Chapter 127 Cases and Plague

The deceased was the person who played Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the tour group!
Xiaolan screamed and immediately called the police.

Conan and Hattori have rushed to the roof of the castle tower, looking for evidence related to the case.

A moment later, the police arrived.

After searching the deceased's belongings, two strange items stood out.

One of them was a piece of ceramic covered with gold powder.

According to He Ye, her father once mentioned by chance that there had been two cases of charred corpses in the moat before, and the deceased were carrying the same thing on their bodies.

It is said that this pottery fragment is closely related to the treasure of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the greatest of the country.

The other one was a burnt and incomplete dark grey scroll, which was completely empty except for the word "dragon" in the upper right corner.

All the clues and mysteries are here, and all that remains is to solve them.

Conan remembered the deceased's action of forcing himself to stand up and grabbing the umbrella handle before he died.

Touching his chin, he said: "If the umbrella is the key... then the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning the umbrella is rain."

Hattori immediately followed up his thoughts: "When it comes to rain, the only thing that comes to mind is the Dragon Tiger Stone."

"Uh, what is that?"

"What? You don't know?"

Hattori tilted his head to look at him and explained, "When you come to Osaka Castle, you can see two dragon and tiger stones on the left and right sides of the Sakura Gate that are responsible for guarding the castle tower."

As he spoke, he seemed to be thinking: "...It is said that every time it rains, a pattern of a coiled dragon and a crouching tiger will appear on the Dragon and Tiger Stone..."

The two of them were stunned at the same time.

Hattori rushed over, snatched the scroll from the officer's hand, and placed it directly under the rain.

After the paper was soaked, a pattern of a broken gourd slowly emerged on the blank page.

"I see!"

Hattori smiled and said, "So this is the treasure of the world!"

They told the police officer their conclusion.

"A ceramic gourd filled with gold?"

The police officer looked at the scroll with its contents in surprise and said hesitantly, "But according to the dimensions marked on it, it is only one foot long and four inches wide. Can such a small gourd be called a treasure even if it is filled with gold?"

“What if there is more than one gourd?”

Hattori asked back with a grin.

He was about to explain when another voice came from the side.

"It must be the golden horse seal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi."

Jiang Shouhuang continued subconsciously because he had just learned about this aspect of history a few days ago.

"Golden Horse Seal?" The three children from the Junior Detective Team were very confused.

The little fat man went on to explain: "The so-called horse seal is a prop used to mark the position of the commander during ancient battles. At that time, each family's horse seal had its own characteristics, including flags and fans."

He tried to recall what he had learned: "Toyotomi Hideyoshi used a gourd. At first it was a big gourd, and every time he won a fight he added a small gourd. Later on, when he won a lot, he got the saying of "a thousand gourds and a basket".

Hattori patted his head in surprise: "Not bad, kid. As a Tokyo native, you know a lot."

As he spoke, he also looked at the four people in the tour group, each with a different expression.

Xiaolan was a little curious: "But, is there really so much gold?"

"Not impossible."

Jiang Shouhuang raised his head and said, "After Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, the gold and silver treasures piled up in Osaka Castle were said to have almost stunned Tokugawa Ieyasu after seeing them."

Conan also said: "Moreover, according to legend, in order to improve the purity of the well water, he also threw a large number of gold nuggets into the Jinmingshui Well in front of the castle tower."

Yuan Tai suddenly cheered: "Great!"

He looked at the others and said, "How about we go treasure hunting?"

Treasure hunt?

Jiang Shouhuang thought of his and Su Beixun's treasure hunting experience on Fushima Island and he had no interest in it at all.

"That's great!" Ayumi became excited: "Looking for the legendary treasure sounds very romantic!"

Mitsuhiko was also eager to try.

But Hui suddenly shouted, "No!"

She narrowed her eyes. "I beg you to understand the situation. Someone is dead now! Do you think this is a game?!"

The three children shrank their necks and said dejectedly, "We know..."

"OK OK!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was tense, He Ye came up to smooth things over: "Since the police are here, let's hand the case over to them. How about we go have dinner?"

She said as she turned her head to look to the side: "Hattori, what do you think?"

Hattori's eye twitched: "Are you kidding me?!"

He was so angry that he immediately turned into a big head and yelled: "A murder happened right in front of me, how can I have the mood to eat dinner!"

"If you don't want to eat, then don't eat! Why are you yelling so loudly?!"

He Ye snorted angrily: "I'll starve you to death!"

She pulled Xiaolan up and called the children, "Let's go!"

"……Oh."

Mitsuhiko and his friends looked at each other reluctantly and followed with disappointment.

