Fujino parked the motorcycle, picked up the travel bag attached to the back seat of the motorcycle, and looked through the railing into the courtyard.

The vestibule of the courtyard is very wide, and a stone-paved path leads to the entrance to the castle.

At the entrance to the castle, a man in a brown suit, with a mid-parted head and a double chin, was talking to a woman in a black and white maid's outfit.

To be honest, this is the first time Fujino has seen a maid since he came to this world.

Well, rich people really know how to play.

Anyway, why didn't he think of this game when he was a chaebol before?

The path is lined with emerald green lawns, and the lawns on the side of the path are covered with decorative greenery.

A man in denim bib with a pair of scissors in his hand is trimming the greenery.

Judging by his delicate way of pruning the greenery, he should be the gardener of this villa.

The duration of the practice is more than two and a half years.

Among the greenery, there are several strange decorative statues, which are tall and delicate.

Next to the statue, a young man wearing a light blue suit and a red shirt, also with a mid-parted head, was taking a closer look.

Fujino had seen these statues, and in his impression, it was supposed to be chess, but it was just enlarged.

These chess pieces should be the key hint to unlock the code in the letter.

But for him who spoilers the dog, it doesn't do much.

If he remembered correctly, he could have found the secret passage this time by turning the clock in a certain room.

"Excuse me, is there anything you are doing here?"

The gardener-like man noticed Fujino standing at the gate, and immediately walked over and asked suspiciously.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the gardener here, Katsuo Tahata."

Katsuo Tabata introduced himself.

"Is Mr. Noble at home?"

Fujino asked politely to the gardener.

"It turns out that you are a guest of the noble young master."

When the gardener Tahata heard that Fujino was a guest of the nobles of the palace, he was obviously much more enthusiastic.

Then he turned around and beckoned to the man who was looking at the chess not far away: "Young master, nobleman, a guest has come to look for you!" ”

"Guest?"

The nobleman of the palace retracted his gaze, turned his head, and saw Fujino standing at the door.

Immediately, he walked to the door: "Detective Fujino, the road is far away, it's really troublesome." ”

The nobleman beckoned the gardener to open the door, and then led Fujino into the villa.

The two walked on the stone path.

The nobleman of the palace glanced around, and when he saw that there was no one around, he turned his head and whispered to Fujino: "Detective Fujino, in fact, the purpose of inviting you here this time is not to look for treasure, but to investigate the truth about the fire that happened here four years ago. ”

"That fire four years ago?"

Fujino already knew that there had been a fire here, but he still pretended to be puzzled.

"That's right."

Mamiya nodded, leaned his head and explained: "Just four years ago, my mother came back from abroad to celebrate my grandmother's birthday, but on the night of the birthday, there was a fire, which not only took my mother's life, but also caused the servants and more than a dozen people who came to visit to be buried in the fire. ”

"Is that the tower?"

Fujino pointed to the tall tower not far away, which he had noticed from the beginning of the entrance.

"That's right, that's where my mother died."

The nobleman of the palace looked over, "After the fire four years ago, I felt that something was wrong and stayed here, but in the past four years, I have not investigated any useful clues. ”

"Do you think the murderer is still in this castle?"

"That's right, that's why I'm going to entrust Detective Fujino to you on the pretext of looking for treasure."

"By the way, what's the matter with the treasure?"

"I heard that my grandfather mentioned it before he died."

"He has left his most precious treasure in this castle to give to the first person to unlock the secrets of this castle. ”

"Nobleman, this is ......"

Just as Fujino was talking to the nobles of the house, at the gate of the castle, he was talking to the maid.

"This is my friend, Fujino."

The nobleman of the palace introduced.

"Fujino ......"

Mamiya Man's face was expressionless when he heard this, but he thought for a moment, he seemed to remember something, "Could it be, you're the detective Fujino, right?" ”

"Just an ordinary detective."

Fujino said modestly.

"My name is Mimiyaman, and I am the stepfather of the nobleman."

Ma Miyaman's face was still expressionless, but his eyes couldn't hide his excitement, "Noble, this detective friend of yours will definitely be able to find the treasure left by his father-in-law." ”

"Hmm."

The noble man just nodded, looking at the eyes of the palace with a slight hesitation, "It would be best if I could find it." ”

"By the way, you two seem to be talking about the tower?"

