But Kogoro spoke as if it were nothing.
"That kid probably had to go to the bathroom urgently and left without telling you. So he'll co back if we wait a little."
"But it's taking too long even for a bathroom trip."
"Maybe he's constipated."
Kogoro didn't think it was very serious. After all, Conan always wandered around alone just fine.
Hearing that, Ayumi looked like she was about to cry again. So Ran soothed Ayumi and said.
"Ayumi, shall we look for Conan with ?"
"Okay."
So we also searched each floor together with the children, but as expected, Conan was nowhere to be seen.
"How strange. Where could he have gone?"
In the anti, Kogoro also ca to us.
"Have you guys by any chance seen the Doctor? I haven't seen him for a while."
"No, we haven't seen the Doctor even once since he went off to solve the riddle."
"Really? Where on earth could the Doctor have gone?"
Just then, the caretaker ca to us and said.
"Dinner will be ready soon, so everyone please co and eat. I will guide you to the dining hall."
"Let's eat first. If they're hungry, they might co back."
When Kogoro said that, we had no choice but to go down to the dining hall and eat. Of course, all the family mbers staying at the castle were also there.
When we arrived, they were already seated around the table waiting. Several dishes that looked quite delicious were placed on the table.
"Wow~ Looks delicious! Thank you for the al~"
When the children shouted enthusiastically, Mitsuru laughed and said.
"Hahaha, a lively atmosphere is nice sotis."
Takahito, who was beside him, agreed.
"That's true. When I was young, it was often this lively. But after my mother died in that accident, people stopped visiting..."
Just then, Sonoko asked the two n while eating.
"By the way, what is the reason? I heard you two have been staying here ever since that accident..."
When Sonoko asked, Takahito answered first.
"I originally planned to live in this castle after finishing university abroad. Painting at my leisure, you know."
"I first stayed because I was worried about my mother-in-law, who had lost her only daughter… but as ti passed, I grew to like this castle where my wife was born and raised."
Then the Elder Madam, Masuyo, said grumpily.
"Hmph! It's not because you like the castle—it's because you like the treasure hidden in the castle."
"Hahaha! Well, that's true. It would be a lie to say I'm not curious about my father-in-law's dying wish. So I even invited people here..."
"For a greedy bastard like you to have fooled my daughter… I'll eat in my room. When my daughter cos, bring her to ! She needs to be scolded!"
Leaving those words behind, Masuyo wheeled her wheelchair and went back to her room. At that sight, Ran and Sonoko trembled slightly, as if creeped out. It was because they already knew she was the culprit.
"Grandmother still thinks my mother is alive…"
"Well, she must have been greatly shocked by that fire. And after she lost the use of her legs, she's been cooped up in this castle for ten years. By the way, have you figured out the riddle yet, Detective?"
When Mitsuru asked Kogoro, Kogoro laughed awkwardly and said.
"Ahaha, well… we're still looking into it."
"Hmm… I see. Well, we've been searching for four years and haven't figured it out, so I suppose it can't be helped."
Then Sonoko fidgeted restlessly, as if her mouth was itching to say sothing. Seeing that, Ran pinched Sonoko's thigh lightly.
"Ugh! Okay, okay."
In the anti, Ayumi was getting an envelope from a maid.
"Will this do?"
"Thank you."
Mitsuhiko, who was eating nearby, asked.
"Why do you need an envelope?"
"I want to give one of my bread rolls to Conan. He must be hungry."
"Ah~"
Certainly, Ayumi seed to like Conan.
'That Conan kid. Such a kind girl like Ayumi likes him, and yet…'
Even if the two grew up like this and eventually got married, it was obvious Ayumi would suffer emotionally. Conan was the type to put cases before love. Thinking about it that way, I felt glad that I had rescued Ran from Conan's clutches early. At least if she's with , she won't suffer emotionally.
"Co to think of it, where did that boy with glasses go? And I don't see one elderly gentleman either."
Mitsuru looked at Ayumi and asked us. Then Kogoro told him.
"Well… they've been missing for a while now. I plan to go look for them after eating."
"Our castle's structure is quite complex, so they probably got lost sowhere."
Takahito said it was probably nothing serious, but Mitsuru spoke with a sowhat worried tone.
"I just hope they didn't go up to that tower…"
"What tower do you an?"
"You saw the burned tower on the right side of the castle, right? The tower surrounded by the forest where my wife died four years ago. A newly hired servant disappeared one night two years ago. Suddenly, without a word. That servant often said 'there's sothing in that tower,' and then suddenly vanished, so we reported it to the police and searched the tower and the surrounding forest thoroughly."
"So did you find him?"
"Yes, four days later we barely found him in the forest. He was a dried-up, starved corpse, his stomach completely empty."
"How could that happen…"
"Well… The police concluded he simply got lost and starved to death… But strange rumors circulated among the servants for a while, and after that incident, they blocked off the entrance to the tower where the fire happened. They say the spirit of my dead wife possesses that tower."
Hearing that, Ayumi beca very worried and said.
