Ch. 39233914 [The Organization's Approaching Crisis]

Yamazaki Yumi tried to lure Winery owner Factory Manager Suwa to the island, but he refused to cooperate with her business plan. She then conceived a way to bring her plans to the Winery instead.

  • Yamazaki Yumi arranged another island gathering and planned to deal with the Winery owner, while Hashimoto Maya agreed to host the guests and decided to observe her secretly.
  • Hashimoto Maya wondered whether Yamazaki Yumi was a colleague and prepared another observation report for Lord Uzo.
  • Factory Manager Suwa rejected his employees’ pleas to compromise on the Winery’s production and pricing, then refused to attend Yamazaki Yumi’s island gathering.
  • Mrs. Suwa apologized to Yamazaki Yumi and invited her to visit the Winery the next day, while Yamazaki Yumi considered killing Factory Manager Suwa to secure the business deal.
  • Yamazaki Yumi realized she could bring people to the Winery instead of trying to bring Factory Manager Suwa to the island.

Ch. 39243915 [Bottom-Rung Lackeys]

Yamazaki Yumi arranged to bring Jiang Xia and others to a winery in Yamanashi, hoping the trip might lead to a death that would draw them into a case. At the winery, the owner's wife said Factory Manager Suwa had considered their contract but had disappeared, leaving the deal unresolved.

  • Yamazaki Yumi asked Hashimoto Maya to accompany her and bring island residents to the winery, while Conan suspected her plans were unusual.
  • The next day, Jiang Xia brought Mouri Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, and an elementary school student along, and Yamazaki Yumi collected them in a larger vehicle.
  • Yamazaki Yumi picked up Hashimoto Maya and drove the group toward the winery, where the owner's wife met them and took the wheel.
  • The owner's wife told Mouri Ran and the others that she and Mr. Mizumachi had built the winery with her husband, Factory Manager Suwa.
  • The owner's wife said Suwa had printed out Yamazaki Yumi's proposed contract but had gone missing that morning, and Hashimoto Maya watched Yamazaki Yumi as she reacted.

Ch. 39253902 Hashimoto Maya: Death Exemption Token!

President Yamazaki secured a signed contract with the winery after Factory Manager Kengo failed to appear, while Hashimoto Maya wondered whether the missing manager was already dead. Mizumachi Tomoaki led the guests through the vineyard, where they learned the field’s apparent fog was scheduled pesticide spray.

  • Hashimoto Maya suspected Kengo might already be dead and speculated that President Yamazaki was an inexperienced newcomer to Uzo’s organization.
  • While the guests waited, the landlady served wine and an employee explained Kengo’s stubbornness had hurt sales despite the wine’s quality.
  • Mizumachi Tomoaki found Kengo’s signed contract in the warehouse and explained that Kengo had apparently agreed but was avoiding the guests.
  • President Yamazaki signed the contract with Mizumachi Tomoaki representing the winery, then asked the landlady to search for Kengo in the southern field warehouse.
  • Mizumachi Tomoaki took Suzuki Sonoko, Jiang Xia, Mouri Ran, and Hashimoto Maya on a vineyard tour and explained that the field’s apparent fog was pesticide spray.

Ch. 3926Murder Weapon

After the group found Kengo strangled in a winery warehouse, Officer Momoi began investigating and questioned everyone’s whereabouts. Mizumachi Tomoaki’s baffled claim that Kengo should not have died left Jiang Xia and Conan suspicious.

  • Mizumachi Tomoaki explained that the winery planted roses to detect pests, then Yurika invited the group to search the northern warehouse for Kengo.
  • Yurika opened the warehouse and found Kengo bound and dead, while Hashimoto Maya judged that he had been dead for some time.
  • Yurika grieved over her husband, and Yamazaki Yumi wondered whether the people around Hashimoto Maya and Jiang Xia were connected to the danger she had suspected.
  • Mizumachi Tomoaki insisted that Kengo should not have died but gave no explanation when Jiang Xia questioned him.
  • Officer Momoi arrived, identified Jiang Xia, and learned that Kengo had been strangled between one and two-thirty that afternoon.
  • Officer Momoi asked the group where they had been during the estimated time of death, and Yamazaki Yumi said she had stayed with Jiang Xia.

