The Grammatical Investigator in Conan

"Or are you Hades?"

Faced with the aggressive Sera Masumi, the man could only explain the reason why he was here.

It turned out that someone paid him to stay near the station all day and keep walking back and forth.

After listening to the man's explanation, Sera Masumi's eyes remained alert, but at least her suspicion of the man was reduced by half.

Because she had been observing this man for a long time, if Hades himself came to place the key clue props, he should have left long ago and would not stay at the station for so long.

Mouri Kogoro came over and asked sternly: "Then did you see the person who paid you?"

Sera translated Mouri Kogoro's question for the bald man.

The bald man looked at Sera and shook his head, "No, we all contacted each other online. He asked me to wear the clothes and box in the locker after I came to the station, and put the money in it..."

"Box?"

Mouri Kogoro looked down at the box in the bald man's hand, and his head immediately alerted, exclaiming: "Could it be that this box contains..."

He didn't say the last word "bomb".

Sera was also suddenly shocked. What if Hades was nearby? They were so close to the bomb, and the bomb could explode at any time.

After all, Hades is not the kind of criminal who will honestly abide by the rules.

In the previous incident, the police were clearly instructed by the master to decipher the code in advance, but Hades detonated the bomb in advance, causing a large number of civilians and police casualties.

"Hey, uncle, have you opened the box to see what's inside?" Sera asked with a panicked look.

"Well, the box is empty."

The bald man opened the briefcase in his hand, and it was indeed empty.

"Eh?"

Looking at the interior of the box with only gray lining, Sera and Maori Kogoro looked at each other. Did they think too much?

Dr. Agasa also said at the right time: "It seems that Hades did leave a key clue..."

"Let's call Shinichi and tell him the current situation here."

"Okay, I'll..."

Mauri Ran responded, and just as she was about to take out her mobile phone, Sera raised her hand to stop her.

"Wait a minute, I think I already know what the clue is this time."

Sera stared at the bald man's knees with interest, making the bald man feel uneasy.

She walked forward with a smile, rubbing her hands and said: "Um... Can I see your pants?"

"Pants?"

"Yes, this pair of pants. Strictly speaking, just look at the inside of the knee of the pants."

The bald man took a look at the short-haired girl with strange strength in front of him, as well as the horned girl and the bearded uncle behind him. He also knew that he had no ability to resist, so he could only roll up his trouser legs.

There was nothing on the inside of the right knee.

Then he rolled up the inside of the left knee, and there was an English letter written on it.

"Got it!"

"It's U!"

Ran Maori also shouted excitedly, "I found another one!"

"So the letters we found are T, N, A, A, S, U..."

She looked at Sera again in confusion, "But Masumi, how did you guess that the letters were on the inside of the knee?"

Sera showed a confident smile, "It's very simple. Holmes once said a famous saying - when I observe women, I will first pay attention to the cuffs of the clothes; when I observe men, I will first look at the knees of the pants."

"Combined with the fact that the clothes of this uncle were given by the murderer, it is not difficult to guess that the key clue is at the knee..."

"Wow!" Ran Maori was surprised, "You are so good! You know this?"

Sera was a little embarrassed by the praise and scratched her head, "Haha~ What's this..."

Although she is not a senior fan of Holmes, this is one of the most classic reasoning methods of Holmes. Holmes used this method many times in the book, so the impression must be deep.

"Okay, it's 4pm now, let's go to the last location quickly!"

...

Half an hour later, Sera, Mao Lilan and the others came to London's boutique flea street again.

Because this street is not far from the flea market, it is also called flea street.

However, unlike the second-hand stalls in the flea market, the shops here sell high-quality specialty goods from all over the world.

Meissen Porcelain from Germany is one of them, and it is also the place referred to by the last sentence in the code.

The street is bustling with pedestrians, and there are boutiques on both sides of the road, displaying various exquisite goods through the shop windows to attract passers-by to stop here.

However, Sera and his party did not want to stay, and went straight to the door of the Meissen Porcelain store.

