The three children followed the sound and found the stairs leading upwards.
"Amazing! The mechanism really opened!"
"Did Brother Chi know about it long ago?"
"Too sly, actually watching us guess without giving a hint!"
Conan followed Chi Feichi up the stairs. "When did you solve the code?"
Chi Feichi was silent. How should he put this? He hadn't paid attention to the code at all, okay?
"Forget it, I lost again this time," Conan felt deeply resentful. "But you should be a bit more honest, right? You clearly figured out the code but just said you weren't good at it."
"Knowing directly is actually boring," Chi Feichi said calmly.
"Uh, that makes sense..." Conan acknowledged this statement, but he couldn't help feeling that the way Chi Feichi looked at him just now was like how he had looked at the three children solving Professor Agasa's code earlier.
This feeling wasn't great. It was as if he was just a child in front of Chi Feichi.
Uh... although even if he regained his original body, Chi Feichi would still be three years older than him, this gap felt a bit too large.
Depressing!
"This is... Ah!"
Screams from the three children came from the stairs.
And Feichi's shout joining the fun: "Master, come look quickly, there's a dead person up here!"
Chi Feichi: "..."
What is Feichi so cheerful about!
Conan rushed up hurriedly. Seeing the corpse on the table that had turned into white bones, he was also stunned for a moment before stepping forward to check the situation.
Professor Agasa was also startled. "Who could this deceased person be?"
"That dexterous old man who lived here," Chi Feichi gave the answer directly.
Conan, who wanted to speak, held his words back and nodded. "I think he's the one who carved the coins and drew the codes."
"Could he have been killed here?" Professor Agasa asked.
"No, I think he died of a heart attack while writing a letter. Look, there is heart medication on the table." Conan lay on the table looking at the corpse, not scared at all. Looking up, he saw Chi Feichi recording again. "..."
Chi Feichi collected more evidence of Conan's abnormality and sent it to Fukuyama Chiaki, incidentally noting that it was a real corpse.
"But why did he know about this secret room?" Professor Agasa didn't notice Chi Feichi's actions behind him and wondered, "Only my uncle and aunt who lived here should know about this place!"
"There should be one more person," Conan ignored Chi Feichi's little actions for now, mainly because it was useless even if he cared. "The painter who drew portraits for them before your uncle died of illness. Painting those portraits couldn't be done in a day or two. He probably heard about the secret room from your uncle then."
"Then why did he hide here?" Professor Agasa turned into a curious baby. "And sent those strange letters to my aunt?"
Feichi looked back and inadvertently saw a heat signature approaching from below. "Master, someone is coming up!"
"Count down," Chi Feichi whispered.
The voice was very low; only Haibara Ai, who was close to Chi Feichi, heard it.
Haibara Ai looked at Chi Feichi in confusion, then sighed silently in her heart. Auditory hallucinations again, huh?
Frankly speaking, Chi Feichi's habit of suddenly talking to himself was quite terrifying for unfamiliar people to see, as if there was something invisible existing around him.
Fortunately, they were all familiar with Chi Feichi and didn't mind...
"I think it's because of this. The lead plate for the $20 bill. He was probably commissioned by someone to counterfeit money," Conan didn't pay attention to this side. He had already taken a lead plate from the corpse's arms and threw it to Professor Agasa. "Later he changed his mind and left with the lead plate. To avoid the other party's pursuit, he hid here. The reason he sent letters to your aunt was to thank her for letting him live here..."
Professor Agasa caught the lead plate and looked at it, but it was snatched away by a hand. He looked at Chi Feichi in confusion.
Feichi patiently counted down. "Master, about ten seconds left before the other party reaches the back stairs. 10..."
Conan was still deducing selflessly. "And he used codes because he didn't want anyone other than your aunt to know he lived here. Your aunt said someone once looked through her mailbox, probably to find him. The person who poked holes in the toys left by Professor Agasa and Brother Chi with a knife is probably also the one who forced him to make counterfeit money..."
Feichi: "2, 1..."
"Well said! I..." A person came up the back stairs. In the dim light, a dark object flew over.
Bang!
The lead plate thrown by Chi Feichi hit the man.
Before one of the man's feet could step on the stairs, he fell backwards. The gun in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter, and he rolled down the stairs with rumbling sounds.
In the attic secret room, the group turned to look at the stair entrance, silent for a few seconds.
"Um... did someone speak just now?" Mitsuhiko sweated.
"I heard it too," Ayumi said weakly. "That person seemed to be hit by the lead plate thrown by Brother Chi and rolled down. I vaguely saw a shadow..."
"Didn't kill him, right?" Genta looked terrified. "Then did Brother Chi commit murder?"
"The other party isn't a good person," Haibara Ai stepped forward and picked up the gun on the ground. "Also a dangerous element carrying a weapon."
"Ah?" The three children were startled.
Conan roughly guessed the other party's identity and laughed dryly in his heart.
Those who dare to commit crimes in front of Chi Feichi usually don't end well.
However, if the culprit is taken down neatly every time, the fun of exposing the murderer's thoughts face-to-face will be gone...
Chi Feichi went downstairs first, controlled the dazed man who had fallen, and turning to see Professor Agasa and the group of children following, reminded, "Professor, call the police."
"Okay!" Professor Agasa hurried to make the call.
Conan walked to Chi Feichi's side, looking at the still bewildered culprit. "He should be the one who destroyed everyone's toys..."
Crunch.
Feichi took a bite directly. He was still waiting to receive toys.
"Ah? Ah!" The culprit snapped back to reality and saw a snake biting his arm, struggling. "Snake! There's a snake!"
Thud!
Chi Feichi pressed the person directly onto the floor and knocked him unconscious.
Conan was stunned. Seeing Feichi open his mouth wide to bite was a bit horrifying just now. "Why did Feichi bite someone again?"
"He usually doesn't bite. This is not a usual situation." Chi Feichi released the unconscious culprit, took out a syringe containing anti-venom serum from his coat pocket, and skillfully administered the injection.
Conan: "..."
Even carrying anti-venom serum with him...
The police arrived and took the culprit away.
Kudo Yukiko, disguised as the plump auntie 'Edogawa Fumiyo', drove over, greeted the others with a smile, and took Conan away.
Kudo Yusaku didn't show his face. But around the mother and son, a sneaky person wearing a mask appeared, secretly watching 'Edogawa Fumiyo' take Conan to the hospital for a checkup.
Chi Feichi also followed to watch the fun. By the time Conan had been tormented by a series of checkups, it was already 8 PM.
Fukuyama Chiaki walked out of the room with Conan and explained the situation to 'Edogawa Fumiyo' with a smile.
Conan naturally didn't have any mental illness, but...
"Little friend, you have a lot on your mind," Fukuyama Chiaki bent down smiling and patted Conan's head. "Is it your big secret?"
Conan's face was extremely unnatural, squeezing out a smile. "Uh, y-yes..."
"Have a girl you like, right?" Fukuyama Chiaki added. "Falling in love too early isn't very good."
"I know." Conan nodded.
"Then, this child is fine, right, Doctor?" Kudo Yukiko asked with a smile.
Fukuyama Chiaki nodded smilingly, but his gaze towards Conan still hid a trace of solemnity. Something is wrong. He saw the video sent by Chi Feichi; that broken, manic state was terrifying. Also, a child this big getting so close to a corpse without any fear... this probably can't be explained by just being bold. There is likely some cognitive problem.
Conan vaguely felt a strange stare, his heart trembling. Looking up, he found Fukuyama Chiaki still smiling and talking to his mom.