Conan's corpse picker

Chapter 3787-3801 [Hashimoto Maya's Murder] Requesting monthly votes ()

Hashimoto Maya is actually very melancholy.

The original plan was to select a pastry chef for the island, and then the dessert shop project could be copied there. But shortly after arriving, the dessert shop's president suddenly died, the most handsome pastry chef went to jail, and the other two…

"They don't really meet the criteria; they're just two ordinary suspects who like to argue," Hashimoto Maya thought to herself.
"The candy magician's candies are quite beautiful, but after the shopkeeper died, she became determined to only make delicious candies and never touch those candy art pieces again... Those plain-looking candies, no matter how delicious, probably won't win Lord Uzo's favor."

During this time, besides Osamu, Hashimoto Maya had been keeping an eye on various cases in Tokyo. Combined with his past experiences with different cases, he had also gained a vague understanding of his superior's preferences.

"Forget it. Thinking about it carefully, there's no need to rush the food. As long as the atmosphere is right, even a mound of rice can feel like a luxurious feast. I'd better think about inviting a few celebrities to the island to warm things up first."

While pondering, Hashimoto Maya kept an eye on the movements of the other group in the amusement park.

The experience he had at this amusement park was far from pleasant.

If he were to follow his heart, after things ended at the confectionery shop, Hashimoto Maya would definitely leave this chaotic and dangerous city immediately and return to his quiet little island where it's hard to find a suitable candidate for any of the three options.

Unfortunately, Lord Uzo has not yet left.

—His boss hadn't left, so how could he dare to leave? Staying here might get him involved in the case, but it was better than leaving early and then being put on the boss's fire list for missing an important moment on stage.

So after leaving Mrs. Sakihara to handle things at the confectionery shop, Hashimoto Maya pondered what she should do next.

After thinking for a moment, he found the sleeping Jiang Xia and then waited nearby as if nothing had happened.

"If I remember correctly, when I first joined the company, Lord Uzo gave me a mission to 'murder Jiang Xia'."

Of course, the goal wasn't to kill the detective outright, but rather to observe the environment and people around Jiang Xia, devise a plan to set a trap, create a stage fraught with danger, and ultimately eliminate Jiang Xia.

...The work plan is grand, but so far, let alone a complete stage, Hashimoto Maya hasn't even come up with a single trap that could fool Jiang Xia.

"But even if I have no ideas, I still have to pretend I've tried. It's rare that Jiang Xia is currently completely off guard; this is the perfect time to devise a murder plan..."

With that in mind, Hashimoto Maya crouched near the sleeping Jiangxia, racking her brains for a while to devise a murder plan.

Then I got so tired that my head was spinning.

—I must say, Jiangxia really knows how to pick a location. Nobody comes here at all, and the surrounding area is just ordinary trees and bushes; even the tables and chairs are fixed to the ground.

Everything was so peaceful; Director Hashimoto couldn't possibly write a script where "a lunatic suddenly wanders in, pries up a chair nailed to the ground, and beats Jiang Xia to death."

—Leaving aside whether he can succeed, even if he were blessed with good fortune and succeeded smoothly, if he used such a crude and unskilled method to defeat the one and only "Sherlock Holmes," then the next step would probably be for Director Hashimoto to be smashed into mincemeat by Director Uzo with a few lunatics.

"...We can't do anything reckless! Let's think about it another way. If Jiang Xia is to be killed, there should at least be a sufficiently important person involved and a sufficiently grand scene."

"In this garden, the people who can be associated with 'importance'..."

Hashimoto Maya pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Besides Lord Uzo himself, wouldn't that mean I'm the only one left who's directly under Uzo?"

...This is bad!
"Let's just forget about Jiangxia for now. I've already tried my best today, but I just didn't come up with a clever way to kill him..." Hashimoto Maya was sweating profusely. She decisively withdrew from around Jiangxia and ran away from this dangerous place with a strong sense of crisis.

He had ideas, but he didn't want to actually become a pawn in the murder of Jiang Xia. This famous detective seemed harmless, but anyone with a brain would know that if he were that easy to kill, given the number of criminals Jiang Xia had offended, this detective wouldn't have had the chance to sit in the garden and sleep leisurely.

"I should go check on Lord Uzo," Hashimoto Maya reasoned to herself. "Anyway, the conditions for starting a performance at Jiangxia's place aren't ready anytime soon. If I keep standing next to him at a time like this, it'll just look like I'm slacking off..."

And so, Hashimoto Maya began to sneak around the garden. Then she saw that black-clad figure etched into her DNA and followed them all the way to the game hall.

……

At first, when she followed Uzo-sama, the policewoman, and a group of colleagues into the arcade, Hashimoto Maya thought it was just a small step in the game.

But soon he realized that the group seemed to be looking for someone.

"Is this what they're looking for?"

Watching the young man, who seemed otherwise normal except for his accurate pitching, Hashimoto Maya hid behind the claw machine and observed for a while. Then, after the group of people followed the young man away, she quietly followed behind.

After following for a few steps, Hashimoto Maya stopped and casually turned to another arcade machine, inserting the remaining game coins from her pocket to start a new game.

Hashimoto Maya: "..." Wait a minute, why is there another large group of people following them besides me??
"These days, it's not just subordinates who are this cunning, even stalkers are this cunning...?"

As Hashimoto Maya played her game, she patiently waited for a large group of followers to leave with Sato Miwako and the man in black, like a tidal wave.

He waited a while before following.

After taking a few steps, Hashimoto Maya's eye twitched.

"...Is it just my imagination? Why does it feel like someone is following me?"

When Hashimoto Maya first tried to follow them, she noticed, using the reflections from several black machines, that two or three people had left the game console a few meters away and followed her.

When he suddenly stopped, the group of people also stopped as if nothing had happened.

"Lord Uzo and the policewoman are following the young man wearing a baseball cap."

"That large group of fierce-looking, burly men are following Lord Uzo and the policewoman again."

"Just as I caught up with this group of burly men, the three of them stopped playing again and followed..."

...How many people are actually following us in this amusement park?
One of the peripheral members fell silent for a brief moment.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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