Chapter 22: The Mysterious Lisa
The air inside the "Gallery of Hell" felt heavy, thick with the scent of old dust and polished wood. True to its macabre name, the exhibition hall was plunged into oppressive shadows. The lighting was deliberately sparse, casting long, distorted silhouettes across the floor and reducing the surrounding medieval exhibits to little more than jagged outlines in the gloom.
Yet, the darkness posed no obstacle to Natsume and Lisa. With their enhanced vision, their eyes adjusted almost instantly. The gruesome centerpiece of the room immediately snapped into sharp focus. A man hung suspended against the far wall, his body brutally pinned in place by a massive medieval sword driven straight through his chest.
Ran walked just a few paces behind, her eyes still struggling to pierce the gloom. Realizing the high school girl hadn't yet spotted the grisly scene, Natsume reacted purely on instinct. She shifted her weight, stepping smoothly into Ran's path to completely obstruct her line of sight.
Ran blinked, nearly bumping into her. "Natsume? What's wrong?"
"Don't look, Ran," Natsume said, her voice low and steady. "There's a body up ahead."
The word 'body' acted like a starting pistol for Conan. The little detective's instincts flared, his legs already tensing to sprint forward and secure the crime scene. But before his sneakers could even squeak against the polished floor, a slender, gloved hand slipped out from the shadows behind him, gently but firmly clamping over his eyes.
Conan stiffened, his breath catching in his throat. Who was that? He hadn't heard a single footstep approach. His mind raced with terrifying possibilities. Was the killer still lurking in the dark, waiting to strike again?
He thrashed instinctively, trying to pry the fingers away, but another arm wrapped securely around his small shoulders, pinning him in place with surprising strength. Then, a warm breath tickled the shell of his ear, followed by a soft, teasing chuckle.
"Little brother, don't move," Lisa murmured, her voice dripping with playful amusement. "This isn't something a child should see. Don't be so curious. Being too curious can easily lead to very bad things."
Recognizing the librarian's elegant drawl, the tension drained from Conan's rigid muscles. He slumped slightly in her grip. He knew she meant well. To her, he was just a fragile first-grader who needed protection from the gruesome realities of murder. But he wasn't some ordinary kid. He was Shinichi Kudo, the teenage detective of the East. A fresh corpse was hanging just yards away, a puzzle begging to be solved, and he was stuck playing blind man's bluff because of his shrunken body. He gritted his teeth. Damn those two men in black. If they hadn't forced that poison down his throat, he wouldn't be trapped in this frustrating situation.
"I understand, Sister Lisa," Conan whined, forcing his voice into a high, innocent pitch. "I won't peek, I promise. Please let me go."
"Conan, something terrible has happened. Don't run around and cause trouble," Ran scolded gently. Taking Lisa's cue, she kept her gaze firmly averted from the far wall. She hurried over and grasped Conan's free hand, ensuring the little troublemaker wouldn't bolt the second Lisa released him.
"Yes, Ran-neechan..." Conan sighed, his shoulders drooping in utter defeat.
With both Lisa and Ran standing guard over him like twin wardens, he had no choice but to surrender for the moment. He lowered his head, hiding the sharp, calculating gleam in his eyes. He just had to bide his time. The moment they got distracted by the police, he would slip right through their fingers.
Across the room, Kogoro Mouri was already barking into his cell phone, demanding the authorities. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police responded with their usual efficiency. Within minutes, the wail of sirens pierced the quiet museum, and heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor. Leading the charge was the stout, trench-coat-clad figure of Inspector Juzo Megure.
Megure stepped into the Gallery of Hell, his gaze sweeping over the assembled group before landing squarely on the mustached detective. The inspector's eyes narrowed into half-moons beneath the brim of his hat. "It's you again, Mouri," he deadpanned, letting out a long, weary sigh.
"Inspector!" Kogoro greeted him with a wide, oblivious grin, rubbing the back of his neck. He quickly dropped the jovial act, adopting a serious posture as he briefed Megure on the grim discovery and the identity of the man pinned to the wall.
The victim was Owner Manaka, the wealthy businessman who had recently purchased the Beika Art Museum. According to the staff, he had planned to gut the cultural landmark and convert the entire property into a massive, profitable restaurant.
Uniformed officers soon ushered the remaining museum staff into the hall. The moment the employees caught sight of Manaka's suspended, blood-soaked corpse, gasps of horror and muffled shrieks echoed through the dim room. Several of them turned pale, trembling uncontrollably.
Natsume stood quietly near the edge of the police perimeter, her golden eyes tracking the subtle reactions of the crowd. Her gaze eventually settled on the elderly museum director, Ochiai. She knew exactly who the culprit was. To drive a heavy broadsword through a man and hoist him onto a wall required a chilling level of ruthless determination. Yet, facing the swarm of police officers, the old man displayed not a single ounce of panic. Aside from a perfectly timed flinch of shock upon initially 'discovering' Manaka's body, Director Ochiai remained an absolute picture of calm, his wrinkled face betraying nothing.
"Inspector Megure," one of the younger staff members spoke up, his voice shaking slightly. "Every exhibition hall in our museum is equipped with security cameras. Perhaps if we check the surveillance monitors, we can see exactly who did this."
Megure's eyes widened in pleasant surprise. It was rare for a murderer to be brazen enough to strike in full view of a camera. "Excellent," the inspector grunted, adjusting his hat. "This should make tracking down the culprit a smooth process. Lead the way to the security room."
The entire entourage relocated to the cramped, brightly lit monitoring room. An officer took a seat at the console, rewinding the tape from the Gallery of Hell and hitting play.
