A Challenge Letter to Shinichi Kudo ~The Mystery of the Legendary Bird~ (Novel)
- This article is about a Detective Conan novel. For the drama special of the same name, which was based on this novel, please see: A Challenge Letter to Shinichi Kudo ~The Mystery of the Legendary Bird~
| Novel 6 | |
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| Information | |
| Title: | A Challenge Letter to Shinichi Kudo ~The Mystery of the Legendary Bird~ |
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| Japanese Title: | 工藤新一への挑戦状～怪鳥伝説の謎～ |
| Release date: | April 15, 2011[1] |
| ISBN: | ISBN 4-0912-2849-9 |
| Publisher: | Shogakukan |
| Creators | |
| Original work: | Gosho Aoyama |
| Author: | Takahisa Taira |
| Artwork: | Yutaka Abe |
| Case | |
| Cast: | Shinichi Kudo Ran Mouri Kogoro Mouri Eri Kisaki Sonoko Suzuki Juzo Megure |
| Suspects: | Otori Bird |
| Case solved by: | Shinichi Kudo |
| Chronology | |
| Prev novel: | « The Witch of Ejinbara |
| Next novel: | A Challenge Letter to Shinichi Kudo ~Murder in the Court~ » |
| List of novels | |
Contents
Cast
Gadgets
Case
Situation
Isamu Wakura, a client of Eri, invited her, along with Shinichi, Ran and Sonoko to his mansion at Jūgoya village, a remote area in the mountains. On the way to the village, they meet a TV crew. Yuki Yayoi, a TV reporter, says that they are here to discover the mystery of the village, since she feels that the village has Mesoamerican culture. The group meet up with Wakura and his daughter Misa upon entering the village. They also hear about a legend of a large Otori bird, similar to shrikes, that takes people and make them it's hayanie (when an animal is forcefully stabbed and impaled onto a branch or barbed wire by the Otori bird).
They soon arrive at Mozutobi Shrine, a shrine devoted to pleasing the giant Otori, and also the place where the village festival will be held. The TV crew that the group met earlier is also here. The group then learns about the Sacrificial Tree and God's Perch. Suddenly, the cry of a shrike echoes, and when everyone looks up, the assistant director is already impaled atop the Sacrificial Tree.
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Shinichi notices a black slate nearby. Ryoji says that the reason Wakura owns the majority of the village's land is because he is interested in a legend of a mirror that can only be seen once every 300 years. Soon, at Wakura's mansion, a person wearing a black robe and a mask of a shrike, the same one that Ran saw while on the way to the village, is spotted. That person, in a deep voice, says that the Wakura family had dirtied the divine shrine, and they, the enemies of the God, will be killed one by one. Soon after, the bridge leading from the village to the outside world is destroyed. Nearby, Yoichi is found dead on a Sacrificial Tree, similar to how Okada died.
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Shinichi notices that Yoichi's vertebral column has been broken as it is impaled from behind, which is unusual as the bone is very strong. There is also a wound on Yoichi's forehead. Another black slate is found near the corpse. Along with the destroyed bridge, the telephone lines are also cut.
The day after, when Shinichi goes back to where Yoichi died to investigate, he learns from Tomi that there was another person beside Okada and Yoichi died in the same way in the past, however Tomi refuses to reveal anymore. Right after that, Kotomi's corpse is found on another Sacrificial Tree.
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On Kotomi's forehead is a wound that is exactly like Yoichi's. The third slate is right next to the tree. Upon seeing the person in the Otori Bird disguise, Ran and Shinichi give chase, but they fall into a pit. Shinichi finds a cave under the pit, but the entrance is completely blocked with cement. Kogoro soon arrives to rescue them.
After returning to the mansion, Shinichi tries to put the three slates together. They form a mirror, and only another piece is missing. As there is one more piece of the mirror, everyone agrees that there must be one more murder. The image of Tezcatlipoca, the deity of the night, is carved on it, therefore Shinichi says that there should be another mirror that is symmetrical with this one, with the image of the deity of the sun, Huitzilopochtli on it. Later, Misa reveals to Shinichi that the Huitzilopochtli mirror in currently in her father's possession.
Shinichi goes to the police station to ask Haji some information. He sees a sack of cement, which is said to be used to fix a collapsed wall behind the station. After that, he finds a tombstone in the forest, with the name Machiko Konno on it. He then notices that at every crime scene, there is a rounded stone that form a straight line with nearby Sacrificial Tree and God's Perch. Under God's Perch, there is a hole with an object that looks like a beak inside. When Shinichi drops a rock inside, strong wind blows from there. Shinichi then realizes the trick behind all of the cases.
People
Resolution
Differences between the novel and the live action drama
- Note: The following are only details that have connection to the murder plot or are important to the content. Many other small details were changed in the drama as well.
- In the novel, the God's Perch is a wooden log on two pedestals and is put next to the Sacrificial Tree which has a pointed branch, while in the drama, the Perch is a pointed perch-like part of a stone monument. Therefore, even though they share the same principle, the murders are a bit different between the two versions.
- In the drama, the TV crew is completely omitted. Sho Kozaka, a graduate student, replaces Okada as the first victim.
- Ironically, in the drama, Ryoji is the one who is killed, while Yoichi and Kotomi remain alive (the culprit fails to kill Kotomi, and Yoichi never becomes a target).
