Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 388 The Struggle for the Safe House
Shiraishi called Kunikida but couldn't reach him. He then called Tsukishima Police Station, only to find that Kunikida hadn't come to the station at all that day!
Shiraishi could no longer sit still...

When Shiraishi saw the factory business that Murano Hikaru worked for, he had a vague premonition that something was wrong—in plastic welding, there is a technology called "ultrasonic welding," which uses ultrasound to heat the plastic joints to achieve welding.

Indeed, that factory's technology is also like that...

Moreover, six years ago, Murano Hikaru was a top student at Waseda University, but he dropped out of school because of his father's murder and has been working in a factory to support his mother's medical treatment.

Last month, his mother died in her hospital bed and never woke up again after six years.

At this moment, it's not difficult for someone with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills to secretly make a negative pressure gun for themselves during overtime work!

……

In a villa in the mountains of Okuho Town.

Jun Sakurai, who was ordered to take leave, is lying in a rocking chair drinking tea...

Sakurai is not a person who enjoys comfort or indulges in ease. If he hadn't been ordered to rest this time, and if his two "comrades" hadn't been killed one after another, he wouldn't have taken it for granted to rest.

However, he had only lain down for a short while when he suddenly heard a strange noise outside. He quickly got up, grabbed his hunting rifle, and went out to investigate. Sakurai had a hunting license, and in villas in the mountains of Okutama, hunting rifles were usually kept, since there really were bears there...

After carefully emerging from the enclosure, Sakurai did not see the bear.

But at the corner of the villa, a section of clothing was seen sticking out.

Sakurai's heart sank upon seeing this. He immediately raised his gun and crept closer... Suddenly, he turned around the corner, only to find that it was just the clothes he had left there last time, which had fallen from the second-floor balcony.

After laughing at himself, Sakurai turned to go back inside, but then...

A figure appeared in front of Sakurai, and before he could see anything clearly, he was stunned by an electric baton.

……

Shortly after, when Sakurai woke up, he found himself still in the villa, but now he was tied up, and...

The "dark figure" was still there, holding his hunting rifle, seemingly confronting someone!
"Mr. Murano, please calm down. Killing Judge Sakurai now will not help..."

"Shut up! Do you know what they did? Heh, you probably don't know that clearly, do you? After all, they didn't even bring you, their henchman, with them when they 'held their meeting'!"

Listening to their conversation, Sakurai gradually came to his senses and realized the situation before him.

The man dressed in black was likely the one who attacked him earlier; he was a young man. On the other side, the person trying to persuade him was dressed in professional attire; he was probably... a criminal police officer? He looked middle-aged, and his hair was completely bald.

“That’s right, I only saw them meeting secretly at the coffee shop not long ago, and... I also found you in even earlier surveillance footage,” Kunikida said helplessly.

Kunikida concealed a crucial clue from Shiraishi!
Kunikida reviewed the security footage again last night and spotted Murano Hikaru, but...

Because it was Murano Hikaru, Kunikida felt it was his responsibility to end all of this himself, so he did not report this to Shiraishi.

"Found me? It seems Officer Kunikida has a pretty good memory. That bastard Matsui looked completely bewildered when I found him, and that damned Kobayashi didn't recognize me either!" Murano said angrily.

"Of course I haven't forgotten... Although it's not very convincing to say this now, I have never forgotten your father's case," Kunikida said sadly.

"Stop putting on that act! Are you trying to say you're not one of their accomplices?" Murano interrupted angrily.

"They...did you really kill them?" Kunikida asked, struggling to get the answer out—he desperately wanted to hear a negative one.

Unfortunately, Murano readily admitted, "That's right! They all deserve to die, and so do you!"

"Because you discovered... that they actually had contact outside of court? But... didn't you testify back then that..." Kunikida said regretfully.

Murano became even angrier when Kunikida brought up the court incident from back then.

"What do you know?" Murano snapped.

Murano then said, seemingly to vent his frustration, "Back then... when the other victim died, that bastard Kobayashi came looking for me..."

