Chapter Twenty-Two: Purple Toxic:

“Dis a little research and came across something interesting, Watari said.  He glanced behind him. “April, pull up that article for me if you will.”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“Rare collectable box missing from antique shop. The daughter of murdered owner has reported a cursed box stolen from home and shop.” April turned to Watari. “Do you want me to keep going?”

“Yes, please.”

“Okay. The only other thing stolen was cash from and store merchandise were untouched.”

“Thank you, April.”

“Okay, what about this antique shop?” Hisoka asked.

“Ah!” Watari said. “I did a little research on this shop. Does Keiko-sama’s Treasures ring any bells?”

“Vaguely,” Tsuzuki said. “Was it one of our previous cases?”

“It probably was,” his friend said. “Anyway, this store not only sold antiques, but cursed items.”

“Cursed items? You’re saying that whatever was stolen was…”

“It seems that way.”

“What was stolen?” Hisoka asked.

“Abaddon’s box.”

“What is that?”

Watari turned to his lab assistants. “Kyosuke, care to pull up my notes?”

“Yes, sir.” Kyosuke took over for April at the laptop.

“Got it up?” Watari asked.

“Yes, sir,” Kyosuke said. Watari walked over to the laptop.

“In the 1950’s, two archaeologists dug up Abaddon’s Box somewhere in England. Nobody knows its origin. Rumor has it that it’s changed hands many times since 1959.”

“So you’re saying the box might have something to do with these murders?” Tsuzuki asked.

“I will look into this angle a little bit further,” Watari said. “We are still collecting information on the murders and Abaddon’s Box.”

“Where’s the box now?” Hisoka asked.

“I’m one step ahead of you!” Watari said. “I drew a tracker for the box.” Kyosuke and April frowned in the background.

“Okay, thanks,” Tsuzuki said.

“Anything else?” Hisoka asked.

“No,” Watari said. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thanks, Watari,” Tsuzuki said.

“Goodbye.”

“Bye.”

After hanging up, Watari shifted his focus towards April and Kyosuke. “Well, don’t just sit around doing nothing! Close up everything and get to work! We have to help them wrap up this case!”

“Yes, sir!” they said. Another work day began in Watari’s lab.