Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 439 Behind the Crime of Passion
"What happened? Did that guy turn himself in?" Ninomiya rushed into the interrogation room.

Only Shiraishi was outside, while Gen was inside, and the target of his interrogation was none other than Minato's wife, Minato Yuriko.

Not to mention Ninomiya, the Metropolitan Police Department was also in an uproar after Shiraishi informed the head office that "the real culprit in the Minato Tetsuro case has surrendered."

The case in Beito Town, which was already being processed as a "double suicide," was forced to stop at this point.

Although Shiraishi said that, in the end everyone still has to wait for the result...

The results of the interrogation!
So far, things seem to be going smoothly. However, Minato Yuriko has actually been struggling internally, and even... when she discovered her narcissism, she had already left a suicide note explaining the truth and was preparing to commit suicide.

After rescuing her, the narcissist also persuaded her to turn herself in and bravely face her mistakes.

“That’s right, the person who killed Rika Nakajima was actually Minato’s wife,” Shiraishi nodded.

"Hmm? Then..." Ninomiya understood what Shiraishi meant—clearly, the two deaths were not caused by the same murderer.

“Officer Minato did commit suicide,” Shiraishi added.

"How is this possible..." Ninomiya was still somewhat unable to accept it.

Shiraishi then explained, "That night, Rika Nakajima arranged to meet with Officer Minato. Officer Minato originally wanted to make it clear to her that he didn't have those kinds of feelings for her, but then Mrs. Minato Yuriko also arrived at the Beika Hotel..."

"After arriving at their room, Yuriko Minato and Rika Nakajima got into an argument. Officer Minato poured them some drinks in an attempt to calm things down, but neither of them drank any."

"After Officer Minato drank the alcohol, I guess... he probably wanted to express his true feelings so that the two would stop arguing. But at that moment, Rika Nakajima's provocation of Mrs. Yuriko became unbearable, so she took out a knife she had prepared beforehand, rushed at Nakajima, and stabbed her..."

Ninomiya paused upon hearing this, seemingly having vaguely guessed something: "Then let's get him..."

"Inspector Minato, seeing that a terrible mistake had already been made, did not want his wife to go to jail because of him. So he had his wife take away his water glass, then cleaned up the crime scene, wiped the murder weapon, and finally... used the murder weapon to commit suicide next to Nakajima. This was both an explanation he wanted to give to Nakajima and a way for his wife to be exonerated," Shiraishi explained what happened in the case.

These are what Yuriko Minato just confessed. Although there's no way to verify it now, it does fit the situation at the scene!

This also answers Shiraishi's previous question...

If Yuriko killed Nakajima and Minato committed suicide, then the situation at the scene would make perfect sense.

This also explains why Ken Sakaki was there at the time—based on Shiraishi's understanding of the "martial arts faction," Shiraishi guessed that he was following Yuriko Minato, that is, following Minato's family!

Although as the young master of the Sakaki Group, he is unlikely to directly attack Minato Yuriko, just like Section Chief Genma's wife, who was intimidated by thugs without physical contact, causing her to fall down the stairs and miscarry... there will always be ways to avoid legal risks.

……

After hearing this, Ninomiya staggered back two steps, almost unable to stand, and leaned against the wall, clutching his forehead in anguish as he squatted down.

However, Shiraishi still said rather inconsiderately, "Besides... I think the reason why Mrs. Minato had this misunderstanding is because she noticed that Officer Minato's heart wasn't with her, right? I don't want to say much about your sexual orientation, but this case could have been avoided."

Ninomiya remained silent.

Yuriko did misunderstand Rika Nakajima, but...

Minato's "cheating" was not a misunderstanding; her intuition was correct—Minato did not love her.

It was just more complicated than she had imagined...

Nakajima got involved because, on the one hand, he didn't want to face it, and on the other hand, he wanted to better hide his true relationship. So he deliberately frequented hostess bars and always ordered an "unprofessional hostess".

However, what Nakajima didn't know was that the reason Minato liked to hire her was simply because he thought she was "unprofessional" and "not someone who does this kind of work." So he thought it would be a good thing to help others and himself, and that everyone would leave each other alone. After all, if she were a real hostess, Minato himself might not be able to stand it... Who knew that Nakajima would actually fall for her!

