The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan

Shi Lian closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, not sure if she was praying or repenting.

"Yes. I didn't mean to hurt her, I just felt unfair for Chuanjiu who was innocently abandoned by her. After hearing what she said, I took out the photo album of the young monks in the temple from childhood to adulthood. In addition to Chuanjiu, "Jiu, I have adopted two children. Their appearance and personality are very different from Chuan Jiu. If the female donor really paid attention to Chuan Jiu, there is no reason why she would not recognize him."

Shi Lian turned her head and looked at the wall behind her.

The four rooms in the courtyard fit into each other like windmills. Behind this wall, Chuanjiu was standing with other detectives, thinking hard.

"Moreover, when she broke down and cried because she couldn't recognize him, she didn't even notice the person who came over with a photo album. The person who kept comforting her for unknown reasons was her biological son. We still don't recognize each other. I really can't I understood the female benefactor's thoughts, so I didn't tell her the truth. But Chuanjiu actually longed for his mother. He fantasized about having a healthy family, or at least having relatives who loved him. Now that she came to visit, I didn't. The reason for concealing Chuanjiu.”

Xingchuan Hui tilted his head and looked at the complicated and sad expression on Shi Lian's face, but said nothing.

His family relationship was also dysfunctional. His father regarded him as a shame and stain, and never looked at him directly. Even if Tangze didn't disguise himself seriously, the other party would not recognize that his son was a different person. ; His mother may have some weak feelings for him, but compared to the love between mother and child, it is closer to the sympathy of a fellow sufferer. A woman as ordinary as duckweed can still give him a bite of food and let him grow up safely. Not easy.

Shi Lian's tone of voice was very guilty, but he felt that there was nothing wrong with Shi Lian's thoughts and actions. Even if the woman felt guilty because of his words and finally chose to commit suicide, she was not a kind adoptive father who had adopted many children. Wrong.

If he really did something wrong, maybe he didn't tell Chuanjiu truthfully in time. When children without families grow up to this age, they are actually stronger than many adults think.

"My mood was also very complicated, so I had to let Chuanjiu leave first, and then said to her in a stern tone, 'Please stay in the other courtyard tonight, let your mind clear up, and carefully taste what your child has tasted in the past 18 years. of sorrow, and remember it firmly in the bone marrow'..."

"But early the next morning, you found out that she had committed suicide?" Xingchuan Hui guessed what would happen next.

A woman who is irresponsible for her child and then comes to her door eighteen years later and says, "Give me the child back," is as irresponsible as she is for her own life. It’s not surprising at all to be in this situation.

"Yes, she didn't know where she found a sharp weapon, and she cut her wrists in the room and committed suicide." Shi Lian touched her forehead and sighed, "I sent her to the hospital, but she bled all night. The amount of bleeding was really too great, and before I had time to deal with the traces of the tatami, Chuanjiu already..."

"Wait, she's not dead?" Xingchuan Hui, who felt something was wrong, raised his hand to interrupt him.

Shi Lian looked at him with a puzzled expression: "It is true that a lot of blood bleeds from cutting the wrist, but it is difficult to successfully commit suicide with just a cut on the wrist. Of course she is not dead."

Although suicide by cutting one's wrist is very common, Shi Lian is right. This is actually a very long method of suicide. Unless the wound is very deep, the blood will continue to coagulate during the process, and it is very difficult to reach a fatal level. Disaster.

This is why many people who commit suicide by cutting their wrists choose to do so in the bathtub, because only in this way can they ensure that the wounds will not scab and keep the blood flowing.

In other words, it is difficult for people without a bathtub to slit their wrists successfully. According to the high land prices in Tokyo, people who live in pigeon cage-like apartments are not worthy of slitting their wrists to commit suicide.

"Then why didn't you tell Denjiu directly?" Xingchuan Hui was really confused now. "Since she is not dead, she will still come to you after she wakes up, right? Mr. Denjiu will know the truth sooner or later, so it is better to let him know the truth." He prepared himself mentally in advance.”

Tang Ze didn't tell him the truth directly, but he guessed the development after Shi Lian was halfway through.

