Chapter 3522-3534 [The Easily Deceived Matsuda Jinpei]
Conan paused for a moment: "After investigating for so long, how come we still have no clue how to solve the case, but the details about the ghost are getting more and more complete?"
Just as I was trying to get my thoughts back on track, a terrified scream suddenly erupted from the art room next door.
Outside the art room, Sonoko Suzuki was speculating about the psychology of ghosts when she suddenly heard this noise, and she screamed in fright.
"Don't panic, it's a living person calling." Jiang Xia walked past her, opened the door to the art room, and asked, "Are you alright?"
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki cautiously peered into the room and saw the senior who had complained about their noise earlier sitting in front of the canvas, his face extremely unpleasant.
As the door opened, his paintbrush clattered to the ground, and he said tremblingly, "It seems that Hosaka really died with his eyes open... The ghostly events at this school are indeed his doing!"
Jiang Xia looked at this third person after the karate senior and the senior lying dead in the infirmary: "You also know that deceased classmate?"
“…We know each other.” The senior student who was drawing pushed up his glasses and composed himself. “Two years ago, before he fell down the stairs, he was a member of the art club, just like me.”
"The Art Department?"
Sonoko Suzuki looked back at the stairs outside the door, then suddenly realized something and looked at the person drawing inside: "That senior who died fell down this section of stairs right here, right next to the art club... Could it be that you were there when he fell?"
The senior from the art department fell silent. After a moment, he took a deep breath and said, "You guys can leave now."
Sonoko Suzuki: "???"
Shouldn't you be properly explaining the clues now? Why aren't you following the script?
The senior from the art department said, "If I don't finish this soon, I'll miss the art exhibition! I don't want to waste any more time on this nonsense. Stop bothering me and get out of here!"
"This..." Hearing that the other party had something important to do, Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki exchanged a glance, then nodded and left.
"This guy has a really strange temper." Sonoko Suzuki closed the door and whispered to Xia Jiang and Ran Mouri, "Could he be the murderer from back then, which is why he's so agitated?"
Ran Mouri was still thinking about the desks: "There are desks and chairs in the middle of the yard. Should I tell my senior, Math Girl, about this?"
Jiang Xia walked to the fire extinguisher next to him, looked down at the ground, and said, "Okay, I was just thinking of going to the library again."
...
"Is that so?!"
In the library, Tsukamoto Kazumi slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "They actually used Hosaka's belongings to play pranks! I hope I don't catch the mastermind behind this! -- It's been a while since I've hit anyone, and I'm really itching to do it."
Jiang Xia touched the baton in his pocket, deeply agreeing with the sentiment, but now, he was there to gather some clues.
He asked the violent senior student who frequented the library, "Do you remember which books were specifically thrown around by the 'ghost'?"
Kazumi Tsukamoto nodded: "I remember, I even helped the manager tidy up—wait a minute, let me go find it for you."
This senior student has a good memory; she browsed around the various bookshelves and soon brought all the books back.
"Electrical and Telecommunication Engineering Theory", "The History of the University System", "Report on Tropical Rainforest Destruction", "Analysis of Rock Destruction Sounds"...
Sonoko Suzuki walked over to Ena and, with the simple intention of collecting materials, glanced at the table. The next moment, she felt a headache coming on: "Why are all these dry reference books like this..."
Jiang Xia flipped through the pages and took out the library card tucked inside—sure enough, the name of Hideaki Hosaka was in the borrowing records for every book.
Kazumi Tsukamoto looked at the books and smiled, saying, "Hosaka's ambition before his death was to become a manga artist. He felt that in order to draw manga that was interesting enough, one must first enrich oneself and learn more about things that others do not know."
"You saw the signature on that desk in the warehouse just now, right? That's the signature that Hosaka designed for himself. Everyone in the class was really looking forward to his work, but who knew... sigh, it's truly a case of heaven being jealous of talent."
After hearing this inspiring story, Sonoko Suzuki's expression became even more solemn: "The deeper the resentment in life, the stronger the ghost becomes. That's why he could cry out a pool of cursed tears in front of the stairs, why he could resentfully flip through those books in the library in the middle of the night, and why he could move that heavy desk to the center of the yard... Ghosts with last wishes are the most difficult to deal with!"
Jiang Xia: "..." On the contrary, the geniuses who can't remember their last wishes are hard to deal with, such as the Yuki-onna who still can't be tricked. In comparison, other ghosts with clear wishes, such as Matsuda Jinpei, were easily won over without much coaxing.
However, it seems that the promise I made to this police ghost is still unfulfilled...
Thinking of this, Jiang Xia felt a little guilty and flipped through the book in his hand, but quickly realized that it wasn't his fault: who told the bomber to be so quiet all the time?
"Fortunately, judging by the timing, he should be making his move soon." Jiang Xia muttered to himself, "On the night of the full moon, there seemed to be a mysterious explosion... If we're lucky, that person will probably make his move soon."
Nearby, the others were still diligently solving the paranormal event when Tsukamoto Kazumi suddenly remembered something: "Speaking of the desk in the center of the courtyard, why don't you go ask the principal?"
Sonoko Suzuki was startled: "The principal is possessed by a demon?!"
“Of course not.” Tsukamoto Kazumi waved her hand speechlessly. “I was going to the restroom earlier, and when I passed by the corridor, I saw the principal standing in the courtyard in a daze, just like before—maybe he saw the suspicious people moving the desks.”
...
After receiving a new clue from the senior student, the group left the library and headed towards the principal's office.
The new doctor thought of his former boss and couldn't help but sigh, "The principal must be thinking about what kind of trees to plant in the yard."
Ran Mouri smiled and said, "Yes, he stands in the yard every day muttering to himself, saying that planting this is no good, planting that is no good either."
Conan: "..." Before I was knocked unconscious by Gin, the principal had been agonizing over these things. After all this time, he still hasn't figured it out?
Sonoko Suzuki remembered something and looked at Dr. Araide: "I remember the principal discussed this with you. You gave him a lot of advice, which I thought was very good, but unfortunately he didn't take any of it."
"Huh?" Dr. Shinichi was taken aback at first, then realized what was happening and said stiffly, "Yes, that's true."
Jiang Xia: "..." It seems the enthusiastic teacher Vermouth is having a lot of fun at school...
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