Long before the candle flame lit, Shiraishi had already retreated behind the shower curtain.

And at this moment, the candlelight that suddenly appeared in front of her gave Shijing Lihua an illusion that she was about to be rescued.

She looked excitedly at the light source, but when she saw the smiling face of Nanao-Yaeko behind the flames, her whole body stiffened suddenly, like falling into an ice cave.

The Nanao family has served the Shitsui family for generations, and the Nanao Yaeko has grown up with Shitsui Reika since childhood, and is one of the few friends of Yotsui Rika.

If it had been a few years ago, when she saw Nanao Yaeko in a difficult situation, Reika Shitsui would have been ecstatic, not scared when she looked at it more than she is now.

All the changes started with that storm two years ago.

Reika Shijing was in a very bad mood that day, and after going to the island, she found that several other people were chatting happily, and no one noticed her abnormality, so she walked away alone angrily.

Later, the weather suddenly changed, and Reika Shijing only angrily felt that her luck was too bad, and she didn't expect the storm to bring such serious consequences.

The tide rose rapidly and spread, and Reika Shitsui shrank to the top of the island, and when she looked at the roaring waves around her, and realized in despair that she might die here today, Nanao Yaeko suddenly appeared from the waves wearing a life jacket and carrying another one.

Reika Shitsui grabbed a life-saving straw. After Nanao-Yaeko helped her put on a life jacket, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could finish sighing, another bit of orange gradually drifted closer and closer under the lapping of the waves.

The two of them turned their heads to look, and saw Nikaido Yuji clutching a leaky rubber raft and leaning over with difficulty.

Nikaido is here to fish in the sea today, and his small raft is not able to withstand the storm at all, like a kayak driven by the seven-tailed Yaeko, it has long been hit by the waves and almost scrapped.

They were all members of the yacht club, and after Nikaido approached, Nanao Yaeko pulled him to the top of the island. It's just that this "top of the mountain" has only a few meters of open space left, and it will soon be submerged.

Nikaido was very grateful, but when he realized that the sea was rising more and more violently, and soon the entire island would be flooded, he looked at the life jackets on the two girls and moved his mind.

At the beginning, because he admired the character of Nanao Yaeko more, coupled with a little subtle hatred of the rich, he aimed at the one on Rika Shitsui.

However, Nikaido's snatching move was resisted - Reika Shitsui was already frightened, but Nanao Yaeko was particularly angry, and after being beaten by her a few times, Nikaido Yuji was anxious and annoyed, and began to turn his anger and snatch from her.

A healthy young man has no difficulty in dealing with a girl who has not undergone martial arts training.

On the way to knock Nanao-Yaeko unconscious and push him into the water, Nikaido also watched Reika Yotsui vigilantly, worried that she would be harassed by the side like Nanao-Yaeko just now, but it didn't.

Reika Shitsui only watched his actions tremblingly, and if it weren't for the scream she let out when Nanao Yaeko fell into the water, Nikaido would have almost thought she would have fainted.

Before, this proud and indifferent eldest lady had never shown this side in front of him.

This made Nikaido Yuji, who originally wanted to kill her too, hesitate.

…… If he can use this incident as a threat to let Mitsui Lihua marry him, he can inherit the Sijing family's property effortlessly, which is much more cost-effective than killing her.

People with this personality are not difficult to control. Yuji Nikaido tried to threaten Reika Shitsui while putting on a life jacket belonging to Nanao Yaeko, and he got a very satisfactory result.

The storm lasted for half a day, and after half a day, the island was still submerged, but the sea had gradually calmed down.

Nikaido, who survived on a life jacket, breathed a sigh of relief.

wiped a handful of seawater on his face, and after seeing the cruise ship that came to look for people, Nikaido squeezed the wrist of Reika Shijing next to him:

"Don't put on that expression, remember, you haven't seen Nanao Yaeko today, and I saved you.

