The unscrupulous detective in Conan

Chapter 1297 Diligent Gray Cat

Ai Haibara and Fujino looked at Conan and thought that the kid was a little bit stupid. If he wasn't stupid, then he was possessed. They should hire a Hakiko (a type of eccentric genius) for their house.

Fujino also couldn't understand Conan's actions, but he took it all in stride.

If you can't understand something, just don't try to understand it.

It's important to know that sometimes knowing too much about things isn't a good thing, as it can bring unexpected trouble.

If you can't keep your mouth shut, you'll be labeled and blamed. The words were spoken in the morning, but the person is gone by the afternoon.

Then, he began to pay attention to the system task that had suddenly popped up when he got off the bus:
[System Task: The Vanished Sharp Weapon]

[Mission Summary: A missing sharp weapon, an old woman living alone in the mountains, a passing gigolo and a wealthy young lady—what sparks will fly when the Junior Detective League encounters them? What is the truth behind all this?]

Mission Objective: Find the murderer.

[Mission Rewards: 1 million yen, 100 detective coins, 100 detective reputation points]

[System Evaluation: The case is too simple; the minimum reward has been issued.]

Fujino: "..."

What do you mean by giving the minimum reward too easily?

Hey, at least give me five million plus five detective coins, okay?

Looking at the system task notification, Fujino couldn't help but mentally complain again. Then, after a moment's thought, he realized that with a value of one million yen, the case seemed quite simple indeed...

Let's break it a little.

Even a fly's leg is meat; no matter how much the system task rewards, as long as the reward is given, that's all that matters.

With that thought in mind, Fujino began to examine the corpse after listening to Conan's explanation.

She was a young woman, who looked to be only in her early twenties. She was dressed elegantly and, while not exceptionally beautiful, was still quite pretty. However, a deep wound on the right side of her neck was horrifying.

This is the cause of her death: her carotid artery was severed from left to right, and she died from shock after having half of her neck cut off.

From Fujino's perspective, the wound that killed her was obviously on the right side.

But from her perspective, it was on the left.

But who can really say for sure whether it's left or right?
It feels like the left, but it's actually the right; it feels like the right, but it's actually the left.

This is a classic case of both sides having their own version of the truth.

Akane Oba's fatal wound, just as Conan described, was on her neck.

Fujino took out a pair of white gloves, put them on, and gently touched the skin around her neck.

Yes, it's still warm, still cozy.

Fujino pondered for a moment, then reasoned in a deep voice, "Now that the weather is getting colder and it's raining, the temperature of the corpse should be affected."

"Judging from the body temperature, the time of death should not have exceeded sixty minutes."

It took about an hour from receiving the call to arriving here.

The estimated time of death is sixty minutes ago, which is the same as the time of death that Conan believes.

Time truly flies by, and people change in countless ways.

A perfectly healthy girl has been dead for sixty minutes already.

She may have been killed sixty minutes ago.

But who really knows what happened?
The clues have probably been destroyed long ago.

The truth is probably only known to the murderer.

Fujino asked Conan, "Conan, you said you came out after hearing the screams, which means this lady was killed just minutes before you found the body?"

"There is no mistake about that."

Conan said with apparent confidence, "I remember the time very clearly. To be precise, from the time we rushed out, it probably wasn't even two or three minutes."

As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at the Andalai man beside him: "And the first person to discover the body was Mr. Anda, who came with this older sister."

Fujino glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, his tone flat and devoid of emotion, as if he were simply stating a fact, and asked, "What was the situation like back then?"

"I was on the first floor at the time, heading to the restroom," the Andalai man explained slowly, his face showing recollection and thought. "As soon as I heard the noise, I rushed out, and when I got there, I saw her..."

Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this: "Did you notice anyone else at the time?"

"I'm not entirely sure either." He shook his head slightly, his gaze lowered. "It was raining at the time, the sky was pitch black, and the sound of the rain was chaotic. Even if there were other people there, they probably wouldn't have been able to see them..."

"Is that right?"

Fujino first asked a question, then replied thoughtfully, "Indeed, in that kind of environment, it would be difficult to find anything unusual even with money."

