"Over there, over there!" Suzuki Sonoko excitedly patted Jiang Xia. "Look at that light—doesn't it look like a villa?"
Her older sister loved buying villas deep in the mountains and forests, then bringing them along to stay there. Suzuki Sonoko was therefore very familiar with these detached houses standing amid the woods, and she could not help brightening up after one glance.
"Villas in the woods usually have landline phones." Suzuki Sonoko sounded knowledgeable. "Let's go ask to borrow their phone."
Mouri Ran looked at that distant glow but could not help shrinking back. "But why would there be a villa in a place this deserted? Don't you think it's creepy?"
"It's not creepy. It's perfectly normal." Conan sneezed as he spoke. "Let's hurry." If they did not get moving, he really was going to freeze to death.
Jiang Xia clearly welcomed the suddenly appearing house as well. Before long, the group headed over.
As they drew closer, the villa's full appearance came into view. Its warm, bright lights illuminated the surroundings. Looking at the perfectly ordinary house, Mouri Ran finally let out a breath and managed to dispel some of the haunted-house image from her mind.
Jiang Xia stepped forward and knocked on the door. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
A shuffling set of footsteps sounded from inside. The scraping of shoes against the floor drew nearer, and a silhouette appeared against the translucent frosted-glass sliding door.
Seeing how short the figure was, Mouri Ran vaguely felt that something was off. The next moment, the door opened a crack, and a Kappa-like old man appeared in the door crack, gazing eerily out at them.
"?!" Mouri Ran sprang backward. "A ghost!!"
"You're the ghost!"
The old man's hoarse voice rang out as he flung the door wide open.
Only after