Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 386 Weapon
At the investigation meeting for the "Lawyer's Paralysis Case," Shiraishi arranged the next steps of the investigation, and then left work with Munakata.

After all, Shiraishi doesn't need to do the actual investigation himself.

and……

Shiraishi was in a hurry to go home today!

To keep a low profile, Shiraishi parked his car a street away from Teitan Elementary School and waited for Ai to get in. After all, it would be quite a stir if Shiraishi showed up at the school gate.

Putting aside her figure, Shiraishi's fame in Beika Town is undoubtedly at its peak.

Shiraishi's left hand is still bandaged, but he takes it off the suspension and rests it on the steering wheel when he drives.

Ai had also received Shiraishi's message in advance, and came out directly after school without going with the Junior Detective League.

Hearing that "Chief Beika" was coming to pick up Ai, the three members of the Junior Detective League all looked very envious. However, thinking about the previous times they had encountered "Chief Beika" and how their parents had always been called in, they didn't dare to go and see.

……

"What brings you so much free time today?" Ai asked as she fastened her seatbelt after getting into the car.

Ai clearly guessed that Shiraishi had something to ask her, which was why he was in such a hurry and even came to pick her up from school!
“There’s a recent case where the victim’s death was very strange. I think… it’s probably not a matter of ‘trick’ but rather that some method I don’t know about was used. I’d like you to help me analyze it,” Shiraishi said honestly.

Although Shiraishi is also a "high achiever," and his degrees include not only humanities and social sciences such as psychology and law, but also human sciences such as health and medicine, and he had enough "common sense" to solve the microwave murder case of the Bitter Love Society, when it comes to "natural sciences," Shiraishi is far inferior to Ai Haibara...

After all, in this regard, Shiraishi only has common sense, and "common sense" is extensive. He knows a lot of both hot and cold knowledge, but he is not an expert. At least he can't compare with a proper researcher like Ai!

If the murderer used some kind of trick to make the victim's death strange and the cause of death a mystery, then Shiraishi's expertise is a perfect match, as both "reasoning" and "insight" are geared towards this area.

but……

Bai Shi had observed this countless times in the space of consciousness, and now he suspected that it was not a "trick" but the power of "science"!

"Trickery" is a psychological tactic that exploits blind spots in people's thinking to mislead them. However, the microwave device used in the "Bitter Love Society" incident cannot be called a "trick"—it exploited blind spots in knowledge...

If you don't know about "microwaves," no matter how smart you are, you won't discover their methods.

On the contrary, as long as one thinks of "microwave", then the things that the leader's wife did are only a thin layer of paper away from being "upright and aboveboard"!

Therefore, Shiraishi chose to consult Ai this time.

"I'm not a detective..." Ai rolled her eyes at his words.

However, Shiraishi still recounted the details of the case, and Ai didn't interrupt, but just listened quietly.

After Shiraishi finished speaking, Ai asked, "Heart paralysis...could it be poisoning?"

"No signs of poisoning were found, and nothing was found in the stomach contents or at the scene of death." Bai Shi didn't say for sure that it wasn't poisoning.

Indeed, the forensic examiner did not find any signs of poisoning, but...

"An unknown toxin?" Ai Haibara exclaimed immediately.

For a forensic doctor to detect poisoning, a crucial prerequisite is that the poisoning must be caused by a known toxin!

An unknown toxin is undetectable, since we don't know what its characteristic reactions are.

"Probably not, since apart from the skin ulcers on the chest, there doesn't seem to be anything else wrong with the victim," Shiraishi shook his head again.

Logically speaking, even if there were unknown toxins, they couldn't possibly target the heart specifically; there's no such thing as a toxin with such a precise targeting...

If it could induce cardiac arrest, it should also cause changes in the deceased's nerves and muscles.

Ai immediately thought of poisons, which was a perfect match for her expertise, but Shiraishi didn't think so.

"What exactly does ulceration look like?" Ai asked again.

“There are photos in the storage compartment,” Shiraishi said.

Ai opened the glove compartment and took out the photo to look at it...

Two are exterior photos of each, and two are perspective photos of each.

Seeing this, Ai frowned and said, "Why does it look a bit like... an external injury?"

