Conan Rick's Investigator

During the day, the campus is filled with students walking on the streets, creating a positive and cheerful scene.

However, Qin Zhibo had no intention of sightseeing and went straight to the Britechester Astronomical Institute.

On the outer wall of the institute, Qin Zhibo saw the graffiti of the sea that he had seen the night before.

The lower half of the graffiti is a sea with a full moon above it.

But if you look closely, you will see a huge, somewhat funny face on top of the "full moon".

Especially that eye, it was terrifyingly huge.

This is exactly the scene described in the diary that Kuroba Kaito took from Ingels' drawer.

What exactly does this mean?

Qin Zhibo stared at the wall and thought for two seconds. When he came to no avail, he turned around and got down to business.

But after pressing the doorbell next to it, there was no response from the building.

Qin Zhibo guessed that maybe because a murder had just happened in the institute yesterday and the murderer had not been caught, the other researchers had neither the mood nor the courage to come to work.

A few hundred yuan a month, why are you risking your life?

There was no other way, Qin Zhibo could only call the phone number of the institute director written on the sign on the door.

Toot, toot...

After a few seconds, the call was connected.

Qin Zhibo stated his purpose and his identity as the assistant of the Japanese detective who came to investigate the case yesterday.

The purpose of obtaining planetary orbit data is to determine whether these data may contain key clues to solving the case.

The head of the research institute did not doubt Qin Zhibo's identity and purpose, but...

"Planetary orbit data for Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus?"

"But our institute doesn't have these data..."

"What?" Qin Zhibo was surprised and asked quickly: "But wasn't the data source of Ingels' research during his lifetime your institute? After all, he was a researcher at your institute..."

The person in charge calmly denied it: "The research topics currently being conducted by our institute are not within the solar system, so there is no need to monitor the orbits of planets within the solar system."

"So when I learned that Ingles was doing that kind of research, I was also surprised where he got his data from..."

The person in charge's words made Qin Zhibo frown slightly, and an ominous premonition came to his mind.

"I see. Thank you for your cooperation."

"fine……"

After hanging up the phone, Qin Zhibo fell into deep thought.

If the data Ingalls used for his research was not obtained from the astronomical institute where he worked, then it could only have been obtained from other sources.

Combined with the fact that "Elena Sera" played by Vermouth had been to the institute once, it can only mean that...

The data was given to him by Vermouth!

Ingels once published his theory on his personal blog, but due to the lack of data support, he has been unable to conduct research and verify it.

It was Vermouth who discovered the blog post, so she conducted an in-depth investigation into Ingalls's background and approached him under the guise of Elena.

She provided Ingels with the data necessary for the research and, in a form of cooperation, allowed him to complete the research within a limited period of time.

After the research is completed, Ingles, the insider, will naturally be silenced.

Qin Zhibo is very familiar with this model.

This is exactly the cooperation model between Taku Itakura and the organization.

In other words, the organization has actually begun to secretly pay attention to the predicted "time of the return of the stars"?

They set a trap, using Ingalls' personal dream as bait, but in fact they were helping the organization's plan.

And since Vermouth chose to kill Ingels, it means...

Ingels has achieved the final research results!

Qin Zhibo's face was shocked, and he immediately came up with a second plan in his mind.

Since Ingles has already completed the research, there is no need for him to get the data and then ask Hiroki Sawada to do the calculations.

Just ask Ingles himself!

Although Ingels is dead, one of his personal skills happens to be the necromancy that allows him to communicate with the souls of the dead.

Thinking of this, Qin Zhibo hurriedly left the Institute of Astronomy and returned to the town of Blichester.

Yellow paper and cinnabar are needed to perform spiritualistic practices.

Qin Zhibo usually carries this kind of thing with him, but in order to reduce unnecessary trouble when going through security checks, he did not bring it to the UK.

Yellow paper is easy to say, as long as it is yellow paper...

Cinnabar is probably hard to get in the UK, right?

Cinnabar, also known as cinnabar and ghost fairy cinnabar, is an important prop for drawing talismans.

This thing must never be replaced with ordinary red pigment, otherwise it will lose its effectiveness.

If it is in China, it is still easier to buy.

But this is the UK, and a remote town at that. It might be unrealistic to buy something like this.

The chemical composition of cinnabar is mercury sulfide. Even if it is prepared by chemical methods, what is generally obtained is black mercury sulfide.

To write talismans, red mercury sulfide must be used.

