Conan: The Magician of the End of the Century

Chapter 33 Heavenly Punishment
The people who stayed in the exhibition hall, facing Boss Zhenzhong's sudden departure, all showed blank expressions. They didn't understand why Boss Zhenzhong, who had just insisted on finding out the person who designed the prank, suddenly gave up the pursuit and left directly.

Facing the doubtful eyes cast by everyone, Director Ochiai shook his head helplessly, saying that it was something inside the museum, and it is not convenient to disclose it, please forgive me.

So everyone could only suppress their curiosity, no longer entangled in the prank, and began to visit the last exhibition hall.

Conan, who was still curious, went back to the scattered armor and paint before the cleaning staff arrived, turned on the flashlight function on the watch, and looked carefully.

In the end, he found a piece of paper that was mostly covered in paint from the bottom of a piece of arm armor. The word "Heavenly Punishment" was impressively written on the part of the end of the paper that was not stained with paint.

Seeing these two words, Conan suddenly remembered that when he searched the exhibition hall just now, there happened to be a huge oil painting called "Punishment from Heaven" hanging on the wall in the center of one side of the exhibition hall.

So he ran to the painting, looked at the bloody demon nailed to the wall on the canvas, and the bloody armored knight in front of him, Conan immediately compared it with lying in the paint as if covered in blood The real boss, and the armor stained with red paint scattered around.

Could it be that the person who designed the prank is threatening or warning the boss through this metaphor?

According to the previous observations in the hall, the boss Zhenzhong has a bad relationship with most people in the art museum, so almost everyone has a motive.

Considering that it was the man named Kubota who carried the armor in the end, and the other party seemed to be being blackmailed by the real boss, he should be the most likely person to create this prank as a counterattack.

Although Conan faintly felt that something was wrong, but thinking that this was not a major case like a homicide, most of the energy in his heart to get to the bottom of the matter rested for the most part, and it should be a puzzle-solving game to exercise his reasoning ability.

And three days later, when he learned from the newspaper that Kubota, an employee of the Mihua Art Museum, was arrested for stealing and reselling artworks, and that the Mihua Art Museum was also acquired by a new owner, he once again reaped the joy of winning the puzzle game.

"Sure enough, Kubota was blackmailed by Zhenzhong's boss because his behavior of guarding and stealing was discovered by the other party. He wanted to threaten the other party through a prank when he was unhappy. In the end, the two sides revealed the truth to each other and the incident came to light."

……

Just when Conan was complacent about his reasoning, Ishino was sitting face to face with director Ochiai in the director's office of Mihua Art Museum, drinking tea and chatting.

"This time, it is really thanks to you, Mr. Ishino. Not only did you save the Mihua Art Museum, but you also saved the old man who almost fell into the abyss and became a demon. I am really grateful."

After finishing speaking, Director Ochiai solemnly bowed deeply to Ishino to express his gratitude.

Shi Ye didn't refuse, and accepted the other party's gift frankly.

"It's just a little effort, and I'm not doing it all for you, it's for myself too. My fiancée and I love this gallery very much and don't want to see it disappear like this."

"Even so, I still have to thank you. Compared with your plan, the old man's actions are simply despicable and stupid, and almost tarnished this sacred art museum."

Recalling what happened three days ago, Director Ochiai shook his head in self-mocking, and at the same time felt awe again for the young junior in front of him.

Before the two left the Hell Exhibition Hall for the first time that day, Ishino designed the prank mechanism and replaced the content of the note on the wall with "The blackmailer will eventually be punished by heaven."

After Boss Zhenzhong saw the note, he would definitely realize that it was referring to him. When he excitedly tore off the note to trigger the mechanism, he would give priority to targeting the prank suspect on Kubota who was blackmailed by him.

Afterwards, the curator Ochiai found an opportunity to reveal to him that he had discovered that the exhibits had been stolen. In order to maximize his profits, and at the same time to get revenge on Kubota, the boss Manaka would impatiently issue an ultimatum to the other party.

And when Director Ochiai whispered close to Boss Masaka, he quietly glued the bug that Ishino gave him to the other party's clothes, and then the other party's blackmail call to Kubota was also heard by Ishino through the bug. recorded.

One of the reasons why we wanted to create a prank before was to let the clothes of Boss Zhenzhong be destroyed by paint, so that after the other party finished the extortion call and returned home, there is a high probability that they would not check the clothes, but just throw them away. will also be discarded.

Afterwards, Ishino only needs to anonymously send the audio tape to the media, and at the same time ask Ochiai curator to report Kubota's illegal behavior to the police. He will naturally pull out the carrot and bring out the mud, which will involve the boss Manaka in a series of lawsuits.

Under such circumstances, Boss Zhenzhong’s plan to transform the art gallery into a hotel will definitely be put on hold due to the exposure of the theft scandal. At the same time, it is expected that there will be a huge gap in the project funds obtained through the sale of exhibits.

For him, it became the best choice to quickly sell the art museum, quickly sell this hot potato, and exchange it for cash to stop the loss in time.

After that, it was a matter of course for Natsumi to let the art industry under the Kasaka family eat up the Mihua Art Museum at a low price.

Of course, even if there is an accident in any part of the previous design, Ishino also has a bottom-up plan, that is, incarnation of the "big tengu" to use his own monster thief stunt, and personally go to the boss's house to collect criminal evidence, which is also easy.

But in doing so, it's not easy to explain where the evidence comes from.Although it is possible to use the excuse of "I asked a private detective for help", it is not as shocking as letting the other party step into my trap step by step.

After all, for this operation, Ishino's biggest purpose is actually to take this Ochiai curator in front of him for his own use. If he wants to subdue such an old man with a strong will and extraordinary force, he can't just rely on kindness, but also let the other party see his own strength. means.

Just as Grandma Yangzi explained to herself the principles of the operation of the winery, the most important thing to gain the loyalty of others is the word "interest".

Only by allowing the other party to obtain the benefits they want, and at the same time making the other party believe that the interests of the boss are consistent with his own interests, can the other party be firmly tied to his boat.

Ishino repeatedly emphasized that he and Natsumi love the art museum because this is the "interest" that Director Ochiai cares most about. After buying the art museum, the interests of the other party and himself will reach an agreement, and the subsequent favor and power will only strengthen both parties A means of affiliation.

Of course, getting the help of curator Ochiai is not the only gain this time, and getting the Rice Flower Museum is also a part of Ishino's follow-up plan.

As the iconic public facility of Mihua Town, this art gallery was previously dismal because of the poor management of the former owner. Ishino is confident that by optimizing the business strategy, and at the same time drawing on his personal connections and influence in the art field, the art museum will be revived. Rejuvenate.

When the art museum has a large number of people again, it will also become an excellent intelligence gathering site.

In the end, with the perfect success of this operation, Shi Ye's "catch people" plan was successfully launched, which greatly increased his confidence in implementing the overall plan.

Thinking of the result of his two birds with one stone, Shi Ye showed a satisfied smile on his face.

"Then please take care of me from now on, Director Ochiai."

(End of this chapter)