"External injury? Does it look like one?" Bai Shi frowned upon hearing this—how could I not recognize an external injury?
“Of course it’s not a normal external injury, but…” Ai said, biting her nails as she stared at the second set of photos.

Ai immediately said, "Let's go straight to the lab!"

The laboratory sponsored by Ayako has been completed and is located not far from the Yingmihua Apartment.

Shiraishi knew that Ai must have thought of something, so he went straight to the lab...

After that, Ai disassembled some equipment casings and worked on the lathe for a while. That's right, Ai's laboratory was different from what Shiraishi had imagined. It didn't just have a few test tubes and reagents, but various equipment, and even mechanical production equipment!

Thinking about it, it makes sense...

These will definitely be present in Professor Agasa's world in the original work!

After all, Professor Agasa is a proper "inventor," while Ai Haibara is more inclined towards chemistry, medicine, and the human body...

Looking at the professionalism of this laboratory, Shiraishi understood why Ai was speechless when she first heard about his budget—this wasn't something that could be done by just buying a few test tubes or a microscope!

"Dinner... never mind." Seeing that Ai was already engrossed in her own thoughts and clearly had no interest in what to eat for dinner, Shiraishi simply ordered takeout.

Ai Haibara certainly has no interest in being a "detective," but challenging her in the scientific field is a different story!

Shortly after, the pizza delivery arrived.

"What flavor do you want?" Shiraishi gestured to Ai with six twelve-inch pizzas.

Ai glanced at it and said, "Just leave a quarter of the Hawaiian pizza, then get back to work."

Shiraishi tore off a quarter of the pizza, then rolled up the remaining five and three-quarters, eating it all like a "mini jianbing guozi" (Chinese crepe). Ai, on the other hand, also had her share...

With the first half of the night already over, Xiao Ai conjured up a "gun barrel"—a cone-shaped object with a structure somewhat like a gun, but also quite large.

Although Shiraishi watched Ai make this thing by hand, Shiraishi, who was not good at mechanical manufacturing, did not know what she had made.

“There just happened to be an ultrasonic transmitter in the lab for experiments, so I used it to make a negative pressure gun,” Ai said matter-of-factly. Shiraishi frowned upon hearing this and said, “A negative pressure gun? The negative pressure of this thing… Ah! In the water!” Shiraishi then realized what was going on.

Hints from Ai's naming of the device helped Shiraishi understand how to use it, but Ai still suggested he try it out!
"Go lie down in the bathtub," Ai said to Shiraishi.

Of course, the lab has a bathroom...

After all, Ai sometimes uses toxic substances in her experiments, and taking a shower afterward is just the most basic protective measure.

Without further ado, Shiraishi went to the bathroom, but...

"There are clean clothes here... never mind," Shiraishi said helplessly.

It's obvious that a change of clothes wouldn't normally be given to Shiraishi, or even...

The change of clothes here are not "ordinary" either; they're all for little girls!

"It's nothing. If you're worried about your clothes getting wet, you can take them off," Ai said calmly.

Well, in this respect, Ai definitely has a scientific understanding—the human body is just a piece of flesh, right? At most, Shiraishi's piece of flesh is a bit bigger…

However, Shiraishi still chose to wear her clothes, thinking she could simply use "Silvering" to dry them before going back—after all, she had just eaten a lot, and half a pizza would be enough to dry all her clothes.

Wasting half a pizza, but... after all, Ai Haibara majored in chemistry and pharmacy, while Shiraishi majored in law, so their understanding of the meaning of being naked is completely different.

Shiraishi, dressed in her underwear, lay in the king-size bathtub. After Ai filled the tub with water, she placed the "negative pressure gun," which was connected to a power source, in the water and aimed it at Shiraishi's chest...

Although it was an experimental method of murder, Ai wasn't nervous at all.

On one hand, their own ultrasound device wasn't powerful enough to begin with; on the other hand, ultimately, it would still be resisted by the muscles...

Just because an average person's muscles aren't good enough doesn't mean Shiraishi's aren't!

The next moment, a large number of fine bubbles shot out from the muzzle of the "negative pressure gun" and surged towards Shiroishi's chest...

Shiraishi's shirt clung to his body instantly.

