Yokohama Notes of a Miss Wizard

Having made enough mental preparations, the little black cat hung on the side of Edogawa Ranpo's neck, lowered his head and followed him to browse the document.

Mr. Detective has gone through the information on the deceased and is reading about the location of the discovery.

The most obvious common denominator that can be concluded from the several deceased found so far is that at the funeral when the corpses are buried, they will receive a bunch of mandalas representing ominousness and death from unknown persons.

It is precisely because of this that this series of murders was named "Mandala Serial Murders".

With the cooperation of Scotland Yard, the sponsor has kept all clues and evidence related to this incident intact.

And these evidences even include the scene that can be traced back.

Glancing at the map attached to the document, Edogawa Ranpo made a rough calculation, and asked with his chin in his hand: "Since the location of the incident is not too far from the hotel, shall we take a look tomorrow?"

"Which deceased belongs to this place?" The little black cat glanced at the map, still having lingering fears about the photos of the deceased he had seen before.

At that time, she opened the door unprepared, and a bloody photo of a corpse that lost all skin rushed directly into her sight.

God knows how she managed to read the summary of the case without pictures on her mobile phone.

"It's the first photo. The deceased's name is 'Samara Tang', 19 years old."

The little detective turned the information to the information page of the deceased, and showed the little witch his photos before he was alive.

"After the murderer stripped his entire body of skin, he also cut off his tongue and burned his vocal cords with strong acid."

"So I can't call for help, I can only bleed quietly here until I die completely."

As he spoke, he zoomed in on the map with two fingers, and showed Alvira a dilapidated block.

"Among the few dead people found so far, only he died the most painful. However, he did not do anything wrong, and there is no trace of violation of laws and regulations in the file."

"Of course, not only him, most of the other victims are also innocent people with absolutely clean records."

Mr. Detective took a deep breath, put away his phone, closed his eyes, and lay on his back on the sofa.

He rubbed the cat next to his ear and said, "So now you can know one thing."

"The murderer in this case is not a typical pleasure criminal."

"While collecting souvenirs, he will clearly distinguish between those who are destined to die and those who will not necessarily die without the souvenirs."

"Victims who are not necessarily mortal may spend their entire lives unaware that they have been injured like this. Victims who are doomed, like 'Samara Tang,' die in excruciating pain."

Edogawa Ranbu hugged the black cat, holding the back of the Mandalay cat's head in his hand.

Pleasure criminals have always been one of the most difficult types of murderers to catch, because the suspect cannot be identified from the motive of the crime, but can only be inferred from the method of committing the crime, so it is also easily disturbed by various factors.

Probably this is the reason why the Mandala serial killing incident can be ranked with the highest score.

It's just that for the world's number one detective, the connection between these victims is too obvious.

Scotland Yard couldn't see it, and it really was because there were so many idiots in the police!

Edogawa Ranpo's explanations were so jumpy that Alvira was not even afraid of the photos of the deceased. She flicked through the materials with her cat's paws, trying to find out the reasoning results he just said. Content.

But to no avail.

She had no choice but to tell the whole story.

"What does the souvenir mean? What does it mean to be doomed to die? Please, the world's smartest detective, explain it more carefully for me, can you?"

"Since you asked me sincerely, I have no choice but to answer you."

Bright moonlight poured in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, covering the two of them.

Reflecting the silver dots in the pupils, Edogawa Ranpo's emerald green pupils revealed a translucence beyond the mundane.

He is very determined, completely looking like he knows everything in the world.

"The deceased 'Samara Don', whose name began with 'S' and 'T', were the two letters that were next to each other in the alphabet."

Mr. Detective thoughtfully swiped over the photos, leaving only Samara's personal information page.

He held out two fingers, one pointing to the deceased's name, and the other pointing to the key words in the autopsy report - "Skin" and "Tongue".

"For the murderer, the souvenirs left by this person refer to the skin and tongue. People who lose their tongues may not necessarily die, but people who lose their skin will definitely die."

"Since you will die, it is better to die in a way that makes the murderer happier."

Miss Witch jumped off his lap, pulled Edogawa Ranpo's quilt carelessly, and wrapped herself up.

She shuddered, but couldn't hold back her curiosity at all, and asked, "What about the other dead?"

"The unrecognizable 'Molly Nelson' was found without her mandible. After autopsy it was found that her maxilla was missing the most central part and her mesencephalon was missing. and the metathalamus were missing. The murderer even removed her nasal septum in a wicked way."

"This is M and N."

