That night, Dr. Asasa's house.

"How's the temperature?" Kaedehara asked.

Judy's appearance didn't have a significant impact on Kaedehara's life for the time being, and he didn't care too much about it, but now he was more concerned that Gray Hara's mourning seemed to have a cold again.

Sitting on the sofa flipping through magazines, Gray Yuan Ai took out the thermometer from under his arm and handed it over directly.

Kaedehara took it, glanced at it, and breathed a sigh of relief. Gray Plains' cold doesn't seem to be serious.

It's just that...

"The temperature is fine... But, Ashbara, do you catch colds too often? Kaede Yuan continued, he remembered that the last time Gray Yuan had a cold was before the school festival, and it seemed that it had been a long time since he thought about it, but he felt very close.

"yes," Gray Yuan replied casually, "I'm so sorry, I'm such a troublesome woman—"

"Aren't you testing the drug again? I remember you said earlier that you're still working on cold medicine. ”

Kaedehara's term "cold medicine" refers to medicine that can make people catch a cold.

Since the combination of white dry wine and cold can help them recover for a short time, Gray Yuan believes that cold is also a key issue in the development of antidotes.

So even though she had already made cold medicine before, she continued to do the research.

“… At most, it's just a cold," there was a pause, and Gray Yuan admitted in a low voice, "Tomorrow will be fine." ”

"That's—"

"You don't need data for this, and this is the last time." Gray Yuan Wai continued, "Don't worry, Detective. It will not cause damage to the body. ”

That's when the phone rang suddenly.

Dr. Asasa was still busy inventing, so Kaedehara had to answer the phone first.

"Hello, this is Dr. Asasa's house."

"Kudo!" A familiar Kansai accent came from the other side of the phone, "Long time no see!" ”

“… What's going on this time? ”

"What words! It's like I wouldn't be looking for you if I'm okay - wait, don't hang up, I do have something to look for you! ”

replied casually, and Hattori Heiji remembered that this was a difficult Kudo to deal with, so he quickly ended the nonsense.

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

"What's wrong?"

"That's right," said Heiji Hattori, "I received a strange letter, the content of which is very short, just one sentence - I will be killed by mermaids, please help me!" ”

"Merfolk?"

"Hmm." Hattori Heiji replied, "Because I thought it might have something to do with you, I'll call over and see if you and that Kudo over there want to go over and have a look." ”

"Where are you going?"

"American Island. It is a small isolated island located in the sea of Wakasa Bay, and the residents who live nearby say that it is an island inhabited by mermaids. ”

Hattori paused for a moment, hoping to hear Kudo's shocked voice as a compliment. But the guy on the other side just seemed to wait patiently for him to continue.

Sighing in his heart, Hattori Heiji continued: "I heard that on that island, there lives an old woman who is immortal because she eats mermaid meat, and three years ago she was in a hurry. ”

"Oh... I didn't expect you to believe this kind of rumor. ”

"I wouldn't have believed it, but when I think about what happened to you, I feel that immortality is nothing."

"So, that's the relationship with me?"

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

At the end of the letter, the client's name was Saori Kadowaki and her mobile phone number was left on it.

I called her to ask for specific information, and when I called her for the first time, I picked it up, but I was hung up immediately.

After that, I dialed many times, but it never got through.

But the sound that came from the earpiece at that time was still clearly in my ears—the sound of the woman's moans and the sound of the waves. ”

“……”

"Well, isn't that interesting?"

"Wait a minute," Kaedehara said, "I'll look it up and call you back later." ”

"Huh?" Hattori Heiji was stunned for a moment, and then found that the other side had hung up the phone, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

On the other side, Kaedehara hung up the phone and sat down next to Ash Yuan again.

Gray Yuan Wai looked up at him, casting a questioning look.

"Heiji Hattori, the high school detective I mentioned to you last time who knows my identity - he received a letter related to merfolk inviting me to the island of America."

Kaedehara briefly described the matter, "When I answered the phone just now, you had been reading the magazine, but just as I mentioned the word mermaid, you glanced at me. So I wanted to ask you if you know something. ”

Gray Plains was silent for a moment.

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

"Nothing," said Grayplain, "I've been there. Rumor has it that there is a man on the island who has eaten mermaid meat and is immortal, so the organization sent me to investigate... Gin was in charge of spying on me. ”

"It's just that after investigating, we found out that it was fake," Gray Yuan continued, "The so-called longevity woman is just a play by generations of people using clever makeup techniques, and many people on the island know about it... It's probably just a scam woven together to make money. ”

Gray Yuan didn't seem to want to mention the things in the organization before, so Feng Yuan didn't plan to follow up: "Thank you." Also, I'm guessing you definitely don't want to go again? ”

"I don't want to."

Kaedehara was thoughtful.

Although Gray Yuan said that the cold would be cured tomorrow, this is not certain. I don't know how long I'm going to go to the American Island, so I don't really want to go.

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

So he took a few minutes to check the information on his computer, and then went back to the living room to call Hattori Heiji back.

The phone was answered immediately, and Heiji Hattori seemed to be waiting by the side all the time.

"Kudo?"

"Fake."

"Huh?"

"I mean, the so-called immortality is fake." Kaedehara said, "If it's true, this island can't be so calm, and the U.S. aircraft carrier is right to drive on the side now." ”

“……”

There seems to be no way to refute this, and Hattori Heiji is a little speechless.

"The goddess who is said to be immortal barely shows up except for ceremonies, and it's easy to disguise," Kaedehara continued, "and she's probably played by the women of the family for generations. ”

"You're just guessing—"

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

"Of course I do." Heiji Hattori said that he had done a simple investigation, "It was shown on television that three years ago a strange charred corpse was found on that island, and the shattered bones of the charred corpse had a very strange shape - no feet. ”

That's why it's considered to be a mermaid's corpse.

"That's supposed to be a charred female corpse. Her feet may have been bent and then tied with rope or something, and she was smashed by fallen posts or beams in the fire. Kaedehara said, "She should be the last person to play the goddess." After her death, someone else will continue to play the... It may be the person who lives with the goddess now. ”

"And what does that letter to me say?" Heiji Hattori was a little depressed, realizing that the Kudo on the other side didn't seem to want to go.

"Maybe you found out the truth about the mermaid and were worried about being killed, or maybe the murderer sent you a murder notice, the murderer may still be a little hesitant in his heart, I hope you can stop it."

Kaedehara continued:

"And judging from the phone calls you made, Saori Kadowaki who sent you the letter was either the murderer or the target of the murderer, and she may have even been killed.

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

As for the motive, it may be related to the fire just mentioned three years ago. If that's the corpse of the person who played the goddess... That means it may not be an accident. ”

Kaedehara continued, intending to use the information he had learned from Ai Ashbara and his impressions to fool Hattori Heiji and let him solve the case on his own.

In his impression, the fire three years ago was actually deliberately set on fire, and the person who played the goddess at that time was burned to death, and the current goddess is her daughter who plays it next.

It's a sad story.,Kaede didn't really want to go.,Since Hattori Hei is going to go.,It's good to let him stop it.。

Sitting on the sofa, Gray Yuan Ai looked at the magazine, listening to the sound of the phone over there, slightly distracted.

At the mention of Mermaid Island, she couldn't help but think back to her days in the organization.

It's been so peaceful that she's about to forget...

I'm just a traitor to the organization...

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

"Ashbaranda?" Kaedehara, who had successfully flickered Hattori in a hurry, walked back, noticing that Ashbara's mood was a little low, "What's wrong?" ”

"Nothing." Gray Yuan replied softly, "I'm going to sleep." ”

(End of chapter)