On the sign in front of the store, there are two Western scimitars crossed in an "×" shape, with blue blades printed on a white background.

"Let's end it all, pierce the white back with two swords..."

Sera stared at the sign on the wall and murmured: "It seems that the last place is here... But what is nearby?"

Sera was about to look around, and Maori Kogoro, who was standing not far away, suddenly yawned heavily.

"A-choo!"

"Ah, ah--A-choo!"

Mauri Ran looked back and asked with concern: "Dad, do you have a cold?"

Mouri Kogoro rubbed his nose, frowned and explained: "Probably not, I don't feel uncomfortable at all..."

"But did you smell a strange smell?"

Everyone looked next to Mouri Kogoro and saw a spice shop next to the Mason Porcelain shop.

In the transparent display window, there are cloth bags containing a large number of spices of different colors.

"I guess it's the smell coming from this store?"

As soon as Dr. A Li finished speaking, the door of the spice shop opened from the inside, and a burly black man walked out.

This black man is wearing a gray-yellow Egyptian cloth robe, and the hair on his head is like the uneven pattern printed on the surface of chocolate cookies against the backdrop of his black scalp.

Those hairs probably formed a certain pattern, but it was difficult for outsiders to see clearly, let alone recognize them.

"I'm sorry, maybe it's the smell in my store that bothers you..."

"I apologize to you."

The corners of the black man's mouth were raised and he was smiling broadly.

Seeing the black shop owner's polite attitude, Mouri Kogoro was a little stunned for a moment. He lost his composure for a while before waving his hands and becoming polite.

"No, it's just that my nose is more sensitive..."

The black man nodded, then turned to look at Seriang and others, and introduced himself: "My name is Efiq Said, and this is the spice shop I open."

"Look at your faces...are you Asian? You should be tourists visiting London, right?"

"Then my spice shop is a place you can't miss. Please come in and take a look..."

Efik bowed slightly, making a humble gesture of invitation.

Facing the black man's invitation, Mao Lilan could only show a forced smile. She wanted to refuse, but was too embarrassed to open her mouth.

"that……"

At this time, Shiliang walked forward directly and said: "Uncle, we are not here for fun, we have something to do here..."

"Excuse me, uncle, have you seen any strange props around your shop in the past two days?"

It was Serang's eloquence that made him turn the other party's solicitation into a means of providing information for himself with just two simple sentences.

Moreover, this spice shop is right next to the Mason Porcelain Store. If there is anything abnormal, the owner of this shop will also be able to notice it.

Facing Seriang's question, Efik slightly raised his dark and shiny forehead, a trace of thinking flashed in his eyes.

Suddenly, a low startling sound came from his throat.

"Oh! I think you are talking about that little thing?"

"In the past two days, someone has indeed hung some strange decorations on the sign of the Mason store next door..."

"Mason's shop owner thought it was dirty and would affect the signboard, so I put it all away."

Upon hearing this, Seriang, Mao Lilan and others immediately showed happy expressions.

Because according to Hades' usual method, the key clue should be the so-called decoration.

"Can you show it to us?" Shiliang asked quickly.

"Well, sure." Efik nodded his dark head, "But you have to come into the store to take a look. I put it in the warehouse..."

Seriang and Mao Lilan looked at each other.

…

In this way, the two girls and Dr. Ali followed Efik into the spice shop.

Mouri Kogoro couldn't stand the smell of spices, so he could only wait at the door of the store.

In the spice shop, the dim lighting, antique decoration, and a special aroma permeate the shop, which makes it really unique.

The counter facing the door is filled with colorful spices, including small bags of trial packages and large quantities of spices in cloth bags.

"You can take a look at whatever you want, I'll go inside the warehouse and look..."

Efik opened the curtain and left the business area of ​​the store.

The remaining Sera, Mao Lilan, and Dr. Ali could only hang out in the store.

This is said to be a spice shop, but behind the spice counter, there are some special-shaped utensils on display, and it is not said whether they are not for sale.

Sera pointed to an oval carving the size of a palm under the counter, "Is this the Egyptian scarab?"

