Chapter 54 Heavy Snow Blocks the Mountain
Around the same time that Maruyama Ken woke up, new bad news came from the snowy mountains:
Police dogs found Sanada Haru's body somewhere at the foot of the mountain.
The woman was buried in a shallow snow pit, with nothing on her body except for her clothes.
Cell phone, wallet, and other items all disappeared.
As for the children, they haven't even seen a trace of them.
Preliminary assessment indicates that Sanada Haru died from poisoning.
The time of death was probably between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
This naturally raises a question:
Was the person who answered Sanada Shu's call at the time Sanada Haru himself?
Date, along with Takagi, interrogated Maruyama again.
However, upon hearing the news of his sister's death, the prisoner refused to accept it or claim the body, and just kept yelling, "Xiaochun can't be dead! If she is dead, it's because of you!"
Ignoring the prisoner's ramblings, Date said sternly, "Maruyama, you now have two choices: one is to confess honestly and we will find the culprit who killed your sister; the other is to do nothing and go back to prison!"
Maruyama retorted through gritted teeth, "That's easy for you to say! You're not actually looking for the murderer, you just want to find your son!"
"If you insist on assuming that's how you see me, I don't want to argue with you. Goodbye, talking to you is a waste of time."
As she spoke, Date pulled Takagi away.
At this moment, Maruyama couldn't sit still any longer and hurriedly shouted, "Don't go! You still haven't told me what happened to Koharu?"
Ida turned around and gave the other person a strange look, her brows furrowed as she asked, "Didn't I just tell you that?"
Maruyama suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon, slumping into his chair and muttering nervously, "Old liar, old liar..."
Seeing an opportunity, Ida asked, "Who is that old swindler?"
"An octopus, an old monster that preys on children!"
How did you meet him? Why are you working for him?
“A former cellmate introduced him to me, saying there was a lot of money to be made.” Mentioning Qian Wanshan only fueled his anger. “I never expected that old swindler to try and fool me with a piece of paper! Ever since he took this job, he’s been so unreliable. He keeps changing the drop-off location, and then he complains that we’re too slow to keep up with his plans! How can you blame me? I’ve never been to Nagano before, and I don’t know the way! And it’s snowing so hard! And that slut’s car broke down!”
"So you were fixing a car at one o'clock in the afternoon?" Ida interjected.
“Yeah!” Maruyama replied irritably, “I was going to take Koharu to the snow mountain to pick up the kids first, then find a place to get the car repaired before going to get the money. But… he actually cheated both of us!”
"Shouldn't it generally be a cash-on-delivery transaction?" Ida asked, puzzled. This was the point he found most incomprehensible.
Maruyama's answer shocked the police: "Because that old swindler told us that bank transfers were not safe, and he only ever used cash, but he had too much money and it was inconvenient to carry it. Besides, we delivered the money too late, and he had already put the money somewhere else."
"This is just a rookie hoodlum getting swindled by a seasoned con artist!"
Takagi muttered to himself.
"So your sister went up the mountain around 1:00 PM and handed the two children over to that man, right?" Ida asked. "After that, she didn't contact you at all. Didn't you get suspicious?"
"I thought it was because the signal was bad up in the mountains."
Ida sighed, thinking the reason was reasonable, and then asked, "Do you know the exact location?"
"I only know there's a small cabin on the mountain. That person sent Xiaochun their location, but I didn't pay much attention; it seems quite far! Xiaochun even complained to me about having to walk a long mountain path..."
"Maruyama, I hope you can tell the truth, because lying will not do you any good. Sanada's body was found at the foot of the mountain, not far at all!"
The prisoner, as if provoked, shouted, "I'm not lying! You police are all like this, always shifting the blame onto others whenever something goes wrong! Everything I said is the truth; your inability to solve the case is due to your incompetence!"
Ida frowned and said, "Thank you for your cooperation. We will solve the case as soon as possible."
"Date-senpai, do you think Maruyama told the truth?" Takagi asked as they walked out of the interrogation room.
Date nodded and replied, "I think the murderer ambushed Sanada on her usual route up the mountain and killed her. In this situation, Maruyama has no reason to lie. Compared to the octopus, his level is far too low."
"But the snow-capped mountains are so vast, where are we supposed to find people?"
Just when the police were at their wits' end, the young detective sent some excellent news:
He received a distress signal from the snow-capped mountains!
"It's Ai Haibara!" Conan exclaimed in surprise.
"Are you sure? Ai didn't bring her phone or detective badge with her." Amuro couldn't help but be surprised.
“Brother Amuro, you may not know this, but each detective badge has a specific frequency band. As long as you transmit information using any device with signal transmission capabilities within the appropriate distance, the other party can receive it,” Conan explained.
