PNB Chapter 23 The Flames Are Burning
Chapter 23 The Flames Are Burning
Su Xingbo pretended to be out of breath as he ran over, and as soon as he arrived at the village office, he bent over and breathed heavily.
"Phew, phew, phew, thank goodness I arrived in time. I couldn't find you anywhere. I heard from the villagers that someone had killed someone with a gun, so I came right away. I didn't expect you to all be here."
"What did you say, brother? The villagers are saying someone is killing people with a gun?" Kogoro Mori asked immediately upon hearing the gun.
Su Xingbai nodded slightly and said seriously, "Yes, I heard that his name is something like Keiji Aso. The villagers were all terrified, so I didn't want to ask any further questions and just came here directly."
"What? Keiji Aso?"
This time, it wasn't just Kogoro Mouri and his group whose expressions changed; Makoto Asai in the group also looked extremely grim.
His plan was flawless, but now someone impersonating his father had appeared—it was unforgivable! At that moment, he wanted to kill this person as well.
Kogoro Mouri snatched Ran's phone from the side and shouted into the other end.
"The prisoner is armed and has already killed one person. Please send someone over immediately!"
"learn!"
The person on the other end of the phone was an old acquaintance, Wataru Takagi. He recognized the voice as Kogoro Mouri, so there was no possibility of a false report.
He immediately notified Inspector Megure, and then led a large group of heavily armed police officers onto the helicopter, where they are now en route.
Meanwhile, another group of police officers were on their way by boat, and both sides set off simultaneously.
Meanwhile, at the village office, Makoto Asai heard Moonlight playing on repeat and made a suggestion.
"We'll leave this to the police later. Let's go to the music room first and see if we can turn the music off."
Kogoro Mouri nodded, and the group bypassed the bloodstains and headed towards the music room.
As the group approached the music room, the music grew louder. Upon opening the music room, they discovered three corpses inside.
Kogoro Mouri had Su Xingbai help him move all the corpses down and place them aside.
"Everyone had a clear hole in their forehead, it seems the criminal was killed with a single shot and then fired a few more shots in retaliation."
"The perpetrator most likely harbored deep hatred towards these individuals, but the most important question now is where this person is and whether they will continue to kill."
After Conan crouched down to observe and analyze, he turned his gaze to Su Xingbo in the back row and found that his expression was normal and there was no change.
At that moment, he suddenly noticed that Asai Makoto, who was next to Su Xingbai, had a very interesting expression on his face.
From surprise and astonishment, to joy and excitement, to the final expression of relief.
Just as he was about to continue observing, Kogoro Mouri grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up, and threw him backward.
"Don't wander around the crime scene if you don't have to, kid. Xiaolan, you two go back to where you were before and rest. Dr. Honesty, you should go back and rest too."
"Okay~"
“Then let’s wait here for the police to arrive,” Kogoro Mouri said, sitting down with Su Xingbo.
Not long after, the sound of a helicopter came from outside, and then a group of police officers rushed in.
"Mr. Mori, it's been a long time." Inspector Megure walked over, adjusting his hat.
"Inspector Megure, thank you for your help this time." Kogoro Mouri stood up.
Inspector Megure began to inquire about the case from Kogoro Mouri, who then recounted the events to him.
"I see. In that case, this Keiji Aso is very likely an imposter," Inspector Megure analyzed.
“Yes, the person who invited me here is also Keiji Aso, so it’s probably the same person,” Kogoro Mouri thought to himself.
The scene was cordoned off, and the forensic doctor collected fingerprints and evidence. The group went to the vicinity and began asking if any villagers were present at the scene.
By evening, it was almost dark.
Kogoro Mouri was the first to speak, suggesting, "It's so late, let's find a place to wait for news, and at the same time, we need to prevent that person from committing any more crimes."
Inspector Megure, seeing the tired expressions on the faces of the officers around him, nodded in agreement.
And so, the group went to the reception area, which was large enough to accommodate so many people together, making it a good place to discuss the case.
This time, Conan didn't follow Su Xingbo. After all, Ran had invited him and Sonoko here, and they were unexpected guests. He had no motive to kill these people, let alone do so cruelly.
This is clearly a revenge killing, using the name of the deceased to seek revenge.
As darkness fell and the only light coming from the streetlights, Conan and his friends, bored, decided to go for a stroll.
Suddenly, they saw a blazing fire and thick smoke in the distance. Everyone rushed over, and by the time they arrived, Inspector Megure and the others had already arrived as well.
In the firelight, a person was sitting, his hands on the piano, his fingers moving as he played the piano piece "Moonlight Sonata".
Conan wanted to rush in and save her, but it was too late. The fire was too intense, and there was no chance to rush in. He could only watch helplessly as the flames slowly burned Asai Makoto.
Seeing that the people outside still wanted to rush in, Asai Makoto smiled and waved to the outside.
No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't understand why she would commit suicide. She clearly had no time to commit the crime, and she had a very clear alibi for the time of the incident. Both witnesses and physical evidence could prove that she was not the murderer, so why would she commit suicide?
By the time the firefighting efforts began, the house had already been completely burned down; after all, it was made of wood and simply couldn't withstand such a large fire.
After the fire was extinguished, ashes were everywhere. The charred bodies were moved out, and the next step was to search for as much evidence as possible.
It's a pity, there's nothing left.
Conan, still puzzled, didn't linger. Instead, he ran towards the clinic, followed by Ran, Sonoko, Su Xingbo, and the others.
The clinic door wasn't closed, and the group pushed it open and came in. They turned on the light and saw a piece of paper on the table. Xiao Lan saw it and ran over, picked up the paper, and started reading.
"Suicide note?"
"What? Sister Xiaolan, is this really Sister Honesty's suicide note?"
Ran nodded and handed the paper to Conan, letting him read it himself.
[Last Will and Testament]
My real name isn't Asai Makoto, it's Aso Makoto. I'm the son of Aso Keiji, the one who survived by sheer luck. I returned to Tsukikage Island for revenge, and now I've achieved that. I'm the one who killed those bastards.