Mao Lilan skillfully caught Bai Shi and took him to ask the castle owner where he could rest.
After she left, some time passed, but Hattori Heiji still hadn't solved the mystery of the lawn chessboard.
Moreover, he had other doubts in his mind.
——Kudo has disappeared for too long.
Hattori Heiji temporarily gave up solving the puzzle and ran to find someone.
However, after searching around, there was no trace of Conan on this entire floor.
Before, he thought that Conan had a clue and went to study it alone.
But now that half an hour has passed, there should be results.
According to Hattori Heiji's understanding of Conan, if Conan couldn't find anything, he would have come back in despair long ago and continued to check the lawn without incident.
And if he discovers something, he will appear in front of his teammates with a proud look on his face and announce his results.
So now, what about people?
Think about it again. Shiraishi, who was very energetic all the way, suddenly fell asleep not long after arriving at the castle. Although he also slept at Nagato's house, this narcolepsy seems to have chosen a comfortable place with a bed...
...But we cannot rule out other possibilities, such as there is a problem with the air in the villa.
Thinking of this, Hattori Heiji couldn't help but put his hand into his pocket and tightened his grip on the folding stick.
...This detective from Tokyo who loves to sleep must be some kind of prophet.
He said that something was not right about the castle, but Kudo disappeared out of thin air. If he hadn't thought that these two people were not so boring, Hattori Heiji would have suspected that they were teaming up to play tricks on him.
By the way, Kudo seems to have said that Shiraishi has an almost eerily accurate intuition about crime, and can even prevent many murders that have not yet happened. It's a pity that he is asleep now, so he can't rely on this skill of his.
Hattori Heiji looked at the quiet corridor, not intending to stay here any longer.
He began to look for the servants in the castle, intending to ask about the situation in the castle, and also to investigate suspicious people who might have kidnapped Conan.
Since I have an entrustment from Miyamitsu, asking these questions will not arouse any suspicion.
…
Corpses often contain a lot of key information, as do bones that have weathered for many years.
Conan in the secret passage soon discovered that the skeleton's foot bones were much thinner than the bones in other parts of the body.
Combined with its approximate age and gender when it was alive, Conan's mind pictured the face of the old lady in a wheelchair he met when he entered the castle.
Thinking about it this way, that old lady did say something very strange.
——Just now in the hall, when several people accidentally mentioned the late grandfather, she said with emotion, "I have become accustomed to the days when he is not around, just like the pattern of the banknotes and the size of the passport have changed. It will not be used to it at first."
, but as time goes by, you get used to it, time is very scary.”
At first glance, this does sound like what an old man who likes to speak great truths would say.
But according to the gardener, the old lady had been staying in the castle since she had a leg problem for more than ten years and had never left the house, let alone traveled overseas.
The size of the passport was changed six years ago. How can someone who has never used a new passport make such an analogy out of thin air?
Also, in the previous fire, all the servants who served the old lady were burned to death together with the lady, but the old lady escaped. Could it be that...
A terrible suspicion gradually came to Conan's mind.
Before he could take a closer look, there was a sudden heavy blow on his head, as if he had been pushed hard by someone.
Conan lost his balance and fell forward onto the skeleton. Almost at the same time, he heard the sound of bricks falling to the ground.
Conan raised his eyes slightly, and using the flashlight in his watch, he saw the "old lady" standing behind him, holding half a brick in her hand.
The other half broke apart during the sneak attack and fell to the ground.
"..." The bricks were broken, but my head was fine?
Conan was very confused.
Thinking about it carefully, the touch on his head just now didn't feel like someone had hit it with a brick, and now, he didn't feel dizzy or had a headache. Instead, his chin hurt when it hit the skull.
Immediately afterwards, Conan felt itchy on his face and felt a few strands of liquid flowing down his cheek. When it passed through his nose, he could smell the obvious smell of blood.
Conan was even more confused. This brick can also have its own anesthetic effect?
He originally wanted to touch his head to see if there were any wounds, and at the same time he got up and ran away quickly, away from this dangerous "old lady".
But before that, Conan remembered the hat that Black Cat forcefully put on him not long ago, and the words "Just pretend I've never been here."
...If the black cat hadn't come here and given me that strange hat, I would have been slapped on the head with a brick.
With such a strong force, you should be dizzy for a while.
After coming to this conclusion, Conan closed his eyes and lay still.
Nishikawa Suimi picked up the watch and flashlight that he had dropped, and looked at Conan's face. She was relieved when she saw that the child's head was covered in blood and his eyes were closed.
She stepped forward and picked up the person, grabbed the skeleton wrapped in clothes with her other hand, and led them deeper into the secret passage.
After hearing that Mamiya Mitsuru had found two detectives, Nishikawa Susumi had been paying close attention to these people, trying to intercept them, grab the treasure, and then escape through the secret passage.
But now, the treasure has not been found, and a naughty child accidentally found the secret passage. In such a big secret passage, he happened to encounter the corpse of the real old lady...
Nishikawa Suimei cursed her bad luck in her heart, and decided to wait a few days for the child to starve to death, then throw him into the woods outside, pretending that he was playful and slipped into the woods, got lost, slipped, fell, and fainted.
Just like starving to death in the woods.
——This is not the first time she has done something similar. Two years ago, a servant discovered the secret of the secret passage in the castle, and she also dealt with it in this way. Nishikawa Suimi did it very skillfully.
As for the naughty boy's companions, they all look young and have no previous experience. He is a detective, so he probably has a smarter brain than ordinary people, and he shouldn't be obsessed with this matter.
But if they want to call the police, or find something wrong...then they can only be killed together.
With this thought in mind, Nishikawa Suimi arrived at the bottom of the secret passage. She threw down the skeleton and found a piece of rope to tie Conan tightly. She returned to the castle from the secret passage and planned to continue monitoring the other three outsiders.
She remembered that besides this child, there were two boys and one girl.
The man who started to sleep not long after entering the door should not have to worry too much - Nishikawa Susumi remembered that the gardener saw the man suddenly collapse and couldn't understand the situation and almost called an ambulance, so the high school girl explained,
Her companions often fell asleep suddenly.
Nishikawa Suimi quickly came up with a plan.
——As long as you put a drink next to Shiraishi and put some sleeping pills in it, it should be able to solve the problem.
When people first wake up, they easily become thirsty. When they are thirsty, they will drink water. After drinking the sleeping pills, they can continue to sleep... It is not a problem to keep letting them sleep until they leave. Anyway, no one else can judge him.
Did he fall asleep because he drank medicine, or did he fall asleep on his own?
High school girls are timid and probably won't wander around. As long as you scare her, she will stay in the room. Even if she discovers a problem, her thin little arms and legs are no match for her.
The only troublesome thing is the dark detective.
If he also finds the secret passage and enters it, then deal with him in the dark. As long as you seize the opportunity and attack lightly, no one can withstand a blow from behind.