Pathway to Japanese Literature

Author: Edogawa Rampo

The sound of gears.

On a winter night, under a clear moon, a police officer stood watch at the police box by the bridge near Ginza-dori. It was well past one o'clock in the dead of night. Even the avenue where trains, buses, and cars crisscrossed in all directions during the day was now as desolate as a country field. In the moonlight, only the four train rails glittered; there was nothing moving. It was a loneliness as though all the people in Tokyo had perished.

The police officer stood motionless under the red electric light of the police box, vigilantly surveying his surroundings. From under his thick mustache, white vapor rose with every breath he took. His breath froze in the cold. “Hmm, that’s a strange fellow. A drunk, maybe?” The police officer involuntarily muttered to himself. Right through the middle of the glittering train rails walked a man—a large figure in a blue suit and matching soft hat. Despite the bitter cold, he wore no overcoat.

The man’s way of walking was truly strange. It was no wonder the officer had thought he might be a drunk. However, upon closer inspection, he wasn’t a drunk. It wasn’t that he was swaying side to side—rather, he walked as though both legs were prosthetics. He wasn’t walking on human legs but rather on mechanical ones—it felt as though he were moving on legs made of machinery. His face was shadowed by his hat and hard to make out, but it seemed to have a dusky complexion, and without so much as glancing aside, he kept facing straight ahead like a sleepwalker, clanking heavily with each step.

But there was something even stranger than that. From both of the man's hands hung clusters of silver-glinting objects that swayed gently with each step, glistening in the moonlight as beautifully as gemstones. It wasn’t just his hands. From every pocket of his blue suit dangled silver objects until his entire body glittered and sparkled. The police officer couldn’t quite make out what those glittering objects were due to the distance. To him they looked like bundles of silver paper or perhaps clusters of glass beads strung on cords. Without making any attempt to stop him, he let the man pass—only to later discover something astonishing.

The glittering objects the man had been carrying were all pocket watches. He had been carrying dozens of chain-linked watches in both hands and had stuffed them into his pockets.

A man walking nonchalantly past a police box in the dead of night, dangling bundles of watches—what on earth could this man be? A fool? A madman? Or something even more terrifying than a madman? Later, that police officer had an odd thought.

“Hmph, those must have been bundles of watches after all. No wonder the sound of gears carried all the way here. Even small watches—when you gather that many, the sound of their gears grows surprisingly loud, you see.”

However, was that truly the sound of pocket watch gears? If it were a watch, the tick-tock marking seconds should have been louder. Yet what the police officer heard wasn't a tick-tock sound, but rather a sinister grinding of gears - like the teeth-gnashing of some giant.

Iron Fingers

Somewhat earlier than that, a terrifying incident had occurred at Hakuhodo—a famous clock shop on Ginza-dori.

At ten o'clock, they closed the shop, fitted storm shutters over the display windows from outside, and both the owner and clerks retired to bed. Since Hakuhodo was a temporary structure, they hadn’t yet installed iron rolling shutters, so all their closures consisted of wooden storm shutters.

In the dead of that night, a terrifying noise suddenly erupted near the display window—a splintering crunch followed by a metallic crash.

The young clerk who had been sleeping in the shop started awake in surprise and, by the dim light of the single small electric lamp left on, looked toward where the noise had come from—there inside the display window, something long and blue was squirming and rustling about.

The young clerk, paralyzed by terror, couldn't utter a sound. He stood rooted there as though turned to stone, without moving a muscle, staring at the squirming thing.

At first, it looked like an enormous bluish-green caterpillar, but it soon became clear that it was actually a human arm. It was a human arm clad in a blue suit. It was snatching up one after another the dozens of pocket watches—the pride of this shop—arranged on glass shelves.

In the thick glass on the outer side of the display window, a large hole had been torn, and the wooden boards of the storm shutters beyond had been smashed to pieces. The earlier noise had been the sound of the thief smashing through both the storm shutters and glass. “Thief!”

A great shout burst forth involuntarily from his throat.

“What? What? Where’s this thief you’re yelling about?”

The young adult clerk who had been awake all along, encouraged by the boy’s shout, deliberately bellowed in a booming voice loud enough for the thief to hear.

And then—all hell broke loose. Starting with the owner, everyone in the shop woke up and came out, all shouting at once. The quick-witted clerk called the police. Some rushed out through the backdoor to wake the neighbors. Before long, one brave clerk gripped a club, flung open the entrance storm shutters, and charged into the main street—whereupon two or three others followed suit.

Outside, the moonlight shone with daytime brilliance. Yet, on that main street, not a soul was passing by. The thief was neither shadow nor trace to be seen. Amidst all the commotion, it took them some time to rush out front, but no matter how fast the thief ran, he couldn’t have gotten more than a hundred meters away. They searched everywhere, thinking he might be hiding in an alleyway, but there was no trace of him anywhere. “What do you mean?! “What are you mumbling about?” “Speak up clearly!”

In front of the torn display window, one of the clerks was scolding the young clerk from earlier.

“They were iron fingers!” “It was definitely made of iron—that guy’s fingers.” “They looked exactly like the iron fingers of that artificial human I once saw at an exhibition.”

The boy said, wide-eyed and in a terrified manner. “Idiot, you were half-asleep. An artificial human couldn’t manage something as precise as stealing watches.”

“But I definitely saw it! The fingers were hinged—they creaked and bent exactly like the robot at the exhibition!”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, I saw it too. At first I thought he was wearing leather gloves, but that wasn’t it. You’re right. The fingers were indeed hinged.”

The young adult clerk who had been the second to raise his voice scolded the boy. Nearby stood the owner of Hakuhodo and five or six neighbors listening to this conversation, their faces pale as they exchanged looks. But the owner regained his composure and ordered his clerks: "We’ve already called the police, but we should notify the police box too. Stop this idle chatter and send someone running over there at once."

Then two young clerks dashed off. Feeling somehow afraid to go alone, they decided to head to the police box together. "That's strange. In just that short time, where could he have hidden himself?" "That thing's like some kinda monster, huh?" "Hey, you—he's not human." "I just can't shake that feeling." "Maybe it was just an arm." "There was no torso—it felt like only an iron arm had come crawling into the display window." "If it was just an arm flying through the air to escape, then no matter how much you searched, you'd never find it."

“Hey now, don’t go trying to scare me.” “Ugh, enough already.” “You’re always reading those creepy ghost stories—that’s why you come up with such ridiculous ideas.” “This is the middle of Ginza we’re talking about.”

“Yeah, but midnight in Ginza feels strangely desolate, doesn’t it? It’s just like a desert, isn’t it? That bluish caterpillar-like arm might be crawling around here somewhere, I tell ya.” “Hey, cut it out.”

Because they were so frightened, they found themselves wanting to crack jokes instead.

While panting breathlessly and exchanging such words as they ran, they drew near to the police box at the base of the bridge. A police officer stood exhaling white breath. It was the police officer who had seen the strange man in blue clothes pass by earlier.

When the clerks all reported the details of the theft in unison, the police officer, as if something had occurred to him, promptly asked them back. "He stole the pocket watch, didn’t he?" "A lot of them?" "Yes, every single one that was in the display window." "He made off with every last one." "And you're saying that guy was wearing blue clothes?"

The police officer peered searchingly down the moonlit main street. Then, far in the distance, the small figure of the blue-clad suspicious person could be seen walking with heavy, clanking steps. It was at that moment that the police officer remembered the sound of gears.

“That guy’s suspicious. “Let’s go after him.” “Wait here a moment.” The police officer hurriedly rushed into the police box, and no sooner had he uttered a few words to his colleague resting in the back than he came darting back out.

“Alright, you lot come with me.”

The three of them exhaled white breaths, their footsteps echoing through the slumbering main street as they broke into a sprint. On the asphalt ground, three pitch-black shadows danced a strange dance as they followed the trio.

The Fiend Vanishes into Thin Air

The suspicious figure showed no sign of noticing the trio's loud footsteps and continued walking mechanically with heavy, clanking steps.

They rapidly closed the gap until the distance had narrowed to about fifty meters. They could clearly see something glinting in both of the monster’s hands.

“Ah! That’s it! Those are watches! That guy must be the thief!”

One of the clerks, having keenly confirmed it, shouted. The three of them quickened their pace and ran. The suspicious figure still hadn’t noticed. The figure kept facing straight ahead, making no attempt to turn around. The distance between them and their target had now narrowed to about twenty meters. “Hey! Stop!” The police officer shouted in a terrifying voice.

Then, at that moment, the large man in blue clothes suddenly halted and spun around to face them. He didn't merely turn his head—he rotated his entire body backward.

The moonlight squarely illuminated the mysterious figure’s face. Dear God, that face. Neither the police officer nor the clerks would ever forget that face for as long as they lived.

It was not a human face. It was a bluish-black metallic mask. It was not black like iron. It was exactly the same color as a bronze statue. Or perhaps it was bronze?

A large triangular nose, a crescent-shaped mouth that seemed to be grinning, eyes devoid of pupils that appeared as nothing but pitch-black holes—it was a mask of uncanny eeriness, as though excavated from an Egyptian tomb dating back three thousand years.

The three of them were so terrified that they stood rooted to the spot as if nailed in place.

They could hear it. It wasn’t their own heartbeats. It was definitely resonating from within the monster’s body. Grinding, grinding—the sound of gears like a giant gnashing its teeth.

Even if dozens of pocket watches were gathered together, they couldn’t possibly make such an eerie sound. There had to be something inside the monster’s body producing that noise.

Suddenly, the grinding sound grew startlingly loud. No, that’s not it. A sound distinct from the grinding came bursting forth from the monster’s crescent-shaped mouth.

It was an indescribably unpleasant sound. A kee-kee-kee-kee sound, like metal scraping against metal—the monster was laughing. It laughed with that kind of terrifying voice. After laughing for a long time, the monster whirled around to face away from them once more, then nimbly dropped onto all fours. In both hands, it was still gripping the chains of numerous pocket watches. And then, the monster began running on all fours like a large dog.

Oh, what in the world was this? Now it was clear—this thing was truly a monster. A human running on all fours—such a thing was unheard of. Could this thing be a beast? No—this creature was more terrifying than any beast. The monster’s way of running was utterly different from that of dogs or cats. Both its front and hind legs moved with mechanical clumsiness. It felt exactly like a wind-up tin dog running on clockwork.

When the monster dropped to all fours, the three saw its profile. At that moment, the blue soft hat fell off, revealing the monster’s head and the back of its neck. It wasn’t wearing a mask. That terrifying face was not a mask—it extended all the way to the back. Ears, neck, and even the hair on its head—all gleamed the same bronze color. The hair was tightly curled into countless small balls like those covering a Buddha statue’s head.

Could the monster have been wearing a bronze mask that covered its entire head, like the "Iron Mask"? No—could it be that not just its head, but its entire body was encased in bronze? No sooner had it dropped onto all fours than that grinding sound suddenly intensified. Somewhere, gears were meshing with terrifying intensity. And as for its running speed—

The spot was right beside the national railway underpass. The monster dashed through beneath it and turned along the tracks on the other side.

No matter how creepy it was, they couldn’t just let the thief escape. The three regained their composure and chased after the monster.

However, when they turned past the railway underpass and emerged onto the side street, to their astonishment, there lay only a white road stretching endlessly under the moonlight—not a single soul was in sight.

“That’s strange.” “It definitely turned this way.” “Yes, there’s no mistake.”

As if in unison, the three of them came to a halt and strained their ears. However, that grinding sound was nowhere to be heard.

On one side stood rows of merchant houses with their doors tightly shut, while beneath the railway line on the other side stretched an empty lot. It had once been used as a warehouse, but now even the wooden partition separating it from the road was removed, leaving nothing to obstruct the view—the entire area could be taken in at a glance.

Just to be thorough, the three of them crawled under the railway tracks and searched every nook and cranny, but there was nowhere that giant could have hidden. The monster vanished without leaving even a shadow.

After that, they split up and combed every inch of the area, but still found no clues whatsoever.

A monster with a bronze neck and iron fingers couldn’t possibly have turned into gas and evaporated. So were we to say its body had become light like a balloon and floated up into the sky? That ghost story-loving young clerk felt he could faintly see the four-legged monster flying higher and higher through the moonlit sky, like a paper tiger leaping from fireworks.

Now, dear readers, what could this enigmatic bronze-necked monster truly be? Why does it run on all fours? What could that grinding, gnashing sound signify? How on earth did it vanish? Moreover, why on earth did it steal such a large number of pocket watches specifically?

There were proper reasons for all of this. This was no ghost story. It became a battle of wits between a fearsomely cunning phantom thief and the renowned detective Akechi Kogoro alongside Kobayashi Shonen. Even a monster resembling a supernatural apparition would eventually have its true identity revealed. However, before that time came, truly terrifying incidents would occur one after another.

The Monster Atop the Tower

The next day’s evening edition was filled with articles about this unknowable monster—whether human or machine—sending Tokyo citizens into terrified tremors.

Everywhere was abuzz with terrifying rumors of the mechanical humanoid.

However, this monster had not vanished for good after that. Then over about a month's span, similar incidents occurred five or six times across various parts of Tokyo. The targets were always famous clock shops or homes of rare timepiece collectors—common watches went utterly ignored while jewel-studded luxury pieces and antique heirloom watches were plundered one after another.

The culprit was always that creature with the bronze statue face. And when pursued, it would drop to all fours like a dog and run with such astonishing speed that no sooner had it darted around a street corner than it would vanish like smoke. They simply couldn’t capture it. The newspapers were daily abuzz with articles about this monster, and the rumors only grew more exaggerated.

“They say its entire body’s made of iron or copper.” “Didn’t it show up naked the other night?” “Yeah, that’s right.” “When a cop shot at it from behind, they say there was this clang and the bullet ricocheted off.” “Invincible, huh?” “Like some kinda armored vehicle monster.”

There were also those who spread such rumors. In another quarter,

“There might be a human inside it, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.” “That thing must be entirely mechanical through and through.” “Its body’s filled with nothing but gears inside.” “As proof—whenever that thing shows up, doesn’t it make that grinding noise of gears scraping together?”

“Are you saying it’s an automaton? But could they really create a mechanical human that operates so flawlessly? Maybe the culprit’s hiding somewhere and controlling it remotely, don’t you think?” “Yeah, that might be it. In any case, they went and invented one hell of a terrifying machine. And to use such a splendid invention for petty theft—what an utterly contemptible fool! I wish they’d catch it quickly and expose the secrets of that machine.”

Meanwhile, in another quarter, "But they claim it's made of metal—so how could solid metal vanish like smoke?" "There's something fundamentally illogical about this." "That's exactly why I say it's a ghost." "A bronze specter."

“A ghost that only steals clocks?”

“Yeah, that’s it. I think that thing eats clocks to survive.” “Clocks are that thing’s food.” “Since it’s a monster that lives on gears, it has to swallow a few clock gears every day to keep itself going.” There were even those who entertained such outlandish notions. Even so, wasn’t the idea of a mechanical humanoid surviving by eating pocket watch gears truly an absurd notion?

However, exactly one month after the initial incident, something utterly inconceivable occurred. If the monster was stealing clocks to devour their gears, then this time it must have swallowed an astonishingly massive object.

Though located within Tokyo Metropolis, in the desolate fields along the upper reaches of the Tama River, there stood a modest hill surrounded by woods, upon which towered a strange clock tower. The house had been built around the end of the Meiji era by the owner of a renowned clock shop, with the entire structure constructed from old-fashioned red bricks. The clock tower too was assembled from bricks and crowned with a spire-like roof resembling a pointed hat. The fact that such a clock tower existed in such a remote location was unknown to many Tokyo residents, but due to this incident, the tower suddenly became famous. This was because the clock section of the tower had been completely stolen overnight.

It was a night of fierce winds. That day, the young couple had gone out on an errand requiring an overnight stay, leaving only the elderly master over seventy, an aged nursemaid, and a housemaid—three people in total—at home. They had locked up early and gone to bed, but when they awoke in the morning, they found all four white clock faces on the tower gone and its internal machinery completely emptied. The clock faces were large, each about one meter in diameter, and since they had been attached to all four sides of the tower, there were four in total. Not only had those clock faces vanished without a trace, but the clock hands, the spindle, and even the large gear-driven machinery that had been inside were all gone—the space beneath the tower’s roof had become a hollow void where one could see straight through.

The culprit was undoubtedly that thing. Who else but that clock-obsessed monster could have performed such an eccentric act? It had to be the work of that bronze monster—it wouldn’t rest until it stole every last clock in existence.

This bizarre incident became a major newspaper story and swiftly became known throughout Tokyo. Then, once again, various strange rumors began to spring up here and there. “Starting two or three days before the incident, every day around sunset, that statue-like monster of a mechanical human stood motionless atop the clock tower, grinning eerily, they say.” “A young man from a nearby farm clearly saw it.”

“Really?” “Then why didn’t you tell your family about it?” “You didn’t report it to the police either.”

“They reported it to the police officer at the substation, but he said they must’ve seen a phantom and wouldn’t take them seriously. I mean—a statue-like thing standing motionless before the clock tower’s face? Too ridiculous to believe!” “Even so—how’d anyone manage to steal something that enormous?”

“Well, there’s a story about that,” one person said. “They say someone from a nearby farm saw this too—late on the night of the incident, a person returning from town passed by the clock tower hill and spotted something strange squirming in the darkness from afar.” “So it was that mechanical humanoid after all?” Kobayashi interjected. “Yeah, they weren’t just one or two,” another replied. “They say about ten identical-looking ones were climbing up and down a long ladder.”

“Huh, a ladder?”

“Yeah, that ladder was weird too.” “There was something like a fire engine parked in front of the building—you know, one of those mechanical ladders that steadily extends into the sky? They say it stretched all the way to the clock tower, and several mechanical humanoids were climbing up and down that aerial ladder.” The rumors gained embellishments and grew into outlandish ghost stories. In the end, there even appeared those who spread claims—with an air of plausibility—that those several mechanical humanoids had swooshed high into the sky and vanished into the clouds.

However, even if one dismissed such rumors as unbelievable, the theft of the clock tower’s faces and machinery remained an irrefutable fact. Not only small pocket watches—if it bore the name ‘clock,’ no matter its form, even that massive clock tower—there was a creature that stole them all. This must have been some sort of clock-obsessed lunatic, so to speak. Moreover, since we had no clue whether it was human, machine, or even some unknown creature from the realm of stars—its identity remaining utterly obscure—the eerie quality of this phenomenon defied comparison.

However, one thing was certain—this monster craved clocks. Not just any clocks, but valuable ones: those of great worth, those with storied histories, those of rare make. The red-brick clock tower from the Meiji era must have drawn its attention precisely through such rarity.

Now that this became clear, those who owned rare clocks known to the public were already quivering in their boots. When they thought their turn might be next, they couldn’t even sleep peacefully at night.

Luminous Pocket Watch

Shoichi’s father, Mr. Tezuka Ryunosuke, was also one of those who were worried.

When Mr. Tezuka was in his thirties, he had been conscripted into the military and endured over five years of hardship on the battlefield. However, when he returned after the war ended, though fortunately his house in Minato Ward remained unburned, his wife had become a pitiful sight from prolonged illness. Then, perhaps due to the relief of finally seeing her long-awaited husband's face, she passed away mere days later.

In their place, the two children he had left behind over five years—Shoichi-kun and his younger sister Yukiko-chan—had grown astonishingly large and were thriving robustly. Shoichi was thirteen that year, and Yukiko turned eight.

Mr. Tezuka had been extremely wealthy before the war, but now he had disposed of various properties and only his spacious mansion remained. There were three family members, a live-in student, a maid, and a six-member war-displaced family living together, yet even so, the mansion remained too spacious—so much that it felt lonely.

Even amid such circumstances, Mr. Tezuka possessed one treasure he would not part with and cherished dearly. It was a large pocket watch said to have been cherished by an emperor of a small European country. Not only did it boast an expertly crafted mechanism, but its platinum case bore exquisitely carved patterns studded with countless diamonds and other gemstones—making it less a timepiece than a magnificent work of art. Because its countless gemstones were said to emit a rainbow-like light even in darkness, this watch had been named the “Emperor’s Luminous Pocket Watch.”

The reason Mr. Tezuka had worried after reading about the Bronze Devil in the newspaper was because he possessed this watch. Since the "Emperor’s Luminous Pocket Watch" was widely known to the public—having even appeared in newspapers and magazines—it was inconceivable that that demon-like monster would not have noticed it.

Shoichi-kun, too, was unbearably worried about this matter, so one day, he decided to ask his father.

“Hey, Dad... Is our luminous pocket watch safe?” “You mean that bronze mechanical humanoid.” Father responded immediately with an unmistakably worried expression.

