on the sign of the Mason store next door these past couple of days..."

"The owner of Mason's shop thought it was dirty and detracted from the sign, so I took it all away."

Upon hearing this, Seriang, Mao Lilan and others immediately showed happy expressions.

Because according to Hades' usual method, the key clue should be the so-called decoration.

"Can you show it to us?" Sera asked quickly.

"Yes, sure." Efik nodded the dark head, "But you have to come into the store to see it. I put it in the warehouse..."

Seriang and Mao Lilan looked at each other.

……

In this way, the two girls and Dr. Ali followed Efik into the spice shop.

Mouri Kogoro couldn't stand the smell of spices, so he could only wait at the door of the store.

In the spice shop, the dim lighting, antique decoration, and a special aroma permeate the shop, which makes it really unique.

The counter facing the door is filled with various colorful spices, including small bags of trial packs and large quantities of spices in cloth pockets.

"You guys can look around. I'll go inside the warehouse and look..."

Efik opened the curtain and left the business area of ​​the store.

The remaining Sera, Mao Lilan, and Dr. Ali could only hang out in the store.

This is said to be a spice shop, but behind the spice counter, there are some special-shaped utensils on display, and it is not said whether they are not for sale.

Sera pointed at the counter?"

"Scarab?" Ran Mouri looked a little confused.

Sera explained with a smile, "A scarab is a dung beetle, also a dung beetle."

"The ancient Egyptians saw dung beetles push dung balls and create something from nothing. They believed that dung beetles had the power to move the sun and plunder the earth. Therefore, they regarded scarabs as gods that could bring protection and good luck."

"There are thousands of different scarab beetles in different shapes and materials, and there are many in the Egyptian collection of the British Museum..."

"Oh, I see."

Mao Lilan nodded in understanding, thinking about buying some souvenirs for Sonoko and Kazuha before returning to Japan.

But it seems that these two people are not interested in patron saints such as insects.

But the solemn ancient mirror placed on the counter looks good.

Mao Lilan looked at the silver mirror and adjusted the angle of her "horns" by looking at herself in the mirror.

Sera looked at other things under the counter, including stone statue noses, miniature millennium blocks, Canopic jars, scales, etc.

"It seems the owner of this shop is Egyptian, and these are all things related to Egypt..."

At this moment, Dr. Ali, who was wandering to the other side of the store, spotted a big guy.

"Wow, there's a coffin here..."

Seriang and Mao Lilan walked over and saw a huge coffin as tall as a person standing vertically beside the wall near the corner of the shop.

The coffin has a strong Egyptian style. The golden coffin lid has a statue of an Egyptian pharaoh lying on it with his arms crossed and a scepter in his arms.

"Is this... a mummy?"

Mao Lilan retreated behind Seriang with some fear, her voice trembling.

She had seen some videos of mummies on TV, with bandages all over their bodies. They were simply dried versions of bandage freaks.

Seriang looked at the coffin in front of him and swallowed nervously.

Although there are mummies and Egyptian coffins in the British Museum, there are no opportunities to touch them up close.

And when an Egyptian coffin appears in a place like this, there is always a curiosity to find out what is inside.

Just as Seriang slowly stretched out his hand towards the golden surface of the coffin, a voice suddenly came from the side and behind.

"That's just a sample, there's nothing inside..."

Sera, Mao Lilan, and Dr. Ari turned around and saw Efik had come out at some point and was standing behind the counter.

"Aha, I'm a little curious too."

Sera withdrew his hand awkwardly, scratched his head with a smile, and said, "But uncle, I see that there are so many Egyptian things in your store. Are you Egyptian?"

Efik flashed his dark smile. "Yes, I'm Egyptian, but I've been in the UK for over 20 years."

"I see..." Sera nodded.

"By the way, this should be what you are looking for, right?"

Efik took out a wind chime-like decoration and placed it on the glass counter.

It is called a wind chime, but this wind chime is very simple, with a wooden cork and letters on it.

Sera held the ornament in his hand, and the bell swayed, making a tinkling sound.

“That must be it…”

"Eh? There seems to be writing on the cork?"

Seriang took a closer look and saw that what he thought was just a tattered cork actually had a string of English written on it.