Ch. 39273918 [A Different Kind of Knot]

Officer Momoi investigated the winery murder and initially suspected Mizumachi Tomoaki, while Jiang Xia examined the body and found evidence that Kengo had been strangled before he was dragged and hung. The case remained unresolved when Mizumachi pointed out that the hanging rope had a different knot from the one he usually used.

  • Mizumachi Tomoaki claimed that Mrs. Suwa had asked him to tie up Kengo, but Mrs. Suwa denied it and gave an alibi for the afternoon.
  • Mrs. Suwa said she had met Jiang Xia and the others at the station, and Jiang Xia confirmed that she had been with them for part of the afternoon.
  • An old winery employee said he had seen Kengo and Mizumachi walking toward the warehouse that morning, making Mizumachi appear to be the culprit.
  • Jiang Xia asked who held the warehouse keys and pointed out that Kengo had been dragged face-down after he was already dead, then strangled before being hung.
  • Suzuki Sonoko inferred that the killer had strangled Kengo on the floor and then staged a hanging, while Mizumachi said the rope's reef knot was not the double knot he usually used.

Ch. 39283919 [Case Closed]

Jiang Xia explained how Mrs. Suwa used a delayed strangulation to kill her husband while maintaining an alibi, and identified her as the killer. Mrs. Suwa denied the accusation, but Jiang Xia said traces on her proved she had visited the warehouse containing the corpse.

  • Mizumachi Tomoaki insisted he had only tied up the factory manager, and Jiang Xia agreed that the person who bound him and the person who killed him were different.
  • Mrs. Suwa claimed Mizumachi killed her husband because he feared losing the winery’s contract, and Officer Momoi considered the case against him convincing.
  • Jiang Xia explained that the killer had rigged a rope around the bound victim’s feet and neck so the victim’s struggles gradually strangled him while the killer maintained an alibi.
  • Jiang Xia identified Mrs. Suwa as the killer, explaining that only she could have persuaded Mizumachi to tie up her husband and that she had the strongest alibi.
  • Mrs. Suwa denied visiting the warehouse where the corpse was found, but Jiang Xia said traces on her showed she had been there.

Ch. 3929The Difficulty of Assassinating Jiang Xia

Jiang Xia exposed Mrs. Suwa as the factory manager’s killer using the mud on her shoes, pesticide residue, and her blackened silver hairpin. Mrs. Suwa confessed and was arrested, while Mizumachi Tomoaki was taken in for his part in the case; Hashimoto Maya worried that he could never assassinate Jiang Xia.

  • Jiang Xia showed that Mrs. Suwa had not gone south by pointing out her clean shoes and explained that she had come north to arrange the crime scene.
  • Jiang Xia used the north’s acidic Wood Vinegar and the silver hairpin that had turned black to prove Mrs. Suwa had been in the northern farmland.
  • Mrs. Suwa confessed to killing the factory manager and said she acted after he chose the winery over their marriage and asked for a divorce.
  • Officer Momoi arrested Mrs. Suwa and took Mizumachi Tomoaki into custody for his role in the case.
  • Hashimoto Maya reflected on Jiang Xia’s deductive skill and feared he could not carry out Uzo’s assignment to assassinate him.

Ch. 3930Jiang Xia's Murder Crew

Hashimoto Maya worried about his demanding island-development assignment while Yamazaki Yumi wondered whether Jiang Xia was somehow connected to the cases she had arranged. She decided to test her suspicions by inviting Jiang Xia alone to a future case, and Jiang Xia accepted her invitation.

  • Hashimoto Maya compared his unfinished island-development tasks with his past work under Mr. Irish and longed for his former superior.
  • Yamazaki Yumi watched Jiang Xia solve the case quickly and questioned whether his success was being orchestrated, but she could not settle the matter.
  • Yamazaki Yumi decided to invite Jiang Xia alone to another case so she could test whether he was her supposed “black box.”
  • Mrs. Yamazaki drove Jiang Xia and the other high school students back to Tokyo and asked whether she could invite him to future cases.
  • Jiang Xia smiled and agreed to Mrs. Yamazaki’s request.

Ch. 39313922 [Curacao: Elevator Game?]

