Maori changed the subject and looked at the old policeman who was sipping sake. "At your age, you should still remember the case from more than ten years ago, the case where Aso Keiji's family died. Did he really commit suicide?" "Well...that's what the eyewitnesses said," The old policeman slowly recalled, and everyone listened carefully. "I remember that the people who witnessed it at the time seemed to be the former village chief Kameyama and Kawashima... Oh, yes, there were also the village chief Kuroiwa and Nishimoto. It was these four who saw it with their own eyes..." "Oh? Are they the ones?" Mao Li was quite surprised and asked, "What is the relationship between the four of them?" The old policeman nodded and said, "They and Aso all grew up together. I remember that the five of them learned piano together when they were young. Later, when Aso became a famous pianist, Nishimoto often went to his overseas performances to show his support." After saying this, the old policeman finally reacted and said, "Ah, now only Xiben and Kuroiwa Village Chief are left." "It may be a bit arbitrary to say this, but rather than a coincidence, it is more likely that they are closely related to Keiji Aso's death." Mao Li stroked his chin, "Old man, do you know if Aso Keiji has any relatives or other friends?" Chapter 12 The Secret of the Music Score
"The entire family of Keiji Aso was burned to death in the fire. Not only were there no people, but even their belongings were turned into ashes," The old policeman sighed, but then he seemed to remember something and continued thoughtfully, "But it seems... there is a sheet music in the safe?" "Music score?!" Everyone present was shocked. "Where are those sheet music now?" Maori asked anxiously. The old policeman recalled slowly: "In the warehouse of the community center...but the key to the warehouse is in the police station, haha..." "Old man! What are you waiting for?" Mao Li stood up and said, "Let's go get the key together! That music score may be the key to solving this serial murder case!" "Ah good……" The old policeman was startled. Although he was still standing there, he quickly stood up under the pressure of Maori's momentum. "Uncle, I'm going too!" Conan said hurriedly. "Conan, you and Xiaolan stay here," Mao Li's tone left no room for doubt, "Someone needs to watch over here, too." "……it is good." Conan nodded angrily. …… Maori and the old policeman went to the police station to get the key, while Conan, Xiaolan and Asai Narimi stayed in the piano room with the body. Of course, they were not just waiting - Xiaolan and Narimi chatted without a topic, while Conan took the piano score Maori gave him and carefully deciphered the hidden message in it.
"Ah, so Mr. Maori used to be a policeman..." Chengshi is very interested in Maori's affairs. "Yes, but my father quit his job when I was very young, and then he opened his own detective agency... But to be honest, Miss Chengshi, my father's detective work didn't suddenly take off until a while ago. He solved several cases in a row, and then people called him a famous detective... Come to think of it, it seems to have been since Conan came to my house, right? Conan?" Xiaolan smiled and looked at Conan, trying to pull him into the conversation. Conan raised his head half-heartedly, smiled awkwardly and was about to say something, but he saw Xiaolan's eyes passed him and fell behind him, with a horrified expression on her face: "Ah!!" "What's wrong, Sister Xiaolan?!" Conan quickly stood up and turned to look in the direction of Xiaolan's sight. "Black, black shadow! There was a black shadow flashing past the window just now!" "!!" Conan's face changed drastically. Without time to think too much, he opened the window and jumped out like a nimble monkey. "Don't run!" …… A few minutes later, Conan, who had lost the black shadow, had no choice but to return to the piano room through the window, while Maori and the old policeman, who had got the key, also came back at this time. "What happened?" Seeing Conan climbing in through the window, Maori couldn't help but ask with a serious face. So Conan and the others repeated to him what had just happened. "Huh, I knew someone would want to come to this room to take something," Maori sneered, then looked at Conan and the others, and changed the subject, "Conan, you guys continue to stay here. The policeman and I will go to the warehouse to find the music score left by Mr. Aso Keiji. If you are sleepy, take turns sleeping, and make sure someone stays awake." "it is good!" …… Although the old policeman clearly remembered that the safe containing the music score left by Keiji Aso was placed in the warehouse of the village community center, it was an old thing that was put there casually more than ten years ago. Therefore, it took Maori and him nearly an hour to find the slightly yellowed music score. When the two returned to the piano room with the music score, they found that Conan had somehow crawled under the piano, and Chengshi and Xiaolan were watching him. "What are you doing, Conan?" Mao Li couldn't help but ask. "……found it!" Conan's surprised voice came, "Uncle! There is a secret compartment under the piano!" "Secret compartment?!" Maori hurriedly crawled under the piano, and as expected, he saw the secret compartment that Conan found. This square secret compartment was not big, with a side length of only a little over ten centimeters. There was nothing inside, but after it was opened, some white powder fell to the ground.
