"It's strange. Judging from the spacing of the footprints, it stands to reason that there should be traces left in this area."
Conan lowered his head and told the clues he had observed out of habit.
Before solving the final mystery, this was the only way he could satisfy his 'reasoning addiction' at the moment.
"Indeed, only the ground here looks very messy, as if it was pressed down by something heavy..." Hattori Heiji held his chin with one hand and analyzed.
"What are you talking about?" Yuan Shan and Ye Qi said.
"Ah?" Hattori Heiji looked confused, "What's wrong with you? This may be a very important clue!"
Toyama Kazuye: "..."
Stop saying the word 'heavy'!
"Sister Xiaolan, what happened?" Conan was curious.
He also couldn't understand why Yuan Shan and Ye were angry...
"Uh, um... that seems to be the place where He Ye fell before..." Mao Lilan said weakly.
"What? It turns out you fell. You should have said this earlier."
Hattori Heiji still didn't receive the signal. He looked at the other person's clothes and confirmed that there were no traces of flames burning on them. He followed the topic and asked, "So? Did you find anything after you fell?"
"Well...listen to what you say..."
Yuan Shan and Ye briefly recalled, "I seemed to smell some kind of strange smell when I fell."
Weird smell?
Next to him, Ye Gengyi asked: "Can you describe the specific taste?"
Toyama Kazuye thought for a while: "It's like the pungent and unpleasant smell emitted when onions rot."
Rotten onions?
Put aside metaphysics and talk about science. It has something to do with flames. That smell should refer to mercaptans... Because propane or butane itself has no smell. In order to make people aware of gas leaks, this smell is deliberately mixed in. Used to warn...
While Ye Geng was thinking, Mao Lilan seemed to remember something and continued to add:
"Ah...Also, when we ran out of the house, although we didn't encounter the 'devil dog' again, we did see those burning footprints making a 'clicking' sound while bouncing around..."
"Yeah yeah!"
Yuan Shan and Ye echoed: "It's like even the footprints have souls!"
Ye Gengyi examined the black residue on the grass and tried to simulate the scene at that time based on the available information.
Mao Lilan, Yuan Shan and Ye came to the yard from the side door of the villa with dog food. Due to the limited lighting outside, they could only walk this way along the stone path in the center of the grass.
In other words, from the perspective at that time, even if you looked left and right, it was difficult to see whether there were any traps in the grass next to you.
He imagined that there was a 'devil dog' lurking around the corner ahead, waiting for an opportunity.
At this time, there was no flame burning on the dog's body.
He was moving cautiously step by step towards the Akita dog's doghouse.
Then, just when the small sound it made was heard by the Akita dog, and the movement caused Mao Lilan, Toyama and Ye to turn around, the body of the 'devil dog' suddenly burned with flames, and illuminated the place. The dark courtyard...
Wait...too few burning points.
If this is an imaginary scenario, even if the 'Devil Dog's' several hunts are for the purpose of scaring people, can it still control the flames on its body to only cause damage to the grass? Moreover, there were no sparks nearby that might fall when the 'Demon Dog' ran.
Ye Gengyi said silently to himself:
"Well, now even the conclusion of the analysis is the same as the perception result of the 'mark' on the palm of the hand,"
At this time, Mouri Kogoro, who had circled half a circle around the yard, discovered a new clue and shouted towards this side:
"Hey! Look here, the latch of the back door has been taken off! This is where the demon dog must have come in!"
He paused, looked at the four heirs and said:
"In other words, the four of you who stayed in the house at that time are all very suspicious!"
Hattori Heiji:"……"
Conan: "..."
Uncle, not only are you lagging behind in reasoning, but do you also have memory problems? On the way to the tomb to look at the marbles, didn't we already say that the suspect was among the four of them?
Seeing that Mouri Kogoro was still analyzing, the reason why he did not suspect that there were five suspects was because the old lady Inubushi Saomi had been in a coma the whole time.
Conan finally couldn't stand listening anymore, so he decisively looked at his childhood sweetheart and changed the topic:
"Eh? By the way, Sister Xiaolan, aren't you helping to prepare dinner? Why do you suddenly think of coming to the yard to feed the dogs?"
...Moreover, I happened to meet the 'Demon Dog'. This makes one wonder if someone is taking advantage of this.
Mao Lilan said: "Miss Xingji asked us to help because she said that her request to feed Xiaohachi was rejected by the other three people,"
In an instant, the suspicion fell back on several heirs.
"Follow the traces and search, maybe you can find something." Ye Gengyi suggested.
"Yes, since the 'Devil Dog' does not have the ability to appear and disappear out of thin air, it means that someone must have kept it nearby." Hattori Heiji said.
"That's right, otherwise the murderer wouldn't be able to order the 'devil dog' to attack Sister Xiaolan and Sister Heye who came out to feed the Akita dogs." Conan also agreed with this plan.
No matter what their starting point is, the ultimate goal of the three of them is to create pressure on the murderer, so that the real culprit who created the "Magic Dog Murder Case" has to summon the devil dog again.
Otherwise, the police will stay here for a long time. Once dawn arrives and the 'devil dog' does not appear, everyone will begin to doubt the authenticity of the legendary story. When the horror filter dissipates, it is very likely that the truth will be exposed quickly...
In other words, unless the 'magic dog' really exists and the real murderer is emboldened, in order to convince the detectives and police in front of him, that person must take the risk of letting the devil dog appear in front of everyone again.
It is necessary to search as soon as possible and there must be no delay!
It just so happened that the greatest advantage of Yamamura Cao was that he had no independent opinion. After hearing a few people say this, the four heirs of the Asa Inubushi family asked:
"Then have you thought of any clues, such as hearing dogs barking in this forest?"
"Ah! So..."
The attending doctor, Inufuzhiko, recalled briefly and said:
"The deceased Miagako once took me to check out a cabin in the forest because she said that the sound of dogs barking could occasionally be heard from inside. However, I was too scared and did not dare to go in to investigate in the end..."
"Eh?! Is there really such a place?!"
Several detectives immediately gathered around him excitedly.
Conan couldn't wait to ask Inufushi Akira to take them to that hut now.
"Ah? Now?" Inufushiko was startled.
"Please! You have to go now to see through the disguise of the 'Devil Dog'!" Hattori Heiji shouted.
"That's right..." Mouri Kogoro glanced at several people, "Assuming that the murderer is really among you, after this time passes, you will not be able to find an opportunity to destroy the evidence."
"But," Chiko Inufushi said hesitantly, "I'm very afraid of dogs...and I have to go back to the hospital for duty tonight..."
"After searching that hut, I will take you to the hospital." Mouri Kogoro said without refusal.
Hattori Heiji showed a gloomy expression, "Besides, before you figure out the problem with the 'Devil Dog', you will feel scared walking through that forest alone to go to the hospital, right?"
Inufushi Chiko looked at the dark night sky and explained: "Even if you say so, I was just following Miagako at that time, and I didn't know the specific location of the cabin..."
Inubushi Yukihime volunteered: "Even if there are only vague directions, it's okay. I'm very familiar with this forest and can take you to find it!"
"Mr. Chiko...Is this okay?"
Hearing this, a group of detectives continued to stare at Inufushi Akira.
(End of chapter)
