Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 385 The Tough Zongfang

Shortly after Shiraishi called Matsumoto, both the Beika Police Station and the Toya Police Station received calls from the First Investigation Division—the deaths of Matsui Hiroshi and Kobayashi Norio were officially opened as a "murder case" and an "Investigation Headquarters" was established, with Superintendent Matsumoto overseeing the case. The headquarters was located in the Beika Police Station!
Ten minutes later, Matsumoto contacted the Tsukishima Police Station again, and on the grounds that "the clues were involved", he included the Tsukishima Police Station in the "Investigation Headquarters" as well. When he applied to the section chief, Matsumoto did not mention that "the two had conspired with Sakurai Jun before their deaths", he only said that "the circumstances of their deaths were suspicious", so the case was naturally unrelated to the Tsukishima Police Station.

Otherwise, anyone could see how big the problems are behind this case.

However, now that the "Investigation Headquarters" has been established, Matsumoto, as the supervising officer in charge, can decide on his own to include the relevant police stations.

After all, this kind of "incorporation" doesn't theoretically mean that the local police station has to completely obey him. In this case, they need to cooperate with the search and send personnel to join the "search headquarters"...

Meanwhile, Kunikida had already made preparations at the Tsukishima Police Station.

Even when the "Investigation Headquarters" was officially established, he had already brought people to the Mika Police Station.

Although it's called the "Investigation Headquarters," during the meeting, everyone had a strange sense of déjà vu—aren't those the old folks from the Beika Police Station in the front row?
There were quite a few new faces later on, the "new subordinates" brought by Akasaka, Aoki, and Kunikida. In particular, Akasaka and Kunikida brought "detectives worth cultivating", so the group was generally young.

"Tsk tsk, you've been acting all high and mighty since I last saw you!"

"What do you mean 'main store'? It's called 'main hall'!"

"Yes, yes, that's it..."

"Shh, Section Chief Kunikida is here."

"What Kunikida section chief? We only have Munakata section chief right now. What can Kunikida do even if he comes?"

"Then why are you cleaning up the table..."

……

It had been a long time since we'd seen each other, so there was a bit of excitement. But things quieted down once Director Shiraishi, Section Chief Munakata, and other management officers came in.

When Manager Matsumoto saw the head of the 17th Division of the Investigation Department sitting naturally with the local police station's detectives, he inwardly rolled his eyes.

but……

Fortunately, Matsumoto didn't care about that. Since the Beika Police Department... the "Beika Faction" was capable of solving cases, there was nothing wrong with letting them do their job.

Matsumoto began by outlining the basic facts of the two cases—the similarities being that both victims died of cardiac arrest while alone at home at night, and both had a skin ulcer on their chest that the forensic pathologist could not explain…

"Furthermore, according to the report from the Beika Police Station, there is a possibility of 'external intrusion' at the Matsui residence. This needs to be further confirmed at the Kobayashi residence." Matsumoto said, looking towards Aoki and Akasaka.

Matsumoto had some doubts about the "locked room" theory at Kobayashi's house, which was based on a lack of thoroughness in the search.

If it were just the Toriya Police Station that didn't notice, that would be one thing, but you have to remember that Aoki was leading the Seventh Division of the First Investigation Team...

In the end, Search 1 yielded no results, but Miwa's side was found to have traces of a "fake locked room"—this shows that Miwa's basic competence is exceeding the average level of Search 1.
“Actually, there’s one more thing…it’s all in the water,” Zongfang interjected.

Upon hearing this, Matsumoto's attention also shifted.

To Munakata...

Matsumoto was a little intimidated!
As a veteran detective in the Metropolitan Police Department, Matsumoto knew Munakata, the former inspector—especially since Matsumoto had been punished by the inspector when he first came to the Metropolitan Police Department because of a car accident caused by a chase.

Although it wasn't Munakata who was in charge, Matsumoto was more familiar with the inspectors and knew that Munakata was a tough old man even among the inspectors...

“That’s right, one is in the bathtub, and the other is in the swimming pool.” Matsumoto nodded.

It's still unknown what this situation means, since they didn't drown, but there is indeed this commonality!
Then Matsumoto paused—what I just said was just a brief overview, something everyone already knew; what I'm about to say is the key.