As he spoke, he looked at the other two people present and asked, "Where are you two?"

Kaori Fuuga shook his head slightly and replied, "I was sleeping in the room I shared with him at the time. I woke up when I heard the noise, and then..."

He turned his gaze to Akane Oba, who was lying on the ground: "That's it."

The elderly woman, Tanaka Iwae, continued, "I was sharpening a knife in the kitchen at the time."

Fujino paused for a moment upon hearing this: "Sharpening a knife?"

"Yes, sharpening the knife."

"The key question is, why are you sharpening your knife so early in the morning?"

"That's how it is when you get old, your whole body aches, and you don't get enough sleep." Tanaka I and Aunt Jiang were quite simple. "When we have nothing to do, we just sharpen knives. If the knife isn't sharp, it's a real hassle to cut vegetables."

Fujino was speechless for a moment.

'You can't sleep, so you sharpen your knife, huh...'

'Is the next step going to be murder?'

Fujino had no doubt that this seemingly elderly woman might pick up a knife and launch a sneak attack without any regard for martial ethics, and then spar with him, a young man, for hundreds of rounds.

That's just how the world of Detective Conan is.

Do you think that people's physical functions decline as they get older?
Rub it!

The experience bar in the world of Detective Conan is a stacked hierarchy system!

The longer they live, the stronger they become!
The younger children were terrified of the old woman, because they suspected that she was the legendary mountain hag who preyed on children, and they were afraid that she would kill them as bad kids.

At the same time, they also believe that the old woman killed the person who is now dead.

Whether the mountain hag kills people or not is unknown, but you kids are definitely not good kids.

Fujino had a lot of complaints about the kids, but he couldn't say them out loud.

What are these little ones, all of them, tall and short, fat and thin, up to?
This is an old lady's house, built by her own family. You guys are treating this place as your own home, aren't you?
It is indeed a bit unkind and frightening that the old lady was sharpening a knife in the middle of the night, but you don't need to be so afraid of her just because you heard the sharpening sound, and you don't need to slander her like that.

The old lady kindly took you in, and instead of being grateful, you even slandered her.
Fujino decided to restore the old woman's reputation by clearing her name.

The elderly woman should not be unfairly slandered and smeared because of these things...

No matter what others say, the truth is always the truth.

So he squatted down and carefully examined the corpse lying on the ground, and examined the wounds on it closely.

After a moment's thought, she said in a deep voice, "This cut was made from left to right with a knife, starting from the side we're looking at. It seems the assailant used a dagger or similar sharp weapon to perform a backhand stab or side slash while facing her directly." "A backhand stab?"

Everyone present was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

Fujino explained, "Daggers are usually used with the backhand, since the attack range of a dagger is not long. If used with the forehand, there are almost only two attack modes: stabbing and slashing."

"But after using the backhand, the attack methods became more varied."

"It's like this: stab, cut, poke, slash down, slash left..."

As he spoke, Fujino pulled a ballpoint pen out of his pocket, held it in his backhand, and demonstrated various attack methods.

Then, he casually pulled Conan over and used him as a corpse to simulate the situation at the time: "If the culprit attacked her from behind, then judging from the direction of the wound, it should be that her right hand was gripping the weapon backwards, or her left hand was gripping it forwards."

"But judging from the marks on these wounds, they don't match the marks from either of the two attack methods."

Conan, who was treated like a corpse: "..."

I have a few words I'd like to say, but I don't know if I should.

Let's talk this out, okay? First, bring me that ballpoint pen, okay?

I'm afraid!
Conan recalled Fujino's ballpoint pen skills and was terrified that he might accidentally be stabbed to death by the deadly ballpoint pen.

Fujino didn't care what Conan thought.

He simply looked at the wound on the corpse's neck, gesturing with his hands as he reminded everyone, "If it was stabbed from the left side of the back, then these wounds shouldn't be shallow or have obvious gaps at the end of the neck; instead, they should be a single, continuous cut. If it's the right hand, it's pretty much the same."

"However, the current situation is completely different from a complete cut."

“Look closely, the wound in the middle of Ms. Akane Oba’s throat is quite deep, it has pierced halfway through, which means that the murderer stabbed her here.”

