Conan Rick's Investigator

When that time comes, all I can offer you is a few words of comfort.

Your house is a mess...

……

evening.

Shrewsbury, northern England, UK.

A white car was driving along the Severn River, its dim headlights flashing like will-o'-the-wisp as it passed through the woods.

In the back seat of the car, Bai Ma Tan gently rubbed his temples to relieve the fatigue of the past two days.

After leaving Blythechester, he headed north, first arriving in Worcester.

This is where Ah Fu found the clue of Twilight Villa, and the clue is from a book kept in a British family.

An old-school architectural sketch.

The building in the sketch is almost identical to the original Dusk Villa.

This sketch comes from the great-great-grandfather of the mistress of the family.

Her great-great-grandfather was a boatman who often worked along the canal tracks of the River Severn.

About 110 years ago, my great-great-grandfather saw a magnificent newly built castle on the banks of the River Severn.

Since my great-great-grandfather was very interested in painting and architecture when he was young, he drew a sketch based on the appearance of this castle.

But when he passed by there again thirty years later, he found that the castle standing on the river bank had disappeared.

This incident continued to bother my great-great-grandfather, and he was still brooding over it until his death, so he passed the matter on to the next generation.

Of course, the hostess's great-grandfather and grandfather had never seen the magnificent palace-like castle on the banks of the Severn River.

However, this story has been passed down in the hostess's family.

Her great-great-grandfather had said that stretch of riverside, located in Shrewsbury, north of Worcester, was said to have been built by a man of prominent status at the time.

Following this clue, the White Horse detective came to Shrewsbury to investigate.

However, the White Horse Detective did not find any information about the castle in the local historical logs.

But when he visited the local elderly people, he heard from one of them an experience very similar to that of the boatman.

The old man's grandfather used to work on an estate three miles from the town of Shrewsbury.

The manor was extremely luxurious. At that time, it was definitely impossible for an ordinary person to live in such a manor.

However, he was not very clear about the host's background. He just heard that he was related to a prominent nobleman in London.

When the man was less than thirty years old, he planned to build a castle in a sparsely populated area near the River Severn.

Since the old man's grandfather was a gardener in the manor, he was sent to the construction site of the castle to clear the weeds and trees around the river.

After a few years, the castle was built.

It was truly a magnificent castle. The old man’s grandfather swore that he had never seen such a magnificent building in his life.

However, just when he thought that the male owner of the manor would move into the new house soon and he could then work around the magnificent castle, the male owner had no plans to move.

Later, the man left the estate for another place and most of the servants were fired, including the gardener.

Many years later, when the gardener was dying of lung disease, he remembered to visit the castle again.

But when he finally got there, he found that the castle had disappeared.

Chapter 1323 Manor Investigation

After discovering that the castle had disappeared, the old gardener found the servant who was still taking care of the manor and told him about it.

The servants of the manor told the old gardener that the master left Shrewsbury for London, and soon went to Japan, where he seemed to have established a new family.

So, the matter was left unresolved...

Bai Matan closed his eyes and pondered in his mind.

So far, there have been two testimonies spanning time that prove that there was once a castle similar in appearance to Twilight Annex, built on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury.

It was built about 110 years ago, but the exact time is no longer known.

But if the Twilight Annex in Gunma Prefecture is the castle built on the banks of the River Severn in England 110 years ago and then disappeared inexplicably, then there are too many secrets in it.

First, a building crossed the barriers of oceans and land and arrived in Japan.

This would have been absolutely impossible 110 years ago or today when science and technology are advanced.

However, after witnessing with his own eyes that the Twilight Villa suddenly disappeared that night, Baiba Tan felt that this was possible.

Although we don't know what unimaginable methods or means were used, we can at least be sure that this hypothesis exists.

Assuming that Dusk Hall was the castle on the River Severn 110 years ago, the culprit behind this incident should be the male owner of the manor at that time.

The male owner had a prominent status in the local area and later established a family in Japan.

110 years ago, shortly after Japan opened its door to the world and the Meiji Restoration was in full swing, the whole country was learning from the West.

In that context, it was entirely possible for foreigners to settle in Japan, especially since the British Empire was at its peak at the time.

If the family was established during the Restoration period, and given that the male owner already had a prominent status in the UK, and the fact that the Dusk Villa was built entirely of gold, he would definitely not be an unknown person.

He may even have had some interactions with the reigning Emperor Meiji!

Therefore, Hakuba has asked the Hakuba Research Institute in Japan to investigate historical data in this regard.

However, before getting the results of the investigation, Bai Ma Tan already had some guesses in his mind.

If the Twilight Annex in Gunma Prefecture really belonged to the tycoon Karasuma Renya as the legend goes, then the family established by this male owner is most likely the Karasuma family.

However, when Hakuba Tan first investigated the origins of the Dusk Villa, he had already used all his resources to investigate the Karasuma family.

But he didn't find any useful information.

The Karasuma family is very secretive, and aside from one tycoon, Karasuma Renya, there is no information about other family members.

Moreover, the property owned by Karasuma Renya himself is strictly confidential. Even Hakuba Detective, the son of the Superintendent and a member of the equally prominent Hakuba family, has no ability to touch it.

In today's Japan, there are several prominent families that are well-known to the world.

