Chapter 28

Stop joking!

The murderer is obviously you!

Even if she was sitting in a tree, even if she could only look at the ground from a distance, even if she couldn't see clearly the true face behind the man's hands, Angelica could still be 100% certain that the murderer was the pretender in front of her. man! The first reason is

that when the young man who called himself Uemura Mu immediately found Teacher Hamaguchi lying on the ground, she clearly heard what he blurted out - "There is a body -!!!"

, in the absence of confirmation, who can possibly judge a person's life or death by just looking at it from a distance?

After all, the death condition of the old man under the tree was not miserable. It could almost be regarded as a "peaceful appearance", and there was no ferocious look on his face.

This is Angelica's suspicion.

The second reason is that he clearly found the "body" and subconsciously shouted for help, but he never called the emergency number or the police.

It was obvious that whether he was anxious or nervous, this was just a facade put on by this man.

certainly.

The above two points are Angelica's simple and unsystematic reasoning.

The reason why she was 100% sure that Takemura Uemura, who was crying and out of breath, was the murderer was because - at this moment, there was a vague human figure following him.

The humanoid appearance looked very similar to the corpse on the ground, Hamaguchi-sensei.

The unconscious curse spirit was gradually disintegrating, but before it disintegrated, it seemed to be unwilling to do so, and persisted in trying to wrap the curse power scattered into threads around Uemura Meng's body.

It's a pity... the curse spirit can't be used as evidence. Similarly, the curse spirit can't tell Angelica what kind of misfortune the poor victim encountered during his lifetime.

"Teacher Hamaguchi has recently become obsessed with hugging trees...although I don't understand why..."

Uemura sobbed violently, explaining the reason why he came to Mihua Park: "But every day he takes time to go out and come to the park to look for A big tree that can be hugged tells the feeling of nature... Every time after hugging the tree, the teacher said that no matter how much depression he has, it will disappear..."

"I think...he chose this tree today... "

But! But!" Uemura clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "But...the teacher just wanted to hug the tree to keep himself healthy!"

"I don't know what happened to the man in the tree ?" There is no hatred... But you can tell by the way she doesn't dare to come down - it must be because she is weak and short of breath, so she doesn't dare to come down and face the teacher's pitiful face! "Hey, you murderer!" 

Angelica frowned tightly on the tree: He is really a nasty guy who slaps his nose and face. 

She really didn't know why the inexplicable tree trunk fell. She didn't know whether the inexplicable falling tree trunk hit Hamaguchi accurately. Did Hamaguchi, who fell to the ground after being hit by the tree trunk inexplicably, suffered from this? He died on the spot, Angelica was not sure... 

but! 

The deceased who fell under the tree did not complete the action of "hugging the tree" at all, she was sure of it! 

Although the plane tree is tall, its wide leaves do not block people's sight too much like other overgrown trees. 

Angelica couldn't see clearly from the tree, but at least she could see under the tree. 

Within ten minutes of her "climbing the tree", the teacher Hamaguchi was indeed close. In her memory, the other party had no close contact with the sycamore tree - at most, he only reached out and patted the trunk. 

"Since she doesn't want to come down, then ask the fire brigade to come and help her!" Uemura pretended to be so confusing that no one could tell that he just secretly said something to Hamaguchi's body. He sneered triumphantly, "When the time comes for your police investigation and questioning, everything will be revealed, right?" 

"Although this branch does come from this tree, it is obvious that this kind of overly flat cross-section cannot come from a tool. 

"If it is caused by a collision caused by a falling object, no matter the size or weight of the branch, the victim will not ignore the movement." 

Edogawa Conan touched his chin seriously 
. 
Analysis, the children who were traveling with him also nodded. 

It's a pity - 

"Okay! Children! Please leave the scene now!" 

"Leave this to the police!" 

Officer Megure also treats the children equally. At most, his tone is gentler than that of adults, and his expression is a little kinder. A little bit. 

He mercilessly asked the police to take away the children who were trying to watch from the scene. Several children reluctantly turned back frequently, and Angelica could see that they were indeed very reluctant. 

Among them, Edogawa Conan seemed to whisper something. Officer Takagi who was "escorting" beside him bent down, scratched his hair, and said a few words to him back and forth. 

Sigh... What a terrible situation... 

Angelica looked up at the covered sky, looked down at the lawn that had been completely cleared, then turned to look at the particularly fresh section not far away, and finally stared at herself slightly Shaking legs sighed. 

As soon as people start to have bad luck, they can no longer expect any "luck" to come! 

Before the fire brigade arrives, I have to think carefully about how to get rid of suspicion! 

It's embarrassing enough to have to trouble the fire brigade to come to the rescue if you can't climb up the tree... If you were "caught" by the fire brigade as a "criminal suspect"... Angelica felt like she was just imagining that scene. Tottering - it would be better to just let her fall from the tree! 

Now, the most important thing is to expose Takeshi Uemura's lies! 

Unfortunately, the cursed spirit suspected to be Mr. Hamaguchi's "vindictive spirit" has gradually collapsed, and there is no room for communication at all. Of course, according to Angelica's understanding, if a cursed spirit has reached a state where it can communicate with people, then Its level cannot be underestimated. 

If only... the scene could be reproduced... 

