Chapter 28 Chapter two

The next morning, when I woke up, many abnormalities appeared in my body.Headache, chest tightness, abdominal distension, and nausea... "Because you drank last night." Xiao Ai who woke up together said so. "Maybe. Then my prickly eyes, and the courtyard looks pure white, is it also because of drinking?" "No." Mom replied, looking outside the dog house. "It's because of the snow that fell last night." "Wow, this is all snow..." I also know what snow is, but it is the first time I see so much snow.The entire courtyard of the mansion was covered with snow.I became inexplicably excited, and Xiao Ai rushed out of the dog house.I forgot my headache and chest tightness and ran around, and my mother played happily with me, which is so rare.

We lost track of time playing in the snow when a car drove into the mansion.It's a blue car I've never seen before.The car was parked in the mansion parking lot and the two men got out.One is a man in a suit and a coat, and the other is a young man in a white down jacket and jeans.The two walked towards the entrance of Hanami Koji's house and talked. "Oh, it turns out that Mr. Kazuma Hanami Koji is a teacher at school. What, I thought it was a nobleman with such a grand surname. I didn't expect it to be Mr. Ukai's mentor in high school..." "Ryuhei, there are no nobles in this era. However, the Hanamikoji family has been the principal of the private Hanamikoji Academy for generations, so it must be a famous family. Mr. Hanamikoji Kazuma was a teacher when I was a student, but he also became the principal later. Look, this mansion is very grand, right? The courtyard is also exaggerated. Wow, there are pet dogs."

It's not a pet, it's a hound!I glared at two strange men. "It's not like the house that the gem thief visited last night." The young man in jeans named Liuping whispered. "It's peaceful and there are no police." "But the gem thief did come. Speaking of which, Kazuma Hanami Koji bought expensive gems with expensive tuition fees paid by poor people. How can he be a teacher? I really want to say that he deserves it." "You can't say such things, right? He is a rare client." "Of course I won't say it. I have this kind of common sense anyway, and I can speak according to the scene."

A man in a suit named Ukai stood at the entrance and slowly pressed the doorbell.The entrance door opened immediately, and an elderly man appeared. "Mr. Hanami Koji, long time no see!" Ukai exaggeratedly opened his arms and hugged each other like a Westerner, his voice trembling with emotion. "You really encountered a huge case this time, and I immediately put down my work and came here." "Well, I'm the driver here, my surname is Xiaosong..." "Ah, hello." Ukai quickly let go, looking at the other party as if nothing had happened. "Well, Mr. Komatsu. No wonder I don't think you look like I miss you."

"It should be the first meeting. The two are from the Ukai Detective Agency, right? I have been waiting for you for a long time, please come in." "So, excuse me." Ukai puffed out his chest without any guilt, and led the young man named Liuping into the mansion.Xiao Ai and I turned our heads to look at each other. "How is that person, so strange!" "Well, it always feels weird. And they seem to mention gem thieves or something." Then, behind us, my mother breathed a white breath and spoke worriedly. "There seems to be something wrong with the house. The man is a detective. Detectives have special abilities and are hired to solve difficult cases."

"That person has special abilities? It doesn't look like it." "Yeah... But anyway, I'm a little concerned. Let's go and have a look, too?" After my mother finished speaking, she walked to the entrance door, jumped up and grabbed the handle to open the door neatly.This is the skill that the mother who has lived in the mansion for a long time is best at.The three of us entered the mansion together.In the spacious entrance hall, the detective once again opened his hands in front of the master, and spoke in a trembling voice. "Teacher, long time no see, you really encountered a big case this time..."

After the touching reunion, the master introduces Miss Feng to the detectives.Miss Feng, who is studying in university, is the proud granddaughter of the master, and also the beauty praised by the neighbors. She is very gentle.During holidays, I would go out for a walk with me in my arms. At this time, passers-by would not take their eyes off Miss Feng. Last time, a delivery person from Qiao Mai Noodle Shop was so fascinated that he even fell into the ditch with his bicycle. "Come on, Feng, without further ado, let Ukai and the others tell the story of the case." Under the urging of the master, Miss Feng talked about what happened last night.

"Last night, I was writing a report in the room on the second floor. It was around two o'clock in the morning. I wanted to catch my breath and went to the kitchen on the first floor to make coffee. When I took the coffee cup and was about to go upstairs to the room... "Miss Feng said here, pointing to the big staircase in front of her. "I heard a strange sound from the second floor, the sound of glass breaking. I screamed softly and stopped on the stairs. Then, I felt someone walking quickly through the corridor on the second floor." "You didn't see the figure, you only felt the breath, right?"

