Chapter Ten: Treasure Hunting

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Conan was scratching his head, pen and paper in hand, staring at a page filled with various conjectures. Frustrated, he muttered, "Why does nothing seem right?"

Genta was already sprawled out on his chair, nearly asleep, while Mitsuhiko lay slumped over the table, equally lethargic. The three elementary schoolers had previously mistaken the first symbol for a hat and the second triangular symbol for a pair of briefs, leading them to conclude the target must be a clothing store. After selectively ignoring the subsequent clues, the three had excitedly abandoned Conan to wreak havoc at a local clothing boutique. Not only did they end up exhausted after digging through piles of underwear, but they were also lectured and chased away by an angry clerk, leaving them completely devoid of fighting spirit.

However, Ayumi, who had been resting her head on the table, suddenly sat up. Looking as if she had spotted something, she perked up and nudged Conan. "Conan-kun, look at that!"

She pointed across the street. Conan followed her gaze, and his excitement ignited—the sign on the shop across the way was identical to the first clue on the paper, the very one they had previously mistaken for a hat!

Could it be that these clues referred to the signs on the street?

"You've been a huge help, Ayumi!" A bright, excited smile spread across Conan's face. He jumped off his chair and bolted out the door.

"Conan-kun!" Seeing this, the other three scrambled to follow him outside.

"Look, this symbol matches the sign on that shop perfectly. Maybe the clues refer to street signs!" Conan said, glancing left and right. "The second symbol is a triangle... Got it!" He pointed to a triangular sign hanging from a shop not far to the left. "Found the next mark!"

"But if that's the case," Genta scratched his head, "how do we explain the moon-shaped clue?"

At that moment, Mitsuhiko’s eyes lit up. He tapped Genta on the arm and said, "Dummy, what's the name of this road?"

"Tsukimi (Moon-Viewing) Road!" the four shouted excitedly. Ignoring the puzzled looks from passersby, they sprinted toward the shop with the triangular sign.

Perhaps they were too excited to notice Moray, who was leaning against the wall by the entrance of a cafe, smoking a cigarette.

Moray took a deep drag and exhaled a smoke ring. "Elementary schoolers are one thing, but you, the genius detective Holmes—did it really not occur to you that the boss isn't Japanese, and therefore 'moon' couldn't possibly refer to 'Moon-Viewing Road'? Your level still leaves something to be desired."

As dusk began to fade, the lights of Tokyo started to flicker on, illuminating the night sky and erasing the stars. He yawned, turned, and began walking toward the Tokyo Tower, which was glowing with red neon.

"If you're late, the gold coins will be mine. Wait, did those three lackeys follow those kids? Tsk..."

Moray clicked his tongue in annoyance and snubbed out his cigarette. "I still have use for those three. I hope they manage to find the place, otherwise, I'll have to grab them myself..."

***

Some time later, at the Southern Aquarium.

"Damn it, I can't find the fifth star-shaped mark anywhere..." Genta panted, his hands on his knees as he looked around.

"We're already at the Southern Aquarium..." Ayumi pointed toward the bustling aquarium across the way.

Are these kids any good? The three lackeys leaned against the exterior wall of a bar, looking displeased.

What? Conan looked up in surprise, his expression darkening. Tsukimi Road was the stretch between Tokyo Tower and the Southern Aquarium. This meant that once they reached the aquarium, Tsukimi Road ended. They had followed the clues perfectly until now; how could they have scoured the entire road and found nothing? It made no sense.

...Wait.

Conan suddenly realized his blind spot.

The gang leader was Italian, and he had used the Italian word "ORO" when marking the "gold"...

Would a person like that really use a "moon" icon to refer to "Moon-Viewing Road"? Or rather, did he even speak Japanese at all?!

If the moon didn't refer to Tsukimi Road, what could it mean? Could it refer to the night? If so...

Tokyo Tower, at night... the neon lights!

"I've got it!" Conan spun around and shouted to the group, "Let's go back to where we started—back to Tokyo Tower!" Without waiting for the others to catch up, he dashed toward the tower.

