Chapter 290
After the tape recorder finished recounting the history of the castle, the legend of Karasuma Renya, and the mysteries related to the treasure, it also made a prophecy.
He stated that in order to eventually divide the treasure equally and find a way out of this place, everyone would also fall into mutual slaughter.
Everyone scoffed at this.
In modern society, there are no poor people present. How could anyone kill someone over such a trivial matter? It's completely not worth it.
"He's just making things up, isn't he?" Matsuda Jinpei stood up, annoyed. "I'm going to see if he really blew up the car. I was thinking of going earlier."
“Wait, I’ll go with you too,” the curly-haired woman said. “Don’t forget, you haven’t been cleared of suspicion yet.”
Her face screamed, "Who knows if you're going to destroy evidence or something?"
Matsuda Jinpei chuckled, his uprightness unquestionable: "Together then, I..."
Before he could finish speaking, the chubby food detective suddenly clutched his own neck, as if he couldn't breathe, and collapsed to the ground.
The restaurant fell silent. The detectives who were nearby immediately surrounded the area, some checking the arteries, some checking the time of death, and others trying to determine the cause of death.
Some people even use coins to test the tea they've drunk for oxidation to find the source of poisoning.
Like a consultation of experts, the detectives quickly reached a conclusion.
"Hmm, it seems like they came for him from the start, since the seating, tableware, and name tags were all set up in advance... and the murderer might be among us."
Police officer Matsuda Jinpei almost couldn't get a word in edgewise: "But doesn't Phantom Thief Kid not kill people? So he's just using Phantom Thief Kid's name, isn't he?"
The curly-haired woman sighed, "Based on the current intelligence, there's no point in continuing the discussion. Let's go check if the vehicles have all been destroyed."
Most of those present were detectives, and they all immediately expressed their desire to go together.
Since it concerns their own safety, they prefer to see the scene firsthand before making their own judgments, rather than listening to others' accounts.
Even Ran Mouri wanted to go, but it was only Usaku Saiki who suddenly spoke up.
"You guys go ahead, I'll pass."
"…………"
Immediately, everyone turned to look at him, their expressions filled with complex meanings.
The hardcore detective hesitated for a second before bravely speaking first: "Do you think you're not suspicious enough?"
Grandma Senjang also advised, "Hanchuan-kun, why don't you come along? If you stay alone... it'll be easy for people to suspect that you're planning something secretive."
Matsuda Jinpei seemed about to say something, but then shut his mouth, though his expression looked like he wanted to punch Usaku Saiki, who only knew how to cause trouble.
Although Matsuda Jinpei didn't say anything, he still threatened Usaku Saiki with his eyes, telling him to be smart and stop toying with others.
“Alright.” Bo Yezaki breathed a sigh of relief this time, after all, he still had a wave of pre-determined suspicion points to collect. “Together.”
Matsuda Jinpei walked alongside him ahead, saying in a very low voice, "Stop with your weird sense of humor."
People are dead! Stop playing around!
Usakabe Saiki: "I saved your car."
Matsuda Jinpei: "Let's keep things separate. Even if you save me, don't deliberately cause trouble at a time like this."
Usakabe Saiki: "But I saved your car."
Matsuda Jinpei: "...How many times do you have to say this?"
Bo Yezaki thought for a moment: "Speaking of you changing cars."
Matsuda Jinpei: "..."
Bo Yezaki complained to the system in his mind: "I walked for 20 minutes in the rain to get my friend's car! 20 minutes! And he wouldn't even let me say it a few more times!"
System: [I was quite touched at first; you really treat your friends differently, but the way you emphasize it makes it sound a bit strange...]
【What do you mean? The 20 minutes is because it's actually only a 20-minute walk from where he parked. Even if it took 30 minutes, I wouldn't say anything!】
System: [You don't even dare to give an example for an hour...]
Usakabe Saiki: [One should be honest. Besides, walking for an hour in this heavy rain is too tiring; Matsuda himself wouldn't want to do it. If that's the case, I'd rather buy him a new one. I don't care about the suspicion anymore.]
system:【……】
The group quickly arrived at the parking lot, but they couldn't find any surviving cars. Because the rain had stopped, the cars there were still burning when they arrived.
However, at this crucial moment, the maid stepped forward and said that her car might be fine because her master had asked her to park at the back door.
So everyone went to the back door instead.
Because of the heavy rain earlier, everyone was walking on the road with puddles, and there was even a section of grass. Unlike before, when you could just get off at the entrance and walk a few steps to enter, everyone's shoes and the hems of their pants got dirty by accident.
Hakuba Saguru suddenly spoke up: "Did Mr. Hanchuan already know that he would be coming out tonight?"
Everyone's attention shifted in this direction.
Ran Mouri, being rather naive, saw that Saiki Usaba was silent and ignoring her, so she tried to smooth things over by asking, "Why did Hakuba-kun ask that?"
"The others must have noticed too, right?" Hakuba Saguru said with a confident smile. "They both walked in the rain for 20 minutes, but Mr. Matsuda changed his pants, while Mr. Kankawa didn't. It seems he just dried them before... Mr. Kankawa's style of dressing is quite meticulous, so theoretically he should have changed his pants too... The only reason he didn't change them is probably because he felt it was unnecessary."
Matsuda Jinpei couldn't help but cover his face.
When Usakabe Saiki refused to come along, what he wanted to complain about but hesitated to say was actually this incident.
"Weren't we all prepared to get our pants legs wet again when we went out?! What's with the fuss now!" — That was what he originally wanted to say.
