Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 440 SL-9!

Shiraishi was not surprised by the Sakaki Group's relentless pursuit.

Having been dealt two brutal blows by Shiraishi before, this kind of martial arts fighter, who has not been "subdued," is definitely determined to get revenge!
Ken Sakaki's involvement was one of the reasons why Shiraishi initially felt there was a mastermind behind the scenes—it was clearly different from the methods of the Sakaki Group, a militant group.

Kenjiro Sakaki appeared not far from the scene before the incident, probably because he was following Yuriko. However, his reaction after being "invited" to the Beika Police Station clearly indicated that he had been instructed by a master and was there to "get something out of the Beika Police Station".

Fortunately, Shiraishi noticed quickly. Seeing that the narcissistic side's "Cupid's poisoned arrow" was taking effect, Shiraishi immediately realized what was happening and released Sakaki Ken...

However, Ken Sakaki is still fixated on the fact that someone he had injured was beaten by police officers!
Although the other party did deliberately try to escape, and the person who was injured was no saint either, and the attack was very heavy-handed, if it weren't for Muto, the police officer might have been the one who got injured. But since the other party hired a lawyer and pretended to be innocent, Shiraishi didn't have any good solutions.

However, Ken Sakaki's situation was hardly a cause for concern for Shiraishi.

After leaving Odagiri, Shiraishi went to the General Affairs Manager's office first...

Given that Shiraishi was nominally there to report on his work, and considering the strained relationship between Odagiri and Tanaka, Shiraishi did not try to find a gift for Minister Tanaka in Minister Odagiri's office.

"I see, it wasn't a suicide pact, it was a crime of passion... Hmm, Chief Shiraishi did a good job this time." Tanaka said with a warm tone but a calm expression.

When Tanaka first learned that the Beika Police Station was investigating the case, he was furious—you brat, you were sent by Odagiri to mess with me!
However, now that Shiraishi has found the "real culprit," not only has the "forced suicide pact" been denied, but the subsequent public scrutiny has also been avoided, which has relieved Tanaka.

only……

Tanaka then realized that he hadn't taken what he had said to Shiraishi to heart at all—Shiraishi wasn't there to mess with him, but he wasn't there to help him either; he was simply there to investigate the case!
In terms of the outcome, Shiraishi did help him this time, but if the outcome is unfavorable to him next time, Shiraishi will investigate just as much.

Therefore, Tanaka was neither too cold nor too enthusiastic towards Shiraishi at this time...

After exchanging pleasantries with Department Head Tanaka, Shiraishi casually whispered a few words to Department Head Odagiri as a temporary pledge of allegiance before getting down to business: "Department Head Tanaka, has anyone in the Tojo Clan filed a complaint against me?"

Although the Sakaki group has hired lawyers, they are still "protesting and pressuring the Metropolitan Police Department" for the time being, and have not yet reached the point of filing a lawsuit.

Otherwise, they also understand that it will be very difficult to win the case!

The protest pressured the Metropolitan Police Department, and to save face and avoid trouble, the department might sacrifice some of its subordinates—and this "subordinates" certainly doesn't refer to Shiraishi. In terms of both public opinion and social status, the Superintendent General and Chief of Police Beika cannot be considered "subordinates," but rather those even lower down.

However, if the Giovanni group chooses to file a lawsuit, the Metropolitan Police Department, for the sake of saving face, will have to give them a good dressing down...

Upon hearing this, Tanaka glanced at Shiraishi and then said directly, "Superintendent Shiraishi, I know your Beika Police Station is also investigating a case, but don't make a big fuss... What Tojo Clan? That young man wasn't engaging in any violent activities, was he?"

Tanaka could tell that Shiraishi was trying to frame the incident as "a violent organization framing me" by not saying "Sakaki Group" but "Tojo Clan".

However, Tanaka... or rather, judging from Tanaka's words, the Metropolitan Police Department does not think that way.

"Inspector Shiraishi did a great job this time. Although there were some minor flaws in the case, I won't let those people escalate the matter to the Beika Police Department or to matters of principle," Tanaka reassured Shiraishi.

However, Shiraishi could also tell that Tanaka didn't really care about protecting the Mihana Agency.

The summons of Kenjiro Sakaki wasn't a major problem to begin with. At most, Muto might have been a bit too harsh, but that was because Muto struck first, not to mention that there was suspicion from the beginning that Muto was "fishing" for him...

