Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 463 Before Dawn

"Chief Shiraishi, is this the... tricky case you were talking about?" After hearing the basic information, Hakuba knew he had been tricked.

What's so "tricky" about this?

Someone has already come forward to give false testimony, and judging from this "false testimony," it is almost impossible that it was given under false pretenses; rather, it is genuinely subjective false testimony.

In other words...

The bad guys have already shown themselves!

Regardless of whether Matsutake Umeyo is the real culprit, he is at least an "accomplice"... So what's the point of deducing anything?
“Of course it’s very tricky. If we can’t overturn her testimony, not only will the real culprit escape, but Mayoi will also be framed,” Shiraishi said righteously.

Maya, who was standing to the side, nodded seriously as well.

“It’s very difficult to completely fabricate testimonies, especially when you’re under suspicion. Through repeated questioning, you’ll eventually find flaws… And judging from the current situation, Ms. Matsutake Umeyo shouldn’t be some kind of professional agent.” Hakuba Saguru didn’t think this was a problem.

"Ah... excuse me, I need to take this call." Shiraishi glanced at his phone.

Seeing Shiraishi leave, Hakuba Saguru looked at Mayoi strangely and asked, "What are you doing... cosplay?"

"I'm a spiritual medium! I'm not like you!" Mayoi immediately defended her professional dignity.

Hakuba Saguru: ...

Hakuba Saguru doesn't believe in mediums, and...

“No, I’m not. I’m a detective,” Hakuba Saguru emphasized. Then, he tentatively asked, “Can I ask you something about… your sister’s murder? I heard you were the first to discover it…”

"Hmm." Mayoi's condition improved considerably now that she had seen her sister's soul.

After all, whether a soul can remain has a completely different meaning for a spiritual medium.

For a spiritual medium, "possession" is merely a connection between the spirit in the underworld and themselves; it cannot truly cause the spirit to leave the underworld.

As a "spiritual medium", the first thing to learn is to respect death and not to have any thoughts that offend death.

A true spiritual medium would never communicate with the dead for their own emotional needs—in the spiritual medium's view, communicating with the underworld is itself a "burden" on the deceased.

And now...

Because of Shiraishi, it seems that Chihiro Ayasato's soul will not enter the underworld for the time being.

Not entering the Yellow Springs (the underworld) means, roughly speaking, not dead!
……

When Shiraishi returned, Hakuba Saguru had already learned more about the case.

"How is it?" Shiraishi Mayoi had already told him about the case, so she directly asked him for his thoughts.

Upon hearing this, Hakuba Saguru shook his head and said, "The Eighth Division has indeed cooperated too deeply with the prosecution, and its level has fallen below the normal level of the First Investigation Division... Otherwise, judging from the location of the wound, it would be clear that the person who killed Attorney Ayasato could not have been this Ayasato... classmate."

Hakuba Saguru still believes that Ayari Mayoi is just suffering from chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) and that she wasn't actually not attending school.

“That’s right, Chihiro Ayasato is 168 cm tall, and Mayoi is only 155 cm now… Given those injuries, the assailant should be 10 cm taller than Attorney Ayasato, and… Mayoi doesn’t look like she could beat Attorney Ayasato at all,” Shiraishi said.

"Can't I... launch a sneak attack?" Mayoi said somewhat indignantly.

Shiraishi:……

Shiraishi shook his head and said, "No, because judging from the scene, it wasn't a one-hit kill. The murderer and your sister were locked in a struggle." After a pause, Shiraishi understood what Hakuba meant and added, "That's right. So later we can ask Matsutake Umeyo for her eyewitness testimony and see how she describes the short Mayoi attacking the tall lawyer Ayasato."

The more you press on the fabricated parts of the testimony, especially if you can expose obvious loopholes, the more likely the person giving the testimony will break down psychologically.

Mayoi then looked conflicted. Before Shiraishi could ask, Mayoi blurted out, "Yes... I'm petite!"

However, correcting it is pointless...

Just then, Shiraishi's phone rang again.

"Ah, sorry," Shiraishi said, answering the phone face-to-face this time.