When Keisuke Murano poisoned four people, injuring one and killing three, it had a significant impact on society. In particular, the mainstream opinion at the time believed that Murano's main motive was a conflict with his wife, that one of the other three had a "slight conflict," and that the other two were simply trying to create a smokescreen.

Therefore, the victims' families also deeply resent Keisuke Murano...

Norio Kobayashi, who was working as a legal aid lawyer, also took advantage of this!
After failing to persuade Murano to turn himself in, he approached Murano's son, Murano Hikaru.

By leveraging the suffering of the victim's family and the severity of public opinion, they were indirectly pressuring him to testify in court. According to him, if the trial continued, not only would his father face more criticism, but the victim's family would also suffer even more, and they would be unable to receive insurance compensation due to the unresolved case…

It was under the persuasion of lawyer Kobayashi that Murano Hikaru, who already believed that his father was the murderer and also hoped that the victim's family could be freed from the case as soon as possible, went to court and gave false testimony, saying that his father did not usually go to the shrine!
Afterwards, Murano sold his family property to compensate the victim's family, dropped out of school to work, and supported his mother's treatment. He could only say that he was "barely maintaining his vital signs."

Six years later, Asuka Murano passed away.

In his grief, Murano Hikaru went to the shrine his father used to frequent and, just like Kunikida had done years before, discovered indirect evidence that proved his father's alibi!
then……

Enraged, Murano Hikaru went to see Matsui, the prosecutor from back then, explained the matter, and accused Kobayashi Norio to him.

I hope at least my father's case can be overturned and that Norio Kobayashi can be held accountable!
At the time, he didn't know that Matsui was actually in cahoots with Kobayashi...

Although Matsui didn't remember the incident, he immediately understood what was going on when he heard Kobayashi Norio mentioned—after all, they had worked together on many cases and had induced witnesses more than once. Even if he couldn't remember which case it was, he knew what it was about!
So Matsui first calmed Murano Hikaru down and kept him in check, then went to discuss the matter with Kobayashi and Sakurai...

However, Murano Hikaru sensed something was wrong and followed Matsui, discovering that he was having a secret meeting with Kobayashi and Sakurai!

Although he was outside the store at the time and didn't hear what the three of them were saying, but...

"Once you see that scene, you'll understand everything... It was those three who conspired to frame my father, and maybe... they framed many others too!" Murano said angrily.

Later, in order to take revenge, Murano Hikaru used his job to manufacture a negative pressure gun and took the opportunity to kill two people. When he came to find Sakurai, he was blocked by Kunikida.

The reason why the negative pressure gun was not used on Sakurai was twofold: firstly, it was inconvenient for Sakurai to take a bath here, and he might not even want to take one; secondly... it was no longer necessary!
Murano Hikaru was prepared for the worst; after killing three people, he was discovered but there was nothing he could do.

Hearing Murano say this, Kunikida said sorrowfully, "No... the biggest mistake was mine! If I hadn't sent the case to the prosecutor's office, this wouldn't have happened..."

"What's the point of saying all this now? Why don't you just die?" Murano Hikaru interrupted him directly.

“I…” Kunikida was speechless for a moment—in fact, he had recently been secretly reinvestigating the case from back then.

After all, the case also occurred on Tsukishima, which makes it easier for Kunikida to investigate now.

He actually identified a new suspect—a criminal who had already been arrested for another murder!
Kunikida originally wanted to figure this out, but before he could take any further action, the coffee shop incident and the subsequent murder occurred... However, Kunikida also understood that there was no point in talking about these things now.

Just then, Sakurai, who had been pretending to be unconscious, took advantage of Murano's gun being pointed at Kunikida and stood up to crash into Murano!

pity……

Murano tied his feet tightly as well, and since Sakurai wasn't someone who exercised regularly, Murano easily dodged him!

Seeing Murano dodge, he was about to stab Sakurai with the butt of his rifle and point the muzzle at his head when Kunikida quickly stopped him, saying, "Wait!"

Seeing Murano looking over, Kunikida quickly advised, "Murano, this won't help..."

"It's no use? Then tell me, what would be considered helpful?" Murano asked coldly.

"I……"

Seeing that Kunikida couldn't say anything, Murano volunteered, "Then how about this... Officer Kunikida, you go and die in his place!"