“Oh, come now, that’s perfectly safe. “No matter how fiendish that creature may be, there’s no way it could steal that. “It’s stored in the safe inside the reinforced concrete storehouse, you know. “Even if it were to break into the storehouse, it couldn’t open the safe. “Moreover, breaking into a concrete storehouse isn’t something that can be done stealthily.” While Mr. Tezuka spoke with apparent confidence, internally, he seemed unable to suppress his anxiety.

“Are you really sure it’s safe? It’s not an ordinary thief, you know. Whenever chased, doesn’t it just vanish like smoke? It might slip right through even the narrowest gap like a ghost.”

“Don’t be absurd. However, if you’re that worried, I might as well station a guard outside the storehouse.”

In truth, Mr. Tezuka had also been considering stationing guards for several days now. However, on that very evening when the two had held this discussion, their fears materialized all too soon, and something terrifying occurred.

The reason Shoichi-kun went out into the garden then was that the crimson evening clouds were beautiful. However, why he subsequently felt compelled to enter the dim grove at the garden’s depths—even when he later reflected on it—he couldn’t quite comprehend. Was it some kind of premonition? He had simply felt an inexplicable urge to go there. The Tezuka family’s garden spanned over three thousand square meters, featuring artificial hills and ponds, with its farthest reaches overgrown into a forest-like thicket. Having been neglected since the war years, fallen leaves had accumulated beneath the trees; walking through them produced a squelching sound underfoot, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Shoichi-kun found himself drawn into the chilly, dim grove as if pulled by some unseen force.

Trees with trunks wider than a man could embrace stood overlapping one another, and after taking just five or six steps inward, the darkness grew so thick that one couldn’t see a few meters ahead. It felt as though he had wandered into a vast forest.

As he walked, treading on squelching fallen leaves, he began to hear a strange sound apart from his own footsteps. A grinding, grating noise—as if someone were rubbing seashells together.

Was that insects chirping? It wasn't the season for them now—how strange. Wait... That sounded like the gnashing of human teeth.

When he reached that thought, Shoichi-kun gasped and stood frozen.

Even when he stopped walking, the sound remained audible. What’s more, it kept growing louder and louder. Ah—the sound of teeth-gnashing. That infamous teeth-gnashing noise. Though Shoichi-kun had never heard it himself, he knew from newspaper reports. Wasn’t this exactly the noise described—the Bronze Devil’s gears grinding like gnashing teeth?

That had to be it. The moment he thought that thing was hiding behind the tree, he wanted to scream and run away—but terror had numbed his body, leaving him unable to make a sound or move a muscle. In the dim darkness about two meters ahead, something swayed faintly. Even if he tried not to look, his eyes became riveted in that direction—he couldn’t help but look.

From behind the large tree, it emerged. In the darkness he could only make out its dim silhouette—a face like a bronze statue, a body like a bronze statue. It wore no clothing. This was a monster forged entirely of metal. Its massive face bore two gaping eye sockets like caverns, from whose depths faint glimmers peered out. Those were the creature’s pupils. Then came its mouth—a crescent-shaped slit bent taut—also forming a pitch-black void.

It was exactly as the newspapers had described. No—its appearance was several times more terrifying than that. The monster approached with a mechanical, lumbering gait, grinding forward step by step. And the sound of gears—resembling teeth-gnashing—grew moment by moment more intense and powerful.

Shoichi-kun stood frozen like stone, not moving a muscle as he stared at the monster. It was not because he possessed courage. In a state bordering on unconsciousness and utter bewilderment, only his eyes remained fixed unwaveringly on the creature.

The monster's right hand jutted forward abruptly. Between the hinged bronze fingers at the end of its hand, a single white sheet of paper was caught. The monster thrust it toward Shoichi-kun in an eerie manner, as if attempting to hand him the object.

Shoichi-kun didn't have a shred of courage to take that paper. Still frozen like a fossil, he stood motionless.

Then the monster took another step closer, groaning as it bent its upper body forward until it loomed over Shoichi-kun’s head. From its crescent-shaped mouth came a sharp metallic grating noise—like metal scraping against metal. It was a much louder sound, separate from the gears.

Creak, creak, creak—it was a sound like something groaning under strain, yet it also felt somewhat like meaningful words. It was as if he were listening to a mad radio. “Tomorrow night… the heist…” It might have been his imagination. However, he somehow managed to perceive it that way.

And then again, “Luminous… watch…”

He also heard such creaking sounds. It seemed that these two phrases were repeated over and over again. After emitting those eerie sounds for a while, the monster straightened its bent body, swiveled around to face backward, and slowly disappeared into the distant darkness with its characteristic mechanical gait.

After that, the white scrap of paper lay fallen as if demanding to be picked up. Even after the monster had departed, Shoichi-kun stood blankly like that for a full minute. But when he finally regained control of his body, he abruptly snatched up that scrap of paper and broke into a sprint toward the house.

Akechi Kogoro and Kobayashi Shonen

It was the morning after the terrifying bronze robot-like monster had threatened Shoichi, the boy.

In the study of the Akechi Detective Agency in Chiyoda Ward, the famous detective Akechi Kogoro and his assistant Kobayashi Shonen were discussing.

The spacious Western-style study had bookshelves lining all four walls up to near the ceiling, packed tightly with gold-lettered books. In the center of the room was placed a desk as large as a single tatami mat, and across from it sat antique chairs with carved backs, facing each other.

Akechi Kogoro sat in that chair, propping his cheek on the desk while toying with his signature tousled hair with one hand.

Kobayashi Shonen, with his apple-like cheeks, sat facing the famous detective and was speaking in an extremely earnest tone. “Sensei, the Boy Detectives Club members have been pestering me relentlessly.” “They’re criticizing me, asking why you aren’t doing anything and just staying silent, Sensei.”

Readers who had read “The Boy Detectives Club” would likely remember. Kobayashi was the leader of the Boy Detectives Club, formed by upper elementary and middle school students. “There’s no need to make such a fuss. A client will come to me soon enough,” he said calmly. “The one they call the Bronze Devil is a monster of unknown nature—whether machine or human.” He toyed with his tousled hair absently. “The enemy has no weaknesses, you see.” Then his youthful face broke into a smile. “Kobayashi-kun, it’s been a while since we’ve had a chance for you to show your stuff.”

Detective Akechi put his favorite pipe between his teeth, exhaled a slow stream of purple smoke, and broke into a youthful smile. "Sensei, is that thing a bronze puppet powered by machinery? They say it remains unfazed even when shot with a pistol. But why does that mechanical puppet vanish like smoke? I just can’t figure that part out at all."

“There are various ways to think about that,” “In any case, it’s certainly not a ghost nor anything like Martians.” “He’s human.” “A wickedly clever fellow has devised an outrageous scheme.” “We just need to outwit that wicked cunning.” “It’s a battle of wits.”

"That’s right—but we must first uncover its secrets."

Kobayashi-kun’s apple-like cheeks flushed even redder as he declared with fervor. “That’s right. Well now—just wait and see—the client will show up any moment now,” said Akechi Kogoro with calm assurance while straightening his pipe stem against his palm like a conductor’s baton. “Now that our Bronze Devil has grown so infamous through these theatrical crimes—his operations must face increasing constraints.” He paused to exhale lavender smoke that curled into arabesques above Kobayashi’s head before continuing: “Therefore he’ll inevitably escalate by issuing theft warnings directly—a classic inversion from such cunning minds.” The detective’s eyes glinted like polished clock gears behind drifting smoke tendrils as he concluded: “And once those warnings manifest? Why—their recipients shall come knocking at our doorpost posthaste.” A mischievous grin suddenly replaced his pensive expression—as if sharing some private joke with destiny itself—before adding: “In fact… I rather suspect today might bring such visitors.”

Detective Akechi said this and stared fixedly into space, but suddenly adopting a mischievous look, he smiled at Kobayashi-kun.

“There, the front bell just rang.” “It must be the client for this case.”

Hearing this, Kobayashi Shonen eagerly rose from his chair and dashed toward the entrance, but soon returned with a determined expression.

“Sensei, it was exactly as you predicted.” “They said they’re friends of Shinzaki-kun from the Boy Detectives Club—a grade schooler named Tezuka Shoichi-kun and his father who heard about us through him.” “I’ve shown them to the reception room.”

When Detective Akechi and Kobayashi Shonen entered the reception room, a distinguished gentleman over forty and an adorable boy in a school uniform rose from their chairs and greeted them. After the initial greetings concluded, Tezuka-kun’s father gazed at Kobayashi Shonen’s apple-like cheeks and, “Is this gentleman Mr. Kobayashi?” “I heard all sorts of stories about your exploits from Shinzaki-kun.” “Our Shoichi differs from you by only two or three years at most—yet despite being so young yourself—you’re truly remarkable.”

Shoichi’s father effusively praised. Shoichi was also staring at Kobayashi Shonen with a gaze of respect. Kobayashi-kun’s cheeks turned even redder once again.

When everyone took their seats, Shoichi-kun's father explained that he possessed an extremely precious family heirloom called the "Emperor’s Luminous Pocket Watch," that the Bronze Devil seemed to be targeting it and would likely come tonight, then spread out on the table a scrap of paper the Devil had left before Shoichi-kun in the grove of trees in their garden yesterday evening.

“Hmm, this is some creepy handwriting.”

Detective Akechi took the scrap of paper in hand and muttered. “That’s right.” “It’s faintly unsettling handwriting, as if written by a madman.” “At first glance, you can’t tell whether it’s characters or a drawing.” “However, if you look closely, it becomes apparent they’re katakana characters.” “Is this ‘Asunoban 10-ji’?” “And then ‘Yakou no Tokei,’ right?” “It only says ‘tomorrow night at ten,’ so we can’t be certain, but given that it’s that clock-obsessed Devil, it must mean he’ll come to take the watch at ten o’clock.” “There’s no other way to interpret it.”

“That ‘tomorrow night’ you mentioned—in other words, it refers to tonight, correct?” “And have you reported this to the police?”

“I reported it last night. Since I’m acquainted with Inspector Nakamura of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Investigation Division, I went to meet him and make a request. When I mentioned you during that meeting, Inspector Nakamura said there would be no issue with Mr. Akechi being present.”

“I thought so. I’ve been acquainted with Nakamura-kun for quite some time now, you see.”

“By the way, Mr. Tezuka—where is that luminous pocket watch in question kept?”

“Inside the safe inside the concrete storehouse.”

“Well, that’s a heavily guarded location.” “To steal it, he would have to break through the concrete storehouse’s wall and then also break open the safe. Even the Bronze Devil couldn’t steal it so easily. I considered depositing the luminous pocket watch in a bank vault or similar place, but thought the journey there would be dangerous, so I decided to keep it in its original location instead. In exchange, since last night, nearly ten police officers have been standing guard around the storehouse and key points in the garden. If it were an ordinary thief, there’d be no need for such a commotion. But given that our opponent is the Bronze Devil, the police have made special arrangements.”

“Understood.” “In that case, I’ll bring Kobayashi-kun and visit your residence.” “There are several preparations I need to make, and even a demonic entity like that won’t come while daylight remains. I’ll call upon you after night falls today.”

Having obtained Detective Akechi’s consent, Mr. Tezuka and Shoichi-kun happily returned home.

After seeing them off, Kobayashi Shonen whispered something to Detective Akechi and hurriedly left for somewhere, while Detective Akechi sat down in front of the telephone and began fervently dialing.

The Devil and the Great Detective

That evening, the Tezuka household consisted of eleven people: the master of the house Mr. Tezuka; siblings Shoichi and Yukiko; a live-in student and a maid; war-displaced individuals cohabiting with the family—company employee Mr. Hirabayashi and his wife; the wife’s younger sister Aunt Miyoko; middle schooler Taichi-kun; and Taichi-kun’s two little sisters who hadn’t yet started school. In addition, eight police officers were stationed resolutely at key points throughout the garden. Detective Akechi and Kobayashi Shonen had yet to arrive, but even excluding the three little girls, there were sixteen people keeping watch. No matter how monstrous it was, Mr. Tezuka had somewhat let his guard down, thinking there was no way the creature would show itself here.

However, the brazen monster somehow slipped into the estate grounds unnoticed and revealed its loathsome form before the crowd even before nightfall. Moreover, its manner of appearance was mysteriously unsettling in a way that defied all logical explanation.

From the direction of the kitchen came a piercing “Aah!”—a woman’s scream. Startled, when the people nearby rushed over to check, they found Aunt Miyoko—a live-in relative of the Hirabayashi family—collapsed deathly pale.

When Aunt Miyoko passed by the bathhouse, she heard something moving inside. Upon opening the door, there stood a large bronze statue-like figure in the dimly lit washing area’s corner—or so she claimed. However, since guards were stationed in the garden and people occupied rooms throughout the house, it was utterly inconceivable that the Bronze Devil could have entered and exited the bathhouse without anyone noticing. Since Aunt Miyoko was terrified out of her wits, they concluded she must have seen a phantom.

However, it was not a phantom. Then, within less than thirty minutes, Shoichi-kun and Hirabayashi Taichi-kun encountered the monster. The Tezuka residence was an exceptionally large building with long winding corridors throughout—but the gloomiest among them was the hallway before the storehouse lined with chests of drawers. With one side being a windowless wall and the other the storehouse’s shoji doors, the room beyond those paper screens measured about six tatami mats, its three walled sides rendering it dim even during daylight hours. When Shoichi-kun and Taichi-kun passed by there, as one of the storehouse’s shoji doors stood slightly ajar, they glanced inside to find a large human-shaped figure standing within.

“Dad?”

Because it was dark and he couldn’t make things out clearly, Shoichi-kun called out. Then, instead of answering, the figure lurched unsteadily and let out a harsh grinding noise—the unforgettable sound of gears they had heard in the garden’s grove. Startled, upon looking closer, they saw it was that bronze statue-like monster. The two shuddered and froze, but then suddenly broke into a dash back the way they had come, neither leading the way.

Then, spotting Mr. and Mrs. Hirabayashi in the next room over, “It’s terrible! In the storehouse—that thing…”

they involuntarily shouted at the top of their lungs.

A short while later, as the four of them timidly approached the storehouse in a hand-holding chain, Mr. Tezuka and the live-in student came hurrying over from the corridor beyond the storehouse—likely having heard the sound of the two boys’ frantic footsteps. Following behind them came two police officers as well. “Shoichi, what’s wrong? Did you see something?” Shoichi-kun silently pointed at the storehouse’s shoji door. He was too terrified to speak.

His father and the police officers also approached the shoji door. The two police officers were already gripping their pistols. And when they saw Shoichi-kun pointing, gripping their pistols before them, they suddenly stepped into the dark storehouse.

Shoichi-kun was quivering, expecting gunfire and a scuffle to break out at any moment, but no sound came from the storehouse—then suddenly, the light flicked on. It was a police officer who had flicked the switch.

Bolstered by this, everyone went to the open shoji door and peered inside—only to find two police officers standing there, while the monster they had clearly seen moments before had vanished without a trace. The Bronze Devil had vanished like smoke once more.

“That’s strange. Could it be you saw something wrong? If someone had been in this room, there would have been absolutely no time to escape. We came from that side while you came from this side—a perfect pincer movement. This room only has one entrance facing the corridor with walls on three sides, and the corridor itself has no windows. There’s absolutely no way anyone could’ve escaped unnoticed.”

One police officer stared intently at Shoichi-kun’s face and asked skeptically.

“No, it wasn’t our imagination. That statue-like thing was definitely moving.” “That’s right. I saw it too, together with Shoichi-kun. And then, we heard that sound of gears too. Grind, grind—it just kept going on and on.”

Because even Taichi-kun, a middle schooler, spoke up so insistently, the adults couldn't help but believe them. At the overwhelming eeriness of it all, everyone turned pale. That a human made of metal could transform into transparent gas in an instant defied scientific explanation. Then was it truly a ghost after all? Yet none could bring themselves to believe in ghosts or such things. There remained nothing but to call it a mystery. However, these strange events did not conclude here. Before long, far stranger occurrences would take place—and they would unfold before the very eyes of Detective Akechi Kogoro himself.

When it became clear that the monster had infiltrated the house, Mr. Tezuka made the storehouse surveillance even more stringent. On three sides outside the storehouse, police officers stood guard in pairs. The area before the main entrance formed a wide corridor, where a long bench had been placed; there, Mr. Tezuka, Mr. Hirabayashi, and two police officers kept constant watch over the storehouse entrance. Shoichi-kun, Taichi-kun, and the live-in student were assigned to patrol the area.

Throughout the mansion grounds, every room was brightly lit with electric lights, and not only the corridor before the storehouse but even inside the storehouse itself had bright lights installed.

Mr. Tezuka would occasionally unlock the storehouse's large door with a key, enter inside, and inspect the safe—and the luminous pocket watch remained securely within. Even the Bronze Devil couldn't break into this heavily secured storehouse, could it? Or was it keeping the promise written on that slip of paper, waiting for ten o'clock to strike?

A little past six o'clock， Detective Akechi arrived with Inspector Nakamura from the Investigation Division． Kobayashi Shonen was nowhere to be seen． Akechi had said he would bring Kobayashi-kun along， so why hadn’t they come together？ There might have been some reason for this． Mr． Tezuka guided the two men to the front of the storehouse， brought out another chair for them to sit on， and gave a detailed report of the events since evening． “Since such a thing had occurred， I tried calling your office repeatedly， but you had already left．”

“My apologies for that. Actually, since I had to coordinate with Nakamura-kun and bring him along, we ended up being late. By the way, the item should still be in the storehouse, right?”

“That’s already certain. I’ve been checking repeatedly since earlier, but there’s nothing unusual at all.” “And there are no escape holes under the floor of this storehouse or anything like that, correct?” “That is also certain. I have examined it thoroughly myself, and the police officers conducted a thorough inspection during the daytime today.”

“Then, this means only someone with power beyond human capabilities could enter the storehouse—is that correct?” “That’s correct. However, it may possess power beyond human capabilities. After all, we’re dealing with a monster that vanishes mysteriously like we saw earlier.”

After that, tea and snacks were served as they passed the time with casual conversation, but nothing particularly unusual occurred. However, time was drawing ever closer to ten o'clock.

Once nine o'clock passed, Mr. Tezuka seemed unable to contain his anxiety, repeatedly taking out his watch to glance at it, standing up and sitting down, appearing thoroughly unable to remain still. “Detective Akechi, Inspector Nakamura, I just can’t feel at ease like this. “I will enter the storehouse now and stay put in front of the safe until ten o'clock. “As you can see, the storehouse entrance has a wire mesh door, so it can be clearly viewed from outside. “Just close this door properly without locking it, so that when the time comes, all of you can rush inside.”

The group tried to dissuade him, saying it wasn’t necessary yet, but Mr. Tezuka, insisting he couldn’t feel at ease, ultimately entered the storehouse. And he was pacing around and around the large safe—about two meters in height—that stood at the center of the storehouse.

Inside the storehouse, the electric lights were on, and since it had a mesh door, everything could be clearly seen from outside. At first, those inside the storehouse and those outside were discussing various matters, but eventually growing weary of it, both fell completely silent. “Five minutes to ten.”

Inspector Nakamura checked his wristwatch and whispered softly to Akechi. Even though he thought they were safe with such rigorous surveillance in place, he couldn't help feeling anxious as the time drew near. The group before the storehouse held their breath, remaining perfectly still as they stared through the wire mesh door.

Mr. Tezuka was still pacing around the large safe. Then, as he moved behind the safe and momentarily disappeared from view, a sudden "Agh!" of a scream pierced through everyone’s ears. The people sprang to their feet, and through the wire mesh door, a horrifying scene came into view. From behind the safe staggered Mr. Tezuka, and looming over him from behind came the monster, pressing closer.

Ah! When had it gotten in? There stood the Bronze Devil. Grind, grind—the same uncanny sound of gears. Eyes transformed into pitch-black voids, a crescent-moon-shaped maw—the monster had finally revealed itself before the famous detective.

Uncanny and grotesque!

The one who rushed to the storehouse's wire mesh door before anyone else was Detective Akechi. And then, just as he placed both hands on the wire mesh door and tried to open it—

No sooner had there been a sharp *crack* than the storehouse was plunged into total darkness. The Bronze Devil had apparently smashed the light bulb.

Although the hallway lights were on, their illumination didn’t reach into the depths of the storehouse, and they couldn’t see at all what the Bronze Devil and Mr. Tezuka were doing. Detective Akechi took out the prepared flashlight from his pocket, turned it on, slid open the wire mesh door with a clatter, and abruptly rushed inside. Inspector Nakamura followed right after him. However, with the flashlight’s narrow beam, they couldn’t see as well as they wanted. From somewhere in a corner came sounds suggesting the Bronze Devil and Mr. Tezuka were locked in a struggle, but the light stubbornly refused to reach that spot.

Before long, near the side of the safe came the heavy thud of someone collapsing. When Detective Akechi hurriedly shone his light there, it was Mr. Tezuka who had collapsed. In the flashlight's circular beam, he was grimacing and trying to get up. While Inspector Nakamura was helping Mr. Tezuka up, Akechi’s flashlight illuminated the front of the large safe.

