Conan: I'm just an ordinary novelist

"No."

Ito Misari's rebuttal was very straightforward, even a little anxious.

After realizing that her reaction was a bit too much, she frowned slightly in annoyance and stared at the person in front of her.

Hearing this, the ghost did not insist, but shrugged and chuckled indifferently:

"Then I guess I heard it wrong. Thank you for your kindness, ma'am."

After saying this, the ghost picked up his cane and slowly left.

As Ito Misari watched the other person leave, she always felt something was strange.

It was not until the tall and thin figure disappeared around the corner of the street that she slowly put down the gun in her hand, looked around guiltily, and turned back to go home.

Second floor attic.

Hattori Heiji and Kazuha, who were tied up upstairs, sat back to back in a corner against the wall.

In the dim room, there was only a small patch of light coming from the skylight, shining on a piece of paper covered with numbers and letters.

That was the condition put forward by the kidnappers just now.

As long as they figure out what those numbers mean, the other party will let them go.

But it was clear that working for the kidnappers was not the detective's style.

The tiny sound of metal clanging echoed in the empty attic.

Hattori moved his fingers carefully, trying to pry open the lock of the handcuffs with the pin that He Ye had just stuffed into his pocket.

However, lock picking is also a technical job.

After fiddling with it for a long time without being able to open it, Hattori accidentally stabbed Kazuha's hand with a pin, which caused the other party to scold him softly:

"It hurts, where are you going, Heiji? I meant the left side!"

"Fool! Don't speak so loudly! Those guys will hear you!"

Hattori said in a low voice.

Hearing this, He Ye quickly shut his mouth.

The more nervous a person is, the more his hands will sweat and the more likely he will become weak.

The pin that had just been pushed into the keyhole slipped at my fingertips, bounced twice on the floor very smoothly, and got stuck in the narrow crack of the floor.

Hattori, whose forehead was already covered with sweat, exclaimed in a low voice:

"Oh no! The pin fell into the crack of the floor!"

"What are you doing? How can you open the handcuffs without the pin?"

"Do you have anything else like pins?"

"That's all..."

"hateful!"

Feeling that escape was hopeless, He Ye spoke in a depressed tone.

She turned her head and looked at the only light on the floor:

"Forget about the handcuffs. You should solve this code first, right? If you solve the code, we can leave here, right?"

Very naive idea.

Hattori was about to say something to Kazuha when he was interrupted by a voice coming from the attic stairs.

The two were startled and looked up at the same time.

Then the tall and thin man from the two kidnappers came up:

"If you want to go out and bask in the sun, quickly reveal the secret code. Otherwise..."

The rising tone revealed evil and contempt.

The short and fat kidnapper following behind him threw the man on his shoulders to the ground.

"Mr. Kusukawa?!"

Hattori recognized the other person's identity at a glance. It was the client he came to visit today.

The two kidnappers looked down at Hattori and Kazuha, and the tall and thin one was still threatening:

"Otherwise you will become a cold corpse like this guy."

After saying this, the two men left the attic with a grin on their faces.

It seems that he intends to give Hattori some time to think carefully about the interests involved.

"Hei, Heiji..."

He Ye was a little scared.

Watching them go away, Hattori lowered his voice and comforted them:

"Don't worry, these bad guys don't know, but that guy already knows about it."

“That guy is…?”

"That's right. If that guy knew, he would definitely find this place. If Xianhe was among them..."

Hattori chuckled.

If those two were together, they would definitely rescue them!

"Aren't you going to run away on your own?"

"?!"x2

The sudden voice startled the two of them.

Kazuha felt a chill blowing around her and leaned back towards Hattori in fear:

"Hei-Heiji! Did you hear that?!"

"Um……"

A crisp clicking sound was heard, and the two men tensed up like frightened birds.

Hattori keenly noticed that the curtains hanging on the wall were shaking slightly.

"Strange, where does the wind come from?"

“This thing is really hard to take apart.”

It sounds like someone is sighing.

Hattori was shocked to hear it more clearly this time:

"?!who!"

"Shh-"

A bony hand reached out from the gap in the curtain and gently pulled it open.

The sunlight, which was not very bright due to the rain, seemed particularly bright against the backdrop of the dark attic.

The magician in a transparent raincoat half-crouched on the window frame, holding the other half of the window that was not opened with one hand and lightly grasping the curtain with the other hand.

The eyes covered by gauze looked at the two people in front of him curiously.

Like a big bird landing on the windowsill.

When Hattori recognized that this person was the blind man he had just seen outside the gate, he was so shocked that he was speechless.

The water droplets on the raincoat fell on the floor with a crisp sound, waking up the two people who were stunned by the fright.

He Ye opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something.

Before the other party could speak, the ghost raised a finger to his lips and said in a low voice:

"My lady, you must pay attention to your situation and be careful not to attract demons."

Hattori, who was standing by, nudged Kazuha with his elbow and successfully interrupted the other person.

Then, he looked up at the ghost against the light and said uncertainly:

"You, can see it?"

Hearing this, the ghost chuckled.

Perhaps he was a little tired of squatting, so he simply sat down on the window frame.

The magician asked back with some curiosity:

"You won't ask me to save you?"

What a weird guy.

Hattori paused when he heard this.

He was sure that the person in front of him could see, but he didn't know what method he used.

If you can see it, why cover it with gauze?

Wait, now is not the time to think about this.

Hattori shook his head.

After getting rid of all the random things in his mind, he looked behind the ghost:

"How did you get in?"

"That's how it came in."

As the ghost spoke, he pulled open the curtain in his hand a little more, allowing the two to see the window that he had taken down and was now standing against the wall.

"..." x2

As if he found their dumbfounded expressions very funny, the young man laughed out loud:

"It's simple, isn't it?"

“Ah, um…hahaha…”

Hattori pulled the corners of his mouth stiffly, feeling that the behavior of the person in front of him gave him a very strong sense of déjà vu.

If it was that guy Xianhe, he might do the same.

The ghost, who didn't think there was anything wrong with his actions, looked at the two with interest, and his slightly lowered voice sounded like a cello playing in a dance hall:

"Can I ask you a few questions? In return, I can help you take out those three guys down there."

"Solve it?"

“Hey! Who are you?!”

The sudden interruption of the voice startled Hattori and he turned around subconsciously.

The ghost sitting on the window turned his eyes away from Hattori and looked at the two kidnappers who had come up the stairs at some point in time.

The young man's thin crimson lips lightly raised a beautiful arc, elegant like the aristocrats of the last century:

"Look, the guests are here as we're talking."

"It's you?!"

The bandage on his face is so recognizable.

The tall and thin kidnapper recognized the ghost as the man who had just appeared at the door.

He cursed under his breath, then quickly pulled out his gun and pointed it at the other person.

The short and fat kidnapper who followed him also pulled out his gun and sneered:

"Hey! I asked you how you got in!"