Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 392 Okamoto's Favor

After meeting with Ayako, the detective who was to conduct a "secret investigation" accompanied Shiraishi and Ayako left the police station together. The specifics of how to proceed would have to wait until Munakata met with the manager of the Suzuki Hotel the next day to discuss the matter.

Before getting into the car, Shiraishi specifically asked Ayako to drive because he needed to make a phone call…

Having already promised Kuroki to "give a heads-up," Shiraishi didn't break his promise—he's not the kind of leader who makes empty promises!
Okamoto is currently acting as the Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. As long as he performs well, he will be promoted to a permanent position in a few months. This is based on seniority, not on a specific year or month, so there is no need to worry about being "refreshed" back by unknown forces.

The Vice-Minister of State is already the pinnacle of civil service and the highest leader in charge of the actual affairs of each department. As for the Minister of State above him, that falls into the category of politicians; they are elected, not promoted.

Moreover, the Minister of State changes very frequently, while the Under-Secretary of State is much more stable in comparison...

For Okamoto to be promoted to administrative vice minister at his age is indeed a testament to his "young talent and ability".

"Section Chief Okamoto, it's been a long time since I greeted you. I'm Shiraishi from the Beika Police Station... Ah, I should call you Section Chief Okamoto now, right?" Shiraishi spoke in a very polite tone from the start.

Okamoto: ...

When Okamoto received Shiraishi's call, he felt worse than if he had eaten shit, but the guy was in such an eager tone... He actually hoped that Shiraishi would start a fight right away, and that the two of them would have a fight and then hang up and that would be the end of it!

"It's just an agency, Inspector Shiraishi. What brings you here today to chat with me?" Okamoto wasn't exactly asking a question he already knew the answer to.

Indeed, some things have happened at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry recently, making him reluctant to deal with the police, but...

Okamoto was unaware that the Beika Police Department was now also involved in the investigation of the case.

"Of course I wouldn't dare to waste Mr. Oka's time with idle chatter. Actually, there are some things my department needs to know about regarding the murder of Mr. Tejima Masaki in your province today," Shiraishi said frankly.

Okamoto: ? ? ?
"What does this have to do with the Mikasa Police Department?" Okamoto was completely baffled—goodness, anyone who didn't know better would think you'd set up some new department specifically to handle cases involving government agencies.

"Yes, to prevent the murderer from committing further murders in Beika Town, our department has also begun investigating the case," Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

Okamoto: ? ? ?
What kind of reason is that?
"What did Inspector Ninomiya say?" Okamoto asked sullenly—because he had dealt with Ninomiya during the day and knew that he was in charge of the case.

Despite Ninomiya being a director of the First Investigative Division, who supposedly wields more power in criminal cases than a local police chief, Okamoto simply dealt with this level of authority as if it were nothing.

"Director Ninomiya also said that we must prevent that deranged murderer from continuing to kill in Beika Town, and that this should be our top priority," Shiraishi said truthfully.

Okamoto: ...

Although he didn't know what had happened, Okamoto automatically assumed that Ninomiya had succumbed to Shiraishi's tyranny.

“I am also heartbroken by Teshima’s murder. If possible, I would like to cooperate with the police investigation. However, since it is part of a serial murder case, I think it should be unrelated to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry…”

Okamoto's reaction was still one of refusal, but Shiraishi interrupted, "That's right, it's very likely unrelated... but it's also possible that it is, isn't it? Even... if it's a deranged killer, in a serial killing case, there might only be one person they actually want to kill."

Before Okamoto could refuse, Shiraishi continued, "Chief Okamoto, don't be so heartless! What kind of relationship do we have? Would I cause you any trouble? Don't worry, the police officers who will go to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to investigate tomorrow are the best detectives from our Beika Police Station!"

Okamoto: ...

What is our relationship?
Are we on good terms?
I seem to remember that when I asked you for some face before, you didn't give me any either!

“Chief Okamoto can’t just turn his back on me after getting promoted… that would be a real problem for me.” Shiraishi said, as if he had done Okamoto a huge favor.

To be honest, there is some connection between them...

Before the high-ranking official murder case at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Okamoto was the head of the Personnel Division of the Chief Cabinet. Despite being called a "section chief," the head of the Personnel Division of the Chief Cabinet is always a candidate for "administrative vice minister," just like the core bureau chiefs, and is even higher in the order of priority than many bureau chiefs.