“Ah! The safe!” It was Mr. Tezuka’s scream as he was helped up. When they looked, the safe’s door had been opened, and the inner drawer lay pulled out. Mr. Tezuka clung to that drawer.

“It’s gone! The luminous pocket watch is gone!”

Ah! The Bronze Devil had not broken its promise. It had stolen that famous jeweled pocket watch. However, there was no escape route. The corridor in front of the storehouse door was lit. Many eyes gleamed. No one had exited from that entrance. What about the windows? The windows were also secure. Since it was a storehouse, sturdy iron bars had been installed on every window. The fiend must have been inside the storehouse. It was now just like a rat in a trap.

In the outer hallway, having heard the commotion, Shoichi, Taichi, and the live-in student arrived. In addition, there were two police officers and Mr. Hirabayashi.

When Akechi learned that the safe had been opened, he suddenly rushed to the wire mesh door and shouted. “Mr. Hirabayashi, go inside and take care of Mr. Tezuka.” “Then you—the live-in student—hurry with the light bulb.” “The two officers—go inside and search.” “The rest of you keep strict watch here, and if any suspicious person comes out, shout at the top of your lungs.”

Thereupon, Mr. Hirabayashi and the two officers entered the storehouse, and soon after, the live-in student hurried over with a light bulb. After letting those people inside, Akechi snapped the wire mesh door shut, stood blocking its front, and vigilantly scanned the storehouse interior.

Inspector Nakamura swiftly replaced the shattered light bulb with the one the live-in student had brought. In the suddenly brightened storehouse, Mr. Hirabayashi stood in one corner, cradling Mr. Tezuka in his arms. Blood was flowing from Mr. Tezuka’s forehead, but it wasn’t a serious wound. Inspector Nakamura went to the window, pressed his face against the iron bars, and called out to the police officers keeping watch outside. “Do you see anything unusual from outside?”

“No irregularities.”

It was the police officers’ response.

“Good. Needless to say about the windows—keep thorough watch on the walls and roof too.” “If you see anything suspicious, blow your whistle at once!”

The garden had outdoor lights here and there, and since all six police officers were holding flashlights, they would rarely miss anything.

Then, under the bright electric lights, the great search inside the storehouse began. This was because the Bronze Devil had hidden somewhere—when they looked around, its figure was nowhere to be seen. Inspector Nakamura, two police officers, the live-in student, along with Mr. Tezuka—who had mostly regained his energy—and Mr. Hirabayashi all joined together to search every corner of the storehouse. Inside the storehouse were large boxes containing kimonos, chests of drawers, and other tools lined up in rows; they opened each one to inspect their contents, checked behind them for hidden spaces, examined the floorboards, and left no potential hiding spot unscrutinized. They meticulously investigated every inch of the walls, floor, and ceiling—yet nowhere could they find any trace of the fiend. They also confirmed that there were absolutely no secret escape routes.

Throughout this search, Detective Akechi did not budge an inch from his position before the wire mesh door, his piercing eyes glaring around in all directions. This was because he thought that while everyone was absorbed in the search, they must not allow the monster to slip out unnoticed through this entrance. The search, which had continued for a little over an hour, ended completely in vain. The police officers who had been keeping watch on three sides outside the storehouse asserted that not even a single mouse had escaped through the windows, walls, or roof, and the people who had been stationed in front of the storehouse entrance insisted that no one had gone outside through the wire mesh door. Since there was not the slightest irregularity in the storehouse’s thick floorboards, the monster could not have burrowed underground. In short, from within that iron box-like storehouse—utterly sealed on all sides front, back, left, right, above, and below without a single gap—the large metallic monster had vanished as if wiped away.

How on earth could this be explained? Was it a ghost—visible yet insubstantial as gas? No, such a thing cannot exist in this world. Or perhaps had every last person involved in the investigation been hypnotized? No, it was impossible for everyone to be hypnotized in such a critical situation. The people had clearly seen the terrifying form of the monster attacking Mr. Tezuka. So what explanation could possibly remain? How could this strange mystery be solved?

Mr. Tezuka and his family, Inspector Nakamura, and the police officers alike found themselves gripped by an uncanny sensation—as if trapped in a nightmare—and could do nothing but blankly exchange glances with one another. Even the great detective Akechi Kogoro appeared unable to immediately solve this mystery. He was leaning back in the chair before the storehouse, absentmindedly tousling his signature unruly mop of hair while deep in thought.

But this was strange. Wasn’t it Akechi’s habit to tousle his hair with his fingers whenever a good idea occurred to him? Had this mystery that no one could solve begun to make sense to Akechi? That’s correct.

At that very moment, our great detective was contemplating something truly preposterous. This strange mystery had almost been solved within Akechi's mind. However, saying nothing until he had secured concrete evidence was the great detective’s way.

That night，from Inspector Nakamura，

“Even the great Akechi-kun seems a bit troubled by this monster, eh?”

Even when teased, he merely smiled cheerfully and offered no response.

Hooligan Task Force

It was the evening of the same day that the strange incident occurred in front of the Tezuka family’s storehouse. In a certain open space of Ueno Park, where darkness was just beginning to fall, a boy in dirty khaki clothes—wearing geta sandals and no hat—was whistling incessantly.

For a street urchin, he had a healthy complexion, with cheeks as round and red as apples. Hmm, that face looked familiar. Ah, got it. It was Kobayashi Shonen. His outfit was different, but it was unmistakably Kobayashi-kun—Detective Akechi’s assistant.

This made clear why Kobayashi-kun hadn’t come to the Tezuka residence together with Detective Akechi. But just what was Kobayashi-kun doing in such a strange disguise at a place like the park? After whistling for some time—evidently using it as a signal—a single twelve- or thirteen-year-old delinquent boy, dressed as shabbily as Kobayashi-kun, came running out from the grove of trees ahead. The points where this child differed from Kobayashi-kun were that he was two or three years younger, that his hair was wildly overgrown, and that he had a sallow complexion.

“Hey, Big Bro Kobayashi! You need something?”

The delinquent approached Kobayashi-kun, made a nostalgic face, and said something strange.

“Yeah, today I have something to ask you all. Gather all your comrades.” Kobayashi-kun seemed familiar with this grubby delinquent and spoke in a friendly manner. The delinquent suddenly took off running, but after a short while, he returned leading fifteen or sixteen equally grubby street urchins.

“Now then, everyone, form a circle around me and line up.”

The children obeyed the command and swiftly lined up around Kobayashi-kun. Kobayashi-kun seemed to be quite popular with this bunch of delinquents.

Now then, Kobayashi-kun cleared his throat once with an "ahem" and proceeded to begin a strange speech.

“Everyone—I’m talking about you all here—you’ve been working under your boss’s orders, making a living collecting moku—that is, picking up cigarette butts.” “That’s fine as far as it goes.” “But you all sometimes do pickpocketing too.” “Trying to hide it won’t work.” “I know all about it.” “But none of you are doing this pickpocketing because you want to.” “You’re doing it because you’ve got no other choice, right?” “Right? That’s how it is.” “That’s because you don’t have fathers or mothers.” “There’s nobody to take care of you.” “But listen—just because of that doesn’t mean you can keep doing this forever. You’ll never turn out right.” “That’s why I want to propose something.” “How about it? Why don’t you all join our Boy Detectives Club?”

“What’s the Boy Detectives Club?”

The delinquents asked in unison.

“Wait, wait—I’ll explain now. Do you all know the great detective Akechi Kogoro?” “Akechi? Don’t know that guy.” “Yeah—you do know him! You do! Once, Mitchan’s older brother mentioned him. They say he’s a freakin’ awesome private detective.” There were five or six who knew Akechi’s name.

“Alright, got it. Anyway, that’s the freakin’ awesome private detective. I’m that Detective Akechi’s disciple. They call me a junior assistant. Now then, as that disciple, I became the leader and formed something called the Boy Detectives Club with elementary and middle school students. To catch villains, we do what kids can do and try to benefit society—that’s the idea. By the way, everyone—you know about the villain called the Bronze Devil, right?”

“I know.”

"You know." All the delinquents raised their hands like students and answered. That monster had caused such an uproar in society in just over a month since first appearing in newspapers. "The enemy is that Bronze Devil. Are you scared?" "Scared? Hell no! I've talked to that guy before!"

Delinquents often told such lies. However, unlike ordinary children, not a single one of them showed any fear.

“Normally this would be work for our Boy Detectives Club, but considering who we’re dealing with this time and it being nighttime work…” “We can’t have members who attend school handle it.” “Detective Akechi has strictly forbidden us from letting anyone take on such dangerous tasks.”

“However, you all don’t mind working at night.” “It’s not really proper to be like that, but you’ve all ended up acting like adults anyway.” “So I’ve decided to entrust this job to you all this time.” “But I won’t make you full members yet.” “If we let someone like you join, the other members would get angry.” “I’m forming something called the Boy Detectives Club Hooligan Task Force.” “Today’s the formation ceremony.”

“I hate ‘Hooligan.’” “At least give us a better name than that!” Two or three others voiced their objections. “You all may not know this, but there’s a great master detective in England.” “That’s Mr. Sherlock Holmes.” “This great Mr. Holmes also used assistants like you all—hooligans and adult vagrants—to catch villains before.” “That British detective group was called *Panya-cho Gorotsuki-tai*.” “Because this Gorotsuki-tai accomplished such great deeds, they became known worldwide and are praised by everyone, I tell ya.” “So you see, the Hooligan Task Force isn’t a bad name at all.”

Kobayashi-kun made some rather clever remarks. Having been flattered in this manner, perhaps now convinced, the hooligan boys fell silent. “Now then, about tonight’s operation—it’s been determined that around ten o’clock tonight, the Bronze Devil will infiltrate a certain house. “You all will hide outside that house’s wall, and when you see the Bronze Devil escaping, follow it stealthily. “Don’t all follow at once. “Only two or three of those who spot it should follow. “And track down that monster’s hideout. “Once you do that, the police will take care of catching it. “How’s that? “Isn’t this an amazing job? “I’ll be lying in wait with you all too.”

“And then—if you all pull this off successfully, I’ll ask Detective Akechi to make sure you won’t have to do things like collecting scraps anymore. And I’ll make sure you can go to school.” The hooligans were naturally adventurous by nature. Tailing someone was right up their alley. If an adult were to tail someone, they’d be noticed immediately, but even if a twelve- or thirteen-year-old hooligan followed along, no one would pay any mind. Moreover, their bodies were small and nimble. The sixteen hooligans, of course, agreed to Kobayashi-kun’s proposal.

Kobayashi Shonen bought train tickets for everyone, divided the Hooligan Task Force into five groups, had them board separate trains to avoid drawing attention, and took them near the Tezuka residence in Minato Ward.

The hooligans, who even had stakeout experience, were remarkably skilled at keeping out of sight. Without Kobayashi-kun needing to issue detailed instructions, they showed good initiative by splitting into groups of two and three around the Tezuka residence’s wall, and in an instant, every last one had hidden themselves.

This was at a little past eight in the evening. Enduring two hours of motionless concealment by the cold roadside was no ordinary hardship. Had they been ordinary children, they would have caught colds immediately, but these delinquents were seasoned; each scavenged straw mats and such to wrap themselves in, and now waited in high spirits, poised for the fiend’s appearance.

The Skyborne Fiend

Kobayashi Shonen had taken position with two delinquent boys in the most desolate spot behind the Tezuka residence and was patiently enduring the wait. In the shadow of a small thicket near the wall, they laid out a straw mat; chilled to the bone, the three clung together as they peered into the void. It was already past ten o'clock. Had the Bronze Devil kept its promise, it would have manifested within the storehouse long before now.

"I wonder if Detective Akechi managed to capture the Bronze Devil," Kobayashi thought. If it had been captured, Detective Akechi would have sent a signal—but since there was no sign of one, perhaps the Bronze Devil had managed to escape. Or maybe that letter was just an empty threat after all. As Kobayashi-kun pondered this, a human-sized black shadow appeared about ten meters ahead along the wall, floating into view as if materializing from thin air.

“Ah! It’s him!”

Kobayashi-kun instinctively gripped the shoulders of the delinquent boys on either side of him with force. Though it was a moonless, pitch-black night, the black figure that appeared before the white concrete wall stood out clearly. That shadow had a truly bizarre form. It wore a baggy black overcoat with its collar turned up to hide its chin, and had pulled the soft cap's visor firmly down over its eyes. If this had been an ordinary person, the area beneath the hat would have appeared faintly white, but this man's face was ominously pitch-black.

But that wasn't all. The way it began walking off in that direction! That mechanical, awkward gait. Moreover, when they listened closely—Ah! It was just as they'd thought. Indeed, the grinding sound like teeth gnashing they'd heard described in stories now reached their ears.

Kobayashi-kun signaled to the two delinquent boys and stood up. Then, taking care not to alert their target, they began tailing the monster. The delinquent boys too quickly perceived Kobayashi Shonen’s intent, hunched their backs, and cautiously followed from behind.

After walking a short distance, they emerged into a vast burnt-out field. Broken concrete walls remained scattered here and there, and fragments of bricks lay piled in low mounds—a desolate place with nothing else. Far in the distance, only the concrete chimney left behind at the factory site stood faintly visible, towering high into the sky.

Unaware that it was being tailed, the monster walked on with large strides, its strange form moving in stiff, mechanical jerks. At times, the sound of gears would grow startlingly loud, then fade again to near inaudibility. When it grew louder, perhaps the monster was recalling something infuriating and growing angry. Kobayashi and the others trembled with apprehension, fearing that at any moment the monster might turn around with a loud grinding of gears and come chasing after them—but fortunately, the Bronze Devil never once looked back and continued straight ahead. The chimney soaring into the distant sky gradually grew larger. In other words, the monster was rapidly approaching that chimney.

And finally, it reached the base of the chimney. There remained something like a brick-built hut where a boiler had apparently once been installed. It had no roof, and the walls on all four sides were half-collapsed, but even so, it still somewhat resembled a hut. The monster entered the brick hut. Oh, this was strange. Maybe there was a basement or something inside there? And that place might be the Bronze Devil’s hideout.

Kobayashi-kun peered timidly into the hut from a distance. Though it was too dark to see clearly, the Bronze Devil hadn’t vanished underground and sat perfectly still on what looked like stone steps at the back of the hut. Even after watching for some time, there was no sign of it suddenly moving. Kobayashi-kun thought: Now’s the time. If he could return to the Tezuka residence now, inform Detective Akechi, and have police surround the area from all sides, then the monster would be trapped like a rat—that was his reasoning. So he softly whispered instructions to the two delinquent boys—to maintain strict surveillance and follow wherever the monster might go—before hurrying back through the darkness to the Tezuka residence.

Ten, twenty minutes—the delinquent boys continued their watch with bated breath, but for some reason, the monster remained seated in its original spot without moving a muscle. What on earth could this mechanical humanoid be thinking?

Soon, in the surrounding darkness, here and there, the presence of something stirring could be felt. Shadowy figures were approaching from all directions.

“Hey, a whole bunch of cops have come.” “And I’ve rounded up all your pals too.” Kobayashi Shonen whispered close to the delinquent boys’ ears. Then, from behind Kobayashi-kun’s body, the faces of their fellow delinquent boys popped out and nodded firmly. Before long, the police force seemed to have completely surrounded the brick hut when suddenly—*biri-riri-ri!*—a shrill whistle pierced the air. Beams from large flashlights converged on the hut from multiple directions, followed immediately by *bang! bang!*—the rapid reports of pistols.

The police force had received orders not to kill the monster, so they were deliberately firing wide of their target.

The Bronze Devil stood up smoothly within the overlapping beams of flashlights. A terrifying screeching sound like metal scraping against metal resounded from within his body. The monster screamed something not in human language, but in the language of machines. The bronze mouth clanked open and shut while a sinister glare shone from its cavernous eyes. Then his statue-like massive body began approaching with heavy, clanking steps.

The police force, overwhelmed by terror, let out a collective cry and stepped back, but the warning shots from pistols only intensified further. The Bronze Devil emerged from the brick hut and stood motionless, surveying its surroundings, but with flashlight beams converging from all directions and even more intense pistol fire ringing out, it likely concluded escape was impossible. Abruptly approaching the chimney's base, it gripped the metal fixtures serving as ladder rungs embedded in the concrete surface and began rapidly climbing the smokestack.

Was it trying to flee skyward as if proclaiming its intent? Yet however high up the smokestack it climbed, escape remained impossible amidst the encircling forces below. Could reaching that towering summit make the monster light as a balloon—soaring through dark night skies to vanish beyond reach?

It was a smokestack far taller than those of bathhouses. The monster climbed it with tremendous speed—never resting like a mechanical monkey—until the flashlight beams could no longer reach. Yet against the smokestack that loomed faintly white in the dark night, they could see a black shadow rapidly climbing upward.

The black shadow grew smaller as it ascended, until finally it reached the summit of the great smokestack. And from that distant sky, that metallic-scraping *Kee! Kee!*—a vile noise—ominously reverberated down, as though mocking the surface world’s inhabitants.

The Bronze Devil's True Identity

Forty or fifty minutes later, the area around the smokestack had become a commotion like a fire scene. At Inspector Nakamura’s direction, a call was made to the nearest fire station, and a fire engine arrived, even equipped with a small searchlight. The searchlight was connected to a nearby power line, and its dazzling beam illuminated the smokestack’s summit. The Bronze Devil had not ascended to the heavens—it remained there. Perched atop the smokestack, it swung its two metal legs idly, spread both arms toward the sky, and glared menacingly at the world below in a threatening posture while emitting those familiar, unpleasant screeches—Kee! Kee!—from its maw.

For police officers to climb up the smokestack and capture the Bronze Devil was utterly impossible. The footing was poor, and on top of that, their adversary was a creature whose strength remained unknown. Thereupon, Inspector Nakamura conceived the idea of asking the fire department to blast the monster with water from their hoses. He had reasoned that dousing it would force the creature down out of desperation. Yet this calculation proved mistaken. The monster refused utterly to descend.

The fire engine’s pump roared to life as firefighters gripped their hose nozzles and braced themselves. From the hose came a terrifying roar of water that gushed forth and enveloped the monster atop the distant smokestack in pure white spray. The pump’s water possessed enough force to blow the smokestack-perched monster away. Yet knocking it down to kill would achieve nothing—so they carefully adjusted their aim, merely dousing its face with spray to torment it.

However, the Bronze Devil showed not the slightest sign of distress. Since mechanical humanoids don’t breathe, no amount of water sprayed on them would cause any distress. The firefighters grew frustrated and gradually intensified their water spray. The Bronze Devil's figure appeared to sway unsteadily. Ah, this is bad! If they kept it up that harshly, it would fall from the smokestack. By the time people had that thought and clenched their sweaty hands, it was already too late.

Whether due to excessive water pressure from the pump or intentional action by the fiend itself，the bronze body swayed violently left and right—and then its figure vanished from atop the smokestack． Yet unlike its previous smoke-like disappearances，this time it did not dissolve into nothingness． It fell． Transformed into a black mass against distant skies，it plunged earthward like an arrow． The crowd instinctively roared．

At that moment.

At that very moment in the ground-level darkness occurred an utterly inexplicable and bizarre phenomenon. Kobayashi Shonen had been looking up at the smokestack from far behind the police ranks when he saw the monster fall. He immediately tried rushing toward it. As he took that first step forward, he suddenly felt something like black stormclouds descending over his head—his vision went completely dark. His body seemed to float weightlessly upward before sliding down into what felt like an infinitely deep hole—and then all awareness left him. The crowd remained fixated on the monster amid the pervasive darkness; no one noticed this strange incident affecting Kobayashi-kun. Yet from this moment onward,Kobayashi-kun’s figure vanished as if erased. He had disappeared entirely from this world.

Over here, since the Bronze Devil had crashed to the ground with a terrifying noise, the police officers all rushed to the spot at once. Since the flashlight beams proved inadequate, they mobilized a fire engine to illuminate the area with its headlights, but the monster lay in a gruesome state, smashed against the ground. Of course, it was dead. However, what a strange corpse it was. Its limbs were twisted and its stomach torn open, yet not a single drop of blood flowed. And protruding from its torn abdomen were not entrails, but countless gears of various sizes.

Ah! So even its insides were entirely mechanical after all! It was truly an artificial humanoid! Still—what could have powered those gears? There was no way spring mechanisms could move something so massive. Even electrical power seemed implausible—embedding batteries large enough for such a doll defied reason. Had someone created an entirely new invention? Then who could this inventor possibly be? Inspector Nakamura edged closer to the demon’s corpse and nudged its shoulder with his shoe-tip. Dealing with this unknowable fiend—even now—he needed confirmation it wouldn’t revive. But the mechanical humanoid stayed limp and motionless. It had truly perished.

“What? So the Bronze Devil was just... this?” Looking at the scattered gears, they couldn’t help but feel mocked. Yet when they recalled how this machine had committed such atrocities and repeatedly vanished like smoke, an eerie unease lingered. They felt an inexplicable strangeness.

