Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"Let me introduce myself. I am Inspector Fujiwara from the First Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. I was asked by the Minister to attend the memorial service for Kiyori Sasaki on his behalf, and I was also entrusted with an important task by the Prime Minister."

Kudo Yuji pulled out an ID from his chest and handed it to Chief Okita. He smiled and gestured for the girl to check it. The two of them looked down and realized that it was a police ID from the Tokyo Public Security Bureau.

"Ahem, sorry, this is the one." After putting the police ID he had "accidentally" taken back into his pocket, Kudo Yuji showed the fake police ID to Okita.

"...This police ID is really...a real police officer." Department Chief Okita forced a smile, suspicious of this guy who was hiding his identity and lurking at the memorial service for who knows what.

This is the Japanese Public Security Bureau, one of the most notorious groups in the country. Unlike ordinary police forces, they are seen by most as the Prime Minister's henchmen, specializing in assassinating and investigating anyone who could harm the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. His sudden appearance made Okita suspect that the killer might be this guy.

But then again, it's hard to say. A police officer wouldn't necessarily kill a dead man's mistress.

"Hattori-senpai, who are these two?"

The group of people guarding the stairwell from unauthorized intruders saw Ooka and his servant, Conan, following behind Hattori Mamoru, and reached out to stop him.

“He’s my friend, he came from Kyoto and Tokyo today.” Seeing that the students from other schools didn’t give him any face, Hattori looked at the club president of Kaifang Academy and noticed that the man seemed to be talking to the man who had come up earlier.

"Never mind, leave these two outside. I'll take the child inside. Is he alright?"

"As long as he doesn't run around." Because he was wearing a detective dog costume, Conan, who should have been stopped by common sense, successfully sneaked in.

Sasaki and her daughter watched as a group of students and the policeman who had accompanied Miss Kudo stood in front of their guest room, checking the surroundings as the door had been forced open, and felt a little nervous.

"You guys... don't touch anything! Everything in my house is very expensive!"

“If the case isn’t solved, this place probably won’t be your home anymore.” Kudo Yuji took out gloves from his pocket, put them on, and glanced at Sasaki Chiyo.

“Your husband’s death was already shrouded in mystery, and now this heinous murder has occurred. If we cannot solve this case, the Osaka police will definitely seal off this manor.”

"They wouldn't dare! Our... our family's factory has done a great service to the Tokyo government! The Prime Minister won't agree to this!" Kudo Yuuji nodded. If the Sasaki family hadn't taken advantage of the chaos to shut down their factory, he might not have agreed to seal off someone's house just because of a murder case.

Considering the perpetrator's identity, in this situation, wouldn't it be simpler to deal with the head of the family and then execute the murderer? What kind of deep-seated hatred could lead to sealing off someone's family's door?

Seeing Kudo Yuji nod, Sasaki Chiyo became smug, seemingly believing that the Tokyo police officer agreed with her point of view. She thought that no matter what, the Prime Minister would protect the Sasaki family, so she generously ordered the detectives to investigate.

"Judging from the condition of the door, it was indeed a closed room before it was broken open. The deceased was in the center of the room, with his upper body lying at the foot of the bed and his head lying next to the wardrobe near the door."

Yuji Kudo looked up at the central air conditioner, which was still blowing air out of the room, carrying the smell of blood, and the indoor air purifier, which was also whirring.

"What's rather strange is her expression before she died and the way her body moved. There's no doubt that she was strangled by something, so even though her neck was cleanly severed, her body was still in a position as if she wanted to untie something from her neck." Chief Okita made the same gesture and then affirmed, "Although the cut on her neck was turned outward, it was still quite neat overall. I guess it was a steel wire."

“That makes a lot of sense. She must have been in excruciating pain before she died, otherwise her body wouldn’t have been convulsing like that.” Hattori Mamoru walked to the window, put on gloves, and knocked on it. Listening to the banging sounds, he frowned and looked down at the tracks of the sliding window.

"The problem now is that there doesn't seem to be a murder weapon in this room."

Conan walked over to Mamoru Hattori. He wandered around the room, and seeing this decapitation case suddenly reminded him of old cases, so he subconsciously started looking for a similar necklace or something.

"No, the murder weapon must still be in the house. What we need to think about is the method and make a preliminary judgment about the body to confirm what the deceased was doing before he died."

Yuji Kudo walked to Hideko Ono's body, looked at the splattered blood on the floor, and then pressed his hand against the corpse's abdomen.

The wine-red liquid mixed with white paste gushed out from the cut surface, and the out-of-control corpse immediately emitted a foul smell, which was easily identified by everyone.

"Wine? And it seems to be a rather high-end red wine, but there are no wine bottles in this room..." (End of Chapter)