Oritis in the world of Detective Conan

Chapter 228 Golden Rose Theater (Epilogue)

Conan's reasoning continued: "First, Miss Emily, you brought belladonna extract as requested in the invitation, but you didn't expect Miss Emma to bring special plant essential oils, so there was a misunderstanding."

"Ms. Emily, you poured the extract into the vitamins you carried with you, gave the poisonous pills to Madam Mary, and left. But Madam Mary did not take the pills immediately."

The doctor was a little shocked: "What? But Mr. Ronald said..."

"Next is Mr. Ronald. You should have witnessed the whole process of Madam Mary taking poison. However, the poison was not the pills given by Miss Emily, but a bottle of perfume."

"After drinking an entire bottle of perfume, Madam Mary threw it away, smashing the makeup mirror. As for the tape recorder you brought, it must have been something you and Madam Mary had agreed on long ago. She would use her own death to reveal the truth about three years ago."

"The evidence is that you don't smell of any perfume, and if you were arguing and angry and throwing things, you should have thrown them at the other person, not at the mirror."

The explorer didn't deny this. "Indeed, Lady Mary and I started preparing the recording a few weeks ago. Our goal was to spread rumors that the male and female leads were having disagreements over the performance, so we could use the recording to confuse the public."

"Finally, Miss Margaretha. After you discovered Lady Mary's body, you poured your perfume on a handkerchief and stuffed it into Lady Mary's arms. Then the troupe director appeared behind you and asked you to drag Lady Mary's body onto the elevator and carry out the same plan as three years ago."

"This is what Madam Mary wanted to tell you. The lead actress was indeed used by the troupe's director as a tool to make money, both in life and after death. She was also warning you that the perfume you'd been using was poisonous. When the forensic evidence came out, you finally made up your mind to bring the director down with you."

"But you forgot that Lady Mary didn't like red handkerchiefs, so you hurriedly threw the white handkerchief into Miss Violetta's room and threw the empty perfume bottle into the utility room. Similarly, you didn't expect that Miss Violetta would give the white handkerchief to the child as a gift."

The dancer smiled bitterly. "Yes, Madam told me a long time ago that she hoped I would never take her place. I thought it was a provocation at first and felt envious and jealous of her, but now I understand why she said that."

Conan's reasoning came to an end, but the composer raised a question: "Did my aunt die in order to expose this dark stage?"

Conan hesitated to speak about this. After doing enough psychological work, he finally told the excuse that the perfumer had prepared for him a long time ago.

"In fact, this carefully planned drama was prepared by Lady Mary for Mr. Frederick. It is related to an extremely cruel truth."

"This Lady Mary is not Mr. Frederick's real aunt."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar on the police side, while there was silence on the part of the theater troupe.

The composer's eyes widened in disbelief: "You're lying, this is impossible!"

To maintain Lady Mary's image, Conan changed his excuse: "The real Mary Clayburgh hanged herself after marrying and moving to France because she couldn't stand the gossip. This news was kept secret by her husband's family, Mr. Manus's family, so Mr. Frederick probably didn't know the truth."

"This Lady Mary was originally a descendant of a noble family that had fallen on hard times. After witnessing the destruction of the Clayburgh family by fire and learning through the grapevine that Mary Clayburgh was dead, she disguised herself as Mary Clayburgh in hopes of reviving her family and gaining a share of the Clayburgh family's fortune."

"She met Lady Mary's little nephew, Mr. Frederick, a composer with great ideals and ambitions. He showed her, the aunt who had been driven back to her mother's home, the respect and care that only family members could have, something she had never experienced in that impoverished home."

"After a long period of acting, she began to lose track of whether she was really 'Mary', so she came to this stage to avoid the truth."

"Just like the plot of 'The Rope of Atropolos', Atropolos will not become Lachesis, and she is not the real 'Mary'. After she understands the darkness of this stage, she finally decides to muster up the courage to sever this false family relationship."

The composer found it hard to accept all this. His handsome face was now distorted with pain: "You're talking nonsense! You have no evidence!"

The dancer trembled as she handed over a letter: "Well, the evidence, the lady gave me this letter, saying that it should be opened when everything is over..."

The composer snatched the letter away with such force that the dancer started, he tore open the envelope and began to read.

"Dear Frederick, by the time you see this letter, my performance will have ended, right?"

"Forgive me, I am a liar, an actor intoxicated by false dreams. I really cannot speak to you directly."

"I often wonder if I can really be such a 'Mary'. If you will forgive me, please applaud my performance."

The letter was signed "Mrs. Bella," a false identity.

Conan breathed a sigh of relief. He was just worried that the letter would contain something related to Oritis, and then his excuse for the disagreement with the perfumer would be untenable.

The explorer took out the tape recorder and said, "Before the lady decided to end everything, she sang a song. She said she wanted to listen to it for the person she cared about most. I think that song must be you."

The tape recorder started working, and with the rustling prelude, Mrs. Bella's singing came out.

"Who am I? A dream or a lie?"

"Illusory praises surrounded me as I ascended the stage~"

"Bella Donna! Bella Donna!"

"Who hears the warning of time hidden in the crystal-clear hymn?"

"Another curtain call~The end has come~"

"The dream fades away, but I refuse to disappear from the world."

"Open your eyes and look at me~Who is deeply poisoned~"

"I'm going to risk everything~ For the stage, for my dream, for the fantasy that I'm destined to die for~"

The composer, who understood everything, knelt down and cried. The music sheet and manuscript he had prepared to give to his aunt were scattered on the ground. Conan put away the voice changer and looked at the novelist who was comforting the composer.

No wonder Aunt Mary asked Uncle Orpheus to look after Uncle Frederick. After what happened, I'm afraid Uncle Frederick will no longer turn a blind eye to the actions of the Melody family.

"Oh, this." Crazy Eyes took out a box and handed it to the composer. "Mrs. Bella asked me to give this to you. I haven't seen what's inside."

The composer opened the box and inside lay the "Blue Hope". The pure blue gem was outlined with the cornflower crest of the Kreiberg family in sterling silver.

A hidden card records what Madame Red wants to say to the composer: "Among so many 'Maries', I choose to be Mary Kreiburgh, simply because we are all lonely souls."

The composer who saw this message covered his face and smiled gently without anyone noticing.

The Golden Rose Theater incident came to an end. The police closed the case as suicide and did not hold anyone in the theater troupe responsible. Of course, the interference and concealment of the Melody family were also part of this.

When leaving, Conan noticed the photographer's provocative smile, and Conan secretly made up his mind: Your conspiracy will be exposed by me in the end!