"Th-Then if we don't find him soon, Conan will also dry up and…"
At that, the other children, also worried about Conan, put their own bread rolls into the envelope.
"I-I'll share mine too."
", too."
It was unlikely that kid would beco dried up, but imagining it was a bit funny.
"Anyway, after we finish eating, let's split up and search for them before it gets dark."
We finished the al and began walking around the castle and its surroundings looking for Conan and the Doctor. But no matter how much we searched, we couldn't find them.
"Could they have really gone to the tower?"
At that, Mitsuru said.
"No, I went as far as the tower entrance. The lock was still on the door."
Then I spoke.
"Then there's no choice. I'll try to find them using my Onmyō arts."
"Oh~ Please do, son-in-law."
I drew an Onmyō circle on the floor of the central hall and sat in the middle, pretending to use my arts. Mitsuru and Takahito, perhaps seeing Onmyō arts for the first ti, watched with fascination.
"Hmm... It's difficult since I don't have any talismans, but I've roughly determined the direction. This way!"
I stopped in front of one of the castle's walls and stood still.
"What's wrong, son-in-law?"
"That's strange. It says they're inside the wall… Just a mont."
I examined the area around the wall and then turned a candlestick attached to it. Then a passage connected to the inside of the wall began to open. Seeing that, everyone was amazed.
"Good heavens! I've lived in this castle for a long ti, but I didn't know there was a secret passage like this…"
"I agree. To think there was such a passage…"
Mitsuru and Takahito in particular seed extrely surprised.
We entered the secret passage and began searching for Conan. Not far in, we found Conan and the Doctor tied up with rope, unconscious.
"Conan!"
"Doctor!"
We quickly untied Conan and the Doctor, carried them out of the secret passage, and laid them on a bed in a room. Both Conan and the Doctor had marks on the backs of their heads, as if they had been struck by sothing.
"Who on earth would do sothing like this…"
Mitsuru and Takahito, feeling responsible since this happened in the castle where they lived, apologized to us and treated the Doctor and Conan's head wounds. Then Mitsuru, Takahito, and Kogoro began investigating inside the secret passage. We stayed behind to look after Conan and the Doctor.
"Shouldn't we stop putting this off any longer? We have to call the police…"
Ran stroked Conan's head, still unconscious, and spoke with a worried face.
"Let's wait a little longer. They're investigating the hidden secret passage, so sothing should turn up."
After waiting like that for a while, Kogoro returned.
"Did you find anything?"
"I found a body. It had been dead for a long ti, already skeletal. So I reported it to the police and ca back."
Then Sonoko asked Kogoro.
"Was there anything else in the secret passage?"
"No, nothing other than the body. The secret passage was bigger than I thought, and we almost got lost ourselves."
"Phew… That's a relief…"
Sonoko had asked because she wondered whether the people who went into the secret passage might have found the treasure.
"Huh? What's a relief? I said we found a body."
"Ah, I misspoke. Ha ha."
Sonoko seed like soone who had a very hard ti keeping a secret. From now on, if there was an important secret, I'd have to decide carefully whether to tell Sonoko.
"Anyway, this is no ti for that. Now that a body's turned up, let's catch the culprit."
"Got it."
We all went to catch the culprit, who was pretending to be Masuyo. Hearing the commotion, Mitsuru, Takahito, and even the caretaker ca to us.
"What's going on? What happened now?"
"The Elder Madam right now is not the real Elder Madam."
"Pardon? What do you an…"
"Let explain as we go."
We headed to Masuyo's room while explaining about the fake Masuyo.
"That can't be… That's impossible…"
As expected, they didn't believe it easily. So I added my own explanation.
"The body found in the secret passage is most likely the real Elder Madam. Once the police co and examine the body, the truth will co out."
"No way…"
Mitsuru and Takahito seed deeply shocked by those words.
At any rate, we all arrived in front of Masuyo's room and knocked on the door.
Thump thump thump!
"Mother, it's . Takahito."
But there was no sign of anyone inside, as if it were empty. Finding that frustrating, Kogoro shoved the locked door hard with his shoulder, forcing it open, and went inside. But the room was ssy as if soone had packed in a hurry, and no one was there.
"Darn, we're too late."
"It's not too late yet. Look at this."
I pointed toward the wall. There, perhaps because they had left in a hurry, the door connected to the secret passage was not completely closed. Kogoro quickly opened the secret passage and began chasing the culprit. We also followed him, moving quickly.
When we exited the place where the secret passage led, we arrived at none other than the castle's central hall.
"Where on earth did they go?"
While Kogoro was looking around, suddenly the place where Conan was beca noisy.
"Let go of Ayumi!"
We hurried to the room where Conan was. There, the culprit was holding Ayumi and threatening her with a knife. Seeing that, the children didn't know what to do.
"Drop that knife! It's over!"
"You think I'll end like this?!! If you want this child to be safe, clear the way!"
The culprit put the knife to Ayumi's neck and threatened us. We had no choice but to clear the way.
