Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 369 "Kyosuke Haga's Music Guide"

The open space behind the main building.

After a brief moment of distraction, Haga Kyosuke took a violin case from the car. When the case was opened, a violin with a unique texture was revealed—a Stradivarius.

Feeling the unique texture of Stradivarius, Kyosuke Haga gently stroked his fingers, barely suppressing the urge to play a piece.

This was a gift his father gave him when he was a child, so the idea that it was given to Tsuneichiro as a birthday present is complete nonsense.

"Is this the real Stradivarius?"

Gao Mo was leaning against the wall of the main building when he suddenly spoke, startling Yuhe Xiangfu.

"Starting with C and ending with C, it seems to have a lot of musical artistry, but is it really okay to link music with crime? The requiem that will be played later is also used to kill people, right?"
The reason we chose Renshi's room was to get Mrs. Ayane upstairs to come to the window, so we could use the replica from the storage room, along with the real Stradivarius you're holding, which we'll be playing later.

"Mr. Kido..."

Haga Kyosuke turned around with a stiff smile.

When...did you find out?

“It all started when you rescued Madam Xuanyin from the fire.” Gao Mo crossed his arms.

Actually, it was when I heard about the curse of the Shitara family, but I was really sure that Haga Kyosuke was the one with the problem during the fire.

"Gensaburo's room wasn't locked from the inside before the fire, so you, the first person to try to open the door, are in big trouble. I checked the cigarette butts Gensaburo threw away today, and they all had bite marks on them, but the cigarette butt that caused the fire had no marks at all. You must have prepared the same brand of cigarettes beforehand."

The reason you insisted on rescuing Madam Ayane was because you didn't want two adjacent notes to appear together, causing dissonance. I asked Miss Renshi, and before that, only you were tuning the Stradivarius piano in Madam Ayane's room that afternoon; you didn't know she went to the annex's audiovisual room.”

“Yes,” Haga Kyosuke chuckled self-deprecatingly, “how was I supposed to know she’d go to the annex where her son fell to his death?”

As he spoke, Haga Kyosuke looked at Akiba Reiko, who was hiding behind him.

"You told Qiu Ting about the discordant notes and scales, didn't you? I never expected that my friends in the music industry would become my weakness. I also never expected that Lianxi would hire a detective because of the curse. I'm really unlucky."

Akiba Reiko, who had been hiding, looked a little awkward, but she still walked out and stood next to Gao Mo, looking at her friend Haga Kyosuke with a complicated expression.

Even now, she still can't accept that this musical genius committed murder.

"Haga, so is everything Mr. Kido said true?"

“Absolutely right. I did intend to kill her with a requiem, because that woman could tell that Stradivarius’s voice was terrible, right?”

Haga Kyosuke was very frank and did not choose to make excuses.

"But this can be considered retribution. Thirty years ago, they tried to replace the borrowed Stradivarius with a counterfeit. When my father found out, he fell down the stairs during an argument with them. In order to possess the Stradivarius, that old man didn't call an ambulance but instead staged a robbery with others."

Finally, my mother passed away first while caring for my comatose father, and my father soon succumbed to his injuries.

Under the moonlight, Kyosuke Haga placed his Stradivarius violin on his shoulder, closed his eyes, and gently plucked the strings.

"Perhaps there really is some kind of curse. Two years ago, when the old man asked me to help tune the instrument, I discovered that this instrument was a birthday gift my father gave me when I was a child. So I went to ask Yongmei, that woman, and she told me the whole truth."

It was as if it were a divine revelation to me. The woman had barely finished speaking when she fell down the stairs just like my father, and starting with my mother's C, it perfectly matched the musical scale. Even the person who had been sent from the heavens a year ago suddenly fell off the balcony and died.

"You didn't kill Mr. Jiangren?"