Qin Zhibo thought about it and decided to try his luck near the University of Bristol.

If you can buy it, that would be the best.

If you can't buy it, it will be troublesome...

……

Qin Zhibo arrived at the stationery store closest to the main entrance of Blythchester University and walked in.

Although it was a stationery store, Qin Zhibo came there just with the idea of ​​trying his luck.

It's just a question anyway.

"Boss, do you sell cinnabar here?"

The boss, who was sitting behind the counter reading a newspaper, immediately stood up and greeted the customer with a smile when he saw him coming.

"some!"

"We have 92, 95 and 98 in our store. Which one would you like?"

After hearing what his boss said, Qin Zhibo didn't know whether he should be happy or surprised.

I'm so happy that cinnabar is actually sold in a place like this.

I was surprised. What was going on with the 92, 95, and 98? Did the boss mishear me and think I was here to buy gasoline?

"Um, I'm here to buy cinnabar..."

The boss nodded affirmatively, smiling, "Of course, I know, so which of these three do you want to buy?"

"Is there any difference?" Qin Zhibo asked.

"Of course, these three types represent different sand contents. The higher the sand content, the better the spell effect will be~"

The boss rubbed his palms together and said, "So the prices of the three types are also different... Which one would you like?"

Listening to the boss's explanation, Qin Zhibo's eyes became even more incredulous.

Did you hear it wrong?

Was what the boss just said... a spell?

What is the identity of this stationery store owner in front of me?

At this time, the boss also noticed that there was something wrong with this guest today, and the smile on his face faded a little. "Could it be that you are not from the University of Blythechester?"

Qin Zhibo's brain also reacted quickly, and he quickly put on a surprised expression, "How could that be? In fact, I came to buy it from you after hearing about it from a friend..."

"Look, I even brought money~"

Qin Zhibo took out his wallet, which was bulging with what seemed like a lot of money.

The boss didn't ask any more questions. He just wanted to make money, so whether the student was a student of that university or not was none of his business.

As long as you make the money, that's enough.

"now it's right!"

"Almost all the students in Blychester come to me to buy cinnabar. Once they have used it, they all say it is good. As time goes by, the good reputation spreads..."

Seeing that the boss might also be an expert in this area, Qin Zhibo stopped wasting time and asked directly: "Besides the 98 one, is there any other one with better effect?"

"Like 100?"

Hearing Qin Zhibo's request, the boss's eyes suddenly became mysterious.

He glanced at the door of the store, and after making sure that there was no one there, he whispered nervously.

"Yes, yes..."

"But you have to pay more."

……

Under the guidance of the boss, Qin Zhibo walked to a warehouse-like area at the back of the store.

Under his eyes, the boss took out a small box with a cloth bag inside.

When he opened it, he saw red cinnabar powder.

"Five pounds a gram, how much do you want?"

When Qin Zhibo heard the price, he was immediately shocked and almost cursed.

You are a profiteer!

What the hell is priced in grams and pounds?

Although better cinnabar is also sold by the gram, when converted into British pounds, it is only about 0.2 pounds.

The boss seemed to notice Qin Zhibo's strange expression and explained with a smile: "The cinnabar I have here is different from the cinnabar on the market..."

"This is cinnabar specially used for writing spells. It can greatly improve the success rate and effect of spells."

"As for the source... it is a commercial secret and cannot be disclosed."

"But don't worry, this is not a one-time business. If you dare to cheat people, I will be cursed to death even if I run to the ends of the earth."

"How about it? How much do you need?"

The boss swore on his own life just to make his product have some credibility.

The key point is that for Qin Zhibo, now is not the time to care about money.

"2 grams..."

"No, let's go with 3 grams."

……

When Qin Zhibo walked out of the stationery store, he had 3 grams of cinnabar and yellow paper on him.

The yellow paper is the kind that is specially used for drawing talismans. It is also recommended by the stationery store owner and the price is twice as expensive as normal yellow paper.

Qin Zhibo looked back at the stationery store, and then at the students coming in and out of the gate of Blythchester University.

So, do students in this university use these things frequently?

Was this university established to train magicians, cultists, sorcerers, and the like?

In the modern sense, these can all be considered mysticism or religious studies.

But the scale of the incident is enough to affect the business of surrounding stores, which means that there are definitely many people who are curious about this kind of thing.

No wonder this school is a bit creepy at night...

Qin Zhibo shook his head, retracted his thoughts, and quickly looked for a place to make the talisman.