Chapter 16 15. Art Castle

About four kilometers south of Shuzenji Onsen on the Izu Peninsula, in the mountains along the Shimoda Street, there is a desolate village called Taniguchi.In the forest just outside the village, there is a strange mansion that looks like a castle. High earthen walls were built around the mansion, and the earthen walls were covered with sharp-edged barbed wire, which looked like a mountain of needles.On the inner side of the earth wall, there is a deep ditch with a width of four meters, and clear water flows in the middle, which is deep but not empty.The deliberate precautions are all to prevent outsiders from approaching.Even if someone could climb over the earthen wall like a mountain of needles, there was a ditch dug inside the wall that could not be crossed.

In the center of the house, there is a group of buildings that look very similar but are far smaller than the castle tower. It is composed of many warehouses, and the exterior is a thick white wall.Residents nearby call this building "Kusakabe Castle".Of course, this is not a real castle. It is impossible for such a small village to have a castle. So, in this building - which is absurdly heavily guarded - who actually lived there?It may be understandable in the Warring States Period when there was no police, but in today's society, no matter how many assets you hold, you can't guard your house so heavily, right?

"What kind of character lives in it?" If strangers passing by ask about this, the villagers always answer like this: "You mean over there? That's the castle of the lunatic Mr. Kusakabe. He said he was afraid that his treasures would be stolen, and he was an old monster who didn't interact with the people in the village." The Kusakabe family has been big local landowners for generations, and in Zuomen’s generation, a large piece of land has been sold for cash, leaving only a castle-like mansion and a large number of ancient famous paintings hidden in the house.

The old man Zuomen is a crazy art collector.When it comes to collections, they are mainly ancient famous paintings, such as Xuezhou and Tanyou, which even appear in elementary school textbooks, which can be said to be almost exhaustive.Among the hundreds of paintings, most of them are national treasure-level masterpieces, and it is said that the price of each work is not less than one million. Now, everyone should be able to understand why the "castle" of the Kusakabe family is well-defended and impregnable.The old man at the Zuomen regards these famous paintings as more important than his own life. What if they are stolen by thieves?Only this incident has become a serious worry in his mind, and he will never forget it no matter when he sleeps or when he wakes up.

Although trenches were dug and mountains of needles were planted on top of the walls, he was still worried.In the end, as long as he saw someone visiting, he suspected that the other party came with the purpose of stealing paintings, so even the villagers who were upright by nature stopped communicating with each other in the end. Therefore, the old man Zuomen has lived in the "castle" for many years with the famous paintings he collected as companions, admiring them every day, and hardly even taking a step out of the gate.He was too passionate about art to marry and have children.He seems to have come here for these famous paintings in this life, and the meaning of life is to protect these works of art.Day after day, year after year, before he knew it, he had reached his sixtieth year.

In other words, this old man obsessed with art is the strange lord of this "castle". Today, as usual, the old man stays alone in a certain room deep in the warehouse-like building, surrounded by famous paintings from ancient and modern times, motionless as if in a dream.The bright and warm sunshine outside the window, in contrast to this small room, in order to prevent theft, only a small window with iron bars was opened, it is like a prison, cold and dark. "My lord, please open the door. There is a letter from you." The elderly manservant reported outside.In this mansion, the only servants Kusakabe could trust were the old servant and his wife.

"A letter? That's strange. Bring me the letter." Hearing the old man's answer, the heavy door creaked open, and the old servant with the same wrinkled face as the master walked in with a letter. The old man at the left door took the letter and glanced at the back of the envelope first. It was strange that the sender's name was not written on it. "Who could it be? This handwriting is very strange..." The recipient of the letter was indeed Mr. Kusakabe Samon, so I opened the letter anyway and read it first. "Well, sir, what's the matter with you? Is there any bad news in the letter?"

The old servant couldn't help screaming, because the expression of the old man from the left door in front of him changed drastically when he read the letter.The beardless, shriveled and wrinkled face lacked a trace of blood, the empty mouth with missing front teeth kept trembling, and the small eyes behind the reading glasses were shining with uneasy light. "No, what, there is no problem. Tell you that you don't understand either, so get out!" Shouting sharply in a trembling tone, he threw the old servant out.Although he pretended to be brave and said that there was no problem, in fact, it was a miracle that the old man did not faint on the spot.The letter clearly stated the following frightening content.

Ah, the twenty-faced phantom thief has finally set his sights on this art collector who lives in seclusion in the depths of Mt. Izu.Almost a month had passed since he escaped Toyamahara's den of thieves disguised as a policeman.In the meantime, no one knows where the strange thief went and what he did.It must be to build a brand new lair, reconvene his subordinates, and plan the second or even the third more terrifying conspiracy.Unexpectedly, the first target he chose after his comeback turned out to be the art castle of the Kusakabe family located in the deep mountains. "The night of November 15th, isn't that exactly tonight? Ah, what should I do? Once I am targeted by Twenty Faces, my treasure will be gone. That terrible guy, even if he gathers all the people in Tokyo The power of the Metropolitan Police Department is still helpless. Of course, little policemen like us in the countryside will not be his opponents.

"Ah, I'm done. Rather than watching these treasures being taken away, I might as well die." As he spoke, the old man at the left door got up abruptly, circling around the room like ants on a hot pan. "Ah, my luck has come to an end, and it seems that this time I am doomed." Unknowingly, the old man's pale face was full of old tears. "Hey, what's that... Ah, I remembered, I remembered, why didn't I remember it until now? It seems that God has not abandoned me. As long as that person is there, I may be able to survive .” The old man suddenly thought of something, and gradually regained his anger.

"Hey, Tsukuzo, is Zuzou here?" The old man walked out of the room, clapped his hands, and called the old servant frequently. Hearing the master's unusual impatience, the old servant hurried over. "Hurry up and bring me the "Izu Daily". I remember it seems to be the newspaper from the day before yesterday. How about this, you bring all the newspapers from the past three or four days. Hurry up, hurry up." The old man said angrily ordered. In a panic, Sakuzo brought over a large volume of "Izu Daily". The old man took the newspaper and eagerly began to read it one by one. On the news column of the social edition on the 13th day before yesterday, there was indeed such an article reports. Akechi Kogoro visits Shuzenji. Mr. Akechi Kogoro, the top private detective, has been on business trips to Manchuria for a long time, and now he has returned to Tokyo after completing his mission.In order to relieve the fatigue of the journey, I stayed at the Fujiya Hotel in Shuzenji Onsen today and planned to stay here for four or five days. "That's it. That's it. There is no one who can rival Twenty Faces, except this wise detective. The theft that happened at Hashiba's house was only done by the wise assistant Kobayashi, that kid. I think Kobayashi’s mentor, Detective Akechi, will definitely save me from disaster. In any case, I must invite this famous detective to my door.” While talking to himself, the old man called his wife who had come to serve him to change his clothes. Then he closed the thick and heavy door of the treasure room tightly, and then locked it from the outside. He ordered two servants to guard the door while he hurriedly Leave the mansion. Needless to say, his destination was naturally the Fujiya Hotel in nearby Shuzenji Onsen.He plans to meet with the wise detective at home and persuade him to come forward to protect the treasure. Ah, the famous detective Kogoro Akechi we've all been waiting for is finally back.Moreover, it seems that it was agreed in advance, he happened to go to the hot spring near the Art City of the Kusakabe Clan that Twenty Faces was planning to attack.For the Zuomen old man, this can be said to be an excellent and good time to dream of.