The Suzuki family is the largest financial group in Japan today. With wealth that rivals that of a country, it is the most well-known Japanese family in the world.

The Ooka family is mainly active in the political and business circles. Its financial strength is second only to the Suzuki Group. A Japanese prime minister once came from the family, so its political influence is greater than that of the Suzuki Group.

Although the Hakuba family is not as financially powerful as the Suzuki and Ooka families, and has not reached the level of the Prime Minister of Japan in the political arena, it has always maintained strong strength in the police force, has many supporters, and has a high voice in the field of scientific research.

In addition to these three major families, there are many very low-key families in Japan, such as the Haneda family, the Shiratori family, the Hattori family, etc.

However, it was the first time that Hakuba Tan knew of a family as big as Karasuma, which was so powerful and yet so low-key.

However, just because clues cannot be found in Japan does not mean that they cannot be found in the UK.

Since the current Wuhuan family cannot be found, then let’s check the ancestors three generations ago!

……

white

The car that Detective Ma was riding in drove three miles along the banks of the Severn River and finally found the manor mentioned in the clue on the outskirts of Shrewsbury.

Today the manor is abandoned and its former glory is long gone.

Passing through the dark woods, a gloomy manor stood before us.

The periphery of the manor is surrounded by ancient red brick pillars and iron pointed railings as symbols of the territory, wrapping the entire manor.

Overgrown shrubs and rotten branches covered the entire fence, blocking the gaps so tightly that it was impossible to see what was going on inside.

The car slowly stopped at the gate of the manor, and Bai Ma Tan and Ah Fu got out.

"Master, I'll go find the way in. Please wait here for a moment." Ah Fu said respectfully.

When Ah Fu walked towards the right wall of the manor, Bai Ma Tan first took a general look at the surrounding situation.

Then he came to the front gate of the manor.

The large iron gate in front of the manor was locked, and judging from the rust on the lock, it had not been opened for at least several decades.

The iron railings of the large iron gate were covered with plants, blocking most views of those who wanted to peek inside.

There is only a gap of about 20 cm in the middle of the road where plants cannot grow, leaving a small area where you can observe the inside.

Bai Ma Tan leaned his head over and saw a two-story building standing in the bleak moonlight.

Like most manor buildings of the last century, the building has a red brick exterior.

As no one has repaired the building for decades, most of the wall paint on the front of the building has fallen off, revealing grids of bricks, making it look a bit bare.

But other than that, the building is still in relatively good condition, the glass is intact, and there is no sign of any human damage.

Retracting his gaze, Bai Ma Tan looked at the red brick pillar next to the big iron gate.

At a height of more than one person on the pillar, there is an area with a different color from other places. It should be used to hang a doorplate, which will display the information of the manor and its owner to the public.

But now the sign is gone, and the whole pillar is bare.

Just then, Ah Fu came back and brought a way to enter the manor.

Ten meters to the right of the main entrance of the manor, a gap was formed by the collapsed wall.

Entering from the gap, there is a path inside the manor, leading to the two-story building.

The two came to the main entrance of the building, hoping to find another gap to enter, but found that the main door was not locked.

A rough wooden stick was placed across the door handles on both sides, and that was all.

In fact, this is a wise thing to do, because once it is locked, outsiders may speculate what valuables are hidden in the building.

In an empty manor like this, it would be impossible to stop them from invading if they found a way.

Faced with this kind of door bolt that was designed to prevent the bad guys from getting in, Bai Ma Tan and Ah Fu looked at each other, and Ah Fu stepped forward and took the wooden stick down.

Bai Ma Tan put his hand on the door handle and with a little force, the door was slowly pushed open.

A faint musty smell in the air instantly invaded my nose, mixed with a fishy smell from the soil.

Bai Matan frowned slightly, took out a white handkerchief from his pocket and put it in front of his nose, and took the flashlight from Afu with his other hand.

Click.

When the flashlight was turned on, two circular light circles instantly illuminated a corner of the dark building.

At this time they were in the main hall facing the door.

The main hall was very simple. Anything that could be moved away had been taken away, leaving only a dusty carpet and a broken lampshade in the corner.

There is a route on the left and right sides of the main hall.

"Afu, go to the left."

In order to save time, Hakuba sent Afu to the other side and started investigating from the right side.

The white-horned scout walked into the side hall, which was obviously a reception room.

The sofa and round table in the reception room are still preserved in the distance.

In addition, almost everything that could be moved away was also taken away.

Bai Ma Tan looked around with a flashlight, and suddenly, a flag on the wall caught his attention.

This flag is a shield, which is divided by a cross in the middle, and the four areas have two patterns respectively.

There is also a diagonal strip like a black ribbon from the upper left to the lower right of the shield, decorated with shell patterns.

Bai Matan stared at the pattern on the flag and couldn't help frowning slightly.

this is……

Detective Bai Ma has studied and lived in the UK for many years, solved countless cases, and established a good network of contacts.

With his White Horse family background, he was once invited to visit Althorp Manor.

Althorp Manor is located in Northamptonshire, north of London. It is where the Spencer family, one of the oldest aristocratic families in the UK, has lived for generations.

The Spencers first came to live on Althorp land from 1508 as a large sheep farming family.