Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 163 Banquet
"Since they have already reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police Department, we just need to cooperate with the Security Department." Shiraishi agreed directly and let Murasakibara Tora take charge of the arrangements.

"Yes!" Ziyuan Hu was relieved after hearing this - he was worried that Director Shiraishi would also try to show off in this regard!

"By the way... the banquet is tomorrow, Thursday, right? I will also be at the banquet then." Shiraishi looked at his schedule at this time.

"Eh? Yes." Ziyuanhu was stunned when he heard it, but still agreed.

"But I'm going there as a guest, so I don't want to overshadow the host. You should communicate with the people from the security department then, and just pretend I don't exist." Shiraishi added.

That’s right, Shiraishi didn’t go there for security work, but to attend the banquet as a guest, and…

He was not invited as the "Director of the Rice Flower Agency", but was invited to accompany Ayako!
As the "local police chief", he was not required to be invited to such occasions, and Shiraishi Kuro's reputation put him on the list of "people I don't want to invite".

However, Ayako hoped that Shiraishi could go with her, and Shiraishi was happy to do so - such occasions could be regarded as the director's public relations mission, which was part of the job, not a leave of absence!
Ziyuanhu finally responded: "Don't worry, Director, the Security Section will definitely not embarrass our Beihua Department!"

"Just cooperate more with the Security Department." Bai Shi didn't think there was anything shameful about it, and he didn't want to steal the blame from the Security Department.

He has already come to Beika Town to hold a banquet, so the probability of something going wrong is very high. It would be better if the security department were to take the blame.

Shiraishi also searched for this "Member of the Council of Itsuki Ya" on the Internet...

As expected, his reputation is not that good, and he is involved in a scandal involving political and business dealings. He may not be elected this time. He even held a special banquet, which was just like "whistling on the street at night" to bluff and give himself courage!

……

The next afternoon, Shiraishi, wearing the white tuxedo given by Ayako, and Suzuki Ayako, who was wearing a long skirt, arrived at the scene together.

Because both of them were wearing formal attire, the Suzuki family's driver was driving.

The driver got out and opened the back door. When Bai Shi came out, he immediately attracted the attention of everyone around him!
Afterwards, Shiraishi gentlemanly reached out and helped Suzuki Ayako out.

If it were any other time, of course Ayako would be the one who would attract the most attention in her low-key yet luxurious long dress, but now...

Obviously, Shiraishi is more eye-catching. With a height of two meters and three meters, even wearing a white dress, he gives people the feeling of a "swallow-tailed polar bear".

The security guards outside were nervous at first, then relaxed...

A creature of this size would instinctively make people nervous, but after seeing it clearly, they found that the person coming was none other than the director of the Beika Police Station, Kuro Shiraishi!
The secretary who was receiving guests outside also noticed it immediately. Suzuki Ayako, who was beside Shiraishi Kuro, quickly stepped forward and said, "Welcome Miss Suzuki to the banquet. I will take you both in."

Seeing Secretary Ribara eager to lead the way, Shiraishi Kuro also paid more attention to him. This secretary looked to be in his thirties, which was considered very young for a "Congressman's Secretary". In addition...

Shiraishi discovered that although he wore glasses and looked gentle, he actually had strong muscles under his suit. Although they were not as conspicuous as his and were difficult for ordinary people to notice, he should be quite strong.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Secretary Ribaki, Ayako introduced Shiraishi - she came with Shiraishi and they were holding each other's arms... although they could only hold each other's forearms, everyone could see their relationship!
Arriving at the venue, in the spacious entrance hall, Bai Shi noticed that guests had to pass through the security gate before entering the banquet hall, and even... every dish was being measured under an instrument before being sent in.

The person who maintained order at the scene was still Shiraishi's old acquaintance - the executive.

He was the captain of the mobile force who led the team when Shiraishi's house was bombed.

And the person who was directing the execution was someone Shiraishi happened to know, and that was... Kazami with the forked eyebrows!

Although he was under the banner of "National Police Agency Security Bureau", Shiraishi knew that this guy was from the Public Security Bureau.

It seems that the death threats received by Gokitani were not groundless, and were not even done by ordinary people.

Naturally, the two men noticed Shiraishi coming from a distance. The executive walked forward in confusion, while Kazami immediately pretended not to know him and looked around hard.

"Director Shiraishi, why did you come here in person?" the executive said, taking a look at his formal attire - could it be that... this guy wanted to be a "hidden security guard"?
You can't hide your appearance! Even in a formal dress you don't fit in with the people around you!
The executor was complaining madly in his mind.

"My girlfriend and I are here to attend the banquet. We will not affect the executive captain's duties." Bai Shi said, moving aside a little. The executive then saw that Bai Shi was holding someone on the other side.

"So, that's it." The executive just found out that this guy actually has a "girlfriend".

"Executive Captain, these two are our important guests, so they don't need security checks, right?" Secretary Ridge said as a matter of course.

There were all kinds of people at the banquet, so the police proposed a security check. Councillor Itsuki and Secretary Wakata did not refuse, but...