It was simply that the woman couldn't bear the pressure and committed suicide. The old monk didn't want his disciples to face such a cruel truth, so he tried his best to abandon the woman's body and clean up the scene before the police arrived.

Now since the other party is not dead at all, Chuanjiu will have to face his incompetent mother sooner or later. What is the reason for doing this?

"I did plan to tell him that after he discovered the blood stains, his mental state was not very good. I was afraid that the scene left a deep shadow on him... But what I didn't expect was that the hospital contacted me and said After Chuanjiu's mother woke up, she lost some memories." When Shi Lian said this, she patted her bald head again and made two helpless snaps. "She completely forgot about her visit to Shengyue Temple. , don’t even remember that I have a child.”

"Huh?" Xingchuan Hui's expression became even more strange, "Will excessive blood loss lead to brain lesions?"

Could it be that he was pretending? This is too...

"I don't know. It's hard for the hospital to give a definite answer for brain problems. I have to assume that she really has amnesia." Shi Lian sighed loudly, as if she finally let out the depression that had been held in her chest for several days. "It's also possible that after waking up, I regretted coming to the temple to try to recognize my son, so I pretended to have forgotten about it... No matter what the situation is, I feel that it is not appropriate for Chuanjiu to know. This is too It’s cruel and it will make him sad.”

The image of Chuanjiu's mother is indeed quite typical for having a child who cannot be raised at such an age.

Therefore, Shi Lian could not determine which situation this was. Whether she was really stimulated and suffered from degenerative amnesia, or whether she regretted it and wanted to pretend that nothing happened. Before she made the next move, he They had no choice but to stand still.

"That's it..." Xingchuan Hui made a thinking gesture, and his attention secretly shifted towards the earphones.

The old monk made the cause and effect clear enough. What to do depends on Tang Ze's decision.

After a while, Karasawa's words accompanied by the sound of chewing came from the earphones, and Xingchuan Hui slowly opened his eyes.

Yes, is that so...

————

In the room on the other side, the three detectives who had found nothing for the time being walked out of this square-sized Japanese room and looked at the falling cherry blossoms and snow outside the temple wall with different expressions, but none of them looked satisfied.

Akechi seemed to have reached a conclusion at a glance. It was a bit frustrating that they were working so hard to investigate but had no direction.

There was no progress for the time being, and it was almost noon, so they had to go out to eat something and relax.

"Maybe Denjiu really saw it wrong." Mouri Kogoro curled his lips, and while Denjiu left to find Shilian, he whispered, "If there is really such a big pool of blood, it would be better to deal with it cleanly. , it would be more effective to just replace it with a replacement tatami, and then discard the blood-stained part directly?”

"But Denjiu said that he was absolutely right, and he was very confident in his memory." Hattori Heiji shook his head, "Well, something doesn't feel right..."

"Master Chuanjiu described that he discovered the blood stains in the room, and then went to find the abbot. However, when the police arrived, the blood stains disappeared. If there is no mistake in this sequence, then he should have arrived earlier than the abbot. Found at the scene." Conan analyzed calmly, "But if that's the case, where did the victim's body go?"

"You're still a victim." Mouri Kogoro slapped him on the head, "I don't even know whether the person is dead or not, or whether he has run away. Where did the victim come from?"

Conan, who was holding his head, replied unconvincingly: "He said the amount of bleeding was really heavy..." "That person may not be dead." Mouri Kogoro shook his head angrily, "People nowadays sometimes... I like to go crazy, suddenly come to visit someone's temple, and then suddenly have a mental breakdown, leave a lot of blood in someone's room and suddenly run away, etc. It's not impossible to do it..."

Not to mention, he has actually met similar people in the past, and it feels like they exist in the entire world, just like the metabolic mechanism left to themselves by human beings as a whole.

If his career as a criminal police officer has left him with any experience, it is that irrationality is the norm. If humans are logical creatures, they should know that the cost of crime is very high, and they should not choose to commit crime in the first place. .

"But……"

Conan still wanted to protest, but his next words were interrupted by Chuanjiu's rapid footsteps behind him.

