Chapter 388
Ran Mouri quickly explained, "We were just going to watch Kogoro Mouri's speech, how did it suddenly turn into going to a haunted house?"
Actually, none of them listened to Kogoro Mouri's speech. They were all chatting away in the audience about Shinichi Kudo confessing to Ran Mouri in London. Then they heard a bespectacled man next to them looking at his watch and glancing helplessly at Kogoro Mouri, muttering to himself.
"It's so rare to have a famous detective... but it might be too late now..."
This obvious behavior, suggesting she needed something from Kogoro Mouri, prompted the kind and helpful Ran Mouri to immediately step forward and ask what Kogoro wanted, explaining that she was Kogoro's daughter and could help.
However, the other party didn't have any requests. Instead, they immediately asked, "Since you are his daughter, you must often see crime scenes, right?"
The two high school girls, who were quite curious, followed the house to the outside. They were then told that the reason they were called there was to help them check whether the zombie performance inside the house was up to standard.
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki's expressions froze immediately: "It's just a haunted house, there's no need to be so serious about it, is there?"
However, the group of college students who created the haunted house at the school festival were art students from the Faculty of Arts, specializing in video arts. Their graduation project was a horror film, but they were stuck on the part about filming dead bodies because someone's requirements were too high.
If people who frequently see corpses at the scene all think it's okay, then there's no need to argue about the graduation project anymore.
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki fell silent on the spot.
If it were a case-related request, I could try to pass it on to Kogoro Mouri, but for something as trivial as this, I'd feel embarrassed to refuse...
Sonoko Suzuki suddenly remembered something and started urging Ran Mouri, "Ran, why don't you ask Mr. Kankawa to come over? He knows more about this than we do!"
Ran Mouri thought there was some truth to it.
"Mr. Hanchuan?" The bespectacled man who had invited them seemed somewhat puzzled and resistant. "We might have new guests here at any time. It would be too much trouble to call someone over at the last minute. What if Mr. Mori has already finished his speech by the time he arrives?"
"No way!" Sonoko Suzuki quickly explained, "Actually, Mr. Hakawa is also at the school festival. He can come over with just a phone call!"
The bespectacled man wanted to say something more, but Ran Mouri had already started making a phone call, so he could only ask helplessly, "So, what does that Mr. Hanakawa do? Is he also a detective? He doesn't seem to be very famous..."
Sonoko Suzuki immediately became excited: "Although he's not very famous, Mr. Kankawa is amazing! Once, when the banquet hall was bombed, I was almost sniped, but thanks to Mr. Kankawa, I was saved!"
The bespectacled man instantly blushed: "Okay, okay, I understand..."
No, why are you talking about explosions and sniping? Even if Japan has a high crime rate, it's not like they would go so far as to snipe a high school student, is it?
So, is this girl a rich heiress? The Suzuki from the Suzuki Group?
As for that Mr. Han Chuan... he's not very famous, and doesn't seem to be a detective. He's probably just a muscular guy, maybe a bodyguard?
Well, as long as it's not the famous detective Kogoro Mouri coming in person, it's fine.
After all, he was planning to kill someone, and having two female high school students, including Kogoro Mouri's daughter, as witnesses was part of the plan. However, having an extra detective with exceptional observation skills would be a bit troublesome. If it were just an extra bodyguard, it would be fine.
The bespectacled man pondered for a moment and decided that although the plan was slightly off, it was still acceptable.
The woman dressed as a zombie—who was also the person he wanted to kill—peeked out and asked what was going on, and he helped explain.
"Fine, whatever," the zombie woman said, dissatisfied. "I'll go get ready."
So he patiently waited a little longer.
Although the haunted house is located in a school building, it is in a relatively remote and quiet area because they deliberately chose a location far away from lively places when applying for the address, taking the atmosphere into consideration.
Otherwise, if guests enter a haunted house and just as the atmosphere is getting warmed up, they hear a "Master! Welcome back, meow~" from the cat-eared maid cafe next door... wouldn't that completely ruin the atmosphere?
However, it's not really remote; it's just that there are quiet events like astrology and book clubs nearby, so people still pass by.
The bespectacled man kept looking back and forth between the stairwell and the corridor, hoping that Han Chuan Shenliu would arrive soon.
About ten minutes later, he finally heard approaching footsteps, which were quite clear in the quiet corridor.
The bespectacled man's attention immediately focused, and he looked towards the end of the corridor.
A few seconds later, a figure appeared from around the corner.
Sunlight streamed in from behind the person, casting a long shadow that was difficult to distinguish from the long black trench coat, making the person appear even taller.
The person's face was obscured by shadows, except for a pair of dark red eyes that stood out sharply as they looked toward the haunted house.
The moment their eyes met, the bespectacled man instinctively looked away, his body trembling involuntarily.
What a gaze it was... as if it could see right through the sins in his heart, yet it seemed to disregard his existence without a care, merely glancing at him casually because he was in its line of sight.
...Could this person be Mr. Kankawa, whom Miss Mori invited?
Where's the promised muscular bodyguard?! ...Thinking about it carefully, it seems that no one actually promised him one.
In short, please don't let it be Mr. Hanchuan, please don't let it be Mr. Hanchuan, please don't let it be...
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki greeted him with smiles: "Mr. Kankawa!"
Glasses-wearing man: It really is Mr. Hanchuan! Oh my god!
Sonoko Suzuki lowered her head: "If it's a haunted house, this kid should be okay, right?"
The bespectacled man then realized that there was also an elementary school student who had come with Mr. Han Chuan... Sorry, I didn't see him at all.
