Miss Izumi

This morning, the Armed Detective Agency received a call.

The caller was an old man with a rough and hoarse voice. After the call was connected, before Junichiro Tanizaki could speak, he said in panic: "Please help my granddaughter, she is bleeding a lot! But She is still alive, she can still be saved!"

Received such an emergency call, logically speaking, it should be taken seriously, but Junichiro Tanizaki did not take it seriously, and even showed a helpless expression of "I knew it".

He embarrassingly agreed a few times, and then hung up the phone. The whole process was very perfunctory.

At this time, Kunikida Doppo who was typing on the keyboard said without raising his head, "That old man again?"

Tanizaki Junichiro sighed, the meaning is self-evident.

Yosano Akiko leaned against the table holding a water glass and said, "How many times is this already?"

Kunikida Doppo withdrew his attention from the computer screen, pushed his glasses and said, "Last month plus this month, I made a total of sixteen calls, one call a day, even more punctual than when that bastard Dazai came to work. But there is no such thing as his granddaughter being injured, his granddaughter has long been..."

Speaking of this, Kunikida Doppo's voice stopped.

Tanizaki Junichiro and his younger sister Tanizaki Naomi looked at each other, and said with a little pity: "This old man is also pitiful..."

Here's the thing.

More than a month ago, the Armed Detective Agency welcomed an old man.

The old man was dressed in shabby clothes. After knocking on the door of the detective agency, he hid the gray cloth bag in his arms all the way, and stuffed it into the hand of Junichiro Tanizaki who opened the door.Tanizaki Junichiro opened it and found that it was full of scattered coins and small bills.

Before he could say anything, he heard the old man pleading, asking them to save his granddaughter.

What the old man said at that time was exactly the same as what he said on the phone today, without changing a single word.

Everyone was shocked.

Except for Ranpo Edogawa, who was on a business trip, and Osamu Dazai, who drifted away with the river, all the investigators of the detective agency were dispatched—in fact, there were not many, just Junichiro Tanizaki, Doppo Kunikida, and Akiko Yosano. three people.

According to the location provided by the old man, they drove to an old residential building, and then were taken to the dark and damp basement door of the residential building.

The old man pushed open the door that didn't need to be locked at all, and shouted inside: "Quan, grandpa is back, and grandpa brought someone to rescue you..."

The room was very dark, and it was impossible to see the situation inside.Fortunately, the old man quickly turned on the chandelier, driving away the darkness in the room.

It's just that when the lights came on and everyone in the detective agency saw everything in the room clearly, they couldn't hide the surprise on their faces.

The entire basement is very small and there are not many things. Standing at the door and taking a quick glance, you can see the situation of the entire room.

What surprised everyone in the detective agency was not the small size of the room, but the fact that there was no one else in the room except the four who had just entered the door, and the "granddaughter" in the old man's mouth was just a worn-out female high school uniform.

Everyone's first reaction was, were they pranked?

But judging by the expression and performance of the old man, it doesn't look like a simple prank.Seeing the three members of the detective agency standing at the door, neither coming in nor speaking, he kept urging them to come and save his "granddaughter".What else did he say: "Her body is bleeding a lot, if it doesn't stop bleeding, it will be dangerous, come and take a look!"

"This……"

The three of the detective agency looked at each other.

Afterwards they conducted some investigations and found out what was going on.

The name of the old man was Chotaro Mizuno. His son and daughter-in-law died in a car accident more than ten years ago, leaving only a daughter who was less than two years old.

The old man's wife suffered too much and was so sick that he couldn't get out of bed. He stayed in the hospital for several months, spent all the family's little savings, and finally passed away.

Mizuno Chotaro is very old, even if he wanted to work as a coolie on the dock, no one would hire him, so he can only support himself and his young granddaughter by picking up waste.

From his granddaughter's childhood toys to her granddaughter's tuition and uniform fees, he has paid for it in exchange for picking up rubbish from dawn to dusk.

The grandparent and grandson have lived together for more than ten years. Seeing that Mizuno Izumi was about to graduate from high school, unexpectedly, a sudden accident happened to this unfortunate family again.

A few mornings ago, Mizuno Izumi's body was found near the abandoned shipyard near the sea.

There are no surveillance videos and witnesses around, so it is impossible to determine the real culprit.

Although several fingerprints that did not belong to Mizuno Izumi were found on the mobile phone that fell next to her body, but no data matching these fingerprints was found in the police database.

In addition, the abandoned shipyard is a place frequented by gangsters, and she was shot to death indiscriminately, so the police speculate that this incident has nothing to do with gangsters.

Yokohama is a seaside city, coupled with some historical factors, there are many illegal organizations active in this land, and some even the government can't do anything about them.

So the case has come to an end here.

Mizuno Chotaro, who was notified by the police, took away the body of his granddaughter in a daze.

The next day, an old man called the police station, saying that his granddaughter was in danger and asked the police to save her.

After receiving the call, the police came out.But when they arrived at the location the old man said—that is, the basement where the other party lived with his granddaughter, they discovered that the old man was Mizuno Changtaro.