“No,” Haga Kyosuke said gracefully, his melancholy eyes blending perfectly with Stradivarius’s. “Do you believe in death? I believed after the death of the succubus, but this year the old man only has six months to live because of lung cancer. I have no choice but to personally step in and help death complete this artistic crime.”

"What art is there in crime? And death isn't necessarily what you think it is."

Gao Mo watched as Haga Kyosuke began to play a requiem with elegance.

"If you still want to kill Lady Ayane, you should give up. I have already sent the butler to her room. Just listening to the Stradivarius timbre won't kill anyone. I have also removed the trap you set outside the window. She won't 'jump to her death'."

Kyosuke Haga paused slightly, but continued playing, displaying a complete obsessive-compulsive disorder, as if he were completely immersed in the world of music.

Gao Mo didn't seem to feel anything, but Akiba Reiko next to him was crying, listening with her eyes closed to Haga Kyosuke's perfect performance, seemingly feeling sad and regretful for her friend's musical talent.

Although perfect pitch can be trained, like her, Yosuke Haga was born with it, a talent that far surpasses anything acquired later in life. At this moment, she completely understood Yosuke Haga's music.

It was like a true requiem, a farewell to the world. "There's one more question," Gao Mo continued, looking at the two enjoying the music, "The note after Lady Ayane's is H, is it Renki's H or Yuhe's H?"

Akiba Reiko glanced resentfully at Gao Mo, who had interrupted the performance.

"It's him. Mr. Kido is an excellent detective, but he's a complete novice when it comes to music."

"To be precise, I'm not a detective either."

Gao Mo didn't hear anything, and even if he did, he might not have believed it.

but……

[Kyosuke Haga's Music Guide, 4 stars]

A music career book, but unfortunately it's only 4 stars and doesn't include any talent attributes.

While this musical genius's professional skills are also important, the lack of perfect pitch would certainly be far less impressive.

Talent itself is an extension of innate ability.

"Uncle Hibiki!"

Upon hearing the violin performance, Shiratsuki and her group rushed over, looking at the subtly tense atmosphere with confusion.

At this moment, Kyosuke Haga finally put down his violin, looked melancholically at the night sky, sighed softly, and a faint smile appeared on his face, a smile that contained nostalgia, resentment, and a touch of relief.

"I think Mr. Kido understands music. Music really shouldn't be tainted by anything superfluous. I was wrong."

The police arrived at the Shitara family home shortly afterward and took away Kyosuke Haga, who had turned himself in. Shitara Renki cried her eyes out as she left.

“Mr. Kido,” Shira Renki clung tightly to Gao Mo’s arm, pressing him for an answer, “Dad wasn’t killed by Uncle, right?”

"Probably? I don't think he would lie about this," Gao Mo said uncertainly.

It does sound a bit like the Grim Reaper coming to claim someone; only Kyosuke Haga himself knows whether it's true or not.

"That's wonderful!" Shira Renki happily wiped away her tears.

What's good?

Gao Mo curled his lip and handed the Stradivarius violin to Shira Renshi.

"Here you go. It seems that Yuga Kyosuke wants you to inherit it."

The real thing is just different.

He has obtained what he needed.

[Storage Pool +100]

Tsk, it's clearly a musical instrument, yet it's comparable to the Muramasa demon sword.

Is this considered fulfilling the mission of breaking the curse?

"C-Can I?" Shirareki asked, both hopeful and scared, unable to take the Stradivarius for a long time. "Grandpa, Grandma, and..."

"It wasn't theirs to begin with, and even if it were, it would soon end up in your hands."

Gao Mo turned to look at the elderly couple trembling and leaning against the window in the main building.

One is critically ill and dying, the other is also shrouded in deathly aura and has already been targeted by the rules of death.

Soon, only Shiraki Renki will remain in the Shiraki family.

terrible.

“Mr. Kido,” Reiko Akiba hailed a taxi to go home, pausing as she got in, “I will be performing at the opening ceremony concert of the Domoto Concert Hall next month. Would you like to attend?”

(End of this chapter)