Edogawa's random steps slowed down a bit before continuing.

"And 'Greenhurst', as G and H, his souvenirs are the gallbladder, heart and hypothalamus. And 'Chris Hurst' who was chosen both times Davis'..."

The little witch huddled under the quilt, covered her ears pitifully and helplessly, and frantically shook her head in refusal, "Okay, don't say any more." She felt uncontrollable pain in her body even when she heard the story told by others.

From the skin to the heart, from the brain to the toes, when the unshielded empathy is at work, the phantom pain is also flowing wantonly.

Seeing that Alvira pulled the quilt tighter, Edogawa Ranpo had no choice but to stop relaying the case.

"I can shut up..." he said in a muffled voice. He stood up from the sofa and squatted in front of the little witch, "Just listening to my story, you can't bear it like this."

"Can you really act with me tomorrow?"

"I can, I definitely can." Alvira gritted her teeth and said with determination, "Sooner or later, I have to face it. It doesn't make any difference if it's earlier or later!"

As soon as the words fell, she changed back to her white glove appearance, and naturally occupied another pillow on the bed.

"I'm going to bed first, so you should go to sleep too. Didn't that guy named Po receive the same documents as you? You must be there before him tomorrow, right?"

A certain detective had no choice but to say: "Although what you said is very reasonable, it is not a reason for you not to go back to your room."

The little black cat was huddled together on the pillow, unable to tell where the nose, mouth and eyes were.

"Alright then." Fully understanding that Alvira didn't want to go back at all, Edogawa Ranpo had no choice but to accept the situation, "If you want to sleep here, then sleep."

The little detective also knows something about the little witch's stubbornness.

When her temper comes up and she makes up her mind to do something, she will use various methods to achieve her goal.

Therefore, when Alvira was determined not to sleep alone, she would rather become a cat than sleep alone.

Just like being scared now.

It's just that when there is an extra breathing sound next to you, it does make people feel a sense of security that you don't have when you are alone.

Edogawa Ranpo, who had no dreams all night, was woken up early in the morning by the "calling" of cats.

Almaomao didn't pop out the tip of its claws, but just sat on his chest, stretching out its claws and constantly pulling at his eyelashes.

Although a certain white glove wasn't too heavy, it still felt suffocating when pressed against the chest, not to mention she kept flicking his eyelashes.

Edogawa Ranpo, who was awake, did not open his eyes, but turned over and sat up directly, and Al Maomao rolled several times because of his sudden movement.

The little Mandalay cat rolled like a ball from his chest all the way to the comforter.The rolling made Alvira dizzy, and she regained consciousness after shaking her head a few times.

"What are you doing? You didn't even say a word." White Gloves patted the quilt angrily with its front paws, and complained, "It's just that close, I'm about to fall to the ground!"

"But you were the one who lay on my chest first and then played with my eyelashes." The little detective argued, "so it's a courtesy at best!"

The little witch was so angry that she turned back into a human shape, stretching out her hand to show the length: "You have to know, your eyelashes are so long and so curled up. When I was on the plane, I really wanted to check if it was real or not! I finally endured it until now, Why don't I take a look?"

"Hmm..." Edogawa Ranpo's face was stained with an almost invisible layer of pink, and he couldn't tell whether it was from anger or embarrassment.

He turned his face to the side and retorted, "How could I have fake eyelashes? Of course I have grown that way myself!"

"And," he paused, and asked plausibly, "isn't it pretty?!"

"Long and curly eyelashes, no matter how you look at them, they look good, right!"

Alvira gasped, completely powerless against the "cheek-skinned" attack launched by Edogawa Ranpo at this time.

She widened her eyes, kneeled next to the black-haired young man, stretched out her index finger, and poked his cheek.

"You are such an Edogawa Ranpo!" The little witch was extremely surprised, "Your eyelashes are beautiful, there is nothing wrong with that, but why are you able to boast yourself so confidently?"

As soon as she asked this, she thought of something, asked herself and answered, "Yes, you have been doing this kind of thing since the first day we met..."

Didn't she hear enough of the titles of "the world's number one detective" that this person boasted about on weekdays?

"Where am I boasting? Isn't what Lord Ranpo said is the truth?!"

Hearing his sincere and direct question again, Alvira held her breath and admitted with difficulty: "That's not true at all."

With her approval, Edogawa Ranpo became even more proud.

He stood by the bed and stretched his waist, "Since that's the case, why don't we go to the accident site soon?"

"Eh? Luanpo, please make it clear that the two sentences before and after have no logic at all. Did you omit the middle sentence again?!"

