"You said Conan is missing?" Officer Sato asked again, unable to believe it. "Ran, when did you notice Conan was gone?"
"Early this morning, Conan told me he wanted to go to the town library because he heard they had a collector's edition of Edogawa Ranpo's works, so I agreed…" Ran was filled with self-blame. If only she had gone with Conan, this wouldn't have happened.
"That kid, always causing trouble," Mouri Kogoro complained.
Ran looked up sharply. "Dad! How can you say that at a time like this?"
"Alright, alright, I won't say anymore." Seeing his daughter was truly angry, Mouri Kogoro sobered up and began analyzing the situation seriously. "Morioh might be a small town, but it has a large forested suburban area on one side and the ocean on the other. Finding someone will require significant manpower."
He then turned to Inspector Megure. "So we'll have to trouble you, Inspector Megure."
Inspector Megure readily agreed. "Don't worry, Mouri."
Their conversation was heard clearly by Jolyne. Just a few hours ago, Conan had been following her. That meant Conan had lied to Ran, and he had gone missing after seeing her at the café.
If it's the café... Oh no!
The haunted alley was right next to the convenience store! Could Conan have accidentally wandered into the haunted alley?!
"Jolyne?" Jotaro had hailed a taxi and opened the door, calling for her to get in, but turned to find her still standing there, lost in thought.
Jolyne snapped out of it. "I just remembered something I have to do. You go back to the hotel first." With those words, she ran off in the opposite direction without looking back.
"…Yare yare daze." Jotaro watched Jolyne's retreating figure, thought for a moment, and then a slight smile touched his lips.
*
On the way, Jolyne called Koichi Hirose. No one knew more about the haunted alley than him.
After a few seconds of dial tone, a familiar voice came through. "Miss Jolyne? Is something important happening?"
"Yes, Koichi. There's no time to explain in detail." Her voice shook from running. "Tell me how to get out of the haunted alley, now!"
"Huh? O-okay!" Koichi on the other end became tense as well. "After entering the haunted alley, take a left at the second red mailbox. Walk straight to the end, and that's the exit. But whatever you do, don't look back! No matter whose voice you hear, don't turn around! This is very important, Miss Jolyne!"
"I understand. Thank you, Koichi." Jolyne hung up, silently repeating Koichi's instructions: left at the second red mailbox, keep going straight, don't look back…
She reached the entrance to the haunted alley at top speed—a narrow lane squeezed between a convenience store and a pharmacy, one that didn't appear on any map.
Conan must have noticed this anomaly and, driven by a detective's intense curiosity, walked into the haunted alley.
Koichi had also emphasized on the phone that once you enter the haunted alley, all electronic signals are blocked, cutting off contact with the outside world. The alley looks ordinary from the outside, but once inside, you lose control and end up walking in circles—what's commonly known as a 'ghost loop'.
Trying to fly out using a flying-type Stand was also useless because once you leave the ground beyond a certain height, even a Stand is forcibly pulled back down by a mysterious force. Koichi had once tried to use his Stand to fly up and survey the alley's layout, but it ended in failure.
Jolyne committed everything to memory, ensuring she hadn't missed any details, and stepped into the alley.
Contrary to her expectations of a dark, terrifying scene, the haunted alley was quite ordinary, no different from any other alley in Morioh.
The sky above was still clear blue, the sunlight on her skin even felt warm. The alley was clean and tidy, the walls on both sides looked new, and the light green color scheme felt welcoming.
Remembering Koichi's warning, Jolyne walked to the corner, picked up a stone, and drew an 'X' on the wall. Then she continued inward, trying to find any trace of Conan.
At the same time, she counted her steps silently, estimating the alley's length.
Soon, she reached the first crossroads. There was no red mailbox nearby, meaning no matter which path she chose, she would end up back at the starting point.
Jolyne chose to go straight. After walking for what felt like a long time, she saw the mark she had left on the wall. Sure enough, she was back where she started.
