Chapter 2716-2728 [Master-Killing Tradition]
"This..." The white-haired manager hesitated for a long time, and finally whispered, "To be honest, I heard your conversation last night. I remember Mr. Sakonji said that the 'living puppet' was a magic trick created by the four of them together?"
Jiang Xia nodded: "Isn't what he said wrong?"
The hotel manager lowered his voice even more: "In fact, I heard about it from the late former group leader, Miss Reiko Kinmiya, a long time ago."
"It was late at night, and Miss Konomiya was fiddling with a puppet in the lounge. Seeing me passing by, she smiled and chatted with me, asking me if it would be very interesting if she cut all the strings of the puppet and the puppet suddenly moved on its own.
"Of course it was very interesting. I had nothing to do, so I sat down and chatted with her like I did today. While she was talking to me, she took out her notebook and wrote something down quickly - she always carried a magic notebook with her, which was full of her wonderful ideas.
"I originally thought that the magic recorded in that book would be the candidate magic for their magic troupe. But Miss Konomiya said that she would not perform those magic in person, and that they were gifts for someone."
"Someone?" Jiang Xia grasped the point like a serious detective and interrupted to ask, "Who?"
"Well..." The hotel manager shook his head. "I don't know either, but it should be a novice magician. Because Miss Konomiya said that she hoped the notebook would come in handy when that person goes on stage, and she also said that this is all she can do for that person.
“Not long after that, she fell to her death at the Lake Center Theater.
"It was midnight when the body was found. I found it strange that the lights were still on in the theater, so I went in to check, and I found her on the stage.
"She fell on her back on a table, with wooden planks that had fallen from the ceiling scattered around her, as if she had slipped and fallen while practicing air walking. But..."
The hotel manager's face turned a little strange: "But I looked at the board at that time. The nails on its four corners were very loose, as if someone had deliberately adjusted them."
"But I didn't have time to look further, as my eyes were drawn to the corpse on the stage. When Miss Kinmiya fell, she smashed the vase on the table, and the water and red roses in the vase scattered all over the floor. The roses looked like blood... It was exactly the same as the scene of flowers scattered on the stage tonight.
"Others heard my scream and came over one after another. When I came to my senses, I found that the collapsed wooden board had returned to its original state. And Miss Konomiya's magic notebook had also disappeared."
Officer Sato couldn't help but speak up as he listened: "If what you said is true, then this is simply a naked murder! - Why didn't you tell these doubts to the police who were in charge of the investigation at the time?"
The hotel manager smiled bitterly: "Do you think I didn't say it at the time? I did, but because there was no evidence, the police and other members of the magic troupe thought I was trying to shirk responsibility. After all, it looked like Miss Kinmiya died because the Lake Center Theater had fallen into disrepair.
"To be honest, the theater is very old. After hearing what they said, I'm not sure whether the workers have carefully checked it during regular maintenance... After a long time, even I began to doubt myself, wondering if the quick glance at that time was just an illusion of my panic."
After listening to the story, Jiang Xia comforted the dazed old man: "You should be right - if what you just said is true, then judging from the things that are happening now, it seems that Miss Jin Gong was plotted against by the four people who 'created' the 'living puppets', and someone learned about this and is now seeking revenge on the murderer."
"Four apprentices plotted against their teacher..." Officer Takagi imagined the situation at that time, his scalp tingling, and he couldn't help but look in the direction of the guest room.
After taking a look, he suddenly realized something was wrong: "Look, what are those people doing at the front desk?"
…
“What are we doing?”
The "clown" patted the pile of luggage on the front desk and gave everyone an unpleasant fake smile, "Of course we have to check the luggage back - the railway has been restored, and we have two fewer people, so we don't need so many clothes."
As he spoke, he put a waybill on each piece of luggage.
Seeing the truck arrive at the station, the staff wanted to put the luggage on the truck. Officer Gao Mu was anxious and tried to stop them: "The murderer may still be among you. If you send the luggage away at this time, what if there is important evidence hidden in it?"
"Oh, a whole night has passed, and you are still obsessed with this stupid inference." The "clown" showed a compassionate smile, "There are so many magicians in the hotel. If you have time to ruin our reputation, you might as well go and ask those colleagues about the situation, so as to avoid making another wasted trip today."
Without evidence, the police could do nothing. Knowing this, the "clown" muttered "tax thief" while walking past the two policemen with ugly expressions and leisurely returned to the room.
"What should we do now?" Officer Gao Mu turned around anxiously, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind. "Oh, right! The Joker just said that the road is open. How about we contact the nearby police station and ask them to issue a certificate to cooperate with us in searching the luggage that is about to be sent away?"
Jiang Xia came back to his senses and nodded: "Good idea, let's give it a try."
Officer Takagi received his affirmation and happily picked up his phone to make a call.
The signal here was not good, and he couldn't explain the situation clearly after a long phone call. In the end, he had to borrow a landline from the front desk, and then he successfully explained the situation to the nearby police station.
At this moment, a shrill and hoarse scream suddenly sounded in the distance, tearing through the silent morning and reaching everyone's ears like thunder.
“?!”
Everyone jumped up like a frightened bird. Jiang Xia also stood up and ran with them in the general direction of the sound.
Mao Lilan is very sensitive to various tones. She thought for a moment and said, "It seemed to be the voice of Miss Yumi, the Mermaid Princess."
"Yumi..." Officer Sato had always been paying attention to this group of suspected magicians. When she heard the name, she immediately remembered the room number, "It's in 215!"
Jiang Xia nodded and went straight to room 215. When he got there, he began to knock on the door skillfully: "Ms. Xi Hai? Are you okay?"
Maya Hashimoto put his ear against the door and heard the noise inside. He got goosebumps and thought, "There seems to be some strange sound..." What is that creaking sound? Could it be that there is a puppet grinding its teeth inside?
(End of this chapter)
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