More importantly, the case was ultimately solved by the Mikasa Police Department!

One's merits cannot supersede all responsibilities; it is untenable for anyone to endlessly blame the Mikado Department for this matter.

At this point, Tanaka seemed to be strongly supporting Shiraishi, but in reality, it was just a matter of "fair treatment"—and not absolutely fair, but fair after taking into account the impact of public opinion and other factors.

"Then thank you very much, Minister Tanaka." Shiraishi didn't complain, after all, he really didn't care about Tanaka's life or death when he was handling the case.

Moreover, Tanaka's self-proclaimed "fairness" can be considered a small favor to Shiraishi—there are still high-ranking officials in the Metropolitan Police Department who dislike Shiraishi, so "fairness" is already a small act of resistance on Shiraishi's behalf.

……

After leaving Tanaka, Shiraishi went to the police department, but this time he didn't go to the minister's office. Instead, he went directly to the office of the head of the document section.

Upon entering, Shiraishi immediately sat down on the sofa...

"Come on! Try some of Tanaka-sama's tea!" Shiraishi presented Iwata with a small gift.

Iwata:……

You're not pretending anymore, are you?
Before Shiraishi could speak, Iwata quietly asked, "Was that inspector's case really a crime of passion?"

Shiraishi:……

Shiraishi now even suspects that this kid might have planted a listening device in the minister's office!

I just reported the case to two ministers, how did you know?
“That’s right, the female victim died at the hands of Officer Minato’s wife, and Officer Minato committed suicide.” Shiraishi didn’t hide anything—the truth of the case would soon be announced by the Metropolitan Police Department.

After all, many people in the public now suspect that the police are trying to portray "forced suicide" as "suicide for love."

"Sigh, I never expected... Officer Minato would actually... I had suspected him before..." Iwata said, shaking his head.

Shiraishi gave him a strange look—you were right to suspect him!
Although Iwata himself didn't make it clear because he didn't want to criticize the dead, Shiraishi heard it clearly—Iwata had suspected before that Minato Tetsuro was gay.

Shiraishi even suspected that if Iwata had gossiped for a few more years, or if Minato's relationship with Iwata had been closer, he might have already gossiped about Minato and Ninomiya's relationship first!

"Let's put that aside for now. Help me investigate a case; the number is SL-9." Shiraishi didn't stand on ceremony with Iwata.

"Why are you saying it's numbered?" Iwata gave Shiraishi a strange look.

These numbering systems are administratively assigned for management purposes. Frontline officers rarely know these numbers; often, even for cases they've solved, they don't know what number was assigned when the case was recorded. Shiraishi didn't answer, while Iwata went straight to the computer to search…

Although the "digitalization" project is still ongoing and has not ended, Iwata, as the head of the document section, naturally knew upon hearing the number that it must be a case from within the last two or three years, and these cases must have already been entered into the database.

"Hmm? So that's what it is... Three years ago, do you remember that serial killer from Tokyo?" Iwata suddenly said.

"Which one?" Shiraishi asked in return.

The serial killer in Tokyo... there's more than one every year!

"That car accident killer eventually turned himself in... and even after turning himself in, he caused trouble again," Iwata described in detail.

"Oh, oh, oh... I remember it's... Qingying Zhang, right?" Shiraishi, relying on his superb memory, said the prisoner's name.

This serial murder case was a major headache for the Metropolitan Police Department back then.

Due to the unusual nature of the case, the investigation headquarters initially fell into a complete misunderstanding—because the five victims were all killed in close proximity and within a very short period of time, the investigation headquarters initially thought it was a gang crime.

Moreover, the five victims were not connected, which greatly tested the brainpower of the detectives handling the case...

However, it was eventually proven that this was not a group murder, but rather... a serial murder committed by a single person!
The murderer killed five people on a whim.

Initially, the incident stemmed from an accidental car accident. When the victim threatened to call the police, the perpetrator got out of the car and stabbed the first person to death. Then, noticing a witness, he chased after and killed the second person. However, while killing the second person, a third person witnessed the attack, so the perpetrator killed the third person as well…

Then, because a student was passing by, although it was uncertain whether the student had discovered anything, the fourth person was killed. When the fourth person was taking away the four bodies and burying them, a fifth person was encountered...

And just like that... completely unrelated, purely "accidental" killing of five people!
Most importantly, the murderer was previously an ordinary office worker and would not be suspected at all.