At this time, his mind had gone into confusion, and he stubbornly believed that his granddaughter was still alive and could be saved, so he refused to bury her at all.

The police finally persuaded him and helped him bury Mizuno Izumi, thinking that Mizuno Chotaro would return to normal if he could no longer see his granddaughter's body.

who knows……

He did not know where to find out that the armed detective agency can solve difficult cases that even the military and police cannot handle.So he took all his savings from scavenging and found an armed detective agency, hoping that they would save his "granddaughter".

After everyone in the detective agency learned of the whole incident, they planned to take the old man to do psychological counseling.But the old man was very resistant to this, and angrily kicked out the group of "bad guys who cursed their granddaughter to death".

These "bad guys" collected some money and placed it at the door of the basement together with the "commission fee" given to them by the old man.

In addition, Kunikida Doppo also wrote down the phone number of the detective agency on a small note and put it in a gray cloth bag, thinking that if the other party had any difficulties, he could call them for help.

Although they are a detective agency and not a charity, they can't provide much help, but it is kind of good.

Unexpectedly, the next day, Chotaro Mizuno forgot about driving the "big villains" out, and went to the detective agency again to "ask for help"—by making a phone call.

Every day after that, at the same time, there must be a call to the detective agency, which is more punctual than the alarm clock.So much so that after more than a month, everyone in the detective agency has gotten used to it.

But what everyone didn't expect was that today's call was very different.

In the previous month, Chotaro Mizuno would only call once a day, and he would never make another call after being hung up.

Today, however, he called one after another, his voice getting more and more tense each time.Junichiro Tanizaki who answered the phone at the end was a little impatient.

At this moment, Edogawa, who had his back to everyone, said in a random manner, "Go and see, what really happened this time. Miss Yosano, you follow."

As soon as Edogawa Ranpo opened his mouth, the expressions on everyone's faces suddenly changed.

After that, they never received a call from Mizuno Chotaro again.

After several consecutive phone calls were hung up, the other party seemed to understand that no matter how many calls he made, the Armed Detective Agency would not take it seriously.This is the same as "wolf is coming".

He gritted his teeth, picked up his "granddaughter" and rushed to where the detective agency was located.

As for why he didn't go to the hospital... Forgive him for the conditioned reflexes, or obsessions he has formed these days.Not only is the Armed Detective Agency used to his "help" calls, but he is also used to asking the Armed Detective Agency to rescue his "granddaughter" immediately.

His "granddaughter" had black algae-like long curly hair, blood stains all over her body, and even blood kept slipping from "her" fingertips, leaving a long string of bloodstains on the ground.

Mizuno Chotaro also tried to stop a taxi, but the driver saw that the person on his back was covered in blood and refused to take him for fear of being involved in a murder case.

There was no other way, Chotaro Mizuno had no choice but to use his old body, carry his "granddaughter" on his back, and go to the Armed Detective Agency.

After all, he was old, no matter how light his body was, he was still a living person, and the weight of tens of kilograms weighed heavily on him, making his rickety body almost stick to the ground.

Every step he took was trembling, as if he could fall to the ground at any moment.Even so, he still walked quite a distance with his "granddaughter" on his back with his amazing perseverance.

Soon, Kunikida Doppo and others arrived by car, and when they saw Mizuno Chotaro and the person on his back, they hurriedly pulled the car to the side of the road.

Before the car came to a complete stop, Yosano Akiko pushed the car door open and walked up to Mizuno Chotaro with a few strides on high heels.

"Tanizaki! Come help, put him on the ground!"

"Yes!"

Seeing everyone in the detective agency, Chotaro Mizuno, who was sweating profusely, finally breathed a sigh of relief.As soon as the strength held in his chest came out, his legs gave way and he fell to the ground—fortunately, Kunikida Doppo supported him.

Mizuno Chotaro didn't bother to thank him, and stared intently at Akiko Yosano who was examining his "granddaughter".

He was panting like a broken bellows, but he did not forget to say, "Can you help me get my granddaughter back this time?"

"..." Kunikida Doppo gave him a complicated look, and then looked at Yosano Akiko.

After the latter checked, he said in a relaxed tone: "Don't worry, although the breath is weak, it is indeed still alive. As long as there is still breath, I can save people."

Mizuno Chotaro's eyes lit up immediately.

"It's just..." Yosano Akiko changed her voice, and stretched out her hand to brush away the blood-stained hair on the man's face, revealing an extremely pale and beautiful face.

"Just what?" Mizuno Chotaro asked eagerly.

"Is this really your granddaughter?" Akiko Yosano had a strange expression on her face.They had seen photos of Mizuno Izumi from the information provided by the police, and they looked completely different from the person in front of them.

Hearing the other party's question, Mizuno Chotaro blew his beard and stared at him immediately, and shouted, "Why isn't it my granddaughter? Look at this hair, it's just like my wife's, it's black and thick, it's curly, it's pretty!”

Everyone in the detective agency: "..."