Another Xiao Hei!

"Even so, the perpetrators cannot be identified yet."

Fujino stepped forward and poured cold water on Hattori Heiji: "Judging from the scene, the perpetrator did not leave any traces. Although the surrounding sea is currently impassable by boat, considering that everyone on the island is a suspect, the scope is still too large... If we only say that the murderer is on the island, we still cannot identify the murderer for the time being. It would be best to wait for Miss Sumi to wake up and tell us what the murderer looks like, as well as any clues. That would be much safer."

"That's right..."

Hattori Heiji thought about it and felt that Fujino was right, "But if that's the case, then the identity of the criminal can't be determined at all... If we have to wait until Miss Sumi wakes up, then it will be at least tomorrow. If that's the case, then the criminal will probably have disappeared without a trace."

"Oh right, you guys said you were going to Saori's house."

At that moment, Shimabukuro Kimie walked over, turned her head and glanced at Kadowaki Benzo, who was still drinking from a sake bottle. "Now, are you still going?"

"Well..."

Mori Kogoro glanced at Kadowaki Benzo, somewhat helplessly. "That guy's drunk like that, even if we go and ask him now, we probably won't get any information out of him."

"Shall we go and check on the Life Lord?"

At this moment, Conan suddenly said childishly, "I have a lot of things I want to ask that old lady."

Hattori Heiji: "Uh..."

Sure enough, he was still a little uncomfortable with Kudo acting like a child.

"Well..."

Shimabukuro Kimie hesitated for a moment.

She was indeed confident in her disguise.

But there are several detectives here after all.

If the distance is a bit far, then it's not a problem.

But if they met, she was still a little worried that she would be exposed.

"You brat, what problem could you possibly have?"

Mori Kogoro glanced at Conan with displeasure and yawned. "Let's hurry back to the hotel. It's getting late, and I'm so sleepy."

"What's wrong, uncle?"

Hattori Heiji, naturally, wouldn't let Conan's operation fail like this, and echoed, "I actually have some things I want to ask that Life Lord. After all, from what we've seen so far, the missing Kadowaki Saori and the Ebihara Sumi, whose legs were broken, are both somewhat related to the Arrow of the Dugong."

"Really."

Fujino, who was standing to the side, nodded as well. "Go and meet with Life Lord. Maybe we can get some other clues."

Upon hearing this, Mori Kogoro thought for a moment, then turned to Shimabukuro Kimie and asked, "Ms. Kimie, are we disturbing you?"

"No, it won't..."

Seeing this, Shimabukuro Kimie had no choice but to agree, "In that case, I'll take you to meet my great-grandmother... but she's very tired from tonight's festival, so I don't know if she'll agree."

The Shimabukuro family lives near the America Shrine.

It is a typical two-story wooden house in Japanese style.

The cottage didn't look very new; in fact, it had a worn-out, unrenovated feel to it.

A light drizzle began to fall outside the window. The group sat around the table on the floor, awaiting their Life Lord.

"This room looks really old; I don't know how many years it's been since I've seen it."

Mori Kogoro glanced around the room and couldn't help but sigh.

"It seems they didn't make much money from the Arrow of the Dugong after all."

Hattori Heiji glanced around and teased.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Toyama Kazuha glanced at Hattori Heiji speechlessly, then explained, "Those lottery tickets only cost five yen."

Five yuan?

Hattori Heiji paused slightly, "Euros or dollars?"

"It's Japanese yen!"

Kazuha explained, "At the festival just now, I heard the island's residents say that they've had this price for a long time and it hasn't gone up since."

Ran continued, "They will put 180 wooden cards in a wooden box, and after all the tourists who participated in the lottery draw their cards, the person in Life Lord will decide who will win the prize."

"One hundred and eighty wooden signs, priced at five yen each, will ultimately only cost nine hundred yen to produce."

Hattori Heiji did some calculations, then glanced around again. "No wonder it's so dilapidated, it's not making any money at all."

"Actually, it's a profit."