After washing and noisy, the two rushed to the alley as fast as they could.

Choosing to commit the crime here is definitely a deliberate choice by the murderer.

It is so remote and deserted that there are few pedestrians, and it is so dilapidated that even the surveillance cameras have chosen to go on strike.

Here, no one can save Samara, and no one will find out that he is the murderer.

People will only be horrified by the bloody Samara who appeared in the alley, and then send out the exclamation and fear that the murderer wanted.

Accompanied by this fear is the irresistible "desire to spread", sharing the fear equally with everyone who talks about it until the fear is completely wiped out.People can spit out the residue that has been chewed many times again and continue their lives.

And at that time, it was time for the murderer to commit another crime.

On the ground of the alley, there were still traces that were slightly darker than the surroundings, and it was probably the bloodstains left by Samara.

Alvira stayed a little far away, only watching Edogawa wandering into the alley to observe something from a distance.

She didn't dare to approach there, not because Samara's death was too miserable, but because the alley was full of his sadness, confusion and even despair.

After a few weeks, the pain before his death still lingers for a long time, one can imagine how painful it is.

You can already feel the slight pain on the surface of the skin before touching it. If you step into it formally, you may be swept away by the emotions of this person before death.

Edogawa Ranpo also guessed a little about this, so he didn't pull her along, but told her not to go into the alley.

Miss Witch just stood quietly at the entrance of the alley, stroking the wall.

"I have a way to see him directly." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "You know, I can do it."

Mr. Detective stood up and walked out of the alley, "The world's number one detective has already found what he needs, so he doesn't need to ask you for help."

Just looking at the photos will empathize with the information revealed in them. If you step into the scene, you will definitely be more sad than just looking at the photos.

"What's more, if you come into contact with these things, you will be very painful, won't you?" He put his hands on his hips, obviously bossy, but not annoying at all, "Assistants should look like assistants, don't give them Trouble with a detective."

"I won't cause trouble..." Alvira complained softly.

She took a few steps back, looked into the depths of the alley, and asked curiously, "So what did you find?"

"You can't say it now." Edogawa Ranbu put his index finger in front of his lips, narrowed his eyes and smiled.

He cast a provocative look behind Alvira: "After all, someone is here!"

Following Edogawa Ranpo's words, Po, with Carl the raccoon on his shoulder, slowly approached.

Perhaps it was because there were so few people, and it was possible that he had met all the people present, that Poe seemed much more at ease here than when he had first met him the night before.

Carl jumped off Poe's shoulders and ran to Alvira, spinning around her legs.

Edogawa Ranpo sincerely encouraged the person in front of him: "Master Ranpo is already one step ahead of you, you have to hurry up and catch up."

"There is a reason why my generation arrived later than you." He said in a voice that was many times smoother than last night, with ten percent confidence, "Last night, my generation studied the information from the inside to the outside. After that, I even discovered some interesting things, I believe I will get the answer soon!"

Hearing this, the little detective pushed his glasses, and said with a half-smile, "Oh?"

"Are you referring to the 'cycle' that exists among the victims? Why did Mr. Chris Davis, who was victimized twice, be killed for the second time? Although I can tell this question just by looking at it know the answer."

The plain black-rimmed glasses on his face reflected white light, making it difficult for people to see his expression clearly and know his thoughts.

"But you who can discover this is really interesting."

"Next..."

"Going to Scotland Yard, right?" Poe took the bait, his eyes lit up behind his thick bangs, "As expected of a detective who has the confidence to participate in the Datura serial murders. Not bad, if you want to further find the surviving ones For the victim, Scotland Yard is the most convenient place."

As soon as the words fell, the two passed each other, one walked towards the alley, and the other walked towards the little witch who was having a great time stroking the raccoon.

Edogawa squatted beside Alvira in random steps, and shot Karl in her arms countless times.

"You finished chatting so soon?" The little witch scratched Carl's chin and asked, "Where are you going next?"

Without answering the question immediately, the little detective stretched out his hand to repeat what he did to Carl last night, when he was discovered by Karl.

Karl bared his teeth at him, jumped out of Alvira's arms, and rushed to complain to his master.

Seeing that Carl left "knowingly and judiciously", Mr. Detective replied unhurriedly, "Go to Scotland Yard."

Miss Witch nodded in response, while brushing off the dust on the corners of her skirt, "Although I don't know why you suddenly changed your mind and decided to go to Scotland Yard, but who told me that I am your assistant."

