Chapter 13 Thirteen, the magician's stunt

About two hours after the drunken commotion, Shohei and Akechi Kogoro, who received the emergency report, rushed back from the city respectively, and the two hurriedly met in the living room to talk about this bizarre incident.Mrs. Iwase and the old lady stood by, and the two scholars who were in charge of monitoring were also called, waiting to be questioned at any time. "What a mistake, I was negligent again." Zhizhi felt very guilty. "No, no, no, it's not your fault, it's all my fault. Seeing that my daughter was so depressed, I felt really distressed, so I took her to the living room, where the fault lies. If I want to be careless, I'm really sloppy."

"We were too careless. We shouldn't leave it to the scholar and let it go." Mrs. Iwase agreed. "Now, no amount of self-blame is superfluous. The important thing is to find out when the lady left the living room and where was she taken?" Wisdom stopped the useless remorse and reminded everyone that it is more important to find out Miss Sanae. "Yeah, that's the crux of the problem. I really can't figure it out... Hey, Kurata, were you distracted at the time, didn't you notice that the lady left the living room?" Hearing Zhuang Bingwei's words, the scholar named Kurata showed a little displeasure, and retorted angrily:

"No, it's not what you said. Our eyes have been fixed on the door of the living room. What's more, to go from the living room to other rooms, we must pass through the corridor where we are. If Miss came, we couldn't miss it." "Hmph, since you are so sure, why did the lady disappear? Could it be that the lady broke the solid iron railing and flew out? Tell me, was the iron railing smashed?" Obviously, Zhuang Bingwei was an emotional person. A person who utters bad words when excited. The two scholars suddenly panicked and could only scratch their heads, honestly answering the unchangeable facts:

"No, not to mention the iron railings, even the locks on the glass windows show no signs of being opened." "Look, doesn't that mean you've neglected your duty?" "Well, don't jump to conclusions, I really don't think it's their fault. After all, it's not just the miss, they didn't even notice that a drunk entered the living room. I don't think they are careless enough to bother the two people who come in and out. You didn't notice it." Zhizhi explained thoughtfully. "It's really unbelievable, but it happened."

Zhizhi ignored Zhuang Bingwei's sarcasm and continued: "Since the iron railings have not been damaged and the scholar has not been distracted, there is only one conclusion, that is, no one has entered or left the living room at all." "Haha, otherwise Sanae turned into that drunk man? Are you kidding me, my daughter is not a hermaphrodite." "Mr. Iwase, you said that you specially asked Ms. Sanae to come out to admire the newly-made chairs? Were those chairs delivered today?" "That's right, not long after you left the house." "Strange, don't you think there is any non-accidental connection between those chairs and the lady's disappearance? I always feel..."

Before finishing speaking, Zhizhi narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought.After a while, he raised his head abruptly and blurted out words of unknown meaning: "The human chair... the kind of whimsy that only novelists have, can it really be realized?" Then, he got up suddenly, seemed very excited, and left the living room in a blink of an eye without saying hello to everyone. Seeing the sudden action of the famous detective, everyone was stunned for a while, no one spoke for a while, they just looked at each other blankly.Soon, the sound of hurriedly returning footsteps was followed by a wise roar:

"Where's the sofa? Why isn't it in the living room?" "Oh, Mr. Wise, please calm down. The sofa doesn't matter at all. What you should worry about right now is the safety of the little girl." Zhuang Bingwei anxiously said what was in his heart. However, the wise one stepping into the living room still repeats the same question: "No, I just want to know the whereabouts of the sofa. Where exactly?" Hearing this, one of the scholars responded: "Just now let the master of the furniture store move away, because Madam told me to change the cloth surface."

"Madam, is this true?" "Well, the sofa was torn and dirty by a drunk. It's really ugly, so I hurriedly asked someone to deal with it." Mrs. Iwase still didn't notice anything wrong, and explained patiently. "I see. It's not good, I'm afraid it's too late. No, maybe... yes, maybe it's just my misunderstanding... Sorry, borrow the phone." Mingzhi muttered to himself, and threw himself on the phone on the table like crazy.After grabbing the microphone, he shouted to the scholar: "Hey, tell me the number of the furniture store."

The scholar quickly uttered a series of numbers, and wisely told the operator the number. "Is the N furniture okay? This is the Iwase Mansion. I wonder if the sofa you moved has been delivered smoothly?" "Oh, the sofa? I know. Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm just about to send someone from the store." A surprised voice came from the other end of the microphone. "Hey, just about to send someone over? Is what you said true? But the sofa has already been moved by the guys in your shop!" Anxious Zhizhi couldn't help but roared. "Hey, how is it possible? We haven't headed to the house yet."