The moment the flickering screen illuminated the room, all eyes locked onto the monitor. Lisa's gaze drifted toward the footage. Sensing the momentary lapse in her vigilance, Conan moved. Like a shadow, the tiny detective slipped out from under Ran's loose grip, ducking beneath the elbows of the police officers to squeeze his way to the very front of the crowd.
Lisa caught the blur of blue out of the corner of her eye the exact second Conan bolted. She didn't make a single move to stop him. A faint, knowing smile touched her lips. She knew the little detective was utterly obsessed with puzzles. There was absolutely no way he would pass up the chance to match wits with a murderer. She had played her part earlier, stopping him from rushing the fresh corpse like a responsible adult should, but she had zero intention of playing babysitter to a hyperactive teenager trapped in a child's body all night.
'Honestly,'Lisa mused inwardly, watching the boy press his face almost against the monitor.'He runs around active crime scenes and inspects corpses with such blatant disregard for his supposed age. It is no wonder so many people figure out his true identity later on.'
Shifting her emerald eyes back to the screen, Lisa watched the silent tragedy unfold. The grainy black-and-white footage showed the moments leading up to the murder. Owner Manaka stood alone in the center of the gallery, repeatedly checking his watch. He was clearly waiting for someone, completely oblivious to the towering suit of medieval armor standing silently behind him.
Suddenly, the armor moved.
A heavy broadsword swung down, slashing brutally across Manaka's back. The victim crumpled, but the armored figure moved with terrifying, nimble precision, stepping over him to deliver a second, devastating strike to his front. Then, displaying monstrous strength, the metallic killer hoisted the bleeding man up with one hand. With its free hand, it drove the sword straight through his chest, pinning him to the gallery wall.
The armored figure lingered for a moment before slowly turning to walk out of the camera's frame.
"Stop the tape," Megure ordered. The officer hit pause, freezing the metallic killer on the screen.
"My, my," Lisa murmured, her voice cutting through the heavy silence of the security room. "This scene looks rather familiar. Doesn't it perfectly resemble that massive painting hanging in the gallery? The one titled 'Divine Punishment'?"
Kogoro slammed a fist into his open palm. "Ah! You're right! It really does!"
Both Kogoro and Conan had felt a nagging sense of déjà vu while watching the tape, but the immediate shock of discovering the corpse had prevented them from thoroughly examining the surrounding artwork. They had only registered the gallery's contents as a vague blur of shapes. But with Lisa's casual prompt, the image of that enormous, striking canvas depicting a knight slaying a demon instantly snapped into their minds. The composition of the murder was a flawless, grotesque mirror of the artwork.
"The killer deliberately staged the body," Kogoro declared, puffing out his chest. "They used this specific method of murder to recreate the painting!"
Conan nodded in silent agreement, his sharp mind already connecting the dots. But then... he slowly turned his head, his oversized glasses flashing under the fluorescent lights as he stared at the beautiful librarian.
Even with his trained deductive eye, his attention had been entirely consumed by the fresh corpse. He had only retained a fleeting impression of the room's decor. Yet Lisa had not only instantly recognized the connection between the killer's staging and the artwork upon her first viewing of the tape, but she had also casually dropped the exact title of the piece—'Divine Punishment'. That was a specific detail no one would know unless they had actively sought out the plaque beneath the frame.
Had she analyzed the entire crime scene and deduced the artistic connection the very second they walked into that dark room?
Ignoring the intense scrutiny of the miniature detective, Lisa replayed the footage in her mind. She focused on the strange, stiff hesitation in the victim's movements immediately after the first strike to his back. A spark of understanding flashed in her eyes.
'Ah,'she thought, a faint smirk playing on her lips.'So that is how it was done.'
Conan watched like a hawk as Lisa gracefully crossed the room, stepping up beside Natsume. The librarian leaned down, her lips brushing past Natsume's ear as she whispered something far too quiet for anyone else to catch.
Natsume's golden eyes widened in genuine shock. She whipped her head around to stare at Lisa, blinking in disbelief.
Conan frowned, his curiosity burning. 'Strange. What on earth could she have said to catch Sister Natsume so completely off guard?'
Natsume stared at the smiling witch beside her, her mind reeling. Lisa had just casually laid out the entire trick behind the murder, the precise modus operandi, and the exact location of the physical evidence. Natsume only knew the identity of the killer because she remembered the plot of the anime! She hadn't even begun to work backward from the conclusion to find the actual proof.
Yet Lisa had figured out the entire puzzle just by glancing at the crime scene and watching a grainy security tape once?
Clearing her throat, Natsume stepped forward. "Um... Inspector Megure?" she called out, her clear voice drawing the attention of every police officer in the room. "I already know who the killer is. I also know their exact modus operandi, and where to find the evidence."
Megure and Kogoro froze. They had just been in the middle of a heated discussion, concluding that the suspect had to be a staff member familiar with the museum's layout due to the 'No Entry' sign placed outside the gallery. To suddenly hear this young woman declare the case solved shattered their train of thought.
Conan, who had just been preparing to dive deep into his own mental reconstruction of the crime, nearly tripped over his own feet.
'Eh?!'The boy's jaw dropped.'Are you kidding me? Already?! We've only watched the tape once!'
Disbelief washed over Conan. His sharp gaze darted between the blonde traveler and the brunette librarian. He highly doubted Natsume was the one who had cracked the case. His mind flashed back to the secret exchange just moments prior. It was practically guaranteed that Lisa had fed her the answer, detailing the killer and the trick in that single, hushed whisper.
He stared at Lisa, a cold sweat prickling the back of his neck. 'Who exactly is this woman?'he thought, his pulse quickening.'Is she really just some ordinary librarian at the Beika Library? Since when does a civilian librarian possess such terrifyingly sharp insight and photographic memory?'
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