Sakurai kept giving Kunikida meaningful glances—not to tell Kunikida to die, but to let him know that the shotgun wasn't on safety at all...

The prisoner clearly didn't know how to use a gun, and Sakurai's double-barreled shotgun had a safety mechanism; he had just noticed that the prisoner hadn't engaged the safety lever.

This is actually why Sakurai dared to barge in just now. Although Murano Hikaru doesn't know how to use a gun, since Sakurai was tied up, even if he was just used as a stick, it would be enough to beat him up...

Sakurai didn't dare to directly remind Kunikida, otherwise the prisoner might accidentally guess the correct way to move the safety lever.
It's unclear whether Kunikida noticed his signal, but at that moment, he actually raised his hand and walked towards Murano!

But just then...

Drip-drop-drip-drop—

The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance!
The sound grew louder as it approached, and there were clearly more than just one or two police cars.

squeak--

Soon, the sound of brakes could be heard outside the villa.

Seeing this, Murano disregarded Kunikida and quickly stepped on Sakurai with one foot while pointing the gun at his head.

dong dong dong-

"Judge Sakurai? Judge Sakurai, are you there?" Gen knocked on the door from the outside.

Murano tried to silence Kunikida with a look, but...

boom--

The sound of the door being violently opened rang out.

A headless giant suddenly kicked the door open...

The next moment, Shiraishi "drilled" in through the door frame, and Murano realized that it wasn't "headless," but rather Chief Mika whose head was taller than the door frame!
"You are... Director Mika?" Murano looked at Shiraishi, his face turning grim.

Although he is not from Beika, almost everyone in Tokyo knows the Beika Police Chief. His fame is second only to Kogoro Mouri, and his recognition is far greater!

Even if you've never seen a picture of Bai Shi, you still know what 2.3 meters tall and over 300 kilograms means.

"Mr. Murano, right? The gun... um? Why didn't you take the safety off?" Shiraishi looked at the hunting rifle in Murano's hand and said directly.

Murano:? ? ?
Kunikida, Sakurai:......

Upon hearing this, Murano panicked and immediately tried to pull the trigger, but...

Click, click——

It's impossible to pull it open!
The next moment, before he could figure out how to disengage the gun, Kunikida pounced on him and snatched the gun away.

Although Kunikida felt a sense of guilt when facing Murano, but...

That is precisely why we must stop him from committing further crimes!
There is absolutely no reason to stand by and watch him continue killing because of "guilt".

Kunikida successfully seized the hunting rifle, which had its safety off, but he couldn't stop Murano from retreating.

Then, the village head pulled out a dagger, but...

At this moment, Sakurai, who was lying on the ground, was already behind Kunikida. Although Kunikida and Sakurai were very close, Kunikida also had the hunting rifle that he had just seized—even if he didn't take off the safety, it could still be used as a stick.

Seeing that there was no chance of a violent confrontation, and not in a desperate attempt to fight to the death, Murano simply held the dagger to his own neck, about to slit it!

"Your father is innocent!" Kunikida shouted immediately.

"Huh? Is that all you wanted to say?" Murano said with a tone of exasperation.

Kunikida then said what he hadn't said before: "I've found some evidence and am reinvestigating the case... Please, give me some more time..."

There was no point in saying such things when Murano was about to kill Sakurai, but now that Murano is about to commit suicide, Kunikida thinks he can use this reason to stop him.

"Don't you want to see the day when Father is exonerated?" Seeing him waver, Kunikida quickly continued, "Please, put the knife down..."

"What were you doing all this time? What's the point of putting on this show now?" Murano roared.

“Yes, you’re right… but we’re here to save you. You’re still young, put the knife down!” Kunikida said, throwing his gun aside without regard for the danger, and walked toward Murano.

Bai Shi did not stop it at this point...

Firstly, because Kunikida needed this kind of redemption; secondly, also because...

This distance might seem far to Murano, but if he were to actually make a stabbing motion, Shiraishi would still have enough time to pull Kunikida back instantly!

In the end, Shiraishi didn't even need to lift a finger; Kunikida stepped forward and took Murano's sword.

(End of this chapter)