Then, after frowning for a moment, Shiraishi relaxed and said, "Hmm, that's fine..." as he said this, he scratched his chest.

Shiraishi himself also had his own judgment...

The "effect" just now, if applied to an ordinary person, would be enough to leave small marks on the skin. If it were stronger, it wouldn't be surprising if it caused cardiac arrest!
When ultrasound is in water, the negative pressure causes cavitation—that is, "vacuum bubbles" are formed inside the liquid. These cavitation bubbles collapse rapidly, releasing energy in the process.

To be honest, it wasn't that secret.

After all, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy works on a similar principle. It uses high-frequency, high-energy ultrasound waves to focus and form cavitation clouds on the surface of the stone. The force of the cavitation clouds breaking apart is then used to break the stone into finer powder.

So theoretically, if the frequency is adjusted and the energy is increased, it can cause cardiac paralysis if applied to a person's heart!

At the same time, in order to achieve greater lethality, it may also be because the killer's equipment was not professional enough, and could only do this in water - otherwise it would probably have had to be pressed against a person, otherwise the effect of air conduction would not be so good.

This is precisely why scars are left on the victim's skin!
No wonder UDI couldn't find anything...

After all, this is just a normal, purely external injury with a special shape, and the way cardiac arrest is induced has no pathological or pharmacological effects; it is purely caused by external force.

"Looks like this is it." Ai said, tossing aside the negative pressure gun she had made by hand, and went to eat the Hawaiian pizza that Shiraishi had left behind.

……

It was quite late when Shiraishi and Ai returned to their apartment that night. To ensure Ai got enough sleep, Shiraishi decided to ask for half a day off for her the next day.

At the same time, Shiraishi also texted Kunikida, asking him to send him the "suspicious cases" he had screened out—preferably with information about the defendant's relatives as well!

What is a "suspicious case"?
Based on the actions of Prosecutor Matsui, Attorney Kobayashi, and Judge Sakurai, any case in which the three of them appear in court together can be considered "suspicious."

Although it was already past 1 a.m., Shiraishi was certain that Kunikida was still awake.

After all, this was his "trial mission," an event that he "cares about very much" and that could be considered a mental demon, so it was impossible for him to sleep!

Sure enough, Kunikida quickly sent an email to Shiraishi, clearly not only still awake but also right next to his computer, probably organizing files as well.

Shiraishi didn't say anything like "get some rest"; Kunikida could only rest early after the case was solved.

Shiraishi glanced at the information Kunikida had sent him…

In earlier years, there were quite a few cases like this, and most of them were criminal cases!
Since the three were the same age, it was natural that Sakurai and Matsui were able to start handling criminal cases at around the same time, while Kobayashi actively participated in "legal aid" during that period.

Fortunately, not all cases are suspicious...

First of all, we don't need to look at cases that are too minor!
While it's possible that someone might retaliate unexpectedly if they suffer even the slightest injustice, the priority right now should be cases with severe sentences.

Considering this, the murderer may have just been released from prison...

After all, the three haven't appeared in court together in recent years, and if the murderer was someone who was wronged before or someone who held a grudge, there would often be a reason for "why it took so many years to make the move".

“Three people were released from prison within three months, but one of them was imprisoned again…” Shiraishi selected the most suspicious information and began to read it.

There are two suspicious people, but...

Can they really get their hands on a negative pressure gun?

This thing can't be modified from any standard product on the market!

These two individuals, of ordinary status and advanced age, are currently reintegrating into society with the assistance of the Department of Protection after their release from prison. The jobs the Department can arrange for them are all ordinary factory work...

So Shiraishi quickly started browsing the people involved in other cases!

The unusual method of killing has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage, of course, is that it is difficult to detect, especially in this case. If the detective at the scene is slightly incompetent, it will be treated as two unrelated accidents. Apart from Sakurai, no one should suspect anything.

The downside is that once it's cracked, it becomes a powerful tool for identifying people, and even the strongest evidence itself!
"This kind of high-powered ultrasonic equipment is definitely not something that ordinary people can access. If you want to manufacture it yourself, the conditions required are even more stringent..."

At this point, Shiraishi simply used "access to the relevant equipment" as a condition to conduct a mental search of all relevant personnel, whether suspicious or not!

(End of this chapter)