Chapter 21 2. The Hunt in the Attic

Zhizhi went backstage to check the rest room of the members one by one, how neat and tidy, the villain has long since disappeared, and there is no one in front of him. He went around the set and looked at the stage. The curtain had already closed, and the noise of the audience came from below, even mixed with women's screams. "Hey, I'm the police, did anyone escape to the auditorium just now?" Zhizhi grabbed the prop staff who was busy tying the curtain with a rope and asked. "Oh, no, they all fled backstage." Zhizhi knew at a glance that this person and the magician were not in the same group, but indeed the props manager of this theater.

On the stage there was also a large wooden box with black velvet cloth used in performing magic tricks, and blood flowed all over the floor below.Both the audience and the prop staff believed that it was prop red ink, and no one suspected it.It can be seen that the methods of the villain are beyond imagination, and they are definitely treacherous and cunning. Just to be cautious, Zhizhi opened the magic item box covered with velvet cloth and checked, but there was nothing inside.Indeed, villains cannot still hide in such places. Wisely ordered the props manager to lead the way, and turned back to the backstage.Passing through the large props side by side and walking to the entrance of the basement, another prop staff who stayed behind lowered his voice and said:

"They fled over there. Here, it's the corner full of magic props." In the spacious backstage, there is a corner of kabuki sedan chairs, paper basins, large tree trunks with mottled paint, magic props, and velvet cloth embroidered with gold and silver thread bright pendants. leave it alone.Only a single electric light hangs from the high ceiling, and the messy corners are as dark as night, making them ideal hiding places. "Did no one escape into the basement?" "Well, I've been staying here, and I didn't see anyone." Zhi Zhi went straight to the dark corner pointed by the prop staff, and the two prop staff followed quietly.For their high energy, there is nothing more exciting than hunting down thieves.

Wisely walk into the maze of props.There are large boxes used by the saw beauty, a large plank knife ladder that emits cold light, a sink with a whole piece of glass, and a table with mirrored feet on all four feet. There are treacherous shadows everywhere, and you can hide anywhere. "Mr. Interpol, I saw it, I saw it." A prop staff came up and reported in a low voice, it seemed that Zhizhi was really regarded as a criminal policeman. "Where?" "Here, that box." The props manager pointed to a black box that looked like a long coffin, and said in a voice so small that it was almost inaudible, "I just peeked in through the slit of the lid... It was so frightening that it turned out There's a guy in a weird costume lying in there."

The three of them surrounded the box one after another, Zhizhi lifted the lid.The guy inside didn't make a sound, maybe he was about to jump up when the box was opened, or he might be holding a deadly weapon. At this moment, people were so nervous that they almost stopped breathing. The next moment, the lid snapped open, and the three of them were fully alert, but no one jumped out suddenly.Looking carefully, there is indeed a woman with fair complexion and gorgeous clothes lying in the dark box. "Hahaha, that's ridiculous." Another prop crew reached out and grabbed the woman.It turned out to be a female doll with clothes on and detachable hands and feet. "It's a doll. Here, it's the prop for the 'Beauty Disintegration Art'."

So, the three of them went further backstage, and came to a place full of large set props, which looked like a building materials warehouse, darker, full of shadows, and hiding everywhere. The three walked back and forth in the cave made of sets and sets.In the darkness, the only smells are cobwebs, dust and paint. Sensitive and keenly aware of human breath.He reached out and grabbed the two wooden sticks hanging above his head, and the fugitive was lying on the set like a spider. Zhizhi pulled hard, and there was the sound of the scene breaking.Unexpectedly, the guy rolled to the ground without saying a word.

Dragging it to the bright spot, it was not the leader dressed as a clown, but a magic assistant in a classical evening dress. "Where is the head?" Wisely twisted the man's arm to press the question, he took extraordinary measures, the man quickly gave in, and stammered: "There, there." Looking in the direction he pointed, at the other end of the set tunnel, a vague figure of a clown can be seen. The three of them immediately dropped their assistants and quietly approached the other side.Leading the charge is the young prop crew. The clown still stood still.What is puzzling is that his arms are stretched out like bird wings and dance slowly.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Akechi realized that there was a trap and sounded a warning, but the leading prop personnel had already rushed forward, hit his forehead squarely, and bounced back backwards. That is a large mirror often used in magic.The clown who doesn't know where he is is reflected on the slanted mirror. Because of the dim light around him, people mistake him for a real person. If so, where is the real person? The two prop workers followed their wise eyes and looked up. Unexpectedly, the clown was standing on the steel wire of the stage ceiling, stretching his hands to maintain his balance, and moving his feet slowly trying to pass through the ceiling.The magician is performing a comical tightrope walk.

The hiding place was unexpected.If there is no mirror, you may not be able to find it for a while. Near the entrance on the left side of the stage, there is a ladder that goes straight to the ceiling.The three ran instead to the ladder and quickly climbed up to the ceiling.The prop people are very skilled, as wise as they are, they are like three monkeys. The clown was very surprised to see the pursuers, and finally walked over the wire, and then jumped along the crossbar of the attic to the ceiling above the auditorium.The three of them also climbed in through the same hole. In the attic, a hunting game quickly unfolded.