"Are you the boss? Ask carefully. Could it be that someone has actually been here, but you don't know?" "No, it's impossible. I haven't notified the staff to come and move the sofa today. It's impossible for someone to go." Hearing this, Zhizhi hung up the phone quickly with a "clang", got up and walked quickly to the door, probably remembered something, then came back and picked up the phone again, this time he called the local police station and asked the judicial director to answer.On the day he moved into Iwase's house, Akechi greeted the Chief Justice.In such an urgent moment, the friendship between the two can be of great help.

"I'm wise, someone pretended to be a furniture store, put the sofa that was soiled by a drunk from Iwase mansion, and then ran away without a trace. I don't know which direction the truck fled. Can you please Do you urgently send people to stop it... Yes, it is the sofa... The human chair, yes, the human chair. No, how could it be a joke... Well, it should be, there is no second possibility. Then, please You. My guess is definitely not wrong, and I will tell you the details later." Just when Zhizhi was about to end the call, the other party told him another important news. "Huh, did you escape? I was too negligent... I thought he was a drunk and I was careless? Well, it's no wonder, but that guy is really clever, he must be under the black lizard, what a pity! I haven't caught him yet. Is it?...In short, please do your best, life is at stake...both things. The sofa and the drunk are both...then, contact again." The microphone was hung up again with a "click", Zhizhi was disappointed, squatting on the ground like a deflated ball.Everyone was extremely nervous and did not dare to vent their anger. Listening to the wise answer, they gradually understood the reason for the detective's sudden behavior. "Mr. Wise, the content of the call just now has given me a general idea of ​​the situation. I really admire your extraordinary insight. No, compared to your insight, the method used by thieves to steal the sky is magic, and even more sorcery. Shocked. In other words, the sofa that looks like an ordinary chair is actually a hidden mechanism, and a villain disguised as a drunk is hidden inside. The one made by the furniture store was replaced. The human chair was sent to the living room, waiting for Sanae to come in...the guy quietly got out of the chair and took the daughter...ah, Mr. Akechi, did the guy put the little girl... ..." Having said this, Zhuang Bingwei's heart trembled and he was speechless. "No, they will definitely not kill Miss. Based on the kidnapping experience at K Hotel, I have reason to believe that the black lizard wants a living prey." Wisely reassured. "Well, I think so too... The guy put my fainted daughter on the sofa where he was hiding, and then covered the cushions on it. After getting ready, he lay on the sofa and pretended to be drunk. But, those Vomited filth..." "Well, yes, Mr. Iwase's imagination is not inferior to that of the black lizard. I speculate that too... The most brilliant and terrifying thing about that guy is that he dares to design whimsical ideas into rough tricks. The most important thing is This time the ruse was a direct imitation of a novel called "The Human Chair", in which the protagonist encounters a villain who hides in a chair and commits crimes. Such a ridiculous story was used by the black lizard , and it was implemented in the case of kidnapping Sanae. Therefore, I have reason to believe that the filth spit out by the drunk should not be spit out but prepared to be poured into a bottle in advance. The filth was spilled on the sofa. Yes, the filth came from the bottle, not the mouth. Here, check the whiskey bottle, it must be full of disgusting smells. In fact, such tricks appeared in European fables long ago. In that story, though, the bottle wasn't filled with vomit, but something nastier." "But the drunk has escaped from detention?" "Well, I escaped. Whether it's the drunk or the sofa, it's all like the tricks of this story, and there's no clue so far." Zhizhi couldn't help but smiled wryly, and then added sternly, "But Mr. Iwase, I haven't forgotten the previous meeting with you Your promise at Hotel K. Don't worry, I will protect the safety of Ms. Sanae with my life. My intuition tells me that the current situation is not irreversible, please believe me...Look, am I pale? Can you find the slightest worry? No. I am extremely calm, as you can see, extremely calm." After all, Zhizhi showed a hearty smile, that smile was very natural, not like bluffing at all.It was a smile from the bottom of the heart, so everyone was full of hope again, when the famous detective gradually became brighter. "Star of Egypt" A full day has passed since the incident, and it is rumored that the Tibetan sofa is still missing.Is Sanae alive or dead?The beautiful Sanae seems to have disappeared from the world. The pain of the Iwase couple goes without saying.But taking Sanae to a dangerous place, or carelessly letting the villain go, are all the negligence of the couple, and they should not blame anyone for their fault.However, the excessive grief and anger made Iwase lose his mind, and he even attributed all his faults to the wise and hasty going out, thinking that he caused the bad results. Of course, Sensible knows their emotions like the back of his hand.Having gambled on the reputation of a famous detective, he also blamed himself and deeply regretted the irreparable carelessness.Even so, as expected of a brave general who has experienced many battles, he seemed to have a plan in mind, and he did not panic at all. "Mr. Iwase, believe