Jiang Xia accepted Yamazaki Yumi’s invitation to visit her tea ceremony teacher, bringing Suzuki Sonoko and Mouri Ran along. Curacao spotted the group and followed their departure, while Yamazaki secretly considered having Aonoki Ryozou killed so she could claim part of his legacy.

  • Jiang Xia pulled Bandage Ghost from Mark Space and warned it that it had only one viewing opportunity left after another incident within thirty days.
  • Yamazaki Yumi invited Jiang Xia to visit her tea ceremony teacher, and Jiang Xia agreed to bring friends.
  • Curacao bought the new Elevator Horror game, then spotted Jiang Xia, Suzuki Sonoko, Mouri Ran, and an elementary school student before they left with Yamazaki Yumi.
  • Yamazaki Yumi introduced Aonoki Ryozou as her teacher and explained that he might pass his position to his estranged son instead of her.
  • Yamazaki Yumi privately considered having Jiang Xia kill or curse Aonoki Ryozou so she could claim part of his tea ceremony legacy.

Ch. 39323923 [Vodka: We Can Win!]

Curacao identified Yamazaki Yumi’s growing interest in Jiang Xia and believed the president was nearing death, while Vodka mistook her actions for a possible threat to Uzo and searched for her next destination. Yamazaki Yumi brought Jiang Xia, Mouri Ran, and Conan to Teacher Aonoki’s garden to investigate the monster that had been troubling him.

  • Curacao contacted Vodka with information about Yamazaki Yumi and her connection to a Tea Ceremony Master.
  • Vodka suspected Yamazaki Yumi might be tracing Uzo’s involvement in the recent cases and searched surveillance footage for the Tea Ceremony Master’s home.
  • Curacao concluded that Yamazaki Yumi’s focused, fearful interest in Jiang Xia meant her death was near, and she hoped to bet correctly on her.
  • Vodka found the location of Uzo’s next destination, and Curacao saw the Passerby Mutual Aid Association notification.
  • Yamazaki Yumi arrived at Teacher Aonoki’s garden with Jiang Xia, Mouri Ran, and Conan to investigate the reported monster.
  • Conan privately questioned why Jiang Xia had accepted the commission, and Mouri Ran reprimanded him for insulting the host.

Ch. 3933Passerby Mutual Aid Association's Gaze

Jiang Xia and the others visited Teacher Aonoki’s residence, the Five-Colored Water Palace, where they learned about a monster legend tied to the lake. The Antique Dealer recounted how a girl transformed into a giant white python after a merchant killed her, leaving the legend’s connection to Teacher Aonoki’s concerns unresolved.

  • Vodka and Chianti watched the courtyard through a gate camera, but Vodka realized it could not film inside and decided to monitor Yamazaki Yumi.
  • Mouri Ran, Conan, and the others admired the golden lake from the Main House as the Antique Dealer explained the name Five-Colored Water Palace.
  • Yamazaki Yumi introduced the Antique Dealer and Aonoki Ryoichi, then asked Ryoichi to tell the group about the monster legend.
  • Aonoki Ryoichi refused to discuss the legend and left, so the Antique Dealer offered to tell it over tea.
  • The Antique Dealer told how a girl who was a lake monster became a giant white python after a merchant killed her, and how the merchant eventually hanged himself after being trapped in the house on the lake.

Ch. 3934[Rum: Curacao, You Go Deliver It]

Curacao was ordered by Rum to watch the Aonoki residence, disrupting her plans to monitor Uzo’s stage. At the Tea Ceremony Master’s home, the guests crossed the lake bridge to the Tea Room, where Suzuki Sonoko found Master Aonoki alive and angry after peeking inside.

  • Rum ordered Curacao to find an excuse to enter the Aonoki residence, and Curacao reluctantly agreed.
  • Curacao blamed Rum and Vodka for dragging her into the case, then left for the Aonoki residence.
  • The maid led the guests to a spring to wash their hands before guiding them across the bridge to the Lake Heart Tea Room.
  • When Master Aonoki did not answer the maid, Suzuki Sonoko peeked through the paper window and discovered him sitting inside.
  • Master Aonoki opened the window angrily, then recognized Suzuki Sonoko as familiar.