Shiraishi also had a strong impression of this case, not only because of its sensational nature and the public outcry at the time, but also because he initially made a wrong judgment based on his perspective of criminal psychology.

Shiraishi was "teaming up" at the time, and this case had nothing to do with him. He only ruled out the possibility of it being the work of a "violent organization" in the early stages of the case.

However, this did not stop Shiraishi from "guessing" – at the time, Shiraishi also believed that the murderer must be a repeat offender. Even after Aoki surrendered, Shiraishi insisted that there must be other undiscovered murders on his record.

From the perspective of criminal psychology, it is possible for someone to commit murder on impulse at any time, since everyone has moments of impulsiveness.

But to commit planned murders, especially to kill five innocent people with no history of conflict so brutally…

This is extremely difficult, not only in terms of the execution process, but also because it's a psychological hurdle for the perpetrator. If the motive is "revenge," it can serve as a psychological support, but in the case of Qingying Zhang...

Let alone "revenge," there is not even any plausible reason to support his actions!
It's highly unlikely that someone who has never killed anyone could suddenly do this.

Shiraishi wasn't the only one who had this suspicion, but it was later proven that this Qingying Zhang was indeed an "ordinary person" before, and no other cases could be uncovered from him.

For this, Shiraishi was even ridiculed by his "good partner" Takei, who said that his criminal psychology was all a hoax.

Shiraishi was speechless. He could only suspect that the guy might have suddenly developed some kind of brain lesion, or that he simply had a "freakish brain" but hadn't done anything to make him kill anyone before...

Another noteworthy aspect of this case is that... in the end, Qingyingzhang's hands were not just five, but six lives!

Nothing was found in the past, but...

Two days after Qingying Zhang surrendered himself, before the case was even sent to the prosecutor's office for prosecution, there was a thunderstorm that caused a power outage at the police station. Taking advantage of the chaos, Qingying Zhang killed a prosecutor who had intervened in the case earlier.

Such a depraved criminal was ultimately sentenced to death even in a court in an island nation that is not particularly strict, especially since the death penalty is rare.

Adding to the previous Minister of Justice, Inukai, who was a rare minister who was "very decisive in signing death warrants," Aokage Takeru and that cannibal have both been executed!
……

“It’s that case… I remember that although Aoki turned himself in, there was still some controversy because of the case itself, right?” Shiraishi recalled the incident at this moment.

“Yes, because the motive was too bizarre, and although Aokage Takeru’s testimony matched the scene, at the beginning, even with the testimony, the police were unable to find any decisive evidence at the scene. At the time, there was actually controversy on a legal level, so the prosecutor intervened early... until the sixth murder occurred two days later.” Iwata said, looking at the information on the screen.

Just like when Satsuki surrendered himself—surrendering doesn't necessarily mean it's true; investigation and evidence gathering are still required!
At the time, Qingying Zhang had done things too cleanly, so although a lot of indirect evidence was found after combining his confession, no direct evidence was found.

For cases where the main difficulty lies in the process, the prosecutor's office intervenes early, directly dispatching prosecutors to the investigation headquarters to assist in the referral process...

"Back then, you killed a prosecutor, right? And you killed him in the police station after he turned himself in." Shiraishi also remembers this incident.

“That’s right, and… speaking of this case, it happened in Beito Town. The current chief, Yan Tu, was the one who arrested Aokage Takeru after the sixth case, and he was also one of the key witnesses. It was because of his contribution to this case that Yan Tu was promoted to the head of the regional headquarters.” Iwata reminded Shiraishi at this moment.

Iwata paused for a moment, then asked strangely, "Hey, you're not eyeing your boss again, are you?"

However, when Iwata looked at Shiraishi, he found that he was also surprised, and it didn't seem like he was asking about the case specifically to target Yantu.

Indeed, that was the case. Shiraishi hadn't paid attention to the specifics of the case back then, so when Iwata mentioned the contents of the documents, he realized that the case was actually closely related to Yan Tu Haici!
“I see…” Bai Shi’s expression turned solemn.

Although there is no evidence, but...

An inspector suspected of investigating "SL-9" was murdered in Beika Town...

In addition, Yan Tu's previous eagerness to close the case...

Bai Shi became increasingly suspicious that Yan Tu had probably played a role in both cases that no one else knew about!

(End of this chapter)