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Chapter 43 - Chapter 0043: Moonlight Sonata, a Detective's Elegy! (XIV)

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Sasaki Hirao's hands, holding the photo, were trembling at this moment. He had spent many years climbing the ranks in the police force and had seen his share of so-called curse legends and tricks. But this was the first time he had encountered something so bizarre. Thinking it over, he suddenly felt a jolt in his heart. He threw the photo and quickly shouted to the surrounding elite troops, "Quick! Quick! Quick! Go to the island's inn and see how Chief Superintendent is doing!"

"Why are you yelling? You're only thinking of this Chief Superintendent now? If I really had to rely on you for protection, I'd probably be dead already."

Yun Feng pouted and said. He had just arrived here with Ran and the others; their inn was quite a distance from this spot. Upon arriving, Kogoro Mouri and Conan immediately went to investigate the scene. Due to Yun Feng's presence, the surrounding police officers no longer dared to stop them.

Seeing Yun Feng safe and sound, Sasaki Hirao breathed a sigh of relief. As long as this Chief Superintendent was alright.

Since the victim's body had long been covered with a white sheet by the police, Ran felt even less fear this time. Instead, she curiously looked at the deer wailing at the moon and asked strangely, "Do deer grow on this island?"

Sasaki Hirao immediately retorted angrily, "Chief Superintendent's girlfriend asks a question, who knows? Come out and answer quickly!"

Yun Feng was startled upon hearing this. He guessed that this Superintendent, seeing him always with Ran, assumed she was his girlfriend. He thought, so this is also a divine assist! It seems I'll need to promote him in the future...

Ran also blushed fiercely upon hearing the Superintendent's words, quickly waving her small hand. Before she could speak, an elderly figure slowly pushed through the crowd. It was the old island policeman. He first saluted the Superintendent, then said with great confusion, "Reporting, sir, we don't have this kind of deer on Moon Shadow Island. This is the first time I've seen one today. This is truly too strange."

Sasaki Hirao and Inspector Megure were once again startled upon hearing this. Who on earth was this killer, able to conjure anything?

Kogoro Mouri had by now finished surveying the scene. The result, of course, greatly disappointed him. He had approached this case with utmost seriousness, but so far, he still had no clues. From his experience as a professional detective, he was certain this was the primary crime scene. How the killer had brought the piano from the lighthouse here, and how a living person was brought here, was baffling. One had to remember that the area was swarming with Royal Guards and elite troops, searchlights from armed helicopters and patrol boats were everywhere, and Saijo was under special guard.

Conan, at this moment, picked up the killer's photo that Sasaki Hirao had hastily thrown away. This was indeed Keiji Aso; he had also seen the village hall's archives. But Conan was not surprised. The killer must have been in disguise. Disguising oneself as another person was no problem for those skilled in disguise. His mother, Yukiko Fujimine, was a master of it, so he wasn't surprised. As for the deer, it must have been brought by some method to make the legend of the Moon Goddess more effective. Deer were the Moon Goddess Artemis's favorite pets.

Thinking it over, Conan walked up to a man who looked like a small Royal Guard leader, tugged his sleeve, and asked, "Uncle, have all the Royal Guard members responsible for guarding the deceased Saijo arrived?"

The man who looked like a small Royal Guard leader scanned the surroundings and said, "One guy said he was going to the bathroom tonight and hasn't come back yet. He's not even afraid of being scolded by the Superintendent, honestly."

Conan inwardly thought, just as I suspected. "The killer used expert disguise to commit the crime. He must have killed or knocked out the guard who went to the bathroom alone, then disguised himself as a guard, lurking beside Saijo to seize an opportunity to take him away. As for how he could evade the eyes of all the patrol teams, it must be because this killer possessed even more extraordinary skills."

"He brought Saijo here, killed him, then disguised himself as Keiji Aso, deliberately allowing himself to be photographed by the pilots in the armed helicopters above, thereby orchestrating some kind of 'vengeful spirit resurrected' trick."

