They drove from day to night and finally arrived at their destination.
Among the mountains at the junction of Gunma Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture, a beautiful Western-style house stands on the open space on the top of the mountain.
Under the setting sun, the stone bricks on the exterior walls of the bungalow exude a warm light, contrasting with the shadows in the corners, forming a beautiful landscape painting.
After getting off the bus, Maori Ran and Toyama Kazuha went together to enjoy the sunset near the bungalow. Officer Otaki revealed the deeper reason why Hattori Heizo took this incident so seriously.
It turned out that half a year ago, a maid here died in the forest near the bungalow. The body was tied to a wooden stake inserted in the soil and hung upside down with her head facing down.
According to nearby villagers who found the body, when the body was discovered, its skin was extremely pale and it was hanging upside down. Therefore, people passing by from a distance thought it was a scarecrow several times.
After the autopsy, the police found that the maid died of excessive blood loss, but there were no other external wounds on her body except for two small holes in her neck.
This can't help but be reminiscent of the magical creatures called "vampires" described in some foreign fantasy movies.
"Suck, vampire?"
"Are you saying that the murder was committed by a vampire?"
Mouri Kogoro's eyes widened in surprise and asked Officer Otaki.
Upon seeing this, Officer Otaki quickly smiled and waved his hand, "That's just a rumor circulating nearby... because this area was once ruled by a lord."
"Lord?" Mouri Kogoro frowned in confusion.
At this time, Hattori Heiji interrupted Mouri Kogoro and asked: "The murderer hasn't been arrested yet?"
As a staunch materialist warrior, Hattori Heiji was not affected by those weird legends at all.
Conan, who was at a lower position, frowned, his eyes slightly dark.
Officer Otaki shook his head, "No..."
"Although the object of suspicion at first was the owner of this bungalow, Mr. Tokura Sakiya, because the maid who was killed once told others privately that his recent behavior was creepy and that he felt that his life was in danger at any time...
…”
The stubborn Mouri Kogoro immediately said with a serious face: "So it is indeed that master..."
Just before he finished speaking, a figure stood quietly next to everyone and said calmly: "The murderer is not the master, because the master has an alibi."
Everyone turned around and saw an old man with glasses wearing a suit and bow tie, standing there upright.
"Because the master was sleeping in the room at the estimated time of death of the maid, Miss Shimizu, and has a clear alibi."
"And the irony is that the person who can prove that I have an alibi happens to be the chef who heard Miss Qingshui complain..."
Suddenly, the old man changed the subject and faced the stocky Otaki and said respectfully: "Everyone is very welcome. Are you the police officer Otaki of Osaka Prefecture?"
Otaki nodded in response, "Yes, so you are the client?"
"Yes, I am the housekeeper of this bungalow."
"My name is Koga, and I am an old classmate of the father of the Head of the Hattori Department."
When the old man came up, he showed off how he had used the back door in front of outsiders.
At this time, Conan took the initiative to step forward and asked the old man: "Excuse me, what do you mean by the phrase "The master is creepy recently?"
With the blessing of Conan's question-answering buff, the old man's eyes were wide open, he looked down at Conan and replied: "I've been really weird lately. For example, he seems to want to avoid the sun and stays in the room to sleep during the day...
"
"Even the silver tableware that he usually used very much was suddenly no longer needed. He said that silver made him allergic and ordered everyone to throw it all into the warehouse."
"A few days ago, the chef put his favorite garlic in the soup, but he was so angry that he smashed the bowl on the spot and shouted angrily, 'This will make the blood rot, and you are not allowed to add it to food in the future.'"
When Mouri Kogoro heard this, he shrank his shoulders in shock and said in surprise: "This is just like..."
"Yes, I think this is how Miss Qingshui sees him, right?"
"This is just like the legendary Vampire..."
As soon as the old man finished speaking, he was overheard by Mao Lilan and Yuan Shanheye who happened to be wandering nearby.
"Vam...Vampire!"×2
The two women screamed at the same time, and even their small movements of pinching their hands when frightened were unusually synchronized.