But it's okay! Elementary school students are great!
The bespectacled man suddenly perked up, thinking that if he added a primary school student, the students would be shouting and making a lot of noise, and people around would definitely pay more attention to the students and less attention to him.
Although he had a bad feeling about this Mr. Hanchuan, he was not famous at all and had never heard of him. He didn't even look like a good person... Maybe he was poached by the Yakuza and is now working as a bodyguard for the young lady?
As long as he wasn't a detective, he felt his plan was pretty perfect, and he felt very unwilling to give up now that he had come this far!
As for that look in his eyes that made him tremble just now... he was probably overthinking it. He was so far away, he shouldn't have been able to see anything clearly, so why did he imagine so much?
Could it be that he's actually a coward, subconsciously looking for excuses to give up? So whenever he sees someone with a dangerous aura, he frantically imagines that person will ruin his plans...
People always have a preconceived notion first, and then they frantically try to find reasons to justify that preconceived notion.
The bespectacled man felt that his meticulously crafted plan was perfect and that he had to implement it today. His hatred for the zombie woman had surpassed his fear, so even though he sensed something was wrong with Han Chuan Shenliu, he tried to find excuses to continue.
Even if he no longer dared to look towards Han Chuan Shen Liu, he could still find a reason: he was afraid of shaking his will.
But you have to admit, his reasoning is actually quite plausible, because at that distance, it's usually impossible to see what other people's eyes are trying to convey, and it was all just his imagination...
Even though Shinryu Hanakawa had arrived, Ran Mouri was still very scared. She had always been afraid of ghosts, and even if she knew they were fake, she was still afraid.
The bespectacled man seized the opportunity to suggest, "Then I and another guy can go in with you. Anyway, we know exactly where the traps and stuff are... We're just letting you watch the zombie show, so it doesn't matter what happens on the way."
His plan went smoothly this time, and Ran Mouri agreed.
Only the classmate who went in with him had a problem with it, whispering, "What kind of people have you attracted?"
The bespectacled man chuckled dryly: "Maybe we can ask Mr. Han Chuan to be a guest later? He seems quite fitting for the haunted house's vibe."
My classmate rolled his eyes.
The bespectacled man added, "But let's stick to the original plan, otherwise we'll waste our props!"
The student nodded: "Okay."
The original plan was for the bespectacled man to separate from the crowd midway through the journey—how could he carry out his murder plan if he didn't separate, right?
For some reason, he hadn't thought much of the plan at first, but now, thinking about how Mr. Han Chuan wouldn't be around when he committed the murder, he suddenly felt much more at ease.
The group then entered the haunted house.
Despite the warning, Ran Mouri still screamed all the way. The bespectacled man calculated that it was about time and gave his classmate a look.
The two began talking about their deceased classmate.
"Sigh, if only Hashiguchi could see our haunted house, after all, it was Hashiguchi who came up with this idea..."
Conan Edogawa sensed something and asked in confusion, "Bridgehead? Why can't he see it anymore?"
"He committed suicide by poisoning himself, just a month ago."
"It's said he had a terminal illness, and he couldn't bear the blow..."
While his classmates began explaining the incident, drawing everyone's attention, the bespectacled man quietly slipped away to carry out his murder plan.
After a while, the classmate pretended to realize that the bespectacled man was gone, and immediately said, "I'll go look for him. You guys go out first; you can get out by following this road!"
After saying that, he quickly ran away—damn it, he should have switched places with that guy. He always felt that with Han Chuan around, the temperature in the haunted house seemed lower than usual, and he almost stuttered when he spoke!
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki cried out in alarm, "Wait! Don't leave us here!"
But the haunted house was already dark, and the person was running very fast. They were worried that going that way would trigger some kind of trap, so they decided to go out first.
"Thank goodness Mr. Kankawa is here," Sonoko Suzuki complained. "Those two guys are so unreliable! College students, huh? They're no more reliable than high school students!"
"They did it on purpose," said Shinryu Hanakawa.
"Huh?" Ran Mouri was taken aback, then asked without any doubt, "Why?"
"Trying to scare you, huh?" Conan Edogawa said, squinting. "You're the kind of guests haunted houses love."
Ran Mouri was a little angry: "You said it wouldn't be scary? How could you do this... Is this still the way out?"
Han Chuan Shenliu walked ahead: "It's okay, I'm quite curious to see what they've prepared."
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki watched Shinryu Kazukawa's retreating figure, feeling a surge of security in their hearts.
Only Conan Edogawa frowned, a sense of foreboding creeping over him.
Soon, everyone reached the end and found a door with the sign "Operating Room". Upon entering, they saw a dark room with only the operating table in the middle illuminated. A person was lying on the operating table, covered with a surgical drape, and there were dolls around holding instruments, seemingly performing surgery.
The exit was on the other side of the operating table, so Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki decided to go through the space by the bedside, past the wall with the sign.
Hanchuan Shenliu paused for a moment, then walked silently past the back of the operating table instead of joining them.
Just as everyone was passing by the operating table, the person on the bed suddenly began to shake violently, even kicking the sheets with both feet as if in a violent struggle. The next second, blood gushed out directly from the chest.
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki screamed at the same time!
Just then, the guy who had just said he was going to find someone suddenly appeared from a dark corner, showing them that his upper body was nothing but a skeleton.
The bespectacled man also planned to sneak out from under the bed while everyone's attention was drawn to him.
He crawled out of the bedsheet and met Han Chuan Shenliu's gaze.
The bespectacled man: "...???"
Why didn't you follow the signs and go from the bedside?!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
