Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 435 Split up
Ash Valley looked utterly helpless...

When Munakata heard the word "inspector," he didn't think it was none of his business, and Kobe was even less likely to think there was anything wrong with "meddling." Of the three, only Haiya was the most normal—why should we get involved in this?
At this moment, Haiya suddenly felt that the old section chief wasn't so bad after all. Although he didn't know how to be flexible, at least Kunikida had common sense!
However, now not only does the director say he wants to investigate, but Section Chief Munakata also seems to think that an investigation is indeed necessary, so Haiya has no choice but to accept it.

"That's settled then... After all, we can't file a case at the station yet, and we can't invest too many manpower. Detective Haiya, please take care of the crime scene. As for the victim, Rika Nakamura, we'll have Detective Kuroki and Detective Kanzaki visit her later. As for the rest, Section Chief Munakata, you can arrange it as you see fit." Shiraishi said with a wave of his hand.

Gray Valley:......

It's true that not many people were involved, but they were all elites from the forced entry system!

The director was clearly serious...

"Yes, Director Ashiya, I'll leave the matter of my hotel to you." Kobe said politely.

The crime scene, Beika Hotel, was perfectly suited to be handed over to Haiya and Kobe – with Kobe there, no formalities were needed at all.

"This isn't about your hotel..." Gray Valley said with a headache.

Despite their complaints, the two arrived at Beika Hotel that afternoon.

"Chief Haiya...didn't Section Chief Munakata tell us to change into civilian clothes?" Kobe looked at Haiya, who was still wearing a work suit, with a puzzled expression.

"Huh? Aren't I wearing... a casual outfit?" Ashiya pointed out that he only had a suit!

Kobe: ...

Kobe clearly doesn't think that not wearing a suit vest underneath constitutes a "casual" outfit.

"And this isn't casual wear, is it?" Haiya looked at Kobe Miwako in her formal attire, and his headache only worsened.

It looks very inconvenient and doesn't match the "simple" plainclothes police car at all.

The reason they were told not to "dress like detectives" was to avoid alerting the suspects—after all, this was Beika Town, and if Yan Tu Kaiji knew that the Beika Police Station was investigating the case, even if Shiraishi wasn't afraid, there would still be a lot of trouble!
"Eh? That's all I have at home..." Kobe said, somewhat at a loss.

"Oh well, no matter what we wear, the hotel will let us see it live, right?" Ash Valley still seemed a little uncertain.

However, the moment Kobe Miwako stepped out of the car, the hotel's lobby manager personally opened the car door and invited her in with a smile.

"Don't worry, Miss, as you said, the crime scene is still in its original state... well, except for the evidence they took, it's still in its original state. In addition, we also have photos left at the scene!" the lobby manager said obsequiously.

Ashiya then realized that he had underestimated the Kobe family's shareholding in the area.

This certainly made the investigation by the Mikasa Police Department much easier; otherwise, not only would they have been allowed entry, but also...

"You even took photos yourselves?" Ash Valley asked in surprise.

"Well, because the crime rate is so high right now... we're also worried about any unexpected trouble, so we filmed the scene before the police arrived, just in case anything goes wrong," the lobby manager said matter-of-factly.

Gray Valley:......

"Won't this cause you trouble? If they find out you've entered..." Ashiya rolled his eyes.

The hotel staff, who are not professionals, could easily stumble upon the scene and leave traces, according to Ash Valley.

"No, it was just a cleaning staff member who discovered the case who came in to take pictures, and they didn't encounter anything," the lobby manager said nonchalantly.

Ashiya didn't say much at this point, after all, this wasn't Beika Town, and objectively speaking, these photos were also very useful for his current investigation!
Soon, led by the lobby manager, Haiya and Kobe arrived at the room where the murder occurred. At this time, this floor of the hotel was already sealed off, and the other guests had all been upgraded to other floors...

As the lobby manager said, the crime scene remains unchanged.

Ash Valley put on gloves, shoe covers, and a head covering right at the entrance—he wasn't usually this careful at crime scenes, but... he couldn't leave any traces here now, otherwise, if his traces were found during a later re-examination of the scene, it would be hard to explain.