"Did you just say Vampire?"
"Please, what's wrong with the vampire?"
Vampire is a proper noun, and the two women immediately thought of the kind of terrifying creature that only appears in fantasy works.
Hattori Heiji looked at the two of them and complained in his mind why he came back at such an untimely time.
"I mean the bumper, the bumper!"
"Uncle Maori accidentally damaged the bumper of the car he rented. We are discussing how to solve it!"
In order to prevent Toyama and Ye from retreating temporarily and clamoring to go back, Hattori Heiji once again used his talent for pretending and improvised homophonic jokes.
The English word for bumper is bumper, which is similar in pronunciation to vampire.
The second girl was really easy to fool, and she laughed in relief when she heard it was a bumper.
"What, it turns out to be a bumper..."
"Heiji, you should hurry in and take a look, it's like a castle inside~"
While they were wandering around just now, the two girls had already gone around to the courtyard behind the bungalow to have a look.
At this time, the old man raised his head and looked at the fading sunset in the distance, murmuring: "It's almost time for the master to get up..."
"Before dinner is ready, please take a look around the museum."
The old man turned his head and opened one eye to look at everyone.
"The most important inheritance distribution ceremony will be held after dinner..."
…
Next, under the leadership of the housekeeper Koga, everyone took a brief tour of the interior of the bungalow.
Although it is a bungalow in the mountains, it is staffed with quite a lot of management staff, and it is not at all as gloomy and desolate as the impression of a villa in the mountains.
The interiors of the bungalows are also decorated in a Western style, which is more classical and has the style of Western aristocratic families of the last century.
Koga took everyone around and then took them to the restaurant and said that dinner would start soon and they would wait here for a while.
After saying that, Koga left first.
Mao Lilan and Toyama Kazuye stood behind the host's seat, watching the maid meticulously place cutlery, forks, plates, etc. on the dining table in accordance with Western table etiquette standards, and they were quite moved.
"I've only seen this kind of scene in movies or TV series, but I've never experienced it myself~"
"It's great, it feels like we have all become nobles!"
Conan, who was standing behind the guest seat, glanced sideways at Mao Lilan and complained in his heart: Don't you have to be like this?
During the Dusk Annex Incident, the scene was similar to this one.
Even that villa is more retro and luxurious than this villa.
While everyone was waiting for the host to arrive, a slightly unhappy female voice came from the door.
"Hey, who are you people?"
"I said you are probably my brother's illegitimate children, right?"
Everyone turned around and saw a woman with dyed brown hair raising her eyebrows and glaring at them.
"How could such a thing happen?"
Next to her, a square-faced man wearing glasses walked up to the woman and said with a smile: "If it was really an illegitimate child, my brother wouldn't have called us here..."
"That's not necessarily the case."
Another old woman wearing a purple dress and combing her hair behind her head came over, "With Sakimi's character, it is not completely impossible even if there is an illegitimate child outside that we don't know about..."
"Just like the one I brought back from outside a few years ago, a woman with a very different age, and the child born to that woman..."
As she spoke, the old woman glanced thoughtfully at the maid who had just placed all the tableware on the table.
Next to the old woman, the pretty boy with yellow hair smiled, "But the fiancée was really unlucky. She died in a car accident before she could officially get married..."
"Oh~ but this is a good thing for you, right?"
The pretty boy looked at the man and woman who just spoke in front of him with a smile, obviously looking weird.
But he didn't notice that even the expression of the "old baby" next to him changed slightly.
Just when the young boy was feeling proud, a tall and sturdy figure suddenly appeared behind him and grabbed him by the collar.
"You guy! If you dare to say such things next time, I won't let you go easily!"
There is another new face, with a beard, and he seems to be a member of this family.
However, faced with the man's threat, the pretty boy still said: "What, what's wrong? Don't you feel very lucky too?"
"What? Could it be that you have real feelings?"
"Did you fall in love with that mistress with a child?"
Faced with the pretty boy's provocation, the man's fist on the other hand clenched tightly, and he was about to make a move.