Ch. 39353926 [Suzuki of the Suzuki Conglomerate]

Suzuki Sonoko’s identity as a Suzuki Conglomerate heiress shocked President Yamazaki, who began considering how to benefit from the connection. At the tea gathering, Master Aonoki announced that he would serve his final pot of tea that night and sent his guests back to the Main House while he prepared alone.

  • Aonoki Ryozou recognized Suzuki Sonoko and warmly ushered the group into the Tea Room, prompting President Yamazaki to suspect the Suzuki Conglomerate was behind the unusual cases.
  • The Antique Dealer explained that the lake’s Water Wheel used a timer and built-in power source to irrigate the courtyard, while President Yamazaki remarked that its flow had dwindled since the Tea Room was built.
  • Jiang Xia and Conan noticed Demon-Suppressing Talismans throughout the Tea Room, and Conan wondered why Aonoki had built it in the middle of the lake.
  • The Antique Dealer revealed that he had gifted Aonoki an antique Tea Set from a famous Kyushu kiln, and Aonoki decided to use it for the gathering.
  • Aonoki told his disciples that he would serve his final pot of tea that night, then directed Mrs. Hanasaki to prepare the drinks and sent the guests back to the Main House.
  • Aonoki stayed alone in the Tea Room and ordered his disciples not to return and disturb him while he prepared for the gathering.

Ch. 3936[Lessons Learned]

Curacao visited the Aonoki residence and concluded that President Yamazaki had died, believing her prediction had finally been correct. After hearing that Master Aonoki had destroyed his son’s fishing rod, she realized she had mistaken Aonoki Ryoichi for Aonoki Ryozou.

  • Master Aonoki sent President Yamazaki and the Antique Dealer away, while Yamazaki Yumi hurried off on her own.
  • Curacao obtained a document and went to the Aonoki residence, where Uzo’s black cat rang the doorbell and disappeared.
  • Vodka watched Curacao on the entrance camera and worried that Uzo had manipulated her, then complained that she was not broadcasting live.
  • Curacao arrived in the reception room and met Mouri Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, and Jiang Xia, whose presence made her killing intent diminish.
  • Aonoki Ryoichi confronted the maid about his burned fishing rod and went downstairs, while Curacao noticed President Yamazaki was absent and assumed he was dead.
  • After hearing the Antique Dealer refer to Master Aonoki, Curacao realized she had confused Aonoki Ryoichi with Aonoki Ryozou.

Ch. 39373928 [Fishing for Curacao]

At the Aonoki estate, Curacao suspected the strange father-son conflict concealed a murder plot, while Conan explored Aonoki Ryoichi’s fishing trophies. When President Yamazaki entered alive, Jiang Xia’s attention turned to Curacao, leaving her convinced she might have been lured there deliberately.

  • The Antique Dealer and the maid explained that Aonoki’s personality changed after his wife died following the construction of the Lake Heart Tea Room, and they described his fearful behavior around the lake.
  • The maid offered tea and baths before the evening banquet, while Curacao watched Suzuki Sonoko and Conan wandered through the house.
  • Conan found certified fish rubbings in the study and learned that Aonoki Ryoichi was an accomplished angler.
  • The anti-theft sensor sounded, and Curacao saw President Yamazaki enter through the side door carrying a silk-wrapped wooden box.
  • Jiang Xia looked directly at Curacao instead of watching Yamazaki, and Curacao wondered whether he had lured her to the estate.

Ch. 39383929 [Curacao's Sorrow]

Curacao watched Mrs. Yamazaki’s suspicious behavior before the group discovered the Tea Ceremony Master’s body hanging inside the locked lakeside house. Mrs. Yamazaki secretly celebrated his death, while Curacao was baffled that she had survived despite disregarding the Passerby Mutual Aid Association’s rules.

  • Curacao reflected that Rum had been the one who fell for Uzo’s influence, while she had been pushed into the situation as an innocent bystander.
  • Mrs. Yamazaki returned sweaty and disheveled, argued with the Antique Dealer, and drew Conan’s suspicion with her unexplained absence.
  • Mrs. Yamazaki spotted the Tea Ceremony Master hanging inside the lakeside house, and the group rushed there as she secretly rejoiced at his death.
  • Aonoki Ryoichi found the house locked from within, and Mouri Ran kicked open its heavy door after the pantry entrance proved locked too.
  • The group confirmed the Tea Ceremony Master was dead, leaving Curacao confused by Mrs. Yamazaki’s survival, while Suzuki Sonoko called an ambulance.

