The library was dark, deserted.
Jangxia Tongzhi borrowed the eyes of the ghost baby.
Once his vision adjusted, he got his bearings and headed for the elevator.
In his memory, there had only ever been one case in this library.
—The curator had been running a drug operation. When one of his employees found out, the curator killed them and hid the body on top of the elevator.
At first, the corpse was well concealed.
But tragically, on that very day, Conan just happened to be doing homework in the library with some of his classmates. When they used the elevator, it mysteriously displayed "Overweight."
Conan hadn't thought much of the elevator issue at first—but he smelled a corpse. So once the library closed, he stayed behind, determined to sniff it out.
Jangxia reached the elevator and glanced up at the electronic panel.
It showed the elevator was currently on the third floor.
Jangxia was on the first.
He reached out and pressed the call button, summoning the elevator with great flourish.
He wasn't at all concerned about "disturbing the curator."
In fact, he hoped the curator would quickly notice the elevator acting weird, come down to check, and—ideally—bring with him the ghost or murderous aura Jangxia was after.
While the elevator was descending, Jangxia headed for the stairs.
He walked up to the second floor, then returned to the elevator just as it arrived on the first.
He opened the door, looked down, and saw a corpse sprawled on top of the elevator car. A rope was wound around its neck, and a small pool of blood had spread from the back of its head. Clearly strangled, then dumped.
There was no shikigami on the corpse's leg.
Not clear whether the ghost hadn't formed yet, or if it had and was currently attached to the curator.
Jangxia let the elevator door close with a disappointed sigh.
Looks like he'd have to go track down the curator to retrieve the ghost.
He tilted his head and listened for faint noises from deeper in the building.
He remembered: after work, while the curator was on his way home, one of the kids from the Detective Boys had flipped the lights back on in the library. That made the curator realize someone was still inside—and he'd come back with a very grim face.
In other words, right about now, the curator was probably engaged in a spirited round of "Murderous Hide-and-Seek with Unsuspecting Children."
Jangxia took out his phone, glanced at the elevator (which would block the signal), and walked into the stairwell.
He dialed the number of Inspector Megure.
Megure, ever the kind policeman who happily accepted Jangxia as his honorary younger brother, had long since given him his personal number.
Way easier than calling 110 and dealing with forms. He could just ring him directly, no need to give his name or explain anything upfront.
…
Inspector Megure was, once again, working overtime.
He'd been searching for a missing library staff member.
So when he picked up and heard Jangxia say "There's a body in the elevator at the library," he instantly realized this might be the person he'd been looking for.
Earlier that day, Megure had led a search team through the library—no body found.
And now learning that the corpse had been on top of the elevator the whole time, and that he himself had ridden that elevator...
Megure suddenly broke out in goosebumps.
"I'll be right there," he said, bolting from his desk and calling a few officers to follow.
Mid-sprint, he frowned in confusion: "Wait a sec, why are you in the library at this hour? ...Forget it, we'll talk later. Just get out of there! If the murderer was bold enough to hide the body in the elevator, that means he knows the building really well—and he might still be lurking around after hours. You—"
"Aaaahh!!"
A child's scream faintly echoed through the phone.
Megure froze. "What was that?! There are children in the library?!"
On the stairs, Jangxia also paused for a beat.
He looked up through the gaps between floors. "Maybe."
Then he picked up his pace.
While walking, he casually offered an explanation to cover his tracks:
"I must've remembered the closing time wrong. I came to return a book, but the library was already shut. Then I saw a light flicker on for a few seconds on the third floor, and caught a glimpse of a child's silhouette in the window. I was worried a kid might've gotten locked inside, so I broke in to check…"
Megure was practically having a heart attack: "Stop talking! If the killer's really still there, you're giving away your position!"
"Ah, right." Jangxia instantly lowered his voice, whispering into the receiver. "I'll go have a look. You hurry."
Then he hung up.
"Wait—" Megure started, wanting to shout something about being careful, or at least having a plan, but Jangxia had already ended the call.
Calling him back would just make the phone ring—too risky.
He could only put his phone down and bark at his officers: "Move! Hurry!"
The brave detective walks toward the bloodthirsty murderer who might be lying in wait!
Oh, and toward the bear children who snuck into the library, too.
…
Top floor. A bit earlier.
While Jangxia was on the phone with Megure, Conan came down from the mechanical room with his hands in his pockets.
He walked over to the elevator, yanked the doors open, and flipped the maintenance switch.
Then he turned back to his three classmates, looking satisfied.
"I found the body. Earlier today, when we rode the elevator, it showed as overweight because there was an 'invisible passenger' already inside."
The elevator rose slowly, and the corpse on top of the car came into the beam of Conan's flashlight.
The three kids went pale, then let out a chorus of terrified screams.
Conan didn't seem to realize this was maybe a bit much for them.
He just frowned. "That's too brutal. This person must've been killed by the curator. We have to act quickly—"
But before he could finish, a sudden light shone beside him.
—The elevator, now fully raised, had revealed the lit interior of the car beneath the corpse.
Curator Tsugawa's head appeared first. Then his neck, then his full body.
He was standing inside the elevator, metal pipe in hand, grinning with a twisted expression.
Conan's heart lurched. He turned and gave his friends a rapid set of whispered instructions.
As Curator Tsugawa stepped off the elevator, Conan distracted him with accusations—"drug trafficking," "murder"—trying to keep the man focused on him.
Meanwhile, the other three kids slipped into the elevator car and hit the button for the ground floor.
Once the elevator was halfway down and the gap between it and the floor was small enough—barely half a meter—Conan dove forward, shoveling himself under the curator's legs and sliding into the elevator.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 16/60(approx)*