Chapter 5 4. Pond

Seeing the Kaitou drop his pistol and jump out, Sotaro rushed to the window and looked down at the dark courtyard. Although it was dark in the yard, there were electric lights like the ever-burning lights in the park, so it was not impossible to see people completely. When the Kaitou jumped down, he seemed to have fallen to the ground for a moment, but he got up quickly and ran quickly, and then, as it appeared in Souji's dream, he was about to rush out of the flower bed.I saw him running two or three steps in the flower bed, and suddenly there was a click, and there was a crisp metallic sound, and the black shadow of the strange thief fell fiercely on the ground.

"Where is someone coming? There are thieves! There are thieves! Go to the yard!" Sotaro shouted. If there were no iron clips, the quick-moving strange thief might have escaped long ago.Zhuang Er's childish impromptu idea actually worked by accident.When the strange thief struggled to break free from the trap, everyone surrounded him from all directions.Including the inspector in suit, the scholar, and the driver, there were seven people in total.Sotaro also hurried downstairs, together with the old butler Kondo, illuminated the yard from the downstairs window with an electric light to help catch the thief.

It is strange that the specially bought bulldog John did not show his face in such a commotion.If there is John to help out, the strange thief must be hard to fly. When Twenty Faces finally broke free from the iron clip and got up, the person chasing him with a flashlight in his hand was only ten meters away from him.And not from one direction, there are people coming from the front, back, left, and right. The thief ran away like a gust of wind.No, maybe it should be described as a bullet. He broke through the corner surrounded by the crowd and fled into the depths of the courtyard. The courtyard is as spacious as a park.There are rockeries, pools, and dense forest-like groves.It was pitch black in front of his eyes, and the seven round-ups were far from sufficient.Ah, at a time like this, it would be great if John was here...

However, everyone still chased desperately.Especially the three inspectors. When it comes to catching thieves, they are professionally trained.Seeing the thieves running towards the bushes on the rockery, they changed to the flat ground and went around to the other side of the rockery.They planned to have a two-sided confrontation with the helpers who came later. In this way, the thief cannot escape through the wall.What's more, the concrete wall surrounding the courtyard is four meters high, and it is impossible to climb over the wall unless you move a ladder. "Ah! Here! The thief is here!" one of the scholars shouted among the trees on the rockery.

The round light of the flashlight was concentrated there from all directions.The bushes were suddenly as bright as day. In that light, the thief bowed.Facing the dense jungle on the right side of the rockery, it rushed down like a ball running and jumping. "Don't let him slip! He's gone down the hill!" Then, among the dense trees, the light of the flashlight flashed quickly, and the bright light was very pleasing to the eye. The yard is very large, there are many trees and rocks, and the thief is good at escaping, so that although everyone can see the back of the thief in front of him, they can't catch him.

At this time, the nearby police station received an emergency call and immediately sent several policemen to stand outside the wall.Seeing that the strange thief has become the turtle in the urn. In the mansion, the dazzling hide-and-seek game continued for a while, and soon, the pursuers found that the thief had been lost.The thief was originally not far ahead, shuttling between the trunks of the big trees, flickering and flickering, but suddenly disappeared.They searched carefully every tree in the forest, even lighting the tops of the branches with flashlights, but they couldn't find the thief anywhere.

Police guard the walls.As for the interior of the building, needless to say, the bungalows, even the Japanese-style rooms have opened the rainshield, so that the electric lights in the house can illuminate the courtyard, and there are Sotaro, the old housekeeper Kondo, Soji and all the maids. Watch everyone catch the thief from the porch, so it is impossible for the thief to escape into the house. The thief must be hiding somewhere in the yard.The problem is, the seven pursuers searched and searched, but still couldn't find him.Is 'Twenty Faces' performing ninjutsu again?In the end, everyone unanimously decided to wait for dawn and search again.As long as the front door, back door and outside the wall are firmly guarded, thieves are bound to escape.Therefore, there should be no mistakes in searching after dawn.So, in order to reinforce the policemen outside the wall, the pursuers left the courtyard one after another. Only one person, the car driver surnamed Matsuno, remained deep in the courtyard.

Surrounded by dense woods, there is a large pond.Driver Matsuno fell behind the crowd, and when he walked by the pool, he suddenly noticed a strange thing. Under the light of the flashlight, the water surface of the pond was covered with fallen leaves, and among the fallen leaves was a bamboo tube, sticking its head out and dangling timidly.That's not the reason for the wind, because the water surface is obviously calm and there is no wave, only the bamboo pipe is shaking strangely. A very sudden idea appeared in Matsuno's mind.He almost wanted to call everyone back at once.However, he wasn't so sure.Because it is too incredible.

He turned on the flashlight and squatted down by the pool.Then, in order to unravel the unbelievable doubts, a strange experiment was performed.He took out toilet paper from his pocket, tore it into thin strips, and quietly placed it on top of the bamboo pipe in the pool. Then, the unthinkable happened. The thin piece of paper fluttered up and down at the front end of the bamboo tube.The pieces of paper can flutter like that, which means that there must be air coming in and out of the bamboo tube.Unexpectedly, such a thing would happen, Matsuno couldn't believe his eyes.But what about this overwhelming evidence?A lifeless bamboo tube shouldn't be able to breathe, right?It would be unimaginable in winter.However, as I said before, it is now golden autumn and October, and the weather is not that cold.Especially the twenty-faced monster, who also claims to be a magician, loves whimsical adventures, so it is entirely possible to hide in the pool.

If only Matsuno had called everyone over.It's a pity that he probably wants to make a miracle by himself, and he doesn't want to ask others for help, but intends to solve the mystery by himself. He put the flashlight on the ground, quickly stretched out his hands, grabbed the bamboo tube and pulled it up hard. The bamboo tube is about thirty centimeters long.Souji probably threw it away while he was playing in the yard.Being pulled by him like this, he was pulled out of the water all at once.However, it wasn't just the bamboo pipe that was pulled out, there was actually a human hand stained black by the mud clinging to the end.No, not just hands.Behind that hand, a large living person, drenched like a sea monster, suddenly appeared.