……

At the same time, Gen asked Mrs. Yuriko a crucial question: "How did you know that Officer Minato and Ms. Nakajima were on a date at the Beika Hotel?"

It might not seem like it will have much impact on the case, but it is actually very important for determining the nature of the crime!
Unexpectedly, Yuriko shook her head and said, "I don't know..."

"Don't know?" Yuan was taken aback. Yuriko had been very cooperative before, so why was she suddenly acting so irrelevantly?

“There was a mysterious detective… who proactively investigated evidence of my husband’s infidelity and sent it to me online, including the room number from that night,” Yuriko said.

Not only Gen, but also Shiraishi outside, and even Ninomiya, who was already half-dead, perked up their ears—something was wrong!

"Online? You mean online email?" Yuan quickly asked.

“That’s right.” Yuriko nodded.

As Shiraishi spoke, he immediately called Yuto—"Don't go to school yet, there's work to be done!"
Then Shiraishi went directly into the interrogation room...

"Director."

Upon seeing Director Shiraishi enter in person, Gen immediately stood up.

"Ms. Yuriko, there's something else I'd like to confirm with you... Do you know anything about Minato's recent work?" Shiraishi asked Yuriko earnestly as he entered.

Because the murderer was Yuriko, Shiraishi himself thought it was just a crime of passion and didn't consider the nature of Minato's job.

but……

The appearance of the "mysterious detective" immediately alerted Shiraishi—to use someone else to do the dirty work!
If this is a case of "using someone else to do the dirty work," then the motives of the person behind it probably need to be investigated by examining the "work of the inspector."

"I...don't know." Yuriko's answer was still "I don't know."

But this time, Shiraishi seemed to have noticed something and pressed, "What clues do you have? Tell me now, even if it's just hearsay."

Upon hearing this, Yuriko hesitated for a moment before saying, "Actually... there's a notebook written in code, but that mysterious detective said it contains records of his affair with that woman."

“After that night, I originally wanted to turn myself in, but he said that if the notebook fell into the hands of the police, it might not fit together properly, so he told me to burn it…”

clatter--

Just then, Shiraishi glanced at the one-way window that had made a muffled thud—it must be Ninomiya smashing the window in his anger. "The password...you should have seen it, right? Can you remember anything?" Shiraishi asked, trying to provoke him.

"Hmm, I can't understand anything about it, but I remember... there's a big 'LS-C' on the title page." Yuriko could still remember the title of the notebook.

and……

Because after that, the "mysterious detective" could no longer be contacted, Yuriko sensed something was wrong, which is why she immediately thought of the notebook!
However, Shiraishi couldn't figure out anything from just three letters—even cryptography experts need clues or enough letters to decipher them.

After confirming with Shiraishi that Yuriko couldn't recall any more useful information, she came out of the inner room and found that Munakata had also arrived, stroking his beard in front of the one-way glass.

“Section Chief Munakata, you’ve come at the right time… Did you hear that code? Do you have any leads on it?” Shiraishi asked directly.

After all, Zongfang was also an inspector. If this password wasn't just his own habit, but a common habit among inspectors, perhaps Zongfang could figure something out.

"If I'm not mistaken... let me confirm." Munakata seemed to have thought of something and went into the inner room as well.

"Section Chief." Yuan had just sat down when he stood up again.

Zongfang waved his hand, indicating that he would not sit down, and asked directly, "Ms. Yuriko, please recall again, does the 'C' in 'LS-C' you mentioned look more like the letter C, or more like the left half of a parenthesis?"

Upon hearing this, Yuriko suddenly realized, "Indeed... that C looks a lot like parentheses."

"Thank you." Zongfang nodded and then walked out.

"How is it?" Baishi could also tell that Zongfang obviously knew the encryption method.

"I have a general idea, but we'll need to take a closer look at the details," Munakata said, glancing at Ninomiya.

Munakata was clearly on guard against the two palaces!

However, Shiraishi glanced at Ninomiya, pondered for a moment, and then said, "What else is needed to decipher it?"

Munakata glanced at Shiraishi upon hearing this, understanding that the chief meant it didn't matter if Ninomiya was here...

Munakata naturally couldn't understand, but Shiraishi's idea was that no matter who was behind this, they would definitely keep an eye on Shiraishi afterward. As for Ninomiya, once he knew who was behind it, he would definitely keep an eye on that person.

