“If you guys are here to look for Saori, you should go to her house to find out more about the situation. But you must be welcomed by her alcoholic father first.”

After saying that, he turned and left, with Ebihara Emi following behind him.

“No one is worried about her safety!” Hattori couldn’t help but complain, his sigh was not concealed at all.

“This is because Saori used to quarrel with her father and run away from home,” Kimie said.

Kogoro asked:

“Could you please take us to her house?”

“Of course!” Jun Hui said, “I’ll be free after the celebration.”

When this was mentioned, the young girl became interested. Xiaolan asked what would happen at the festival, and learned that the shrine would sell number plates to the guests in advance, and as long as the number was the same as that shown by Kimie’s great-grandmother, they could get the Dugong Arrow, which was essentially the same as a lottery contest.

“By the way, do you two want to try your luck? An elderly couple just returned their number cards this morning, so I still have two. And the ladies with you also have number cards!”

Junhui was talking about Winnet and the others.

Xiaolan and Heye looked at each other, and then Xiaolan glanced at Ki Eri secretly. Both of them experienced a brief psychological activity in their hearts. She and Heye took the two numbers from Junhui’s hand and smiled faintly.

“Actually, whether you win or not depends on luck. Who knows, maybe you will win, and then it will be like what everyone says – eternal life and eternal youth.”

The detectives unanimously decided to continue the investigation after the festival. They were going back to the hotel where Winnet and her friends were staying. Before leaving, Jun Hui secretly glanced at Winnet. She was ready, and Winnet also hummed the song “We Walk This Road Together”.

When she booked the room, she said that she was used to sleeping alone and did not live with others. Last night, she was not idle, but forged a tomb on the mountain – the tomb of the mermaid they were looking forward to. Junhui was waiting for her on the mountain. Although her skills were a little rusty, Winnet still remembered several common trap methods. The most common one was the method used by the once excellent psychologist Fenghu Kyosuke, playing with psychology and common sense. They chose the address on the cliff. Winnet deliberately loosened the soil under the stone tombstone, and hollowed out the sides of the tombstone and filled it with the softest soil in the forest. Finally, it was covered by the shade of the trees.

The longevity lady played by Kimie lets Sumi Ebihara be shot by an arrow during the Dugong Festival, and tells her that if she is shot by the arrow, she will be told the location of the mermaid’s tomb, and the bones are under the tombstone. Then she will be eager to go there and want to move the tombstone. At that moment, it would be best if she slipped and fell. If not, Saori played by Wynette will ambush there and push her.

Winnett’s number will definitely not win.

And one of Xiaolan and Kazuha’s number plates will be matched.

She would make an excuse to go back to the hotel instead of going to the Mermaid Falls. Cheng Shi and Fan Tian Akane would go with her, but Kisaki Eri would stay because of her family, and so would her inseparable assistant. Even if the assistant went back, there was no need to worry, the professional Miss Winnett had prepared a recording, so she could just say she was going back to her room to rest.

She wouldn’t delay long.

Because of Kimie’s words, the detectives were a little relieved. After all, it was not certain that Saori was dead. However, Winette found that her reasoning was wrong. Kimie really killed someone. The so-called crying woman’s voice was Kimie’s voice. As for the waves, the shrine is located at the place where the mountain is closest to the sea.

After crying once, the tears will dry up.

Winnet had never cried and couldn’t understand.

She couldn’t cry either.

A future that could make her cry was definitely not what she needed.

After a break, it was finally dusk. As it was cloudy, it got dark very early. There was no sunset or red clouds. Only the sound of drums could be heard. The islanders spontaneously assisted in the festival, as if a grand event was being held. The square was divided by a cordon, and on the other side were the steps in front of the shrine. As the temporary shrine maiden opened the paper door in front of the shrine, a Japanese-style room as spacious as the square appeared.

In the center of the room, the longevity woman dressed in a shrine maiden’s costume raised the ceremonial guard, slowly turned around, walked out in a Japanese style amid the cheers of the audience, and placed the head of the ceremonial guard into the two oil lamps in front of the door, and flames gradually rose; she turned around and waved, and the flames rushed to the paper door in front of the shrine, and immediately, numbers appeared on the paper door in the form of flames.

……

547 Possible crime

“How did she light a fire on the paper door?”