……

In a restaurant in Shimbashi, Osaka Castle.

Xiaolan rolled up some cold noodles with a fork and praised, "This restaurant tastes really good!"

He Ye was also very happy with the meal: "That's right, I discovered this place by accident. Not only is the food delicious, but it's also very cheap."

The bright light above my head felt faintly warm on my skin.

But outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the drizzling rain was getting heavier.

Xiaolan looked outside in a daze.

She knew that with Shinichi's personality, he would never give up the case, so she didn't call him specifically when she left, but looking at the heavy rain at this time, she couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"By the way, let's send some food back!" Xiaolan suddenly suggested.

"good idea!"

He Ye also agreed, but she immediately snorted and turned her head away: "I must make that mystery geek Hattori beg me, otherwise he won't get it!"

Xiaolan laughed dryly.

After leaving the restaurant, several people carried their food boxes and walked towards Osaka Castle.

The damp wind made me feel a little cold. As we left the city, the lights dimmed.

Xiaolan and Kazuha subconsciously quickened their pace.

When they stepped onto an arch bridge, a man in black standing in the middle of the bridge suddenly caught their attention.

——A strange man wearing a black windbreaker, standing in the rain without an umbrella.

Xiaolan was just about to go up and ask.

But suddenly!
The man looked back at them, took out a lighter, and pointed the blue-white flame at himself.

Suddenly!

In the drizzling cold rain, a blazing fire was burning on his body!
Everyone was stunned by this scene and stood there at a loss as to what to do.

The man staggered a few steps.

He reached out to hold onto the railing, then fell headfirst into the waves of the river under the bridge.

"what?!"

Xiaolan and Kazuha came to their senses and ran over to check!

All I saw was a burning body rising and falling on the dark water...

A scream instantly made the atmosphere tense.

"He Ye!"

Hearing the scream, Hattori and Conan ran over immediately and were relieved to see that everyone was fine.

Soon, the police salvaged the body from the lake.

The deceased was none other than Sister Katagiri who played "Ningning" in the tour group!

After testing by forensic personnel, although several people testified that it was self-immolation, the real cause of death was severe head trauma.

The police speculated that he died because he hit the bridge pier below when he jumped into the river.

"Is it suicide?"

The police officer stroked his chin and muttered to himself.

"How can it be?!"

Hattori retorted, he looked at Kazuha and the others and said: "After Katagiri-sama fell into the river, didn't you see a black figure on the other side of the bridge? He must have lit the fire!" "But, that's a little bit impossible..."

Xiaolan explained: "Because that person was standing on the bridge we had already walked on."

He Ye also agreed: "She must have set herself on fire."

"Fool!"

Hattori yelled, "If it is, then there is a devil!"

He threw the umbrella aside and began to search the body with his bare hands.

"Hey... Hey, Hattori... What are you doing..."

The police officer was very embarrassed when he knew that he was Hattori Heizo's son.

……

Jingle Bell--

at this time!

A clear bell sound echoed in the rainy night.

"Oh, sorry, it's my phone!"

Xiaolan said quickly when she saw everyone looking at her.

She glanced at the number, turned her back and answered the phone: "Hello, Yuanzi, what can I do for you?"

"Oh no! Xiaolan...something terrible has happened!!"

There was a panicked voice on the other end of the line.

Hearing her bestie's tone, Xiaolan immediately became worried: "What's wrong with you, Yuanzi? Don't be anxious, talk slowly!"

Yuanzi took a deep breath and explained tremblingly: "Lan, you should know that my father has been recuperating in the hospital since he was found a few days ago."

Xiaolan's expression changed: "Could it be that something happened to Uncle Suzuki?"

"…No, it's not my dad's problem."

Yuanzi took a breath and said hesitantly, "I have been accompanying the patient in the hospital these days... But when I went downstairs to have dinner just now, the dean suddenly called me and said that a group of special patients had come to the hospital."

"Special?" Xiaolan still didn't understand.

But the trembling words that Sonoko said next made her pupils contract and her phone fell to the ground with a plop!
"Lan... Bacillus anthracis has broken out..."

##
Tokyo Medical University Hospital.

A young man with a terrified look walked into the dermatology clinic.

"Doctor, I...can I still be saved?"

He asked anxiously as soon as he sat down.

The doctor in a white coat gently soothed the patient: "Sir, relax. Please tell me where you feel uncomfortable first."

The young man panted and pulled down his long-sleeved coat.

On the skin of his left arm, there was a sunken charcoal-colored dry scab with a diameter of five centimeters.

