The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

"Jin's curse?"

Conan didn't expect to hear such a word from Genzaburo's mouth. He frowned and looked down at the Shitara family tree he had compiled in the notebook.

Indeed, the three people who had died were all closely related to this precious violin. Almost as soon as it entered the family, the shadow of death hung over their heads.

But should this be described as a curse?

Xian Sanlang glanced at the little boy and the boy following behind him, silently put out his cigarette, and yawned sleepily.

He has been in a very low mood. I don’t know whether he is unwilling to talk about this topic or he is exhausted due to lack of sleep.

"Hey, my brother's health is like this, it's okay to talk to outsiders like you." Shitara Gensaburo sighed, took out another cigarette and put it in his mouth, without lighting it, he talked about the past of this piano, "Aren't you curious? Such an expensive treasure has been kept at home for 30 years and no one has ever played it. Although there are no famous performers in our family now, at least we all make a living in this industry."

After learning about their family situation, Conan nodded.

This is true. Almost everyone in the Shitara family is engaged in music-related industries. The deceased Shitara Kanto and Shitara Eimi were violinists themselves.

"It's because of the curse of the violin." Shitara Gensaburo said vaguely, "Take me for example. Actually, I used to play the violin, but unfortunately I got tendonitis, which kept coming back and couldn't be cured. It affected my playing technique and control, so I had to switch to being a conductor. I was forced to change my career at that age, but it made me suffer for a long time."

"Is it related to this piano?"

"Yes. Back then, after my second brother died, I was going to Europe to participate in an orchestra audition, so I asked my eldest brother to borrow this guitar, wanting to practice hard and make a stunning appearance with it. As soon as I touched it, I became obsessed with it, practicing day and night without paying any attention to my own condition. It was as if I had forgotten my fatigue and all my worries..."

When Shitara Gensaburo said this, his hands tapping on the table couldn't help but spasm a few times, as if he was recalling that wonderful magical moment, and a smile appeared on the corners of his mouth.

"Then, you suffered from tenosynovitis?" Conan's eyes twitched twice, and he resisted the urge to complain.

What kind of curse is this? Isn't it just that it's a rare opportunity to come across a good piano and you forget everything else?

"Yes, in just one month, I developed tenosynovitis. The inflammation was so severe that cysts and fluid accumulation appeared. I had to undergo surgery to restore the function of my hand. Naturally, I missed the selection and my hand became disabled." The smile faded from his lips, and Shitara Gensaburo waved his hand listlessly.

Conan wanted to euphemistically ask if it was possible that you really had never touched any good pianos, but he restrained himself for a while and continued to ask with the pen: "So, the piano was sealed for this reason?"

"Part of the reason. It's not just me. When Jiangren was 18, he wanted to take his qin to an international competition. He had no problems with rehearsals, but the strings would break when he was in the actual competition. This happened three or four times over and over again. Not only did he not get a place, but rumors that were unfavorable to the family also spread. Later, Yongmei also borrowed the qin and wanted to take it to a TV station for a public performance, which would not only show her ability, but also make the qin look good. But before the show started, she suddenly had a high fever and was too sick to stand up. She was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment..."

Genzoro's tone of voice still carries his usual arrogance and casualness, but he still can't suppress the gloomy and depressing feeling of the content.

Behind all these inexplicable setbacks, this world-famous harp was not only of no benefit to the family, but also stepped on the accelerator on their downward slope, accelerating the decline of the Shitara family.

Tang Ze, who was following behind with his hands in his pockets and listening to their conversation, raised his eyelids, glanced at Shitara Gensaburo whose emotions were surging, and nodded secretly in his heart.

Ever since the death of Shitara Danjiro, their family has been experiencing some strange things.

Neither Shitara Eimi nor Shitara Kyouto was killed by Haga Kyosuke, but both of them died on Choichiro's birthday in the same way as Shitara Danjiro thirty years ago.

If it weren't for the fact that the culprit, Shitara Choichiro, who should have died last, was rapidly weakening and the doctor judged that he had only half a year to live at most, this made Haga Kyosuke a little anxious. Tang Ze felt that maybe Haga Kyosuke didn't need to take any action at all and could just stand by and watch, and these people would die on their own.

"In short, these weird things happened one after another. We thought they were nonsense at first, but later, even the toughest brother had to accept the fact and sealed it in the warehouse and never took it out again." Shitara Gensaburo seemed to finally lose control of his emotions. He took out a match and lit a cigarette. "Two years ago, because it was my eldest brother's 70th birthday and his wife divorced him, we decided to take out the guitar to change the atmosphere at home..."

I don’t know if he remembered the circumstances of his wife’s death, but Shitara Gensaburo took a deep puff of his cigarette and stopped talking.

Even if he didn't say it, they knew what was going to happen next.

Then, Shitara Eimi, who was about to play it, fell down the stairs and hit the back of her head. The following year, Shitara Jiangren, who was also about to play it, fell to his death...

Shitara Gensaburo did not speak again. Tangze and Conan looked at each other in silence, not knowing what to say.

The atmosphere was a little dull for a while.

Shitara Gensaburo stood up, obviously not wanting to continue answering their questions.

"If you still have questions, you should wait until tomorrow to ask Big Brother at the banquet." He waved his hand and walked into the inner room. "I can only say that this zither probably really doesn't want to stay in our house. Protect that girl Lian Xi well. Although I think she is not good enough, she is the only third generation in our family after all."

