Chapter 11 11. Spiders and Butterflies

In the southern suburbs of Osaka, H Town along the Nankai Tramway is the residence of the famous jeweler Iwase Shobei.Recently, a row of shards of glass was embedded above the concrete fence surrounding the mansion. "What's going on? How did Mr. Iwase learn from the practices of loan sharks?" The neighbors nearby were all surprised. However, the changes in Iwase Mansion are not limited to these.First of all, a certain policeman's family moved into Monagaya, which used to be a senior clerk of Iwase Trading Company.The new tenant is said to be a kendo master at the local police station.

The wooden pillars in the yard were pulled up one after another, bright street lamps were installed on the top of the pillars, and the windows, the main entrance and exit of the building, were reinstalled with solid iron railings.In addition, in addition to the scholars who were originally boarding, two burly bodyguards were also invited to stay. Now, the Iwase Mansion has become a small castle. What are they afraid of, and what is the reason for taking such precautions?For no other reason, they predicted that the villain "Black Lizard" known as the female Yassen Robin was about to attack.And Iwase's favorite jewel is the target of the female thief.

The kidnapping plan at the K Hotel in Tokyo failed under the obstruction of the famous detective Kogoro Akechi.Of course, the female thief is not willing to let it go, she has already let go, and she will do her best to get Sanae.In any case, she probably had sneaked into Osaka long ago, and she might be eager to try it out near the Iwase Mansion in H Town. The female thief has skills comparable to a magician, which impressed Akechi deeply in the K Hotel case. Even if it wasn't Iwase Shobei, he would definitely choose to take strict precautions. As for Ms. Sanae, the poor girl has to live in a room like an iron barrel surrounded by iron railings in the back of the mansion, which is like living in a prison.Sanae's favorite old woman lives next door, and the one beyond is Akechi Kogoro from Tokyo. Apart from three scholars stationed on both sides of the entrance, there are also several male and female servants, so Sanae is protected in the middle. They are always ready, and their nerves are tense. Once they find something is wrong, they will be able to swarm up immediately.

Sanae, who was locked in the cage, lived a life without going out of the gate, and only occasionally went for a walk in the yard, but in those rare leisure time, there must be a wise man or a scholar accompanying him. Even the magician Black Lizard, who has the ability to go to heaven and earth, may have nowhere to start when encountering this iron bucket-like defense.Maybe that's true, Sanae and his party have been back home for more than half a month, and they haven't noticed the female thief at all. "I seem to be too timid, I take that guy's threatening letter too seriously, and I'm a little nervous. Or did that guy know my watertight defense, and after a few calculations, he found that he couldn't do anything, so he had to give up?" Zhuang Bingwei's thoughts change gradually.

However, after his worries about the female thief faded away, he worried about his daughter instead. "Maybe my precautions were too much. I really shouldn't put Sanae under house arrest like a criminal. She was already panicked, but this made her shrink even more. She seems to be a different person these days, her face is pale, and she is depressed all day long." Yes. Even when chatting with her, she lacks interest and acts unwilling to pay attention to her, even turning her face away and refusing to face me. I have to find a way to at least cheer her up." When he was having a headache, Zhuang Bingwei suddenly remembered the western-style furniture that had just been delivered to the living room today.

"Well, by the way, she will be happy to see those furniture." The so-called Western-style furniture is a set of luxurious chairs.When ordering a month ago, the fabric was still picked by Sanae. Thinking of this, Zhuang Bingwei lifted his spirits, and immediately got up and went to Sanae's room deep in the mansion. "Sanae, the custom-made chair according to your design is placed in the living room, do you want to go and have a look? The finished product is more delicate than expected." Zhuang Bingwei opened the paper door, paying attention to the situation in the room and softly called Sanae.Sanae, who was leaning against the desk, turned her head suddenly as if frightened, and immediately lowered her gaze again.

"That's right, but I..." She replied with a lack of interest. "Don't be so cold, it's okay. Old lady, I'll take Sanae out for a while." After Zhuanghei explained to the old servant next door, he took Sanae, who was listless, and left. As for Zhizhi's room next door to the old woman's, the door was wide open, and it was empty inside.There is an urgent matter that he must go to deal with. He went out early in the morning and hasn't come back yet.Of course, he confirmed that Zhuang Bingwei was at home, and at the same time explained to the employer countless times that he must put all his energy into watching Sanae, and then he went out in peace.

