Stolen Buddha Statue

"Eight years ago? Then why didn't you report it to the police back then?" Shiraishi asked suspiciously as he looked at the old abbot.

Could it be...

You bought Tulip Insurance for the Buddha statue?

"When the Buddha statue first went missing, I wanted to report it to the police right away—but Master said that if it was destined to return, it would definitely come back." Ryūen spoke helplessly.

Abbot Enkai was not even here. It was as if he did not care about the statue's whereabouts at all. The one who had invited Mori was his disciple, Ryūen.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, all of them admiring the abbot's state of mind. Such a huge thing had happened, yet he could still take it so calmly. Was this what it meant to be a person of cultivation?

"Then why did you suddenly think to contact Mr. Mori?" Shiraishi asked again.

Had they only realized, with the exhibition approaching, that fate was not enough and decided to bring in Mori Kogoro to supplement it?

Mori Kogoro did not handle that sort of thing—why not find a Buddha statue and pray to it?

This was the textbook definition of waiting until the last minute to pray to Buddha's feet.

"It happened like this—five days ago, I found this in the temple mailbox." As he spoke, Ryūen handed an envelope to Mori.

After taking it, Mori examined it. "Hm? There was no stamp or postmark when you received it?"

"That's right." Ryūen nodded.

After confirming it with Ryūen, Mori opened the envelope.

There were two items inside. One was a handwritten letter in brushwork, which read: [Solve the riddle in the painting, and you will learn the Buddha statue's location.]

Mori muttered as he pulled out the painting that had been