At the edge of the dry scab, patchy ulcerated wounds appeared on the intact skin. The damaged white mucous membrane was adhered with yellow pus. Vaguely visible below was a pale red granulation wound, surrounded by dense exudative blood spots.

The doctor was shocked!
He quickly took out a mask from the drawer and put it on his face, then put on gloves and gently touched the dry scab with tweezers.

He asked solemnly, "When did it happen?"

"Yesterday morning."

The young man was worried about his life and dared not hide anything, and did his best to describe the whole process.

"At first, there were just a few small bumps on my arms. They didn't hurt at all. I thought they were just mosquito bites, so I applied some alcohol and didn't pay any more attention to it."

"But that night, these small bumps turned into ring-shaped blisters, just like blisters caused by grinding, with bulging skin on the outside and clear liquid inside."

"So I pricked it with a needle."

“But then it got worse and worse!”

"The area around the blisters began to harden, and the fluid under the skin turned turbid blood-colored."

"Just this afternoon it started to hurt and I've had ulcers on other parts of my arm. I put some medicine on it for psoriasis but it didn't help at all.

The young man trembled a little: "And then...then it became like this."

The doctor's eyes widened in disbelief: "You mean, it only took two days to become like this?"

“Ah…ah, that’s right!”

The doctor's expression made the young man even more frightened.

He swallowed his saliva and asked carefully: "Doctor...is this...serious..."

"Ah, don't worry, it's probably just an allergic reaction, don't be too scared."

The doctor responded and immediately comforted him.

He suggested, "How about this, go to the laboratory to check your blood and see what the specific cause is."

After hearing what the doctor said, the young man relaxed a little and nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I understand, I'll go now!"

Seeing him leave, the doctor frowned and began to think about related diseases, but in dermatology, many different causes have the same manifestations. He couldn't be sure until the test results came.

suddenly!

There was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the hospital corridor.

The doctor looked up.

Through the wide-open door of the clinic, he could see a stretcher being pushed past at high speed, with a pale middle-aged woman lying on it, surrounded by several nurses.

This chaotic scene did not arouse the doctor's curiosity.

You know, Tokyo Medical University Hospital is one of the top three hospitals in Tokyo, and emergency surgeries like this happen every day. It is really common.

but.

But tonight was a little different!
Just two minutes after the stretcher was pushed past...

Suddenly, another white stretcher slid past the door quickly!
[Are there so many patients tonight? ]

The doctor shook his head and continued to think about the patient's condition.

But next!

A...

A...

Another one!
In just half an hour, there were as many as fifteen stretchers passing by here!

This horrifying scene made the doctor unable to believe it!

[Is there a plague somewhere? ]

This conjecture made him unable to sit still any longer.

The doctor immediately stood up and went out. He did not stop the stretcher, but just trotted along and asked, "What's going on?"

"Doctor Chi!"

A nurse quickly replied: "In fact, since the afternoon, many patients have come to the hospital outpatient department. Without exception, all of them have symptoms of muscle fatigue, low fever and dry cough!"

How about this afternoon?
The doctor was a little puzzled, but still asked according to his professional qualities: "Is it the flu?"

"No, not at all!"

The nurse followed the stretcher and gasped, "We thought it was that at first!"

"But just now, the hospital received many emergency calls. After receiving them, I found that many of the patients had been here in the afternoon!"

"They didn't get any better after taking the medicine. Instead, they all fell into a coma due to acute breathing difficulties!"

As they were talking, the stretcher turned a few more corners.

The nurse nodded apologetically and went straight into the emergency room without any time to continue the conversation.

Watching the door close, Dr. Chi returned with a frown.

Because of the nurse's description, he had a very ominous premonition in his heart. But the specific condition was unknown, and he had no way to deal with it now.

Return to the clinic.

The doctor saw an old man sitting anxiously on a wooden bench outside the desk.

"Sorry, sorry, I just had to go out for something."

He quickly suppressed his depressed thoughts, walked back to his work station quickly, and after adjusting his mood, he asked gently: "Uncle, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing the doctor coming back, the old man breathed a sigh of relief: "…It's my leg, doctor."

He stood up, rolled up his right trouser leg, and turned slightly to show him the side of his thigh: "It's here!"

Doctor Chi lowered his head and moved closer.

But the moment his eyes fell on his thighs, his breathing stagnated and his whole body felt cold as if he was soaked in cold water!
I saw a huge, ugly, sunken, charcoal-colored dry scab growing hideously on the rotten flesh of the thigh!
Just like the young man just now!!!
Doctor Chi swallowed his saliva.

Maybe it's psychological...

The back of his hand suddenly started to itch...

(End of this chapter)