Chapter 31 4. Ruby

After Fujio had breakfast, Mrs. Dazi took everyone to visit the collection of Viscount Komiya. Those collections are placed in the rooms on the four walls of the hall downstairs, all of which are rare objects bought back by the Viscount of the Ancient Palace with a lot of money, including foreign medieval armor, Indian terrifying Buddha statues, Western shields, swords, helmets, and engraved with various The tiles of Shitu rattan... Wait, these treasures are not only hung on the entire wall, some are also placed in the room. "After my husband disappeared, I decided not to enter this room as much as possible. Although I am blind, the smell in this room still reminds me of my husband who has no audio..."

Mrs. Dazi said sadly. Dr. Odagiri and Ichiro Yanagisawa nodded, both of them sympathized with Mrs. Tatsuko's experience. Just then, Michiko suddenly screamed. "Michiko, what's wrong with you?" Mrs. Dazi asked hurriedly. "Mom, there is a strange thing hooked on the sword in the Buddha statue's hand." As Michiko spoke, she picked up the small piece of cloth hooked on the sword. Fujio glanced at the strip of cloth in Michiko's hand, his eyes widened in fright. (Red polka dot strips on a white background... Isn't this the same as the clothes he saw on the circus clown last night?)

"It seems that someone ran into this room, and his clothes were torn by the sword. Mom, this piece of cloth is so strange...Look!" At this time, there was a light and crisp sound under Michiko's feet. Instinctively, she jumped back and picked up something from the floor. "Ah! This..." Holding a ruby ​​in her hand, Michiko said in a trembling voice: "Mom, this is the ruby ​​that disappeared with Daddy!" "Michiko, do you mean the gem that we can't find?" "Yeah! It fell on the floor here, feel for it." So Mrs. Dazi reached out to exchange the ruby ​​Michiko picked up.

"Michiko, why did this ruby ​​fall on the floor? We couldn't find it after searching for a long time..." At this time, Yanagizawa Ichiro said: "Ma'am, could it be that you didn't notice it dropped on the floor before? It's just a little gem after all..." "Impossible. I go to this room every day to check every corner carefully. How could I not notice that it fell on the floor? I think Dad must be hiding somewhere. I also came into this room as usual yesterday, but at that time No strips or rubies were seen." Michiko spoke in a very excited tone, and Dr. Odagiri and Ichiro Yanagisawa couldn't help but look at each other.

Because of this episode, everyone's interest in visiting the treasure stopped there. If what Michiko said is true, then someone must have sneaked into the "Black Rose Castle" last night. Afterwards they asked the servant, and the servant said that the front and back doors of the castle were fastened, and all the windows were closed from the inside. "It's strange..." "Well, something is indeed wrong." Dr. Odagiri and Ichiro Yanagisawa glanced at each other, feeling dewy. But Michiko is still pretty persistent in her own mind. "No, it's not surprising at all... I think someone must have entered this room from somewhere, and I know who it is."

"Do you know who this person is?" Liu Zeichiro asked in surprise. "That man has a scar on his face. He wanders around the castle every day. I think... he must have entered the castle from somewhere." Michiko was quite emotional, and she burst into tears after speaking. Mrs. Dazi, who was blind in both eyes, was also confused, not knowing what to say. At this moment, Fujio asked aloud: "Uncle, what time did you talk last night before going to bed?" Dr. Odagiri was very surprised by Fujio's question, and he replied: "I chatted with Yanagisawa-san until about twelve o'clock. Fujio, is there something wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just asking casually." That strange clown came out of the big clock at about half past ten. If everyone hadn't slept at that time, they should have heard the sound. (Could it be... that was really just a dream?)