Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 368: Two-Front Advance
March 27, 2 PM, Nishimushashino City, Unnatural Death Investigation Institute (UDI), autopsy room.

With the help of Mikoto Misumi, Shiraishi completed the examination of the corpse with one hand.

"At 2 PM on March 27th, the suturing was completed." Technician Dong Hailin completed the entire record.

Immediately, the people in the operating room, as usual, clasped their hands in prayer for the corpse's rebirth, and then...

"Thank you all for your hard work." Shiraishi bowed to Misumi, who was also performing the autopsy, as well as Tokairin and Kube.

Upon seeing this, the young Kube quickly returned the greeting.

"It's alright, remember to treat us to a meal next time." Misumi was already used to it and the autopsy didn't affect her appetite at all.

"How was tonight?" Shiraishi asked the three people in the operating room.

Indeed, Shiraishi has caused trouble for UDI this time—even for Shiraishi, one-handed operation is not very efficient.

The reason for doing this was purely for "show," to impress the Metropolitan Police Department and the former Finance Minister—I have already personally performed the autopsy, and no one can kick the Beika Police Department out of this case!

"Huh? Is this alright?" Dong Hailin raised his chin, gesturing to the freshly stitched-up corpse.

Although she was unaware of the internal conflicts within the police force, she knew that there must be a reason why Shiraishi was on duty despite his injury, and that the case was not so simple.

"It's alright, just hand it over to the detectives at the station later." Shiraishi's "show" was over.

So the four of them happily decided to eat crabs that night next to the corpse—mainly because Misumi liked to eat crabs.

After the four of them came out, Amamiya asked helplessly, "Forensic Doctor Shiraishi, before we discuss what to eat tonight, could you please tell me what exactly happened to the deceased...?"

“It was murder; he was strangled,” Shiraishi said directly.

"Strangled?" Amamiya was taken aback by his words.

She initially thought the person was definitely dead because of the explosion.

but……

“Although the body was badly damaged, we can still see ligature marks on the neck, and…” Shiraishi paused before saying, “Judging from the pressure on the neck, he was strangled from the front.”

"Front view?" Amamiya was taken aback upon hearing this.

Seeing Isshiki standing to the side, still looking dazed, Shiraishi prompted, "Detective Isshiki, what does strangling someone head-on mean?"

"Huh? This... is the murderer someone we know?" Isshiki asked tentatively.

Shiraishi, Amamiya, and the forensic team: ...

"Idiot! Even if you're a close friend, would you let them strangle you from the front? It's not like you're being stabbed head-on, where you can't escape!" Amamiya scolded directly.

After being reprimanded by Inspector Amamiya, Isshiki himself looked embarrassed.

Shiraishi then explained, "There are certainly more than one reason, but the most common one is... to 'appreciate' the suffering of the dead."

“Appreciate??” Isshiki paused for a moment upon hearing this.

“That’s right. To watch someone being strangled face-to-face is a very exciting thing for an ordinary person. Ordinary people usually wouldn’t do that. If it’s not a pervert, then… it means it’s a revenge killing,” Shiraishi explained calmly.

“I see…” Isshiki thought for a moment, and realized that the faces of the strangled victims he had seen were indeed horrifying if viewed face to face.

Amamiya then glared at him, before turning to Shiraishi and saying, "Chief Shiraishi, how about we transfer him to your station? His hairstyle would be perfect; you've been collecting naturally curly hair lately, haven't you?"

That's right, Isshiki also has naturally curly hair.

Shiraishi:……

"Eh? Inspector Amamiya..." Isshiki was shocked upon hearing this.

Shiraishi rolled his eyes and said, "No, no, no, I don't pick people based on their hairstyles."

Shiraishi then looked at Isshiki, as if blaming him for looking "uncomfortable"—do you look down on our Beika Department?
Yise was so frightened that his face turned purple, and he couldn't help but laugh awkwardly.

“However, if the culprit could strangle an adult male from the front, then the murderer should be…” Amamiya was about to voice his speculation.

Shiraishi then interrupted, saying, "It's written on the second page... there's a unique burn on the corpse's chest, which should have been caused by an electric shock device, so the murderer didn't need to be very strong."

Although the man was blackened by the explosion, Shiraishi and Misumi still found something "unusual" on his chest.