The crowd stood frozen around the strange corpse, locked in silence. Overwhelmed by the sheer strangeness, they couldn’t decide what to think or what to say, and were utterly at a loss.

At that moment, pushing through the crowd, the famous detective Akechi Kogoro appeared. Akechi silently approached the mechanical humanoid’s corpse, crouched beside it, and began examining various parts when—

“Hmm, what’s this?” he muttered, lifting the monster’s right hand. The hinged bronze fingers were tightly clenched, a white scrap of paper protruding between them. Akechi carefully extracted the paper without tearing it, smoothed its wrinkles on his knee, and held it up to the fire engine’s headlight for examination.

“Ah, it’s a letter after all. This thing is trying to tell us something through this letter.” On the scrap of paper were strange markings that defied categorization—unclear whether characters or drawings— “FUKUSHUU” Only five symbols were inscribed there. “It should be read as ‘revenge’.” “In other words—‘I’ll have my revenge’—that menacing phrase we’ve seen before.” Yet how could a dead monster exact vengeance? It defied all logic. But their adversary was a phantom-like entity. Even in death, its lingering spirit might still be weaving some dreadful scheme.

After deliberation, they decided to transport the mechanical humanoid's remains to the Metropolitan Police Department's forensic laboratory for detailed analysis and have both police officers and firefighters withdraw. But it was at that moment Detective Akechi noticed Kobayashi Shonen was nowhere to be seen.

The boys of the Hooligan Task Force, utterly flustered by the terrifying events that had just unfolded, had huddled together discussing something. When Akechi Kogoro inquired about Kobayashi Shonen, one of the hooligan boys emerged from their midst and uttered something peculiar. “Hey, something’s real weird here. “I can’t make heads or tails of it. “Big Bro Kobayashi—he just up an’ vanished. “I was right next to Big Bro Kobayashi back then. “Was too dark to see clear-like, but he sure did disappear. “Poof—gone in a flash.”

They couldn't quite make sense of what the hooligan boy was saying about it all，but there was no mistaking that Kobayashi-kun had vanished. They divided tasks among themselves and searched as thoroughly as possible，but simply couldn't find him. And even when dawn broke anew，Kobayashi-kun failed to materialize from any quarter.

Ah, what on earth had happened?

Did the Bronze Devil merely seem to have died, while actually remaining alive? Yet how could they have succeeded in concealing Kobayashi? If this was the Bronze Devil's vengeance, no more dreadful retribution could exist than this.

Where could Kobayashi-kun be now? Surely he couldn't have truly vanished.

There must be some reason behind this. There must be some dreadful reason beyond anyone's understanding.

The Phantom in the Mirror The terrifying Bronze Devil had finally died—but did this mean its rampage was over? It seemed not to be the case. The Bronze Devil's soul appeared to have lingered somewhere, plotting dreadful revenge.

The one who became the target of revenge was Detective Akechi’s young assistant Kobayashi-kun. During the commotion of that Bronze Devil’s collapse, before Kobayashi-kun could even gasp “Ah!”, a pitch-black cloth descended over his eyes, and he lost consciousness then and there.

Afterward—he couldn’t tell how much time had passed—Kobayashi-kun opened his eyes with a start, as though rousing from a nightmare.

The room was filled with an unfamiliar, reddish-tinged light. Wondering what kind of light it was, he turned his eyes toward it and saw a peculiarly shaped kerosene lamp hanging from the ceiling by a thin iron chain.

As he looked around, he found himself in a strange room unlike any he had ever seen before. The walls on all four sides were constructed like the stone embankments of a moat. The ceiling was built from thick lumber arranged crosswise, with heavy planks laid atop them. The floor too was paved with large stones, devoid of any covering, its sole furnishing being a single wooden bed. It was on this bed that Kobayashi-kun had been lying until now.

“Where on earth am I?” As he pondered, Kobayashi recalled how the Bronze Devil had fallen from the smokestack—how as he watched it happen, a pitch-black object had fluttered down over his head, plunging him into darkness before he could comprehend anything.

"So I'd been unconscious all this time," he realized. "But then—whose place could this be?"

Kobayashi-kun tried to get down from the bed, but his entire body felt somehow constricted, leaving him unable to move freely. With great effort, he stood on the stone floor and took two or three unsteady steps, only to suddenly cry out and freeze in place. He had seen something truly terrifying.

In the stone wall opposite him was a window through which the room beyond could be seen. At that window stood something startling. It was the Bronze Devil. The monster that should have died after falling from the smokestack now appeared nonchalantly before him. Kobayashi-kun wondered if this might be a dream. The monster stood perfectly still like Kobayashi-kun himself, staring fixedly in his direction. It tilted its head slightly as if deep in thought. When he regained awareness, he heard the familiar grinding of gears. Strangely, Kobayashi-kun felt as though the sound originated from near his own abdomen.

Since staring indefinitely would get them nowhere, Kobayashi-kun tentatively took a step forward. Then, the monster too swiftly took a step forward, as if mirroring his movements. When he raised his hand, the figure opposite raised its hand. When he tilted his head, the figure opposite tilted its head. "Hey, that's weird!"

A thought suddenly flashed through Kobayashi-kun's mind. It was an utterly preposterous idea, but Kobayashi-kun resolved to test it. He marched resolutely toward the window. Then the monster too came marching toward him. At the window's edge, their faces nearly collided.

Kobayashi-kun resolutely extended his right hand forward. Then, it was just as he had thought. There was cold glass there. Kobayashi-kun’s hand struck the thick glass pane with a clink. Kobayashi-kun shuddered as if ice water had been poured down his back. What approached from beyond was not the Bronze Devil, but Kobayashi-kun’s own face.

It wasn't a window—this was a single large mirror. A mirror was hanging on the stone wall. The figure of Kobayashi-kun reflected in that mirror was the spitting image of the Bronze Devil.

He involuntarily looked down at his own body. He held both hands out in front of him and examined them intently. And not only in the mirror’s reflection—even when looking directly—he confirmed that his body had, without him noticing, completely transformed into bronze.

The reason he had felt his body stiff and awkward when getting off the bed earlier was because of this. His soft flesh had, without him noticing, become encased in armor-like bronze. Kobayashi-kun touched his face with both hands. He touched the hair on his head too. When he did so, both his face and hair clinked with metallic sounds. Ah—had Kobayashi-kun been turned into a living bronze statue through the Devil’s sorcery?

“Heh heh heh heh heh...”

Suddenly, a bizarre laugh sounded from behind. There was someone snickering derisively, as if ridiculing him.

Kobayashi-kun swiftly turned around. And there, standing before him, was yet another heart-stopping, unknowable monster!

The Underground Clown

Though it was a monster, it was not the Bronze Devil. It was a single clown-like man—utterly out of place in this setting—with a deathly white face and a bright red mouth stretched wide open, laughing with a heh-heh-heh. He wore gaudy red-and-white striped pajama-like garments that hung loosely on his frame, his face painted white like a plaster wall, both cheeks stained red like the rising sun, lips painted crimson, and atop his head sat a pointed hat also striped in red and white.

As Kobayashi-kun, in a dream within a dream state brought on by the succession of strange occurrences, blankly gazed at the clown-like man’s face, the man finally stopped laughing and said the following.

“Mr. Street Punk Detective, you look surprised. Hey, where do you think this is? This here’s the Bronze Devil Kingdom in the depths of the earth, see. As for yours truly here, I’m the only human who serves as Lord Devil’s secretary, interpreter, and errand boy. In this country, there’s no flesh-and-blood human besides me, see.”

“So the Bronze Devil wasn’t acting alone after all.”

Kobayashi-kun tried to say that and moved his mouth, but strangely enough, his voice had turned into a hoarse, screeching sound like grinding gears, so much so that even he himself could barely hear it. Ah, had even Kobayashi-kun’s voice been transformed into that of a bronze being?

“Yeah, exactly right.” “The one that fell from the chimney and broke was just a doll.” “The real Lord Devil is safely residing right here in the depths of the earth, you see.”

Kobayashi-kun’s gear-grinding voice seemed clearly discernible to this clown. That must have been what they meant by interpreter. “Then why did you turn me into this form? You know the reason, don’t you?” When Kobayashi-kun asked again in that screeching voice, the Clown twisted his crimson lips into a smirk. “That’s your punishment for cornering Lord Devil on the smokestack. If we turn you into an underground punk devil like this, you won’t cause trouble anymore. Soon we’ll bring your teacher Akechi Kogoro here too and turn him bronze—that’s how it’ll be. Heh heh heh heh heh...”

As he listened and gradually came to understand the situation, Kobayashi-kun felt completely relieved. Kobayashi-kun had not been transformed into a mechanical doll through and through—he was merely clad in something resembling bronze armor. His face too was simply covered by a mask-like object that completely enveloped him from the neck up. There must have been some device around the mouth area that produced a screeching, gear-like noise whenever he spoke. Moreover, around the abdomen of the bronze armor was a spring-driven mechanism that continuously emitted the sound of grinding gears.

“So that Bronze Devil that fell from the chimney was just a decoy doll after all.” “When did they swap it with the real one?” “I had no idea at all.”

Ah, what a bizarre sight this was. One was a clown with a pointed hat and face painted white like a wall; the other was a boy made of bronze from head to toe—the two of them were chatting away under the dim reddish light of a lamp as if they were old friends. “Heh heh heh... That right there—that’s what we call the magic of the Devil Kingdom.” “A mystery even the great detective Akechi couldn’t solve.” “As if some street punk like you could ever figure it out.”

“Hmm, so even the Bronze Devil vanishing like smoke is part of your magic too?” “You bet—that’s the first-tier magic of the Devil Kingdom. There are plenty of other magical tricks besides that. You’ll come to understand it all in time. Since you’ve entered this Devil Kingdom, you’ll never return to the world above. That’s why I’ll tell you everything—this here’s a splendid museum unlike any other in the world. Every conceivable art piece that Lord Devil has collected over many years is packed tightly into seven rooms.”

“Among them there’s a room called the Clock Room—lately Lord Devil has been gathering all sorts of timepieces to fill that room,” said the Clown with theatrical flair. “He aims to collect every renowned and rare clock in existence.” “I’ll show you those seven rooms now,” he continued, red lips twisting upward, “but first let’s head to the cafeteria.” The pointed hat bobbed as he leaned closer. “You must be quite hungry by now.”

The Clown gestured for him to come this way, so Kobayashi-kun followed behind. With a clunk-clunk, he walked in the manner of that mechanical doll. Though I myself found it unsettling, wearing this bronze armor meant I could only walk in such a manner.

The space between rooms was connected not by corridors, but by narrow stone tunnels. After walking about ten steps through the dim tunnel, the path split into two, and at the end of the left branch stood a sturdy plank door, tightly shut. Because the Clown gestured as if saying "Open it," Kobayashi-kun absentmindedly used his stiff bronze fingers to push open the heavy door. But the moment he glimpsed inside the room, he started and instinctively slammed the plank door shut.

For in that spacious stone room, the large statue-like Bronze Devil stood imposingly blocking the way, glaring fiercely in this direction.

Little Devil “Heh heh heh... Surprised?” “But there’s plenty more surprises in store.” “Hold that door shut tight—exactly three minutes—so it doesn’t open from inside.” “Got it? Three minutes exactly.”

The Clown, grinning broadly with his bright red mouth, rolled up the sleeves of his striped pajamas and gazed at his splendid jewel-encrusted wristwatch. This wristwatch too must have been something the Bronze Devil stole from somewhere. Kobayashi-kun had been standing dazedly before the door—his capacity for thought utterly drained from the continuous stream of inexplicable events since earlier—but when three minutes seemed to have passed, the Clown,

“Alright then, you may open the door now. “Heh heh...” And again, he laughed in that unpleasant way.

With a sense of resignation, Kobayashi-kun opened the door and cautiously peered inside. Then—oh! What on earth—? The room was completely empty—not a trace remained of the Bronze Devil that had been there moments before.

He looked around the room, wondering if there was another exit they had used to escape, but aside from the door Kobayashi-kun had just opened, there were only stone-paved walls—no doors or windows. Is there a hidden door somewhere in the stone-paved walls that they exited through? The Clown declared there were no hidden doors or escape routes anywhere and, taking Kobayashi-kun along, made a thorough circuit around the room’s four walls. Apart from small air vent holes left open here and there, there were no suspicious spots anywhere. The bronze statue-like giant man had vanished like smoke within those three minutes.

“Heh heh heh... How about that? This is what they call the magic of the Devil Kingdom.” “This here’s just a little sample.” “Now then, let’s eat.” “First we’ll prepare our stomachs, then you’ll have the honor of meeting our master, Lord Devil. That’s the proper order.” “There are still plenty more surprises lying in wait for you, you know.”

In the center of the spacious stone room stood a splendid large table imposingly positioned, surrounded by six tall chairs with carved backrests arranged around it. The Clown settled into one of these chairs and gestured for Kobayashi-kun to take a seat as well. This room too was illuminated by kerosene lamps. A magnificent lamp adorned with glass decorations hung from the ceiling like a chandelier.

On the large table sat a gate-shaped ornament, within which hung a small bell. The Clown picked up a golden rod lying nearby and began striking the bell repeatedly. A beautiful clang-clang echoed into the distance.

Whether that sound had been a signal or not, after some time, a small monster appeared from the entrance that had been left open. Just like before, it had a bronze face and bronze body, but was smaller than Kobayashi-kun with an oddly endearing quality. The Little Devil was holding up a large silver tray with both hands. On the tray were arranged Western-style dishes. No sooner had the Little Devil placed the tray before Kobayashi-kun than yet another monster appeared at the entrance. This one was a toy-like small Bean Devil, about half the size of the previous Little Devil. The Bean Devil also held a silver tray, upon which sat a cup containing a beverage resembling coffee.

Even in the Bronze Devil's Kingdom, there were children. Do mechanical humans bear children too? And would the population of this metallic realm keep growing? The Little Devil who entered first might be the elder brother, while the Bean Devil following behind could be the younger. The older one looked twelve or thirteen, the younger perhaps seven or eight. The Clown smirked with crimson lips as he observed this bronze family tableau, "Ah yes. Unless I unseal that jaw, you can't enjoy your feast, can you?"

Muttering to himself, he took a small key from his pocket and began click-clacking it around Kobayashi-kun's bronze jaw area. Then, with a snap, the lower part of the faceplate detached, suddenly making breathing easier. “Now, take your time and enjoy the feast. “I’ll just go inform Lord Devil, then.”

The Clown gave another broad grin and exited through the entrance just like that.

Left behind were Kobayashi-kun, the Little Devil, and the Bean Devil—the three of them. Taking advantage of the jaw of his mask having come loose and being able to speak, Kobayashi-kun tried addressing the Little Devil standing there.

“Are you human, or are you a mechanical doll with gears all the way to your insides?” When he heard this, the Little Devil took a step closer to Kobayashi-kun, emitting a sharp kee-kee-kee-kee of grinding gears, but Kobayashi-kun couldn’t make out a single word of what it was saying.

No matter how much the Little Devil spoke, his words failed to reach him, so apparently growing frustrated, he suddenly began writing characters on the table with his delicate bronze fingers.

"Oh! Does this Little Devil know human writing?" he wondered in amazement. As he watched closely, he realized it was writing the same phrase repeatedly in katakana.

“What did you say? ‘Bo’, ‘ku’, ‘ha’... So that’s it.” “Hmm—then ‘te’, ‘zu’, ‘ka’, right?” “‘Shi’, ‘yo’, ‘u’, ‘i’, ‘chi’... Huh? What did you say? Write it again.” “Hmm... ‘Bo’, ‘ku’, ‘ha’, ‘te’, ‘zu’, ‘ka’, ‘shi’, ‘yo’, ‘u’, ‘i’, ‘chi’—ah! So you’re Tezuka Shoichi-kun!” “And that small one over there—uh—what did you say?” “‘Yu’, ‘ki’, ‘ko’... Ah—Yukiko-chan?” “That’s your little sister Yukiko-chan?” “I get it—I get it—you guys went through the same thing I did.” “You were kidnapped to this underground place—had bronze masks forced on you—and were made to wear bronze armor—right?”

The Little Devil and the Bean Devil nodded deeply, again and again, in response to Kobayashi-kun’s words.

Shoichi-kun and Yukiko-chan were Mr. Tezuka’s children—the ones from whom the infamous “Emperor’s Luminous Pocket Watch” had been stolen. The Bronze Devil had not only been stealing clocks but had even begun making off with living treasures. It must have resented Mr. Tezuka for enlisting the police and Detective Akechi to capture the thief. And for that revenge, it had transformed these innocent siblings into mechanical humans. What on earth did the Bronze Devil intend by taking these three young captives? Did Detective Akechi know about this? No—he likely didn’t know yet. Even Akechi had been outplayed by the Bronze Devil.

Bronze Devil's Art Museum

At that moment, the Clown returned.

“Now, I’ll show you the seven treasure rooms. You’ll be shocked!” The Clown guided Kobayashi-kun and the others through the Bronze Devil’s art museum. The various stolen treasures hoarded by the Bronze Devil were displayed in seven underground rooms.

In the Clock Room, timepieces of all sizes were arranged like a watchmaker's shop, while in one corner even a large clock tower stood displayed. And there, in the very center where it would catch the eye first, the Emperor’s Luminous Pocket Watch—freshly stolen from Mr. Tezuka’s vault—sparkled brilliantly atop an imposing black velvet pedestal. In the Buddha Statue Room, towering Buddha statues stood lined up as if in a museum, while in the Painting Room, ancient Japanese masterpieces and renowned Western oil paintings hung in rows. In addition to these, there were rooms for jewels, textiles, lacquerware, and more—it was astonishing how they had managed to steal and gather such an extensive collection. It’s only natural that the Bronze Devil boasts about calling it an “art museum.”

Kobayashi-kun was utterly astonished, but along with that, a seething hatred for the Bronze Devil began burning fiercely in his chest. What a terrifying villain. Such a creature must not be allowed to remain free for even a single day. "I will escape from here, no matter what it takes. And then I'll inform Detective Akechi and the police about this, capture the Bronze Devil, and return these treasures to their rightful owners. I'll definitely do it," he swore firmly in his heart.

“Ehehe… What do you think? Lord Devil’s art museum is something else, isn’t it?” “Now then, once you’ve finished sightseeing, you’ll meet Lord Devil.” “This’ll be your first audience with Lord Devil, Kobayashi-kun.” “Oh, there’s nothing to fear.” “He won’t declare he’ll gobble you up.”

The Clown led the way, guiding them round and round through the stone tunnel until they came upon a dimly lit room deep within.

The room was about ten tatami mats in size, but its perimeter was draped with black velvet wall hangings like theater curtains, and from the ceiling hung a strangely shaped pendant lamp. It was incomparably dimmer than any of the previous rooms.

When Kobayashi-kun and the others entered the room, the velvet curtain at the front swayed gently. From its parted seams emerged the Bronze Devil's form, which suddenly emitted that familiar violent grinding sound of gnashing gears. The Bronze Devil was shouting something in a loud voice.

“Now then, I’ll interpret Lord Devil’s words for you—listen well. “Pay attention... Kobayashi-kun, you’ve really put me through hell, haven’t you? “But I wield supernatural powers! “Though I fell from that smokestack to my death, look—here I stand alive! “I’m no simpleton to be captured by some third-rate detective like your precious Akechi. “Understood? “Therefore, as punishment, I’ll seal you underground forever. “From today onward, you’re not Akechi’s pupil—you’ll be mine. “Well? Thrilled? “What’s this? Pining for Akechi? Wahahaha! Don’t fret. “I’ll have you reunited with him soon enough. “We’ll capture that fool just like you—make him a prisoner of this Devil’s kingdom and mold him into bronze. “Then you can gaze upon Akechi’s face every single day. “Wahahaha!”

The Clown abruptly closed his mouth there. The Bronze Devil also stopped gnashing its gears and, as if to intimidate, swung its bronze arms wide—then immediately retreated behind the curtain once more. Kobayashi-kun thought to retort something, but being unable to speak freely (his lower jaw, which they had unlocked with a key during meals earlier, had been sealed shut again) and with the Bronze Devil vanishing in the instant he thought "Ah!", there was no time left to say anything.

For about a week after that, the three of them—Kobayashi-kun and the others in the form of Little Devils—continued their strange existence underground.

Whether the Bronze Devil was a single entity or whether there were two or even three of them—they couldn’t quite figure it out. Apart from their initial encounter in the black velvet room, the Bronze Devil never once let Kobayashi-kun and the others get close. They only ever caught fleeting glimpses of it walking through the tunnels or entering stone rooms from a distance. Since every one of them looked exactly identical, they couldn’t begin to guess how many there actually were. Even when they questioned the Clown about it, he would just grin mockingly and refuse to answer.

