Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 421 Win-win
"Mr. Kanda, your foreign trade company had a lot of problems before, but last week you suddenly received a huge order of 50 million yen, which brought you back from the brink of collapse, right?" Amagi pressed on relentlessly.

At the time, Amagi didn't suspect anything, but as the investigation shifted, he immediately remembered the incident and went to do a background check!
"Me... so what!" Kanda retorted angrily.

"That won't be a big deal, but... I found out that the company that placed the order with you is just a small company with little business. Hmm... If the intelligence crime department finds out that company is some kind of shell company and it ends up being linked to you, then you might need to explain yourself." Amano remained calm in the face of Kanda's anger and embarrassment.

"What are you trying to say? Did I kidnap my own daughter? I was home those few days!" Kanda had reached the point of "demanding evidence."

But just then, the narcissistic man's phone rang.

"Excuse me, I need to take this..." The narcissistic man answered the phone, a smirk playing on his lips. "Oh, you've already confessed? Okay, I understand..."

He then said to Kanda with narcissism, "Besides Mrs. Fumiko's fingerprints, there are also the administrator's fingerprints here... Although it's normal for someone involved to have his fingerprints, we also discovered... that he was your junior high school classmate, right?"

"And coincidentally, the ten million gambling debt he recently owed was suddenly paid off not long ago... By the way, after he was taken to the police station, there were a few missed calls on his phone. I guess... it wasn't you, Mr. Kanda, was it?"
"Is it because your daughter has been kidnapped, and the ransom is the same as last time, so you're calling your accomplices to confirm?"

When they first called him to the event, Tian Shu and Zi Lian already sensed something was off about him.

Before I could even tell him where it was, he walked into the inner room on his own, and when I asked him about the door lock, he seemed a bit affected...

Therefore, a background check was conducted on him. After discovering that he and Kanda were old acquaintances, he immediately... asked him to go to the police station to cooperate in the investigation of a theft at another construction site he managed. That's right, the narcissist was just bluffing Kanda. There was no reason to arrest them. He was just making an excuse to take him to the police station and, under the pretext of "secrecy," to keep his phone safe for him!

When Kanda learned that his accomplices had also been arrested, he immediately realized that all was lost. He hurriedly said to his wife, "Fumiko... I have no choice. How can I take care of you and our daughter without money? If the company goes bankrupt, we'll be homeless. Father has always looked down on me, and asking him for money will only embarrass me..."

"Shut up! Do you know how much this has hurt Hinata? For the past few days, Hinata has been afraid to play with her friends after school, and she often wakes up in our bedroom at night to peek and see if I'm still there... I haven't seen her smile genuinely in the past few days!" Fumiko angrily questioned Kanda.

“I…” Kanda was speechless for a moment.

Amagi then said, "Because of your instructions, Mrs. Fumiko didn't dare to tell the truth before, and Kohinata could only lie to us because of her parents' instructions... Mr. Kanda, as a husband and as a father, you are really... unqualified!"

"Damn it...it's all your fault..." Kanda muttered, seemingly unconvinced.

The narcissist then directly revealed the handcuffs: "Anything else to say? Let's talk about it at the police station!"

"Wait... I didn't kidnap her... She's my wife... I was just joking... Fumiko! Tell Dad what happened here..." Kanda explained frantically, then hurriedly called out to his wife.

“No, this is kidnapping… Besides, Mr. Kawaguchi has already filed a police report,” Amagi said to him firmly.

……

In Kawaguchi's large office, Shiraishi received a phone call: "Okay, I understand..."

After hanging up, Shiraishi said to Kawaguchi, who appeared calm on the surface but had been subtly turning his boss's swivel chair, "It's confirmed. The kidnappers are indeed Kanda and his accomplices... They have now been arrested by the Beika Police Station."

Kawaguchi heard it, but acted as if he hadn't heard it at all, showing no reaction.

"Ms. Fumiko doesn't seem to know anything... Well, perhaps she had some suspicions before, but she kept avoiding them. But now she's determined to teach him a lesson he deserves," Shiraishi added.

Kawaguchi remained seated behind his desk with his eyes closed, saying nothing.

“Mr. Kawaguchi, you owe me a favor this time…” Shiraishi said casually.