She moved her wrists and ankles, and put on a posture of preparing for a big fight.

"Let's go, Mr. Detective."

When they came to the Operations Department of the Police Department of Scotland Yard, the two of them used the invitation letter of the World Detective Contest and a customized mobile phone to prove their identities, and then met the former Deputy Minister of Operations-Martin Harris.

Detective Harris took them to sit in the restaurant, ordered three drinks at random, and asked them directly.

"Mr. Detective, what do you mean when you say you want to ask me something?"

"The Mandala serial murder case."

The narrow-eyed detective calmly dropped a bomb.

And the blond man sitting in front of him suddenly became sad.

He smiled wryly: "Because of this case, I have already been suspended for probation, and even lost two friends..."

"One of them is Chris Davis, right? The other one is supposed to be Wilson Sansos, who has... left?"

Edogawa Ranbo looked directly into Detective Harris' eyes through the lens, menacing and aggressive.

"Why did you let him go? Shouldn't the major suspects be arrested immediately? If Scotland Yard is filled with such impulsive and unthinking guys, it's no wonder that this case has been dragging on until now! "

A series of questions, pressing step by step.

Detective Harris frowned, and firmly denied: "We all came here according to the rules and regulations. We must never catch a good person by mistake. It is a blessing in misfortune that Wilson escaped from the murderer. Consider him a suspect?"

"Because every time he has an alibi? When there is no alibi, he basically acts with Davis? How stupid can you be to think that this is not a team crime?" Mr. Detective said He narrowed his eyes impatiently, and mercilessly deduced Scotland Yard's fragile judgment basis, "Even if he comes from a police family, you can't trust his character like this? The one who is most suitable for committing a crime is the one who knows best Anyone from the police system?"

Edogawa ranpo took Alvirase to appease his daikon, and shook the whole bag of daikon.

As if venting his anger, he chewed the thick snack very roughly, making a very distinct creaking sound.

Fortunately, it is the most deserted time of the day in the Chinese restaurant, and not many customers will be disturbed.

"Please empty the rain in your mind and think about it, why did Wilson Sansos and Chris Davis become good friends? Since when did the two of them become inseparable? You are in When you first received this case, what were you thinking about? In fact, it’s not bad at all if you didn’t think about anything!”

Sure enough, I didn't understand a single word, so it's better to let Luanbu explain it again after I go back.

Completely giving up on understanding what Ranpo Edogawa was saying, Alvira concentrated on stirring the cup of coffee in front of her.

She didn't like coffee, but she didn't have anything else to drink, so she let Police Harris order whatever she wanted.

As she stirred until the latte art was perfectly incorporated into the coffee, Detective Harris finally answered.

"Wilson, he..."

Detective Harris was about to say something in rebuttal, but found that he had nothing to say at all.

It was the death and injury of Chris and Wilson that made Scotland Yard make the decision to list the case as an unsolved case.

As a forensic doctor who is not good at fighting, Chris unfortunately failed to escape the clutches; and as his most trusted right-hand man, Wilson also injured his visual motor language center (writing area) because of this, and could not continue his police career .

Like all the other survivors of the Mandala serial killings they could find, Wilson couldn't remember the murderer's appearance at all, and he didn't even know why he survived.

But to say that all the events were done by Chris and Wilson together...

From a rational point of view, this possibility cannot be ruled out.

From an emotional point of view, he cannot accept this truth.

However, facts are facts and cannot be changed by human will.

"If you need evidence, it's in his office?"

Edogawa Ranpo bit the drinking straw badly, blinked his green eyes, and added.

"Before he received the resignation notice, he could still be found."

After only a moment of silence, Detective Harris sighed and said: "Unfortunately, the resignation notice and my punishment were issued at the same time. At this time, he should have already packed up."

"That's okay." The little detective rested his chin and said, "Master Luanbu wants to go and have a look."

Detective Harris did not hesitate, and led the two to Wilson Sansos' office.He opened the door and walked in first.

Sure enough, the office was cleaned up, but no matter how clean it was, there were flaws.

Alvira twirled a soft gray hair from a corner and asked, "Is Mr. Sansos gray-haired?"

"No, Wilson is brown."

Detective Harris moved closer to observe, when the hair was grabbed by Edogawa indiscriminately.

He twirled the gray hair, and murmured like enlightenment: "It's not someone's hair, it's monkey hair—that's how it is."

In addition to the murderer, the invisible third person is here.

The root cause of people who are not supernatural beings but can make other people's memory blurred lies in this monkey hair.