Kobayashi-kun and the others weren’t subjected to any particularly harsh treatment, nor were they locked away in a single room—they were merely made to carry various things from time to time or help with cooking, so there was nothing especially arduous about their situation, but being unable to escape from this underground realm was more agonizing than anything else.

At one end of the stone tunnel, there was always a place where an iron door remained tightly shut. Apparently, that seemed to be the exit to the surface, but the door appeared to be locked—no matter how they pushed or pulled, it wouldn’t budge an inch.

One time, when Kobayashi-kun was examining the door, suddenly, a voice came from behind him.

“Ehehehe… No, no! If you go out the other side of that door, you’ll lose your life.” “A terrifying hell is waiting with its jaws wide open.” “I’m not saying this to be mean.” “You must never even think about going out through this door.”

Before they knew it, the Clown had arrived there and was grinning mockingly. At that moment, Kobayashi-kun thought the Clown’s words were nothing but an empty threat, but he would later come to understand they were anything but.

Outside that door, there truly existed a blood-curdling hell.

The Bottom of the Old Well

If that iron door was indeed the sole exit to the surface, then whenever the Bronze Devil went outside, the door should have been opened. Perhaps while Kobayashi-kun and the others were sleeping at night, the Bronze Devil might have gone in and out repeatedly through there. "Right—tonight I'll stay awake and secretly keep watch over that door. "And then, if the Bronze Devil opens the door, we can just follow behind and slip out."

After coordinating with Shoichi-kun, Kobayashi-kun decided to stay up all night keeping watch that evening.

It was exactly one week since they had been brought underground. As Kobayashi-kun—disguised as a Little Devil—hid himself in the pitch-dark hollow at a bend of the stone tunnel and kept patient watch around midnight, sure enough, the Bronze Devil passed before him with its mechanical gait. When he quietly followed behind it saw that devil unlock that familiar iron door with a key before vanishing into outer darkness. And then that iron door snapped shut again. He had intended to slip out right after that devil but found no time at all. With no other choice he went up against closed door pushing against full strength like clinging futile hope.

Then, what do you know? The iron door smoothly swung open to the other side, didn’t it? Had the Bronze Devil forgotten to lock it when leaving? Or had it perhaps known Kobayashi-kun was following and deliberately left it unlocked? However, Kobayashi-kun had no leisure to consider such things. Overjoyed, he rushed to the room where Shoichi-kun and Yukiko-chan were sleeping, woke them both, and holding hands, returned to the original doorway.

With their hearts pounding, the three stepped out onto the other side of the entrance and closed the iron door, but there was only utter darkness around them, and they could discern nothing about their surroundings. If the Bronze Devil still lingered nearby, they would be in grave danger, so they remained motionless and strained their ears for a time—but the monster appeared to have already withdrawn into the distance, with not a single sound reaching them.

There, Kobayashi-kun, who had brought matches from the kitchen in preparation for such a moment, struck one with a swish and looked around.

To their surprise, about one meter ahead lay a large, deep hole.

If he hadn’t struck the match, the three of them might have tumbled into that hole. When they approached the edge of the hole and looked, there were stone steps attached. The bottom was two or three meters deep. It was about half a tatami mat in size—a perfectly square, box-like hole reinforced with concrete. When they struck another match and looked closely, they realized there was a black hole in the opposite wall of this box-like space—just barely large enough for a single person to squeeze through. That narrow hole must be the exit to the surface. There was nowhere else to go.

Even so, it was a strange exit. Why did they have to climb down into this hole just to reach the surface? Since Kobayashi-kun remained unaware this was part of a terrifying mechanism, he found it puzzling. But with no alternative path available, strange or not, descending into the hole became their only option. Holding hands and comforting Yukiko-chan who seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment, the three carefully descended the stone steps they'd committed to memory by matchlight.

When they reached the bottom of the hole, they struck another match to find the concrete floor covered in water that splashed wetly underfoot with each step. The walls too showed a sodden discoloration from prolonged dampness. Being deep underground, unseen seepage must have been perpetually feeding this moisture. Without suspicion clouding their minds, the three squeezed through the opposite wall's hole—barely wide enough for single-file passage—and emerged beyond. But when they struck another match there, their hoped-for exit revealed itself as yet another cramped cavity of identical nature.

It was a round hole about one and a half meters in diameter, stretching so far upward that the matchlight couldn't reach the top, shaped like a cylindrical tube. And here, instead of concrete, the walls were constructed from large stacked stones. It was somehow like the bottom of an old well.

“Ah, I get it. If we climb up this stone wall, we’ll be able to reach the surface.”

Kobayashi-kun had noticed this, but the sheer stone wall had neither steps nor any footholds, making it impossible to climb. Kobayashi-kun no longer knew what to do. Even if he wanted to consult with Shoichi-kun, in the pitch darkness, he couldn’t exactly show him written words. Since there was no other choice, he thought about retreating back to the original basement, but it seemed such a waste to turn back after coming this far.

However, at that moment, a terrifying sound reached their ears - a deep, rumbling roar like a waterfall crashing down.

Kobayashi-kun should have retreated resolutely much earlier. But it was already too late.

In the blink of an eye, water came rushing through the hole they had just squeezed through—a thunderous deluge like a breached levee. No, “flowing” was far too tame a word for it. A solid mass of water that filled the hole came blasting through. Swept off their feet by the mass of water, the three of them all fell on their backsides at once. By helping one another, when they finally managed to stand up, the water had already risen to around their waists.

The only way out was the hole they had crawled through earlier. However, from that hole, water was gushing forth like a waterfall. If they approached, they would be instantly thrown back.

Even so, Kobayashi-kun mustered his courage and, carrying Yukiko-chan, pressed forward toward the hole—but it was no use. The force of the water drove them under like they'd been hammered down by a giant mallet.

Finally managing to stand up, when they checked, the water had already risen to chest level. And it was rapidly rising higher and higher.

In the blink of an eye, the water rose to their necks. Then reached their chins... Since Yukiko-chan’s short stature meant she would drown if left alone, Kobayashi-kun had been holding her up. But now even Kobayashi-kun was gasping for air. Shoichi-kun desperately clung to him. Already burdened with Yukiko-chan and now weighed down by Shoichi-kun’s grip, he could do nothing.

Kobayashi-kun thought he was really going to die now. And then, having completely given up, he let all strength leave his body and closed his eyes.

The Bedroom Magic

What would become of Kobayashi-kun, Shoichi-kun, and Yukiko-chan? Would they drown like this? Yet where had that terrifying water come surging from? Had the Bronze Devil installed that mechanism to claim the children's lives? That didn't seem to be the case after all. There had to be some logic behind this.

At the very moment when this commotion was occurring underground, another terrifying incident was unfolding on the surface.

The Tezuka residence in Minato Ward was in a state of great uproar as Shoichi-kun and Yukiko-chan had gone missing and not returned for over a week. Moreover, as if kidnapping the two children hadn't been enough, the Bronze Devil continued appearing at the Tezuka residence intermittently afterward, leading the police to permanently station surveillance detectives around the house.

It was just around the time when Shoichi-kun and the others were drowning in the water. At midnight, a detective was keeping watch in the garden of the Tezuka residence. From within the thicket where the detective crouched, Mr. Tezuka’s bedroom window was visible. With its yellow curtain drawn and illuminated by the bedside lamp’s light, amidst the darkness only this window stood out like a movie screen.

The detective had been casually watching the window when he noticed a strange shadow projected on the curtain and jolted upright.

It was a human figure. However, it was not Mr. Tezuka's shadow. It was a shadow that moved awkwardly, like someone clad in Western armor. "Could it be?!" thought the detective as he stealthily approached the window. It was a window with iron bars. He pressed his face against the iron bars and peered through the gap in the curtain into the room... Ah, it was just as he'd suspected. It was there. At the foot of Mr. Tezuka’s bed, that terrifying Bronze Devil loomed ominously, poised to lunge at him at any moment.

At that moment, Mr. Tezuka, who had been sleeping deeply, woke with a start. Upon seeing the monster's form, he jerked upright in bed halfway. A terrifying standoff ensued. The Bronze Devil stared unblinkingly at Mr. Tezuka through its two black pit-like eyes. Mr. Tezuka remained frozen like a frog mesmerized by a snake's gaze, unable to move a muscle while locked eye-to-eye with the creature. Gradually his face contorted into a grimace trembling on the verge of tears. Then with desperate effort, a scream erupted from his throat - A blood-curdling shriek beyond all human description.

Hearing this, the detective abruptly moved away from the window, darted like an arrow toward the back entrance, and raced along the corridor to reach the entrance of Mr. Tezuka's bedroom. Because there were iron bars on the window, he couldn't enter through it. The bedroom door was tightly shut. Even when he turned the handle, the door wouldn't open. For safety, Mr. Tezuka always locks the door from the inside before sleeping. The detective blew his police whistle with a shrill, piercing trill.

With a clatter of footsteps in the corridor, another detective and the student servant came rushing over. The two detectives joined forces and slammed into the door. With a splintering crack, the wooden panel gave way. Kicking at the hole to widen it, they peered inside to find the Bronze Devil gone and Mr. Tezuka lying limp on his bed. Was he unconscious, or perhaps...

The detectives slipped through the breach in the door and rushed into the room. Behind the curtains, under the bed, inside the wardrobe—no matter where they searched, the Bronze Devil was nowhere to be found. The single door was locked. All the windows were fitted with iron bars. There was no escape route anywhere. Ah, it was yet another magical trick. The monster had vanished like smoke.

Fortunately, Mr. Tezuka had sustained no injuries anywhere. When the detective lifted him up and he regained consciousness, he managed to say, "Mr. Akechi... quickly..." before slumping back down again.

The detective called Inspector Nakamura’s residence and Detective Akechi’s home. In response, Inspector Nakamura answered, "I'll come right away," but from Detective Akechi’s household came the reply: "He left his office the night before last and still hasn’t returned home. We’re worried."

Where on earth had the great detective gone? Ah, could it be that he had fallen into the Bronze Devil’s scheme and been taken to its underground lair?

The detectives helped up Mr. Tezuka, who lay limp on the bed, administered wine to him, and attempted to revive his spirits. Then Mr. Tezuka finally regained his voice and began speaking haltingly in evident terror, uttering these words:

“It took my hand and tried to lead me somewhere. Though it only made grinding gear noises without speaking—so I couldn’t understand properly—it seemed to be urging ‘Come with me.’ This time I felt certain it meant ‘I’ll abduct you.’ I resisted with all my strength. The fiend had me in its clutches and was nearly dragging me away when I somehow managed to plant my feet firmly. Then you all began breaking down the door—the startled monster released me and vanished like smoke.”

“Where did it escape from? “I don’t think there was any way out.”

When the detective asked, Mr. Tezuka made a horrified face and,

"That's what I don't understand." "I can only think that it didn't escape but vanished." "That creature's form gradually grew faint until it blurred away completely." "That being is no human." "A dreadful fiend."

While this was happening, Inspector Nakamura arrived on the scene after being notified by telephone. Under Inspector Nakamura’s direction, they searched the bedroom again thoroughly but found no clues.

It was already midnight. In any case, they decided to set up strict surveillance and let Mr. Tezuka and the household members sleep until morning. When the arrangements had been completed,

"Oh, Mr. Tezuka seems to be missing. Where has he gone?"

Inspector Nakamura noticed the empty bed, was shocked, and asked.

"Earlier, when Mr. Tezuka said he was going to the restroom, Inspector Tanaka accompanied him."

As they were saying this, Inspector Tanaka turned pale and rushed over.

“Mr. Tezuka has been kidnapped. “I’m terribly sorry. “He vanished around the corridor’s bend in an instant. “The storm shutters there were slightly open. “That Bronze Devil thing may have been lying in wait in the darkness outside those storm shutters. “I immediately rushed out into the garden and searched all around that area with a flashlight, but there was no sign of him anywhere.”

It was Inspector Tanaka’s grave mistake. However, scolding him now would serve no purpose. Inspector Nakamura had not only the detectives but also students and others assist him, immediately launching a large-scale search of the Tezuka family's garden. The beams of flashlights and lanterns darted about in all directions through the grove in the garden. However, they could not discover anything. Not only the Bronze Devil, but even Mr. Tezuka had vanished as if melting into thin air.

Rope ladder

The next morning, around 5:00 AM when the pale light of dawn still lingered, the great detective Akechi Kogoro materialized at the Tezuka residence.

“Ah, thank goodness. Akechi! You’re safe after all.”

Inspector Nakamura called out cheerfully. "That thing has even abducted Mr. Tezuka." "So I was worried you might have been done in by it too." "But you haven't returned home for two days—where on earth have you been?"

“Hmm, that’ll become clear in time. But first, we need to locate Mr. Tezuka... Come on, we must hurry!” As Akechi abruptly moved to leave, Inspector Nakamura stared in astonishment. “Where exactly do you intend to search? We’ve combed every inch of the garden’s interior and exterior since last evening—not a single clue turned up.” “No, I’ve already pieced it together. You’ll accompany me. And bring one detective too.”

Akechi looked thoroughly confident. "Of course I'll go with you, but where exactly are we headed?"

“Just the grove in the garden.” “If you mean the grove, we’ve already searched it thoroughly, but there wasn’t a single suspicious spot.” “However, there’s just one thing you’ve overlooked.” Though Inspector Nakamura couldn’t grasp what Akechi was thinking at all, since this was coming from the renowned detective who had achieved various feats up to now, he remained silent and decided to follow his lead. Akechi had his shoes brought to the veranda, descended into the garden, and boldly strode into the grove. Inspector Nakamura followed behind, bringing along one detective. A vast thousand-tsubo garden. The grove of large, densely standing trees was so dark it could have been nighttime even at noon. Akechi seemed to know exactly where he was going, proceeding without glancing aside, but he suddenly stopped and whispered, “This is it,” pointing ahead.

It was an old well. An ancient, ancient well—its compacted-earth rim half-collapsed in that old-fashioned style. Inspector Nakamura looked perplexed, “We examined that well thoroughly too. The interior is stone-lined, but there’s no trace of any hidden passages.” “The inside has stone walls, but no secret tunnels that we could find.”

“Shh, don’t speak loudly. That thing is down here. You do have a pistol, right?” Akechi’s voice dropped to an even softer whisper. “Keep your pistol at the ready. We could come under attack at any moment.”

Upon hearing this, the inspector suddenly tensed up and drew his pistol from its holster. “Look at the bottom of this well.”

When Akechi shone his flashlight into the well, Inspector Nakamura peered inside, then looked up in surprise. "Oh! The water's completely gone. When I looked last night and when I checked before that, the bottom of this well was full of pitch-black water, but..." "That's where the magic comes in. When that thing chants its incantation, the well's water drains away smoothly. And so, this becomes the entrance to the secret underground chamber."

“So you’re saying the Bronze Devil’s lair is beneath this ground?” “Exactly. Mr. Tezuka, Shoichi, Yukiko, and Kobayashi—they’ve all been taken underground.” “Well, that’s astonishing.” “To think Mr. Tezuka’s garden well is the Bronze Devil’s hideout—what an audacious rascal!” “That’s precisely how a magician’s mind works.” “They do the exact opposite of ordinary people in every way.” “So with ordinary thinking, you can’t grasp its secrets.” “We’ve got to use the opposite approach too.” “Now then, I’ll go down this rope ladder first—you all follow after me.” “And when the time comes, don’t hesitate to fire your pistol without restraint.”

“Is three people really enough?” “Aren’t there a lot of them?” “Don’t worry—I’ve mostly uncovered their secrets. Three might even be too many.” Detective Akechi untied the newspaper bundle tucked under his arm, extracted a slender yet sturdy rope ladder woven from black silk thread, hooked its curved metal end onto the well’s rim, lowered the ladder into the shaft, and began descending cautiously step by step.

The well was about three meters deep, surrounded by moss-covered old stone walls, with concrete laid across its bottom. Compared to the well’s age, this concrete was extremely new. Reinforcing a well's bottom with concrete—such a thing was unheard of. As Akechi had stated earlier, the Bronze Devil must have rigged some device here as the entrance to its underground lair. The bottom of the well was spacious enough for two adults to stand comfortably. After descending the rope ladder, Akechi wordlessly directed his flashlight beam toward one section of the stone wall. This was to show the underground passage to Inspector Nakamura, who had descended after him.

A section of the stone wall had formed a hole just barely large enough for a single person to squeeze through. Akechi took the lead and crawled through the opening. The other side revealed a concrete-walled space shaped like a square box. Steps led upward from there, and when they climbed them, they found a massive iron door standing firmly shut ahead. You, dear readers, must have realized it by now. That's right. This was the very bottom of that same well. The very hole where Kobayashi-kun, Shoichi-kun, and Yukiko-chan had endured that horrifying water torture.

Even though only about eight hours had passed since then, had all that water been completely sucked down into the depths of the earth? No, that couldn’t be possible. The bottom of the well had been completely reinforced with concrete. Then why had the water disappeared? And what had become of Kobayashi-kun and the others since then? If they had drowned, there should have been three corpses here. Yet there was no sign of such things at all.

But wait—there was something even stranger. When Kobayashi-kun and the others had tried to escape, the Bronze Devil had subjected them to water torture to prevent it. Therefore, had it realized Detective Akechi and his team had entered, it could have stopped them by using water torture again. Why wasn't the Bronze Devil releasing the water? Or was it completely unaware that the detectives had come? All of this would soon become completely clear. And thus, you would come to realize just how extraordinary a detective Akechi Kogoro truly was.

The Great Detective's Magic Detective Akechi had somehow obtained the key to the iron door before them. He took it from his pocket and turned it with a click, making the massive door creak open. Inspector Nakamura kept his pistol trained forward, anticipating the Bronze Devil's looming form in the darkness beyond—but found only a dim tunnel stretching endlessly into the depths, utterly devoid of human presence.

Akechi swung his flashlight beam around and fearlessly advanced deeper into the tunnel. Inspector Nakamura and Inspector Tanaka followed his trail while vigilantly scanning their surroundings. Akechi marched boldly forward without the slightest hesitation even at turns, as if walking through his own home. After winding through the dim stone tunnel, they arrived at that very room draped with black velvet curtains—the same one you readers already know, where Kobayashi Shonen and the others had been led by the Clown to confront the Bronze Devil.

The moment the three of them entered the room, they noticed a person lying collapsed at the edge of the velvet curtain in the back. “Ah! It’s Mr. Tezuka!”

Inspector Nakamura involuntarily blurted out.

There lay Mr. Tezuka in his pajamas, bound hand and foot, collapsed as if unconscious. The three of them rushed over suddenly, untied the ropes, and tended to him, but Mr. Tezuka lay exhausted, too drained to even speak. He merely managed to weakly raise his right hand, gesturing feebly toward the black velvet curtain across from him.

There hung heavy pleated curtains doubled over, appearing to conceal something suspicious beneath their folds. Suddenly they realized—ah, that sound. Grinding, grinding—the ominous noise of gears began echoing from nowhere in particular. The three instinctively stiffened. Mr. Tezuka's finger remained rigidly pointed toward the velvet curtain's seam. His face had turned deathly pale with terror.

Perhaps it was their imagination, but the heavily pleated curtain seemed to be moving faintly. Could it be that the lamp hanging from the ceiling swayed? Or was the Bronze Devil behind the curtain shifting position, about to leap out at any moment?

Inspector Nakamura raised his pistol and took a stance as if about to fire wildly. “Ah! Wait—you mustn’t fire recklessly. I’ll take charge of that pistol.” For some reason, Akechi confiscated the Inspector’s pistol. Since Inspector Tanaka did not have a pistol, the sole weapon now rested in Akechi’s hands.

Akechi Kogoro then went to the room entrance，shut the door firmly，and summoned the detective.

“Please stand in front of this door. “You must not open this under any circumstances until I give the word. “Do you understand? “Even if it’s Nakamura-kun, Mr. Tezuka, or even myself—you must not let anyone take a single step outside from here. Do you understand?”

At Akechi’s strange orders, the inspector blinked rapidly in confusion, but this was the command of the renowned detective who had uncovered the Bronze Devil’s lair. Even if he didn’t understand why, there was nothing to do but comply. The inspector stood before the tightly shut door, resolved not to let even a single mouse slip through.

“Nakamura-kun, it’s finally time to face the Bronze Devil.” With those words, Akechi strode purposefully toward the seam of the velvet curtain. At that moment, Inspector Nakamura couldn’t help noticing the peculiar glint in Akechi’s eyes when they briefly flicked toward him. The inspector thought Oh! That was unmistakably the look of a mischievous brat about to pull some prank. It was a gaze that seemed barely contained laughter. Why would Detective Akechi wear such an odd expression at this crucial juncture? The inspector simply couldn’t fathom the reason.

At that moment, Akechi opened the seam of the curtain and stepped inside in one smooth motion. Ah, what an utterly reckless thing to do! On the other side of the curtain, the Bronze Devil must be waiting. There, Akechi jumped in all alone.

