Ke Xue: I picked up a bottle of sherry at the beginning.

After exercising all night, he still wasn't sleepy and was full of enthusiasm for life...

When Bai Quanyi came back from taking a shower, everyone had already washed up and were sitting together to have breakfast.

Everyone sat together to eat breakfast. Shiraizumi found that Ayumi looked at him with a completely different look, and Ai also looked at him with contempt.

"Brother, you are seriously ill. Show Ayumi you and sister Yukiko--" Ai despised Shiraizumi Masu very much.

"I didn't mean it." Shiraizumi Mashi was also innocent. He told Yukiko to stop being so loud, but she didn't listen to him at all.

Baiquan Yi looked at Yukiko with a reproachful look, as if it was all her fault.

Yukiko blinked at Shiraizumi Masu and stuck out her tongue, showing no remorse at all.

After breakfast, Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi were eager to investigate the strange things that Ayumi had encountered last night, and they also brought Conan and Haibara Ai along.

Conan was afraid to go, but was dragged away by Genta.

"Don't run too fast, be careful!" Yukiko warned.

"I know!" Genta and Mitsuhiko dragged Conan along the road without looking back.

"Really..." Yukiko smiled helplessly, then turned to ask Shiraizumi, "What about you, husband? What are you going to do later?"

Bai Quanyi had just finished his breakfast and put down his chopsticks: "I'll take you for a walk and keep an eye on those children, because there really are ghosts in this village."

"Okay, husband. You are so thoughtful. I love you. Mou--" Yukiko kissed Shiraizumi Masu's face.

Maori Kogoro, holding a can of beer, squinted his eyes at the two of them and said sourly, "It's so early in the morning, and you have no shame."

……

After the five members of the Junior Detective Team went to question the villagers and investigate separately, they met again at the gate of Yi Ze's house.

"The Otsawa residence..." Mitsuhiko looked up at the loose wood on the door, "It seems that this is the house where Asami and her family lived ten years ago."

Ayumi straightened her expression and walked into the house with determination.

"I heard that she is the only daughter in her family." Yuan Tai said.

Conan noticed Ayumi walking in and quickly asked, "Ayumi, where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Asami!"

Ayumi pushed the door open and entered the house. The other four people quickly followed her in and searched the first floor.

Yi Ze's house has been abandoned for a long time. There is no water at home, broken bowls are thrown in the sink, and there are many newspapers and wooden boards scattered on the floor that are no longer recognizable.

"Everyone says that Mami seems to have died of illness." Mitsuhiko turned his head and looked around.

Ai Haibara lay in front of the hearth, poking the ashes in the hearth with a small wooden stick.

"Not long after, her father and mother seemed to have moved away from this place." Yuantai took over.

"I wonder if there are any photos left here," Mitsuhiko walked over to the dusty table, "but it's been ten years, so it's a bit difficult to find any."

Haibara Ai was still poking at the hearth. "Whether what Yoshida-san saw was true or not, we'll know after comparing it with the photos."

"You're right!" Mitsuhiko flattered with a smile, "Haibara-san is amazing!"

"You don't really think there's a ghost, do you?" Conan moved closer to Huiyuan Ai and whispered, "Please, how can you say such a thing..."

"Don't you believe it, Conan?" Mitsuhiko asked.

Over there, Ayumi was stunned looking at the wall but didn't look back.

"Come on, I'm a detective who makes judgments based on theory and reasoning," Conan said with a crescent-shaped eye, "How could I believe in ghosts?" However, there was a clear lack of confidence in Conan's words; he was forcing himself to say so.

"That's not what Mitsuhiko is asking." Genta couldn't help but say.

"Actually, the two of them are asking you," Huihara Ai explained, "whether you believe what Yoshida-san said."

Conan sweatdropped, realizing the atmosphere was off, and said hurriedly, "Well... actually, I..."

Ayumi looked back at Conan aggrievedly, then turned and ran out.

"Ayumi!"

Genta and Mitsuhiko were about to catch up, but suddenly stopped and looked in surprise at Shiraizumi Mashi and Yukiko who walked down the stairs at the door and blocked Ayumi's way.

"I believe you, Ayumi, you are a good child who will not lie." Baiquan Yi said.

"I believe you too, Ayumi!" Yukiko said in a friendly manner.

