Why Was the Elevator Overloaded?

The library was pitch-black at night, without a sound.

As usual, Jiang Xia borrowed the Ghost Infant's night vision ability.

After getting a clear look at his surroundings, he got his bearings and headed straight for the elevator.

In Jiang Xia's memory, there had only been one case that took place in a library.

—The librarian had been trafficking drugs and was discovered by one of his employees. The librarian then killed that employee and hid the body on top of the elevator.

The body had originally been hidden quite well.

But that afternoon, Conan had happened to come to the Library with several classmates to do homework.

Although Conan did not know where the body was, he had keenly sensed the presence of a corpse.

And after learning that an employee had gone missing, he became even more convinced that the missing employee might already be dead, and that someone had hidden his body in the Library.

So after Closing Time, a group of children secretly remained in the building, intending to find the employee's body.

At the same time, the librarian had noticed through the lights that someone was still inside the Library.

So right now, the librarian was carrying an Iron Rod, planning to search through the darkness for the little "rats" hiding in the building and silence them for good.

First-floor lobby.

Jiang Xia soon arrived in front of the elevator and looked up at the Electronic Screen above it.

Judging from the displayed number, the elevator was currently stopped on the Third Floor.

Jiang Xia raised a hand and pressed the button, brazenly summoning the elevator down.

Though that would easily make noise, unlike the children desperately hiding, Jiang Xia had no intention of avoiding alerting the librarian.

On the contrary, he hoped the librarian would notice the disturbance as soon as possible, come to him of his own accord, and conveniently deliver both the Ghost and the Shikigami.

While the elevator descended, Jiang Xia walked toward the nearby stairs.

By the time he reached the second floor, the elevator had already stopped on the first floor.

Jiang Xia walked to the elevator doors, pried them open, and looked down.

A corpse lay on its back atop the elevator, its eyes still wide open in grievance. A length of rope was wound around its neck, and a small pool of blood had spread beneath the back of its head. It looked as though he had first been strangled, then thrown into the elevator shaft.

There was no Shikigami clinging to the corpse's leg.

"..." It was hard to say whether no Ghost had formed, or whether one had formed but was currently clinging to the librarian's leg.

Jiang Xia let go disappointedly and allowed the elevator doors to close again.

It seemed he would have to find the librarian and ask for his Ghost back.

Jiang Xia looked up at the ceiling, listening to the faint sounds coming from somewhere in the building.

He remembered that, while the librarian had been on his way home after work, the bratty Detective Boys had turned on the lights in the Library. That had alerted the librarian that someone was inside, causing him to turn back with a grim expression.

In other words, around this time, the librarian should be playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek with the Detective Boys: "If uncle catches you, he'll strangle you to death."

With that in mind, Jiang Xia took out his phone, glanced at the elevator that would block the signal, and turned toward the stairwell.

He called Inspector Megure.

As a friendly policeman who loved taking youngsters under his wing, Inspector Megure had long since given Jiang Xia his personal number.

Calling him was more convenient than calling a Dispatcher. There was no need to leave basic information like a name and contact details; he could summon him directly.

Metropolitan Police Department.

Inspector Megure was, yet again, working overtime tonight.

He had been looking for the Library's missing employee.

When he answered the call and heard Jiang Xia say that he had found a corpse in the Library elevator, Inspector Megure immediately realized that Jiang Xia might have found the very person he was searching for.

During the day, Inspector Megure had already led a team to search the Library once, but they had failed to find the body.

Now that he learned the body had actually been on top of the elevator, and remembered that he had ridden that very elevator... Inspector Megure silently broke out in Goosebumps.

"I'll be there right away." He hurried out of his office and called over several subordinates.

Then he suddenly became a little puzzled. "At this hour, why are you at the Library? ...Never mind, we can discuss that later. Leave immediately! The murderer dared to hide the body on the elevator, which means he may be Library staff and very familiar with the place. And because he feels guilty, he may well still be lingering inside after Closing Time. You—"

"Aah—!!!"

A muffled child's scream suddenly came from Jiang Xia's end of the line.

Inspector Megure froze when he heard it through the phone. "What was that sound just now? There are children in the Library?!"

Jiang Xia's steps on the stairs also paused slightly.

He raised his head and looked upward through the gaps in the stairwell. "Possibly."

As he spoke, Jiang Xia quickened his pace slightly.

At the same time, he did not forget Inspector Megure's question and casually patched together an explanation for his actions.

"I remembered the Library's Closing Time incorrectly. By the time I came to return some books, it had already closed. But I saw the Electric Light in a room on the Third Floor suddenly turn on for a few seconds, and I could vaguely see children's silhouettes on the French Window. I was worried that some children had missed Closing Time and been accidentally locked inside, so I came in to check..."

Inspector Megure was nearly frantic. "Stop talking! If the murderer really is in the Library, you'll expose your location!"

"Mm, okay." Jiang Xia obediently lowered his voice and whispered into the receiver, "Then I'll go take a look first. Hurry over."

He hung up.

"Wait—" Inspector Megure wanted to remind him to be careful and use proper tactics... but Jiang Xia had hung up too quickly.

Calling back now would make the Ring Tone dangerously conspicuous. He could only put down his phone and anxiously urge his subordinates, "Hurry up!"

The enthusiastic Detective was walking toward the cold-blooded murderer. He could be in danger!!

Oh, right, and those bratty kids who had broken into the Library.

On the top floor of the Library, a little earlier.

While Jiang Xia was dialing Inspector Megure's number.

Conan wiped the dust from his hands and came down from the Mechanical Room.

He walked to the elevator, forcefully pulled open the elevator doors, then pressed the switch beside them.

Then Conan turned back and said reassuringly to his three first-grade classmates, "I found the body—when we rode the elevator during the day, the reason it showed as overloaded was because there was an 'invisible passenger' in it."

As he spoke, the elevator gradually rose.

The corpse atop the elevator slowly appeared within the beam of Conan's Flashlight.

The other three children went pale and let out a terrified scream in unison.

Conan did not realize that all of this was far too much for three children to bear.

He frowned. "This is too cruel. The librarian should have killed this person. We need to hurry and—"

Before he could say the words "report it,"

A beam of light suddenly rose beneath his feet.

—After lifting the corpse, the elevator continued upward, gradually revealing the brightly lit elevator car below.

A person radiating Killing Intent stood inside.

The elevator doors stood wide open. As the elevator rose, Tsugawa, the Librarian's head appeared before the children, followed by his neck, then his body... Tsugawa, the Librarian stood inside the elevator car, gripping a Metal Water Pipe and baring his teeth in a sinister smile.

Conan's heart tightened. He turned and swiftly gave the children a few instructions.

Then, when Tsugawa, the Librarian stepped out of the elevator, Conan used deductions about "hiding drugs," "murdering an employee," and so on to draw Tsugawa, the Librarian's attention away.

The other three children took the opportunity to slip into the elevator and press the button for the first floor.

The elevator began descending slowly.

Once the elevator had descended most of the way, and the elevator car overlapped this floor by less than half a meter, Conan slid forward in a low tackle, passed beneath the librarian's crotch, and barely slipped into the elevator.