Inspector Nakamura stared fixedly at the curtain and clenched both fists. He kept his eyes glued, watching intently for any sign that a struggle was about to erupt and send the curtain billowing like a wave. However, no struggle broke out either. After a while, the curtain's seam swelled toward them with a *whoosh*, then began parting left and right little by little, bit by bit, until something bluish-black emerged from within.

And when the curtain had fully opened, there, looming, was a bronze figure—the fearsome Bronze Devil itself had revealed its form. Inspector Nakamura clenched his fists and involuntarily staggered back falteringly.

The Bronze Devil, with its crescent-shaped lips, advanced toward them, grinning slyly as if in pursuit. It emerged creakingly from behind the curtain in an odd manner, as if someone were pushing it from behind.

What had happened to Detective Akechi? Had he been taken down by the Bronze Devil in that instant? And was he now collapsed behind the curtain?

If that were the case, there could be no delay. Inspector Nakamura steeled himself with desperate resolve and attempted to lunge at the Bronze Devil. And just as he took that step forward—

Everyone, rest assured.

Akechi Kogoro was no such fool. At that moment, he suddenly leaped out from behind the Bronze Devil. Moreover, he came leaping out with a broad smile.

“Nakamura-kun, there’s no need to be alarmed. I’ll take care of this thing right now. Now then, watch closely. My magic begins. If the Bronze Devil is a magician, then this Akechi is a magician no less than him. Right now, I’ll have you witness that.”

No sooner had he spoken than Akechi moved behind the Bronze Devil, crouched down, and made a clicking sound.

Then, ah—what on earth was happening? The Bronze Devil swayed unsteadily—then its imposing bronze body abruptly went limp. Its head drooped forward, proud shoulders deflated with a hiss, and like a candy sculpture melting under heat, it turned utterly pliable. Before their eyes, its form crumbled away, dissolving completely in the span of a gasp. Like a snowman melting away, it collapsed completely. And at the feet where the Bronze Devil had stood moments before, a bluish-black mass lay flattened like a rolled-up garment.

“Nakamura-kun, this is how the Bronze Devil performs its magic of vanishing from sealed rooms. “This is the secret behind its sorcery.” With those words, Akechi stomped on the gelatinous mass beneath his foot. The bluish-black lump resembling a jellyfish then quivered like some bizarre living creature, its entire form trembling violently. Rubber doll “Nakamura-kun, this is the Bronze Devil’s true form.” Akechi declared with a grin.

Inspector Nakamura and his men couldn't respond immediately, half-believing they were witnessing a dream from sheer disbelief. "Hahaha! Surprised?" "As you can see, this thing's made of thick rubber—a rubber doll." "There are large holes in both soles secured with clamps." "I just removed those clamps." "That snapping sound you heard came from that." "When all the air escaped through those two big holes in its soles at once—flattened instantly."

Ah, how utterly preposterous! That the terrifying Bronze Devil was nothing but a doll resembling a rubber balloon—it was utterly unbelievable. A soulless rubber doll couldn't possibly steal things or dash about. Inspector Nakamura could only blink in astonishment. "Restoring this thing into the Bronze Devil is no trouble at all. I'll give you a quick demonstration."

Akechi said this and went behind the curtain, but promptly emerged holding the end of a long pipe resembling a gas pipe.

"This pipe connects to the air compressor behind the wall," Akechi explained. "When you press the button, the machine activates and air blasts out through this pipe with terrifying force. It's the same mechanism as those air compressors used for inflating car tires." Akechi rummaged through the flattened rubber mass until he located a small air inlet hole, then screwed the pipe's nozzle into it. With a sharp hiss, the rubber doll—which had looked like nothing more than a wadded-up cleaning cloth—began to stir and swell, inflating bit by bit.

“If you attach the clamp on the soles of its feet and leave it like this for a while, it would revert to its original form as the Bronze Devil, but there’s no need to go that far.” “But as long as we understand how the rubber doll works, that’s sufficient.” Even without attaching the clamp, the air pressure was so intense that it rapidly swelled up, taking on the form of a large bluish-black sea turtle hunched in place. Air flowed into the neck area too, and that eerie Bronze Devil’s face—now half-sized and wrinkled—twitched spasmodically.

“Ah, I see. “So it’s a decoy then.” “That thing isn’t the real Devil—it’s the Devil’s decoy, isn’t it?” Inspector Nakamura had finally realized that point.

“That’s right. A rubber doll can’t move on its own, you see. During the Bronze Devil’s absence, it would stand behind this curtain serving as a substitute. You can’t operate this without human assistance. Whether slightly opening the curtain to show the Devil’s form or producing those gear-grinding sounds—all of it requires human hands. That’s why there’s this strange clown-dressed henchman here—one of the Bronze Devil’s lackeys.”

At that point, Akechi abruptly stopped speaking, briskly approached Inspector Nakamura, pressed his mouth to the man’s ear, and whispered something in a hushed tone. Then, Inspector Nakamura beckoned to the detective who was blocking the entrance and whispered something else. Akechi next tried to approach Mr. Tezuka but stopped as if startled. “Oh, Mr. Tezuka, you don’t look well. Are you feeling unwell?”

Mr. Tezuka had the ropes binding his limbs—which the Bronze Devil had tied—untied by Inspector Nakamura and the detectives, but he appeared utterly exhausted, remaining slumped down in his original spot with a pallid face. “No, it’s nothing. I’m fine.” He answered in a low voice through clenched teeth. “Nakamura-kun, please stay by Mr. Tezuka’s side.” “If he’s feeling terribly unwell, it might be best for him to leave here for now, though…”

Inspector Nakamura and the detective drew close to either side of Mr. Tezuka, practically holding him up as they attentively kept watch over him.

“No, it’s not that bad. But I’m more worried about Shoichi and Yukiko. What has happened to those two? Where are they?”

Mr. Tezuka appeared unable to bring himself to leave the Bronze Devil’s lair while abandoning his two beloved children.

Ah, Shoichi-kun, Yukiko-chan, and our Kobayashi Shonen—what on earth had happened to those three? They had been subjected to water torture at the bottom of the old well and were on the verge of drowning—but had they managed to escape safely? “Please rest assured. Shoichi and Yukiko are safe. I’ll have them brought here soon.” Akechi gently comforted Mr. Tezuka. After all, the three had been saved. Still—who could have saved them, and how?

Jack-in-the-Box “Akechi-kun, we’ve uncovered the secret of the rubber doll—but then where in the world is the real Bronze Devil?” “Surely it can’t be that the rubber doll brought Mr. Tezuka here.”

Inspector Nakamura, who had squatted beside Mr. Tezuka, asked suspiciously.

“That too will become clear soon.” “Wait a moment, if you would.” “But first, there’s something I want to show you.” “Nakamura-kun, and you too, Mr. Tezuka—I’m about to do something rather peculiar, so keep your eyes peeled, please.”

Akechi, grinning slyly, slipped into the black velvet hanging curtain and disappeared. At Akechi’s meaningful words, the three fell silent, waiting to see what would happen. Soon, the velvet curtain swayed gently, and from its seam, a flash of crimson suddenly leaped out. Just like a jack-in-the-box doll popping forth, a clown appeared.

He wore red-and-white striped baggy clothes and a conical hat, his face painted pure white with makeup and both cheeks adorned with red sun circles. As the three stood dumbfounded—staring wide-eyed, speechless—the clown planted himself before them and burst into raucous laughter.

“Wahahahaha… How about this quick trick? Applying white makeup, adding rouge, and slipping into a clown costume in one minute—Hahaha… Still can’t tell?” “It’s me—Akechi! Just thought I’d try playing the Bronze Devil’s clown apprentice for size.” “So it was you all along! Don’t give me such a fright! What’s the meaning of this absurd disguise?” Inspector Nakamura demanded in a voice tinged with irritation.

“Well, last night at midnight, I did some impressive work in a certain place while disguised like this. I posed as a clown and outwitted the enemy. Mr. Tezuka, do you understand my methods? You see, detectives also perform quick-change disguises like this.” “So you took the clown’s clothes, then. Then what on earth happened to the real clown? Surely you didn’t…”

As the Inspector began to voice his concern, Akechi stopped him with a gesture and laughed again.

“Hahahaha… I’ll show you that right now. Wait a moment, if you would.” With those words, he darted into the velvet curtain with the same swiftness as when he had emerged—but after a moment, the curtain billowed as if struck by a gale, rippling upward until its edge caught on a ceiling rope. In other words, the curtain had opened, revealing what lay beyond. There stood Akechi, grinning. The clown had vanished as if erased, now Detective Akechi restored to his original form. Before anyone knew it, he had wiped it all off—no trace of rouge or white makeup remained on his face. It was a quick trick worthy of a magician.

“Now, I’ll show you the real clown.” Behind Akechi stood a large black-lacquered cupboard shaped like a zushi cabinet for enshrining Buddhist statues. He approached it, rattled the key, then swung open the double doors wide. The only illumination came from kerosene lamps dangling from the stone ceiling, leaving the cupboard’s interior dimly visible—yet unmistakably human. A shirtless giant lay curled within, limbs trussed in spiraling bonds.

“Hahahaha… Do you understand now? This one has been confined here for two whole days now. And during those two days, I was acting as the clown’s substitute. Of course, I did make sure to give this one some food now and then, though. Do you understand now, Mr. Tezuka? In this zushi cabinet was enshrined a Buddha statue that the Bronze Devil had stolen from some temple. I moved that to another location and, in place of the Buddha statue, put the clown inside instead, you see.”

“So that guy’s also one of the Bronze Devil’s comrades!”

Inspector Nakamura shouted with such intensity that he seemed ready to pounce at any moment.

“That’s right. “But with this setup，he can’t possibly escape—it’s perfectly safe.” Akechi closed the double doors and locked them again.

“Mr. Tezuka, thank you for waiting. Now let me guide you to where Shoichi-kun and Yukiko-chan are.”

Hearing this, Inspector Nakamura made a strange face and said reproachfully to Akechi.

“Oh, so you knew about that all along? Then why are you dawdling around in that clown disguise instead of going straight there?” “No—there’s an order to these things,” Akechi countered. “I wanted Mr. Tezuka to see my mastery of disguise firsthand. Now then, follow me with Mr. Tezuka.”

Akechi took the lead, opened the entrance door, and stepped out into the stone tunnel. Inspector Nakamura and Detective Tanaka sandwiched the pale Mr. Tezuka between them and followed behind.

The criminal is here. After turning a corner in the dimly lit tunnel, there was an entrance to another room. This was, dear readers, none other than the aforementioned clock room you have long known. Needless to say, the three of them stared wide-eyed at the countless clocks of various sizes that were lined up.

“Mr. Tezuka, look here. Your Emperor’s Luminous Pocket Watch is here. It’s safe now. You can take it back when we leave this place.” Mr. Tezuka gazed at the watch with shining eyes, but as Akechi kept striding forward, he couldn’t afford to stand there lingering.

Then they passed through the Picture Room and Textile Room among others, and entered the Buddha Statue Room. It was the most unsettling room. In the faint light of kerosene lamps hung from the ceiling, ghostly Buddha statues stood clustered together in rows.

“I’m astonished!” “Building such a vast underground space and gathering this many artworks is no simple feat.” “When on earth did that guy manage to pull off such a massive undertaking?” Inspector Nakamura murmured as if overwhelmed with emotion. “I was surprised too, you know.” “I’ve now figured out why.” “The majority of these artworks were collected over a long period and were previously hidden elsewhere.” “This underground chamber was also something a certain daimyo had constructed at the end of the Tokugawa period as a secret meeting place, but after entering the Meiji era, both its ownership changed and its entrance was sealed away, remaining unknown to anyone.”

“The Bronze Devil learned about this underground chamber through certain ancient documents after the war, secretly restored it, and transported the artworks inside. To bring in large Buddha statues, they broke through the stone wall at the bottom of the old well—traces of the damage remain even after restoring it to its original state.” “You see? Mr. Tezuka, even you—the owner of this land—there are things you don’t know that I do.” “Hahaha…”

For some reason, Akechi laughed meaningfully. Then, as the group advanced among the Buddha statues, for some reason, Akechi’s figure—which had been leading the way until then—suddenly vanished from sight. Because there were so many human-sized Buddha statues lined up, he blended in among them, making it impossible to tell where Akechi was.

“Akechi, where did you go?” “Akechi... Akechi...” No matter how much they called, there was no response. The dimly lit room fell deathly silent, and the faces of the standing Buddha statues all seemed to be smiling. Even the stalwart Inspector Nakamura began to feel somewhat unsettled. The three wandered among the Buddha statues searching for Akechi when suddenly, from nowhere in particular, they became aware of a dreadful sound reaching their ears. Ah, that sound. Grinding, grinding—that sound of gears, like a monster gnashing its teeth.

The three of them started, froze in place as if rooted to the spot, and stood there petrified.

Then, from between the overlapping Buddha statues, a bluish-black flicker appeared; it gradually grew larger until, looming forth before the three of them, that monstrosity—the Bronze Devil—materialized.

The three of them inched backward, step by step. The Bronze Devil approached slowly, ever so slowly, as if pursuing them. It was not a rubber doll. It moved its legs and walked toward them just like a human. It spread both hands wide, looking ready to grab them at any moment.

However, when they realized it, an even stranger thing had occurred. Behind the large Bronze Devil, another bluish-black figure was darting about furtively. Yet this too bore the form of the Bronze Devil. A small Bronze Devil. Did the Bronze Devil have children? One, two, three... There were three small Bronze Devils. Holding hands, they came trotting out from behind the large Bronze Devil.

“Don’t you dare move another step! Try it and you’ll get this!” “You’re out of life!”

Inspector Nakamura shielded Mr. Tezuka and aimed his pistol.

Then, ah—once again—something startling occurred. From nowhere in particular came a muffled snicker—a stifled giggle—that gradually swelled until it burst into derisive guffaws: "Wahahahaha!" The Bronze Devil was laughing. He was doubled over in laughter.

As they stood dumbfounded, the Bronze Devil clasped both hands around his head in a peculiar gesture, then thrust them sharply upward. Then, the Bronze Devil’s head came cleanly off and floated in midair. No—that wasn’t it. The Bronze Devil’s face had split into two. One face floated high above his head, supported by both hands; another remained attached to his original torso.

The face attached to the torso was not bronze-colored but an ordinary human face. It was somehow a familiar face. That face grinned. “It’s me, it’s me! I’m sorry for startling you all so many times. I wanted to show you all that besides rubber dolls, there are also devils like this one.”

That was Detective Akechi. The reason it had looked like his head came off was that he had removed the bronze headpiece he was wearing and supported it with both hands. At the back of the bronze headpiece, there was a vertical split that could be opened with a key, allowing the piece to be freely removed.

“This is the true form of the Bronze Devil,” “In other words, they’re wearing bronze armor and bronze helmets.” “With these, they can move about freely... Now, what do you make of these three little devils behind me?” “They’re none other than Shoichi-kun, Yukiko-chan, and Kobayashi.” “They’ve been dressed in the devil’s costumes.” “The large one is Kobayashi, the medium-sized one is Shoichi-kun, and the smallest one is Yukiko-chan.”

Hearing this, Mr. Tezuka cried "Oh!" and staggered forward. The small Bronze Devils huddled together and approached Mr. Tezuka. Mr. Tezuka spread his arms and embraced the smallest Bronze Devil—that is, Yukiko-chan—with deep fondness.

The children were safe. The precious luminous pocket watch had also been recovered. All that remained now was to capture that detestable Bronze Devil. “Akechi-kun, I must take my hat off to your skills as usual." “You’ve startled me time and again, but that’s just your bad habit, isn’t it?” “But, well, never mind that.” “By the way, Akechi-kun—the main culprit, the Bronze Devil—where is it now?” “Surely someone of your caliber wouldn’t have let the culprit escape, would you?”

Inspector Nakamura closed in on Akechi and said reproachfully.

“Things must follow their proper order. Handing over the culprit comes last. I won’t let them escape.”

Akechi answered with an air of confidence, smiling.

“Well, as expected of you, Akechi.” “So where’s that culprit?”

“Here he is.” The inspector was startled and looked around frantically.

In the dim stone room, Buddha statues resembling humans stood stiffly in rows—a perfect spot for hide-and-seek. “There you go again with your tricks.” “Stop playing games—out with it clearly.” “Where on earth **is** he?” “He’s right here.”

“Here? This very place?”

From the neck down, Akechi—the spitting image of the Bronze Devil—raised his right hand and extended a bronze index finger straight out, pointing directly before him.

The inspector started and stared in the direction the finger was pointing. Strangely enough, there was nothing suspicious in that direction. There was only Mr. Tezuka, three small Bronze Devils, and a detective, with two Buddha statues standing behind them—and beyond that, just the entrance door. However, Akechi’s finger remained fixed, pointing at a single spot without moving in the slightest. as if reproaching him for not understanding this.

The inspector looked in that direction once more. He fixed his gaze and stared intently. Akechi’s finger appeared to be pointing at Mr. Tezuka. No matter how many times he re-examined the scene, he could reach no other conclusion. Inspector Nakamura stood utterly confounded. For he believed it impossible that Mr. Tezuka could be the Bronze Devil.

The Secret of the Old Well

The idea that Mr. Tezuka was the Bronze Devil—there was no way something that preposterous could be true. Mr. Tezuka was the victim here—he’d had his clock stolen and his children kidnapped.

So, could it be that the Bronze Devil was hiding inside one of these large Buddha statues standing in rows? Everyone stood dumbfounded by these strange words, their eyes fixed on the renowned detective’s face. “No, Nakamura-kun, it’s only natural you can’t grasp this. In that case, I’ll explain it more clearly.”

Akechi lowered his pointing right hand and began speaking while maintaining his position blocking the original spot. "Earlier I mentioned that I sneaked into this basement two days ago, confined the Bronze Devil's clown henchman in a closet, and disguised myself as the clown, didn't I? Then last night in that clown's guise, I did some remarkable work as I mentioned. Let me explain that first." "It was three days ago at midnight that I discovered the old well in Mr. Tezuka's garden served as the entrance to the Bronze Devil's lair. Though there had always been water at the bottom of that well, when I peered in with my flashlight that night, it had completely dried up. Finding this strange, I hid in the shadows of the grove's trees and kept watch for a long time—until sure enough, the Bronze Devil came clambering out of that old well."

Since I thought investigating the old well should take priority over pursuing the Bronze Devil, I waited for it to depart before peering into the well. Then, what do you think? From somewhere, water was rushing into the bottom of the well with terrifying force, churning up white waves. "Ah, do you see? You." "They really thought up a clever scheme." "Since the bottom of the old well was always full of water, no one suspected anything." "They only needed to drain the water when the Bronze Devil came and went." "As for that—well, as I later discovered through investigation—there was a large tank hidden behind the stone wall at the bottom of the well." "When you press the switch, the motor's power sucks up the well water into that tank." "That Bronze Devil is stealing electricity from the neighborhood power lines, you see."

After draining the water, the Bronze Devil would toss up the curved metal hook at the end of the rope ladder, catch it on the well's edge, and climb up to the surface.

Though called a rope ladder, it was actually a single sturdy silk cord with knots tied at roughly thirty-centimeter intervals—something that could be rolled up to fit into a pocket. That thing exited the well, rolled it up, stuffed it into its pocket, and left.

Then, within less than a minute, the tank's mouth automatically opened, water gushed out, and instantly the well's bottom was sealed with water. And so not a single trace remained. I thought of sneaking into the underground hideout while the Bronze Devil was away, but since the water only drained for a brief moment, it was utterly impossible to enter properly. So I returned home once, made thorough preparations, then at the following midnight—after confirming the Bronze Devil had left—descended into the well using my own rope ladder. Of course, I was determined to plunge into the water. I put on a snug-fitting rubber shirt and pants.

It was bitterly cold, but diving to the bottom of the well, searching for the side tunnel, passing through it, and climbing up into the underground passage took less than a minute. I dried myself off completely, put on the clothes I had brought in a rubber bag, and stealthily looked around each underground room. I found three small Bronze Devils and confirmed that only that clown was keeping watch over them. I hid in the shadows, carefully memorizing the clown’s mannerisms and speech patterns before suddenly lunging at him, tying him up, stuffing him into a closet, stealing his clown costume, and disguising myself as him. The closet key was also in that clown costume’s pocket.

Disguised as the clown, it took me two days to confirm the Bronze Devil’s true identity. It was an extremely difficult task. The Bronze Devil was usually out, only showing its face around midnight, which made confirming its identity take considerable effort, but I finally managed to uncover its secret. I kept the three children transformed into small Bronze Devils from knowing I was Akechi, making them believe I was the Bronze Devil’s clown underling—but last night, while I was momentarily off guard, something terrible occurred. The children secretly planned together and, after the Bronze Devil went out, entered the bottom of the well. And then, they were caught in the water gushing from the tank. "The three of them nearly drowned."