On an ordinary corpse, even a simple inspection would reveal it, but finding it on this corpse requires technical expertise!

"In other words... the deceased was first stunned by electric shock, then strangled, and the incident was staged to look like a yacht accident." Amamiya nodded knowingly.

"Then it seems to be murder without a doubt!" Isshiki nodded firmly.

"The time of death isn't too far off; it should be between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m.... We found out before that the deceased had arranged to meet someone at the port before his death, right? Have you found that person?" Shiraishi asked Amamiya for confirmation.

Earlier at the investigation meeting, Amamiya bluntly demanded that the investigation pursue the most important clue—the victim's phone showed that he had arranged to meet another person at the port at 8 p.m. that night!

However, no other bodies were found at the scene...

"We caught him, but we haven't been able to get him to talk yet," Amamiya said, slightly embarrassed.

On the one hand, his subordinates had not made any progress; on the other hand, he was embarrassed that he had "snatched" the clue earlier.

In Amamiya's opinion, this Asada is highly suspicious!

Amamiya then added, "However, a remote control that appears to have detonated was found in his house. Although he said he didn't know what happened and didn't see the deceased, it's likely he was the one..."

It's no wonder Amamiya seemed so certain. When investigating the deceased's social life, they discovered that Takayuki Ejiri had frequently harassed a minor idol, who in turn had a yakuza ex-boyfriend, Kazuya Asada. Upon learning this, Asada caused a scene at Ejiri's company.

And Ejiri's last text message was also sent to Asada!

Just then, Amamiya's phone rang. After glancing at it, he said, "Excuse me..."

"Hello, this is Amamiya... What? The Beika Police Station made a discovery... Okay, I understand..." Amamiya answered the phone, surprised but also slightly resentful.

However, Amamiya then honestly stated, "There's been a new development in the case. Detectives from the Beika Police Station learned that the deceased spoke with the deliveryman on the phone at 6 PM last night, informing him that she would be home all night. However, when the deliveryman arrived at Ejiri's house around 8 PM, no one answered the door."

"Huh? The appointment with Asada was supposed to be after 6:30, right? How could someone who just made an appointment with a delivery guy suddenly ask someone else out? Could it be..." Isshiki was taken aback by his words.

"Clearly, the victim was attacked by the killer after talking to the deliveryman at 6 PM. The killer then texted Asada, took the victim to the port, strangled her in the early morning, put her on the yacht, and detonated the explosives in an attempt to destroy the evidence. They also framed Asada as a second layer of security," Shiraishi nodded as he spoke. This essentially clears Asada of any suspicion of murder.

At first, from Chief Munakata to the experienced detectives at the Beika Police Station, no one really believed that Asada was the real culprit—after all, it was Ejiri who took the initiative to meet with Asada!

Asada was invited out suddenly, so how could he have been carrying so many bombs and come up with this "destroy the body and fake an accident" trick?

Therefore, the Mikasa Police Department didn't value this clue. Since the "Search One" team wanted to investigate it, they let them do so...

"Inspector Amamiya, it seems that Asada isn't the culprit!" Isshiki exclaimed in surprise as he looked at Amamiya.

Amamiya: ...

Amamiya glared at him and said, "When that guy was arrested, he was at home growing plants that were the raw materials for anesthetics. Arresting him wasn't a mistake!"

Seeing this, Isshiki knew that Inspector Amamiya was being stubborn, so he could only continue to chuckle awkwardly.

"By the way, what does the bite mark here mean? Could it be that he had... ah, old wounds?" Amamiya flipped through the autopsy report, trying to change the subject.

They'd pick out any wound and start talking about it, only to later discover it was an "old scar."

Shiraishi didn't seem bothered by her asking about something that seemed unrelated, and nodded, saying, "Yes, it's a very small bite mark, probably from the incisor of a rodent like a rabbit... or a child."

"I see..." Amamiya became even more embarrassed when he saw Shiraishi answer so seriously.

The port bombing case reached a stalemate because Asada's suspicion was greatly reduced. However, after the autopsy, the investigation finally found a direction of "revenge killing".

but……

After that, it became a domain that Amamiya had absolutely no way to overcome.

To find out about Takayuki Ejiri's enemies, the most direct way is to visit his family, especially...

