Conan's other self

This evening, Dr. Ali’s house.

"How is your body temperature?" Fengyuan asked.

Judy's appearance did not have an obvious impact on Fengyuan's life for the time being, and he didn't pay much attention to it. What he was more concerned about now was that Haiyuan Ai seemed to have caught a cold again.

Haihara Ai, who was sitting on the sofa and reading a magazine, took out the thermometer from her armpit and handed it over directly.

Feng Yuan took it, took a look, and breathed a sigh of relief. Haihara Ai's cold didn't seem serious.

only…

"Your body temperature is not bad... But, Haiyuan, do you catch colds too often?" Fengyuan continued. He remembered that the last time Haiyuan Ai had a cold was before the school festival. Thinking about it carefully, it seems that a long time has passed, but It feels very close again.

"Yes," Hui Yuan Ai replied casually, "I'm so sorry, I'm such a troublesome woman—"

"Are you trying medicine again? I remember you said before that you are still developing cold medicine."

The "cold medicine" Maplehara refers to is medicine that can make people catch a cold.

Since Baigan wine combined with a cold can temporarily restore their bodies, Haiyuan Ai believes that colds are also a key issue in the development of antidotes.

So although she had already made cold medicine before, she continued to conduct this research.

"...At most it's just a cold," Hui Yuan Ai admitted in a low voice after a moment of silence, "It will be fine tomorrow."

"That--"

"This does not require the data on you, and this is the last time." Haibara Ai continued, "Don't worry, great detective. It will not cause any harm to the body."

Then the phone suddenly rang.

Dr. A Li was still busy inventing, so Feng Yuan had to answer the phone first.

"Hello, this is Dr. A Li's house."

"Kudo!" A familiar Kansai accent came over the phone, "Long time no see!"

"...What happened this time?"

"What are you talking about! It's like I won't come to you if I have nothing to do - wait, don't hang up, I do have something to come to you for!"

After casually replying, Hattori Heiji remembered that this was Kudo who was difficult to deal with, so he quickly ended the nonsense.

However, this Kudo should be stronger than the one over there, who doesn't even believe what he says...

"What's wrong?"

"That's it," Hattori Heiji said, "I received a strange letter. The content of the letter is very short, just one sentence - I will be killed by a mermaid, please save me!"

"Mermaid?"

"Yes." Hattori Heiji replied, "Because I thought I might have something to do with you, I called you to see if you and that Kudo over there wanted to go over there together."

"Where to go?"

"America Island. It is a small isolated island located in the sea of ​​Wakasa Bay. Residents living nearby say it is an island where mermaids live."

Hattori Heiji paused, hoping to hear Kudo's shocked voice as a compliment. But the guy opposite seemed to be waiting patiently for him to continue.

Sighing inwardly, Hattori Heiji continued: "I heard that on that island, there lived an old woman who became immortal because she ate mermaid meat. Three years ago, there was a lot of noise."

"Oh... I didn't expect you to believe such rumors."

"I wouldn't believe it at first, but after thinking about what happened to you, I feel that immortality is nothing."

"So, this is your relationship with me?"

"That's right." Hattori Heiji said, and then continued to introduce the specific situation:

"The last signature on the letter contains the name of the client, Kadowaki Saori, and her mobile phone number is also on it.

I called her to ask for specific information. The first time I called her, although she picked up the call, she was hung up immediately.

I called many times after that, but never got through.

But the sound that came from the receiver at that time was still clearly in my ears - the woman's moans and the sound of the waves. "

"..."

"How's it going? Isn't it more interesting?"

"Wait a moment," Fengyuan said, "I'll check it and call you back later."

"Huh?" Hattori Heiji was stunned for a moment, and then found that the person on the other end had hung up the phone, and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

On the other side, Feng Yuan hung up the phone and sat next to Hai Yuan Ai again.

Hui Yuan Ai raised her head and looked at him with a questioning look.

"Heiji Hattori is the high school detective who knew my identity I told you last time - he received a letter related to mermaids and invited me to the American Island."

