Chapter 5 5. December 25th

The twenty-fifth of December—Christmas Day—was two days after the scene at the crossroads at the Nihonbashi Bridge. Ikegami Sansaku is very happy today, because his niece, Kanako, who has been living in his house for a long time, will get married next year. This year is the last Christmas that Kanako spent with Ikegami's family. The president originally invited many guests and wanted to hold a grand Christmas banquet, but suddenly announced the suspension. The wait force officer of the Police Department reminded him that the phantom monster must hope that they will find more guests, so that it will be easier for him to sneak in.

Especially after knowing what happened at Nihonbashi the day before yesterday, President Ikegami couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. Of course, it was impossible to ignore the police officer's warning. That day, the phantom monster disguised himself as Santa Claus hired by the gem shop of Tianyintang, and took the opportunity to defraud a lot of jewelry.But his behavior this time was discovered by a shop assistant, so he fled in embarrassment on the main road of Nihonbashi, and was even chased by the crowd. But the phantom monster had already considered this situation, so he immediately had an escape plan.

He asked one of his subordinates to disguise himself as a traffic policeman and wait at the intersection of Nihonbashi, and then pretended to be shooting a movie location, hiding from everyone's eyes, and escaped beautifully. Knowing that he has arranged so carefully, even the bold President Chi Shang felt that he should not be too careless, so he had to obey the warning of the police officer Waiting for Power. "Yukiko, there are only a few people attending the Christmas dinner tonight, do you feel lonely?" In order to prepare for tonight's banquet, Miko Chaijin brought forward the work of the newspaper office to noon and ended it.

"I think this is the best way. Only Dad, sister Kanako, brother Yoji, Mr. Mitsuki, and you, Jin, will participate, because everyone is their own person, so that we can enjoy the Christmas atmosphere more." Yukiko's brother Rangji is Kanako's marriage partner, and he is an outstanding talent who graduated from Tokyo University. "The police officer will come later." "That's right! But Jin, do you think the phantom monster will really come tonight?" "I think he will come." "Why? I heard from the police officer Waituli that more than a dozen police officers will be sent around our house, and the phantom monster will really..."

"I still think he's coming, no, maybe he's already." "what!" Yukiko shrugged her shoulders in fright and said: "What exactly is going on?" "That's right, I discovered the secret of the phantom monster." Miko Chai Jin said with some pride. "It's amazing! Can you tell me what the secret of Phantom Monster is?" Saying that, Yukiko approached Miko Shibasumi. At this moment, Cupid was curled up at Yukiko's feet, its ears twitched from time to time, as if it was listening to the conversation between the two of them.

"It's like this. After the incident at Nihonbashi the day before yesterday, just in case, I investigated the theft records of the phantom monsters in the past, and it turned out..." "what's the result?" "As a result, I found that Phantom Stranger didn't always announce the crime first. In fact, in the past, he only announced the crime three times in advance, and the others acted without notice." "Well, what then?" "Not all cases without notice were successful, some were almost caught, and some escaped without achieving their goals, but..."

"But what?" "But the three cases that were announced in advance were all successful. In other words, he will only issue an announcement for the case that is sure to succeed. That's why I think there must be a secret in it." "Then do you know what the secret is?" "yes, I got it." When Yukiko asked, Miko Chaijin answered more proudly.