Of course, we should treat real "distinguished guests" differently!
The executive had seen this many times and it was hard to refuse, especially since... there was another one named Shiraishi Kuro!
Even if we take a step back, I believe that if Shiraishi Kuro wanted to take action, he would not need weapons at all and could still fight with everyone at the scene...

However, the one who makes the decision here is not the executive officer. He looked at Kazami on the side, hoping that he would give him a hint - although the executive officer has the rank of inspector general and Kazami is only a deputy inspector general, civil servants from the National Police Agency have always been tacitly allowed to have command authority over police officers from other departments, regardless of their police rank.

But at this moment, he discovered that Feng Jian might be blind, as he was looking around and not looking here at all!
At the same time, Shiraishi whispered something to Ayako, then Ayako let him go, and Shiraishi walked straight towards Kazami.

The executive was afraid that he didn't know that Feng Jian was from the police department, and wanted to stop him, but...

"Inspector Kazami, nice to see you again." Shiraishi greeted directly.

Kazami: ...

When the executor saw that he knew them, he stopped talking.

"Director Shiraishi, long time no see." Feng Jian was also helpless - since you know I'm a public security officer, can you not say hello?
Although he didn't have any covert mission, but...

Because he was discovered to be an "idol otaku", Kazami doesn't want to see Shiraishi at all!

"The death threat from Councillor Itsuki is very...real?" Shiraishi asked Kazami in a low voice as he looked at the scene in front of him.

Kazami really wanted to tell him "no comment", but then he thought about it and realized that this was indeed Shiraishi's police station's jurisdiction, and Shiraishi was different from other local police chiefs and had a high level of initiative, so he would definitely need his cooperation. So he said vaguely, "Well, it's related to a dangerous organization."

"Organization? Is it the kind that I'm good at dealing with?" Bai Shi's expression changed when he heard that, and he further confirmed it.

"No, it's the kind we are good at dealing with," Kazami corrected.

Shiraishi immediately understood - what kind of organization this was, Kazami wouldn't tell you, but...

In short, it is not a violent organization, but... a terrorist organization!
As for whether it was the "Black Organization" that Shiraishi knew, he couldn't ask now.

On the other side, seeing Shiraishi and Fumi whispering, the executive officer became more suspicious that there was "something else" behind Shiraishi Kuro's external investigation, otherwise how could he be so familiar with the people in the National Police Agency?
Secretary Raki originally wanted to bring Miss Suzuki in first, but Ayako declined and waited by the side with a smile. She even went to the security gate because she had nothing to do.

Secretary Riku couldn't help but look at Bai Shi twice - it seems that the director of the Rice Flower Department is not only tough to the outside world, but also tough to the inside...

"Did the tip-off say that it was poisoned?" Bai Shi said as he glanced at the side door of the banquet hall. All the dishes going in were also being inspected.

"Well, the threatening letter said, 'The greedy venomous snake will die from the venom', but this guy still refused to cancel the banquet, so we dispatched a few gas spectrometers." Kazami said with some complaints.

After all, Gokitani had a bad reputation to begin with, and the threatening letter called him a "greedy poisonous snake." Moreover, this guy was obsessed with power. Not to mention asking him to withdraw from the election, he wouldn't even agree to cancel the banquet, for fear of dampening morale and disappointing the people behind him.

Shiraishi also knew what that instrument was... Its full name was "Gas Phase Molecular Absorption Spectrometer", which could detect chloride, nitrite, bromide... and cyanide, which was the most important thing to check in Beika Town, at the molecular level.

If possible, Shiraishi really hopes that all the restaurants in Beika Town will be equipped with one...

After Shiraishi talked to Kazami for a few words, he entered the venue with Ayako.

Of course he didn't go through security check. After all, it wasn't easy for him to get through the security check gate!
The banquet hall is a Western-style buffet, where you can get your own food. If you don't have any wine, a waiter will take the initiative to bring you a glass of wine...

At the banquet, Shiraishi was already conspicuous, and... once they followed him and saw Ayako next to him, many people would come over to say hello.

Ayako is very busy!
At the same time, although Bai Shi didn't care too much, but...

This was actually the first time that Ayako semi-formally introduced Shiraishi to everyone - even if it couldn't be called "fiancé" or something like that, the fact that he was brought here specially already explained some things.

It was probably because Ayako had a more in-depth conversation with her mother after she went to Arima with Shiraishi without permission last time. It seemed that the Suzukis, even if they did not agree, at least tacitly agreed to some things.

The others naturally understood this as well. Before Gokitani came out, the combination of Shiraishi and Ayako briefly became the focus.

At this time, Shiraishi was holding a wine glass and looking around the room - considering his height, it was very easy for him to do this.

A few brief eye contacts or some deliberate avoidance allowed Shiraishi to discover almost all the plainclothes officers at the scene.

Because there was a real threat letter, not only the Security Department and the Public Security Department, Shiraishi also found the police officers of Souichi, including the Souichi three department that he was most familiar with...

(End of this chapter)