Kawaguchi:! ! !
Kawaguchi finally couldn't help but open his eyes and say, "You...you've made a mess of my house, and you still say I owe you a favor?"

“I’m not here to break this family up, but to get it back on track… Mr. Kawaguchi, you’re too indecisive.” Shiraishi said earnestly to Kawaguchi.

As a former police superintendent, even though he had never done frontline work, Shiraishi didn't believe he wouldn't have the slightest suspicion about Kanda's actions...

It wasn't just Mrs. Wenzi who didn't want to face reality; her father did too!
Upon hearing Shiraishi's words, Kawaguchi glared at him angrily...

"The kidnapping of the daughter of a security company does raise questions about their professionalism, but if it was an inside job, there's nothing that can be done. Besides, Kawaguchi Society organized a rescue and later joined forces with the police to solve the kidnapping case and arrest the inside culprit," Shiraishi said frankly.

Kawaguchi:……

Hearing Shiraishi say that, Kawaguchi's arrogance subsided.

Shiraishi didn't intend to bring down the "Capital Security Company." As Kawaguchi said, this is one of the important re-employment channels for retired police officers.

Moreover, since Kawaguchi did not leak any classified information, the only mistake he made in this kidnapping was being "indecisive."

Although they had some doubts, they did not make a fuss and simply cooperated.

It can only be said that he was lacking in handling family matters, and it cannot be said that the "Capital Security Company" was anything but worthy of its name...

Moreover, if Kawaguchi owes someone a favor, there will naturally be a way for him to "do him a favor" in the future—after all, Beika Town often hosts large-scale events!

For example, during the last luxury car show, the head office didn't even inform the Mikasa Police Department about the bomb threat.

Seeing that he still ignored him, Shiraishi turned and left.

However, just as he was about to leave...

"Thank you," Kawaguchi's weak voice came through softly.

Shiraishi simply pretended not to hear and left.

……

After returning to his office as director, Shiraishi first called Munakata over.

Kanda and his accomplices have been formally arrested, but the case filing document has been slightly altered—it has been changed to show that Kawaguchi filed the report himself…

Zongfang, of course, understood this very well, and he had already corrected it without Shiraishi even having to tell him.

When he was an inspector, Munakata was a "traitor" that made other police officers tremble with fear. However, in reality... especially after he turned middle-aged, Munakata actually had his own judgment on some issues and was not nitpicky or intolerant of any flaws.

For violations that are not particularly egregious, especially those that have not yet caused any serious consequences, the focus is on correction.

Only on issues of a heinous nature and with serious consequences will Zongfang bite like a hunting dog and refuse to let go.

After Munakata left, he also summoned Narcissistic and Amagi to the chief's office... *Bang!*

"What are you doing? I was under pressure to let you investigate because I thought you had really discovered that Kawaguchi had leaked secrets... and what did you get in return? You arrested his son-in-law and interfered in his family affairs? Do you know how humbly I apologized to you at the Capital Security today?" Shiraishi reprimanded him directly.

Neither the narcissist nor the acrobat dared to refute this; they could only keep bowing and apologizing…

After reprimanding the two, Shiraishi did not impose any punishment, but simply told them to reflect on their actions in their future work.

……

"Phew, that was close... Luckily, the director didn't say much." The narcissist breathed a sigh of relief after getting out.

"The director... probably wasn't that angry," Amaki remarked.

"Huh?" The narcissist was taken aback by the words.

"It's nothing. Although I made a mistake this time, I would still do the same thing next time," Tian Shu said frankly.

"As expected of you... But you're right, it would be terrible if it really was President Kawaguchi who leaked classified information." The narcissist muttered.

“No, even if it weren’t for that, seeing Kohinata’s appearance would still make me want to investigate,” Amagi said matter-of-factly.

"I see..." As a narcissistic person who is unmarried and childless, he doesn't have any particular thoughts on this.

"Yes, I'll definitely trouble you to come with me next time, Senior Narcissist," Amagi said deliberately.

"Eh? Then we don't need to, right?" the narcissist quickly corrected.

Although a kidnapping did occur this time, it was completely different from what they initially thought!