"So we're at the foot of the snow-capped mountain, which is within communication range, right?"
“That’s right!” Conan listened carefully to the intermittent tapping sounds coming from the detective badge. “It should be Morse code. The content is SOS…138389474E…36694643N. Is that latitude and longitude?”
However, Ida felt no joy at all upon confirming the exact location.
Because the weather forecast was unexpectedly accurate this time:
A blizzard has arrived, and the mountains are blocked by heavy snow.
The severe weather brought enormous difficulties to the rescue work.
In addition, it was almost six o'clock in the afternoon, and the setting sun left only a last bit of its afterglow.
Considering that the youngest child is only four months old, it is undoubtedly even more difficult.
By the time the Nagano police had organized the search and rescue team, it was completely dark.
Despite the extremely low visibility, the pilots were still willing to take their chances.
However, the two helicopters that carried everyone's hopes soon returned empty-handed.
"Sorry, we can't see anything. The blizzard is too strong; we can't get close to our target location at all!"
This was like a bucket of cold water poured over Ida; he was so anxious, like an ant on a hot pan, that he even considered going up the mountain to find it himself.
"Date-senpai, calm down! The snow is so thick, the mountain roads are all buried, it's too dangerous to go up the mountain now! At least wait until the snow stops before making any plans!" Takagi advised. "On the bright side, with so much snow, the criminals definitely can't escape."
“Takagi, I’m not worried about the prisoner escaping,” Date sighed.
"Hey, what are you worried about?"
"Yang Sheng is only four months old! And there's another little girl, seven years old, with a bad cold... Do you think those child traffickers will take good care of the children? This snow could even kill them!"
Takagi lowered her head, suppressing the words, "If Date-senpai insists on going up the mountain now, this snow could kill you," and softly comforted her, "Date-senpai, you should eat something first! Replenishing your strength is the most important thing!"
At 10:30 p.m., the blizzard began to subside slightly.
The rescue team chose to climb the slope on the other side, but they were quickly defeated.
Ida refused to come down the mountain and was dragged down by the crowd.
"Date, your body can't take this!" Amuro pulled Date aside and said, "You haven't slept for almost 36 hours! Can you rest for a bit? The rescue team will definitely overcome all difficulties."
Ida glanced at the blond man and said bitterly, "Has 36 hours already? I promised Natalie I'd bring the child home in two days at most, and now there are only 12 hours left. I know the child is on the mountain, but I can't even see him. I don't even know if he's already..."
Amuro put his arm around the other's shoulder and comforted him, "Don't think too much! Yosei is a very healthy child, he's never been sick, he'll definitely be fine! You have to cheer up!"
He handed Ida a glass of water and said, "Have some water! Your voice is hoarse."
Ida wiped her face, said "thank you," and then drank the water in one gulp without any hesitation. Half an hour later, she fell into a deep sleep.
Amuro put sleeping pills in the water.
"Get a good night's sleep, class monitor."
The snow stopped at one o'clock in the morning.
However, due to the extremely low temperature and poor visibility, the mountain climbing was still too dangerous, so the rescue team did not make a third attempt.
Amuro understood the decision, so he chose to go up the mountain alone.
Making this choice was fraught with extremely complex emotions. There was concern for the living, remembrance for the dead, and an inexplicable unease.
He always felt that if he didn't seize the opportunity now, he would never be able to get it back.
On one hand, there is the class monitor's son and Dr. Miyano's daughter; on the other hand, there is her own father.
In fact, long before Maruyama revealed that the leader was Octopus, Amuro had already retrieved the hotel's surveillance footage and sent it to Kagemitsu to confirm the man's identity.
Amuro never quite understood his own attitude towards his father.
Occasionally, he would envy Yosuke for having a father as responsible as the class monitor, and he would also envy Shinichi for having a father as open-minded as Yusaku.
And what about his own father?
Aside from a sperm, Amuro couldn't think of any other help that person had provided for his growth.
But he still couldn't help thinking about that person he had never met, so much so that his heart would pound wildly whenever he heard even the slightest clue related to that person.
"If this really is a talisman, will it protect me and keep me safe, Dad?"
Amuro fiddled with the tooth necklace in his hand for a moment, then hesitated before putting it around his neck.
He packed a simple medical backpack, got a snowmobile, and prepared to set off.
However, just then, the sound of a skateboard came from behind.
Under Amuro's astonished gaze, Conan jumped onto the back seat and said, "Don't worry! There's plenty of room for a kid like me!"
Before Amuro could even ask the other person to leave, the young detective preemptively ordered, "What are you standing there for? Get out of here!"
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