Although they are far from being allies, Ninomiya has enough initiative to take the lead in this matter.

“Let me see…” Zongfang said, walking to a laptop outside. Without turning it on, he simply pointed to the keyboard and said, “XX-X, this is a typical case number. Inspectors like to use this kind of number to refer to cases. This number is usually composed of letters, letters, and numbers…”

"If the last number is a left parenthesis, it should represent the number '9,' which is the number on the keyboard corresponding to a left parenthesis. This encryption method is the most basic number encryption method used by inspectors, but the case number doesn't start with 'LS'..."

Ninomiya then spoke up, "Is it the other way around? I remember there were numbers starting with SL."

This number is used by the Metropolitan Police Department, but frontline officers generally don't pay much attention to the number and refer to officers by "such and such an incident".

“Of course it’s not that simple. Are you underestimating the inspectors?” Zong Fang glared at him and continued, “There’s a basic method for encrypting letters. It’s to replace QWERTY on the keyboard with the order ABCDEF. After that…” Zong Fang said, counting the keys on the keyboard.

"The L key is S in the alphabet, and the S key is... L in alphabetical order." Munakata said, glaring at Ninomiya—why is this kid so annoying?

Although the decryption process was incorrect, the answer remained the same—SL-9!

"SL-9? What kind of case is that?" Shiraishi asked, without much hope.

As expected, neither Munakata nor Ninomiya answered—who could know?

However, Ninomiya said in a deep voice, "I don't know the specifics, but... this should be a case from one or two years ago, not too early or too late. And since it's a case with a single number, it must have been a major case that attracted public attention at the time."

Although Ninomiya couldn't remember the numbers of every case, he could roughly tell the time and severity of the case from the order and characteristics of the numbers.

“Alright, I’m going to the main store anyway, so I’ll report on the case first… Section Chief Munakata, remember to urge him to submit the report. If the case is clear, send it for prosecution as soon as possible,” Shiraishi instructed Munakata.

Shiraishi couldn't determine what case it was for the time being, but he wasn't in a hurry—this kind of number wasn't a secret, and he would find out what case it was after checking later.

Moreover, if the incident occurred within the last two or three years, even if the case is sealed off, the police officers who handled the case at the time can still be found...

Although the case is not yet closed and statements are still being taken, Shiraishi guessed that the people at the head office must be getting anxious.

Therefore, after the basic facts were clear, Shiraishi prepared to make a trip.

And that is indeed the case...

When the police station first learned that the Beika Police Station had "rebelled" again, the people at headquarters were furious—this Shiraishi Kuro was going too far... Why did they have to correct both "forced suicide" and "suicide"? Did he have to embarrass the Metropolitan Police Department?
However, when they learned that a "murderer" had already surrendered himself to the Miho Police Station, they were somewhat calmer despite their surprise.

The fact that there is still a surviving perpetrator means that the investigation by the Mika Police Station did not conclude that it was a forced suicide!

As a result, everyone held their breath and waited for the results from the Rice Flower District.

……

At this moment, Shiraishi was in the head of the criminal investigation department's office, reporting on the general situation of the case—but still not mentioning Minato and Ninomiya.

On one hand, it's because Minato is already dead, and he died to give Yuriko and Rika Nakajima closure; on the other hand, Shiraishi doesn't believe that Yuriko would feel any better knowing the truth...

"I see... Was it a crime of passion?" Odagiri said with emotion.

Although the act of "the wife killing her lover after cheating" and then "faking the scene in an attempt to deceive the police" is contrary to the identity of "police officer" and "inspector", it is still better to say that "the wife was the murderer" and "the person involved took the blame out of a sense of responsibility" than the previous "suicide pact".

More importantly, with the truth of "witnesses and physical evidence present" and "the perpetrator surrendering," the claim of "forced suicide for love" is refuted.

Overall, it's a good thing for the Metropolitan Police Department's reputation.

Odagiri breathed a sigh of relief, but then his expression turned serious as he said, "However... the Sakaki Group has already hired lawyers and shows no intention of withdrawing the complaint. Now that it's proven he's not involved in the case, the Beika Police Station will have to pay the price!"

(End of this chapter)