"Yes. I went upstairs tremblingly, observed the corridor on the second floor, and then saw the room at the end of the corridor, which is the door of grandpa's study room. I felt something was wrong, but I didn't have the courage to peek into the study room, so I went to the door of grandpa's bedroom on the second floor and knocked .Grandpa opened the door immediately, and after I explained the situation, grandpa said, 'Okay, I see' and went into the study alone." "So that's how it is. Then, Grandpa, how was the condition of the study at that time?"

"Pukai, you have no reason to call me grandpa!" The master frowned displeased. "The condition of the study is as I said on the phone. The safe is open and the important gems have been stolen... Anyway, you should take a look at the scene of the crime first." The master led the detectives up the stairs.Miss Feng smiled happily when she saw that we also wanted to follow. "Oh, you want to watch the scene too? Okay, come on." After finishing speaking, Miss Feng hugged me and Xiao Ai with both hands. "Is Xiaotao coming too?" Mom let out a "woof" and ran up the stairs quickly.

The master loves to be clean, and the study is meticulously organized.Now only the safe is sloppily open.The stylish glass box fell to the ground, but the glass on the surface of the box was shattered, and the inside was empty, with only glass shards flying around the safe.Ukai saw this scene and began to talk. "That's right. The thief opened the safe and wanted to steal the gems in the glass box. At this time, the glass box fell to the ground and made a loud noise. The panicked thief left the safe and rushed out of the corridor with only the gems. It happened that the young lady who was on the stairs Hearing voices, feeling the breath of thieves...is it supposed to be like this?" "As expected of a detective, exactly as you said." At this time, Ryuhei, who had been listening silently until now, asked a simple question with a surprised expression. "Is the safe so easy to open?" "Impossible, this safe is specially made. Look at this." The master said and took out a key. "This is the key to the safe. It is the latest key made with modern cutting-edge technology. It is basically impossible to back it up." The master locked the safe with this key, and the door of the safe did not budge.Seeing this, Liu Ping wondered again. "Mr. Ukai, this is strange. How did the thief open this latest safe? Is it an expert in cracking safes who committed the crime?" "No, that's not necessarily the case." Ukai shook his head cautiously, and turned to face the master. "By the way, teacher, where do you usually keep the key to this safe?" "Well, the key is stored here." The master put the latest key into his desk drawer, and locked it with a small key that looked like a toy. "Ukai, what's wrong?" "Ask me what's wrong..." Ukai whispered helplessly, then took out a small wire from his breast pocket. "Excuse me for being rude." Ukai inserted the wire into the keyhole of the drawer and turned it around, the drawer opened immediately, and the detective got the latest key in five seconds. "Teacher, this is meaningless." "Uh, uh... But, you can't open the safe just by getting the key, you have to turn the combination lock, and there are infinite combinations of numbers." "Oh, can you please open it?" "No problem." The master held the combination lock of the safe. "Hmm... I remember the number is thirty-two to the right... Hey... No, it's not... Oh, yes, I knew it might be like this... Hey, Ukai, there is a note in the drawer just now, right?" "Ah, you said this?" Ukai took out a blank piece of paper from the drawer and read out the content. "Thirty-six to the right, fourteen to the left, twenty-two to the right." "That's it! Well, thirty-six to the right..." "Teacher, it's alright." Ukai shook his head helplessly and looked at the assistant. "Leveling, as you can see. Anyone can open this safe without being an expert on cracking safes." "Well...so that's it, it's just an ordinary box disguised as a safe." On the contrary, Liuping put his hands on his chest in admiration.Miss Feng shrunk her body guiltily and bowed her head to the detectives. "Mr. Detective, I'm sorry, Grandpa has become completely confused recently..." "Hey, Feng! How is the old fool! I'm not old fool!" The master was furious and reprimanded Miss Feng for being rude.Ukai next to him nodded with a leisurely smile. "Yes, miss, the teacher is not an old fool, he has been roughly like this before." "Wow, I'm relieved to hear you say that!" I watched Miss Feng breathe a sigh of relief, and whispered to Xiao Ai beside me. "Great, we're relieved too." "Idiot, this is not something you can rest assured about." The mother behind Xiao Ai also nodded silently. "Speaking of which, I have a simple question." Liu Ping asked the master: "Since the gemstone is stolen, it is completely theft, why didn't you call the police?" "Oh, young man, this is because Ukai is better than the police. After all, when it comes to Ukai, he is recognized as the most brilliant detective in Kukaigawa City..." Ukai said. "..." After a strange pause, Ryuhei snorted softly, ignoring Ukai's speech. "Mr. Hanami Koji, what is the actual reason?" "Actually, I should call the police, but I don't want to do that." This time it was indeed the master who answered. "From what Feng said just now, we know that after the thief committed the crime, he must have come to the corridor on the second