Senma Furuyo walked over slowly, her hands clasped behind her back, and stared down at the heavy, solid-gold clock lying on the floor.
"To think that my father... actually lost his life over a mere lump of gold like this. It really is quite tragic."
If that so-called multi-millionaire Renya Karasuma ever learned the truth, he would likely be turning in his grave—or perhaps clawing his way out of it.
Tsuneo glanced at the section of the wall where the clock had once hung.
There was a small aperture in the stone. If one listened closely, the faint, rhythmic grinding of gears could be heard echoing from within. It seemed the clock had indeed been the key to a larger mechanism. Once the riddle was solved and the clock was dislodged, the internal connection had automatically severed, triggering the next phase of the mansion's design.
"Well then, the treasure has been found. Sister Senma, I believe it's time you told us the way out of here," Mogi Harufumi said, weighing the gold clock in his hands.
The weight was substantial; it was undoubtedly pure gold.
Everyone's cars had been reduced to scrap metal, leaving only Ms. Ishihara's small car intact. However, with the bridge destroyed, it was unclear if any other route existed to lead them down the mountain.
"I'm afraid that was a lie from the very beginning. I had already decided to end my life here. It seems Ogami was the only one who truly believed my promise to reveal the escape route after dinner."
Senma Furuyo shook her head slightly. From the look of things, if they wanted to leave, they would have to hike through the dense forest on foot and hope to find a trail.
At this stage, no one doubted her words.
Just as the group began to worry about their predicament, the distant, rhythmic thrumming of rotor blades echoed through the air outside the annex.
"What's that?" Kogoro Mouri asked, looking toward the window.
"It should be the police helicopters," Tsuneo said, glancing at the time on his phone.
These detectives had spent the entire night theorizing and running around; did they truly never feel the need to sleep?
"The police?" Everyone turned to look at Hakuba Saguru.
Given the circumstances, he was the only one with enough influence to pull off such a feat. However, to coordinate a rescue in a place with zero signal was an impressive display of resourcefulness.
It was exactly as Tsuneo and Conan had suspected.
The sedan parked far below the mountain with the white 'X' on its roof—the one Conan had spotted from the balcony—had been Hakuba's contingency plan. His hawk, Watson, had disappeared mid-journey specifically to deliver the message to his contacts waiting at that location.
"Wait, something's not right. That sound..." Conan muttered. It didn't sound like just one helicopter.
"Heh. A single gold clock? That's a bit insulting, don't you think?" Tsuneo chuckled. He scooped Conan up by the collar and followed the others as they headed out of the annex.
Was this really the kind of "treasure" a legendary family would leave specifically for their heirs?
"Hey, hey! You found something else, didn't you?" Conan asked, looking around frantically.
The mechanical groaning from the building was becoming louder and more rhythmic.
"We're talking about Renya Karasuma here—the true mastermind behind the shadows of this world," Tsuneo said. He tossed Conan into the arriving helicopter and jumped in after him.
"What? Mastermind?" Although the roar of the rotors muffled the words, Conan managed to catch the gist of it.
"The Crow."
As the helicopter ascended, the handyman turned his head to look back at the Sunset Mansion bathed in the first light of dawn.
"The Karasuma family crest..." Conan froze.
Nearly every object within the Sunset Mansion bore that specific emblem. Suddenly, a realization struck the boy detective like a bolt of lightning.
The Crow...
"Sister Senma," Mogi Harufumi asked, sitting in the helicopter with his arms crossed. "You said that putting psychological pressure on us was originally Ogami's idea. Why did you continue the charade of faking your own death even after you killed him?"
The staged deaths and the plan to kill the maid had been part of the original duo's scheme. But if Senma truly had no intention of hurting the others, there had been no reason for her to continue acting out her own demise.
"Because," Senma Furuyo said softly, "I desperately wanted to solve the riddle of the treasure my father left behind. If I hadn't, I could never have died in peace."
"Furthermore, there was no better way to ensure the answer was found than to let a group of master detectives chase the truth."
"Looking back now, perhaps the one truly possessed by the ghost of Renya Karasuma... was me, the daughter of his victim."
As she spoke, Senma's hand quietly moved to the door handle of the helicopter.
As soon as she finished her sentence, she yanked the door open and leaped out into the open air.
No one had expected the situation to take such a drastic turn. Even Conan, who had been stunned into silence by Tsuneo's mention of "the Crow," snapped back to reality, his face pale with shock.
"Sister Senma!" Mogi roared.
"Move!" Kogoro Mouri shoved him aside and dived out of the helicopter after her without a moment's hesitation.
"Dad?!" Ran screamed, completely losing her composure.
Has he lost his mind?!
"Well, that certainly saved his life," Tsuneo remarked, glancing at Hakuba Saguru and the others who were watching with sharp, knowing eyes.
Even if Conan hadn't acted, this group was full of elites who had likely seen through the disguise long ago.
"Indeed it did," Ikumi Kyosuke said from the back seat, a small smile on her face.
By now, everyone had realized the truth. They were all too observant to miss it. However, seeing it up close was a different matter entirely. The magician's skill was truly extraordinary.
The voice, the movements, the expressions—it was a flawless impersonation. If not for a few microscopic slips, even a master detective would have been hard-pressed to spot the fraud.
Amidst Ran's screams, "Kogoro Mouri" caught Ms. Senma in mid-air.
In a blur of motion that defied the eye, the man shed the oversized suit. The disguise vanished instantly, replaced by a shock of brilliant white as a hang glider unfurled against the morning sky.
"It's Kaito Kid!" Ran gasped, staring at the familiar white silhouette.
"Old lady, were you really that tired of living that you had to go and jump?" Kaito asked with a grin.
"What are you talking about? I only did that to help you," Senma Furuyo replied, glancing back at the group in the helicopter.
Think of it as my thanks for letting me use your name to host this banquet. After all, that group of people was incredibly difficult to handle.
"Heh. So you saw through me, then?" Kaito looked toward the little boy with glasses.
"Mouri Kogoro is a hopeless chain-smoker. You, on the other hand, didn't touch a single cigarette from the moment you arrived. To say you were doing it just to be considerate of an old woman... that was a bit too far-fetched."
Senma Furuyo had indeed noticed the discrepancy long ago.
"But really, I feel sorry for you. You must have come all this way for the Karasuma treasure, right?" Senma sighed, thinking of the gold clock.
"That was the plan, but I've given up on it. That thing isn't even big enough to tile a thief's bathroom floor," Kaito said, and then he simply let go of her.
Just as the detectives had uncovered his identity, the phantom thief had already uncovered the secret of the treasure.
Senma let out a cry of alarm, only to realize she was securely harnessed to a rescue line. The other end was firmly attached to the helicopter.
"The walls of the annex!"
Everyone in the helicopter watched in stunned silence as the wooden panels and bricks of the mansion began to vibrate and crumble away in massive sheets.
As the outer shell disintegrated, the Sunset Mansion finally revealed its true face.
Under the first rays of the morning sun, the mansion shone with a blinding, golden radiance. It was a sight of unimaginable opulence, regaining a luster that had been hidden for decades.
"The clock was likely just the trigger to initiate the demolition of the outer walls," Hakuba Saguru remarked, a faint smile on his lips. Things were never as simple as they seemed.
"The Sunset Mansion truly lives up to its name. It looks like it's worth hundreds of billions at the very least," Ikumi Kyosuke noted, leaning out from the back to admire the shimmering golden castle.
Conan turned to look at Tsuneo, then back at the golden fortress perched upon the cliff. His gaze was deep, troubled by the shadow of the Crow.
(End of Chapter)
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