"Furthermore... last Sunday, just one or two days before the two murders, Matsui Hiroshi and Kobayashi Norio actually met privately!" Matsumoto said in a shocking statement.

Apart from Shiraishi, Kunikida, and later Munakata and Matsumoto, everyone else present was hearing about this for the first time...

"What? They've met before?"

"It seems almost impossible that it was an accident..."

"Wait a minute, how about we consider infectious diseases?"

"Holy crap, don't scare me..."

"Manager Matsumoto, where did this intelligence come from?"

……

As expected, the detectives couldn't help but start discussing it after hearing this.

Just then, Matsumoto used a projector to show the surveillance footage from the Tsukishima cafe on Sunday!
"Huh? Where are Matsui and Kobayashi?"

"Wait a minute... isn't that Kobayashi wearing the baseball cap?"

"Why is he still sneaking around waiting for someone?"

"No! He's not waiting for someone. Look closely, those two... no, those three people are secretly talking!"

"Ah! Isn't that Prosecutor Matsui wearing sunglasses?"

"The prosecutor and the lawyer met privately, and they were even hiding their identities... What were they talking about?"

"And who's that guy in the trench coat? He's clearly been talking to both of them..."

……

Upon seeing the surveillance footage, everyone became restless.

Just then, a huge figure entered, completely blocking the coffee shop door.

The next moment, the three people who had been secretly making contact suddenly became wary and quickly left the coffee shop...

Now they understand why the video was discovered!
Both the clandestine method of the rendezvous and the immediate departure upon seeing Shiraishi indicated that something was amiss. Furthermore, they understood why Chief Shiraishi, who should have discovered the matter yesterday, hadn't made a fuss—this was indeed not something that could be announced immediately!

As for why it's possible now?
Nonsense, now that two people have died, it's almost certain that their deaths are related to this, which falls into the category of "must be publicized".

At the same time, Kunikida said, "Last Sunday, a murder occurred in this cafe in Toriya Town. Thanks to Chief Shiraishi's assistance, the case was solved."

“I recognized them from the surveillance footage, but I didn’t think much of it. Today, when I learned that Prosecutor Matsui and Attorney Kobayashi had been murdered, I realized that this was related to the case, so I contacted Chief Inspector Shiraishi.”

Kunikida's statement was something that had been planned beforehand.

After all, we need a clear reason for bringing up this clue now...

Kunikida said he discovered it by chance and there was nothing wrong with it.

Of course, everyone in the Mikasa Police Department knew that Chief Shiraishi hadn't just found out about this today; otherwise, he wouldn't have hinted at it yesterday when assigning the search mission. However, at this point, they all tacitly kept quiet about it.

"Inspector Kunikida, do you know this third person?" A detective from the Seventh Division immediately raised his hand and asked.

Indeed, the three conspired, and two of them died within two days. This third person is undoubtedly the key, and even the prime suspect now.

The detectives were secretly hoping that the third person would be either the "defendant" or the "witness"—this would give them a reason to meet secretly, and while it would involve some shady dealings, it wouldn't be too outrageous, and it would also be able to elicit the killer's motive.

but……

After a brief pause, Kunikida said, "If I am not mistaken, this is Judge Jun Sakurai of the Tokyo High Court."

Everyone:...

Okay, my heart, which had been hanging in suspense, has finally died!
The lawyer, the prosecutor, and the judge met and conspired in private...

The implications behind this are far more serious than things like "prosecutors fabricating evidence" or "judges accepting bribes"!

Fabricating evidence and accepting bribes are merely "dirty and ugly" acts, revealing that even the halls of law have dusty corners... But what these three were secretly plotting behind the scenes was almost "dark and hopeless," turning the halls of law into a stage for clowns!
The detectives, who had been talking a lot of nonsense just moments before, all became cautious and fell silent, none of them voicing the possibility that everyone had considered.

Matsumoto broke the silence: "Detective Suzuki, Detective Maki, you've already investigated the court, haven't you? Did you find anything?"

Upon hearing this, Maki Takashi decisively lowered his head and secretly kicked Suzuki Inu. The seemingly honest and simple-minded Suzuki had no choice but to stand up with a sheepish expression.

Suzuki, who was originally sitting in the back, suddenly became the center of attention.

"It's like this... Bai... cough cough, when we visited the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office, we found that Prosecutor Matsui had shown some abnormalities before his death. On one occasion, he suddenly came to the prosecutors office after get off work and started looking through the case files."

