Conan: I'm just an ordinary novelist

Chapter 229 The 2rd Victim

When Conan and Hattori found Yun Xianhe, the seagulls had already been comforted by the other party with a pile of French fries.

The well-fed seagulls were very satisfied with Yun Xianhe's act of taking all their fish.

The white French fries humans accepted their kindness!

This means we are good friends now! We can continue to trade fish for chips next time!

The brave man who had three boxes of fish stored in the system space sneezed.

He glanced at the gray sea and raised his hand to test the temperature of his forehead.

I'm just out fishing for a while, I shouldn't get sick, right?

"Brother Xianhe! We should go back!"

"Oh—I'll be right there."

Yun Xianhe, who was carrying a small bucket of fish, left a handful of French fries on the reef.

He bent down and rubbed the head of Seagull No. 1, who refused to leave:

"I'm going back now. See you next time."

"Ahhh——(French fry human, are you leaving? Will you come next time? When will you come?)"

Looking at the seagulls that were following him and making unknown calls, Yun Xianhe smiled helplessly:

"I can't take you back."

“(Are there enough fish? Will you come again tomorrow? Why can’t you take me with you? I’m a very good kid!)”

Hattori, who was far away, looked at Yun Xianhe who was chatting with Seagull, and complained with his half-moon eyes:

“He always takes people by surprise.”

"Brother Xianhe seems to be very popular with small animals."

Especially birds.

Seeing the seagull about to follow the other party, Conan added this sentence in his heart.

Yun Xianhe, who had finally persuaded the seagull to go home (?), carried the fish and followed the two back to the hotel to change clothes. They still had to go to Miss Ebihara's house to investigate some matters.

"Sorry for the long wait - so, what did you get out of this afternoon?"

The two detectives who were asked sighed in unison:

"Not at all." x2

Recalling the longevity lady he met this afternoon, Hattori Heiji complained:

"That old woman has a hoarse voice and looks very bad. I don't think she will live much longer."

"Hey--"

Yun Xianhe recalled the longevity lady he saw at the celebration and didn't say much.

Conando on the side looked at him several times.

The very experienced young detective always feels that the other party has discovered clues that they have not noticed.

Maybe you've even guessed who the murderer is.

"I don't know who the murderer is."

“Ah, eh?!”

He spoke his mind?!

Looking at Conan's stunned face, Yun Xianhe rubbed his hair with a smile:

"You didn't say it, but it's written on your face."

"Haha... then, Brother Xianhe, did you find anything?"

"There are too few clues. We need to verify some more things."

Hearing this, Conan didn't ask any further questions.

Since Brother Xianhe already has a clue, this case should be over soon, right?

Hattori Heiji standing by thought the same thing.

But it turned out that the two of them had oversimplified the case.

When Hattori and Conan saw the person hanging on the fishing net in the lightning at night, their faces were full of disbelief.

The second victim, Naoko Kuroe, appeared.

Yun Xianhe, who was standing at the back of the crowd, used the tip of his tongue to press the salty candy he used to replenish salt against his cheek, then lowered his eyes to survey the entire scene.

It's not a very technical technique, but it does require sufficient proof of your alibi.

"Brother Xianhe! Camera!"

"Give."

Looking at the two adults and one child who ran to check the scene, Yun Xianhe reached into his pocket, took out two pieces of candy and handed them to He Ye and Xiao Lan who were the first to discover the body.

"Eat?"

The two people who were frightened and still a little dazed turned around and took the candy from Yun Xianhe's hand with somewhat stiff movements.

"Hey, look at these footprints, they lead directly to the sea!"

Kogoro Mouri, who was watching the scene, spoke up.

"Really? Something shiny seems to have fallen next to the footprints. What is this..."

As Hattori Heiji spoke, he half-knelt down and dug the ground with his fingers.

When he saw clearly what the shiny disc on his fingertips was, he was stunned for a moment:

"This, this is fish scales..."

Hearing his words, Yun Xianhe walked down the corridor and picked up a small piece of scale.

The round scales shone with dreamy colors under the moonlight, and you could faintly smell the fishy smell of sea fish.

The knowledgeable hero compared it with the mermaids he remembered, and said firmly:

"Not mermaid scales."

"Huh? How can these be mermaid scales?"

Hattori Heiji, who was still investigating the scene, looked at Yun Xianhe who was half-squatting beside him, and complained with his half-moon eyes.

The brave man, who was wondering what kind of fish this was, nodded perfunctorily.

Conan, who was not far away, said:

"Ms. Naoko also has two or three scales like this on her body."

Those beautiful fish scales can be seen within the range of the little detective's flashlight.

They were hung on the victim's black clothes, and because of the light at night, it seemed as if the scales were growing out of them.

The murderer most likely wanted to use this method to link Naoko Kuroe's death to the mermaid.

I have to say that the other party was also successful.

At least Yun Xianhe could see the real panic on those people's faces.

As if they were afraid that something would come back to take revenge on them.

The police officer who arrived slowly interrupted Conan and others' investigation of the scene.

A group of detectives gathered at the door of the outer corridor, watching the men's actions.

When Hattori Heiji briefly told Xiaolan and Kazuha about the situation at the scene, the two girls, who were already afraid of this kind of legend, were already frightened.

"Could it be that the murderer is a mermaid?!"

After hearing what Kazuha said, Hattori Heiji said with a half-mooned look:

"Idiot, there's no way a mermaid would wear boots."

"Pfft, mermaid with long boots, um, it would be more reasonable to change them to rubber shoes."

Seeing everyone looking at him, Yun Xianhe shrugged slightly.

"Sorry, sorry, Hattori, please continue."

The atmosphere on the scene was not that tense.

Yun Xianhe, listening to Hattori's reasoning, played with the shiny fish scales on his fingertips, as if he had discovered something new.

"Could this murderer be the same person who killed Sumi?"

Fukuyama Rokuro walked over from a distance, his frown showing that he was in a bad mood.

Hearing this, Maori Kogoro replied:

"It's not very clear at the moment, but what is certain is that the murderer took Miss Naoko's dugong arrow."

"Eh? Took the dugong's arrow?"

He Ye, who was also hit by the dugong's arrow, subconsciously pressed his chest.

The shrine maiden beside her, Shimabukuro Kimie, seemed to be thinking:

"Saori also disappeared after she mentioned the dugong arrow. Could it be that she..."

"...Yes, maybe she has been murdered now."

Hattori's slightly hoarse voice sounded listless and a little unwilling.

He didn't expect that the most undesirable thing he discussed with Conan last night would happen.

This is a serial murder case.