To be honest…

If the narcissist had known earlier that this wasn't some kind of leak of classified information, he probably wouldn't have been so relentless—it might have been more like a mother kidnapping her daughter!
……

Bai Shi was also feeling refreshed at this moment.

October 4, Wednesday.

Shiraishi successfully made Kawaguchi, the head of the "Capital Security Company," owe him a favor. He also took the opportunity to give Narcissism and Amagi a warning, telling them to be more reliable in their work next time and not to create big news that turns out to be baseless. He also made the two remember that it was the chief who apologized on their behalf, which is why they were not implicated this time!

It can be said to be a win-win situation.

Shiraishi won twice.

These past two days, Shiraishi was indeed caught off guard, thinking he had actually uncovered something as serious as the "head of the Capital Security Company secretly leaking secrets"—a situation that could send the Security Department into a massive explosion. Therefore, his mind was preoccupied with that...

After all... frontline workers only need to investigate cases, while Shiraishi has many other things to consider.

If it weren't for Shiraishi, the king of resilience, would they have been able to conduct their investigation so steadily until now?

You should know that half an hour after they found Kanda's foreign trade company, Shiraishi received a call from Department Head Odagiri!
It has now been proven to be a "misunderstanding," which is actually a pretty good result.

Feeling refreshed, Shiraishi glanced at his work schedule—his normal work had been somewhat delayed these past two days.

Golden Week is just around the corner in the eastern island nation. Saturday, April 29th, is also Showa Day. The following week is Constitution Day on May 3rd, Arbor Day on May 4th, and Children's Day on May 5th. These four holidays make up a total of five public holidays, plus two weekends, forming a long holiday...

Although it's rare for a detective to get a break, well... Shiraishi isn't a detective!

Even as the chief, Shiraishi couldn't possibly stay away from the police station for that long. However, taking three or four days off shouldn't be a problem, and he could make up for any other leave later.

"There's the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Mihana City Hall on April 29th... Hmm, I can't take a day off that day." Shiraishi counted his days off.

Another new skyscraper has been completed in Beika Town. In terms of both scale and supporting facilities, it can be described as "massive". It is a 45-story building that integrates office and commercial space and has a symmetrical double-top design...

Although there are rumors that the later construction was cut short due to insufficient funding and failed to achieve the original expected effect, it can still be regarded as a landmark building. Putting aside everything else, the speed and number of infrastructure projects completed in Beika Town do not feel like the "post-bubble economy era".

In the coming years, a large landmark building will be completed every few months, and the project will not be reset when "time resets"!

After the Mihana City Hall officially opened, there were large-scale events for several consecutive days.

Director Mika was not the main guest at the ribbon-cutting ceremony; Shiraishi was just one of the guests attending the ceremony...

After all, it was in Beika Town, and Shiraishi was a "legendary director," so he was quite a big name as one of the "guests."

"I'll have the 30th, 1st, and 2nd off... Anyway, I've already asked the Junior Detective Club to take Kotomi to play with me, so Munakata should be able to stay home and work at the police station without worry!" Shiraishi marked his days off on the duty roster.

However, Shiraishi can't stay silent for too long...

He returned to work at the police station on the 3rd. As for how he will take leave after that, we'll have to talk about that later—after all, anything can happen in Beika Town!
Ordinary murder cases can be treated as "daily tasks," but if something serious happens, Shiraishi still needs to be in charge personally.

The Mihana Project is subject to change, which is why Shiraishi is only now starting to plan a vacation.

That evening, Shiraishi told Ayako about his vacation plans...

"Sunday to Tuesday off? Great, I'm going to Izu for vacation too!" Ayako immediately replied, "Perfect."

"Huh? With family?" Shiraishi thought to himself, if Ayako's parents were going too, he wouldn't join in the fun.

“Sonoko will be going too…and she’s bringing friends, though they’re people you know,” Ayako quickly explained.

Shiraishi:……

"Is there a problem?" Ayako asked, assuming that Shiraishi was unwilling to go.

"It's nothing, just Ran and Conan, right? Well then... let's go together." Shiraishi had no choice—he couldn't very well tell Ayako not to bring "Sonoko's friends," could he?

(End of this chapter)