"Thank you, Brother Shiraizumi Masaru and Sister Yukiko!"

After hearing what the two said, Ayumi regained her energy.

Even though Conan saw the ghost with his own eyes last night, he denied it after waking up.

"Brother Bai Quanyi, could it be that someone is playing tricks on us? What we saw last night might have been some kind of hallucination..."

"Ah?" Yuan Tai's face turned horrified and he hugged Mitsuhiko beside him, "Ah! Conan, you really saw it——"

Mitsuhiko was also frightened and stammered, "So, what Ayumi said is true!"

Ayumi put her hands on her hips and said, "That's what I told you."

"Brother? There really are ghosts in the village—" Haibara Ai went from being hesitant to starting to believe.

Conan frowned and thought for a while, then asked: "Brother Baiquanyi, do you have any other clues about the ghost? About Mami, and Mr. Nagakura, his attitude is very strange..."

"I've asked the local police about Mami, and all I know is that she died of illness ten years ago." Shiraizumi glanced at the dusty floor, gave up on sitting down and walked out the door. "The cause of death was tuberculous meningitis. It was late when we went to the hospital, and there were records of her being prescribed a lot of medication. It's unlikely she died unjustly."

"As for Mr. Nagakura, his son, Nagakura Eiji, is twenty years old. Six months ago, there was a report about him robbing a jewelry store at gunpoint. He shot and killed a guard, looted some jewelry, and fled with a jewelry appraiser. His fingerprints were all over the scene, so he was quickly tracked down by the police. He then committed suicide."

"Suicide?" Conan asked.

"Well, that's what the local police said. His body was found at the foot of a cliff in Jingjin Village, a village nearby," Bai Quanyi paused at the door. "The police compared the trajectory of the bullet hole that pierced his head with the bullet holes found on the guards and in the jewelry store. The fingerprints left at the robbery scene didn't look suspicious, so they confirmed he was the robber. So they concluded he committed suicide."

"Where are the jewels?" Conan immediately grasped the key point. "Have you found them?"

"No." Bai Quanyi said.

"Since we haven't found the jewels he stole, it's possible someone used his gun to kill him and dumped his body on the cliff for them," Conan analyzed, stroking his chin. "That person must have been someone he knew, and they knew his location while he was on the run. That means it was premeditated, and it's unlikely to be a chance encounter..."

"The jewelry appraiser he held hostage disappeared after that. The police suspect he killed her and dumped her body somewhere," Bai Quanyi continued. "I suspect the jewelry appraiser is not dead."

Conan was stunned, looked up and asked Baiquan Yi in confusion, "Why? What's the basis?"

Bai Quanyi lowered his eyes and looked at Conan, his gaze as calm as a deep pool of water, "Because we have a jewelry appraiser with us."

Even Haibara Ai felt a chill on her back when she heard this, not to mention Conan who met Shiraizumi Masaru's gaze.

If Nagakura Eiji didn't commit suicide but was murdered, then the jewelry appraiser he kidnapped and then disappeared is a strong suspect. Now Shiraizumi Mashi said that there is a jewelry appraiser among them.

345.Everyone saw a ghost

"The village police officer showed me reports from that year. Mrs. Nagakura repeatedly claimed during interviews that she believed her son was innocent," Shiraizumi continued. "Mr. Nagakura is a supporter of the village's application for World Heritage status, while some in the village oppose it. He repeatedly claims there are no ghosts and becomes emotional when he mentions his son. He's probably worried that this will affect the application's success."

"So," Huibara Ai took over, "when he said last night that we were 'sent by them', he was suspecting that we were sent by the opposition to cause trouble, right?"

"That should be the case." Bai Quanyi said.

Conan looked up at Baiquan Yi and said, "So you said that we have an appraiser with us..."

"Mr. Sakaki Shokichi," Shiraizumi confirmed, "I noticed with the others while we were drinking last night that Mr. Sakaki had a habit of squinting his left eye and looking at things with only his right eye, looking at the wine glass, looking at the wine, and this happened more than ten times during the drinking process."

"I see," Conan understood. "That must be a habit he developed from observing certain objects with a magnifying glass. And he must have used it for a long time to observe things this way even without a magnifying glass."