Feng Yuan briefly described the matter, "When I answered the phone just now, you had been reading a magazine, but when I mentioned the word mermaid, you glanced in my direction. So I thought Asking if you know anything."

Hui Yuan Ai was silent for a moment.

"If you don't want to say it..."

"It's nothing," Haibara Ai said, "I've been there. There are rumors that there is a man on the island who ate mermaid meat and became immortal, so the organization sent me to investigate... Gin is responsible for monitoring me."

"It's just that after investigation, we found that it was fake," Haihara Ai continued. "The so-called longevity woman is just played by generations of people using superb makeup skills. Many people on the island know about it...probably just to make money. It’s just a scam we spun together.”

Haiyuan Ai didn't seem to want to mention what happened in the organization before, so Fengyuan didn't intend to ask further: "Thank you. Also, I guess you don't want to go again?"

"In no mood."

Feng Yuan was thoughtful.

Although Haihara Ai said that the cold would be cured tomorrow, it was impossible to tell. And I don’t know how long it will take to go to America Island, so Maplehara doesn’t want to go.

However, he had some impression of Mermaid Island and decided to remind Hattori Heiji.

So he spent a few minutes checking the relevant information on the computer, and then returned to the living room to call Hattori Heiji back.

The call was answered immediately, and Hattori Heiji seemed to have been waiting nearby.

"Kudo?"

"Fake."

"ah?"

"I mean, the so-called immortality is false." Maplehara said, "If it were true, this island would not be so peaceful. The US aircraft carrier would be right next to it."

"..."

There seemed to be no way to refute this, and Hattori Heiji was a little speechless.

"The goddess who is said to be immortal almost never shows up except during festivals, and it is very convenient to disguise her," Fengyuan continued. "She was probably played by the women in the family from generation to generation."

"You're just guessing——"

"Remember the reason for the commotion three years ago?"

"Of course I remember." Hattori Heiji said. Of course he had also done a simple investigation. "It was once broadcast on TV that a strange charred corpse was found on that island three years ago. The shape of the broken bones of the charred corpse was very strange. - No feet."

That’s why it was thought to be the body of a mermaid.

"That should be the burnt female body. Her feet may have been bent and then tied with ropes or something, and were smashed by falling pillars or beams in the fire." Maplehara said, "She It should be the person who played the role of the goddess last time. After her death, someone else took over the role...maybe the person who lives with the goddess now."

"What about the letter you sent me?" Hattori Heiji was a little depressed, realizing that Kudo opposite didn't seem to want to go.

"Maybe you discovered the truth about the mermaid and are worried about being silenced, or maybe the murderer sent you a murder notice. The murderer may still be hesitant and hopes you can stop it."

Feng Yuan continued:

"Judging from the phone calls you made, Saori Kadowaki who sent you the letter is either the murderer or the target of the murderer. She may have even been killed.

There are not many residents on the island. Judging from the voice on the phone, if the person who answered the phone is not Kadowaki Saori herself, then she should be someone whom Kadowaki Saori knows. She was probably grieving because she had just killed someone or for other reasons, and was crying on the phone...

As for the motive, it may be related to the fire just mentioned three years ago. If that was the body of the person who played the role of a goddess...that means it might not have been an accident. "

Maplehara continued, planning to use the information he learned from Haibara Ai and his own impressions to fool Hattori Heiji and let him solve the case on his own.

In his mind, the fire three years ago was actually caused by someone deliberately setting the fire. The person who played the goddess at that time was burned to death. The current goddess was played by her daughter.

This is a somewhat sad story. Kaede originally didn't want to go, but since Hattori Heiwan wanted to go, let him stop it.

Sitting on the sofa, Haiyuan Ai was reading a magazine, listening to the sound of the phone over there, and was slightly distracted.

When she mentioned Mermaid Island, she couldn't help but think back to her days in the organization.

These days were so peaceful that she almost forgot...

I am just a traitor to the organization...

And Kudo is a famous detective who can see through the truth with just a few words and represents justice...

"Haibara?" Fengyuan, who successfully fooled Hattori Heiji, came back and noticed that Haibara Ai was a little depressed, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Hui Yuarai replied softly, "I'm going to bed."