"Although it is impossible to determine which specific case he was looking up, and he deleted the access records on his computer, the search memory was not deleted. He used himself and Judge 'Jun Sakurai' as keywords to conduct the search."

"Therefore, we suspect that before this, he was paying attention to a case that he initiated and that Judge Sakurai was trying, which led to his subsequent visit to the court."

Suzuki then explained why he had visited the Tokyo High Court the day before…

Upon hearing him say this, not only the relatively unfamiliar detectives from the 17th Division, Tsukishima Police Station, and Toriya Police Station, but even many detectives from the Beika Police Station who knew him showed expressions of amazement.

Unexpectedly...

This seemingly honest and unassuming guy is actually incredibly fierce!
Not only did they check the records at the prosecutor's office, but after making some discoveries, they went directly to the Tokyo High Court to question the judge himself...

Is this the Mikasa Police Station? How can a seemingly ordinary, even somewhat timid, detective be so brave?
Only a few people who knew him very well guessed at this point that Suzuki Atsushi must have been carried away by "Young Master White Horse" again...

"What did Judge Sakurai say?" Matsumoto asked directly at this point.

"Judge Sakurai said... he didn't know, and [according to Article 197, Paragraph 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, necessary interrogations may be conducted for the purpose of a search, but unless there is a legally binding procedure, it cannot be forcibly taken]... Well, that's what Judge Sakurai said," Suzuki said helplessly.

Well, what does "having legally enforceable procedures" mean? It means having a search warrant and an arrest warrant!
How are search warrants and arrest warrants obtained? They require a detective of police rank (inspector or higher) to apply to the court…

Therefore, when Suzuki Atsushi said this, the detectives present were all agitated and annoyed - the person who said this was a senior judge who was well-versed in legal provisions and had been practicing for 26 years!

Unless, like Hasegawa did, they obtain concrete evidence.

Otherwise, how could an arrest warrant have been obtained?
“Actually, his attitude reveals some things…and the situation is different now. Lawyer Norio Kobayashi was also found dead today, plus this video…well, I will apply for an arrest warrant from the Tokyo High Court later,” Munakata said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Kunikida glanced at the new section chief—the two had spoken before the meeting, and Kunikida even knew a little about Munakata when he was still at the Metropolitan Police Department, though not as well as Matsumoto…

Kunikida actually disagreed with Munakata's statement.

This arrest warrant application was rather abrupt!

Not to mention that the chain of evidence is ridiculously weak, Kunikida understands that Munakata himself doesn't really believe that Sakurai Jun is the real culprit. Right now, all he can see is that Sakurai Jun is very likely a key informant, yet he is resisting the investigation...

Applying for an arrest warrant at this point is not really applying for one; it's a bluff!
Kunikida was somewhat resistant to this approach, but he didn't say anything.

After all, if you really look into it, this isn't exactly a violation of regulations—my chain of evidence is incomplete, but I'm following the normal application process. At worst, you can just not approve my application!

As for how the Tokyo High Court will react after I send "The Three-Person Rendezvous at the Cafe.AVI", that's your own business—at worst, you can call and yell at me because my arrest warrant application lacks sufficient evidence...

Of course, if you don't dare to criticize me, or even put pressure on Jun Sakurai to cooperate with us, that's your own business.

Shiraishi sat calmly to the side, his fingers tapping the table almost imperceptibly. After Munakata spoke, he adopted an indifferent attitude and continued, "Manager Matsumoto, I'd like to say a few words..."

After exchanging a nod with Matsumoto, Shiraishi continued, "Everyone, this case is very likely a serial murder case, and the killer may have other targets... Therefore, I suggest that the investigation be divided into three parts: first, the investigation and protection of relevant personnel, which will be handled by our Beika Police Station."

"Secondly, we need to investigate from the perspective of motive, especially cases where two victims are related... I would like to entrust this to my colleagues at the Tsukishima Police Station." Shiraishi said, glancing at Kunikida, who naturally agreed immediately, as this was something he had already been doing.

"Thirdly... the cause of death in this case is still uncertain, so let our colleagues in the Seventh Department investigate that!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Dongdong: In the end, my wife didn't use me anymore and made me come over to write...

(End of this chapter)