Ch. 3939Useful Uzo

Inspector Megure investigated Mr. Aonoki’s apparent hanging in a locked Tea Room, while Jiang Xia and Conan spotted details that cast doubt on suicide. The suspects blamed a lake monster or one another, and the group returned to the reception room to establish their alibis.

  • Inspector Megure arrived and heard the maid claim a legendary monster had killed Mr. Aonoki; he questioned Jiang Xia and learned the Tea Room appeared locked from the inside.
  • Conan questioned why the victim would lock both doors if he had returned to the room to hang himself, and Jiang Xia pointed out strange damage to the noose.
  • Conan noticed fresh thumbtack holes on the removed door and scattered wood chips; Jiang Xia said rope had repeatedly rubbed against the roof beam.
  • The maid and Antique Dealer connected the death to a lake-monster legend, while Yamazaki Yumi accused the Antique Dealer and Ryoichi of murder.
  • Inspector Megure asked the suspects about their alibis and when they found the body, and the group went back across the bridge to the reception room.

Ch. 39403931 [Rum, Source of All Evil]

Inspector Megure questioned the Aonoki household about the timeline and their motives after Aonoki’s death, while the suspects revealed their conflicts over the Tea Ceremony Master’s position and the family business. The chapter ended with Yamazaki Yumi and Yagura accusing each other of scheming to become the successor.

  • The maid and Aonoki Ryoichi described seeing the lake turn red, Mrs. Yamazaki return, and Aonoki later hanging from the roof beam.
  • Megure questioned Mrs. Yamazaki, Curacao, Aonoki Ryoichi, and the others about where they had been between three-thirty and four.
  • Aonoki Ryoichi admitted his father had demanded he inherit the Tea Ceremony Master position, and that he had refused after his father burned his Fishing Rod.
  • Aonoki Ryoichi explained that he had returned home only to help manage the family business, but his father later insisted he take the position anyway.
  • Megure noted that Aonoki Ryoichi would inherit the Aonoki Conglomerate after his father’s death, prompting the maid to defend him.
  • Yamazaki Yumi accused Yagura of trying to win the successor position with an expensive antique Tea Set, and Yagura retorted that she had spent heavily to pursue the same position.

Ch. 39413932 [A Complex Mechanism]

Jiang Xia explained how the Tea Ceremony Master’s murder was staged to look like a suicide in a locked room. He described the elaborate rope and Water Wheel mechanism, then indicated that the murderer was among those present.

  • President Yamazaki accused Mrs. Hanasaki of being glad the Tea Ceremony Master had died and suggested she and Aonoki Ryoichi might have conspired to kill him.
  • Mrs. Hanasaki rushed to the Ancestral Hall in tears, and Ryoichi followed to comfort her as Conan watched.
  • Inspector Megure speculated that the Tea Ceremony Master had committed suicide, but Jiang Xia declared that the death was murder.
  • Jiang Xia explained how ropes, a timed Water Wheel, and a spring mechanism moved the body into the room, locked the sliding door, and made the death appear to be hanging.
  • Jiang Xia said the murderer removed the remaining evidence when everyone entered the room to discover the corpse.

Ch. 39423933 [Case Closed]

Jiang Xia identified Mr. Yagura as the killer, explaining how he swam beneath the bridge and used the water wheel to stage the victim’s hanging. Conan pieced together the same clues, but returned to find that Yagura had already collapsed after being exposed.

  • Jiang Xia explained that the killer crossed beneath the bridge, reached the tea room, and staged the victim’s death.
  • The maid and Suzuki Sonoko suspected Mrs. Yamazaki, but Jiang Xia cleared her using the courtyard alarm as an alibi.
  • Jiang Xia connected the fisherman’s knot, Yagura’s bath, and his argument with Miss Yamazaki to identify Yagura as the killer.
  • Jiang Xia pointed out Yagura’s footprints and fingerprints beneath the bridge and along the corridor.
  • Conan discovered the knot clue in the ancestral hall, checked the lake and water wheel, and hurried back to announce he knew the killer.
  • Conan arrived to find Yagura collapsing to the floor before he could present his deduction.
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