Chapter 41: Sonoko: Prince Charming, Save Me

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Villa attic.
After Gao Mo temporarily hid himself, the sense of impending death finally began to wane.
He needed to think carefully about how to expose that disgusting fat man.
Speaking out directly... it didn't seem very credible.
Even if he could clear his own name, there was no evidence to point to Takahashi, the fat man, as the killer.
"How on earth did that guy manage it?"
Gao Mo recalled the reactions of everyone in the villa just moments ago.
Why did they call out his name and the female screenwriter's name directly?
It was as if they had seen him commit the crime with their own eyes...
What exactly had the fat man done?
Gao Mo quickly ran through the events since his arrival at the villa.
In truth, the fat man's framing technique wasn't particularly clever; he had simply been exploited because he happened to be in disguise.
Or perhaps there had been other designs to frame the "actors," but the strategy was changed at the last minute because of his own anomaly...
These things no longer mattered; he had to figure out the fat man's murder scheme first.
"Swish!"
Gao Mo looked out through the gap in the attic window.
Amidst the rain, the group returned to the villa with various expressions. Sonoko, who had been incredibly bold earlier, was now teary-eyed, huddled together with Ran, both shivering.
The men behind them also looked terrified. Conan followed Ran, lost in thought. Only the fat man lagged behind, feigning physical exhaustion while casting a sinister glance around, as if still searching for someone.
Lines of quest text projected into Gao Mo's eagle-eyed vision.
Sonoko’s [Prince Charming, come save me] and Ran’s [Shinichi, hurry over] were passed over.
The long-haired handsome man’s [Seduce Ran]—having the urge to flirt at a time like this, skip.
The middle-parted photographer’s [Win an award with a documentary]—profiting from a classmate's tragedy, acting terrified while actually gloating, right?
Takahashi the fat man—[Find Rinzaburo, find a way to make Rinzaburo "commit suicide" or, if necessary, "self-defense" kill Rinzaburo, pin the crime on Rinzaburo as soon as possible, and if necessary, destroy the body and evidence so there are no witnesses].
That dog’s quest was so long.
Gao Mo noticed that the fat man had brought the murder axe back with him so openly—did no one stop him?
This way, even if the police later discovered fingerprints, the fat man would have an excuse about being careless.
He might even use it to kill again...
Oh, almost forgot about Conan.
Gao Mo focused his attention, reading the quest text before Conan ran back into the villa—[Protect Ran well], [Find the real killer], and [Who is Rinzaburo].
Three popped up at once, and they were all normal tasks.
Conan, this guy, finally looked a bit more agreeable.
Suzuki Ayako remained inside the villa and was out of sight. Seeing this, Gao Mo did not hesitate and began to draw a quest.
[Ota Masaru—Seduce Ran]
Watching the glowing text that looked nauseating, the difficulty was second only to the fat man Takahashi's task.
Gao Mo shrank back into the attic, expressionless, and continued to draw.
He would trade the Moustache Man's entire lifetime of luck for a normal task.
First choice, Conan; second choice, Suzuki Ayako (whose task content he didn't know yet); even Sonoko or Ran would do...
[Conan—Protect Ran well]
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"Phew!"
Gao Mo breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling a sense of sincere gratitude toward the Moustache Man.
Sorry, good partner.
Protecting Ran, although it didn't sound easy—and in other contexts, it would be a joke, as Ran had always been the one protecting him—was exactly the most suitable task for him at this moment.
He only needed to keep a close watch and let Ran utilize her strength normally.
Ran and her father both suffered a drop in combat effectiveness when they were nervous or afraid; his coordination with Ran last time had been quite good.
Recalling that Ran had been attacked in the forest, Gao Mo’s gaze tightened.
Things that seemed inexplicable in an incident often had an underlying logic; the killer’s attack on Ran shouldn't be as simple as just trying to scare her.
Conan might have also noticed something, which was why his first thought was to protect Ran.
Otherwise, given that guy’s personality, he would have been immersed in deduction and investigation by now.
Also...
He had seen that bandage-clad monster, and neither the build nor the agility matched the fat man—he definitely couldn't be as obese as Takahashi.
An accomplice?
Gao Mo rubbed his hair, feeling a headache.
There seemed to be a crucial element here, but he couldn't quite grasp it.
Investigation, as expected, couldn't rely solely on observation; grasping the key points and logical reasoning were equally important...
Otherwise, he would end up like this: with his train of thought only a hair’s breadth away from the answer, simple enough to grasp, yet stuck at the door, unable to get in.
It felt like the name of a familiar old classmate, already on the tip of his tongue, but impossible to recall at that exact moment.