“A word actually burned out in the flames.”

The detectives were also very surprised and stared at the paper door motionlessly. The others were in the same state, but they were not concerned about this unique trick, but whether the words reflected on it were consistent with the number plates they were holding. It was not until the words on both sides of the Japanese-style room were burned clearly that they reacted.

“I see. So the winning number is what’s burned on the paper door.”

Winnett curiously wandered among the women to see if their number cards were correct. Both Kisaki Eri and Akane Takata were just trying, but Ms. Kuriyama was a little disappointed. She walked around behind Xiaolan and Kazuha, then leaned between their shoulders, scaring the two nervous girls. Then she skipped the tense part of them revealing the results to each other.

“He Ye, your number is correct!”

“My, my number won…”

Kazuha looked uneasy, and Xiaolan and Winnet congratulated her. The former was sincere, while the latter was like a middle school student who opened the bottle cap but didn’t find the “buy one get one free” offer. “Really!” Miss Kuriyama pulled Kisaki Eri over. They were all happy for the young girl and curious about the ceremony and appearance of the dugong arrow.

Just like Kazuha, another person who looked extremely happy was Sumi Ebihara who was standing behind Hattori.

After a while, the villagers wearing tall hats and dressed like Abe Haruaki, a priest, put out the fire on the paper door with a very modern foam fire extinguisher. When everyone’s attention was focused on the number, the longevity woman had quietly left. At this time, Junhui, who had returned to her original appearance, walked out of the shrine and announced:

“Everyone, please listen carefully. We will officially award the Dugong Arrow in an hour. Please prepare to gather at the Mermaid Falls immediately.”

Kazuha, who was shot with an arrow, was nervous and anxious. With so many people congratulating her, she seemed to be very excited. When they moved to the Mermaid Waterfall, Winette said she would not go. When they felt strange about this, she made an excuse that it was too dark and the surroundings were not familiar. The Mermaid Waterfall was in the mountains and was not a suitable terrain for action. Although Xiaolan gently said that she was willing to hold her hand, she just smiled childishly.

“I want to go back and try the mermaid pie I just bought.” She dug up her memory of shopping in the afternoon and said, “Also, rather than being immortal and forever young, I think it would be better for me to grow a little taller. It would be better if I could be a few centimeters taller and look more mature.”

“Don’t force it, Miss Winnet.”

Eri Kisaki stepped forward to intercept Xiaolan. Her whispered explanation was quite unique. It was related to religious beliefs. For Winnet, it was like participating in a pagan ritual.

Winnett then thought of such an explanation, as if the past life had become a very distant memory. She remembered a barefoot priest who said he wanted to go to Africa to convert the pagans, imitating the pastor who ran away from the town 20 years ago. In their eyes, the boundaries were very tight, everyone was very stupid, and sometimes they would quarrel because of pagan songs.

She smiled slightly and took away Qian Fantian and Dr. Cheng Shi.

Both of them expressed their obedience to their superiors and showed little interest in the ceremony. Akane Hanada even explained in a self-righteous way that the priest couldn’t do without her assistance, as if she were a baby who needed to be taken care of. However, she didn’t care, and even held one in each hand to stay away from the memory of having nothing in her hands.

“Then let’s go to the Mermaid Falls and take a look.” Kuriyama Midori showed the same work ethic as Miss Akane Takata and pursued the lawyer firmly. If it was just their family, she might give in. But now, Hattori and Kazuha were both there, and the three men present were actually focusing on the incident.

The gap has come. Miss Winnett doesn’t have to worry about the betrayal of her two close friends. She has two witnesses in her hands – she will play Go and Sudoku in the house until they come back. She put on the Saori suit borrowed from Junhui, disguised herself with her own skills, and then left the hotel in the dark night like a stowaway who was crossing the border of the war zone, quietly. The environment on the mountain could not affect her. It had long become a place suitable for humans to go as the islanders lived, but she still remained vigilant enough and deliberately revealed Saori’s figure to several islanders who had not yet gone to the waterfall.

What was more surprising was that she was seen by the man named Rokuro during the day. He called out to Saori, but she did not respond and quickly headed towards the Mermaid Falls. In her script, he figured out that Saori’s purpose was to go to the Mermaid Falls to retrieve the dugong arrow, or to meet someone.