Soon, Sanae followed her father into the spacious living room. "How about it, is the gorgeousness in the living room beyond your imagination?" Zhuang Bingwei said, sitting on a new chair among them. Surrounding the round table are extravagant sofa chairs, armchairs, women's ottomans, wooden back stools, etc., in a set of seven pieces. "Oh, it's so beautiful..." Sanae, who had been taciturn these days, finally spoke, as if she liked the furniture in front of her very much.Then she sat down on the sofa. "It's a little hard." Sitting on it feels different from an ordinary sofa.

"Not long after it's done, it's inevitable that it will be a little harder, but it will be much more comfortable after a while." If Shohei and Sanae were sitting on the sofa together, he would definitely be suspicious of the strange texture of the sofa.However, once he was seated in the armchair, he didn't want to get up and try another chair. At this time, a servant poked his head in from the door and told Zhuang Bingwei that the Osaka store was calling. Zhuang Bingwei hurriedly got up and went to the living room to answer.He was still very cautious. He first went to the scholar's room and told them to pay attention to Sanae in the living room before leaving.

The two scholars then came to the corridor. At the end of the corridor was the door of the living room. Anyone who wanted to enter the door had to pass in front of the scholar. There were, of course, a few windows in the living room that looked out on to the yard, but they were all framed with solid iron railings.No matter whether it was the courtyard or the corridor, the access to Sanae's living room was blocked.Otherwise, no matter how urgent the call was, Zhuang Bingwei would not be able to leave Sanae alone. After the phone call, Iwase had to rush to the Osaka store as soon as possible.He quickly changed his clothes, and his wife and servants watched him come to the entrance.

"Pay attention to Sanae. She is still in the living room. I have told the scholar, but you have to be more vigilant." When the servant squatted down to help Iwase tie his shoelaces, he repeatedly reminded his wife. Seeing her husband get into the car, the wife immediately went to the living room to see how her daughter was doing. At this moment, piano music suddenly came from the living room. "Oh, I haven't seen Sanae playing the piano recently. That's good, I'd better not bother her." Madam breathed a sigh of relief, told the scholar to take good care of him and never relax his nerves, and then went back to the living room. After her father went out, Sanae tried every chair, got up and went to the window to look at the beautiful scenery outside.Soon, she opened the piano cover, knocked and played at will.Gradually, she became interested, and simply played a nursery rhyme, and then began to play a certain section of the opera. She indulged in the beautiful sound of the piano for a long time, and couldn't help feeling a little tired, so she wanted to go back to her room.Just as she was about to turn around and walk towards the door, a terrifying scene appeared in front of her eyes, and she was instantly stunned. Ah, what's going on?Whether it is the windows or the corridor, all the passages that can enter the living room are blocked. There is no room for a person to hide in the piano, sofa and other furniture, and there is no room for a person to hide under the nearby low stool.Until just now, apart from Sanae, there was no sign of a cat in the living room. However, isn't there a man with weird behavior standing in front of him now?The other party had unkempt hair, a dark face with an unshaven beard, his eyes wandered wildly, and a fierce light flashed from time to time, and his suit was dirty and badly worn... Although he didn't know who it was or how he got in, But obviously, this ghost-like guy must be an accomplice of the female thief "Black Lizard". Ah, the expected crisis has finally kicked off.The enemy saw that everyone was relaxed and calmed down at this time, so they took advantage of the opportunity to enter. The strange thief had the skills of a magician, easily broke through the layers of warning lines, and slipped into the door like a ghost without anyone noticing. seam. "Oh, don't make a sound. I won't be rough on you. After all, you are also the baby we want to take care of." The gangster threatened in a low voice. However, this warning was unnecessary. Poor Sanae was so frightened that she was paralyzed, unable to move, and even lost the strength to speak out. With a sinister smile on his face, the thief quickly went around behind Sanae, took out a cloth product that looked like a handkerchief from his pocket, rushed at Sanae, and covered her mouth with the handkerchief. Sanae-san felt a sense of oppression in her shoulders and chest, as if she was being entangled in a snake, and because her mouth was covered with a handkerchief, she felt short of breath.No matter what, you can't just obediently get caught without a fight.She is just a slender girl, powerless, but she is also trying to escape from the gangster's clutches.She was like a beautiful butterfly caught in a spider's web, struggling miserably and frantically. Soon, her desperately struggling hands and feet gradually lost strength, and she calmed down after a while, obviously because the anesthetic had taken effect. The gangster gently placed the butterfly that was no longer fluttering on the carpet, and while smoothing the messy hem of her clothes, he looked at the face of Miss Sanae who was like a sleeping beauty.Then, a frightening evil smile appeared on his wretched face.