A few dim beams of light filtered through the gaps in the coffered ceiling and fell on the attic floor.Other than that, there were no other light sources, and there was still an indissoluble darkness in front of my eyes. A magician in an empty clown costume walks through the shadowy white light. The dilapidated ceiling is full of holes, and if you are not careful, you will step on the air.When crawling on the ceiling, looking down through the hole, the audience seats far away seemed to be within reach. There is no one there now, probably because they were frightened by something unexpected. The audience They scrambled to escape.Only five or six nosy people stayed in the theater and waited to watch the excitement. The staff of the theater office probably heard that the villains had escaped into the attic, and ran towards the stage one after another, including Erlang Tamura.The police were also on the scene, and officers swarmed through the wooden doors.Even a great magician is now a turtle in a urn.

Soon, the villain was forced to a corner of the attic.One-on-three, he couldn't fly without wings, and this time he was dead. The villain squatted in the narrow triangular corner, motionless, as if a mouse was cornered by a cat, and when he had nowhere to go, he simply decided to counterattack, and the three pursuers couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive about their desperate drive.The light coming through the hole in the floor sliced ​​his body into strips, making the scene even more eerie. The pursuers approached the prey step by step in three ways. Suddenly, a cold light flashed across the villain's right hand.Ah, a dagger!He really planned to fight with his life. The two prop managers tried to escape.Zhizhi stands firm, ready to fight, and then continues to approach the enemy. Unexpectedly, at this time, the situation has undergone an incredible reversal.The villain didn't point the dagger at the pursuers, but pressed it against his own throat, as if he was about to commit suicide at any time.Zhizhi immediately took a step back in surprise, the villain put down the short knife when he saw this, and as soon as Zhizhi moved forward, the tip of the knife touched his throat again. Ah, why is there such a thing?As soon as they stepped forward, the villain threatened to commit suicide.But looking at the posture in which he repeatedly picked up and put down the short knife, it seems that the villain did not have the courage to cut his throat at all. Does this look like a villain who shocked the world?Would this be the behavior of a man who had dedicated his life to the cause of revenge?Compared with the cowardly attitude in front of him, his previous defiant behavior seemed to be the work of another person. Thinking of this, a doubt that made him uneasy crossed his wise chest. "Oops!" The detective's chest and back were covered with cold sweat. No, impossible.Only the head of the magic troupe wears a clown costume. It is impossible for a small magic troupe to have two clowns dressed in exactly the same way.Even the props manager said "That's the leader", and followed Akechi with conviction, didn't he? "Hey, aren't you the leader?" The people in the corner were too scared to say a word. "Who the hell are you? If you weren't the leader, why did you dress up as a clown?" "I'm not the team leader." The other party finally said tremblingly, "I'm Mu Ye, an acrobat." When Zhizhi heard this, regardless of the murder weapon held by the other party, he immediately rushed forward and grabbed his skirt, and forced his face to a bright place.It turned out that it was another person at all, an insignificant young man.The weird makeup hides his real appearance, and the dim light makes it difficult to distinguish, but the outline is indeed different from the clown on the stage.Due to the long distance and the dim surroundings, before this, his age and silhouette were really invisible. Sensible pushed the young man away and returned to the original ladder.Although he had already missed the best time, he went back to the backstage to check. He walked quickly to the entrance of the attic, looked down, and saw a group of people gathered beside the ladder.Police officers, theater staff, spectators, and Erlang Tamamura all surrounded the attic. "Erlang, didn't I ask you to guard at the backstage door?" Zhizhi asked sharply. "At this time, I don't care about the backstage exit. It doesn't matter if one or two of my subordinates escape, the key is to catch the thief." Erlang replied nonchalantly.It's no wonder that the villains in clown costumes are forced into the attic by the wise, and there is no need to arrange people to watch the front and back doors.The more important task is to assist the wise and catch the villain in the attic.Erlang wants to see the face of the enemy who killed his lover as soon as possible, and it is only natural for him to have this kind of thinking.Even Erlang thought so, and the police officers and theater personnel who didn't understand the situation thought they had caught the murderer, so they gathered in the attic in a daze. Zhizhi immediately ordered the police to start a blanket search, but it was a step too late.Whether it is the thief leader, his subordinates or his daughter Wendai, they all disappeared. The police began to question the youth in the clown costume.It turned out that he absconded with a sum of money from his former boss, and was later taken in by the magician group. Not long after the "Beauty Disintegration Technique" performance ended, the group leader told him, "There is a guy who looks like a criminal policeman at the back door. Just to be careful, you put on my clown costume and put white powder on it to avoid it."He hastily obeyed, never expecting to lead to a big hunt.He was convinced that the police were here to arrest him, but fortunately he was adept at acrobatics, so he simply walked the tightrope and escaped into the attic.I don’t know why he committed the theft before. He is obviously a person without courage, but he also has a short knife with him. He probably planned that if he was arrested and humiliated, he might as well cut himself off with one knife, but he couldn’t do it at a critical moment. , and finally obediently surrendered. This is a trap set up by the monster to escape calmly, even Kogoro Akechi failed to guess this step in advance, and watched the cooked duck fly away, leaving only regret in his heart.