"And don't forget, she's here because you're on the island, and after all, today's event - you're the real murderer."

Reika Shitsui floated in the icy waters, her mind blank.

The shallow dark clouds were gradually blown away by the wind, and when the first rays of afternoon sunlight broke through the clouds, she followed Nikaido and raised her hand and waved it at the people on the yacht, stiffly curling the corners of her lips.

……

The water in the bathtub was as cold as the sea that day.

Nanao Yaeko lay next to the bathtub, one hand propped on the edge of the bathtub, and raised her hand to touch Rika Shitsui's face like she used to wipe the crumbs of pastry on her face.

Shijing Lihua's mouth was sealed, and she shook violently and screamed.

Through the rising water of the bathtub, her voice was even more indistinct, and Shiraishi couldn't understand what she was saying.

Nanao Yaeko didn't understand either, she propped her head and looked at the person in the bathtub: "Do you have something to say?" ”

Lihua Shijing nodded vigorously, tears gushing out of her eyes.

"It's okay, don't explain anything, I know it's not your fault."

Nanao-Yaeko approached, she looked at the red eyes of Rika Shijing, and said softly:

"I understand, you are not the perpetrator, and you didn't kill me, you just chose to watch when I was killed."

"—just like I am now."

Reika Shitsui froze suddenly, her eyes wide open, she stopped all movements, and her tears mixed with the water in the bathtub and fell.

In the bathtub, the waterline is thrown in an unhurried rise.

Shiraishi stood beside him, his mood very complicated, this was the first time he had seen someone die in front of his eyes in the present progressive form.

Anyway, how many tokens does the seven-tailed Yaeko have? If there is only one piece, is this a violation now?

There is also a task to save the stunned Qing, if Rika Shijing drowns here, that mission eight achievements will fail......

Thinking of this, Shiraishi was going to check whether Nanao Yaeko had a certificate first, and then consider whether to fish out the person in the bathtub as appropriate.

But at this moment, there was a tearing sound from the side.

Shiraishi tilted his head suspiciously, and through the gap in the shower curtain, he saw Nanao Yaeko tearing off the tape on Reika Shitsui's body.

"Anyway, I have to thank you for keeping President Sitsui when she wanted to fire my grandmother."

Seven Tails Yaeko has another "token" in his hand.

She smiled and stuffed the sign into Sijing Lihua's heart: "You helped her for two years, and now, I will give you another seven hundred and thirty days." ”

When all the tokens were submerged in Reika Shitsui's body, Shiraishi saw that the toes of Nanaoyage Yaeko's toes began to blur, and his hands must have been in a similar state.

Nanao-Yaeko lowered her eyes to look at her hands, removed the other tapes a few times, and pulled the plug from the bottom of the tub.

Standing up, she took one last look at Reika Yotsui, then quickly turned around and floated out of the bathroom.

The two tasks were completed at the same time, and Shiraishi glanced at the light screen, put away the Huangquan candle that had been extinguished, and left in the dark.

As he walked to the door, he heard a sobbing voice from behind him: "...... I'm sorry. ”

……

"Thank you so much tonight."

Nanao Yaeko looked at Shiraishi with a smile, her expression very relaxed, "All my wishes have been fulfilled, and I can leave with confidence." ”

"Have a nice trip." Shiraishi waved his hand at her.

However, because he was really curious about the structure of the two "tooth for tooth orders", Shiraishi asked again: "What is the effect of the token?" How long will it be around? ”

Don't find out any strange shadows during the autopsy or physical examination, and then start re-examining the suspect......

Nanao Yaeko misunderstood what he meant, thinking that he was asking about the token on Reika Yotsui's body, and explained:

"It's a death mark, it's true, but it's also related to other factors besides the number of days. It will start the next time Miss Yotsui does something bad - boom! ”

Seven-tailed Yaeko suddenly made an explosive gesture, and then put his hands together, sticking to the side of his face and smiling sweetly: "Then send her directly to me." ”

...... "Don't say such a murderous thing with such a cute face!" Shiraishi silently walked half a step away from her.

