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

Chapter 368 The Origin of Hatred

Since it looked like it could rain at any time, after dinner, Aoyagi Akimitsu didn't take Edogawa Conan too far. They just went for a stroll in the nearby commercial street.

The two of them went shopping in the supermarket and bakery, and then went to the bookstore together to look for new mystery books.

The result was a cold shower: "Sorry, sir, the new book we ordered has not arrived yet. If you like it, please come back another day."

Aoyagi Akimichi had no choice but to send the person back to the Maori Detective Agency as he had no interest in other places.

Conan Edogawa, who had made him come here for nothing and had a free meal, stood at the stairs and said embarrassedly, "I'm sorry to have to call you here for such a small matter."

Aoyagi Akimichi waved his hand to indicate that it was nothing, and was about to leave, but Edogawa Conan stopped him: "Wait, Mr. Aoyagi, I'll go up and get you an umbrella - it looks like it's going to rain soon."

"..."

Qing Liu Bingguang looked up at the sky, which was even gloomier than when he had dinner, and did not refuse his kindness: "Then I'll trouble you."

……

Edogawa Conan ran to the second floor and opened the door, only to see an unexpected scene.

"Uncle, you're back?" He looked at the people sitting on both sides of the sofa in surprise.

Maori Kogoro glanced at the clock on the wall which showed 2pm, and then glanced at the shopping bag that Edogawa Conan was carrying: "Of course I came back after taking the statement, where are Eri and Xiaolan?"

"I was just with Mr. Qingliu. They should have gone shopping."

Edogawa Conan put the bread on the table and looked across the sofa in confusion.

"Officer Matsuda, why are you here?"

They had obviously just returned, as evidenced by the fact that there was not even any tea on the table. Matsuda Jinpei's words were quite polite: "This case is a bit troublesome, so I would like to continue discussing it with Mr. Maori."

...But you don't look like the kind of confused policeman who needs to rely on detectives.

Edogawa Conan complained silently in his heart. He saw Maori Kogoro's smug look from the corner of his eye, so he had to swallow his true words silently and turned around to look for the spare umbrella in the office.

He quickly returned with the umbrella, and the two adults were still in the same position as he left. Kogoro Mori wanted to drive him back upstairs, but Jinpei Matsuda stopped him.

"It's okay, I won't bother you."

Jinpei Matsuda touched his pocket, as if he wanted to light a cigarette out of habit, but when he saw Edogawa Conan's childish face, he put his hand down again.

Conan Edogawa was a little conflicted. He was worried that he would attract attention, but he was also really worried about John... After a second of struggling between his conscience and his desires, he sat down honestly.

Then he couldn't wait to ask, "Officer Matsuda, are you sure it was John who attacked him?"

When Kogoro Mori heard this tone, his eyebrows jumped, and Jinpei Matsuda nodded.

"Yes," he said. "Although there is no surveillance camera in the room, there is one in the courtyard, and the camera was pointed towards the French window, which happened to capture the scene at that time. It was indeed the dog that threw the man down the stairs and caused his death."

Edogawa Conan asked again: "What did Lawyer Sakaguchi say to John on the phone?"

"—John, how are you? How are you, John?"

"That's exactly the words," said Jinpei Matsuda. "The colleague who came back with him proved it. We confirmed their relationship with the law firm. The newcomer had just returned from Canada and had been employed for less than a month. He was not familiar with Sakaguchi, so the possibility of him giving false testimony was extremely low."

"What was John's reaction?" Edogawa Conan asked again.

"We put it to the test right there and then. We put it in a cage and had Attorney Sakaguchi repeat the words to it twice, both directly and through a microphone. It didn't attack."

Matsuda Jinpei tilted his head slightly, as if recalling the scene at that time. "So the dog took the initiative to attack people." Maori Kogoro scratched his head, "But when I raised this point, Lawyer Sakaguchi said that John would never do that. I don't understand what he was thinking..."

Listening to these typical words used by pet slaves, Edogawa Conan felt something was wrong and frowned tightly.

"Sato has brought the dog back to the Metropolitan Police Department." Matsuda Jinpei added, "If nothing unexpected happens, the case will be closed in three days."

Conan Edogawa looked up and suddenly asked, "Officer Matsuda, you also think John is innocent, right?"

Matsuda Jinpei sat up straight: "Why do you say that?"

"When ordinary police officers get to this point, most of them will close the case as 'pet attack'."

Edogawa Conan, who had encountered many similar situations, said kindly: "But you came to my uncle to discuss it. You must feel that there are still doubts in the case, right?"

Kogoro Mori was stunned for a moment, then glanced at Jinpei Matsuda with suspicion, and the latter nodded calmly.

"Actually, I have a connection with this dog," said Jinpei Matsuda. "When I was in police school, about seven years ago, I went to the park with my friends to play baseball, and I happened to meet that dog and its owner. The boy was being bullied, and we stepped forward to help him."

Seven years ago. Bullied.

Hearing this crucial time again, Conan Edogawa jumped off the sofa and ran to the cabinet where the clippings were stored in the detective agency.

He often did his homework here and was very familiar with where the items were stored. He quickly found a book. He ran back to where he was, spread out the clipping book on the coffee table, and flipped through it.

Maori Kogoro didn't know what he was going to do, and hesitated whether to stop him from making trouble; and Matsuda Jinpei...

He looked at the young face behind the lens with a thoughtful expression.

"found it."

Edogawa Conan stopped flipping through the pages and pointed at one of them: "This is it. Lawyer Sakaguchi's child committed suicide seven years ago because of school bullying."

"What?!" Maori Kogoro sat up suddenly and leaned in to read the report that he himself could not remember. "A first-year junior high school student committed suicide because he was bullied at school. The person who bullied him was a boy named A..."

“We found that out, too.”

Matsuda Jinpei spoke slowly, his eyes scanning the report.

Seven years have passed, and although the newspaper is old, the photo and name of the young victim are still clearly visible, exposed to everyone.

In contrast, the name, appearance and identity of the perpetrator are all strictly protected.

"And the bully back then was the victim of this case, Maehara Tsuyoshi," said Matsuda Jinpei. "Because he was under 15 years old at the time, and the victim committed suicide, he was sentenced to stay in a juvenile detention center for half a year."

"After leaving the reformatory, he moved to Kansai with his parents. According to the Juvenile Law, his criminal record is automatically 'expunged' after completing his sentence. Two years ago, he was admitted to a university in Tokyo and returned here, moving near lawyer Sakaguchi's home."

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but when Jinpei Matsuda mentioned the “reformatory,” his tone was subtly sarcastic and dissatisfied.

Maori Kogoro only learned this information at this time, and he realized something: "He...didn't recognize Lawyer Sakaguchi?"

Edogawa Conan also frowned.

"I think so."

Matsuda Jinpei calmly gave his affirmation.

"Based on everything we checked on his social media accounts, he did not recognize that person as the father of the person he had killed."

(End of this chapter)