Fujino interjected, "Although the wooden signs don't make money, if all 180 signs are sold, it means there will be more than 180 tourists. These tourists will stay in hotels and eat when they come to this island, so this method can be used to promote the flow of the island's economy and attract foreign economic activity."

After a pause, Fujino continued, "However, such local policy activities are not a long-term solution. After all, there are only two days of activities a year. If we want the entire island to get rid of poverty and truly become rich from scratch, we still need to rely on a sustainable and distinctive economy."

"What do you mean by 'specialized economy,' 'economic mobility,' and 'foreign economy'?"

Hattori Heiji clearly didn't understand what Fujino was saying.

As a high school student and detective, he didn't really understand things like poverty alleviation policies.

"In other words, the Mermaid Festival on this island can't make money for everyone on the island in the long run. You need an industry that can make money continuously for the whole island to make money, such as seafood or something else. As for the Mermaid Festival, it's just an add-on at best."

Conan glanced at Hattori Heiji: "Didn't you even understand that?"

"How would I know anything about this?"

Hattori Heiji curled his lip. These were things politicians had to consider; why should a High School Detective like him think about such things?

Wait, aren't you two High School Detective too?

"Knock knock!"

Just then, heavy footsteps came from outside the door.

What is that sound?

Toyama Kazuha murmured in confusion.

Just as I passed through, the sliding door to the room opened.

An elderly woman appeared at the door. "What business do you have with me?"

Everyone was startled.

Fujino, however, glanced at her and immediately saw through her weakness.

That's right, this old woman is actually Shimabukuro Kimie in disguise.

However, her disguise was very good; she only revealed her front, without revealing any flaws in her kneeling and slowly walking forward behind her.

"Um, old lady."

Conan was the first to recover and couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me, how exactly was the winner of the Arrow of the Dugong selected?"

Yes, that was the question in his mind.

The people involved in the incidents all have some connection to that Arrow of the Dugong.

First it was Kadowaki Saori, and then it was Ebihara Sumi.

Conan believes there must be some connection between these two events.

"That depends on the situation..."

Life Lord's voice sounded very old, and you couldn't tell that she was a young girl at all. She smiled, revealing half of her missing teeth, and said, "Sometimes, I also use horse racing numbers as lottery numbers."

"Grandma, the bath water is ready!"

Just then, Shimabukuro Kimie's voice suddenly rang out from not far down the corridor.

Hearing the sound, Life Lord turned around and glanced at it, then turned to leave. "If you have nothing else to do, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed."

"Etc!"

Conan clearly didn't understand some things and tried to call out to Life Lord.

But before he could say anything more, Life Lord interrupted Conan, turning to look at Toyama Kazuha: "That little girl over there with her hair tied up."

Are you talking about me?

Toyama Kazuha was taken aback by what he heard.

"That's right..."

Life Lord turned to look at Toyama Kazuha and said meaningfully, "The Arrow of the Dugong was originally a precious arrow used to exorcise demons and ward off evil spirits. Once you let go, demons will build their nests on your body..."

"Although I have heard that this arrow is used for exorcism."

Toyama Kazuha recalled what Fujino had said before, "But what does 'demon's nest' mean?"

Fujino nodded as well.

This statement just feels a bit... strange.

It brought back some strange and unusual memories for him.

Life Lord ignored Kazuha's words and continued to explain to himself, "If it's a man, he will be dragged into the dust and become a heartless demon, while if it's a woman, she will be dragged into the water and become a mermaid who can't speak... I advise you to keep it from leaving you."

After saying that, Life Lord dragged his body and disappeared into the dimly lit corridor, leaning on his cane.

Everyone leaned out to look curiously.

Hattori Heiji stared at the woman's frail back and couldn't help but remark, "Her voice is hoarse, and her complexion is terrible. I don't think this old woman will live much longer."

"You can't tell how long a person will live just by looking at their face or their voice."

Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at Life Lord.

His pale complexion and hoarse voice were actually quite noticeable to him, given his skill in disguise.

The mask made by Shimabukuro Kimie is indeed exquisite. Every detail, from the hair to the teeth, is perfectly reproduced, making it look incredibly lifelike.

