Facing Hattori Heiji's question, Mizukawa's words surprised everyone present.
When Mizukawa Mogsheng said this, his face was full of gloom and worry: "Actually, I suspect that Chengren-kun may have been killed!"
"How do you say this?"
Mouri Kogoro said with a solemn expression: "Miss Mizukawa, do you have any basis for this?!"
"Although everyone in the village says that Shiroto-kun came to Tokyo to work and live on his own, he is still the adopted son of this family after all. After the death of the village chief and his wife, he also inherited a lot of inheritance..."
Mizukawa Moe said this and did not continue, but everyone understood what he meant.
"You mean, someone is secretly spying on those inheritances, which is detrimental to him?" Mouri Kogoro hesitated.
"I don't know, but based on what I know about Chengren-kun's character, it's absolutely impossible for him to disappear without a trace for half a year without any news coming back!"
Mizukawa Moe seemed to have fallen into endless fear: "And the person who killed him might have been someone in the forest..."
Mizukawa Moe seemed to be worried about something when he said this. He opened his mouth and finally turned his head aside.
"In the forest..."
The sudden stop made everyone think a little, but seeing that the other party didn't want to say more, it's hard to force yourself.
"Then do you know who sent me this letter and for what purpose?"
After learning that the sender had disappeared for half a year, Hattori Heiji touched his chin and said, "And what is the error in Kudo Shinichi's reasoning mentioned in the letter?"
"According to Kudo Shinichi, the reason why the former village head of Nihara forced his family to commit suicide was because he was diagnosed with cancer. The village head, who could not accept it for a while, chose an extreme approach."
Although the person who answered Hattori Heiji's question was also a female voice, it was not Moe Mizukawa, but a middle-aged woman wearing glasses with a mean face.
The other party came down from the third floor holding on to the handrail of the stairs and said with a smile: "And the truth announced by Kudo Shinichi a year ago is the problem."
"Who are you?" Tang Ze looked at the other person and asked.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm Hanoi Fumari, a reporter from Dongdu News." The middle-aged woman smiled and said, "I'm really sorry, I saw that the door was unlocked and I came in without permission."
But this woman looks a bit mean. It's okay if she doesn't smile. When she smiles, she looks like a vicious woman with malicious intentions. With her sharp voice, she looks like a villain in a movie.
"So, I wonder where Kudo's judgment went wrong?" Hattori Heiji looked at the woman and asked.
"Actually, the nurse at that hospital accidentally let it slip the next day."
Hanoi smiled deeply and said: "Although the former village chief has cancer, it is a benign tumor.
When he heard that he could return to normal after surgery, Mr. Hihara seemed to be in a good mood."
"What did you say?!"
Hattori Heiji was shocked when he heard this. He looked at Kudo Shinichi who was silent next to him and grabbed his shoulders with both hands: "Hey Kudo! What on earth is going on?!
Explain it quickly! Hey, Kudo!"
Xiaolan and Kazuha also looked at Kudo Shinichi with complex expressions on their faces, but the expectations in their eyes also expected him to give a reasonable explanation.
"I..." Kudo Shinichi covered his forehead with a look of pain and confusion on his face, and said in a hoarse voice: "I don't know...I don't know anything right now..."
"Kudo..." Hattori Heiji looked at his bewildered friend and opened his mouth but didn't know how to comfort him.
Xiaolan on the side was staring blankly at the lover in front of her, her face full of worry.
"That's it, I finally understand."
Just when everyone was worried about Kudo Shinichi's amnesia, Mouri Kogoro on the side did hit his left palm with his right fist: "No wonder the villagers in this village have disgusting expressions on their faces after seeing this kid Kudo."
"That's right."
Kawachi looked at the confused Kudo Shinichi with a playful expression: "It's because of his reasoning that he has brought shame to the village chief that everyone respects, so naturally he won't be treated favorably."
"But it's too scary."
After Yuan Shan and Ye heard the whole story, she suddenly realized something and her expression became a little frightened: "If it goes according to what the previous few people said, then the real culprit who killed the village chief's family is still at large, right?
