Conan's urgent words echoed in Senichi's ears through the walkie-talkie, exploding like thunder.
He never expected that, from midnight until just before dawn, in the time when the sun had yet to rise, the culprit had struck again.
"What's the situation at the scene!?" Senichi urgently asked into the walkie-talkie.
"We haven't seen the crime scene yet!"
Conan's voice came through the walkie-talkie. "We just received a distress call from Mr. Hanyu, saying he's at the Lavender Manor. After that, we heard a scream!! We're on our way there now!"
"I understand, I'll be there right away!"
Since the waterfall where the first victim was located was farther from the Hanyu mansion, in an emergency, Senichi naturally couldn't ask everyone to wait for him.
After replying to Conan, Senichi immediately headed towards the Lavender Manor.
On the other side, Conan couldn't help but recall the previous situation.
After returning to the mansion, initially, due to the shock of Tomoko Komori's death, people gathered in the living room, talking in small groups.
However, it was already deep into the night, and after a while, some couldn't sit still and chose to return to their rooms.
The death of Tomoko Komori seems to have had a significant impact on Saburo Hanyu. Considering their close relationship, which allowed her to model as his nude model, people could understand.
So, concerned for her father, Sakurako Hanyu expressed her intention to check on him after he returned to his room.
The sisters Ayako and Sonoko chose to sleep together, while Ran pulled Conan along.
However, just after falling asleep for a short while, they heard the butler shouting in the corridor, "Something's wrong! The master is in danger!"
Conan, immediately rushed out upon hearing this distress call. Then, he heard Saburo Hanyu's desperate plea over the phone, saying he was at the Lavender Manor, followed by a series of screams and wails.
This wail made Conan's heart sink to the bottom, and everyone was prepared for the worst.
Conan's reminiscing didn't last too long. Guided by the butler's swift driving, the extended luxury car quickly approached the Lavender Manor.
Everyone got out of the car and ran towards the manor, but Ran only realized after getting off that one person had remained in the car.
It was Sakurako Hanyu.
At this moment, she sat in the back corner of the car, trembling, hands covering her mouth, with an expression that seemed on the verge of tears.
Certainly, at this moment, Sakurako is probably the person most afraid to set foot in the Lavender Manor.
Out of fear—fear of entering the manor and seeing her father's body—she chose to avoid facing it.
"Sakurako..." Ran, seeing her expression, involuntarily stopped her steps, showing a worried expression.
"Ran, don't just stand there!!" Sonoko also saw this scene and immediately waved her fist indignantly. "If we see that detestable fake Kid, let's give him a good beating!"
Sonoko's words snapped Ran back to reality. Her expression became serious, and she immediately ran towards the Lavender Manor.
The fierce look on her face left no doubt that if she encountered the culprit, Ran would mercilessly unleash her full strength to beat them.
However, when everyone rushed into the Lavender Manor, they found it completely empty, without a trace of anyone.
"How is this possible! Where is the master?!" The butler ran inside, looking around, but didn't see any sign of Saburo Hanyu.
"The phone call just now, it should be here," Conan picked up the wireless landline from the ground, furrowing his brow. "But why is there no one..."
Since everyone had driven here, in just a few short minutes, it was impossible for someone carrying another person to have gone too far.
"Ah, come and see this!!" Just as Conan was pondering, Sonoko suddenly exclaimed, "The painting here is gone!! And there's a notice on top of it!"
Conan quickly ran over and saw the contents of the notice.
"From now on, there is a fish without a hook. —By Kaito Kid."
"This... this painting..." Looking at the position of the painting board and the contents of the notice, the butler suddenly exclaimed, "This is a self-portrait of the master fishing!!"
This statement shocked everyone present. Upon hearing the butler's words, Conan quickly understood and immediately asked him, "Mr. Butler! Where did Mr. Hanyu paint that fishing picture!?"
"Right outside the Lavender Manor, by the river." The butler instinctively replied to the question. "Just below where the car was parked earlier, that's the place where the master painted himself fishing."
Upon hearing the butler's words, Conan immediately ran straight towards the Lavender Manor's entrance, and soon Ran and the others also reacted and ran outside.
As Senichi hurriedly approached the Lavender Manor, what he saw was everyone standing on the roadside, looking shocked at the area below.
Beside them, the butler was holding the unconscious Sakurako Hanyu, making Senichi, who was slightly out of breath, feel a sinking feeling in his heart.
When he quickly reached everyone and looked down at the stream below, what caught his eye was the sight of Saburo Hanyu lying on a large rock.
The blood splattered on the stone at his head had already proven that he had turned into a lifeless corpse.
"How could this happen..."
Following Senichi, after Ginzo Nakamori received the news and rushed over with his team, seeing the scene in front of him, he couldn't help but angrily curse, "Damn Kid!! This is outrageous!! To kill someone for some paintings!!
There are so many portraits in Hanyu's paintings, does he have to steal one and kill someone for it!!"
After the roar, Ginzo Nakamori also felt some regret. Yesterday, due to Tomoko Komori's murder, manpower was insufficient, so he transferred some detectives from here.
But he never expected that today, the culprit would take advantage of the loophole and commit a second crime here.
Senichi did not respond to Ginzo Nakamori's angry outburst. He didn't mention that this might be a murder case where someone was impersonating Kaito Kid.
Since Ginzo Nakamori had already yelled it out, let this information circulate first.
Let the culprit, who was among them, think they had successfully framed Kaito Kid.
This way, they could catch the culprit off guard.
After eliminating the possibility of Kaito Kid committing the crime, the perpetrator must be some insider impersonating Kaito Kid.
Because if it were an outsider committing the crime, there would be no need for so much trouble. After all, now that nobody has seen the culprit, they could easily escape after committing the murder.
In other words, the culprit is among this group of people!
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