floor. Feng was on the stairs at the time, so the thief couldn't go down the stairs. Did he escape by jumping out of the window on the second floor? Possibly. Because a lot of snow had accumulated around the mansion at that time. After the theft, I left Feng in the corridor on the second floor and inspected the mansion by myself, but I didn’t see the murderer’s footprints at all. At that time, the snow slowed down a lot, so The footprints were not covered by snow. In other words, the burglar did not escape by jumping out of a second-floor window, so..." "That's the inner thief. It must be true." Ukai proudly said the conclusion that even a child like me knew. "Well, unfortunately, I can only speculate like this. Calling the police will make Hua Jianxiaolu's family scandal public. I want to avoid this kind of result, so I have no choice but to call for a pelican." "What a last resort!" Ukai protested angrily. "Hey, okay. To put it simply, the suspect is the person who slept on the second floor of the mansion last night. So who is it?" "There are only two people sleeping on the second floor besides Feng and me. The driver Hidenori Komatsu and his relative Yusaku Mizoguchi." "The driver, Mr. Xiaosong, is the one who answered the door at the entrance just now. Does the driver usually live in this house?" "No, only recently. My son and daughter-in-law, that is, Feng's parents, are currently on a business trip abroad for school affairs. During this time, Feng and I are the only ones at home. This is really careless, so I invited Xiaosong to live here." "And what about Yusaku Mizoguchi-san?" "That guy came here without permission. Mizoguchi claimed that he wanted to start a business, and recently he came to my house several times to ask for capital contributions. Of course I refused every time, but he always didn't learn how to come to the door, and after all, he was a relative, so he couldn't refuse the relationship. He As long as you come to the door, you may stay here for a few days, and it was the same last night." "Oh, that sounds suspicious. A good suspect." Yukai is eager to try, but the master speaks out to stop him. "No, I don't want to entrust you to find thieves, but to find gems." "That is to say?" "Last night, I was convinced that the robbery was committed by my own people. I immediately woke up Mizoguchi and Komatsu on the second floor and ordered them to leave the room. Of course I searched them carefully, not only for their clothes, but also for their mouths and ears. However, after confirming that there is nothing on the two of them, drive them out of the room and lock the door directly. Do you understand the meaning of this?" "I see. Whether the thief is Mizoguchi or Komatsu, the stolen gems will definitely stay in the locked room. In other words, as long as you search the room and find the gems, you will know who the thief is. The teacher's approach is very clever. So what is the result?" "Well, Feng and I separated immediately and searched the two rooms thoroughly..." "But you didn't find the gems, right? That's how it is. If you can't find the most important gems, you will be helpless." "Please wait a moment." Liu Ping interjected and asked, "Will the murderer hide the stolen gems somewhere other than his own room? For example, in the hallway or other rooms on the second floor." Ms. Feng shook her head and responded, "No, there is no place to hide things in the corridor. And judging from the time, the burglar should have no chance to enter and leave other rooms. The burglar made a loud noise when stealing, and he must have no room to go back to his own room. And the case After the post, Mr. Mizoguchi and Mr. Komatsu were indeed in their own rooms, so my grandfather and I just searched their rooms. However, it is amazing that we couldn’t find gems in both rooms, so we found them after dawn... That’s why I had no choice but to invite Mr. Detective over.” "Even the eldest lady said 'I have no choice but'..." Ukai showed a slightly hurt expression, raised his head and regained his composure. "I roughly understand the situation. Simply put, just search the room of the two of them again to find the stolen gems, right? It's a trivial matter. So where is the room of the two of them?" "Xiao Song is in the third room out of the study, and Mizoguchi is in the fourth room." The master said, and handed the two keys on his body to Yukai. "This is the room key. I have always carried the two keys with me, so Mizoguchi and Komatsu have not stepped into the room since they were driven out of the room. The gem must still be in one of them's room, please find it." "Teacher, please leave it to me. It seems that this theft follows the model of Edward's book "The Stolen Letter". Since it is not too difficult, I will definitely meet your expectations." Ukai clenched his fist with confidence, and immediately Talk to the youth next to you. "Okay, Liuping, let's go to work and search these two rooms thoroughly." Detective Ukai and his assistant Liu Pingwei opened the door of the study and rushed to the corridor. "Are those two okay..." Miss Feng looked at the door where the two left, and whispered worriedly.But before she finished speaking, the door of the study opened quickly again, and the pelican poked its head in. "Ah, teacher, I forgot to ask one important thing. The stolen jewel is a diamond ring, right?" The master sighed and shook his head. "It's not a diamond, it's not a ring, it's a ruby. A bright red ruby."