"Heh heh, thanks. I'll release this child sowhere safe, so don't follow , stay in the castle. If even one of you cos outside, know that this child's life will be over!"
As the culprit threatened us and tried to go outside, Kogoro said.
"Even if you get out of here safely, the result will be the sa! How long do you think you can stay on the run from the police? Stop adding to your cris and give up now!"
At that, the culprit laughed and said.
"Do you know how long I've been staying in this house? You think I haven't prepared for that? And I have plenty of funds! I've already siphoned off this family's assets and turned them into cash. I'll just go to another country and live well!"
Just as he said that and tried to leave, I spoke.
"Wait! I've solved the riddle. Don't you want to know?"
"Wh-What? Is that true?"
At those words, both the culprit and the castle's family mbers seed surprised. Of course, Kogoro, who hadn't believed the story, was also surprised.
"How can you prove that's true?"
I explained the secret of the chess pieces just as I had explained it to Ran and the others.
"How did you not realize that until now…"
I wondered too. Honestly, I thought it was a riddle that anyone could solve if they were ordinary. There might be a difference in how well one knows chess, but if soone was interested, they would have looked into chess, so I thought it was only a matter of ti. So I was surprised that they hadn't solved it for years.
'Anyone could figure out the positional aning of the chess pieces if they thought about it just a little. How stupid are the people living in this castle?'
At any rate, after hearing the story, the culprit picked Ayumi up, slowly moved to the chairman's portrait, and rotated the portrait to the left. In the end, having coveted the treasure for so long, he was curious, so he postponed his escape for a mont to check.
Creak~!
"You're right."
Behind the portrait was a secret passage leading upward. To go up, one had to climb a ladder made of rebar. But the problem was that he was holding a knife, and with a woman's strength, it was difficult to climb while holding Ayumi.
"Stop there. Let Ayumi go. You can't climb anyway. Aren't you curious what treasure the chairman left behind?"
"..."
The culprit thought for a mont, then put Ayumi down toward the secret passage and said.
"Kid, you go up first. I'll follow."
He was a clever guy, though unexpectedly he hadn't solved the riddle. But there was a problem: Ayumi was too small to climb the rebar ladder. The most she could do was two rungs.
"Hurry up and climb!! Kid!!"
"My hands won't reach…"
Then the culprit, getting impatient, started yelling at Ayumi.
"Can't you climb faster!!"
"Ugh…"
When Ayumi couldn't climb no matter how hard she tried, the culprit finally lost patience and raised his knife to stab Ayumi.
"You little!!!"
"Ayumi!!!"
Just then, a can flew through the air and hit the culprit's knife-wielding hand precisely.
Thwack!!
"Argh!!"
We looked toward where the can had co from, and Conan was standing there. Everyone was surprised at the sight and said.
"Conan! You're awake!"
Then Conan looked at the culprit and said.
"Stop this now. Are you going to kill so many people, and try to kill again?"
"Oh, damn it!"
The culprit shoved Ayumi, who was hanging onto him, and hurriedly climbed the rebar ladder into the secret passage.
"Kyaa!"
Just as Ayumi scread and was about to fall, I quickly caught her.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm okay. Thank you, big brother."
I set Ayumi down. Then Ayumi ran to Conan crying and hugged him.
"Thank you, Conan. I was scared."
"I'm glad you're safe."
Conan patted Ayumi's back and comforted her.
Just then, Kogoro examined the ladder in the secret passage and said in disbelief.
"Well, that's sothing. He climbed fast. Didn't he hurt his hand? Now what?"
"He has no weapon now, and there's only one path, so it should be fine."
"Good!"
As soon as I finished speaking, Kogoro quickly started climbing the ladder. It seed Kogoro was also curious about the treasure. Conan, also curious, followed Kogoro up the ladder. Since I already knew what was there, I didn't go up.
"Jin, aren't you curious what's up there?"
Ran ca and asked .
"I'm not interested."
"Really? Honestly, I'm curious what the treasure is."
"Then, after the police co and we catch the culprit, let's go up and check together."
"Okay."
Actually, this passage led to the place in the castle with the most beautiful view. The chairman had called the most beautiful view the treasure. But right now, it was night, so we couldn't see that either. In other words, going up now would just be a wasted effort.
Ti passed, the police arrived, and the culprit was eventually caught and brought down. The culprit's identity was a maid of this castle. After coveting the treasure and burning people to death, she had killed the Elder Madam, gotten plastic surgery, and been pretending to be her.
In the end, the culprit couldn't even see the most beautiful view of the castle that the chairman called treasure because it was night, and was taken away in a daze.
At any rate, thanks to Mitsuru's consideration, we rested comfortably in the castle, and the next day we used the secret passage to go up and see the most beautiful view from the castle.
"Wow~ It's amazing! Worthy of being called a treasure."
As Ran admired, Sonoko looked quite disappointed.
"Treasure my… Honestly, I thought it was so huge jewel."
"Don't say that, Sonoko. Co and see for yourself."
When Ran invited her, Sonoko reluctantly looked at the view together.
"It's pretty, I guess."
"Right?"
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