The same applies within the National Police Agency. The head of the personnel section of the Chief of Staff's Office is highly likely to be promoted to "Superintendent General of Police" or "Commander-in-Chief of the National Police Agency".

However, if it weren't for the previous serial murders, Okamoto wouldn't have risen to power so quickly. Moreover, if the murders hadn't been solved, Doi, as the murderer, might have had a better chance of rising to power!
After all, on the surface, the case involved a criminal construction industry dissatisfied with the cancellation of the consultation policy, which killed the vice-minister in charge of the policy and another key bureau chief. As the only remaining member of the government in charge of the policy, Doi could have taken the opportunity to gain more political capital.

Of course, even so...

Okamoto grinned upon hearing this—he didn't admit that his promotion had anything to do with Shiraishi, but...

Seeing that Shiraishi was persistent, and knowing that he would not give up easily if he did not agree, he relented and said, "Since Chief Shiraishi said so, tomorrow I will have the detective from your department who is investigating come to my office first. I will have someone take him around to ask around... But I hope Chief Shiraishi will not have too high hopes."

Although "Bai Shi's favor" might not be of much use, as far as he knew, such favors were not decisive for Bai Shi Hei at all, because this person was too principled. But it was still better to remember a favor than to hold a grudge!
More importantly, this incident is ultimately just embarrassing and damages the reputation of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, but it has nothing to do with Okamoto himself.

The reason why the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is being secretive is because this Masaki Teshima is a civil servant in the Civil Engineering Development Bureau—the same bureau as Director Doi Saku!

It's easy to imagine that there must be other people involved in bribery, after all, Doi fell because of this, and was driven to the point of murder to silence witnesses by the violent organization that offered him bribes.

After Okamoto took over, he naturally conducted a thorough investigation of the Civil Engineering Development Bureau. Indeed, Teshima Masaki and another employee were the main suspects. Doi had already been sentenced to death and knew that even if he didn't die, he would never get out. Therefore, he had not made any meritorious contributions. Okamoto went to the prison to talk to him, and he spoke a mix of truth and falsehood, which greatly hindered the investigation!

This is why, initially, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry thought he had committed suicide—after all, there were economic issues under investigation.

Ultimately, however, this wasn't Okamoto's fault. Everyone knew the former deputy minister was killed by the director of the Civil Engineering Development Bureau. Okamoto came in to salvage the situation...

However, those "above" did not want to make a big fuss, and the media only mentioned Doi's corruption briefly, emphasizing only that "the director killed the administrative vice-minister and another director because he was threatened by a violent organization," and Okamoto simply followed suit.

If there's a really serious crackdown, it could drag on for another six months...

Therefore, while this incident somewhat negates Okamoto's abilities, it's not a major blow. In fact, if it can be used as an opportunity to thoroughly reorganize the Civil Engineering Development Bureau, it might even turn the crisis into an opportunity. Moreover, Okamoto is inevitably hesitant…

Could it be that this murder was actually orchestrated by someone else to silence witnesses? If so, the atmosphere within the Civil Engineering Development Bureau is just too outrageous!
……

After Shiraishi "greeted" Okamoto as scheduled, he considered that he had done everything he should have done as the chief in the early stages of the case investigation—if the Suzuki Hotel needed to cooperate, he had made arrangements with the Suzuki Hotel so that they could conduct a secret search with the hotel's cooperation; if he needed to visit the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, he had contacted the Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry to ensure that they would not be made difficult or treated coldly...

There's probably no other local official in the entire East Island who can do all that. If they still can't find the results, then they really have to look for their own problems!

but……

Seeing that Shiraishi had hung up the phone, Ayako suggested, "By the way, Kuro, should we stay at a hotel tomorrow too?"

"No, no, no, if I go, I'll be too conspicuous," Shiraishi refused as a matter of course.

Is there any reason to agree to this?

“No, if you sneak off on your own, of course you’ll be very conspicuous. But… if you accept my invitation to stay at the new room under the pretext of experiencing it, the reason isn’t actually that conspicuous. And if the murderer pays too much attention to you, he’ll overlook the other undercover officers,” Ayako corrected.

Ayako's intention, of course, was not to have Shiraishi pretend to be a "non-participant" and check in...

No one who sees Shiraishi can possibly fail to notice him—no matter how much "stealth" Shiraishi gains, he still has a negative effect of -3!
However, Ayako's suggestion was actually to let Shiraishi openly move in with her!
The reasons are readily available...