"Fine, let's try the next path." Jolyne pressed on, praying she would find Conan on this chosen route.
Reaching the crossroads again, she chose to turn right this time. As she entered the next alley, she saw a short-haired girl in a pink dress standing ahead.
It was Sugimoto Reimi. Although Jolyne had never met her before, she recognized the girl instantly from Koichi's description.
Sugimoto Reimi was the first victim of the serial murders. Before she was killed, she opened a window for a three or four-year-old Rohan Kishibe to escape. After her death, her spirit became a ghost, silently watching over the town. Her spirit shone like gold, a truly respectable person.
"Are you lost, miss?" Sugimoto Reimi asked, hands behind her back, hopping lightly over to Jolyne with a smile.
"Uh, not exactly. How should I explain this to you, Miss Reimi…" Jolyne tried to be concise. "I'm looking for a child."
Sugimoto Reimi looked surprised. "You know me?" She began examining the boldly dressed girl closely—the front part of her golden hair dyed a vivid green, matching the striking green lipstick. Following downward, Reimi's gaze settled on the butterfly tattoo on Jolyne's arm.
How to describe this feeling? Reimi thought. This girl was like a painting with the saturation turned all the way up—jarring at first glance, even hard to accept, but if you lingered, you'd be drawn in by her unique charm.
Jolyne was used to people's stares and didn't mind. "Koichi told me about you. My name is Jolyne."
"Eh? Koichi? Then you're a friend of Rohan's too?"
Although being called Rohan's friend made her uncomfortable, Jolyne didn't deny it. "So, Miss Reimi, have you seen the child? His name is Edogawa Conan." She then carefully described Conan's appearance and characteristics.
After listening intently, Sugimoto Reimi understood who Jolyne was looking for. "There is indeed a child like that. He rushed in recklessly by himself and has been trapped here for several hours now."
Reimi had wanted to help Conan escape, but since he wasn't a Stand user, he couldn't see her, a ghost. No matter how much she called out to him, he couldn't hear her.
The result was—Conan couldn't find his way out, and Reimi could only watch anxiously. But with Jolyne here, everything could be resolved.
"I'll take you to him now." Sugimoto Reimi led the way, and Jolyne followed obediently. After navigating several alleys, they finally found Conan, who was crouched in a corner, questioning his life choices.
"Conan?" Jolyne walked over and bent down to pat his head.
Conan flinched back reflexively, adopting a defensive posture. Once he saw it was Jolyne, he relaxed, the dullness in his eyes replaced by a spark of hope. "Jolyne big sister!" But the spark quickly faded, and he slumped again. "How did you get in here too?"
It's over, completely over. Conan was on the verge of breaking down. If he could turn back time, he would never have entered this alley just because he glanced at a map posted on a bulletin board. For hours, he had tried countless times, but no matter which path he chose, he always ended up back where he started.
He had also tried using his special watch to call Dr. Agasa for help, but surprisingly, there was no signal at all; he couldn't even send a text.
This was the second time he had completely lost his composure since being shrunk by the APTX-4869 poison from the Black Organization.
If he weren't a staunch atheist, he would have thought he was experiencing a ghost loop.
Just as he was nearing his breaking point, Jolyne descended like an angel, appearing before him and giving him hope again. He was so moved he could have cried.
After the initial excitement, his intellect returned. But Jolyne being here is useless! Jolyne was full of mysteries, but in the end, she was just an ordinary person, without any special powers. She would just be one more person trapped… Conan fell into despair once more.
"Jolyne, Conan doesn't seem to be in a good state," Sugimoto Reimi said with concern.
"Yeah, it looks like we need to get out quickly, Miss Reimi." Jolyne reached out to pull Conan up, but saw his expression grow even more terrified.
Jolyne: "?"
Conan was sure he had just heard Jolyne say the name "[Reimi]", but the alley only had him and Jolyne in it…
"Jolyne… big sister, who… are you talking to?" Conan stared at Jolyne, who seemed to be talking to herself. The situation was extremely eerie. Could this alley be causing hallucinations?