At this time, Mamiya Man suddenly said, "If you two are interested in that tower, it's better not to go in." ”

"Why?"

Hearing this, Fujino glanced at the tower again and joked, "Could it be a haunting?" ”

"That's pretty much it."

"About two years ago, there was a newly hired servant who mysteriously disappeared in that tower, and before he disappeared, he once said to the maid here, [He found something good in that tower], and after he disappeared, we immediately sent people in to look for him, although there were traces of being broken into, but we did not find him. ”

It wasn't until four days later that the police found him in the nearby woods, dead and starved to death............ After that, rumors spread among the servants that the evil spirits of the tower might have killed him, and after that incident, the tower was sealed off and no one dared to enter it again. ”

"I said how that tower was locked up."

The nobleman of the palace frowned when he heard this, and asked towards the palace man, "Why don't I know about this?" ”

Mamiya explained, "You weren't at the castle at the time, so of course you didn't know about it. ”

"Travel ......"

The nobleman of the palace saved his chin and thought for a moment: "It seems that this is indeed the case, I did travel two years ago." ”

"In that case, I won't bother you."

After that, Jian Miyaman was about to turn around and leave, and before leaving, he also mentioned it in passing, "By the way, remember to tell me when you find it, I also want to see what the treasure left by my father-in-law is." ”

But just as Mamiya was about to leave, Fujino, who seemed to remember something, suddenly stopped him.

"Anything else?"

Mamiya turned his head in surprise.

"Mr. Man, are you afraid of snakes?"

Fujino looked at Miyaman Muruma and asked curiously.

"Snakes?"

Mamiya was asked by Fujino's words, and his face became strange.

Considering that the other party is a detective, he will not ask some questions that are not nutritious for no reason.

He thought for a moment before replying, "I'm not afraid of snakes, there are indeed quite a few snakes near this castle, but most of them are non-venomous snakes. ”

"That's fine."

……

The nobleman of Mamiya led Fujino towards the villa.

Recalling Fujino's strange question just now, he asked curiously, "Detective Fujino, what kind of test did you just have?" Is there something unusual about him? ”

"Nope."

Fujino shook his head, "I just remembered something funny. ”

"Fun things to do......"

The nobles of the palace are still very curious, what kind of fun thing Fujino is talking about.

He didn't think that much, though.

Push open the door of the villa.

At the front of the exhibition hall hangs a huge portrait of an old man in a suit, with white hair and a white beard, very similar to the nobles of the palace.

On the walls on either side of the portrait hang two smaller portraits, on the left hand side of the portrait is a beautiful lady in a gown with long blond hair, and on the right hand side is a young man full of spirit.

"The one in the middle is my grandfather."

The nobleman of the palace looked at the huge portrait and said, "How is it, I look very similar to my grandfather, right?" ”

"Well, it's like that."

Fujino nodded, "Those two next to me are ......"

"That's my parents."

The nobleman of the palace glanced at the portrait on the right, "The person on the portrait is my biological father, Mamiya Sadaaki, who died of illness six years ago...... Shortly after her death, my mother married the man you just saw named Man abroad. ”

"Nobleman, who is he?"

At this moment, an old voice came.

Fujino looked back and saw an ugly old woman in a wheelchair, wearing a black hat, black round-rimmed glasses, gray hair, and an ugly appearance, who didn't know when.

"This is my friend, Detective Fujino."

"Detective?"

The old woman was surprised, and only after recovering her senses did she resume her normal tone, "That's great, I really hope this detective can help solve my husband's puzzle and find the treasure in this castle." ”

As she spoke, the old woman began to go crazy again, and slid away in a wheelchair not far away, muttering as she walked, "Where is my daughter?!" Hasn't my daughter come back yet?! She clearly said that she was going to congratulate me on my birthday......"

However, unlike the madness on the surface, the old woman's heart was secretly thinking about how to get rid of Fujino before he discovered the secret passage.

may be due to the fact that she has killed too many people and has a natural blood suppression of detectives and police.

To be honest, she was still a little scared when she first learned that the guy named Fujino turned out to be a detective.

But when she thought about it, she wasn't afraid.

She has killed too many people for the treasure over the years, and it doesn't matter if she kills a detective now.

(End of chapter)