"Detective Kobe, wait for me here... um, just watch me, don't come in." Haiya said to Kobe, not trusting this rookie who wasn't particularly capable in practice. He then told the hotel's lobby manager, "Don't worry, I'll leave no trace!"

"Oh? It's alright, the lockdown here has been lifted." The lobby manager said at this moment.

"What?" Ash Valley was taken aback when he heard this—he did not see the seal at the door, but he had just thought that the hotel staff had somehow managed to remove it.

"That's right, the Beihu Bureau has already notified us that the lockdown has been lifted and we can resume normal business operations," the lobby manager reiterated.

"So fast... was this what you requested?" Ash Valley was taken aback upon hearing this.

Generally speaking, crime scenes need to be preserved, but as for how long...

The latest time to lift the lockdown is when the case is solved. In addition, if the case remains unsolved for too long, the police will lift the lockdown after confirming that all evidence has been collected at the scene.

However, if it's a murder case, the lockdown shouldn't have been lifted in just one day!

After all, the case is still ongoing, and attributing it to a "love suicide" is merely a preliminary investigative finding...

Ash Valley's first reaction was that the Beika Hotel, as a powerful hotel with a mountainous background, had put pressure on the police and ended the lockdown ahead of schedule.

"Of course we hope to minimize the impact on our operations, but... this time it should be considered that the police took the initiative, right? Otherwise, no matter how much we urged them, it shouldn't have been this fast. After all, a police officer died here. Even more typical suicide cases don't happen this quickly." The lobby manager was also very knowledgeable.

Upon hearing this, Ashiya's expression grew even more serious—it was clear that the pressure from above was immense for the police actually in charge of the case, who were pushing for its closure at an accelerated pace…

"We were planning to invite a master to exorcise the evil spirits today and then clean the room, but Miss called, so nothing has been touched yet," the lobby manager said matter-of-factly.

Fortunately, people in the East Asian islands are generally very superstitious, otherwise they might have cleaned it up on the spot.

Knowing this case was unusual, Ashiya examined the scene with extra care and attention...

……

Meanwhile, Kuroki and Kanzaki also arrived at "Pink Holiday" in Kamurocho—a small bar.

Not only is it small, but it is also located in a sunken space.

The environment was nothing like those high-end, classy nightclubs; it was small for a bar, even more rudimentary than Kuroki had imagined…

"Sorry, it's not time to open yet..." The proprietress was still preparing for the opening when she saw someone come in and said with a frown.

Actually, as the bar owner in Kamurocho, she could tell at first glance that these two were probably "cops"!
"Excuse me, regarding Rika Nakamura, we want to..." Kanzaki said, showing his police badge.

but……

The proprietress said impatiently, "Didn't I already tell you... wait, what kind of police officers are you?" She became suspicious as she spoke.

Just as Kanzaki was about to speak, Kuroki stopped him and then continued, "It was Old Man Arakawa who sent us. Please make an exception." "Arakawa... alright, what do you want to ask? I only have ten minutes." The proprietress had clearly realized that these were two police officers without law enforcement authority.

As for why they are here...

She had no interest in what happened within the police force.

Arakawa's influence is indeed effective!

Kanzaki was about to mention the sign for "Mihana-no-Sho" (米花署), which in Kamurocho is equivalent to "Shiraishi-guro" (白石黑).

However, Kuroki didn't let him reveal it...

It's not that I doubt the chief's authority in this area, it's just... in this kind of situation, if we can use Arakawa's face, it's better not to bring up the chief!

Otherwise, even if the other party doesn't refuse, what they say may not be the truth, or they may not be holding nothing back...

Furthermore, the use of Shiraishi's name confirms that the Beika Police Department is investigating the case.

"Miss Nakamura works here at night, right? How much do you know about her?" Kuroki asked broadly.

"That girl, Rika... she really doesn't belong here. If she hadn't insisted on asking me for money, I wouldn't have let her stay here." The proprietress said, lighting a cigarette.

Seeing her looking for a lighter, Kuroki simply lit it for her with his own fire.

Seeing this, the proprietress said a few more words: "I also reminded her that the most taboo thing in this industry is to develop real feelings for customers, sigh."