"When I handed him the bottle, I touched his right hand. He had calluses on the first joint of his right finger, near the back of the finger. They hadn't softened yet. Calluses from holding a pen wouldn't have formed. Calluses from holding a pen would form hard calluses on the side of the finger, near the back of the finger. These are probably from constantly holding a magnifying glass," Bai Quanyi said. "The calluses haven't softened much. He's been away from his profession for less than a year."

Conan nodded and asked, "Have you tried it yet?"

"I asked everyone about their occupations," Bai Quanyi said, pulling out a cigarette from his pack and biting into it. "He lied. He said he was a junior high school teacher and was taking advantage of the short break to travel."

"What about the others?" Huibara Ai asked, "Are there any more suspicious ones?"

"No, the only suspicious person is Mr. Sakaki Shokichi," Shiraizumi Masu replied.

Conan then asked, "Anything else you found?"

"There's another strange thing," Bai Quanyi turned and looked at the foundation of the Otsawa family's house. "The soil on the foundation is very new."

Conan turned his head and looked at it, and said thoughtfully, "When I moved into the Nagakura family yesterday, I also noticed that the soil on the foundation of the Nagakura family's house was also very new. It doesn't look like it has not been moved for hundreds of years..."

"And I saw it when I came here, at least the houses along the way were not like this." Bai Quanyi added.

"I understand," Mitsuhiko said seriously, "Mr. Nagakura Ronghao was indeed the robber who robbed the jewelry store, but he had an accomplice, the jewelry appraiser. After pretending to kidnap the appraiser and escaped, he returned to his hometown and hid the jewelry somewhere here. Later, the jewelry appraiser killed Mr. Ronghao in order to keep the jewelry for himself, but he didn't know where the jewelry was hidden, so he pretended to be a tourist and came back here secretly at night to dig underground in the Nagakura and Otsawa houses. Because he knew that Mr. Ronghao had a childhood sweetheart who had passed away, and that house was empty and no one had lived in it for ten years. So, in addition to burying the jewelry in his own home, Mr. Ronghao might also have buried it underground in Otsawa's house!"

"Okay!" Yuan Tai rolled up his sleeves, "Then let's find the jewelry quickly!"

"Wait," Huibara Ai questioned, "It's not easy to dig underground. Even if no one lives in the Otsawa family, he can come and dig secretly. But what about the Nagakura family? The Nagakura couple are often at home, and they also entertain many tourists. He can't dig underground without alerting others. And if he disguises himself as a tourist, he will have to come at least twice, staying for more than five days each time, to avoid others and secretly dig underground. Or he can stay for more than half a month at a time. But in that case, he would have been noticed a long time ago. Even if he disguised himself as a different person, the Nagakura couple who are responsible for entertaining him would notice something wrong, right?"

Mitsuhiko was stunned, "That's true..."

Baiquanyi was silent.

As long as there is one point that doesn't make sense or has no basis, the entire reasoning may be completely wrong. What's more, he only suspected that "Sakaki Shokichi" and "Jewelry Appraiser" might be important clues. If he really wants to say the basis, he has no evidence yet, so now he can only guess.

But he still felt that Mitsuhiko had hit the nail on the head this time, but there was still a little problem...

"Then let's go ask the villagers again!" Conan suggested seriously, "Ask them if they've seen any strange people around the Otozawa or Nagakura houses recently, or if any strange things have happened. That way we can probably tell if what Mitsuhiko said is true."

"That's right," Yuan Tai said enthusiastically, "With so many villagers, someone will definitely notice something!"

Ayumi smiled: "Then we..."

The five little devils of the Detective Boys set out again in search of clues with great enthusiasm.

Yukiko looked at Shiraizumi Masu helplessly and said, "These kids are really lively."

Bai Quanyi said, "Forget it, leave them alone."

Shiraizumi Masu and Yukiko ignored the five little kids, strolled around the village, breathed the fresh air of nature, and then started exercising in the woods.

When Yukiko and Shiraizumi Masu go out together, they always wear skirts so that Shiraizumi can be intimate with her anytime and anywhere.

In the countryside, there are not many entertainment options, so having children becomes the most frequent entertainment activity. It is no wonder that people in ancient times had many children and tried their best to have them.

Before they knew it, it was night and when they returned to the B&B, the Young Detectives had made a new discovery.