"……What's this?" Conan frowned, dipped his hand in some white powder, and subconsciously wanted to put it in front of his nose, but was interrupted by a sudden slap from Maori. "It hurts, uncle!" "Idiot! Who told you to touch something like this and even smell it?" Maori kicked Conan out and crawled out from under the piano. He said seriously, "This is the king of poison pins, Heroin!" "Hailoyin?!" Everyone in the room showed an expression of disbelief, and then they all thought of the black shadow that had just flashed by. "Does that mean..." "There's nothing to say. We don't know anything and haven't discovered anything, right?" Maori Wu spoke, his eyes swept across the four people present, and then slowly lowered his voice, "At least before we know the identity of the black shadow and who on this island is related to the secret compartment containing Helo Yin, we haven't discovered anything..." …… At noon the next day, Maori and others, who had not rested all night, waited with dark circles under their eyes for the police from Tokyo. Just as Maori expected, the team was led by his old friend, Officer Megure, a model worker in the police force. "It's you, Maori brother." Inspector Megure glanced at the soundly sleeping Maori Kogoro and was a little surprised. "The people on the island said there was a detective from Tokyo. I was wondering who it was... Anyway, we have to conduct an investigation at the village office first. You guys should have a good rest and come back later." "Ok." Maori nodded and yawned listlessly. At six o'clock in the afternoon, when Maori and his group, who had rested well, rushed to the village office, they found that it was not their turn yet to be investigated. "Why are you so slow, Officer Megure?" Mao Li frowned, "If I had known I would have come to help." "Yeah, if I had known, I would have asked you, Maori, to help," Officer Megure said weakly after coming out to drink some water. "I don't have enough people to help me this time, and there are 38 people who are related to me who are here to participate in the ritual. It's impossible to end it simply." "Then Mr. Police Officer..." Asai Narimi approached and asked, "Excuse me, when will it be my turn?" Officer Megure glanced at the people in the waiting room. "There are still five people left: the village chief's daughter, Kuroiwa Reiko, her fiancé Murasawa Shuichi, the village chief candidate Shimizu Masato, the village chief's secretary Hirata Kazuaki, and Nishimoto Ken who is currently being interrogated. If you add Dr. Narimi, that makes six people." "I see. I'll just wait." Cheng Shi nodded slightly. Chapter 13 The truth is often revealed inadvertently "Can't you be more polite?" In the interrogation room, Kuroiwa Reiko stood up and yelled at Officer Megure, "I don't have any motive to kill Mr. Kawashima! This is too much!"
"Ms. Lingzi is really amazing," Xiaolan smacked her lips and said, "She's been yelling for more than ten minutes..." "When I was a police officer, I hated people like her the most. They were annoying and wasted a lot of people's time." Mao Li stood up speechlessly, then checked the time and said, "I'm going to go outside to buy a pack of cigarettes and take a walk." "Does Mr. Maori know where the store is?" Asai Narimi asked with concern, "There aren't many shops open on the island at this time. How about I show you the way?" "Then...it's troublesome." Maori nodded hesitantly. …… The two left the interrogation room one after another, and the annoying noise of Kuroiwa Reiko in the interrogation room gradually became blurred. With the idea of learning more clues about the case at the same time, Maori simply chatted with Asai Narimi, the "half-native", while walking. "Why did Dr. Cheng Shi come to an island like this? I remember you said you were from Tokyo, right?" "Yeah, so I usually go back to Tokyo to visit my parents on weekends. It feels a bit like I'm a part-time doctor on this island." Asai Narimi smiled and said, "But I have always longed for a place like this since a long time ago. I hope to work on a small island surrounded by nature, rather than in a big city like Tokyo, so I decided to stay here. Two years have passed without me noticing..." "Have you ever regretted it?" Mao Li asked, "After all, two years ago, when you first came here, the former village chief died mysteriously, and then you immediately became a forensic doctor. Now you have encountered a case like this again. No matter how you think about it, it is different from what you expected at the beginning, right?" "Well... I don't regret it that much." Asai Narimi hesitated for a moment and then replied, "I am a little worried, because Mr. Maori, you also said that this is very likely a serial murder case..." "Yes, and I personally suspect that the murderer's next target is between the village chief Kuroiwa and that Nishimoto Ken. It is even possible that both of them are the target." "Why do you say that, Mr. Maori?" Asai Narimi seemed very interested in the case. "These two, plus Kawashima who has died and Kameyama who died two years ago, are all friends of Keiji Aso, the pianist who burned his family to death. They also happened to witness the death of Keiji Aso. I don't believe this is just a coincidence." Mao Li shrugged and said, "And the letter of entrustment sent to me was signed by Keiji Aso. I think it might be Keiji Aso's friends or his remaining relatives who impersonated him, hoping to avenge his bizarre death that year..." "…Mr. Maori's guess does make sense." Asai Narimi smiled and nodded in agreement, but somehow, Maori caught a hint of sadness from her beautiful face... Of course, staring at someone's face for too long is not a polite act. Mao Li quickly looked away and continued half-heartedly, "Well, no matter how reasonable a guess is, it's just a guess. A qualified detective must have enough evidence to make inferences. Otherwise, he would be treating other people's lives and justice as a joke." "So Mr. Maori is hoping to find out the true identity of that mysterious shadow?" "That's about right. There's also the mysterious music score. The code on it is also crucial." Mao Li sighed helplessly, "It's a pity. I've never been sensitive enough to secret codes. I haven't figured out anything after watching for so long..."
"I have the same opinion as you, Mr. Maori." Asai Narimi smiled a little embarrassedly, "I have never guessed any of the codes and riddles on TV shows before. And the host said to substitute Arabic numerals, English letters, and other common tricks, but I couldn't get the correct answer no matter how hard I tried..." "These little tricks are only applicable to special situations, Miss Chengshi, not all dark..." As Maori was speaking, he suddenly paused, and the expression on his face changed from nonchalant to solemn.