"Of course." Nanao Yaeko slowly lowered her hand and walked to the window. She looked at the fountain outside the hallway and sighed, "I still hope that today will be the last time we will see each other." ”

……

The people who went to chase the "murderer" in the forest returned to the villa one after another, and then they saw Reika Shijing, who was covered in water and sitting in the hall on the first floor.

Yizhilong, who gradually woke up, saw her, and his brain buzzed, unwilling and frightened.

However, Reika Yotsui always hung her head and didn't mention anything about being attacked, and under the questioning of Takuya Mifune, she admitted that Nikaido Yuji was killed by her.

Takashi touched his aching neck and chin, suspecting that he was still awake from his dream.

After finally confirming that this is the reality, he suspects that Reika Shitsui wants to be imprisoned in this way and escape the fate of being killed.

Just as he was about to rush over angrily, an anesthetic needle flew next to him, causing him to fall back into a deep sleep.

Shiraishi waited until the buff of the sleeping pill disappeared before returning to his body.

Although Conan felt that the case was full of suspicions, the only suspicious items at the scene were a ball of duct tape stained with fingerprints in the bathroom, and those fingerprints did not match the fingerprints of anyone at the scene.

In the end, he could only stand side by side with Takashi Ichieda after the police car arrived in the morning, and watched in a daze as Rika Shitsui was taken into the car.

……

Early the next morning, just after dawn, Shiraishi was woken up by a knock on the door.

There was a knock on the back door of his house.

Shiraishi lifted the quilt, yawned and walked to the door, looking out through the cat's eye, there was no one.

But the knocking continued.

After two seconds of reaction, he understood.

Opened the door, and sure enough, Conan was standing at the door with a serious face: "The autopsy results of the second order hall are out, do you know what the cause of his death is?" ”

"Dry drowning?" Shiraishi was impressed by his popular science.

"No, it's rabies." Conan put his hands around his arms, and naturally walked around him into the room, and sat down on a chair in the study:

"Even though he didn't look like he had the disease at all, the test results were exactly what they did."

"The virus has mutated? Or is he particularly physical? "Thanks to the system, Shiraishi is now more and more receptive to these fantasy things.

"I also think so, but there are some things that are very wrong - in this incident alone, Lihua Shijing is obviously not the murderer, but the victim, but now she is hospitalized for pneumonia, and the hospital is surrounded by bodyguards from the Sijing family, and I can't hear any news for a while."

One victim did not die and kept his mouth shut, while the other died, but the way of death was a sudden illness...... This feeling that there is a mystery but there is nowhere to solve it, and even if it is solved, it cannot be verified, makes Conan uncomfortable.

He put the matter aside for the time being, wanting to verify one thing: "What does a black cat's fingerprints look like?" ”

"He's ......" in a masked form, the gloves can't be taken off at all, and the fingerprints are not made up by himself.

Shiraishi stretched out his hand and looked at it, making a memory: "Nine buckets, only the right thumb is a dustpan." "It's easy to remember, and it's not easy to say it in the future.

"Right thumb...... It's not the same as a fingerprint on tape. "Conan now has some clue about the criminal's modus operandi, and guessed the situation of Reika Shikai the night before.

He originally suspected that Reika Shitsui was released by the black cat, but now that the fingerprints don't match, and the black cat has been wearing gloves, it is indeed unlikely that someone who is so cautious in this regard will leave his fingerprints on the tape.

Originally, combined with what happened later, Conan had almost restored the situation at the time of the crime and the methods that the murderer intended to take.

But because of the sudden extra fingerprint owner at the scene, everything became confusing again.

He was about to ask Shiraishi's opinion on this matter, when he suddenly heard another knock on the door.

This time, there was a knock on the door to the café.

Butterfly Shinobu raised his voice through the door and asked, "Boss, are you there?" ”