"Hey, Conan-kun!" The three members of the Detective Boys scrambled to follow.

The trio of lackeys watched them go; one sighed in defeat, while another covered his face in frustration. Why were they going back? Were these kids actually capable of anything?

They didn't realize that they, who had been trying to rely on these children to solve the riddles, were no better—perhaps even worse—than the elementary schoolers.

Seeing Conan and the others nearing the tower, the only Japanese member of the lackey trio signaled the other two to follow, and they gave chase.

Having walked Tsukimi Road once already, the elementary schoolers were exhausted, but Conan, who hadn't joined them in their earlier boutique rampage, had plenty of energy left. He stood beaming, looking up at the Tokyo Tower. As the red neon lights outlined the tower's silhouette, he wore a smile that showed he had the situation in the bag.

"Conan-kun..." Ayumi stepped forward and tugged on his sleeve. "Weren't the clues supposed to be signs? Why did you make us come back to Tokyo Tower?"

"That's not it," he turned back, offering her a confident smile. "The boss is Italian, and he used Italian for 'gold'; it's unlikely he'd use a moon icon to mean 'Moon-Viewing Road.' In that case, I think the moon icon stands for 'night.' And when you think of Tokyo Tower at night, you think of neon lights."

He pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Ayumi's brow and gently tucked a strand of hair that had stuck to her forehead. Ayumi’s cheeks flushed pink under the glow of the red neon.

Conan didn't notice, instead turning confidently and pointing toward a nearby building. "The clue he set is the neon light that can only be seen at night!"

"Oh!" Genta and Mitsuhiko followed his finger to see a glowing orange logo flashing on the building's exterior, identical to the first clue!

Ayumi, however, wasn't looking at the clue; she was watching Conan’s profile and his confident smile, her heart racing. "Conan-kun..."

"Let's go!" Genta charged ahead, with Mitsuhiko and Conan close behind.

"Ayumi, keep up!" Conan called back.

Ayumi stood still for a moment, feeling a sense of loss at the memory of her hand slipping from his. But she pulled herself together and followed the team. "Coming!"

With the right direction found, the four of them solved the remaining puzzles with ease.

"So, the final clue is this..." Conan looked at the two rectangular logos flashing alternately on the screen across the building. "According to the marks, the treasure is hidden here."

"The final clue? Isn't there still a fish-shaped one?" Mitsuhiko asked, confused. "A fish symbol should refer to the nearby river, right? Shouldn't the treasure be over there?"

"It's simple. Have you read the Sherlock Holmes collection?"

Conan didn't answer directly, instead offering a proud, knowing smile. "In 'The Adventure of the Dancing Men,' Holmes demonstrated his mastery of cryptography; and in another, fan-made work, Professor Moriarty also showed his capabilities in that area. In that story, the Professor had a famous quote—"

Moray, having climbed to the abandoned roof of the building, watched as the neon lights of the bridge across the river and their reflection in the water formed the abstract outline of a fish. He muttered to himself, "Whether it's a cipher or a code, because the designer's thought process is logical, their design will have a certain inertia. It's impossible for the first part to be a word game and the next to jump to a graphical puzzle. If you've solved the previous puzzles using one method and hit a bottleneck, don't rush to switch to another method."

Moray walked to the window, the flashing neon logo right beneath his feet. He stepped back a few paces until the bridge's neon lights, their reflection, and the red light atop a building's antenna formed an abstract fish.

"Think more, look more—perhaps the answer is actually quite simple... Ha! When did I say that? Two years ago? I can't remember. Where did that kid even read that?"

Moray glanced up at the gold coins hanging from the ceiling, then sat on the windowsill, watching Conan’s group below, who had shrunk to the size of dots. He maintained his sensory-enhancing technique. Because of the distance, only fragmented sounds drifted up on the wind.

"Come on up quickly, and bring those three lackeys with you. Once you all arrive, I'll be sure to tuck you kids in for a nice, long sleep."