Chapter 240, Seventy-Threeth Cycle (70)
Subaru Okiya was even more nervous than Conan Edogawa.
Conan Edogawa was still unsure, but he already knew the whole story, and hearing their conversation now made his heart pound.
Although it wasn't outwardly apparent, he was actually so anxious that he was practically ready to reach for his gun.
No, we have to interrupt them.
"Excuse me, where is that butterfly window you mentioned earlier?"
The pink-haired graduate student walked over with a curious look on her face and naturally joined the conversation between the three.
"I thought about it and felt that the sphenoid bone might really be related to the butterfly window. After all, the envelopes that were given to us were also printed with butterfly patterns. This might be an important symbol."
Let's first bring their attention back to the case of the game.
If he wasn't mistaken, the significance of this game must be extraordinary, but he couldn't quite figure out what role Scotland played in it.
"Yeah! I think so too!" Conan Edogawa breathed a sigh of relief and happily chimed in, "That butterfly window is over by the clock tower, shall we go take a look now?"
Amuro Tooru straightened up and pondered, "And the place where the missing Furuura was assigned just happened to be the clock tower."
Everyone's attention was diverted by his words, and they followed his gaze.
The blond-haired guy who happened to be walking over paused for a moment, then suddenly realized what was going on and bristled again, yelling, "Hey! You guys aren't suspecting me, are you?!"
The long-haired woman behind him stepped forward and calmly said, "Although he is indeed a suspect and has no alibi, that's not enough to prove he's the murderer. As far as I know, there were more than just their team that split up at the time, right? And he wasn't the only one who went to the clock tower."
Hikaru Midorikawa placed the box containing the human bones on the table and said helplessly, "Indeed, after I separated from Master Kogoro, I went to talk to the priest. Conan and Amuro also separated. We both went to the clock tower. To be honest, we are both suspects."
At this point, Hakuba Saguru finally interjected, "And one thing to note is that the murderer is not necessarily the one holding the traitor's identity card."
Everyone looked at him.
Bai Ma Tan scanned everyone's faces: "Of course, the most likely scenario is that the traitor was holding the [Judas] identity card. However, this identity card can be replaced; there are no related restrictions. Therefore, the [Jesus] who was killed may not be the real Jesus. It's also possible that the murderer replaced his identity card. There's also the possibility that the deceased was staged by the murderer himself. We haven't found his real body yet, have we?"
Kogoro Mouri suddenly sat up straight, clapping his hands excitedly, "I get it! You mean that kind of murderer first kills off their own identity at the start, then shifts the blame to someone else, hiding behind the scenes and using this mental asymmetry to continue killing other people who are suspicious of each other, right?! This trope is indeed frequently used in mystery novels! And it certainly makes sense in the current situation!"
Kenji Hagiwara shook his head and said, "Since the game states from the beginning that the traitor will kill everyone, and our main mission is to find the traitor, then the possibility that the murderer is the traitor is quite high, unless there is some important inside information that we don't know."
Ida Kou nodded: "Otherwise, why would Jesus kill someone? Even if that person was the traitor Judas, he shouldn't have been killed in this way, right? Separating the human bones and blood, putting the blood in the Holy Grail, and placing the most beautiful part of the human body, the sphenoid bone, as a sacred relic on the altar, with images of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus hanging on the altar—this represents Jesus' death and rebirth, right?"
Matsuda Jinpei twirled his sunglasses with his finger: "Most importantly, why did we include Jesus's identity card in the game? Was Jesus's identity card just to make up the 13 people, or does it have a special meaning? I feel like something's not right. Do you remember the hint that Jesus said there were only 12 of us? So maybe Jesus was secretly hiding among us, planning something, but was discovered and killed by the traitor Judas?"
The bald man glanced at the stairs: "Although the rules say we can't tell others our identity cards, since the OOC deductions only happened when the priest was present, doesn't that mean there are no surveillance cameras here? So, when the priest isn't here, why don't we just force everyone to show their identity cards and find the traitor?"
Subaru Okiya said gently, "You can try, but it's impossible for everyone to try at the same time. Because once you actively reveal your identity card, you're out immediately, and the cost of trial and error is too high."
The bald man choked, exchanged a glance with his teammates, and shut up sheepishly under their glares.
They eventually decided to go to the clock tower together to see the butterfly window.
But there really wasn't anywhere to hide anything there. They even peered through the windows to study the patterns and took apart any clocks they could reach.
Conan Edogawa suddenly remembered the words that Tooru Amuro had said to him when he stood under the stained-glass window.
Amuro Tooru told him to play the game seriously and revealed that the game was extraordinary, even suggesting that he should treat it as reality.
As his mind raced, he saw half of Midorikawa Hikaru's face obscured by numerous obstacles, his fingers curling slightly, a restless urge stirring within him.
Once he confirmed Midorikawa Hikaru's appearance, he would be able to confirm most of the fluctuating guesses in his mind.
Once the connection between Midorikawa Hikaru and Scotland is confirmed, his speculations about the game can be narrowed down to a few specific areas.
