After everyone had gone to sleep that night, Lin Jianhe slowly got out of bed. She originally intended to tiptoe out of the room, but was discovered by the young girl who had been waiting for her.
"Are you trying to leave by yourself?"
Lin Jianhe was speechless. "I'm just worried there might be some danger..."
In the darkness, faintly lit by moonlight, the young girl seemed to have a hint of a smile on her face. "If there's danger, Miss Assassin, whose strength is among the top in this world, would protect me, wouldn't she?"
"...That's true," she said, rubbing her head, but still not wanting to take Haibara with her.
However, before she could refuse again, her wrist was grabbed, and she was pulled out of the house without a word.
But as soon as she opened the door a crack, Lin Jianhe pulled Haibara back from behind. That was because the moment the door opened, she saw someone in a wheelchair in the corridor.
Haibara also held her breath as she focused her gaze. Madam was sitting in a wheelchair, just sitting quietly in the corridor. She made no movement. After a while, a young man in pajamas walked over. "Grandma? Why are you here?"
Madam, sitting in the wheelchair, spoke, "My daughter hasn't come yet. I need to go pick her up."
The man held the armrest of the wheelchair and comforted her, "Please leave Mother's matters to us. You should go back to your room and rest well."
After the two left, Lin Jianhe led Haibara out of the room. They went all the way to the room with the clock from that morning. The two entered the room, arranged stools and books as they had that morning, and then Lin Jianhe stood on them to turn the clock.
After a few turns, there was a "click," and the wall began to rotate. She stepped lightly, leaped down, and led Haibara into the secret passage.
After entering the secret passage, she gently sniffed, her expression turning serious.
There was the smell of death... The two moved forward in the dark secret passage. Lin Jianhe's night vision was excellent, a natural talent. Even in the dark, her vision was much clearer than an ordinary person's, so she didn't need a flashlight at all, which was much safer. Fearing that Haibara behind her wouldn't see and might fall, she reached out and took her hand.
"Hold on tight to me, you must hold on tightly."
"Got it."
They hadn't walked far when Lin Jianhe felt something sticky on the ground beneath her feet. She stopped, bent down, and touched the ground with her finger. It was sticky, and there was a smell of blood.
Haibara also touched a little with her fingertip. "This is fresh blood."
"That's right..." Lin Jianhe closed her eyes, and after confirming there was no other movement around, she turned on her flashlight. There were some undried bloodstains on the ground.
At this moment, Haibara also walked to the steps. "Aiba, look, there's writing here."
"That person has now taken my place and wants to obtain the treasure of this castle..."
"He might have been killed." After reading this incomplete message, the obvious hidden word was not finished, making it highly likely that the person who wrote this was killed here.
The two continued to walk along the wall. After an unknown distance, they suddenly felt the wall rotate, and both were sent out of the secret passage.
They returned to the door of the room where they had just entered the secret passage, only to find it locked.
"It looks like we'll have to find another entrance," Haibara said calmly.
"Why don't we go look at that burnt stone tower?" Since a human life was involved, Lin Jianhe's perceptiveness increased sharply. With the existence of that message, everything happening in this castle was highly suspicious.
And the most suspicious thing was the fire that took the lives of over a dozen people!
It was still raining outside. Even though it was summer, the night breeze, accompanied by the drizzling rain, brought a chill.
The two of them entered the stone tower. The interior of the stone tower had been ravaged by the fire, leaving it mottled and dilapidated everywhere. Based on Lin Jianhe's many years of experience, they quickly found a switch in a restroom.
After entering the interior, Lin Jianhe vigilantly watched her surroundings, but after walking for a long time, she didn't see a trace of Conan.
"Aiba, come look here."
She heard Haibara's voice and walked over. Illuminated by the light, a skeleton sat prominently, draped in a black robe with a full head of white hair.
"Almost all of its teeth have fallen out," Lin Jianhe couldn't help but recall the words on the steps. Her expression was grim. As she spoke, she pulled Haibara behind her, protecting her, while she herself stared intently into the darkness. "This is probably the real Madam!"
"You two little sisters, you're very clever..."
An old person's chilling voice came from the darkness.
Lin Jianhe sneered, "Your face, that plastic surgery was quite successful."
"I didn't expect you, a brat, to figure it out. Then you should understand what you're about to face next." Saying this, the person wearing Madam's skin raised an iron bar.
In the nick of time, Lin Jianhe sprang up, pulled out the curved knife she had taken from the study from her waist, and it collided with the iron bar wielded by the assailant. Then she quickly spun in the air and kicked the assailant in the upper jaw.
With a muffled grunt, the assailant, disguised as Madam, fell to the ground.
She sheathed the knife, having had her fill of excitement.
"It really is safe to be by your side," Haibara silently stepped forward, looking at the culprit lying on the ground, and couldn't help but fall into a memory.
There had been many such situations in the organization. Although it was for her work and obeying the organization's arrangements, there was no doubt that Aiba Yu had protected her many times.
"Then who do you think is better, me or the Great Detective?"
In the darkness, Haibara couldn't clearly see Lin Jianhe's expression, but she could hear a hint of expectation in her tone.
"Is this important?"
Haibara retorted with a somewhat playful tone.
"..."
"Haibara-san! Lin!"
Before they could say anything more, the voices of the Detective Boys came from a distance. A flashlight beam shone, revealing the Detective Boys and the police running over. They all paused in surprise when they saw the culprit lying on the ground.
"This... this is the culprit?"
"Did Lin subdue the culprit? You're amazing!"
Lin Jianhe waved her hand, "It wasn't me, she tripped and knocked herself out..."
After she finished speaking, she heard the young girl's suppressed laughter from the darkness.
Conan wasn't too surprised and began to explain, "This person had plastic surgery to look like Madam. Because she couldn't fool Madam's daughter, she set this tower on fire. And the treasure that the culprit longed for, left by the old master, was actually just the view from the top of this tower..."
After the case concluded, when the culprit awoke and discovered that the treasure she had so desperately sought was merely a view, and that she had killed over a dozen people for this ethereal treasure, she couldn't help but shed tears of despair.
And this culprit, who had undergone plastic surgery to resemble an old woman, could never return to her former appearance.
The next morning, Professor Agasa drove home. Having barely slept all night, Lin Jianhe had already fallen asleep in the car. When she got out and returned to the house, she was about to go straight to her bedroom, but she saw Haibara walk directly into the kitchen and tie on an apron.
"Aren't you going to rest for a bit?"
"For lunch, cream stew, no carrots."
Lin Jianhe paused, then was overjoyed, "Cream stew without carrots?!"
It was well known that Haibara was very strict about diet control. Just as the Professor needed to lose weight, she would regularly control his calorie intake. Lin Jianhe, on the other hand, was exceptionally picky, which Haibara could not tolerate.
But today, she had removed the carrots from the cream stew for her.
"That's great, I'll help you wash the vegetables!"
Lin Jianhe also followed her into the kitchen to help out. Haibara glanced sideways at the clearly happy young girl and smiled gently.