Chapter 235
Seeing that the two people seemed to have no reaction, Edogawa Conan became a bit anxious: "Really, really! You'll know if you take a look, he's simply like Moriarty..."
For some reason, when he said this, Edogawa Conan noticed that those two police officers' expressions became subtle.
"Alright, alright, Moriarty, huh..." Hagiwara Kenji's tone was dismissive enough that even an elementary school student could hear it. "Then Conan-kun needs to hurry up and grow up, otherwise by the time you become Holmes, who knows if Moriarty will still be working."
Edogawa Conan: "............"
Forget it. During these days of being small, he had gradually gotten used to his words not being taken seriously.
Anyway, that person was inside. Once they saw him, they'd understand.
Edogawa Conan thought this with a bit of vindictive satisfaction, hoping these two police officers would walk faster.
The activity center had cleared out a room for this second anniversary memorial. The previous village chief's portrait was placed at the front, and quite a few people were already kneeling inside.
However, compared to the prominent portrait, most people entering the room first felt a strong presence coming from a person kneeling in the corner.
An inexplicable sense of danger enveloped that corner, causing the area around that person to be completely empty—not a single person nearby.
Even though none of the people present knew him, no one dared to approach and ask what relation he had to the previous village chief or why he was here—
Because they had thought too much about various possibilities, everyone was afraid to ask, fearing they might bring up something unspeakable about the previous village chief and make the memorial service unable to conclude.
Although not asking who the other party was or what they were doing here might mean he'd disrupt the proceedings once everyone gathered... at least they wouldn't be the ones asking.
But now, brave souls had appeared!
Watching the two young men walking toward that dangerous person's corner, someone gasped: "Who are those two?"
How were there more strangers appearing? Even the previous village chief's funeral that year didn't have this many people. Why were so many suddenly showing up this year?
Mouri Kogorou casually explained: "They're two police officers."
"I see."
Police officers, then that was fine. They were probably going to question him, right?
Everyone couldn't help but prick up their ears, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation in that corner.
But when you want to listen to others talk, your own mouth unconsciously stops, and by the time they realized it, the room had been awkwardly quiet for several seconds.
Then, realizing this was too obvious, everyone quickly resumed their previous chatting, only daring to glance over with their peripheral vision.
Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei were police officers after all—if they couldn't even notice what these people were paying attention to, they might as well resign early.
However, considering the reason everyone was watching them, both felt very zen about it and simply pretended not to know, directly kneeling on the cushions beside Usuha Izuki and starting to chat.
Hagiwara Kenji asked: "Why are you here?"
Little Shinryu shouldn't be interested in this kind of boring activity!
Usuha Izuki replied: "I woke up and came to take a look. Is that not allowed?"
His sleep schedule was like this—he couldn't help it. Anyway, after waking up he'd come out for a walk. He even ran into Asai Narimi and chatted with him. After chatting, he asked where Asai Narimi was going next. Asai Narimi said he was attending this second anniversary memorial, so he followed along.
Matsuda Jinpei rolled his eyes: "You really know how to pick your timing."
A memorial activity for the dead—what are you doing here? Are you here to ensure the atmosphere stays solemn so no one can smile?
Usuha Izuki said expressionlessly: "After all, there's an acquaintance."
In the peripheral vision of Edogawa Conan, who was urgently watching this area, after the two police officers sat down, they seemed to finally realize the other party's danger and went straight to business without even polite pleasantries.
But this conversation...
Edogawa Conan's expression grew increasingly grave. Were police interrogation techniques this simple and crude now? I feel like I could do it too.
Could it be that they knew each other?! Between acquaintances, this kind of chat would be much more normal.
Wait!
Edogawa Conan suddenly realized that if these two police officers knew that dangerous person, then his earlier comments at the door would explain their subtle reactions!
Could they be corrupt cops?!
No, if they were corrupt cops, they wouldn't have contact in such a public setting...
Speaking of which, their subtle expressions looked familiar...
Edogawa Conan thought hard, and several minutes later finally had a realization—that's it! A few days ago when he was persistently asking about the [Consultant], Officer Hagiwara had exactly that kind of subtle expression!
Could it be!
Edogawa Conan controlled his urge to turn and stare at the other party, since he already knew the other party was sensitive to gazes. He was now using peripheral vision to observe and could only capture general movements, not see much clearly.
But his emotions were truly too agitated right now—even his breathing had become rapid.
—Could this person be that [Consultant]?!
That would explain the two police officers' strange reactions. It might be as he suspected—this [Consultant], while constantly operating on the edge of crime, never left any evidence for police to arrest him.
For police, this kind of person's existence was a provocation, but they truly had no way to arrest him. So when mentioning this person, that complex mood, and the current unceremonious, seemingly provocative conversation, was completely understandable!