Dear readers, you must remember how Kobayashi Shonen, Shoichi-kun, and Yukiko-chan suffered that dreadful water torture at the bottom of the well. Akechi was now recounting that incident.

The Exposed Trick

Detective Akechi’s tale continued.

“After a while, when I noticed this, I rushed to the scene in alarm, pressed the switch, activated the motor, made the water get sucked up, and rescued them.” Despite the cold, they were soaked from head to toe, so I had them remove the Bronze Devil’s armor, dried them off, and took them to the kitchen’s electric stove to warm them. I had already secured the key for removing the Bronze Devil’s armor by that time.

“And I had the three children put the Bronze Devil’s armor back on—but tell me, Nakamura-kun, do you know why I did that? There was no need to make them wear such armor—since the clothes they had on when brought here were properly stored, it would have made sense to have them wear those instead. But I deliberately had them put on the armor. The reason will become clear soon enough—you’ll see.” At that, Akechi grinned meaningfully. There must have been some secret that no one but he knew.

“During those two days, I completely saw through the Bronze Devil’s trick.” “We had until now believed the Bronze Devil maintained one fixed form.” “Herein lay our great mistake, you see.” “Every Bronze Devil that appeared looked identical, but in truth, there were three distinct types, and depending on the situation, one of them would make an appearance.” “Therein lay his truly cunning trick.”

“The first type of Bronze Devil takes the form of this armor I’m currently wearing. Since there’s a person inside, it can move freely. It can even get on all fours and break into a run. Though crouching didn’t actually make it faster, that thing used such a running style to feign mechanical operation—you see.”

“The second type of Bronze Devil is the one that was knocked down from the chimney top using hose water the other day.” “This one’s made entirely of machinery right down to its guts—even pistol shots don’t faze it, you see.” “So they’d deploy this type in places where opponents couldn’t get close-up, deliberately letting it take bullets to showcase how utterly unfazed it remains—that’s their game.”

“This Bronze Devil is a fake—it can’t walk on its own. The real Bronze Devil would slip out under cover of night to bring it to certain locations and then take it away again. In cases like the chimney incident the other day—up until reaching the chimney’s summit—it was the real Bronze Devil; after that point, they switched it out with a counterfeit.”

“Are you asking why they switched? You see, at that time, their escape route had already been set as the chimney’s summit.” Therefore, they had beforehand hung a decoy—with an abdomen filled entirely with gears—from the inner side of the chimney’s summit. The real Bronze Devil made this decoy sit atop the chimney, then descended using a long rope ladder they had also prepared in advance along the chimney’s interior. Once below, they swiftly removed their bronze armor to assume ordinary human appearances, escaping unnoticed amidst the commotion. Of course, they wrapped the armor and rope ladder in a cloth bundle and took them away. They wouldn’t make the blunder of leaving evidence at the scene.

“Next, the third type of Bronze Devil is the rubber doll I just showed you with the air let out—you see? This one served to vanish like smoke. Those Bronze Devils that appeared in Mr. Tezuka’s bathroom, storage room, inside his storehouse, and last night in his bedroom—they were all rubber dolls.”

An air compressor was hidden somewhere in Mr. Tezuka’s house. They pulled a hose from there, filled the rubber doll with air, and had it stand in a dimly lit area. When someone discovered it and fled, they removed the fasteners on both legs of the doll and let out all the air at once. Since the soles of both feet were designed to open completely, it became completely flattened in the blink of an eye. By the time those who had fled returned with everyone else, the doll had already vanished without a trace. That’s how it worked.

The machine that produced that grinding noise was about the size of a table clock, so it could be hidden anywhere. If you wound its screw, it would emit that unpleasant sound. They would then fold up the flattened rubber doll and conceal it somewhere—for the bath chamber incident, they might have temporarily stuffed it into a barrel and covered it over. In the storage room case, they likely placed it inside a wardrobe drawer. When dealing with the storehouse, they took advantage of the darkness after shattering the light bulb to hide it at the bottom of a large box containing folded kimonos.

At that time, we all thoroughly searched the storehouse, but since we were looking for a large statue-like figure, it never occurred to us that it could be folded up as small as a kimono and hidden at the bottom of a box. "And then, last night in Mr. Tezuka’s bedroom—it was either in one of the drawers of that Western wardrobe over there or perhaps under the bedsheets…"

“Hold on, Akechi-kun.” “Then how do you explain that?” “The Bronze Devil would often run through town and suddenly vanish, but a rubber doll can’t run, can it?”

Inspector Nakamura, having impatiently waited for Akechi to finish speaking, inquired. “Yes, there’s another trick at play here." "The Bronze Devil had installed private manholes all over the city." “Now, do you follow?” “It’s rather ingenious, you see.” “Sewer manholes exist in every town, but even if someone walks right over one, ask them later where it was and they couldn’t tell you.” "It’s exactly like how nobody knows how many steps are on the school staircase they climb every day."

In other words—a gap in human attention. Exploiting this gap in attention，the Bronze Devil would complete its task，then dig a narrow，cylindrical hole toward its planned escape route—always at midnight—and carefully prepare it by covering with a manhole lid. When stealing from Ginza’s Hakuhodo and vanishing near the railroad crossing，a fake manhole had been constructed precisely where foot traffic was sparse. The Bronze Devil leapt inside，sealed the iron lid from within，and froze without breathing.

"When we asked Kobayashi about it, he said that during the chimney incident, something like a large cloth had been thrown over him from behind, and in the blink of an eye—Ah!—he felt himself plunging into the ground. This too was because a fake manhole had been prepared at that scene. Kobayashi was temporarily thrown into there, you see."

“Hmm.” “So that was their trick.”

Inspector Nakamura crossed his arms and sank into deep thought. The realization that they had been deceived by such a childish trick left him bitterly disappointed.

“Still, creating multiple sets of bronze armor and rubber dolls—that’s no simple task either…”

When the Inspector voiced his suspicion, Akechi answered nonchalantly. "He has a secret workshop." "We already know its location, so we intend to shut it down eventually." "That’s what took him two whole years to manufacture."

Kaijin Nijuumensou!

“Mr. Tezuka.”

At that moment, Akechi turned toward Mr. Tezuka and called out firmly.

“We’ve uncovered every last secret of the Bronze Devil. Why don’t you remove that helmet now?” “Remove my helmet?” Still clad in nightclothes, Mr. Tezuka cradled the two young demons—Shoichi-kun and Yukiko-chan—in his arms as he turned a bewildered gaze toward Akechi. “The Bronze Devil exists nowhere but within you.” “Me? The Bronze Devil? Ha ha ha... What nonsense! Not only were my dear children kidnapped—I myself was brought here and bound until mere moments ago. That I could be... Th-that I could be the Bronze Devil? Such... such absurdity...”

“You weren’t tied up. You tied yourself up. Last night, you pretended to have been abducted by the Bronze Devil—still in your nightclothes—jumped down from the corridor into the garden, and hid here by going through the old well.”

That would make Mr. Tezuka a missing person. And then, he tried to put an end to this Bronze Devil's charade. Mr. Tezuka and the Bronze Devil were supposed to never again show their faces in this world.

However, something bizarre occurred. When you peered into the well, not a single drop of water remained at its bottom. "Normally, you would descend halfway using the rope ladder, press the button hidden in the stone wall's crevice to activate the motor and pump out the water—but before you could press that button, all the water had already vanished."

Startled, you climbed down the rope ladder, entered the underground passage, and pressed the button to release the water, but whether from a mechanical malfunction or not, not a single drop came out. When you checked the motor behind the stone wall, you found the electric power line had been severed. There was nothing you could do immediately. While you were pacing about, dawn broke. The clown you had been counting on was nowhere to be seen; he must have gone somewhere. At that moment, our voices could be heard from outside the well. It seemed like they were descending via a rope ladder. This is the end.

But he wouldn't let such a thing defeat him. In a flash，he came up with a clever idea. He just needed to tie himself up and lie there. And once they came in，he could just say the Bronze Devil had done this to him.

“But you see, Tezuka-kun, the electrical wire didn’t break on its own. I was the one who cut it beforehand. When I came chasing after you into this place, having water around would’ve been a nuisance, so I made sure to completely disable the machinery.” “You weren’t abducted by the Bronze Devil—you came here of your own volition. Well? Is there any mistake in the sequence I just described?”

However, Mr. Tezuka still did not remove his helmet. His face turned deathly pale, and as he worked his mouth soundlessly, he said this.

“Then what about these two—Shoichi and Yukiko? Do you think any parent would subject their own children to such cruelty?” “Those two are not your children.” Akechi declared bluntly.

“Wh-what? What did you say? These aren’t my children?”

“Mr. Tezuka was conscripted during the war and did not return for over five years. He went missing on the battlefield. Your wife waited endlessly for Mr. Tezuka’s return, but with no news of his death in battle either—her anxiety grew so severe that she fell gravely ill, reaching a state where she could no longer speak. That’s when you returned, pretending to be Mr. Tezuka. Because your wife was in critical condition, she couldn’t recognize you. There’s no way a thirteen-year-old and an eight-year-old child—separated from their father five years ago—could clearly remember his face. Moreover, you were Japan’s greatest master of disguise. You targeted that vulnerability. And you flawlessly succeeded in becoming Mr. Tezuka.”

Dear readers, please take a moment here to review the chapter titled "The Night-Glow Clock" from earlier in this story. There, the events of when Mr. Tezuka returned from the military are written.

“Hmph. That’s just your nonsense. Who’d go through all that trouble just to steal a single night-glow clock?” “But your true objective lay elsewhere. You wanted to shock society. No—more precisely, you wanted to shock this Akechi Kogoro. After all, you must hold quite a grudge against me.” “A grudge? Against you?”

“Exactly. How many years has it been since we met in the Okutama limestone cave? Back then, you were thrown straight into prison, but within a year you’d escaped and disappeared without a trace. You apparently kept your hands clean during the war, but once it ended—back to your old tricks.” “Wh-what nonsense is this? I don’t understand…” “Ha ha ha ha! Drop the act—it’s grown stale. No matter how masterfully you disguise yourself, my eyes won’t be deceived. You are Kaijin Nijuumensou!”

Akechi's bronze finger thrust out his right hand forcefully to point at the center of Mr. Tezuka's face. Startled and flustered, Mr. Tezuka—no, Kaijin Nijuumensou— "Nakamura-kun, I've kept this from you until now, but this man is Kaijin Nijuumensou—the master thief with countless grudges against the police."

Ah, Kaijin Nijuumensou! That magician-like monster—said to possess twenty different faces—had finally been unmasked. Readers familiar with works like *Kaijin Nijuumensou*, *Shonen Tanteidan*, and *Yokai Hakase* would recognize this master thief Twenty Faces. Now he had devised a terrifying new guise—the Bronze Devil—to plunge society into chaos.

Both Inspector Nakamura and the detectives were of course well acquainted with Kaijin Nijuumensou. When they heard that name from Akechi's lips, all the mysteries unraveled as if a light had dawned before their eyes. After all, there was no outlandish scheme Kaijin Nijuumensou wouldn't attempt. The Bronze Devil—wasn't that a concept perfectly suited to that guy?

However, just as Inspector Nakamura and the detective lunged toward Twenty Faces, the nimble master thief swiftly grabbed the two little demons—Shoichi-kun and Yukiko-chan—under his arms and bolted away. Slipping through the rows of standing Buddha statues, he fled to a corner of the room. Then, pinning down the two children with his feet, he reached into a gap in the stone wall there, pulled out a cylindrical object, and suddenly raised it above his head.

“Bwahahaha! Akechi-kun, as expected, your skills hadn’t dulled yet.” “But I won’t be caught.” “I’ve prepared countless trump cards.” “Go ahead—take one step closer.” “I’ll blow you to smithereens with this grenade!” However he had obtained it, that cylindrical object was a terrifying explosive. Ah! Dangerous! If Twenty Faces threw his life away and charged, everyone in this room would be slaughtered.

Did Akechi Kogoro flee in shock? No, no—far from fleeing, the great detective stood blocking Twenty Faces’ path and suddenly burst into laughter. He shook his shoulders as if overcome with hilarity and burst into laughter. “Ahahahaha~! Do you think that thing will explode?” “Take a good look.” “Isn’t the inside completely empty?”

Urchin Task Force Deputy Leader

Twenty Faces flinched and lowered his raised hand. “Hey there, Twenty Faces—you’ve forgotten how Akechi operates, haven’t you? After completely removing the bullets from an opponent’s pistol before declaring ‘Your services are required!’—that’s my habit, you see. Hahaha! The same goes for grenades. I discovered that yesterday and removed all the explosive inside it.”

Twenty Faces examined the grenade, realized that Akechi’s words were true, and hurled it to the ground with a clatter. “Hmph, Akechi-kun—as expected, your skills haven’t dulled. Interesting. You’re still the same as ever... but I like to think I’ve grown just a bit wiser.” He sneered brazenly through clenched teeth. “My trump card hasn’t even been played yet!” “For example?” Akechi smiled calmly back at him—a chessmaster acknowledging his opponent’s gambit.

“For example—these two adorable children.” “If you try to capture me, these children’s lives might be lost.” “I detest murderers.” “Never killing or harming anyone has been my pride until now—but this time’s different.” “I can’t sacrifice myself.” “I might just use these two as my replacements!”

Twenty Faces snarled hatefully and demonstrated by pressing down harder with the foot pinning the two young captives.

However, this time too, Akechi showed not the slightest panic. With an unruffled expression, he smiled calmly as if declaring without words: “If you have hidden cards to play, then so do I.” “Twenty Faces-kun, I’m afraid it seems this contest too has ended in my victory.” “What? What did you say?” “Look here—you’re already quaking in your boots. That’s right—you lose. Listen—for example, who do you think this little demon standing behind me is? When you first put this armor on him, my assistant Kobayashi was indeed inside. But do you think Kobayashi is still inside it now? Could it be that he’s been swapped with another child? Hahahaha~! You’ve gone pale, haven’t you? Have you caught on? Then let’s take a proper look.”

Akechi took out from his pocket the key to open the bronze mask—which he had previously confiscated from the Clown—approached the young captive behind him, inserted it into the mask’s keyhole, produced a click as he turned it to unlock the mask, then cleanly removed it.

The face of a single boy that had appeared from beneath the mask.

The eyes of everyone present stared at that face as if magnetically drawn.

“Ah!”

Both Kaijin Nijuumensou and Inspector Nakamura involuntarily cried out in shock upon seeing this.

There, instead of Kobayashi Shonen’s face, was the filthy visage of a child who bore no resemblance whatsoever to him. His hair had grown wildly long like a palm broom, his face smeared with reddish and ashen grime, from which two wide, glinting eyes peered out in shock. “Hahahaha~! No matter how skilled Kobayashi is at disguise, he couldn’t have pulled off a transformation this flawless! Hey there, you—who are you? Go ahead and state your name.”

At Akechi’s words, the filthy boy grinned slyly. And in an absurdly loud voice, he declared his name with evident pride.

“Me? “I’m the deputy leader of the Boy Detectives Club’s Urchin Task Force—Noppo no Matsu-chan!” “Hehehehe~! Twenty Faces’ bastard’s makin’ a crybaby face now, huh? … I been followin’ Detective Akechi’s orders—took Boss’ place an’ wore that Devil armor!” “You got played for a fool!” “Hehehe~! How’s that taste?”

Earlier in this story, Kobayashi Shonen had organized the Urchin Task Force by gathering street children from Ueno Park to punish the Bronze Devil—and now, unbeknownst to anyone, they were fulfilling such a crucial role.

Akechi, looking thoroughly amused,

“How about it, Twenty Faces-kun? Now that it’s come to this, even those two children you’ve been so carefully holding onto are looking rather suspect, aren’t they? If this isn’t Kobayashi, then those inside that armor might not be Shoichi-kun or Yukiko-chan either. What do you say we take a proper look? Look, here’s the key.” So saying, he threw the key to open the mask before Twenty Faces. Twenty Faces hurriedly picked it up and, after several clattering attempts with trembling hands that kept missing their mark, finally managed to remove the masks from the two young captives.

Then, from within emerged—sure enough—not the faces of Shoichi-kun or Yukiko-chan, but those of two filthy urchins. “Ahahahaha!” “Hehehehe~!”

The urchins burst into laughter as if they’d been waiting for this moment—grime-smeared faces contorted into wrinkles, their features dissolving into gaping mouths as they doubled over clutching their stomachs. Even Twenty Faces was momentarily stunned by the urchins’ utterly inhuman behavior, standing there dumbfounded as if he’d forgotten his own peril.

The Final Trump Card

Could it be that Kaijin Nijuumensou (Twenty Faces), having exhausted his final trump card, had now been captured here? No, no—this was Kaijin Nijuumensou (Twenty Faces), the one they called a monster. He would not be defeated by something of this extent. He still had a terrifying trump card up his sleeve. Kaijin Nijuumensou (Twenty Faces), his eyes bloodshot, darted his gaze around wildly—but when three urchins let out a wild cry and lunged at him, he spun away as if this were his cue.

The speed was as if a whirlwind had suddenly sprung up. Twenty Faces pushed aside the clinging urchins and darted between the rows of Buddhist statues like a wind-up mouse, spinning around and around.

Even the great detective Akechi was momentarily stunned by this ambush. He instantly realized, "There's some scheme here," but couldn't grasp what that scheme entailed. Akechi had believed he'd uncovered all of Twenty Faces' secrets, yet one critical detail had escaped his notice. For a master sleuth, this oversight proved uncharacteristic—and catastrophically so.

As they stood dumbfounded, watching Twenty Faces dart between the Buddhist statues with blinding speed, his figure suddenly vanished into thin air. The whirling shadow of the man disappeared as if erased, leaving behind only Buddha statues of varying sizes standing in rows like a windless forest, utterly still and silent. “Akechi-kun, he’s vanished again! He disappeared while still looking exactly like Mr. Tezuka!”

After hurriedly looking around between the Buddha statues, Inspector Nakamura said reproachfully.

The Bronze Devil vanished because it was a rubber doll, but Kaijin Nijuumensou (Twenty Faces) in the flesh is no such thing.

“It’s the Buddha statues—there was a mechanism in them! I had overlooked that.”

Akechi muttered regretfully and began examining the Buddha statues that stood like a forest, one after another. This concerned Kaijin Nijuumensou (Twenty Faces). He might be hiding inside one of the Buddha statues, disguised as a statue itself, standing there feigning ignorance. The three urchins too, following Akechi’s lead, began pounding on the Buddha statues one after another with their fists. “Ah, this is it!”

Akechi finally found it. The back of a single Buddha statue—larger than a human—swung open like a door. It was so skillfully made that one couldn’t tell just by looking, but when knocked, the sound was different.

After much effort, Akechi finally found the door and, with great care, cautiously eased it open.

Inside, could Kaijin Nijuumensou (Twenty Faces) have been standing there with a terrifying visage? Akechi, thinking this might be it, proceeded with caution—but when he opened it, the interior of the Buddha statue was merely a pitch-dark hollow, devoid of any human presence.

Akechi took out a flashlight from his pocket and shone it into the interior of the Buddha statue. “Ah, an escape hole! There’s a secret passage here! Twenty Faces might have already escaped. Nakamura-kun, please come with me. Inspector, take the three children and rush to the old well’s entrance with all haste. This escape hole likely connects to the vicinity of that old well.”

The interior of the Buddha statue’s pedestal led underground, where a narrow, steep ladder—barely wide enough for one person—hung suspended. Akechi shone his flashlight ahead as he took the lead down the ladder. Inspector Nakamura followed close behind. At the ladder’s end stretched a cramped tunnel forcing them to hunch their backs—a passage that extended endlessly onward. Akechi and Inspector Nakamura advanced through it with cautious urgency.

If there had been any side paths, it would have complicated matters, but fortunately, there were none, and the tunnel continued straight ahead.

After proceeding for a while, Akechi suddenly stopped. "Hmm, what's this?" In the tunnel wall was a hollowed-out hole containing clothing crumpled into a ball. Akechi picked it up and unfolded the garments. "These are Mr. Tezuka's clothes." "They're still warm." "Twenty Faces had neatly stashed disguise materials and other gear here in this hole." "When escaping just now, he must've stripped off this outfit and transformed into an entirely different appearance."

“Hmm, that’s one cautious bastard. But what disguise has that bastard taken to escape?”

The voices of the detective and Inspector Nakamura.

“It’s Twenty Faces. There’s no way to tell what unexpected guise he’s assumed.”

Having said this, Akechi began running once more while still crouching low.

And after proceeding a while longer through the cramped tunnel—backs still bent—they spotted a jagged opening about two shaku square ahead. This had to be the tunnel’s exit. “Ah,” Akechi rasped between labored breaths, flashlight beam trembling across damp stonework. “Now I understand—this escape route’s exit remains sealed by a stone wall under normal circumstances.” He jabbed an index finger toward fresh scrape marks along the aperture’s edge. “Twenty Faces panicked when fleeing—wrenched out this secret exit’s blocking stone without bothering to replace it.” Squinting through grit-streaked lenses at faint daylight beyond: “That opening must connect to a passageway near our old well.”