He left with a staggering step. Considering that he was also a sixty-year-old man with gray hair, his back looked particularly lonely and depressed, like the silhouette of the entire Shitara family.

To date, Genzaburo has no children, Choichiro's only son died leaving behind only a daughter, and Danjiro's son Kyosuke Hata is in his early 30s and has not yet married or had children. The once prosperous musical family has now become a third generation with only one girl left to support the family.

Seeing such a scene, have these greedy people who went against their conscience and allowed their loved ones to bleed to the point of being on the verge of death and eventually die from their injuries regretted their obsessed behavior thirty years ago?

But it's no use regretting. Over the years, they have never even expressed any remorse to the real victim, Yuga Kyosuke. Instead, out of guilty conscience, they allowed him to be taken away to be raised by his mother's family. It's too late to talk about karma now.

"In the end, we still have to ask the head of the family himself?" Conan pointed at the name on the notebook, feeling a little helpless.

Thirty years have passed, and the head of the family, who was once young and strong, is now an old man in his seventies who can hardly even step out of the door.

Even if something really vile had happened in the past and it had been concealed until today, he must have intended to take it to the grave, so it would not be easy to find out what had happened.

Tang Ze touched his chin and gave some different answers.

"According to the information we have collected, thirty years ago, on the night of the robbery, the servants were not in the main building because it was too late, and the butler went to bed early because of his old age. Apart from the deceased Shitara Danjiro, there were actually only five people who were the real witnesses of the whole case."

"...and these five people just appeared in the curse mentioned by Genzoro." Conan's mind worked quickly and he immediately understood what Tang Ze wanted to say.

Tang Ze nodded, and followed him out of the messy room where music scores were flying everywhere and clothes were scattered all over the place, and whispered, "I have seen people who are very unlucky, and I have also seen some people with 'strange physiques'. Perhaps, people's luck really varies. The Shitara family really has no luck to rise again, and this may really be fate. But normal people, no matter how unlucky they are, rarely blame their bad luck on the so-called 'curse'. This family is so firm in their belief in the existence of the curse that they even put this extremely expensive treasure in the warehouse to collect dust. This itself is suspicious enough."

"Do you think they are guilty?" Conan hit the nail on the head.

"Then tell me, since the violin is so incompatible with them, to the point where they would either die or get injured if they use it, why do they insist on holding on to the violin? Can't they just sell it? Is this the only famous violin in the world?" Tang Ze shrugged and gave his opinion.

"Your idea is that this piano was obtained from an illegal source, so they feel guilty, but at the same time they are unwilling to sell the piano to others..." Conan touched his chin and fell into deep thought.

Yes, why don’t you want to sell the piano?

Just as Tang Ze said, this is indeed a peerless violin, but there is more than one violin in the world. If a famous craftsman sells it and buys another one that suits his taste, wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

Could it be because this is a gift from his dead brother?

This thought briefly popped up in Conan's mind, but was immediately denied.

If they were really so loyal and righteous, Yuga Kyosuke would not have the last name Yuga.

It is possible that he simply coveted the wealth that came to him for free, but this kind of excessive obsession, to the point of wanting to take it out and play with it again at the age of 70, seems to have exceeded normal possessiveness...

"Something is not right. There must be something fishy behind the death of Danjiro."

Conan walked down from the third floor of the annex where Genzoro was with a stern face. When passing by the piano room, he suddenly raised his head as if he remembered something.

"By the way, where's Mr. Yuga? Has he hardly come out today?"

----

"Uncle Kyosuke, why haven't you come back yet?" Shitara Renxi looked at the time and couldn't help but complain to the person on the other end of the phone, "You agreed to come back to correct the sound, and to help me check how the practice is going..."

Since returning with that strange pianist yesterday, Kyosuke Hanega has not been seen until lunch time today, which makes Renki Shitara feel uneasy.

Today is Grandpa’s birthday party, and it’s also time for her to perform.

The shadow of the curse weighs on her head. Her father has been dead for a year, her mother returned to her own home after the divorce and rarely interacts with her. One of her grandparents is in poor health and the other is mentally ill. Yuga Kyosuke is the only relative she is close to at home.

She felt particularly uneasy because she hadn't seen him the whole day before the performance.

"Don't worry, I will be there before the banquet starts." Yuga Kyosuke lowered his eyes and watched Asai Narimi place the violin case in front of him.

The heavy violin case made a dull thud as it rested on the wooden tabletop, causing the thin layer of tears that had accumulated in his eyes to fall down, run down his cheeks, and fall onto the violin case.

"I will definitely be there." As if he was making a promise or muttering to himself, Kyosuke Hanega repeated this, and without waiting for Renki Shitara's reply, he hung up the phone.

He was afraid that his emotions would get completely out of control and ruin the carefully applied makeup on his face.

Asai Narumi politely lowered his eyes, not looking directly at Yuga Kyosuke's broken tears. He waited until the person opposite him wiped his face and sorted out his emotions before he raised his head again as if nothing had happened.

"We have already answered your last question. As you have seen yourself, they are all like this, bound by this treasure, and have become earthbound spirits, the ghosts of desire. Your father just trusted his relatives too much and didn't think of hiding anything. It's not his fault that he is kind and sentimental."