?”
"Yes, everyone in the village thinks so." Mizukawa Moe said with obvious fear on his face: "They said it was the guy who lived in the forest who did it."
"Hey, you just said about the guy who lives in the forest, who is that?" Hattori Heiji couldn't help but asked: "Can you make it clear?"
"It's not a person, it's a folk legend passed down from this generation." Chengshan Shuma explained aloud.
"Folk legend!?"
Hearing this word, Yuan Shan and Ye on the side immediately exclaimed, with full fear in their eyes.
There is no way, as a person who is afraid of ghosts, these kinds of legends and murder cases are just like ghost stories.
However, Chengshan Shuma didn't know what the little girl in front of him was thinking. Seeing everyone looking at him curiously, he organized some words and said: "Yes, I wanted this legend when I was a child.
When you encounter one in the forest, be sure not to look at it. If you cannot avoid it, you will definitely receive retribution.
What will happen after that is to become the prey of Lord Death God."
Boom!
The huge thunder sounded, combined with the dark mountains and forests outside, brought a hint of haze to this not-so-scary folklore.
"Humph, those are just legends spun by parents to scare their children when they were young."
After a moment of silence, Mouri Kogoro chuckled, obviously disdainful of the legends told by the other party.
"maybe."
The expressions of the horses in Chengshan did not waver at all, and they continued to explain the legend to everyone in detail: "But the legend of Lord Death Luo God is that anyone who dares to destroy this land will be judged by the local guardian god.
This was originally just a strange legend widely circulated in our village and surrounding areas.
Until nine years ago, someone's daughter lost her life in a lake in this forest, and the legend became true."
"Isn't it?" Xiaolan said in disbelief.
"Really?" Toyama and Ye looked at Hanoi Shenri and asked, "In this forest?"
"That's right, after the girl entered this forest, she was never seen again."
Hanoi Shenzai told the horrific past expressionlessly, but the combination of that face made it even more gloomy: "At that time, everyone in the village went out to search for traces of the missing girl in the forest.
Until the evening of the third day, some rumors began to spread among the villagers who were desperate for the search.
It is said that because she broke the unwritten rules from ancient times, the girl who entered the forest at dark time angered the guardian of the forest, Shiragami.
So I was judged by the other party."
Upon hearing this, Xiaolan and Kazuye both had frightened expressions on their faces. Apparently, the two of them, who were resistant to ghost stories, were still starting to feel scared.
"And this is just an opening."
Hanoi looked at the frightened two words and smiled in a bad way, and continued: "Later, the father of the girl who heard this rumor did not listen to everyone's advice and entered the forest at sunset.
Looking for my daughter.
After that, there was also no going back.
Two days later, everyone found the body of a drowned girl who had fallen into a lake in the forest.
I remember...the girl's name is Yada Tamako..."
"You said her last name is Yata!?"
Hattori Heiji was shocked when he heard this last name: "That's not..."
"That's right, she is the sister of the person from Yada City who sent you the letter." Shuichuan Mogsheng nodded.
"Then the father who went in to find his daughter was..." Mouri Kogoro hesitated.
"That's right, it's Yada-kun's father, and his whereabouts are still unknown." Mizukawa Moe said with fear in his voice: "Maybe Yada's father was also killed by Lord Raishen..."
There was a thunderous explosion, causing Xiaolan and Xiaolan, who were already in fear, to tremble and scream.
"The God of Death is nothing more than a fictional legend. I prefer that someone use this name to commit crimes."
Tang Ze crossed his arms and said, "In other words, there are not so many conspiracies at all, and Yata and his daughter just died accidentally.
The villagers couldn't find an excuse, so they moved closer to the legend passed down from generation to generation."
"Of course I didn't believe it at first. I thought it was just the superstition of the elders!"
Shuichuan Mogsheng sounded excited, but his face was extremely pale: "But...but I saw it!!
At ten o'clock in the dusk, on the big tree that was dyed as red as blood by the setting sun, the white-haired monster silently revealed its teeth and made a terrifying grin!"