But how exactly do we confirm this?
It can't be too obvious. If Midorikawa Hikaru really is from Scotland, then he already suspects them a lot. If it's discovered, it will definitely cause a big problem.
Furthermore, he had not yet determined Morofushi Takaaki's stance. If Morofushi Takaaki was also from Scotland, then this game would be an extremely dangerous situation, with the objective still uncertain.
The target could be Mr. Amuro, Mr. Akai, Uncle Kogoro, or even Conan Edogawa and Shinichi Kudo—any of these are possible.
Furthermore, if Midorikawa Hikaru really is from Scotland, and he's even to the point of being jealous of elementary school students whose identities are uncertain, then it wouldn't be surprising if he went over to join in whenever Mr. Amuro and Mr. Matsuda chatted together, or even joined the same temporary band.
Scotland is supposed to be a deep and patient person, but Mr. Amuro says he's been in a hurry lately because of something, so his behavior might be a bit extreme.
We must not act rashly, but we also cannot sit idly by and wait for our doom.
"Does Mr. Midorikawa really like blue?" Conan Edogawa leaned closer to the long-haired man, tilting his head up curiously. "I seem to often see Mr. Midorikawa wearing blue clothes and a blue hat. Mr. Midorikawa's blue eyes are also very beautiful!"
"Really? Thank you for the compliment." Midorikawa Hikaru said this, but then immediately let out a soft sigh.
In the darkness, he seemed a little hesitant, but finally squatted down, placed his hand on his glasses as if to slowly take them off, and as he leaned closer to the child, his tone gradually became unspeakably dangerous and pressured: "Since Conan-kun is so interested, would you like to take a closer look? But recently I accidentally scratched my wound and it's a little inflamed, so it might be a bit scary."
Fair, strong fingers pinched the slightly reflective black-rimmed glasses and slowly removed them from her face, simultaneously lifting her long black bangs to reveal her complete, cold blue eyes and a reddish scar beneath them.
Seeing that he was about to fully reveal his eyes, Conan Edogawa couldn't help but catch his breath.
How could it be so easy?! Is this a test?
Yes, Scotland couldn't possibly be unaware of its own rumors, and it's well aware of how others would focus their attention and seek confirmation if they had doubts.
Moreover, if Mr. Amuro continued to obstruct it at this point, he would become even more suspicious, and Mr. Akai's identity would also be somewhat inconvenient.
What should we do? What's the best way for him to react now?
The two thoughts, "Pretend to be stupid and look him in the eyes" and "Danger! Danger! Quick, I need to find a way to change the subject," were fighting each other wildly in Conan Edogawa's mind, and cold sweat seeped from his palms.
Before he could even speak, he was punched on the head.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. This child is just too naughty and curious about everything." Kogoro Mouri grabbed the child by the collar and apologized to Hikaru Midorikawa, then turned to scold the child, "Don't just look at other people's scars. It's very impolite, understand?"
Conan Edogawa covered the bump on his head, looked pitiful, apologized, and said he understood.
Thank you, sir! You were amazing today!!!
But it's still a bit of a shame that I didn't get to see Hikaru Midorikawa's eyes...
“It’s alright. After all, he’s going to be a detective, so curiosity is to be expected.” Midorikawa Hikaru pushed his glasses back up, and withdrew his hand, his long black bangs fell down again, covering his eyes and the scars on them.
Conan Edogawa didn't avoid it, but pretended to be a child and looked at it curiously a few more times. He only gave up with regret after following Kogoro Mouri to the side.
The faint gaze behind me lingered for a moment before finally disappearing.
Conan Edogawa's tense nerves finally relaxed, and he slowly let out a long breath, knowing that he could no longer continue to probe so directly, otherwise even this reason would not be very convincing.
He didn't dare to continue observing Midorikawa Hikaru for the time being, but pretended to casually glance at Amuro Tooru and Okiya Subaru.
If Hikaru Midorikawa is really from Scotland, after what just happened, they must have had some kind of reaction, right?
She might even tell him the truth directly, for fear that he would continue to test her.
Subaru Okiya was closer to him. The man had his head slightly lowered, but upon closer inspection, it was discovered that he had opened his sharp green eyes, and his expression was one of rare shock and existential doubt.
Conan Edogawa: "?"
He followed Subaru Okiya's gaze and saw a hand.
It was a hand with wheat-colored skin. Because it was looking for something, the sleeve was rolled up, revealing a dark blue bracelet on it.
At first, Conan Edogawa didn't react. After two seconds, he opened his eyes wide as if struck by lightning, and his mind was instantly filled with shock.
A blue bracelet… Hikaru Midorikawa really likes blue… If Hikaru Midorikawa is from Scotland… then what exactly is this bracelet that Mr. Amuro has been wearing all the time, and which is supposedly just a digital watch…?
Conan Edogawa froze instantly, turning his head in disbelief to meet the wide-eyed gaze of Subaru Okiya.
...No way?
Perhaps...they're overthinking it?
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