Ms. Quan, who is male

This morning, the Armed Detective Agency received a call.

The caller was an old man with a rough and hoarse voice. After the call was connected, before Junichiro Tanizaki could speak, he said in panic: "Please save my granddaughter, she is bleeding a lot! But

She is still alive and she can be saved!"

Logically speaking, when receiving such an emergency call, one should take it seriously, but Junichiro Tanizaki took it very seriously, even showing a helpless expression like "I knew it."

He awkwardly agreed with the other person a few times, and then hung up the phone. The whole process was very perfunctory.

At this time, Kunikida Doppo, who was typing on the keyboard, said without raising his head: "Is it that old man again?"

Junichiro Tanizaki sighed, his meaning self-evident.

Yosano Akiko leaned against the table holding a water glass and said, "How many times has this happened?"

Kunikida Doppo withdrew his attention from the computer screen, pushed up his glasses and said: "Last month plus this month, there were a total of sixteen phone calls, one every day, even more punctual than when that bastard Dazai came to work.

.But how can there be any injury to his granddaughter? His granddaughter has long been..."

At this point, Kunikida Doppo's voice paused.

Junichiro Tanizaki and his sister Naomi Tanizaki looked at each other and said with a hint of pity: "This old man is also pitiful..."

Here's the thing.

More than a month ago, the Armed Detective Agency welcomed an old man.

The old man was wearing shabby clothes. After knocking on the door of the detective agency, he stuffed the gray cloth bag that he had kept in his arms with his own body temperature into the hands of Junichiro Tanizaki who opened the door. Junichiro Tanizaki opened it and found that it was inside

All were loose coins and small bills.

Before he could say anything, he heard the old man pleading, asking them to save his granddaughter.

What the old man said at that time was exactly the same as what he said on the phone today, without changing a word.

Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

Except for Ranpo Edogawa who was on a business trip and Dazai Osamu who drifted to an unknown place with the river, all the investigators from the detective agency were dispatched - actually there were not many, just Junichiro Tanizaki, Doppo Kunikida and Akiko Yosano.

Three people.

Based on the location provided by the old man, they drove to an old residential building, and were then taken to the door of the dark and damp basement of the residential building.

The old man pushed open the door, which did not need to be locked at all, and shouted inside: "Quan, grandpa is back, and grandpa has brought people to rescue you..."

The room was very dark and it was impossible to see clearly what was going on inside. Fortunately, the old man quickly turned on the chandelier and drove away the darkness in the room.

But when the lights came on and everyone in the detective agency saw everything in the room clearly, they couldn't hide the surprise on their faces.

The entire basement is very small and there are not many things. Standing at the door and taking a quick glance, you can take in the entire room.

What surprised everyone in the detective agency was not that the room was small, but that there was no one else in the room except the four people who had just entered, and the "granddaughter" the old man called was just a shabby high school uniform.

Everyone's first reaction was, were they being pranked?

But looking at the old man's look and behavior, it didn't look like a simple prank. When he saw the three detective agency men standing at the door, refusing to come in or say anything, he kept urging them to come over and save his "granddaughter." He also said: "

She's bleeding a lot. If the bleeding doesn't stop, it will be dangerous. Come and take a look!"

"this……"

The three people in the detective agency looked at each other.

Later, they conducted some investigation and found out what happened.

The old man's name was Mizuno Chotaro. His son and daughter-in-law died in a car accident more than ten years ago, leaving only a daughter less than two years old.

The old man's wife suffered a severe blow and was so sick that she couldn't get out of bed. She stayed in the hospital for several months and spent all the family's little savings, and finally passed away.

Mizuno Chotaro is already old. Even if he wants to work as a coolie at the dock, no one is willing to hire him, so he can only support himself and his young granddaughter by scavenging.

Everything from his granddaughter's childhood toys to her granddaughter's tuition and uniform fees were all earned by him over the years, working early in the morning and working late at night collecting trash.

Grandfather and grandson have been dependent on each other for more than ten years. Just as Mizuno Izumi is about to graduate from high school, unexpectedly, a sudden accident befalls this unfortunate family again.

A few mornings ago, Mizuno Izumi's body was found near an abandoned shipyard near the sea.

There is no surveillance video or witnesses around, so it is impossible to determine the real culprit.

Although several fingerprints that did not belong to Mizuno Izumi were found on the mobile phone that was left next to her body, no data matching these fingerprints was found in the police database.

In addition, the abandoned shipyard is a place frequented by gangs, and she was shot to death randomly, so the police speculated that this incident was closely related to gangs.

Yokohama is a coastal city, and there are some historical factors. There are many illegal organizations active in this land, some of which even the government cannot do anything about.

So the case is over at this point.

After being notified by the police, Nagataro Mizuno took away his granddaughter's body in a daze.

The very next day, an old man called the police station and said that his granddaughter was in danger and asked the police to save her.

After receiving the call, the police were dispatched. But when they arrived at the location mentioned by the old man, which was the basement where the other party and his granddaughter lived, they discovered that the old man was Mizuno Chotaro.