"The wound that extends from there is not deep. At the end, there is a mark where the flesh has been cut open. Judging from this wound, the murderer obviously used the technique of holding the sharp weapon with the back of his hand to cut open Ms. Akane Oba's throat from the front, and finally the sharp tip pierced through the flesh that had not yet been cut and forced its way out."

As she spoke, Fujino came to Conan's side, squatted down, and stabbed him with the backhand grip of a knife: "Judging from the horizontal angle of the wound, the culprit is definitely someone taller than Ms. Akane Oba, otherwise, the wound should be sloping downwards."

Ai Haibara chimed in, "It's a classic case of dragging first and then pulling."

Everyone present stared at Fujino's vivid performance, their faces full of confusion, clearly not understanding what he was saying.

Especially the smaller ones.

Clearly, these words were a bit too sophisticated for these elementary school students and male escorts.

Ai Haibara was quite helpless about this and could only explain it in a simple way: "It's roughly like using a twig to slide across the beach."

"Normally, when you insert it, the line should be a straight line or get shorter and shorter. However, if you hold it with your hand reversed, and you slide it at an angle, some of the sand will be thrown out of the small sand pit at the end of the straight line you draw."

"So this is ah?"

"I understand now..."

"As expected of Ai-chan!"

Ai Haibara didn't think much of it.

She simply turned her head: "And the only ones left with the talisman and the wound facing are these two."

The gray cat, with its telepathic connection, naturally understood what Fujino meant by these general directions and promptly offered its assistance.

After all, she has always been so diligent and conscientious as the detective's assistant.

Upon hearing this, the children turned their heads and looked at the two male prostitutes present, their eyes filled with apprehension.

Conan, who had been threatened by the ballpoint pen, breathed a sigh of relief.

After regaining her senses, she also looked at the two male prostitutes.

He still highly regarded Fujino's autopsy skills.

Although he had long suspected these two people, he hadn't found any evidence yet.

With Fujino saying that, it's safe to say it's definitely the two of them.

Especially the guy who was the first to find the body...

Kaori Fuuya immediately tensed up: "Wait, after saying all this, are you doubting me?"

"take it easy."

Fujino chuckled lightly: "I not only suspect you, but also the person next to you."

Andarai was also indignant upon hearing this: "I just happened to hear the young lady screaming and went out to see what was going on. How could I be the murderer?"

"That's not clear."

Fujino shook his head slightly with a sigh, "But you two don't need to get so agitated. I only said that I suspect you are suspects, not that you are the murderers."

Both male prostitutes were speechless upon hearing this.

They're incredibly adept at dealing with women, but with men...

That won't work.

"Beep beep—"

Suddenly, the sound of police sirens came from the sound of rain outside the window. Yamamura Tsao, holding up his folded umbrella, yawned and came to the entrance: "Who called the police? Where is the deceased?"

Fujino: "..."

At that moment, he suddenly realized that the little ones were right.

This guy really doesn't recruit any legitimate police officers.

Yamamura Misao rubbed his eyes, noticed Fujino, and rubbed them again as if in disbelief before asking in surprise:

"Brother Teng, what are you doing here?!"

He had barely finished speaking when he added, "Let me guess!"

"You guys must have gone out to have fun, and then you ran into someone by chance, and that person died!"

Fujino: "..."

Although there's something wrong with this statement, there's really nothing wrong with the overall structure.

He's quite skilled at manipulating things.

At least in terms of understanding the rules of the Detective Conan world, he's quite capable.

Fujino had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Yamamura Misao felt a mix of emotions. Although he was happy that Fujii had come all the way from Tokyo to deliver the sales figures to him, he was still quite pleased.

But coming out at 3 a.m. to work overtime...

I can't suppress my resentment after waking up!

In the end, Yamamura Misao could only pat Fujino on the shoulder and advise, "Fujino-nii, why don't you go to a temple, burn incense, and get a talisman, or find someone to exorcise the evil spirits or something?"

"I always feel like there's something evil attached to you, Brother Teng."

Fujino: What I mean is, is it possible that the filthy thing is the little Grim Reaper standing next to me?

(End of this chapter)