But at this moment, a woman with glasses and pink lips at the door leaned against the door frame and said calmly: "Can we stop talking about mistresses here?"
"I am also a child born from the union of a father and a mistress..."
"But from a legal point of view, as long as the deceased only has brothers and sisters, then I can also get a considerable share of the inheritance."
Having said this, the bespectacled woman's lips slightly curled up, "Then I'd like to ask for your advice..."
The woman's indifferent and fun-loving attitude doesn't seem to get along well with other family members.
Not far away, Conan and others looked at the family's "high-quality" relationship, and all of them had half-moon eyes drooping.
Hattori Heiji: "It seems that there will be a dramatic inheritance battle later..."
Mouri Kogoro: "Agree..."
…
After a while, the appetizers for dinner were arranged, and everyone sat on both sides of the long dining table.
On one side of the dining table are the troubled relatives of the owner of the bungalow, and on the other side are the outsiders like Conan and others.
"The master hasn't gotten up yet, but he told me before that you don't need to wait for him and can eat directly."
The beautiful maid who had just arranged the tableware informed everyone, and then stood beside the empty master's seat and waited quietly.
Conan glanced at the people at the table and sorted out everyone's identity in his mind.
The owner of this bungalow, Tokura Sakuya, has four brothers and sisters in total, including two younger brothers, one older sister, and one younger sister.
The two younger brothers are the square-faced man who was wearing glasses just now, and the muscular man with beards.
One sister is an old woman wearing revealing clothes; the other sister is the bespectacled woman who claims to be the daughter of a mistress.
The other pretty girl and the mean girl who spoke at the beginning are the old woman's lover and the square-faced man's wife respectively.
However, these people seemed to mention that the child of the owner of the bungalow and his previous fiancée was also in the house.
Although it seems that this child has no inheritance rights, it is still worthy of attention...
Conan was scanning around and suddenly found that there was an empty seat in the corner of the dining table on his side.
"Um...there seems to be an extra seat here?"
Conan looked at the maid standing next to the host and asked innocently.
The maid glanced at the empty seat in the corner, turned to look at the old woman sitting on one side, and said, "This is the seat requested by Madam Tokura Mamoru..."
At this time, the old woman gracefully put down the knife and fork in her hand, raised her lips and smiled: "Huh, don't think you are the only ones who will prepare in advance..."
"I also invited a heavyweight guest to attend this ceremony, but he said he would not arrive here until later."
Heavyweight guest?
Conan and the others frowned, wondering what kind of guests would be invited to such an occasion?
Generally speaking, when it comes to inheritance distribution, lawyers are definitely the most professional.
But the other party said that the important guest was a famous lawyer?
When it comes to famous lawyers, the first thing that comes to Conan's mind is Fei Yingli, who is known as the "Queen of Legal Affairs".
She is Xiaolan’s biological mother.
Haha, it’s not such a coincidence that the enemy team of Uncle Maori and Auntie Fei are here, right?
Putting aside the questions of the heavyweight guests for the time being, everyone began to talk about the inheritance distribution ceremony.
It turns out that not long ago, the owner of the bungalow, Tokura Yuya, was diagnosed with cancer and may have less than half a year left.
Therefore, Tokura Gakuya convened the meeting and said that those who did not attend would automatically lose their inheritance rights.
Among the five brothers and sisters with the same surname as Tokura, only Tokura Sakuya has the best financial situation.
Not only did he once open a private hospital and make a lot of money, but because he is the eldest son in the family, he also controls most of the family property left by his ancestors.
Therefore, as soon as they heard that the inheritance was going to be distributed, everyone did not dare to be absent and all showed up.
"A conservative estimate, Sakuya's current assets are about 1 billion yen..."
"1,01 billion yen!"
Mouri Kogoro was so frightened that his eyes widened and he couldn't even speak clearly.
Conan in the corner had his eyelids drooping, with beef cubes in sauce in his mouth, thinking to himself: This doesn't cost much...
At this moment, the muscular man with beard sitting opposite interrupted the old woman and said, "But isn't it too slow, brother?"