The three of them turned around and saw a panicked Chuanjiu pointing to the other courtyard behind him. He couldn't breathe evenly and started shouting loudly: "There are those blood stains again! It's all over the floor!"

Mouri Kogoro was still thinking about what he meant by this sentence. Hattori Heiji and Conan immediately flew out like arrows from a string and rushed to the room behind him.

They walked out in just over half a minute. This distance could be covered in about ten seconds if they ran faster.

After taking a few steps up the steps, the two people immediately approached the open sliding door of the Japanese room and looked inside.

...There is nothing, everything is just as it was when they left. Although the tatami has faded due to old age, it is clean on top.

The two people looked at each other with bewildered expressions.

In such a short time, let alone using any tricks, it is not so fast to perform magic.

Could it be that the truth of the incident was that Chuanjiu was in a poor mental state and had severe hallucinations?

That's too bad. This kind of conclusion is the last thing a detective wants to see. It's like a whole book of mysteries and finally telling you that all the illogical parts are just the protagonist dreaming. It's a complete piece of shit.

"How, how could it be possible? I just clearly..." Chuanjiu, who was catching up, held his head, looking panicked.

At this time, even he himself began to wonder if there was something wrong with his mind, so he could always see things that others could not.

"Were you like this two days ago?" Hattori Heiji looked back at him and frowned, "That is to say, you saw blood stains, informed the abbot, and then went to the police, and you didn't go with the abbot. See those bloodstains, right?"

"Yes, yes..." Chuanjiu said, the more confident he became, "I went to notify the abbot, and then rushed to the front hall to find a phone to call the police..."

In other words, Chuanjiu was the only one who saw the bloodstains from beginning to end, and he witnessed the bloodstains alone without the aid of other people's perspective...

It sounds like a hallucination, but with his description, it becomes even more believable.

Mouri Kogoro shook his head dissatisfied: "I just said, I'm afraid this little monk really saw it wrong. Instead of talking to our detectives, you should talk to a psychiatrist. You can see hallucinations, but that's Very serious situation.”

He has no knowledge reserve in this area. He was simply brainwashed by his daughter's recent recitation of scriptures at home. Some knowledge that should not belong to him got into his brain without permission.

Hallucinations are one of the more serious symptoms of mental illness. If the condition has developed to the point that it affects people's perception, it is really time to take some medicine.

"I, but I... not only did I see it, I also smelled it, and... there was a pool of blood and a woman's long hair..." Chuanjiu touched his shiny head that was starting to sweat, and was a little incoherent.

"Well, you're right, this is indeed not an illusion."

Chuanjiu, who was in a state of excitement, turned his head in a hurry when he heard such a voice of salvation.

Akechi Goro and the abbot Shilian who followed him came over leisurely.

Karasawa, who had eaten and drank enough and had switched with Hoshikawa Teru, glanced at the detectives crowded at the door, raised his chin, and gestured towards the Buddha statue in the innermost part of the room.

"I've basically figured out the situation. Go and move the things over there and take a look. You should be able to see the truth you want."

"Buddha statue? But isn't it very valuable? Can you move it at will?" Mouri Kogoro became confused.

"Authentic Buddha statues are very valuable, but no temple would put the precious Buddha statues passed down in a courtyard where no one lives and where weeds are almost growing." Tangze waved his hand and said flatly, "The genuine ones must be Those enshrined in the main hall are imitations.”

Mouri Kogoro nodded in sudden realization, and without thinking, he moved forward and tried to move the Buddha statue. Conan, who had already turned his attention to the room, turned his head and glanced subtly at Akechi Goro, who was in a relaxed posture.

What is "the truth you want"?

Isn't the truth just the truth? If it can be changed by people's subjective thoughts, it only proves that the conclusion obtained is not the truth.

It's vague and there is something behind the words...

Receiving his gaze, Tangze bent his eyes, tapped his temples, and made a mouth gesture.

Conan tried hard to distinguish his lip reading, feeling that he said a word that was not very common, but the shape of his mouth looked inexplicably familiar...

His thoughts wandered for a moment, and a word jumped into his brain.

Did Goro Akechi just say, "Cognitive Hexology"...?