Chapter 160: Unexpected Events Follow One After Another
Behind the Sofa
Anya pulled Conan's hood and dragged him behind the sofa, gesturing for him to squat down.
Forced to comply by Anya threatening him with old videos and her camera, Conan had no choice but to agree.
"Look at this video—I just secretly filmed it~" Anya fiddled with the camera for a while and showed Conan footage on the screen.
Conan glanced at the display and immediately snapped awake, his eyes instantly focusing on the timestamp.
Ten minutes ago?
Weren't we all outside then? Why would Anya be filming the living room?
Before he could ponder this further, he saw Tanaka Kikue appear in the frame with scissors in hand. She glanced around furtively, then stealthily picked up the phone cord and cut it.
The phone cord was cut?
Conan turned to look at the landline and, sure enough, found the severed cord dangling on the floor.
"Well done! Anya-chan, you really did a great job!"
Conan smiled and praised Anya earnestly. She was quite helpful, often providing crucial clues at key moments.
Judging from the video, Tanaka Kikue was also highly suspicious. Who would cut a phone line for no reason, especially when a murder just occurred?
Instantly, Tanaka Kikue's suspicion level became equal to Doi Takaki's.
However, Tanaka Kikue was also quite strange. Why would she cut the phone line for no reason? Wasn't that just a waste of effort? It's not like she didn't see Natsukawa-san with a cell phone—wasn't that pointless?
Perhaps she'd also burned down the suspension bridge, intending to completely isolate the villa from the outside world.
If so, then Shadow Mage was very likely her.
Although the motive remained unclear, Anya had already handed him evidence of Tanaka cutting the phone line—the truth was becoming clearer. The only remaining suspect was Doi Takaki; his actions were also somewhat suspicious.
"Ah! Watch out!"
Conan looked up curiously and found Tanaka Kikue standing next to Ran. She held a water glass in her hand, and half of Natsukawa's phone was sticking out of it.
Conan: ...
Oh no! Did Tanaka Kikue plan this all along?
Conan wasn't an expert on phones, but it was common knowledge that electronic devices were basically unusable after falling into water!
"Are you alright?" Natsukawa, completely unconcerned about the phone's safety, stood up and approached Ran and Tanaka Kikue, asking with concern, "Are you hurt?"
Natsukawa had seen everything that just happened. Tanaka Kikue had clearly deliberately walked up to Ran and bumped into her.
Even her action of "catching" the phone with the glass seemed very deliberate—her purpose was too obvious. I wonder if she'd be embarrassed if I exposed her right now.
"I'm so sorry! Let me check if it's broken." Tanaka Kikue appeared worried, but inside she was overjoyed.
The suspension bridge is destroyed, the phone line is cut, and now the cell phone is waterlogged. The villa is completely cut off from the outside world.
Now my plan can begin.
Besides Escape King, there was another person present who was her target.
The person who insulted Grandfather has to die! These people actually have the nerve to hold a party—how disgusting!
"Is this phone water-resistant?"
Tanaka Kikue asked anxiously, but her hand holding the cup subtly trembled, as if she wanted to submerge the entire phone deeper into the water.
The crucial point was that the water was still steaming—it was freshly boiled.
Natsukawa smiled slightly, shrugging confidently. "It's alright. I had this phone specially waterproofed. As long as it's submerged in water for no more than ten minutes and the water temperature doesn't exceed 100 degrees Celsius, the phone will be fine. At most, we'll need to disassemble it to clean the battery and dry out the speaker."
"I-Is that so?" Tanaka Kikue smiled awkwardly.
What a joke! This Big Spender truly lives up to his name. While everyone else was using brick-sized mobile phones, his had already evolved into a sleek compact model.
Not only compact, but also waterproof and heat-resistant. I should have poured myself a cup of boiling water instead.
"You should check it quickly—it might be broken." She still held onto a sliver of hope.
"It's fine. Anya has another one. Even if this phone breaks, we can use the other."
Tanaka Kikue: ...
Sorry for my presumption.
"It's alright. At worst, we still have the landline." Aragoshi walked to the telephone and pointed at it, just in time to see the wire broken in two.
"The phone line is cut!" Aragoshi was stunned. He'd just been on the phone, and now the line was severed in the brief time they'd been outside!
"That Shadow Mage couldn't have already infiltrated the villa, could they? They cut the phone line while we were all at the entrance. Cutting the phone line, burning down the suspension bridge—they're trying to trap us in this desolate wilderness!"
Kuroda Naoko's face turned pale. Young people like her had never experienced anything like this before. She wasn't from Beika City—she'd only ever seen murder cases in the news. This was the first time she'd experienced it firsthand.
The others also looked stunned, their eyes nervously scanning the living room.
The living room was completely quiet, save for the crackling of the fireplace providing faint warmth.
"I think Tanaka Kikue-san can explain this, right?" Conan spoke softly, stepping out from behind the sofa with the camera in hand like a victorious prosecutor, his gaze fixed intently on Tanaka Kikue.
"Little boy, what are you talking about? I was at the entrance too. How would I know why the phone line was cut?"
"When we went outside, Anya-chan left the camera in the living room with the video recording on. Did Tanaka-san think the camera might have captured something?"
Conan continued with a frightened expression. "It's footage of Tanaka-san cutting the phone line.
But why?
Why would Tanaka-san do that?
Could it be that you're Shadow Mage?"
"H-How could that be? My username is Red Herring. How could I be Shadow Mage?" Tanaka Kikue almost lost control of her expression. What kind of camera is this? Is this really a toy for a child?
"Then how does Tanaka-san explain this video? Deliberately cutting the phone line—a normal person wouldn't do that."
Conan placed the camera on the table, letting everyone view Tanaka Kikue's moment of incriminating evidence.
After the video ended, everyone stared at Tanaka Kikue with strange expressions.
Tanaka Kikue, feigning composure, glanced around nervously, unable to think of a reasonable explanation. She resorted to stubborn denial. "Cutting the phone line doesn't prove I'm Shadow Mage. You have no proof."
Kaito, recognizing this as an opportunity, gave Conan a meaningful look and continued, "Actually, before joining the chat room, I already knew Red Herring. I know his identity clearly—and you're not him!"
"How is that possible?!" Tanaka Kikue nearly lost her composure. What's going on? Why do unexpected events keep happening one after another? Did I forget to check my horoscope before leaving today?
(End of Chapter)
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