One had to admit, this great detective was truly brilliant, deducing the general outline of events with just a few clues. Yun Xiaoyu had indeed disguised herself as a Royal Guard member to take Saijo away, and she had only temporarily knocked out the person she impersonated. Xiaoyu would not kill indiscriminately; she only killed for reasons in the past, and now only followed her master's instructions to kill. And after Xiaoyu eliminated Saijo, she had indeed disguised herself as Keiji Aso to be deliberately photographed. Otherwise, these armed helicopters wouldn't have been able to spot her at all.

After Conan figured out these issues, he could only temporarily attribute the miraculous transportation of the piano, the killer's incredibly fast disappearance, and the sophisticated methods of the crime to the killer's exceptional skills. He was now examining the suspects. Currently, the remaining suspects were only the candidate village head Masato Shimizu, the deceased Kuroiwa's daughter and her boyfriend Shuichi Sakazawa, the secretary Kazuaki Hirata, and Dr. Narumi Asai from the island clinic.

"Hmm, wait a minute, if we're talking about the modus operandi, that person is also a possibility." Conan stroked his chin, thinking strangely.

At this moment, Sasaki Hirao, who was in a furious rage, had already locked up secretary Kazuaki Hirata and was preparing to interrogate him under duress. This was because, upon his arrival, he had already discovered a hidden compartment under the piano through the Royal Guards. The compartment contained some heroin, and Kazuaki Hirata's fingerprints could be collected from it. Now, with heroin appearing at the crime scene again, Sasaki Hirao, adhering to the principle of "better to kill a thousand innocent than let one guilty go," decided to use this man as an entry point for investigation. At the very least, he could gain some accomplishments in front of the Chief Superintendent. Otherwise, when the Chief Superintendent returned to Tokyo, his label as an incompetent officer would be impossible to remove.

At this time, Conan suddenly walked up to Yun Feng and asked casually, "Teacher Yun Feng, where were you during the lighthouse incident?"

Yun Feng was startled, then suddenly understood something, and couldn't help but inwardly curse. This kid had now listed him as a suspect too. Yun Feng was right; Conan had genuinely listed Yun Feng as one of the suspects. Because if anyone could consistently avoid all police patrols, then Teacher Yun Feng was naturally the prime candidate, as he was the Chief Superintendent. The police certainly wouldn't dare to monitor or obstruct him in any way. Moreover, Teacher Yun Feng had been with him during the first and third incidents, but only the second incident lacked an alibi. This absolutely had to be clarified.

Even the motive for the crime, Conan already had a clue. Because when Teacher Yun Feng first arrived here, he had said strange words about how "demons would be judged." Yun Feng was also greatly annoyed by Conan at this moment, but even more startled in his heart. If he were to truly speak of the real mastermind, it was indeed himself. He didn't even know that Conan's suspected motive was almost identical to his own.

Feeling the terrifying deductive intuition of this great detective, Yun Feng also felt a little nervous. Coupled with the annoyance of being suspected by this Conan guy, Yun Feng couldn't help but pull Ran to his side, smiling somewhat playfully, "Ran was with me during the lighthouse incident, Conan-kun."

Ran also heard Conan's question at this moment and said unhappily, "Conan, you're playing that deduction game again. Brother Yun is right; I was by his side the whole time."

"Oh, is that so? I was just asking, Ran-neechan." Conan didn't think much of it; his mind was entirely focused on crime analysis. Since Ran had vouched for him, Teacher Yun Feng's suspicion could be completely cleared. He still trusted Ran's words.

Looking at Conan's serious, thoughtful expression, Yun Feng thought that if he let him deduce further, it was hard to say what else he might uncover. Perhaps he should find a scapegoat.

At this moment, there was another person with the same objective as Yun Feng: Dr. Narumi Asai, who was still under Royal Guard surveillance. He thought that since his enemies had already been eliminated by the mysterious killer, his great revenge had been exacted. Given this, there was nothing left to cling to. By simply revealing himself as Narumi Aso, he could completely take the blame, which would also be doing something for his benefactor, who had never shown his face.

However, just then, Sasaki Hirao excitedly rushed over from the side and said, "Report, Chief Superintendent! Kazuaki Hirata has confessed!"

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