It’s all the same.

Winnet went to the designated location to ambush. She didn’t wait long before her target, Sumi Ebihara, appeared. In the night, she shouldn’t have been able to see her expression, but she felt that it must be a crazy face. The woman in the darkness looked around, as if she was worried that someone would take away her immortality medicine. She offered her piety for immortality, not worrying at all that Jun Hui, the longevity woman, was lying, and just touched the stone tablet.

loose.

scream.

come down.

“It actually worked.” Miss Winnett did not get a chance to escape.

A highly uncertain possible crime was committed, stemming from greed. She stood near the cliff and looked at the sky. It seemed that it was going to rain, and there would be no extra traces left. She still finished the work just in case, and then turned and left.

Due to such an accident, even if the detectives knew that Junhui had lured her to this place, they could not convict her. Moreover, the alibi had been established, and Winnet specifically told Junhui to stay with the others, so that she would not have time to do anything. When the dugong arrow was awarded, they could also see the mermaids going down the waterfall. Originally, Junhui planned to let Ebihara Sumi die in public, and specially tested the water flow rate, and Winnet also confirmed through the parabolic test that Ebihara Sumi would fall into the river.

Combined with flow rate, this creates a dramatic effect.

She took advantage of the announcement ceremony to start her return journey.

At the same time, below the Mermaid Waterfall, Jun Hui stood in a simple square barrier (a rectangular frame of six pieces of wood), with braziers made of three pieces of wood standing on both sides.

“Now, please invite the three lucky guests tonight to come to the front.”

“Okay, I’ll be there right away!”

Kazuha raised her hand, as excited as a student on a spring outing. She pulled the rope that served as a net and went around from underneath. In sync with her, there was also the scheduled draw, Naoko Kuroe. As for the third person, she did not show up.

“Who is the other one? Has the other one arrived as well?”

Jun Hui looked around, but no one stood up. This was natural, and she knew it in her heart. The blessing ceremony was about to begin.

But for the detectives watching, everything is unusual.

“It’s really strange. I thought that lady was also selected.” Hattori was referring to Sumi Ebihara.

“Yeah, why hasn’t anyone seen her?”

Conan spoke.

After Junhui shouted several times to no avail, the ceremony had to continue.

“Next, please accept the light of bliss.”

After she finished reciting the words, the villagers nearby used fireworks to shoot a bright halo in the sky like an incandescent lamp.

The light lasted for a while, and suddenly someone noticed something falling from the waterfall. Along with the rushing water, this “thing” quickly flowed into the river behind Jun Hui. With the help of the bonfire, fireworks, and flashlights, people near the water’s edge quickly discovered its true appearance.

——Sumi Ebihara.

The shock lasted only a few seconds, and the salvage work began. There were many fishermen present, and they were good at swimming. With the help of several people, the pale-faced Sumi Ebihara was salvaged. What surprised them was that Ebihara was not incapable of swimming. Even if the river was turbulent, she should be able to grab the fixed rope on the river bank and avoid drowning. Moreover, it was a suspicious point why she ran upstream to the turbulent river during the award ceremony.

The young men and detectives surrounded Ebihara’s body, and Kimie made a prayer gesture.

“Sumie…did she commit suicide? Or did someone kill her?”

Fukuyama Rokuro observed Ebihara’s condition.

“Suicide is a possibility, but drowning is a very painful way to die, and I don’t think she would do it. It was probably just an accident.”

“You mean, Miss Ebihara accidentally fell into the rushing river and drowned, and her body kept floating downstream until it passed the waterfall?” Kogoro said.

“No, that shouldn’t be the case.” Conan found that the corners of the corpse’s mouth were lightly reddish-pink. “Uncle, look at the corners of this sister’s mouth. I think she must have vomited blood at that time.”

“Vomiting blood, so that’s it…so that means he was murdered?” Kogoro said.

“No, most of the people in the village are participating in the festival. After all, people can’t be faster than a rushing river. The only people who didn’t come to participate are the tourists who entered the lottery but lost. They wouldn’t take risks in unfamiliar mountains at night. I think she must have fallen from a very high place into the fast-flowing river, causing her internal organs to rupture, which led to this situation.” Hattori denied his statement.

