Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

Twenty minutes later, Jinpei Matsuda and Miwako Sato arrived at Beihua.

The police officers who followed set up a cordon outside the villa where the incident occurred, politely refused all questions from the curious neighbors who came over to ask, and the others went straight inside. Because it was a case of pet dog injuring and killing people, they also brought a large cage and a tranquilizer gun.

After entering the house, they quickly found the person who reported the case.

Jinpei Matsuda looked at the familiar faces, and especially at the little boy with glasses who was standing fearlessly next to the suspected dog - he estimated that the dog would be taller than the boy when it stood up - and his expression was a little subtle.

Without thinking too much, Miwako Sato walked past him and asked her colleagues behind her to control the dog first.

The dog catching process went quite smoothly. John did not show any aggression. They opened the cage in front of him and after a little urging, he went in obediently.

Conan Edogawa followed the cage with his eyes until he saw the cage being carried to the backyard by several policemen, then he silently put his eyes back.

The on-site work was carried out in an orderly manner. The Forensic Police Officers began to examine the body and collect traces at the scene, while two police officers from the Investigation Section 1 began to collect information from witnesses.

Miwako Sato opened the brochure and turned to the young woman who was invited into the room by the police. She was the first witness mentioned in the police call: "Hello, we need to ask you some questions now. I hope you can answer truthfully."

The young woman nodded: "Okay."

More than twenty minutes had passed since the incident, and with people around her constantly comforting her, her emotions had gradually calmed down.

Without waiting for Sato Miwako to ask, she took the initiative to reveal their identities.

"My name is Sanae Sugita, and Tsuyoshi... I mean the deceased, his name is Tsuyoshi Maehara, and we were friends in college. He invited me to come here to play, so I came over."

"This family's surname is Sakaguchi." Sato Miwako asked as she took notes, "Excuse me, do you know the relationship between Mr. Maehara and this family?"

"Xiao Gang lives nearby and knows the owner. He said the owner is going to Izu on a business trip soon, so he gave him the key to the house and asked him to help feed the dog. If he wants, he can stay here for a few days."

Sugita Sanae lowered her head and slowly recounted the incident:

"I came here early this morning and listened to music and danced with Xiaogang. Around ten o'clock, a phone call suddenly came in. Xiaogang said it was the owner of the house who called to ask about the dog. It was the same thing last night. I watched him pick up the phone, and then..."

Her mouth trembled, as if she was caught up in the terrible scene again: "... Then Xiaogang went to find the dog, and the dog happened to be resting at the second floor stairs. He bent down and put the receiver to the dog's ear. For some reason, the dog suddenly became ferocious and pounced on Xiaogang!"

After finishing recording, Miwako Sato turned to the three acquaintances and a somewhat unfamiliar woman next to her.

Maori Kogoro met her gaze and took the initiative to explain the reason for their visit: "We were driving by and suddenly heard a woman screaming. We were worried that something had happened here, so we rushed in and ran into this escaped lady head-on."

"In other words, you guys didn't see the dog attacking people with your own eyes?" Matsuda Jinpei got to the point.

Sugita Sanae was stunned. She felt that this seemed to hint at something: "What do you mean? Are you suspecting that I'm lying?!"

There was only one living person, one dead person and a dog at the murder scene. No matter what the traces at the scene looked like, the living person would inevitably become the first suspect.

This is common sense that ordinary passers-by know. Matsuda Jinpei was about to answer nonchalantly, but Sato Miwako quickly spoke first: "Please don't get excited. We are just routine inquiries and try to collect more clues."

Jinpei Matsuda was interrupted and took a step back in silence. He glanced around the room and landed on the landline receiver on the floor. There was a white circle around the receiver, which was obviously what the deceased used when the incident happened. He asked, "Have you contacted the owner?"

"We've already contacted them." said Miwako Sato.

Ran Mao Li beside her also added: "When we came in, the phone was still on. We told Attorney Sakaguchi that John had attacked someone, and he said he would be back immediately."

Conan Edogawa had been listening silently until this moment, when he interrupted and said, "Officer Sato, when you contacted Attorney Sakaguchi, did he mention who he was with at the time?"

Sato Miwako looked down at him and did not hide the information:
"We asked him about his situation when we called him, and he said that he was supposed to take the new members of the law firm to meet clients, and now they will all return to Tokyo."

Edogawa Conan nodded thoughtfully.

After all, he is a newcomer, and he will not meet clients alone until he can handle things on his own. If Attorney Sakaguchi has to give up his business trip, the other party will follow him back.

He had known John since childhood, and judging from the docility John had shown just now, he did not believe that he would attack anyone at will. German Shepherds are a commonly used police dog breed with high obedience. He suspected that Attorney Sakaguchi had said something to John during the phone call, and that required proof from that colleague.

only……

Conan Edogawa turned his head and looked through the window toward the courtyard. He seemed to see the lawyer smiling kindly at him and Mao Lilan when they were feeding John at the door seven years ago.

——Lawyer Sakaguchi is a kind person. If he really commanded John, what was his motive for doing so?
"Okay, you go back first."

Before Edogawa Conan could figure it out, a word from Kogoro Mori brought his thoughts back.

He looked up and saw Maori Kogoro talking to Kisaki Eri: "You take Xiaolan and Conan back first. There is no point in them staying here. I will stay as a witness."

The four of them were traveling together, and when they encountered a case, they should cooperate with the police investigation. But this case itself had nothing to do with them, and two of them were minors, so if they met a policeman who was familiar or easy to talk to, they could go first.

As expected, Sato Miwako did not stop him. Matsuda Jinpei himself did not care much about the rules and thought it was okay to keep only one.

However, he lowered his head and saw Edogawa Conan's hesitant expression through his sunglasses, and raised his eyebrows slightly: "Kid, do you want to stay and investigate together?"

Conan Edogawa didn't expect that the other party was observing him. He was stunned for a moment, not knowing whether he should nod quickly and take the opportunity to stay, or immediately pretend to be a child.

In fact, he had met Officer Matsuda three years ago.

He was kidnapped and locked in an underground cabin with a bomb. It was he who came to defuse the bomb and saved him. He is a very capable policeman.

I always feel that if I make random inferences in front of him, I will never be able to fool him as easily as I did with Inspector Megure... And this kind of case information is not confidential, I can ask Uncle Maori when I go back...

Edogawa Conan weighed the issue in his mind for a second and made a decision.

He smiled like a child: "No, I have an appointment with my friend to meet in the afternoon." (End of this chapter)