"We asked the villagers here. Previously, the Otozawa family lived where the Nagakura family lived, and the Nagakura family lived where the Otozawa family lived. But not long ago, Mr. Nagakura Yan switched the two houses," Huihara Ai said. "They directly dug up the foundations and used a construction vehicle to relocate the two houses."

"I think the reason is that the current location of the Nagakura family is the highest point in the village and the most suitable place for viewing the scenery. No wonder Mr. Nagakura supports the application for Earth Heritage here so much. Once the application for Earth Heritage is successful, Onizawa Township will become a famous tourist attraction. Among all the B&Bs, the current location of the Nagakura family, which is also the original location of the Otozawa family, will be more popular with tourists. There will be no worries about guests staying in the future, and the fees can be a little higher than other B&Bs. This time the fee is obviously higher than other B&Bs," Conan said, looking at Mitsuhiko, "But the soil of the base is very new because Mr. Nagakura swapped the positions of the two houses before, and it has not been dug up by anyone. The villagers have not seen anyone digging the soil near the Otozawa and Nagakura families, so Mitsuhiko's previous idea is not valid."

Mitsuhiko nodded and couldn't help but continue, "But I still think Mr. Sakaki is suspicious. Why did he lie and say he was a junior high school teacher?"

Conan was silent. He also felt that Sakaki Shokichi was suspicious. It was just a hunch, but it also had some basis. At least it didn't make sense for Sakaki Shokichi to be lying, and he was also an appraiser, a delicate profession that might be related to the Nagakura Eihiro case.

"Mr. Sakaki isn't the only suspicious person," Ai Haibara explained, looking at Shiraizumi Masu. "After we asked the villagers about the Nagakura and Otozawa families, we wanted to see if there were any clues in the places where Ayumi followed the girl who looked like Asami last night, and whether what happened last night was related to them. So we walked along the path Ayumi took last night. Ayumi went all the way to the shrine at the bottom of the village..."

"Then Mami disappeared in a flash," Ayumi said. "I called out to her for a long time but she didn't come out. Then I was so sleepy that I fell asleep at the foot of the cedar tree near the shrine."

"Haihara-san found a gray-white yukata in the river next to the shrine," Mitsuhiko said. "The word 'Tamei' was embroidered on the collar. It must have belonged to the Tamai family in the village. However, the Tamai family is quite far from the shrine, and one has to go through the woods. It's impossible that it was blown there by the wind."

"When we were at the shrine, we saw that bad-mannered uncle in the purple suit," Genta said. "He was sneaking around behind a tree, gesturing at the village with a branch and taking pictures with his camera!"

Conan stroked his chin. "He's using a branch to gesture, probably to measure or evaluate the village's buildings..."

"When we returned the yukata to the Tamai family, they said they had no idea how it got there," Huibara said. "They have more than one yukata like this, and they all look the same. They usually keep them around the house or hang them outside to provide to tourists who don't have one. They also lend them to villagers for tourists to use. It's not difficult to get a yukata from them."

"Hmm..." Mitsuhiko lowered his head in thought.

No one else spoke either.

The five children ran around for a long time, but the clues they got not only failed to confirm Mitsuhiko's very likely inference, but also made the matter even more confusing.

Shiraizumi wondered if Asami had secretly given Ayumi the yukata after she saw her fall asleep and was worried that she would catch a cold. In that case, the yukata from the Tamai family wouldn't be a factor. However, he couldn't be sure without asking Asami...

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Late at night, Yukiko finally quieted down and stopped texting Shiraizumi. She and Shiraizumi had been together for what felt like a full day and night, nearly twenty-four hours. She was a complete contrast to the restrained young woman Shiraizumi had just met, a change so drastic that Shiraizumi felt lost, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Bai Quanyi lay in his quilt and rested peacefully, but he didn't sleep for long before he was awakened by a "creak... creak" sound from above.

Conan opened his eyes drowsily, looked at Baiquan Yi who had woken up, then looked at the ceiling above, rubbed his eyes and sat up.

There's someone upstairs!

It is difficult for someone to walk around in this old wooden building without making noise.

Genta and Mitsuhiko also woke up.

Yuantai was stunned for a moment, then quickly lifted the quilt and crawled to the middle. "It appears! There really is a ghost."

Mitsuhiko lowered his voice, "But ghosts shouldn't have feet, Genta."