me, Ms. Sanae is safe. I promise to rescue her safely. If she does fall into the hands of villains, she will not be in danger. Those guys will definitely regard Ms. Sanae as a treasure and take good care of her." They have reasons to do that, please don't worry too much." Akechi reassured the Iwase couple. "Mr. Wise, you said you wanted to save my daughter, but where is she now? Do you know her whereabouts?" Zhuang Bingwei sneered again. "Yes, that's right." Zhizhi was unmoved. "Well, why didn't you act as soon as possible? Since yesterday, you have put the blame entirely on the police, doing nothing but watching. If you really grasped the situation, I wish you had taken appropriate measures earlier." "I'm waiting." "Hey, what are you waiting for?" "Notice from the Black Lizard." "Notification? It's ridiculous. The villain will notify you? Please, Mr. Detective, bring the lady back?" Zhuang Bingwei was so unreasonable, he snorted and sneered. "Well, yes." The detective replied innocently like a child, "That guy may inform us to bring Miss back." "Eh, eh, are you serious? I can't imagine a thief doing such a thing...Mr. Wise, I can't tolerate your joking right now." The Jewel King was very unhappy. "I'm not kidding, you will soon understand...ah, maybe the notification letter is caught in it." At this time, the three of them were sitting in the living room where Sanae was kidnapped, and a scholar happened to deliver the third batch of letters of the day. "Is there a burglar's notice here?" Zhuang Bingwei took a few letters from the scholar, as if saying how ridiculous your words are.Responding absently, he checked the sender one by one.After a while, he exclaimed in astonishment: "Uh, what's this? What's the pattern on it?" It was an exquisite Western-style envelope. Upon closer inspection, there was no sender's name on the back, only a black lizard was delicately drawn on the lower left corner. "It's a black lizard." Zhizhi was not surprised, and his expression was still very calm. "It turned out to be a black lizard. The postmark is from Osaka City." As expected of a businessman, Zhuang Bingwei was also very sharp-eyed. really……" He gazed at the famous detective with admiration.Zhuang Bingwei is irritable, but his temper comes and goes quickly. "Open it and see, Black Lizard must have made a request in the letter." Following wise advice, Iwase carefully cut open the envelope, took out the letterhead and spread it out.The letter paper is pure white paper without any imprints. The handwriting on it is clumsy (it feels deliberate), and the following content is written: Observation deck on the top floor. After reading the letter, Zhuang Bingwei showed hesitation and fell into deep thought. "Does the other party want the 'Egyptian Star'?" Sensible noticed his worry and asked aloud. "That's right. Things are tricky. Although the 'Star of Egypt' is in my collection, it can be called a national treasure. I really don't want to hand it over to the hateful gangsters." "I heard that the 'Star of Egypt' is very expensive?" "The current price is 250,000 yuan. Even so, it is a treasure that cannot be bought for 250,000 yuan. Do you know the origin of that gemstone?" "Well, I heard a little bit." "The 'Star of Egypt' is currently the largest and most precious diamond in this country. It is produced in South Africa and is a multi-faceted diamond of more than 30 carats. As the name suggests, it used to be a collection of the Egyptian royal family in the past, and later moved among the nobles of various European countries. During the Great War, a certain jeweler got it by chance, and after many twists and turns, it was finally purchased by the Paris branch of the Iwase Chamber of Commerce a few years ago, and it is now owned by the Osaka head office. "This gem with a special origin is second only to my life. I have racked my brains in terms of anti-theft. Not to mention the shop assistant, even my wife doesn't know where to keep it." "In other words, instead of directly stealing gems, it's easier to kidnap a living person." Wisely nodded. "It can be said that the 'Star of Egypt' has always been the target of thieves. It has suffered countless disasters over the years, but every time it makes me more cautious. In the end, the location of the collection became my own secret. Even a thief can't steal the secrets in my mind... Unexpectedly, my painstaking efforts are about to go to waste. I am such a smart person, I didn't expect that the gangster would ask me to redeem Sanae with gems... Mr. Wise, No matter how rare a treasure is, it cannot replace life. Although I am reluctant, I can only accept my fate and give up the gem." Zhuang Bingwei expressed his determination sadly. "There's no need to give up such a precious treasure. Oh, I don't need to take such threats to heart. Miss Sanae will definitely not be in danger." Wisdom comforted earnestly, but the stubborn Zhuang Bingwei couldn't listen at all. "No, no, no, this group of vicious gangsters, who knows what they will do. Although gems are expensive, they are just ores after all. Ore is not a pity, but if Sanae happens, it is irreparable. I still agree The gangster's request." "Since you have made up your mind, I won't stop you. Pretending to fall into the enemy's trap and handing over the gems may be a countermeasure. For the detective, the next plan will be easier to carry out. But, Iwase Sir, you don't have to worry at all. I solemnly promise that whether it is Miss Sanae or the gem, it will be returned to Zhao in the end, let those guys be proud first." Sensible seems to have a plan in his chest, making the commitment with a tone of confidence.