Chapter 17 16. Detective Akechi Kogoro

The short old man from Zuomen, wearing a mouse-gray cloak, hurried along the long ramp in three steps at a time. When he arrived at the Fujiya Hotel, it was around one o'clock in the afternoon. "Excuse me, is Mr. Akechi Kogoro here?" After his question, the hotel replied that Mr. went fishing in the valley behind.So he asked the waitress to lead the way, and walked quickly down the valley. Walking through the Yangchang path with lush mountain white bamboos, and descending to the deep valley, I saw the beautiful clear stream gurgling by. Where the water flows, from time to time encounter huge rocks with their heads raised like stepping stones.On one of the largest flat rocks sat a man wrapped in a cotton robe.He was hunched over, staring intently at the dangling rod.

"That is Mr. Wise." The waitress went ahead, jumping over the rock to the man. "Sir, this old gentleman said he came to see you specially..." Hearing the sound, the man in cotton robe turned his head impatiently and reprimanded sharply: "Don't be so loud, the fish will be scared away." With disheveled hair, sharp eyes, pale and stern face, high nose bridge, smooth chin, and strong lips, he is indeed the wise and great detective he has seen in the photos. "This is my business card." The old man from Zuomen handed over his business card, "I have something to ask you, so I made a special trip to visit."

The old man bowed slightly as he spoke. Although the wise detective accepted the business card, he didn't even bother to read it carefully, and said impatiently: "Ah, is it? Then, what's your business with me?" While talking, his attention had already returned to the fishing rod. The old man ordered the waitress to go back first, and after watching her back go away, he spoke again: "Sir, I actually received such a letter today." As he spoke, he took out the notice letter with twenty faces from his pocket, and held it out to the eyes of the famous detective who was staring at the fishing rod.

"Ah, the fish ran away again... It's really troublesome to be disturbed by you like this. You said you received a letter? What does that letter have to do with me?" Sensible was very unkind and had a blunt tone. "Sir, haven't you heard of the bandit with twenty faces?" The old man from Zuomen unconsciously became annoyed, and asked more sharply. "Oh, twenty faces? You mean twenty faces sent you a letter?" The detective was not surprised, still staring at the tip of the fishing rod. With no other choice, the old man had no choice but to read the monster thief's notice letter by himself, and told the arrogant man in front of him all the treasures hidden in the "castle" of the Kusakabe family.

"Ah, are you the owner of that strange castle?" Zhizhi seemed to be finally aroused, and turned to face the old man. "Yes, I am. Those ancient paintings are treasures that I can't buy with my old life. Mr. Zhizhi, please help me, an old man, please." "So, what do you want me to do?" "I want you to go to my house immediately and keep my treasure for me." "Did you call the police? Instead of asking me for help, I think you should seek the protection of the police first. Is that logical?" "No, don't mention it. I'd rather trust you than the police. I don't think there's anyone else who's as good as Twenty Faces. Besides, here's There is only a small police station with limited strength. Even if you call in a highly skilled criminal policeman to help you, you will not be able to quench your thirst. But the twenty-faced figure will come to attack you tonight, and I don't have that much time. The sir happened to be here today. This hot spring area, this must be God’s arrangement. Sir, this is my old man’s sincere plea, please save me.”

The old man at the Zuomen could only clasp his palms together, pleading repeatedly. "Now that you've said that, it's hard for me to refuse. Twenty Faces is also an old enemy to me. I can't wait to see him show up. Let's go together, but before that, we still have to Contact the police. Let me go back to the hotel and make a call. Just in case, I will ask them to send two or three detectives to support. Please go back first, I will take the detectives there soon." Sensible's tone gradually became eager.He had stopped looking at the rod. "Thank you, thank you. Now I feel at ease."

The old man stroked his chest to rejoice, and thanked him again and again.