"Huh? Wait, you mean... she developed feelings for the 'guest'?" Kanzaki couldn't help but interrupt.

Because Shiraishi didn't mention Ninomiya's situation to anyone else, and when asked, he would just say, "Don't underestimate my intelligence network," Kuroki and Kanzaki initially only suspected that it might be a "forced suicide" rather than a simple "double suicide."

However, if that's the case, then Officer Minato should be the one who "desires but cannot obtain"...

"Well, that officer named Minato is a regular customer here, but he never really showed any preference before, and he would just call anyone to accompany him for drinks. But in the last few months, he's suddenly started ordering Rika regularly," the proprietress said.

"So... Officer Minato probably had the same idea?" Kanzaki thought to himself, using his own logic.

“I don’t think so,” the proprietress said after taking a drag of her cigarette.

"Huh? Why?" Kanzaki was taken aback.

"Why? Do you think I've been in this business for years? Because my judgment is good enough? I even think he doesn't really want to come; it's just a routine for him every time," the proprietress shrugged.

"Routine procedure?" Kanzaki clearly couldn't understand.

"Who does he usually come with?" Kuroki asked.

"Most of the time I'm alone," the proprietress said matter-of-factly.

"Huh?" Kuroki was taken aback by what he heard.

"It's very suspicious, isn't it?" the proprietress asked rhetorically, and Kuroki nodded seriously at this moment.

Kanzaki:……

“There’s something even more suspicious… That guy took Rika out a few times, but when I asked him later, he said they just strolled around outside,” the landlady said confidently.

"Huh?" Kuroki reacted dramatically.

Kanzaki seemed to have had enough of this topic, so he changed the subject and asked, "What about Inspector Minato? Since you're a regular customer... do you know anything about him?"

"I didn't know that. Although I knew he was a police officer, I always thought he was just doing regular administrative work..." the proprietress recalled, then lowered her voice and said, "But there's something else. A while ago, he had an argument with the Sakaki-kai because of Rika..."

"The Sakaki Group? Which Sakaki Group?" Kuroki certainly knew this group—they hadn't been in Tokyo for very long and retained a certain militant style of doing things. Therefore, in the "Female Chess Player Case" and the "Atsumori Case," they were caught by Shiraishi and severely punished.

The proprietress was clearly only giving this testimony because of Arakawa's influence.

Although both are subordinate organizations of the Tojo Clan, the Arakawa Group and the Sakaki Group have always been at odds, and there was even a murder during the New Year.

……

Narcissistic and Amagi then "returned" to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Besides the social interactions of the two deceased, there is another important matter worth investigating—as an inspector, has Minato investigated anything that might get him into trouble?

Although signs of this can be seen from the case itself, Shiraishi specifically mentioned this matter, and Section Chief Munakata was also very concerned about this aspect, so he sent Narcissistic and Amagi to investigate.

The two were not only key members of the Mihana Police Station, but also "former police officers from the head office".

Compared to the other two locations, it must be said that the Metropolitan Police Department's location is actually the most "difficult".

after all……

Although he was a top-tier strategist before, he wasn't very popular, especially during the six months he frequently caused trouble, which made his former colleagues think he had lost his mind. As for Ama, it's true that he worked at the headquarters for a long time, but as the administrator of the lost and found, he didn't know anyone at the headquarters at all!

Moreover, Tetsuro Minato's situation is now a very sensitive issue within the Metropolitan Police Department.

"Huh? Why are you asking this? What's your purpose? Wait... which department's detectives are you?"

Sure enough, as soon as the two spoke, the officer from the personnel department in front of them immediately became wary.

Fortunately, it happened at that moment...

"You two are here... Honestly, what's going on? Did you come here just to loiter around?"

Then a police officer who looked quite old walked over and reprimanded the two of them.

Although the police uniform he was wearing made him look like an administrative officer, his stern face and tough demeanor made Tian Shu feel that he was a criminal investigator.

Narcissistic quickly took advantage of the situation to back down the slope. Although Amagi didn't know the other person, seeing Narcissistic's reaction, he also chimed in.

The other person then lowered their guard and said, "Inspector Shirai, so you're someone your publicity department sent? You're really curious..."

"Sorry for causing you trouble."

(End of this chapter)