As they approached the hole in the stone wall, they noticed strange figures outside, their eyes glinting as they peered in.

“Inspector! He’s here! That creepy dude’s crawling through the hole!”

It was a familiar voice. It was the yell of Noppo no Matsu-chan, vice-captain of the Urchin Task Force. “No need for alarm—it’s Akechi and Nakamura. We’re by the old well.” Reassured by Akechi’s voice, the detective outside responded.

“That’s right. It’s right by the old well entrance.” “Wasn’t Twenty Faces in the escape hole?”

“He’s not here. You didn’t run into him either, did you?”

“Yes, it seems he’s managed to escape.” “I just checked—the rope ladder we had left hanging in the well when we entered was missing.” “He must have taken that rope ladder with him, fearing we’d give chase.”

Akechi and Inspector Nakamura crawled out of the hole and stood by the detective and three urchins. "Akechi-kun, there's no replacement rope ladder available, is there?" "Even I don't carry two rope ladders around." "No helping it." "We'll break down the door from that room over there and build a ladder." "We can have it ready in twenty or thirty minutes."

Akechi was making a carefree remark. "But Akechi-kun, if we dawdle around for twenty or thirty minutes, he'll get far away! And on top of that, since he's a master of disguise, it won't be easy to track him down." “At the last moment, that bastard really got one over on us.” Inspector Nakamura said in an annoyed tone, glancing sideways at Akechi, who wore a carefree expression. “Nakamura-kun, there’s no need to worry. The reason I’m being so carefree is that I still have a trump card up my sleeve.”

“Huh? A trump card?” “Well, if Twenty Faces has a trump card, then I’ve got one too. “Noppo no Matsu-chan here served as Kobayashi’s substitute.” "So then, where do you suppose Kobayashi is right now?" “Hmm, can’t you see?” “Since I anticipated this might happen, I’ve had Kobayashi and his Urchin Task Force stationed outside the well since this morning.” “Even excluding the three members here, the Urchin Task Force still has thirteen more, you know.” "As you saw from their performance during the recent chimney incident, these elusive Urchin Task Force members possess skills surpassing even adults." "And when it comes to Kobayashi, he’s my right-hand man." “Even Twenty Faces won’t escape so easily.”

“Hmm, so that’s how it was,” Inspector Nakamura remarked. “As always, you leave me speechless. But our opponent is the notorious Twenty Faces. Relying solely on children is unreliable—let’s build the ladder with all haste. Fortunately, since we’ve captured that Clown, interrogating him should uncover plenty.” Then, after removing the door from the back room and bringing it over, they constructed an emergency ladder. Within less than twenty minutes, the seven people—now including the Clown—safely emerged from the old well.

Kobayashi Shonen's Peril

Shifting scenes, we found ourselves outside the old well. The grove of trees resembling a forest in the Tezuka residence's expansive garden lay utterly still beneath the dull winter sun. Though there was no wind, something twitched faintly from time to time in the shadows of tree trunks. Was it an animal? No - that wasn't the case. They were figures clad in dirty, tattered khaki-colored outfits. Here and there they popped their faces out from behind tree trunks only to duck back in again.

In the middle of that grove lay the old well. Before long, what quietly emerged from the well was none other than the renowned detective Akechi Kogoro. Akechi stepped over the edge of the well and emerged outside. After surveying his surroundings, he pulled up the sturdy silk-cord rope ladder, coiled it into a compact bundle, and stowed it into the bag he carried. It was a strange bag. A large, floppy thing—more like a tanned leather sack than a proper bag. No one had ever seen Akechi with such a bag before. Just what was going on here?

When Akechi came into view, from the shadow of a large nearby tree emerged a lovely boy wearing similarly tattered khaki clothes, his cheeks glossy like apples. And he asked in a whisper. "Sensei, did it go well?"

“Ah, Kobayashi-kun.” For some reason, Akechi stopped as if startled, but soon smiled and answered.

“Yes, everything succeeded. Inspector Nakamura has arrested the criminal and confined him in the basement. Since I’ve discovered where that guy’s associates are hiding, I’m heading there now. You come along too.”

Akechi said something strange. However, Kobayashi Shonen—disguised as a member of the Urchin Task Force—answered "Yes" without showing any suspicion and followed behind Akechi.

Carrying the bag, Akechi Kogoro walked across the wide garden toward the main house with Kobayashi Shonen in tow.

Then, at that moment, something truly strange occurred. In the dried grass beneath the grove, there were things—flattened like snakes—crawling through with a rustling sound. One, two, three... When counted, there were more than ten of them. They were children with their hair grown out like palm-fiber brooms, their faces smeared with dirt, and their khaki-colored clothes torn to tatters.

In other words, they were none other than the Urchin Task Force members. For some reason, these children began crawling through the dry grass like snakes, tailing Akechi and Kobayashi. Unaware of this, Akechi Kogoro first entered the Tezuka residence's main house with Kobayashi Shonen in tow, informed the family members about Twenty Faces' capture, then approached Inspector Nakamura's waiting car at the front gate. The Metropolitan Police Department driver, who knew Akechi well, grinned and greeted the renowned detective upon seeing him.

"You there, the criminal has been arrested. Nakamura-kun will give you the details later. As for me, I need to catch his associates off guard—that's why I'm borrowing Nakamura-kun's car for a while." Akechi hurriedly explained the situation to convince the driver, then boarded the vehicle. But after shutting the door, he suddenly called out to the driver as if remembering something.

“Ah, I almost completely forgot about it. You—sorry to trouble you—there’s a square package wrapped in kraft paper on the reception room table. Fetch it for me. It’s tied crisscross with thin cord—you’ll recognize it immediately.” “Ha! Understood!”

The driver exited the car in a great hurry and rushed into the gate. Impatiently waiting for the driver to disappear from view, Akechi Kogoro suddenly clambered over the partition from the back seat, slid into the front driver's seat, and grabbed the steering wheel. The car abruptly started moving. It accelerated to tremendous speed, leaving the driver stranded behind. Kobayashi Shonen appeared slightly startled, but perhaps accustomed to Akechi's outlandish methods, he showed no particular signs of suspicion.

Akechi's behavior inside the car was strange enough, but something even stranger was unfolding on the vehicle's roof.

One of the Urchin Task Force members who had been tailing Akechi earlier had somehow managed to get ahead and conceal himself in the shadow of the automobile. In that brief interval when Akechi and Kobayashi entered the automobile and sent the driver off on an errand, the urchin clambered up the rear of the vehicle like a monkey, climbed onto its body, then flattened himself against the roof like a huntsman spider. He covered himself with what appeared to be an adult-sized raincoat and lay perfectly still beneath it.

The automobile started off with this urchin still clinging to its roof. The hands and feet of this tree-climbing expert urchin clung to the roof as if they had suction cups; no matter how much the car shook, he wouldn’t be thrown off.

Moreover, as the car drove through town, even if someone looked down from high building windows, there was no chance they would notice a child concealed beneath the raincoat. They would merely think something like a large wrapping cloth had been spread out there. The automobile driven by Akechi Kogoro exited Shiba Park, entered Kyobashi, crossed Eitaibashi, and after proceeding a short distance came to a stop at a desolate spot along the banks of the Sumida River. Amidst sparse small barracks on the burnt-out riverbank stood a slender five-story concrete building towering like a spire and stretching sharply upward. A shabby vacant-looking structure with its decorative bricks peeling away.

Akechi Kogoro got out of the car and, pulling Kobayashi Shonen by the hand, entered the building. As if having waited impatiently for this moment, the raincoat on the car roof bulged and squirmed. The aforementioned urchin swiftly jumped down, slightly opened the door through which Akechi and the others had entered, then slipped through the gap and disappeared inside.

Here were Akechi and Kobayashi Shonen.

After climbing the narrow stairs and entering the fifth-floor room, Akechi locked the entrance door from the inside for some reason. It was a room like a vacant house—one desk, three chairs, and nothing else in the way of decoration.

Akechi Kogoro, still gripping Kobayashi Shonen's hand tightly, remained standing without taking a seat, his lips curling into a faint, meaningful smile. "Who do you think I am, Kobayashi?"

Akechi said something strange. However, Kobayashi-kun wasn’t the least bit surprised. “Twenty Faces.”

He stated it point-blank with a grin. “Hmph hmph hmph. You’d noticed, had you? "But it’s already too late. You’ll have to endure some cramped confinement for a while.” No sooner had he spoken than Twenty Faces—Akechi’s perfect double—suddenly shoved Kobayashi-kun to the floor. With thin cord pulled from that bag, he swiftly bound the boy’s limbs and forced a leather gag between his teeth.

Kobayashi-kun, seemingly having some plan in mind, offered no resistance at all, allowing himself to be handled.

Twenty Faces threw Kobayashi-kun into the empty closet, slammed the wooden door shut with a bang, then entered the adjacent room connected by a single door.

Before long, Twenty Faces' voice could be heard coming from there. He was making a phone call somewhere. Since it was just a single wooden door, even Kobayashi-kun could faintly make out the voice.

“Yeah, it’s finally time to bid Tokyo farewell.” “…You’ve got the boat ready, right?” “Bring it here immediately.…And make sure to fill the tank with plenty of oil.” “Who knows how far we’ll have to push it…” “Alright, alright, got it.”

After finishing the phone call, Twenty Faces returned to the front of the closet and called out. “Kobayashi-kun, I’ll send a telegram now. Once night falls, the real Detective Akechi will come to rescue you.” “You’ll have to endure a little longer.” “I’ll be heading out now—there’s still plenty I need to take care of.” “After all, I’ve got people who’ll miss me too.” “Plus, I can’t just leave the car that’s serving as a landmark here, so I’ve got to take care of that too.” “Now, you just stay put for a while.”

With those words, he left the room. Needless to say, he locked the door from the outside.

However, no sooner had Twenty Faces left than an urchin boy emerged from a corner of the hallway—though where he had been hiding remained a mystery. Then, taking something like a wire from his torn pocket, he worked at the door’s keyhole until finally, with a click, the lock gave way. This urchin appeared to be an expert at such things. Then, moving like a seasoned thief, he stealthily pushed the door open about six inches and slipped through the narrow gap into the room as swiftly as a house mouse. Needless to say, it was that very same urchin task force member who had been concealed on the car roof.

The urchin—whether he had been peering through the keyhole—darted over to the closet, threw it open, and suddenly removed Kobayashi-kun’s gag before untying the thin cords binding his limbs.

“Quickly, tie me up. “I’ll take the Leader’s place and lie here! “If he comes back, it ain’t good. “Hurry! Hurry!” Kobayashi-kun praised the urchin’s quick wit while binding his limbs and rolling him into the closet exactly as he himself had been treated, then darted from the room with squirrel-like agility.

Two Akechi Kogoros About forty minutes later, Twenty Faces—disguised as Detective Akechi Kogoro—returned to the fifth-floor room, his face flushed, apparently having drunk alcohol somewhere. Upon entering the room, he immediately opened the closet to check. But when he saw Kobayashi Shonen lying there in his original form, he appeared completely relieved. Since the figure lay rolled up facing away in the dimly lit closet, it never occurred to him that someone had already been swapped out with an urchin wearing similarly tattered clothes.

“Heh heh heh. Admirable patience—just a little longer now.” “Keep lying there quietly like that.” “But there’s something I need to tell you.” “I want you to pass a message to your teacher Akechi-kun.” “Listen well—this time, Akechi-kun has beaten me.” “Thoroughly defeated.” “But know this—even in defeat, I’ll never let myself be caught.” “I’ll leave Tokyo for now, but someday I’ll return and make Detective Akechi foam at the mouth—you’ll see.” “Got that? Make sure you tell him every word clearly.”

Just as Twenty Faces finished saying this. A strange clank sounded from somewhere. It was not inside the closet. Twenty Faces, startled, whirled toward the source of the sound.

The door to the adjacent room was slowly, slowly opening. It was not the wind. There was a person there. A person was opening the door.

“Who’s there?! Who’s there?!”

He involuntarily shouted, but paying no heed to this, the door continued to open wider. And when it had opened completely, there stood a man identical to Twenty Faces—or rather, to put it plainly, a man identical to Akechi Kogoro—grinning from ear to ear. “There’s no need to relay that message. Because I’m here. By the way, I’d like you to correct that statement about Twenty Faces never being caught. I have come to capture you.”

That was the genuine Akechi Kogoro, who had rushed from the Tezuka residence upon Kobayashi Shonen’s urgent report. Even the great Twenty Faces could not withstand this ambush—his drunkenness vanished all at once, leaving him deathly pale. “Ugh, you... How did you get here...?” “That’s thanks to the Urchin Task Force with Kobayashi-kun as their captain. The one in that closet isn’t Kobayashi—it’s an Urchin Task Force member. The real Kobayashi is right here.”

Akechi shifted slightly aside, revealing from behind him Kobayashi Shonen's face with apple-red cheeks. He had changed clothes unnoticed and now wore a proper high-collared student uniform. The genuine Akechi and counterfeit Akechi stood facing each other three feet apart. True to his reputation as a disguise mastermind Twenty Faces, even side by side they resembled each other so perfectly one couldn't distinguish real from fake. They looked exactly like twins.

The two men remained motionless, staring into each other’s eyes for nearly three minutes without moving a muscle. A terrifying stare-down—the kind that made clammy sweat seep through one’s skin. “So, what’s your move?” Twenty Faces said in a grating voice like a duelist’s challenge.

“You’ve been caught—and not by me alone. This building is completely surrounded by police officers. There’s no way you can escape now.”

“Hmph, so you really believe that?” “Of course I do.” “But I’ll get away.” “Now, how about this?!”

Twenty Faces darted out through the door like a swift bird.

With dizzying speed, he reached the staircase. However, at the bottom of those stairs, led by Inspector Nakamura, uniformed and plainclothes officers were densely packed. Breaking through this was unthinkable. Twenty Faces pretended to descend the stairs, then abruptly whirled around and dashed in the opposite direction. In the corner of the dimly lit corridor stood a vertical iron ladder. He abruptly began climbing it. Above the fifth floor was nothing but the rooftop. In other words, it was a ladder leading to the roof.

Since there were no adjacent buildings connected by the roof, even if he went out onto the rooftop, there would be no escape route. What on earth was he planning to do?

Akechi and Inspector Nakamura chased after Twenty Faces and climbed the iron ladder. However, by that time, the large lid-like door at the top of the ladder had been lowered, and even with the combined strength of two or three people pushing from below, it wouldn’t budge an inch.

While they were occupied with this, a roar rose up from outside the building. Something extraordinary seemed to have occurred.

The Bronze Devil's Demise

Twenty Faces, who had fled to the rooftop, retrieved a bundle of black silk cords from that sack-like bag he had not forgotten to bring along. It was a sturdy, long rope ladder with knots every thirty centimeters—the same kind he had used during the chimney incident.

He grabbed it and peered down from the rooftop railing at the distant ground below. Since it was a fifth-floor rooftop, the height neared twenty meters. Below his eyes was a road leading to the riverbank, where several police officers stood lined up, and nearby, over a dozen children who looked like dirty street urchins were swarming together in a cluster. They were the members of the Urchin Task Force.

Twenty Faces attached the rope ladder's metal fittings to the edge of the rooftop's overhang and flung the long rope downward. When he peered down, the rope only reached about two-thirds of the building's height. Even if he climbed down this rope, he wouldn't reach the ground—he could only dangle midway. Twenty Faces began climbing down the rope despite knowing this full well. What on earth could he possibly be planning?

The building faced a road at the front and overlooked the Sumida River at the rear, but now Twenty Faces dangled from its side. On that side, there were almost no windows, so there was no risk of the rope being cut midway.

The people on the ground seemed to have noticed Twenty Faces’ aerial acrobatics. From below his feet, a roar welled upward. The figures below appeared as small as toys from such a height. Step by cautious step, he descended while gripping the knots, but the rope swayed in the buffeting wind, threatening to slip down at any moment. Had he let go, he would have plummeted to the ground like a bullet, his body shattered to pieces. It was a hair-raising, life-risking feat. By the time Twenty Faces reached the rope’s end, Akechi and Inspector Nakamura had become visible on the ground below. Yet even this endpoint dangled seven or eight meters above the earth, leaving them powerless to intervene.

It was exactly like a spider dangling from a tree branch, swaying in the wind. Twenty Faces, clinging to the end of the silk rope, looked as perilous as a lone spider. As they watched, this spider's thread began swaying more and more violently. It wasn't solely due to the wind.

Twenty Faces was vigorously building momentum, as if pumping a swing. Gradually, this strange aerial pendulum began moving rhythmically like a clock's mechanism—whooshing to the right, whooshing to the left—its arc widening with each passing moment until it now swayed broader than the building itself. By that time, those on the ground had finally grasped Twenty Faces' true scheme. He had been engineering a terrifyingly daring gambit. In essence, by maximizing this pendulum's swing, he meant to release his grip at last and plunge into the Sumida River's depths.

Looking down at where he was expected to dive, a motorboat floated with an air of expectancy. Ah—that boat might have been lying in wait for Twenty Faces to come plunging down.

When the people noticed this, they suddenly started running upstream along the river. Thanks to Kobayashi Shonen having eavesdropped on the phone call and learned that Twenty Faces had ordered a boat prepared, they too had kept a water speedboat on standby. The people hurried toward the speedboat.

Just then. Exactly what the people had anticipated occurred. Twenty Faces swung the rope ladder as far as it would go and abruptly let go. His curled-up body sliced through the wind like a bullet and flew through the air. A tremendous spray of water erupted in the river over ten meters from the shore. The waiting bandits’ motorboat approached the spray, scooped up Twenty Faces as he surfaced, then roared off toward Tokyo Bay with its engine noise growing louder.

Fortunately, by that time, the Water Police Department’s large launch had completed its departure preparations. Onboard the launch, besides the Water Police officers, were Detective Akechi, Inspector Nakamura, Kobayashi Shonen, and five representatives of the Urchin Task Force.

The distance between the bandits’ motorboat and the launch was approximately 100 meters.

Thus began the most terrifying water race the world had ever seen. The motorboat, true to Twenty Faces' meticulous preparations, boasted astonishing speed. Like a flying fish leaping, its hull nearly left the water's surface and glided through the air. The spray sliced by the bow split splendidly left and right, as if a great fountain raced alongside. Both boats maintained nearly equal distance as they left Tsukishima behind, approached Odaiba, and in the blink of an eye had already passed that artificial island too, now racing toward the vast expanse at Tokyo Bay's heart.

“Aah! It’s the Bronze Devil!”

When they suddenly noticed the urchins' shouts， inside the bandits' boat that statue-like Bronze Devil turned toward them and stood bolt upright， incessantly waving both hands. Twenty Faces had donned his iconic bronze armor to adorn this final grand scene， flaunting it before his pursuers and mocking them.

For over ten minutes, both pursuers and pursued charged forward at full throttle, as if to tear their engines apart, but in the end, the small motorboat was no match for the large launch. The bandits’ motorboat began to show signs of fatigue. Perhaps some malfunction had occurred in the engine, for it began moving in a staggering manner. Even the engine’s roar echoing from afar was faltering in rhythm.

However, for Twenty Faces, he absolutely had to escape at all costs. The Bronze Devil on the boat was waving his hands, stamping his feet, and appeared to be shouting at the engineer, "Faster! Faster!"

However, the end finally arrived.

Boom! A terrifying waterspout as if a bomb had been dropped. A deafening explosion. Within billowing black smoke, flickering flames like serpents' tongues danced; there, for an instant, the dreadful form of the Bronze Devil—wreathed in flames like Fudō Myōō—could be glimpsed flickeringly.

Eventually, on the sea surface where the smoke had thinned, neither the motorboat’s shadow nor form could be seen.

This was the gruesome end of the Bronze Devil—that is, Kaijin Nijuumensou. Needless to say, the police launch immediately approached the scene and endeavored to rescue survivors, but not a single crew member from the boat had survived, and despite their utmost efforts, they could not discover the corpse of Twenty Faces clad in bronze armor. Perhaps due to the weight of that armor, it had sunk to the seafloor and been unable to resurface.

Unfortunately, they were unable to apprehend the mastermind, but all of the Bronze Devil’s secrets had been laid bare, its accomplices captured, the secret factory demolished, and each of the underground treasures returned to their rightful owners. The fame of the great detective Akechi Kogoro and his young assistant Kobayashi soared ever higher, and with it, the exploits of that Urchin Task Force were splashed across newspapers in grand fashion. A carefree photograph of the sixteen urchins standing shoulder-to-shoulder and laughing appeared in every paper—a spectacle that made their reputation truly extraordinary.

And in time, through Detective Akechi’s arrangements, these Urchin Task Force boys found their paths—some entered schools, others took up professions—each finding themselves in happy circumstances.