So that's it. No wonder these two police officers sat so close to that guy—they also wanted to monitor him closely and see if they could find his contacts, right?
After all, it was impossible that he simply came to attend a funeral or specifically to meet police. He definitely had personal purposes, most likely business-related.
Regarding the [Consultant's] business content, he also had some speculation. Just from the title, it was obviously related to criminal planning. But as long as they found a way to prevent others from talking to the [Consultant], since he couldn't telepathically input his plans into others' brains, crimes could naturally be prevented.
Edogawa Conan breathed a sigh of relief and observed the surrounding people more carefully. Anyway, these people weren't like that [Consultant]—it didn't matter if he looked at them, so he looked openly.
However, soon the ceremony officially began. A monk chanted sutras at the front, and regardless of what others were thinking, everyone's expressions became solemn.
But some people couldn't sit still. After wealthy Kawashima Hideo quietly bickered with the current village chief for a few words, he left the venue under the pretext of going to the bathroom.
Since someone took the lead, others gradually slipped out for a while before returning. Even Mouri Kogorou couldn't resist his smoking addiction and ran out for a cigarette.
Mouri Ran couldn't stand the atmosphere inside and also wanted to go out for some fresh air. Edogawa Conan wanted to stay, but Mouri Ran, recalling this kid's habit of running around everywhere, felt she couldn't leave him in a place without her supervision and firmly brought him along.
Edogawa Conan was frustrated.
Damn it! He still wanted to stay there and see who that possible [Consultant] was going to meet!
But forget it—a cigarette's worth of time wouldn't be too long. He could continue observing when they returned.
It couldn't be that something would happen in just this brief time...
Just then, suddenly, a familiar melody came from the activity center—it was the "Moonlight Sonata" that in Tsukikage Island's legend accompanied great fires and death.
Edogawa Conan's pupils contracted as he immediately realized the problem and turned to rush into the venue.
This was bad! He might have gotten something wrong! Maybe the [Consultant] wasn't here to meet with people!
Quite the opposite—he might be here to observe his own "work," even deliberately approaching police. This kind of provocative behavior was too common among highly intelligent, arrogant people who treated crime as art!
Perhaps tragedy had already occurred irreversibly, and this melody was symbolic...
Remembering the cursed piano mentioned in the rumors, plus the fact that the previous village chief died in the room where that piano was placed, Edogawa Conan rushed directly toward that room. As he got closer, the music grew louder, confirming his guess was correct.
Sure enough, the moment he opened the door, the "Moonlight Sonata" finally lost its muffled quality from passing through walls and flowed clearly into the ears of those who had also found this room and were standing at the door.
However, no one was paying attention to what was happening with the melody anymore. Everyone's gaze was drawn to Mr. Kawashima, who was lying on the piano, dirty and soaking wet all over.
Just as Edogawa Conan was about to rush forward, someone suddenly pressed down on his shoulder.
"Miss Mouri, please watch this child..." Hagiwara Kenji took out his police badge. "I'm a police officer. Everyone please wait at the door and don't damage the scene. I'll go in and take a look."
Matsuda Jinpei also casually flashed his police badge and followed behind.
"Already dead." Hagiwara Kenji quickly finished examining the body.
Matsuda Jinpei sighed: "So something did happen..."
Hearing this, Edogawa Conan couldn't help but frown.
This feeling of having expected it... Previously, he would have thought it was because they knew about the strange invitation letter Mouri Kogorou received.
But now, Edogawa Conan suspected these two police officers might have followed that [Consultant] here. That is, after learning of the [Consultant's] whereabouts, they immediately realized something might happen on this island. Since they had no evidence and couldn't arrest him, they couldn't waste other colleagues' work time and could only use their own vacation to monitor him.
Speaking of which, where was that [Consultant]?
Edogawa Conan looked around and found the [Consultant] hadn't come to see the commotion at all—he might still be in the venue!
No reaction to such a big incident, as if he didn't care at all about what happened here... maybe because the other party already knew! So he had no curiosity!
"Is it Aso Keiji's curse? This piano really is eerie—the previous village chief died here too..." someone who had heard those strange rumors said uneasily.
"No, this time someone definitely committed a crime. Look." Matsuda Jinpei took out a player from inside the grand piano. "The sound came from here. Anyone using this kind of method is definitely human, right?"
"...Speaking of which, I have a suspect in mind."
Mouri Kogorou frowned.
"I don't know if you noticed, but there's that guy with deep blue hair sitting in the corner... Does anyone know him? Why did he come to this memorial service? Don't you think he looks very suspicious?"
Edogawa Conan: "............"
No, that kind of person clearly wouldn't do the deed himself! Being too suspicious actually makes you conspicuous—every move is being watched!