"As expected... good... um? Bando... I understand..." After answering the phone, Shiraishi confirmed, "After our department's investigation, it has been confirmed... the video footage from Beika Hotel shows signs of being edited. A surveillance camera on the seventh floor, which was not broken, had all its recent recordings deleted."

"The lobby's surveillance footage has been replaced with yesterday's, and just now, after I tried to book a room, several rooms on the seventh floor were suddenly booked!"

The changes that Yuto discovered are enough to prove that there is "resistance" within Beika Hotel.

In addition...

Yuto also said that these changes were made very roughly, and that even without his technical analysis, they would likely have been discovered during a thorough investigation.

Therefore, Shiraishi can basically conclude that although a high-ranking official at the Beika Hotel was covering for O-Naka, O-Naka did not actually ask him to cooperate before the murder. After all, the fewer people who know about such things, the better.

It was probably after Shiraishi became involved in the case that Koichi learned of it and hurriedly contacted the general manager of Beika Hotel. For some reason, this Beika Hotel executive did indeed cover for him...

That's why it's so rough!

"Can you find out exactly who did it?" Hakuba Saguru asked professionally.

"The room was booked suddenly through an online reservation, but... the deletion and modification of the surveillance footage was done using the general manager's authority at Beika Hotel!" Shiraishi said, a smirk playing on his lips.

Yuto is more professional...

The Beika Hotel's system held absolutely no secrets from him!

Not only were they found to have been manipulated passively, but they even discovered the source of the access privileges.

Shiraishi was seen holding his phone, seemingly texting someone...

Immediately, Shiraishi called the front desk: "Hello, this is room 909. Send me ten late-night snacks... Oh, and have Bando send them over too."

Hakuba didn't seem to have any doubts about "ten portions," but he did ask with some confusion, "Bandong?"

“In the hotel’s service records, there’s a waiter named Bando who previously provided room service for room 703. He might have seen something. Let’s ask him about it,” Shiraishi said directly.

Not to mention that Shiraishi worked his way up from the front lines after becoming a police officer, and before that, he had fought his way up in Kamurocho...

Of course, Shiraishi is not only good at "high-level approaches"; he is also very good at getting things done from the bottom up!
Because of Miwako Kobe and Kobe Industries, Beika Hotel had previously given face to the Beika Police Station, so Shiraishi was naturally happy to have their senior management cooperate directly. However, now that he has discovered that some of the hotel's senior management are playing tricks, Shiraishi has immediately changed his strategy...

Whether the hotel's general manager or the person behind him was being manipulated and threatened by Xiao Zhongda, or whether they had a deep-seated cooperation with Xiao Zhongda, Bai Shi was certain that he was doing these things in secret.

He would never dare to openly let his subordinates know that he was going to resist the investigation by the Miho Police Department. At most, he would give his trusted confidants a few hints. It was impossible for even ordinary waiters to know his intentions, after all, this was not something to be done openly. If it was just interfering with the police investigation, he could use excuses such as "maintaining normal order in the hotel" or "avoiding interference from the police." But to not even listen to the major shareholder's words, it was too obvious that something was amiss.

Soon, Bando pushed the heavy food cart to the outside of room 909.

Before he could knock, Shiraishi, who had already heard the sound, opened the door.

"Hello, Mr. Shiraishi, this is your late-night snack." Bando said politely.

Although very polite, the service felt a bit contrived... Of course, that's normal; there aren't that many waiters who can make you feel right at home!

As Ban Dong brought in trays of food again and again, Hakuba's expression turned strange.

"Only eight portions? Is something on your mind?" Bai Ma said sarcastically.

Shiraishi glared at him but ignored him, then said to Bando, who was about to leave, "Mr. Bando, is that right? Please wait."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Bando recited his prepared lines.

"There are some things I need to ask you about," Shiraishi said, turning the conversation to him.

"I'm sorry, but if it's a matter related to hotel operations, you can call our marketing department. Thank you for your valuable suggestion..."

Before he could finish reciting his lines, Shiraishi interrupted, "That's enough. You know who I am. I need to ask you about the case... Answer me properly, and I'll introduce you to the Suzuki Hotel afterwards."

Shiraishi could tell that Bando was just a "working class guy".

“Um… a waiter at Beika Hotel, that’s a job I finally managed to find…” Bando’s words were filled with the implication of “more money.”