...
"Rumble!"
The rain outside intensified, a torrential downpour that completely obscured the suspension bridge over the cliff.
Under the invitation of Suzuki Ayako, the group went inside, only to find the telephone lines were dead when they tried to call the police.
Whether it was due to the thunderstorm or intentional sabotage, it was unclear.
"Rinzaburo isn't in his room!" the fat man Takahashi ran downstairs, panicked. "That shadow really did look like him back then..."
"What do we do?"
"I knew it," the long-haired man gritted his teeth. "That guy dressing like that, he’s clearly no good. Maybe he really is a serial killer!"
"In any case, everyone, let's search the villa together," the middle-parted man said while still filming. "Lock all the doors and windows, and when the rain stops and it’s light out, we’ll head down the mountain together to report this."
"That makes sense. That guy is only one person, after all... Chikako only met with harm because she was left outside alone. If we’re careful, we’ll be fine."
"Takahashi, why are you still holding that broken axe?"
"Ah, I forgot."
"Click!"
Conan followed the group as they locked the back door, suddenly noticing the shoes Gao Mo had left behind. A thoughtful look crossed his face, but he didn't say a word.
"What’s wrong, Conan?" Ran called out. "Everyone is going to check the second floor."
"Okay."
"Is this really going to work?" Sonoko stayed close to Ran, looking worriedly at the fragile glass doors. "They could be broken so easily..."
"At least it serves as a warning."
Takahashi checked around with a feigned air of concern.
"After we confirm everything is fine, let’s get some sleep. Otherwise, we’ll end up scaring ourselves to death before Rinzaburo even shows up."
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"This is truly terrible," the long-haired man also felt a bit drowsy. "It’s all Rinzaburo’s fault; now my head is full of that woman Chikako’s corpse."
"Yeah, it scared me to death."
Takahashi put on a pained expression.
"Rinzaburo is likely hiding outside now. Everyone, let's not lock our bedroom doors, just in case we need to help each other out if something happens."
"Right, and don't sleep too soundly."
...
Attic.
Gao Mo slowed his breathing to listen to the sounds downstairs.
These people were actually going to sleep separately...
If it were him, he would have insisted that everyone stay in the dining room to survive the night.
Was the fat man still plotting against Ran?
This guy was too deceptive; he had everyone wrapped around his finger, even Conan hadn't suspected anything.
After eavesdropping for a while, Gao Mo managed to piece together the situation from Conan asking questions.
Almost everyone had been in the dining room. When the fat man said he was going to continue fixing the roof, he discovered something outside, and then the group saw the shadow of the bandage-clad man running past the window carrying Chikako.
The middle-parted man’s camera happened to capture the scene.
Then, under the guidance of the fat man who had run downstairs, they went into the forest...
The fat man’s only mistake was likely that he, the mastermind, hadn't been caught on the spot.
And there was the possibility that Ran might have inadvertently held some leverage over this guy.
"Phew!"
The wind and rain lashed at the outdoors.
The people in the villa returned to their rooms one by one. Conan was also pulled along by Ran and Sonoko, who said they didn't feel comfortable leaving a child in a room alone.
"Don't worry, Conan. If that monster comes, your big sister will serve him some karate!" Ran promised.
Beside her, Sonoko clung to Ran tightly: "Ran, you’d better be reliable this time. I have a feeling that guy’s target is me."
"..."
Conan was speechless for a moment before turning to Ran: "Ran-neechan, do you know why that bandage-clad monster attacked you? For example, did you accidentally offend someone?"
"I don't know. I've been with you almost the whole time since we arrived here," Ran shook her head, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "There is something that bothers me... but I can't remember what it is."
"Stop talking about it, it’s making me think of Chikako-san again," Sonoko climbed into bed, feeling uneasy, and wrapped herself in the blanket like a ball. "I was hoping to find a Prince Charming, what kind of disaster is this..."
Once there was no more movement from downstairs, Gao Mo quietly poked his head out.
After waiting a while longer to be sure no one was wandering about, Gao Mo found the ladder the fat man had left after fixing the roof and carefully climbed down from the attic window to the second-floor balcony corridor.
Ran was staying at the other end, and he had to pass by the rooms of the others.
Gao Mo walked a few steps only to see the long-haired youth standing in front of the glass door, smoking. He quickly pressed his back against the wall to hide.
The lack of information made his thoughts more chaotic; every one of these people felt suspicious.
It wasn't even impossible that they were all acting together.
Wait...
Gao Mo looked toward the direction of the suspension bridge, and suddenly, a key clue clicked in his mind.
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