Jolyne looked at Conan, puzzled, but quickly realized the reason for his expression. She had almost forgotten that Conan couldn't see Sugimoto Reimi. From his perspective, she was talking to thin air.
How was she supposed to explain this to Conan now?… For the first time, Jolyne felt her brain wasn't up to the task.
…Fine. After they got out, they'd just have to ask Rohan Kishibe to use his ability to erase Conan's memory.
"Never mind that for now. I'm taking you out." Jolyne took Conan's hand. Sugimoto Reimi led the way, with the two following close behind. They soon reached the intersection with the red mailbox.
Jolyne's expression turned serious. She instructed Conan, "Conan, we're going to walk through this alley now. Remember, walk slowly, don't run, and no matter who you hear calling you, do not turn around. Understood?"
Conan nodded dumbly. All of this completely surpassed his understanding of the world. Could he interpret this as a cursed alley? So, did things that defied normal logic really exist in this world?
He had always found Jolyne suspicious, which was why he had followed her. The gruesomely deceased victim at the hotel, the alley where you couldn't look back… Conan connected the dots and arrived at a conclusion that was both logical and absurd—there were people with supernatural abilities in this world. He didn't fully understand what these abilities were yet, but they definitely existed. And Jolyne was one of those people.
"What happens if you look back?" Conan wanted to gather as much information as possible. He wanted to peel back another layer of the world's veil.
Jolyne looked at Conan. He had a stance of [I'm not going with you unless you explain properly]. In the end, she chose to tell him. "An evil spirit will drag you away. I don't know where, but it's definitely not a good place."
"Can we go now?" Jolyne asked one last time.
Conan nodded. He wanted to ask more, but Jolyne stopped him. "If you have more questions, ask after we're out of the alley. I'll tell you everything you want to know" …Yeah, right.
Receiving Conan's confirmation, Jolyne stepped into the alley. Conan followed closely behind.
As Conan stepped into the bizarre alley, he tentatively took a step forward and immediately felt a chill run down his spine. He grew bolder, wanting to get out quickly. He almost broke into a run but remembered Jolyne's warning and slowed his pace.
Conan took a few deep breaths, adjusted his stride, and counted: two steps, three steps, four steps… Almost there, the exit was just ahead.
[Conan, turn around now!]
Conan froze. That was Jolyne's voice coming from behind him!
No, that couldn't be Jolyne. It must be an evil spirit trying to trick him into looking back by mimicking her voice. Conan glanced at Jolyne walking ahead of him; she was moving steadily, which made him more certain the voice behind him was the evil spirit.
But just as he prepared to move forward again, Jolyne's voice came from behind once more.
[Conan, turn around and stop going further! The one in front is fake, she's tricking you!]
The voice from behind grew more urgent. Conan became disoriented. Which one… was real?
Conan stopped again, forcing himself to calm down. The real one can't be faked, and the fake one can't be real. There must be a flaw.
Initially, he had been crouched in the corner, and Jolyne had found him, then brought him to the entrance of this alley… Nothing seemed off.
Wait. When she found him, Jolyne was talking to someone named [Reimi]. But was Jolyne really talking to a [Reimi] he couldn't see, or… was she talking to an evil spirit?
Had Jolyne even really come?
Once the seed of doubt was planted, it grew wildly in Conan's mind. Could it be that everything was an illusion created by the alley's evil spirits, including… Jolyne?
And the [Jolyne] behind him was the real one who had rushed here to stop all this?
He looked up ahead again. By now, Jolyne had already stepped out of the alley and was smiling, waving at him. But that smile seemed to twist, grotesquely, like a gaping maw.
He had been deceived. The [Jolyne] in front was the fake one. She had been lying to him all along.
***
No chapter tomorrow.
Webnovel is weird, the spacing get changed when i tried to edit with my phone, it looks normal on my laptop though...