Because his father, Shuichi Ejiri, is a politician, this enemy might even be "hereditary"!

The problem is that Shuichi Ejiri is not cooperating with the police right now, and he is not a member of any violent organization. He is a former finance minister and a victim's family member, so the police can't do anything about him.

Amamiya had already figured it out...

Ejiri Xiuyi has given up all hope for this son!

Over the years, Takayuki Ejiri has accomplished nothing but squander his family's wealth. His so-called "career" is nothing more than running a small entertainment company by relying on his family connections, flirting with minor actors and idols, and causing quite a bit of trouble in the process.

Therefore, regarding his death, Shuichi Ejiri completely adopted a "don't come looking for me" attitude. To some extent, the police should be happy to see this, at least he didn't use his status as a former Minister of State to put pressure on the police.

Their attitude is completely "If you can solve the case, great; if you can't, forget about it. Just don't bother me."

……

On the other side, in Beika Town, Beika Police Station.

The investigation into the "500 million heist" is still ongoing!

The statute of limitations has only half a month left...

"I remember there was another robbery case back then, which was also unsolved? Is it about to expire as well?" Suzuki Atsushi said, vaguely recalling the incident.

Twenty years ago, he hadn't started elementary school yet, but he still had some memories of it.

After all, the fact that the two bank robberies remained unsolved sparked a "robbery craze" back then.

"Well, in another case, although only 400 million was stolen, it was more serious in nature. Not only was it a gang crime, but a bank employee was also killed... I remember it happened in October, and we were busy until the New Year..." Ash Valley recalled.

Twenty years ago, Ash Valley was already a detective.

Although neither of these cases had anything to do with him, he was indeed very busy at the time, with even criminal police officers patrolling the bank!
"Huh? Four hundred million? He killed someone for four hundred million? How could someone do that..." Miwako Kobe exclaimed in shock and utter disbelief.

Everyone:...

Megure was at a loss for words at such a naive statement, and could only cough and say, "Ahem, let's talk about the current case first... There are two more suspects, software engineer Jun Suda and camera shop employee Tetsuya Hatano."

“Programmers must earn a pretty good income, right?” Mu Gao said, speaking up at this point.

Although it can't compare to "500 million," but...

A person with a decent income certainly wouldn't rob a bank for "500 million"!

“No, twenty years ago, Suda had just been expelled from university and taught himself programming afterward,” Megure emphasized, adding that current income cannot be used to measure his abilities.

"Huh? Self-taught? You can't judge a book by its cover," Suzuki exclaimed in surprise.

Suda looks rather dull, and because of his bald head, white hair, and wrinkles, he could easily pass for a sixty-year-old programmer!
"And this Hatano Tetsuya is no ordinary person either. He's currently just a shop assistant at a camera store, but... he's been obsessed with inventions all these years. Although he's had very few achievements and no commercialized examples, he has had several inventions recognized by the Invention Bureau." Megure said seriously.

That is to say...

If one day he suddenly makes a fortune, it could be described as "profits from selling his invention".

Although theoretically the bank cannot claim compensation from him once the statute of limitations expires, and the money doesn't legally need to be "laundered," however...

Even if a criminal doesn't want things to be exposed, there is still a need for "money laundering".

After all, not everyone is as "outspoken" as Hiroya Kanno, and a dead pig doesn't fear boiling water. Normal people don't want their crimes to be discovered... even if they won't be held accountable!

"And this Suda Jun, he's been participating in public events in his spare time lately... he's practically an organizer! There's a factory in Okuho Town that's having conflicts with local residents over garbage dumping, and this Suda Jun has been organizing protests. Maybe he's trying to gain fame first so he won't be suspected later," Megure continued, emphasizing.

"Could we start by investigating how the stolen money was hidden?" Suzuki asked.

“It’s difficult. The statute of limitations will expire in half a month. No one would go near their ill-gotten gains at this time, would they?” Inspector Megure shook his head.

Just when everyone agreed, Kobe suddenly said, "As long as there's something for them to spend money on, isn't that enough?"

"Hey, Miss, do you think they're like you, able to just grab money whenever they want?" Ash Valley rolled her eyes.

"Leave half a month... to me!" Kobe said confidently.

(End of this chapter)