"What did you say!?" Hattori Heiji said in disbelief: "Are you sure you saw it?!"
"Don't you think of monkeys as humans?" Mouri Kogoro did not dare to be as dismissive as before, and said with cold sweat.
"That's definitely not a monkey!"
Mizukawa Moe clenched his hands and looked at Mouri Kogoro and said: "Last week, the people in the village office also saw it like me!"
"But this is strange. According to what you said, Lord Death God will only attack people who enter the forest at night, right?
Hattori Heiji touched his chin and muttered: "According to this theory, he just passively attacks people who enter the forest at night.
But the village chief and his wife were killed in their villa."
Having said this, Hattori Heiji looked at Mizukawa and said, "Do you know of any other reasons?"
"I do know this."
Faced with Hattori Heiji's doubts, Kawachi smiled and said: "Maybe this matter has something to do with the development project in the village.
The original plan of the village chief Nihara was to build a large enough tourist attraction in that forest.
Camping, barbecue, these are all projects that can attract city people to come here, which is naturally a good plan to revitalize the village, but it is a pity..."
"I see, that's why you angered Lord Shinigami?" Mouri Kogoro heard this and understood what Kawauchi Fukasato meant.
"That's right, after the murder of the Japanese village chief and his wife, the planning and construction proposal previously planned in the forest was also cancelled."
Fukasato Kawauchi said: "But as a hero in the village, the village chief Hihara has always believed that developing the forest is the only way out for the village, and it can also avoid the lack of jobs for the young people in the village to go to big cities to work."
"Hero?" Tangze raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why do you use this term?"
"It's normal that you don't know. After all, a long time has passed. When the village chief Hihara was young, he was a track and field alternate for the Olympics."
When Fukasato Kawachi said this, he touched his chin and said in deep thought: "But I have forgotten what projects he is good at, but if you are interested, you can go to his room on the second floor and take a look."
After hearing this, everyone naturally went to the room of the Rihara village chief, and then saw many medals scattered on the table.
"Really, it seems like I have won championships in every competition."
Hattori Heiji looked at the medal, but found that there was only the medal and the straps had been removed.
"Ah, is this the statue of Lord Nioh?" Xiaolan hesitated as she looked at the statue that fell on the table.
"Let me take a look." Mouri Kogoro said and picked it up: "It's quite heavy."
"The workmanship is very fine, but it stands to reason that there should be another statue." Tang Ze looked at the Nioh statue and said, "Generally speaking, this should be a pair of two statues."
"That's right." Hattori Heiji looked at the statue of Nioh in Xiaolan's hand and said, "This one is the humming general with his mouth closed, and there should be another humming general with his mouth open, right."
"On the night when the murder occurred a year ago, one of the statues of King Zunin was lost together with the valuable belongings of the village chief's house." Suma Shiroyama explained.
"I see, that means it was robbed by the prisoner?" Mouri Kogoro said clearly.
"This Nioh statue seems to have been handed down from the Edo period, right?"
Tang Ze, who has been appreciating antiques for three years, chose neon cultural relics knowledge and was a little unsure after identifying them.
"Yes, this is the work of a famous sculptor from the Edo period. Nowadays, one statue costs at least 5 million yen." Shiroyama Suma nodded.
"Five million!? So expensive!?"
After hearing the price, Mouri Kogoro seemed to have touched a hot potato. His hand shook and he almost dropped the Nio statue to the ground. After a lot of fuss, he placed the Nio statue on the table.
"But this is even weirder." Regardless of Mouri Kogoro's tricks, Karasawa said: "It stands to reason that taking a pair should be more valuable, right? But the prisoner only took one of them?"
"We don't know this."
Shiroyama Suma's tone was dull, and he glanced at Kudo Shinichi, who had a blank expression on his face: "But that person seemed to have noticed this at the time.
It’s this Kudo Shinichi who was involved in the case a year ago.”
For a moment, everyone's eyes unconsciously turned to Kudo Shinichi, but the confusion in their minds became more and more confusing.