"An ambush?"
Upon hearing this, Conan carefully scrutinized the man in front of him.
He was about forty years old, dressed in an expensive suit, and his face showed some annoyance.
"What are you ambushing here?" Ran asked curiously.
The middle-aged man seemed to realize he had overreacted. He took a deep breath, adjusted his tie, and said in a lowered voice.
"Who are you people? Tourists? I'm telling you, it's very dangerous here right now. If you have nothing to do, leave quickly!"
Rin put her hands on her hips and said discontentedly, "Hey! Uncle, is this mountain yours? We're here for a proper visit! You're the one acting suspicious, hiding here!"
The man was momentarily speechless. He looked at the girls and the child in front of him, seemingly concluding they weren't bad people.
After a moment of hesitation, he sighed and said, "Ah… it's fine if I tell you. My name is Imaizumi Shigeo, and I'm the manager of Imaizumi Construction Company down the mountain."
He paused, his expression turning serious.
"Just last night, I accidentally overheard our town's mayor receiving a phone call. It sounded very much like he was being blackmailed.
The person on the other end of the line had their voice very low, so I couldn't tell who it was, but I clearly heard them arranging to meet at 12 PM today, right here in Tengu Cave."
"Blackmail?!" Sonoko exclaimed, immediately covering her mouth, but her eyes lit up with excitement. "Just like in TV dramas?"
Manager Imaizumi nodded heavily.
"Exactly! The mayor and I have a financial dispute, he owes me a large sum for a construction project and hasn't paid it.
I can't just stand by and watch him be threatened by bad people, letting him give my money to that blackmailer.
So I came early, hoping to ambush here and see if I could catch that blackmailer, help the mayor out of his predicament, and get my project payment back."
"So that's what it is…" Ran suddenly understood, and her gaze towards Manager Imaizumi held a hint of admiration. "Have you found anything?"
If it were anyone else, they might even want to kill the mayor. Imaizumi-san is truly a good person.
Manager Imaizumi's face became somewhat dejected.
"That's the strange part… I came early this morning and have been watching the cave entrance.
Indeed, around 11:50, the mayor came alone. He looked preoccupied and went directly into the cave.
But until now, it's been over two hours, and I haven't seen anyone else go in, nor have I seen the mayor come out.
There's been no movement inside… I was just debating whether to go in and check when you all arrived…"
While Manager Imaizumi was speaking, Conan had already walked curiously to the simple iron gate of the cave, reaching out to knock on the locked door.
Just then, footsteps and a young voice came from a nearby path. "Hey—! Who are you? What are you doing there?"
Everyone turned to see a young man in his early twenties, wearing a scenic area uniform and a shoulder bag, running towards them, panting.
He ran closer, saw so many people, paused, and then scratched his head sheepishly.
"Ah, are you tourists? Sorry, sorry, I'm the ticket seller and administrator here. I just went down the mountain for lunch, so I locked the gate. Do you want to go in and visit?"
As he spoke, he naturally walked to a large rock beside the cave entrance, reached underneath, fumbled a few times, and surprisingly pulled out a key.
"Because this place is remote, there are hardly any tourists usually, and I'm the only one in charge. Locking the door is just a formality.
The key is usually kept under this rock, nearby residents and regulars all know about it, making it convenient for them to open the door and go in."
The young man explained with a smile, then used the key to unlock the door.
The iron gate creaked as it was pushed open.
Behind the door was not directly the dark cave, but a small platform built into the mountainside.
On one side of the platform was a simple concrete room, which appeared to be the administrator's office and souvenir shop.
"Please wait a moment, everyone, I'll just register you and see if there are any tickets left…" the young man said, opening the office door and stepping inside.
Conan and the others curiously looked around at their surroundings.
The cave entrance was at the end of the platform, dark and extremely narrow, only allowing one person to crawl through at a time.
Suddenly, the administrator's puzzled voice came from inside the office. "Eh? That's strange…"
"What's wrong?" Sonoko poked her head in and asked.
The young man pointed to an empty display shelf inside the room.
"The Tengu mask that was in the most prominent position here is gone! That's our most popular souvenir, and it was the last sample. I saw it before I went to eat!"
"Was it bought by someone?" Ran guessed.
"That's impossible, I'm the only one on duty here…" The young man scratched his head, looking confused.
Just then, a large display screen hanging on the office wall suddenly lit up with a "snap," showing a color surveillance feed.
"Ah, this,"
the administrator explained at the sight,
"This is live surveillance from inside the cave. Because the passage further inside is very narrow and difficult to navigate, to make it easier for tourists who can't enter,
we installed a camera opposite the Tengu Shrine deep inside the cave, live-streaming the view inside. It's a special service, you could say."
The screen showed the interior of a massive cave, looking like a sinkhole, with a circular opening at the top leading directly to the mountain summit, through which sunlight streamed down.
This kept the entire cave from being dim.
In the center of the screen was an ancient, mysterious-looking shrine, built from thick logs and standing tall on several support pillars, exuding a sense of age.
However, the next second—
"Wha—what's that?!" The sharp-eyed Sonoko suddenly pointed at the screen and shrieked.
On one of the beams extending from the high shrine, a human figure seemed to be hanging.
Due to the distance and lighting, the exact appearance couldn't be seen, but the dangling limbs and bowed head clearly indicated a hanging.
"H-hanging?!" Ran's face instantly turned pale, and she covered her mouth.
Manager Imaizumi also widened his eyes, staring intently at the screen. "C-could it be the mayor?!"
Before he could finish his sentence, the hanging figure on the screen, perhaps due to a snapped rope or some other reason, suddenly tilted violently and fell directly from the beam.
"Ah—!!" Sonoko and Ran simultaneously gasped.
"Oh no!" Conan's expression changed dramatically, and he immediately shouted to the administrator, "Quick! Take us inside!"
"You haven't bought tickets… No, wait! Please follow me!"
The administrator was also terrified. He quickly grabbed a large flashlight from the office and led the way, rushing into the cave entrance.