The hotel has just renovated a new, more luxurious presidential suite. What's wrong with coming to inspect the results for (excessively large) special guests?
Besides, this "special person" is the young lady's boyfriend, so it's perfectly normal...

"Eh? That would be even worse, wouldn't it? If we officially move in together..." Upon hearing this, Shiraishi became even more reluctant.

When you go out for fun, sharing a room is one thing, but in such a public setting, especially when it involves Suzuki Group business, sharing a room openly is another matter entirely!

The latter would at least require a marriage contract for it not to be considered too transgressive.

"Of course not!" Ayako blushed upon hearing this. "The new room is a more luxurious presidential suite, it's huge, it's no different from staying in a villa!"

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi understood and began to seriously consider it. In the past, when they went out together, Ayako would thoughtfully let Shiraishi pay, and Shiraishi would choose ordinary rooms. On rare occasions when they happened to stay at Suzuki's property, Ayako would deliberately avoid staying in overly luxurious places to avoid making Shiraishi overthink things. Therefore, when Shiraishi heard "staying together," he never imagined it was a luxury suite...

"In that case... there's no problem, that's fine!" After considering it, Shiraishi nodded.

Indeed, if one has a "good reason" to enter the hotel, the murderer will certainly notice them, but will not be able to conclude that they are in the hotel because of the serial killings.

Considering that this murderer is the kind of guy who dares to leave coded messages at the scene of a series of murders, pointing to the next murder, this is generally a sign of "extremely strong self-expression" and "extreme arrogance"!

Such a person is unlikely to give up immediately just because "Director Mikako happens to be there"...

And as long as he doesn't give up, then, just as Ayako said, his attention will be drawn to Shiraishi.

This, in turn, creates more opportunities for other undercover detectives to observe and assess him...

Of course, this is all predicated on making the murderer believe that Chief Mikasa was indeed just there by chance!
Since the Suzuki Hotel happened to have newly furnished suites, Shiraishi saw this as an opportunity.

After all, Shiraishi wasn't entirely at ease with the hotel...

If he fails to prevent the murder, Shiraishi will definitely be attacked by Ninomiya afterwards.

Shiraishi certainly trusted his subordinates, but he also believed that it would be better if he were present!

……

It just so happens that it's already Friday. As the director, Shiraishi has a two-day weekend off—it's just that he's often interrupted by working overtime.

Although Munakata had to arrive late and leave early every day, he wasn't against working overtime on weekends. After all, there was a daycare program, so he didn't have to worry about taking care of Kotomi. Especially now, he didn't even need the daycare program anymore—she went directly to Dr. Agasa's research institute's "science interest class"...

Although it wasn't a formal extracurricular activity, with Shiraishi's introduction, Professor Agasa didn't mind taking care of another child.

After arriving at the police station on Saturday, Zongfang quickly held a meeting and met with Fujiki, the general manager of the Suzuki Hotel, to finalize the matters. Before noon, the four detectives selected by Shiraishi of the Beika Police Station, along with the six patrol officers selected, had already "joined the team" at the Suzuki Hotel!

Clearly, Zongfang prioritizes childcare above all else; he is not indecisive, but rather quite the opposite. During working hours, he can be described as "swift and efficient."

The ten police officers were in different positions in the hotel. Apart from three patrol officers who were in the logistics department and were mainly responsible for monitoring the surveillance, the other seven were in positions where they could come into contact with guests.

Just past noon, Suzuki Atsushi was standing at the door, dressed in a "receptionist" uniform—the position was assigned by Munakata. It must be said that Suzuki, with his honest face, was quite suitable for the position. If he were to work as a receptionist or a more senior receptionist, he would seem a bit lacking in authority.

"Welcome...to our establishment." Suzuki had just stepped forward to open the car door when he saw the large chief inside, with Ms. Ayako beside him.

Shiraishi, of course, didn't greet him much. He simply opened the trunk remotely and gestured for him to get the luggage, treating him completely like an ordinary hotel staff member.

Suzuki, of course, dared not say anything more, keeping his head down, carrying his luggage, and following behind Shiraishi.

When Shiraishi walked in, he found that besides Yamagishi, whom he had met before, Fuji was also at the front desk. Shiraishi had indeed thought that Fuji was suitable for infiltrating, but he hadn't expected Munakata and the people at the Suzuki Hotel to have such high hopes for her, daring to place her in such an important position at the front desk...

(End of this chapter)