Oritis in the world of Detective Conan

Chapter 398: Death of the Lamb (Epilogue)

"Furthermore, there's another question: what was Fool Gold's motive for attacking Mr. Campbell?"

"If it's due to his hatred for the Glittering Stone Mine, then his first target should be Miss Barrier," Akai Shuichi continued. "But since that's not the reason, then based on our research into Mr. Campbell's life history, there's only one possibility."

"Mr. Campbell may not have been the only survivor of the Glittering Gold Grotto mining disaster. Fool Gold likely survived as well. However, Mr. Campbell subsequently acquired the gold mine and the position of mining director. Fool Gold attacked him out of hatred and jealousy."

"That's certainly possible. After all, Fool's Gold seems to hold grudges very strongly. Kaito Kid was tortured badly for trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone before." Conan nodded, secretly complaining about why Kaito Kid hadn't told him about Fool's Gold's human identity. "Without further delay, let's set off immediately to investigate the Glittering Stone Grotto thoroughly."

"By the way, has Mr. Orpheus had any reaction to Mr. Campbell's disappearance?" Shuichi Akai suddenly asked.

"Ms. Meili looked very nervous at the time, and Mr. Frederick was taking care of Mr. Orpheus, who was not in a good mental state."

"Also, Alice's health isn't very good. If my friend and 'daughter' pass away one after another, I'm a little worried that Mr. Orpheus might suffer a mental breakdown from the huge blow he's suffered."

"Is that so... Mr. Frederick is a member of the Oritis Organization after all. I'm worried that he's the one pushing all this. His previous actions on the Esembad have already shown that he's very good at disguise." Akai Shuichi analyzed, pinching his chin.

"No way, aren't they good friends for years?" Cameron asked incredulously. "From the intelligence we've gathered, Mr. Orpheus and Mr. Frederick met in France, and he met the other two in England. They seem to have a pretty good relationship."

Shuichi Akai immediately pulled out a statement released by Norton Mining a few days ago. Judy leaned forward to take a look. "In the chairman's absence, all matters are handed over to Mr. Frederick Kreiberg... This..."

"Even if they wanted to plan ahead, this is too swift. And at this rate, even if the company announces the transfer in a few days, it won't raise any suspicion." Akai Shuichi put away his phone. "Do you still think Mr. Kreberg doesn't have other ideas?"

"But, at that time... Mr. Frederick cared so much about Mr. Orpheus..." Conan still didn't quite believe the conspiracy theory, so he decided to make a phone call.

The call was finally connected after a long time. The person who answered was a little girl: "Is this Conan? This is Alice. Dad is sick now and can't answer the phone."

Conan could tell from the phone that the little girl's voice was also very weak: "Alice, is Mr. Orpheus okay?"

"It's okay. Uncle Percy checked Dad. He said he just had a nervous breakdown. Plus, he's had a lot going on these past few days, so he developed a low-grade fever."

"What about you, Alice? Your voice..." Conan couldn't help but worry about the little girl's physical condition.

"I'm fine. Dad and Uncle Frederick have worked very hard. Even for them, Alice will persevere!"

"So Alice, where is Mr. Frederick now?"

"He's taking care of Daddy. He's cooking in the kitchen right now. Daddy's lying in bed." The little girl coughed twice. "Ahem. And Conan, it seems Aunt Merry is away. She went out with Daddy and Uncle Frederick and hasn't come back since."

Conan's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Could it be that after Mr. Norton got into trouble, Ms. Mary would also get into trouble?

At this time, the composer picked up the phone: "Pliny said he had some personal matters to deal with outside, so he left alone after returning from the police that day."

"Okay, little Alice, you can't eat ice cream cake today. You must take your cold medicine obediently." The composer's voice coaxing the little girl came from the phone.

"Eh? But I really want to eat..."

"No, you have to wait until you recover before you can eat it. I'll go make some cream of mushroom soup later."

"All right......"

"Although you can't eat ice cream cake, I can make you some other snacks. How about strawberry tart?"

"Great!"

After responding to the little girl, the composer's voice came again: "Conan, is there something you want to talk about?"

"Um, no, no, I'm just a little worried about Mr. Orpheus's condition." Conan said and hung up the phone.

"Perhaps we're overthinking it. Mr. Frederick is currently at Dros Manor, taking care of Mr. Orpheus. Grandpa Balk, Uncle Ban, and Uncle Percy are also at the manor. Even if Mr. Frederick really wants to do something, he won't be able to escape their sight."

"But why did Ms. Meili leave so suddenly? Fool Gold told me at that time that if Ms. Meili didn't speak honestly, she would be the next..."

"Perhaps there are some unspeakable secrets behind these people, and Fool's Gold is trying to force Mrs. Pliny to reveal the secret in this way?" Judy guessed.

"If I insist on telling you a secret, I only know that Mr. Frederick burned his entire family to death during a family banquet in revenge. And Ms. Meili's secret may be related to her husband. Jack once came to her house to threaten her."

"Joshua Pliny? From what we've found, he probably died from a rare bee venom." Cameron was a little puzzled. "Could it be..."

"If there's any secret behind this, it's that this Lady Pliny is the murderer of her husband," Akai Shuichi analyzed calmly. "The so-called bee venom could be a pretext, or perhaps she obtained it from someone else and then destroyed the evidence."

"Ms. Meili told me that she just took away the serum, which caused Mr. Joshua to be unable to detoxify in time when the poison took effect, so it does not constitute murder." Conan recalled the "truth" told him by the entomologist.

After a while, the FBI arranged a private plane again, and several people flew to the location of the Golden Grotto.

"The last time I came here was to survey the location of Oritis Manor." Cameron sighed.

"Last time, several agents and I discovered mushrooms that release hallucinogenic spores in the mines of the Glittering Gold Grotto. We'd better wear masks when we go in." Conan turned back to look at Akai Shuichi. "Mr. Akai, has the FBI's research center found anything about that special mushroom?"

"The people in the biochemical lab said it's a highly hallucinogenic fungus. The entire strain is poisonous, likely due to the unique environment at the bottom of the mine. But as long as you don't inhale the toxic spores, you'll be fine."