"Scarab?" Mao Lilan had some confusion on her face.

Sera smiled and explained: "The scarab is both a dung beetle and a dung beetle."

"The ancient Egyptians saw dung beetles pushing balls of dung and creating things out of nothing. They believed that they had the power to push the sun and plunder the earth. Therefore, they regarded scarabs as gods that could bring protection and good luck."

"There are thousands of images and materials of scarabs like this, and there are many in the Egyptian exhibition area of ​​the British Museum..."

"Oh I got it."

Mao Lilan nodded in understanding, thinking about buying some souvenirs for Sonoko and Kazuya before returning to Japan.

But it seems that these two people are not interested in patron saints such as insects.

But the solemn ancient mirror placed on the counter looks good.

Mao Lilan looked at the silver mirror and adjusted the angle of the "horns" based on herself in the mirror.

Sera looked at other things under the counter, including stone statue noses, miniature millennium blocks, Canopic jars, scales, etc.

"It seems that the owner of this store is an Egyptian. These are all things related to Egypt..."

At this moment, Dr. Ali, who was wandering to the other side of the store, spotted a big guy.

"Wow, there is a coffin here..."

Seriang and Mao Lilan walked over and saw a huge coffin as tall as a person standing vertically beside the wall near the corner of the shop.

The coffin has a strong Egyptian style. The golden coffin lid has a statue of an Egyptian pharaoh lying on it with his arms crossed and a scepter in his arms.

"What's inside this...can't be a mummy, right?"

Mao Lilan retreated behind Seriang with some fear, her voice trembling.

She had seen some videos of mummies on TV, with bandages all over their bodies. They were simply dried versions of bandage freaks.

Seriang looked at the coffin in front of him and swallowed nervously.

Although there are mummies and Egyptian coffins in the British Museum, there are no opportunities to touch them up close.

And when an Egyptian coffin appears in a place like this, there is always a curiosity to find out what is inside.

Just as Seriang slowly stretched out his hand towards the golden surface of the coffin, a voice suddenly came from the side and behind.

"That's just a look-alike, there's actually nothing in it..."

Sera, Mao Lilan, and Dr. Ali turned around and saw Efik had come out at some point and was standing behind the counter.

"Ah ha, I'm a little curious too~"

Sera took his hand back sarcastically and scratched his head with a smile, "But there are so many Egyptian things in your store, uncle shopkeeper. Are you Egyptian?"

Efik showed his dark smile, "Yes, I am Egyptian, but I have been in the UK for more than 20 years."

"I see..." Sera nodded.

"By the way, this should be what you are looking for, right?"

Efik took out a wind chime-like decoration and placed it on the glass counter.

It is said to be a wind chime, but this wind chime is very simple. It has a wooden stopper on top, and copper bells connected by various colored silk threads under the wooden stopper. Each bell has a letter on it.

Sera held the ornament in his hand, and the bell swayed, making a tinkling sound.

"This should be it..."

"Eh? There seems to be writing on the cork?"

Seriang took a closer look and saw that what he thought was just a tattered cork actually had a string of English written on it.

"A study of scarlet..."

"It's a study in scarlet."

As the first story in which Conan Doyle introduced the character of Sherlock Holmes, Sera is the most familiar with this story.

Among them, Holmes made a speech, which roughly means that the detective's job is to peel off the cocoons and find the blood-red red thread called murder.

"I see!"

"Uncle shopkeeper, can you give me this?"

Sera asked Ephik excitedly.

Efik smiled and nodded, "Okay, anyway, I still have this thing..."

"Thanks!"

After saying that, Sera ran out. Mao Lilan and Dr. Ali thanked him and followed Sera out of the spice shop.

Efik watched the people leave until the store door closed, and the raised corners of his mouth slowly returned to an indifferent state.

"It seems that someone has solved your password."

"Hades..."

On the inside of the wall behind the counter, a hooded man was leaning against the wall, grinning ferociously from the corner of his thin mouth.

"hehe……"

"No, it's not that easy to untie."