Chapter 159: Suspect - Doi Takaki
Mountain Villa Living Room
Natsukawa nodded. Franky had mentioned this to him as well. It seemed that Shadow Mage was considered a strange person by the others in the chat room.
He thought for a moment and decided to tell Kaito that Shadow Mage was actually Tanaka Kikue's alternate account.
The party had already started, and Escape King's phone was unreachable—presumably he was already dead. Even if he told Kaito that Shadow Mage was Tanaka Kikue's alternate account, Kaito would be powerless to save Harui Fuden's daughter.
He wanted to see what Kaito would do.
Without further ado, Natsukawa stood up and whispered in Kaito's ear, "Actually, Shadow Mage is Tanaka Kikue's alternate account. Red Herring and Shadow Mage are both identities belonging to Tanaka Kikue."
Before Kaito could even process his shock, he was drawn to Ran's sudden exclamation.
"What's wrong, Ran?" Sonoko, who had been chatting animatedly with Hamano Toshiya, poked her head out and asked.
Ran's expression... could something have happened to Uncle Mouri?
Kogoro dealt with criminals all the time. She'd heard he was out investigating an affair case today—maybe he'd gotten caught up in something dangerous.
"Aragoshi-san, is Escape King's real name Nishiyama Mutsuo?" Ran ignored Sonoko and turned to Aragoshi.
She remembered the answering machine mentioning the surname 'Nishiyama' earlier.
Everyone's heart skipped a beat. Aragoshi nodded, his face darkening slightly as a bad premonition crept into his heart.
"Dad, I'll turn on the speakerphone. You should just say it directly—everyone's in the living room." Ran spoke to the phone and activated the speaker.
"Hello? Cough cough cough, can you hear me?
This is Kogoro Mouri. I just saw a news report that a man named Nishiyama Mutsuo was murdered in his home in Beika City.
Apparently, he was supposed to attend a magic enthusiasts' gathering tonight. Is this Nishiyama Mutsuo related to your gathering?"
"Yes!" Kaito appeared beside Ran without her noticing, grabbed the phone, and asked urgently, "How did he die? What does his death have to do with our gathering?"
At this moment, Kaito couldn't help but form suspicions.
Harui Fuden's death, Tanaka Kikue's new account posting strange messages in the chat room every day, and now Nishiyama's death—it all seemed connected somehow.
Kaito's eyes swept over Tanaka Kikue, noticing that her expression wasn't much different from the others', but a hint of triumphant satisfaction flickered at the corners of her mouth.
Damn it!
"I just contacted a police inspector I know. After investigation, the police now believe that Nishiyama's death is related to the chat room he joined.
On the computer screen at the scene of his death, there was a message from Shadow Mage: 'One down!'"
Several chat room members looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
After a long silence, only Aragoshi spoke up. "I felt that Shadow Mage was suspicious before. This gathering was originally intended to find out who this person really is through an offline meeting."
"So none of you know Shadow Mage's identity?" Kogoro's voice darkened over the phone. "If that's the case, please leave the villa immediately and go to the nearest police station.
The villa you're in now is very dangerous. Shadow Mage might kill again."
"That doesn't seem right."
Anya shouted as she walked in from the entrance, holding her camera. "Papa, I noticed that the sky where we just came from is orange-red."
"What?!"
Everyone was shocked.
Seeing an orange-red sky on a snowy night, especially from the mountains—there was only one explanation.
"I hope it's not what I'm thinking!" Conan led the charge toward the door.
The others followed suit, quickly filling the entire entrance area.
"As expected—it's on fire!" Kaito's face was grim as he kicked the wooden railing at the door in frustration.
Damn it! If I had discovered Tanaka Kikue's identity sooner, this wouldn't have happened.
Huh?
At that moment, he suddenly realized that Tanaka Kikue wasn't among the people who had come outside.
He raised his foot to go back and check, but found her walking out just then.
"Strange..."
Kaito muttered, half of his disguised chubby face illuminated orange-red by the distant firelight, looking bewildered and lost in thought.
"Conan-kun!" Ran's hand missed, failing to grab Conan.
"Ran-neechan, I'm going to check the suspension bridge!" Conan ran toward the bridge without looking back. Even though he was already certain of what happened, he needed to see it for himself.
As the villa owner, Aragoshi naturally followed.
"Don't worry, I'll go check it out too," Natsukawa called out to Ran and ran after them.
The suspension bridge is fine as long as it didn't damage the GTR. With such a big fire, he didn't know if it would affect the parking area.
After a while, the three returned to the villa.
Natsukawa breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the car was unharmed—only the suspension bridge was burned. The lingering smell of gasoline in the air proved it was arson!
"How is it?" Kogoro had been waiting anxiously.
The combination of snow, night, and mountainous terrain prevented the Metropolitan Police Department from sending a helicopter into the area. Helicopters at that time weren't well-developed enough for safe low-altitude flights in snowy conditions at night.
Therefore, the only way for these people to leave the snow-covered mountains was on their own.
"The suspension bridge is completely burned down. Someone deliberately poured gasoline on it," Conan replied. "Uncle, I'm afraid we can't leave."
"I understand. Be careful. It's best if everyone stays together and doesn't wander off alone. Shadow Mage is likely somewhere around the villa. The police will arrive as soon as it's daylight."
When his daughter was involved, Kogoro's IQ always seemed to spike dramatically.
After hanging up the phone, everyone returned to the living room, and the previously lively atmosphere became deathly quiet.
Kaito was thinking about how to reveal that Shadow Mage was Tanaka Kikue without exposing his own identity.
After all, he was currently supposed to be a student at Ekoda Medical School, so there was no reason for him to know that Shadow Mage was Tanaka Kikue's alternate account.
Judging from Natsukawa's expression, he clearly didn't intend to get involved.
Conan, on the other hand, carefully observed everyone's expressions.
He felt that Shadow Mage was among them. After all, the temperature had already dropped to minus fifteen degrees Celsius—if Shadow Mage had been outside the villa for several hours, they would probably be frozen solid!
Moreover, from the very beginning, he'd suspected Doi Takaki.
Sonoko had mentioned that this guy was completely different in chat rooms versus offline, so his identity was likely questionable.
While Natsukawa gave off the same vibe, Conan habitually ruled him out. After all, he was an acquaintance, and Conan didn't think Natsukawa would commit murder.
Uncle Natsukawa is such a good person—it couldn't be him.
Plus, Doi Takaki's emotional outburst upon discovering the suspension bridge fire at the entrance only increased his suspicion.
The others were possibilities too, but until the real culprit surfaced, everyone remained a suspect. After all, it was their first meeting, and anyone could be the killer. It could only be said that among these people, Doi Takaki was the most suspicious.
"Conan-kun, let me show you a video."
(End of Chapter)
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