Angelica fantasized: If she could go back to before Hamaguchi's death like the previous times, could she be able to prevent the death of the other party, and also see clearly the murderer's crime? What about the technique? 

If only... I could take the initiative to look back... 

Angelica has had enough of being passive: whether it is emotionally or in life, even in terms of ability, she is not willing to accept it passively. 

Passivity can only bring harm - it may be active harm, or it may be unintentional harm. 

No matter what, you have to try it to know whether it is possible. 

Angelica imagined that the badge was floating quietly in her mind, emitting a faint light. 

Soon, she saw it - she saw the [Hourglass] that was now floating on her back. On the left side of the hourglass, four blue sands had gathered into a complete piece, leaving only thin One can break through the obstacles in the center and completely reverse the left and right. 

When the thought of looking back appeared, the fifth ray of light kept flashing in the hourglass on the left, as if seeking repeated confirmation from Angelica.

What would happen if...the hourglass was turned upside down...?

Angelica didn't know, but she didn't have much worry in her heart: maybe she was still a little naive, or maybe she instinctively had an inexplicable trust in her badge.

If a person doesn't even believe in [self], then what else can she believe in?

In a moment of hesitation, Angelica thought like this.

Well, in that case, let's do it.

Angelica stared at the hourglass. The butterfly-like hourglass flickered, and the light gradually spread from one side to the whole, and finally dyed the inside and outside extremely transparent.

If she could look in the mirror now, Angelica would also see that the hourglass behind her was also undergoing the same change.

However, no one could see the light that almost penetrated the fabric.

[Badge——]

[Backtrack——]

The first time she took the initiative to trace back, the process was much more complicated than Angelica imagined. Likewise, it was also more twists and turns.

The first thing Angelica felt was uncontrollable nausea and nausea.

In the moment when the badge glowed, the world in front of her seemed to be sucked into a mysterious vortex. All the images and colors were spinning and twisting in the same direction. Her eyes could not focus at all, and similarly, her body could not focus at all. Find balance.

Angelica felt that she suddenly became a lonely boat in the turbulent waves, and could only rise and fall involuntarily with the waves.

Fortunately, this dizzying feeling did not last long.

Five seconds later, Angelica took a deep breath, suppressed the pain with all her strength, and opened her eyes again.

The sycamore tree is still the same sycamore tree.

The breeze blew the leaves, and the rustling sound was still as fine as the whisper of the wind.

She looked under the tree - because she was using the badge's ability for the first time, her control of time was not very precise.

If possible... Angelica originally wanted to go back to before she climbed into the tree.

However, judging from the current situation, this expectation has obviously been disappointed.

Under the sycamore tree, a familiar man was walking and approaching slowly.

Angelica lowered her head and observed: Isn't this the Hamaguchi who will soon die?

She couldn't see clearly from a distance, but she felt that the other person's skin seemed to have an unusual color - it was red, right?

It turns out...the allergy had already occurred before Hamaguchi arrived under the tree!

So, that Takeshi Uemura took advantage of this and disguised Hamaguchi's death as an accident? It's just that I happened to meet someone in the tree... In order to completely get rid of suspicion, he conveniently put the blame on me?

...Isn't this unnecessary?

As the saying goes, talk too much and make mistakes.

Angelica frowned, still not understanding why Uemura would bite her so hard.

[Crack——]

What’s the sound? !

Angelica came back to her senses and suddenly thought: That's right! This tree originally had a trunk that could break!

I remember——

[click——]

Angelica mustered up her courage and looked at the ground without looking. At the same time, he moved his body slightly, stretched out his left hand, and barely managed to grab the thing that almost became the "murder weapon" before the tree trunk fell.

Huh-

huh-

it's so dangerous-!

In this way, I won't be suspected of being the murderer anymore, right?

correct.

After Angelica confirmed that she had stamped the badge on the tree trunk, she stopped applying force: with the help of the badge, she rotated the fallen branch in a large circle and dropped it directly to the other side of the lawn.

besides.

"Hello." Angelica had to take the time to remind the other party, "Are you allergic?"

"Looking at you, something seems wrong."

? ? ?

Where did the sound come from?

Overhead?

Um--? ? ?

"Ah!!" Hamaguchi was already old. He suddenly heard the words coming from the tree, and his whole body trembled with fright. "Who are you?"

Angelica looked at the ground, and at the same time, she also looked at the obvious absence. Hamaguchi, who was in such a state, felt that his patience was being worn away bit by bit by the numerous surprises of reality.

never mind.

Angelica sighed, took out her cell phone and dialed the emergency number skillfully.

"Uh-ah...what..."

But as soon as the call was dialed, Hamaguchi under the tree was already covering his heart, taking a few deep breaths, and the rise and fall of his chest became weaker and weaker.

[Bang——]

The powerless Hamaguchi was not hit by the branches this time, but he still fell to the ground and gradually lost consciousness.

……No way……? !

Angelica was shocked and helpless.

Although she only used her ability to backtrack in the beginning to get out of a bad situation where she was suspected, but after the backtracking, the accident was stopped, and she also believed that she had saved a life...

but...now...is there still nothing that can be done?

The time to look back is, after all, too short.

Such a short time is far from enough.

Such a short time is far from enough to help a life escape the clutches of death.