However, considering that speaking out might cause others to suspect Hanakawa Shinryu, Matsuda Jinpei held back.
In the end, we still couldn't avoid it...
Upon closer reflection, it was likely that this development was deliberately allowed by Sugawa Shinryu, which made Matsuda Jinpei even more displeased.
What kind of weird hobby does this guy have?! Does he enjoy being suspected all the time?! Should he see a psychologist?!
Matsuda Jinpei was very dissatisfied with this development, but Usui Saiki was very happy.
He agreed so easily just now, all for the sake of the suspicion he's receiving now!
Look, he walked for 20 minutes in the rain, first he took advantage of Matsuda Jinpei, then he raised suspicion levels after entering the store, then raised them again after his car was blown up, and now he's raised them again... He's really winning big.
Just as he was about to speak and add fuel to the fire, Matsuda Jinpei, having taken a deep breath to compose himself, spoke first.
"Han Chuan was probably just considering the possibility of having to leave the castle to investigate."
Disbelief was written all over everyone's faces.
Usoppō Saiki felt that he didn't need to add fuel to the fire.
He underestimated the detectives! Even if he didn't say anything, the detectives would be wildly suspicious!
Moreover, the detectives were very rational. On one hand, they felt he was extremely suspicious, but on the other hand, they felt he was too suspicious to be the mastermind. This back-and-forth constantly added to their suspicion.
The detectives did not stall because of Usui Saiki's lack of cooperation. They quickly found the maid's intact vehicle and began discussing who would drive to the other side of the bridge to see if it had really collapsed.
Finally, a coin toss was used to decide who would be chosen.
Matsuda Jinpei was left behind, while Usuiba Saiki, Kaito Kid disguised as Kogoro Mouri, and Granny Senma were chosen to drive over.
“I have no objection,” Bo Yezaki said, sowing discord within himself. “But do you trust me and are you willing to let me follow?”
The tough detective quipped, "I was just driving to check out the bridge, and something like this could cause an accident..."
Usoya Saiki: "Who knows?"
Others: "…………"
Kaito Kid sighed, "Alright, alright, let's hurry up and set off. It's so late already. The sooner we confirm, the sooner we can be back."
Grandma Senjian had already gotten into the driver's seat and leaned out to urge, "That's it!"
So the three of them left by carriage, while the others returned to the castle to await the results of their investigation.
Matsuda Jinpei paced back and forth, seemingly deep in thought. Edogawa Conan glanced at him and went over to strike up a conversation.
"Officer Matsuda, are you worried about Mr. Kankawa?"
Matsuda Jinpei instinctively said, "No, I'm worried about the others... uh."
Everyone: "…………"
“…That’s not what I meant.” Matsuda Jinpei scratched his head in frustration. “Kankawa is just a bit eccentric and has a bad habit of toying with people, but he’s actually a fine person. I think you’ve all figured that out by now…”
Others: "…………"
—You call this "no problem"?! Is there something wrong with your standard for "no problem"?
Just as everyone was speechless, the team that went to see the bridge returned.
Kaito Kid, using Kogoro Mouri's face, told everyone with a sorrowful expression.
"Ms. Chika... she may have fallen off a cliff. Someone must have tampered with the car. We were checking ahead, and she was inside with the low beams on when it suddenly exploded. Then, because it was on a slope, she fell down..."
Everyone: "………………"
The tough detective finally stepped forward, summoning the courage to confront the Chicago Mafia, and questioned Shinryu Kagawa: "Is this related to you?!"
"...Should we start acting now?" Matsuda Jinpei couldn't help but ask. "Actually, everyone has already guessed that the culprit is that old lady, right? Her tampering with things was so obvious when she flipped the coin...How about we wait until she comes back to act it out?"
Indeed, the detectives present had already solved most of the mysteries, including how Granny Senjang killed the gourmet detective, how she rigged the coin toss, and even the news of her falling off a cliff was merely given to them as another piece of the puzzle—clearly, this was a clever escape; Granny Senjang thought that this would prevent anyone from suspecting a dead person.
There are many surveillance cameras in this castle. When she returns, she can monitor their progress based on the surveillance footage. She can wait until everyone has finished killing each other before stepping in to seize the final result.
They hadn't even discussed it; they just exchanged glances and understood that everyone had seen through the suspicious nature of the old lady, and they were all preparing to act out her in front of the surveillance cameras. They had even thought about what poses they would make when they faked their deaths.
Matsuda Jinpei just felt that Mrs. Senma was already in her sixties, and she hid in the lawn before the car exploded, waiting for Sugikawa Shinryu and Kogoro Mouri to leave before heading towards the castle... Her speed was definitely slower than theirs! There was no need to start acting now!
The key point is that he felt that the guy was being genuinely sincere... Matsuda Jinpei even began to doubt his own judgment. Could this detective be incompetent and have failed to see through the old lady Senma's problem?
However, the curly-haired woman said, "I don't know about others, but I actually have some doubts—Mr. Hanchuan seems to know too much, and too early. Is he really not an accomplice? Did he just take advantage of Ms. Qianjian's plan to silence her? What if Ms. Qianjian didn't manage to escape the car in time and actually fell into the car with the explosion? By the way, what's in your trench coat pocket?"
The young man with deep red hair tilted his head and pulled a gun from his trench coat: "You're asking about this?"
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Bonus chapter if the number of favorites reaches 100,000!
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Thin Leaf is so good to her friends! (Beware of psychological manipulation)
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Curly-haired woman: The suspicions against you haven't been cleared yet.
Matsuda Jinpei: ...
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