"Are these detectives all idiots?!" Chigami Kinema's face darkened, and she cursed aloud. Originally, she had planned to use these detectives to decipher the code. But now, what code? They were all dead. And she hadn't left herself a way to escape either. This meant her entire scheme had utterly failed, and her own life was now forfeit.
Thinking this, a surge of unidentifiable anger welled up within her. However, before she could truly get angry, the screen of the surveillance camera before her went black.
"Hm?" Chigami Kinema froze. "This is... the camera signal was cut?!" All those detectives were supposedly dead. Logically, no one should be able to cut the camera's signal. Could it be a ghost?
"Beep beep beep!" Just then, a notification sound came from the computer behind her. Chigami Kinema turned around and saw a string of text displayed on the computer screen: [I have unraveled the mystery of the treasure. If you wish to know, proceed to the dining room — Phantom Detective]
"???" Chigami Kinema was utterly bewildered. Phantom Detective, what phantom? Why did it sound so similar to the alias on the invitation? She didn't have time to think much more and immediately ran out of the secret room. She wanted to see who was still alive. And the code, it had been broken by some "Phantom Detective." No matter who it was, she had to go and see.
---
Inside the room where the surveillance was disabled.
"Finally, it's done..." Fujino stretched, stood up from the floor, and looked down at his suit. "Ugh, too bad my suit is stained with all this ketchup. I'll have to wash it thoroughly when I get back. I wonder if that old lady will pay for the dry cleaning or something."
Kogoro Mouri and Ikumi Tsukuda slowly stood up as well, looking at Fujino with exasperation. This guy, he actually wants dry cleaning fees? Our suits and evening gowns are also stained with ketchup, and we haven't said a thing...
Oh, right, we could ask that guy for dry cleaning fees. But after some thought, neither of them pursued the idea. After all, one was a phantom thief and the other a famous detective; dry cleaning fees were hardly worth bothering with.
"I didn't realize you had such a knack for acting." Ikumi Tsukuda pulled herself from her thoughts and teased Fujino. "I actually thought you were going to kill me just now."
"Ms. Tsukuda's acting was quite good too." Fujino nodded humbly. "I was just taking advantage of the situation. For real acting, you have to look at old man Mouri!"
"Hahahaha!" Kaito Kuroba, still in Kogoro Mouri's smug form, laughed heartily, but internally, he was mumbling. He felt like Fujino was genuinely trying to snatch some treasure... Although he was a bit less professional than him, his acting seemed a little too real.
Without thinking too much, Kaito Kuroba glanced at the cut surveillance camera and couldn't help but sigh. "Old Lady Chigami really got swindled badly this time, huh..."
"Alas! You're quite mistaken!" Fujino walked forward and patted Kaito Kuroba's shoulder, stating righteously, "When it comes to a detective's work, how can you call it swindling?"
"Heh heh..." Kaito Kuroba looked at Fujino's self-righteous demeanor and couldn't help but inwardly scoff. When a phantom thief fools people, it's immoral. When a detective fools people, it's justified, right? Ha, detectives. Talk about double standards!
"..." Ikumi Tsukuda was also a bit speechless by Fujino's righteous attitude while swindling the old lady. Taking a deep breath, she reminded him, "Since that's the case, shouldn't we wake the others up now?"
"Oh, right, I almost forgot about them." Fujino nodded, suddenly remembering that several other people were still lying outside in the ketchup.
"By the way, didn't you just say there would be rich and beautiful women?"
"Those were just lines..."
"But we were improvising, weren't we?"
"Ahem, let's go check on Ran and the maid first. Ms. Tsukuda, you're quite ruthless, knocking out two young girls in the restroom."
"Wasn't that your script?"
"Let's go quickly, it wouldn't be good for them to catch a cold."
---
After rescuing Ran from the restroom and waking up the other detectives, the group cheerfully headed to the dining room. They intended to see the old lady's reaction when she saw these "dead" people suddenly alive. While swindling an old lady might be a bit unethical, a detective's work certainly wasn't called "swindling"!
"What you're doing now is exactly like that rich man Renya Karasuma from forty years ago!" Conan's voice faintly drifted from inside the door. Clearly, he had already started his show-off routine, hands in his pockets, staring directly at Chigami Kinema. "At the end of the blood message on that piano, there's a name, Kyosuke Chigami. If I'm not mistaken, that must be..."
Before Conan could continue, his show-off words were interrupted by Chigami Kinema. "That's right, that's my father." Chigami Kinema lowered her head, deep in thought, a hint of memory in her eyes. "My father was an archaeologist, invited to this mansion forty years ago. It was said that a wealthy man, who wanted to see the inheritance his mother left before he died, invited my father here.
"This job paid extremely well. My father would mail a letter and a large sum of money every day. My mother and I were very happy that he could get such a job. But half a year after he was hired, my father disappeared without a trace. No letters or money were mailed back."
"It wasn't until I held my father's letters to us up to the sun that I suddenly realized. They were densely pricked with words, mentioning that many other scholars were gathered there besides him. The letters also mentioned that Renya Karasuma was running out of time, and in his desperation, he began to slaughter the invited scholars. My father was no exception..."
"You knew about this but didn't report it to the police?" Conan frowned, looking up at Chigami Kinema, his demeanor filled with the righteous indignation of a justice-seeker questioning a villain.
"I only discovered this twenty years ago. Karasuma had already died by then." Chigami Kinema shook her head. "Two years ago, I accidentally let slip about this, and Oyama found out. After he bought this villa, he started frantically searching for the treasure. But because of this, he had already accumulated a huge amount of debt."
Chigami Kinema paused, then continued, "One day, he suddenly suggested inviting other famous detectives to decipher the code. He first used Kaito Kid's name to attract people. After finding the treasure, he planned to kill everyone. Poisoning the teacup handles was an idea he had after seeing the maid, because we originally wanted to get rid of the maid first."
"You fell out with him?" Conan frowned. "Or did you want to monopolize all the treasure?"
"I found out he planned to kill us all after he found the treasure. Those handguns were all prepared by him, and I was also on the list to be killed." Chigami Kinema was somewhat helpless. "To stop that guy who seemed to be possessed by Renya Karasuma, and to allow the detectives to continue deciphering, I had no choice but to use this method. But who would have thought they would start to suspect each other first, and then began killing each other for the treasure, and in the end, the mystery still wasn't solved."
"That's not necessarily true." Conan's lips curved slightly. He climbed onto the fireplace and began manipulating the large clock in the dining room. Chigami Kinema was also slightly stunned.
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