At this time, he was mentally disturbed. He stubbornly believed that his granddaughter was still alive and could be saved, and he refused to bury her at all.

The police finally persuaded him and helped him bury Mizuno Izumi, thinking that since his granddaughter's body could no longer be seen, Mizuno Chotaro would return to normal.

who knows……

He heard somewhere that the Armed Detective Agency could solve difficult cases that even the military and police could not handle. So he took all the savings he had saved from scavenging and found the Armed Detective Agency, hoping that they would save his "granddaughter".

After everyone in the detective agency learned about the whole incident, they prepared to take the old man for psychological counseling. However, the old man was very resistant to this and angrily drove these "bad guys who cursed his granddaughter to death" out of the house.

These "bad guys" collected some money and placed it at the door of the basement together with the "commission fee" given to them by the old man.

In addition, Kunikida Doppo also wrote the detective agency's phone number on a small piece of paper and put it into a gray cloth bag, thinking that if the other party had any difficulties, he could call them for help.

Although they are a detective agency rather than a charity, and the help they can provide is not much, it is still a gesture of goodwill.

Unexpectedly, the next day, Mizuno Chotaro forgot about driving the "big bad guys" out and called the detective agency again to "ask for help" - by making a phone call.

Every day after that, at the same time, there would be a call to the detective agency, which was even more punctual than the alarm clock. So after more than a month, everyone in the detective agency had become accustomed to it.

But what no one expected was that today's phone call was particularly different.

In the previous month, Mizuno Chotaro would only call once a day, and he would never call again after being hung up on.

However, today, he called one after another, his voice getting more nervous and urgent each time. Junichiro Tanizaki, who finally answered the phone, was a little impatient.

At this time, Edogawa Ranpo, who had his back turned to everyone, suddenly said, "Go and see, what is really going on here. Miss Yosano, please follow us."

As soon as Edogawa Ranpo opened his mouth, the expressions on everyone's faces suddenly changed.

Next, they never received another call from Mizuno Chotaro.

After several calls were hung up, the other party seemed to understand that no matter how many more calls he made, the Armed Detective Agency would not take him seriously. This is the same principle as "Wolf Crying".

He gritted his teeth, picked up his "granddaughter" and rushed to where the detective agency was.

As for why he didn't go to the hospital... forgive him for the conditioned reflex, or obsession, that he has formed these days. Not only is the Armed Detective Agency used to his "help" calls, but he is also used to asking the Armed Detective Agency to rescue him as soon as possible.

"granddaughter".

His "granddaughter" had long curly hair that looked like black algae, and there was blood stains all over her body. There was even blood constantly slipping from the tips of "her" fingers, leaving a long string of blood marks on the ground.

Mizuno Chotaro also tried to stop a taxi, but when the driver saw that the person on his back was covered in blood, he refused to take him for fear of being involved in a murder case.

There was no other way, so Mizuno Chotaro had no choice but to use his old body to carry his "granddaughter" on his back and walk towards the armed detective agency.

After all, he was old. No matter how light he was, he was still a living person. The weight of dozens of kilograms weighed heavily on him, making his already somewhat rickety body almost touch the ground.

Every step he took was trembling, as if he could fall to the ground at any time. Even so, he still relied on amazing perseverance to carry his "granddaughter" for quite a distance.

Soon, Kunikida Doppo and others drove up. When they saw Mizuno Chotaro and the person he was carrying, they hurriedly stopped the car on the side of the road.

Before the car stopped, Yosano Akiko opened the door and walked to Mizuno Chotaro with a few strides on her high heels.

"Tanizaki! Come and help, put him on the ground!"

"yes!"

As soon as he saw everyone in the detective agency, Mizuno Chotaro, who was sweating profusely, finally breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as the energy held in his chest came out, his legs gave out and he fell to the ground. Fortunately, Kunikida

Dubu was supported.

Mizuno Chotaro didn't bother to say thank you, and stared intently at Yosano Akiko who was examining her "granddaughter".

He was panting like a broken bellows, but he didn't forget to say: "Can you help me save my granddaughter this time?"

"..." Kunikida Doppo glanced at him with complicated eyes, and then looked at Yosano Akiko.

After the latter checked, he said in a relaxed tone: "Don't worry, although the breath is weak, he is indeed still alive. As long as there is still breath, I can save the person."

Mizuno Chotaro's eyes suddenly lit up.

"It's just..." Yosano Akiko changed her words and reached out to push the man's blood-stained hair away from his face, revealing an extremely pale and beautiful face.

"Just what?" Mizuno Chotaro asked eagerly.

"Is this really your granddaughter?" Yosano Akiko's expression was a little strange. They had seen photos of Mizuno Izumi from the information provided by the police, and they looked completely different from the person in front of them.

Hearing the other party's question, Mizuno Chotaro was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, shouting: "Why isn't she my granddaughter? Look at her hair, it's just like my wife's, black, thick and curly, so pretty!"

Everyone in the detective agency: "..."