“But why did she go to the mountain?”

“Yes, the festival is obviously held under the waterfall, why does she have to go to the forest on the mountain?”

Hattori couldn’t figure it out either. If she was carried up by someone and set up some kind of timer for her descent, it would be impossible to do such a thing in just one hour. If she went up the mountain by herself, it would make sense, but it was strange that she chose to go there during the festival. He winked at Conan, and the other famous detective also looked thoughtful.

“She’s probably here to look for the mermaid’s grave.”

Naomi Kuroe, who was standing behind them, spoke suddenly again, just like when she first appeared.

“What?” The detective turned around at the same time.

“Because the mermaid’s grave is somewhere in the forest. Three years ago, on the night of the festival, the shrine’s storehouse caught fire, and the mermaid’s bones were buried here instead.”

“That’s possible,” Kimie said. “I know that Sumi has always been concerned about that matter.”

Hattori was not impressed by this legend.

“Wait a minute, you guys keep talking about mermaid bones and stuff…Are you sure that skeleton is really the remains of a mermaid?”

“It’s hard to say. That’s what the villagers on the island said. But the police from the mainland believe that it is the skeleton of a middle-aged woman.” Jun Hui replied.

Heijiang immediately refuted upon hearing this:

“Stop talking nonsense! That’s only possible if all the bones below the waist of the skeleton are still there!”

“Below the waist…” Kogoro shuddered.

Fukuyama Rokuro reluctantly explained, “Because a beam that burned down happened to fall near the waist of the skeleton. After the villagers moved the beam away, they found that there was nothing where the foot bones should be. That’s why the TV reported that the body of a mermaid appeared here.”

“So Changshou Po became a celebrity overnight,” Heijiang added.

Conan looked at Jun Hui, “But didn’t the police say it was a middle-aged woman?”

“Yes, they suspected that it was most likely a tourist who had not been hit by the dugong’s arrow, and sneaked into the warehouse to look for a spare arrow. The main reason for the fire in the warehouse was probably the disaster caused by the candle. After a year, the identity of the person was still unknown, so the shrine buried his bones. Then something happened…”

Although it was told from a third-party perspective, all kinds of thoughts were flowing through Jun Hui’s mind at this moment, including unspeakable distress, resentment towards the rumor, and the desire to abandon everything.

Fukuyama Rokuro explained to others that after the incident, some people wanted to rob the tomb, and some tourists even had the bizarre idea of ​​prying open the tomb and stealing the bones inside.

“Their idea is that the mermaid’s bones are also a elixir of immortality,” Heijiang said.

In the end, Junhui moved the grave and buried it in the forest.

Seeing that things were not making any progress, Kogoro placed his hopes on dawn and the arrival of the police. He signaled them to carry Sumi’s body down the mountain.

“Even if it wasn’t an accident, there must be something wrong with Sumi herself for coming here alone.”

Fukuyama Rokuro picked up her body, and Kuroe beside him mocked his cold-bloodedness, which made the detectives know the relationship between the two – their parents arranged a marriage for both of them. However, Fukuyama Rokuro was very resistant to this. They returned to the place where the ceremony was held, and a middle-aged man cried while holding Sumi’s body. That was her father. Kogoro asked Xiaolan about the progress of the police report, and handed the matter to his daughter as usual, and Xiaolan had long been accustomed to it. According to the Fukui Prefecture police, the waves were too big to reach them, and the case was delayed for a while.

Hattori and Conan were whispering to each other.

“What do you think? This case must be an accident, right?” Hattori asked in an uncertain tone, even though there was almost no second possibility.

“Hard to say.”

Conan’s thoughtful brows relaxed, and then he smiled like a child and looked at Jun Hui and asked:

“So, can we go see the Longevity Lady now?”

……

548 Ghostly Mermaid

“Of course.” Junhui agreed readily and invited them to the shrine.

For her, tonight was just the beginning.

After returning to the shrine, she asked them to wait in the hall, and then began to paint the longevity woman, the great-grandmother, and began to play the videotape with a long blank section at the beginning. With the right time, a new human being independent of Junhui was born. She was full of confidence, blending in with the people who were no longer in the world, holding the supporting crutches, and slowly walked to the hall. She heard the voices inside talking about “too much time”, so she appeared in front of the door.