"I'll give you a 50% raise, and you can choose any position you want!" Shiraishi promised directly.

“I’ve always had a strong sense of justice since I was a child, and I love cooperating with the police!” Bando immediately changed his tune.

Shiraishi nodded: "Very good." Then he asked: "You went to room 703 to provide room service around 7 pm tonight, right?"

"Room 703?" Bando looked thoughtful.

Seeing this, Shiraishi reminded him, "It's Ms. Matsutake's room."

"Ah! I remember now, it was that very beautiful lady, wasn't it?" Bando said, his eyes sparkling.

Whether it's really that beautiful, Shiraishi isn't sure; it might just happen to be to his aesthetic sensibilities.

Shiraishi immediately noticed that Bando seemed somewhat indignant, so he took the opportunity to ask, "Is there something that's bothering you?"

"I have no complaints whatsoever!" Bando said, clearly not on his own terms.

"To put it another way... is there something that's bothering you?" Shiraishi asked in turn.

"I... that lady actually checked in with a man! Cough cough, of course, I'm not upset about that, although that guy looks slick and doesn't seem like a good person, but the reason I'm angry is because... he didn't check in, he sneaked in by himself, um... that's why!" Bando's lie was easy to understand.

but……

Shiraishi wasn't interested in the part about his lies, but his eyes lit up when he mentioned "another man."

"Is that man among these people?" Shiraishi said, fiddling with his phone before showing it to Bando.

Shiraishi's phone is actually a tablet, since phones are just too small...

The tablet now displays nine photos in a 3x3 grid, one of which is of Xiao Zhongda—as the president of Xiao Zhong Culture Company, he is also featured in online reports, so the photo is easy to find.

The other eight photos are of passersby...

After taking a closer look, Bando pointed accurately at Xiaozhongda and said, "That's the guy!"

Shiraishi's eyes lit up at the sight—this guy really did it himself...

This is consistent with his status as a formal member of the "Black Organization." Although he is not a combatant in the special agent sequence, he is just as ruthless when he gets angry.

If we do it ourselves, things will be much easier...

Just then, Shiraishi's phone rang.

Upon seeing the caller ID, Shiraishi frowned deeply.

Shiraishi saved this number; he wasn't very familiar with this person.

but……

It's definitely a call I absolutely have to answer!

"Hello, this is Shiraishi. It's been a long time since I last greeted you... Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda." Shiraishi answered the phone.

Upon hearing the title "Chief Cabinet Secretary," Hakuba Saguru couldn't help but look over—as the son of Inspector Hakuba, Hakuba Saguru immediately realized that "Onoda" was the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the National Police Agency.

"You really have a talent for picking on nasty guys," Onoda said without any hesitation.

really……

Shiraishi guessed it as soon as he saw the number.

It's almost midnight, and Onoda calling me so late at night must be about what's happening "right now"!

"I never expected that President Koichi would be so talented in finding powerful backers," Shiraishi said frankly.

"Stop being sarcastic." Only Onoda's voice came through, but you could tell from his tone that the old man seemed to be rolling his eyes in anger: "I'm not his backer, I'm just reminding you... if you want to investigate Xiao Zhong, you'd better get concrete evidence before dawn!"

"It's before dawn again..." Shiraishi sighed.

Previously, when investigating the death of the chief in Aomori Prefecture, Onoda also reminded Shiraishi to finish before dawn.

However, that time it was because the chief inspector, Juro Horinouchi, dispatched by the National Police Agency, would arrive in Aomori in the morning, at which point Shiraishi would have to hand over command. But this time…

There aren't that many reasons that can be put on the surface!
However, once daytime arrives and all departments begin operating, Xiao Zhong's influence over the police force and even the political sphere will come into play, making it even more difficult for Bai Shi to conduct an investigation.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda clearly had nothing that Kounaka had incriminating evidence against him, and was even happy to see him fall from grace. All he could do was offer a word of advice to Shiraishi.

After all, the most troublesome thing in the world is that we are all intertwined...

Although on the surface he is just a "president" of a small, medium and large company, not a major company, in terms of influence... to deal with him, we must show the same momentum as we did with Atsumori, and strive to strike decisively without leaving any room for recovery!
(End of this chapter)