However, the color correction for the complexion was still not very good.

Although it has some flaws, it's still a top-notch disguise.

Compared to that kid, Kaito Kid, he couldn't say who was better.

He was also curious about who Shimabukuro Kimie learned her disguise skills from.

"How did your conversation go?"

A short while later, Shimabukuro Kimie changed her clothes and hurried back, entering the room and asking everyone.

"Well..."

Hattori Heiji sighed helplessly, "We barely exchanged more than two words."

Conan nodded to himself, also somewhat disappointed.

However, at least he now knows that the extraction of the Arrow of the Dugong has no real connection to identity or anything like that.

In that case, this lead will go cold...

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Shimabukuro Kimie smiled and said, "After all, my great-grandmother is quite old, and sometimes she doesn't really like to talk."

"In that case, let's go back quickly!"

Mori Kogoro yawned, raised his wrist to check the time. "It's almost ten o'clock now, if I don't go to sleep soon I'll be staying up all night again."

"That's true."

Fujino nodded and stood up. "Thank you so much for your help today, Ms. Kimie."

"Nothing..."

Shimabukuro Kimie smiled politely, "Would you like me to give you a ride? It's raining quite heavily outside, you could take a couple of umbrellas with you..."

After everyone left, Shimabukuro Kimie watched the figures disappear into the rain and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn't say much because she was afraid of being recognized.

After all, too much talk leads to mistakes...

Especially in front of the detectives in this room.

As for the legends she mentioned, like building nests and such.

Actually, she originally intended to use it to announce her next target to be eliminated.

However, it seems that Xiao Hei will help her get rid of him.

But she didn't rely entirely on Xiao Hei.

Breaking her leg did make her feel relieved, but she felt that just breaking her leg wasn't quite enough.

If Xiao Hei doesn't take action next time, she plans to do it herself.

Although it's very unethical, shifting the blame onto Xiao Hei is not a bad option.

Before we knew it, it was the morning of the second day.

After a night, Ebihara Sumi finally came to her senses.

After hearing the news, everyone went to the island's infirmary with Shimabukuro Kimie and Kuroe Naoko.

A village clinic on America Island.

"Waaah—"

With a deathly Ebihara Sumi slumped on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably and letting out cries.

"Miss Komi, she..."

Ran peered through the half-open door at Ebihara Sumi, who was sobbing inside the room, and hesitated to speak.

"Her emotions are very unstable right now..."

Fukuyama Rokuro, who had been taking care of her there, glanced at the scene before looking away. "The medical conditions on the island are limited, and we can't provide more advanced medical care for the time being... But according to the doctor, even if we went to a hospital on Honshu, the result would be the same. Her legs can be saved, but she'll probably be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life."

"How so..."

Ran frowned and cast a pitiful look at Ebihara Sumi.

"Did she see who it was...?"

Hattori Heiji was about to say something, he was suddenly elbowed by Kazuha: "Baka Heiji, how can you ask someone something like that at a time like this?"

Hattori Heiji with a hint of helplessness, "I just want to catch the culprit, don't I?"

"Actually, she did describe that person's characteristics."

Fukuyama Rokuro hesitated for a moment before speaking, "It just seems like he was too emotional and was talking nonsense... For example... mermaids, all black and unable to see their faces or something."

"Completely black, unable to see their face?!"

Conan Hattori Heiji were both startled by what they heard, as if a flash of lightning had struck their minds.

They originally thought that the two cases involving Kadowaki Saori and Ebihara Sumi would not be related.

After all, one is in Tokyo and the other is on a small island like this; they just can't possibly see eye to eye...

But now it seems that the perpetrator was the same person.

It's Xiao Hei again!

"Could it be that person again?"

Shimabukuro Kimie, who was standing to the side, was quick to change her tune and pretended to think for a moment before saying, "The last person who kidnapped Saori was also a guy whose face was obscured and who was all black."

"It seems that's how it is..."

Fujino nodded. "The murderer in both cases should be the same person."