Chapter 8 Seven, young detective

After letting the young driver leave, the owner, Sotaro and his wife, Kondo's old butler, and Sanae, who was escorted by school workers and flew home, immediately gathered in the inner room to discuss how to deal with the aftermath.There is no time to dawdle any longer, there are only eight or nine hours left until ten o'clock in the evening. "It doesn't matter if it's something else. After all, as long as you have money, you can buy diamonds. But, I really don't want to give this Avalokitesvara to others easily. It is a work of art that can be called a national treasure. , if it is sold abroad through the hands of thieves, then I am too sorry for the Japanese art world. Although the sculpture is in the art room of our house, I never dare to regard it as my personal property .”

After all, Sotaro did not only care about the safety of his own son.However, Mrs. Hashiba is different. She is only worried about poor Souji now, and all she can think about is how to rescue Souji. "However, if you don't give him the Buddha statue, I don't know what will happen to the child. No matter how expensive a work of art is, you can't exchange precious human life. Please don't notify the police, just agree to the thief's request." Zhuang Er didn't know which cold basement he was in, and the appearance of sobbing alone appeared clearly in front of the mother's eyes, so she couldn't even wait for ten o'clock tonight, wishing to exchange Zhuang Er with the Buddha statue now.

"Well, of course Souji has to bring it back. However, the thief has already taken the diamond away, and he is coveting the irreplaceable art treasure. I am really unwilling to obey his will. Kondo, what can you do? " "This... If you call the police, the matter will definitely become a big mess immediately, so you must not let the wind leak before the ten o'clock specified in the thief's letter. However, if you call a private detective..." The old butler suddenly proposed. "Well, it's a way to find a private detective. But, can a private detective be competent for such a big incident?"

"As far as I know, I heard that there seems to be a highly skilled detective in Tokyo..." Seeing the old housekeeper tilting his head in thought, Sanae suddenly interrupted: "Dad, that person is Detective Akechi Kogoro. As long as he is involved, it is said that even the cases that the police are helpless can solve one by one. He is a famous detective." "That's right, that's the wise Kogoro. I heard that he is very remarkable, and he should be on par with 'Twenty Faces'." "Well, I've heard of that name too. Well, let's find that detective quietly and discuss it with him. The experts may have a good idea to surprise and win."

So, in the end, everyone decided to entrust this matter to Akechi Kogoro. The old butler Kondo immediately checked the phone book and called Detective Akechi.As a result, a childish voice came from the other end of the phone and replied: "The teacher is currently on a business trip to Xinjing under the entrustment of the 'Manchukuo' government. I don't know when he will be back. However, Xiaolin's assistant who is acting as a teacher is here. If you don't mind, Xiaolin can go there immediately." "Ah, is that so? But the case is rather tricky. The assistant, I'm afraid..."

When Butler Kondo was still hesitating, the other party couldn't wait to interrupt him, and his voice became much tougher: "Although he is an assistant, his ability is not inferior to that of the teacher at all. You can fully believe it. In short, let's meet and talk first." "Is that so? Then please tell Mr. Assistant to come over immediately. But I have to declare in advance that it will be troublesome if the other party knows what we entrusted. It is a matter of human life, please be careful and don't let anyone find out , come quietly." "You don't need to explain this, I am naturally clear."

After these conversations, it was finally decided to let Kobayashi, the famous detective assistant, come to help. Less than ten minutes after the phone was hung up, a cute boy was already standing in front of the entrance of Hashiba's house, begging to see him.The scholar came forward to receive him, and the young man introduced himself: "I'm Souji's friend." "Master Zhuang Er is not at home." Hearing the scholar's answer, the boy said indifferently: "I expected this to happen a long time ago. Then let me meet Souji's father. My father has a few words to tell me. My surname is Kobayashi."

He solemnly requested a meeting. After the scholar conveyed the message, Sotaro guessed that it was Kobayashi from the detective agency, so without saying a word, he was immediately taken to the reception room. Sotaro walked into the room, and saw a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy in a school uniform with a collar standing inside. His cheeks were as rosy as apples, and his big eyes were piercing. "Mr. Hashiba? Nice to meet you. I'm Kobayashi from Akechi's Detective Agency. I received a call from my family, so I made a special trip to visit." The boy's eyes rolled around and he spoke clearly.

"Ah, did Mr. Kobayashi send you here? This matter is a bit complicated. I hope he will come..." Sotaro was only halfway through, when the boy interrupted him by raising his hand, and replied at the same time: "No, I am Yoshio Kobayashi. The teacher has no other assistants." "What? Are you Mr. Kobayashi himself?" Sotaro was taken aback.At the same time, for some reason, the mood also became inexplicably happy.Such a young child is actually a detective, is it true or not?However, judging by his expression and manner of speaking, he seemed quite reliable.Then let's discuss it with this child first.

"Before, the famous detective with high skills mentioned on the phone was referring to yourself?" "Yes, that's right. During the teacher's business trip, he has completely entrusted the work to me." The boy replied confidently. "Just now, you claimed to be Souji's friend. How do you know Souji?" "How can you be a detective if you don't know even such a small thing? I looked through the newspaper clippings and found that your family was mentioned in a business magazine. The phone said it was life-threatening, so I guess it's probably Sanae or Soji The whereabouts of one of them is unknown. It seems that I guessed it right. Also, this incident should not be related to the 'Twenty Faces', right?" Xiao Lin pointed out the key point of the problem in a few words.

So, this kid might really be a famous detective!Sotaro admired him very much now. So, he called the old butler Kondo to the reception room, and the master and servant told the young man in detail about the incident. At every critical moment, the young man inserted a short question or two from time to time, and then listened carefully to the answer.After the master and servant had finished speaking, he asked to visit the Avalokitesvara statue.So Zhuang Taro took him to visit the art room, and then returned to the original reception room.After a while, he remained silent, closed his eyes tightly, and seemed to be lost in thought. Finally, the boy suddenly opened his eyes, leaned over to the two of them, and said excitedly: "I thought of a good way. Since the other party is a magician, then we also become magicians. This is a very dangerous method. However, if you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch a tiger. Before, I even did something more risky than this matter." "Oh, that's wonderful. But how?" "This..." The boy leaned closer to Sotaro and whispered something in his ear. "Ah, you?" Hearing this unexpected and bold proposal, Sotaro couldn't help being dumbfounded. "Yes. It seems very difficult at first glance, but we have already tried this method. The teacher used this trick before, and taught the French phantom thief Arsen Robin severely." "Won't this make Souji more dangerous?" "Please don't worry about this. If the other party is a petty thief, it will be dangerous, but the dignified twenty-faced face should be able to speak well. Since he asked to exchange Zhuang Er for the Buddha statue, he must have been killed before the danger happened. It’s back. Even if it’s not like this, I will have other ways to deal with it then. Don’t worry, although I am a child, I will definitely not act recklessly.” "In the absence of Mr. Wise, let you take such a big risk, in case something happens to you, I can't explain it..." "Hahaha...that's because you don't understand our lives. Detectives are like soldiers. I am willing to investigate crimes even if there is an accident. However, this is just a child's disease, and it is not dangerous. You Just pretend not to know. And I, even if you don't agree, won't change my mind. I'll go ahead with my original plan." Facing this boy's rock-solid determination, Mr. Hashiba and the old butler Kondo couldn't stand it anymore. Finally, after a long negotiation, they finally agreed that Kobayashi would carry out his plan.