Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 467 The First Case of Sword Control

"Prosecutor Mikami came to visit so early in the morning. Anyone who didn't know better would think that someone from my Beika Police Department had offended the Tokyo Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office again." Shiraishi told Section Chief Mado to leave first when he saw Mikami come in.

Sword Control: ...

What do you mean by "I don't know"? Even if you did know, you've still offended me!
What's with the use of "again"? Can your Mihua Department please stop doing this?

This time, however, instead of arguing with Shiraishi, Yujian simply threw a stack of documents onto Shiraishi's desk.

Shiraishi opened the first page and took a look...

"A case from five years ago?" Shiraishi realized that this was still an old case.

“Well, this is a case I encountered not long after I joined the police force, when I was working as an observer at the Metropolitan Police Department… Chief Shiraishi, don’t you also think that without solid evidence you can’t arrest or prosecute someone, and that even minor details can be used as grounds for acquittal? Well then, Chief Shiraishi, why don’t you take a look at this case and tell me how to proceed?” Mikami said with a stern face.

(As mentioned when Mitsurugi first appeared, he is only two or three years younger than the protagonist, which means he is two or three years older than his age in the game... After all, in the relatively realistic "Detective Conan", it would be too exaggerated for a 24-year-old first-level prosecutor to be "famous". Give him some years of work experience.)
Upon hearing this, Shiraishi guessed as well...

Yujian brought the case file over not entirely to argue, but also to ask for help.

Bai Shi didn't say much, and opened the file...

……

Five years ago, on April 4, 2012.

A 19-year-old girl named Haruka Nagumo has gone missing in Beika Town.

Initially, because notes such as "Don't bother me" and "I want to go for a walk alone" were left at home when she went missing, and her mother also received similar messages, the police did not take it seriously.

However, Haruka Nagumo had always been an excellent student, and at the time she was a student at Tokyo University. She went missing when she went home for summer vacation...

Therefore, her mother was certain that something had happened to her daughter.

At the time, Mitsurugi, who was acting as an "observer," and Itonokiri, who was responsible for "watching him," were unable to handle major cases, so they came to investigate this disappearance case, and they actually made a regrettable discovery...

Initially, Haruka Nagumo's stepfather, Hideomi Higashiyama, who was also her mother's second husband, claimed to have seen her at a gas station. At the time, she was wearing a denim jacket, came over, asked him for some cash, and left. During this time, Haruka Nagumo's childhood friend, Shota Saionji, also believed that something had happened to her and actively cooperated with the police investigation.

As the investigation continued, the most obvious evidence emerged—Haruka Nagumo's ex-boyfriend, Makoto Hojo, told Mitsurugi and Itokozuke that he found Haruka's denim jacket at the Saionji house…

However, when Mitsurugi and Itokozuke came to ask, Saionji knew nothing about it!

At this point, the police officially opened a case and identified Saionji as the prime suspect.

But the case is certainly not that simple!
Police soon discovered that no biological evidence could be extracted from Nagumo Haruka's denim jacket; instead, there was residue of dry cleaning fluid, in other words... it looked like clothes that had been washed but not yet worn.

Later, during the search of the Saionji residence, not only was no trace of Nagumo Haruka found, but instead...

Higashiyama Hideomi's fingerprints have been discovered!

The police then interrogated Hojo Makoto, who had provided the tip. Hojo admitted that Higashiyama Hideomi had told him about it and asked him to report it to the police. His reason was that Higashiyama Hideomi had a criminal record and he was worried that his words would not be believed.

Hojo did indeed visit Saionji's house and found Haruka's clothes on his sofa. Convinced that Haruka had been kidnapped by Saionji, he immediately called the police…

Once this was clarified, the case seemed to become simpler.

Police immediately summoned Hideomi Higashiyama.

However, Higashiyama Hideomi insisted that he framed Saionji because he was convinced that Saionji was the culprit and that he did so to save his daughter...

The police naturally didn't believe this, and when they investigated his vehicle later, they found ropes and a shovel, as well as that the driving records for the day Xiaoyao disappeared and the day before had been deleted.

After the data was recovered, it was discovered that Dongshan went to Huluhu Park on the night of the incident.

Yujian also had a bad feeling at the time, and afterwards the police went to great lengths, mobilizing people from all over the place when they were already short-handed...

Finally, Nan Yunyao's body was recovered from Hulu Lake!
Because several days had already passed, and Nan Yunyao's body was submerged in the lake, we could only infer from her clothing that she may have been assaulted before her death, and it was impossible to obtain any biological evidence of the perpetrator.

However, it was ultimately confirmed that Nagumo Haruka's cause of death was an overdose of illegal drugs...

As a top student who independently gained admission to the University of Tokyo and excelled in both character and academics, Nagumo Haruka certainly had no record of using this. On the contrary, her stepfather, Higashiyama, was a drug addict and had a prior conviction for illegal possession of prohibited drugs!
During the subsequent investigation, the police also discovered that Dongshan had purchased a large quantity of illegal drugs two days before the incident, but...

Higashiyama Hideomi himself is extremely stubborn!
He insisted that he had nothing to do with the case and framed Saionji because he was convinced that Saionji was the murderer and that the vehicle record showed that he went to Hulu Lake to relax that night...

Because there is no direct evidence—the rope and shovel seem to be just spares, with no signs of use, let alone useful clues—this murder case remains unsolved and has not yet reached the stage of prosecution. Theoretically, the police have not yet solved the case.

Of course, Higashiyama Hideomi was immediately indicted and imprisoned on other charges, but...

Two more days until my release!

Miken was naturally very unwilling to accept this, and at the same time, he was worried that Higashiyama Hideomi would abscond after being released from prison, so he paid special attention to this matter.

……

After reviewing the case file, Shiraishi roughly understood what had happened.

Although this case file was not recorded from Mitsurugi's perspective, by combining Mitsurugi's identity at the time with the signatures of the officers in charge of each part, Shiraishi was able to guess most of the background of the investigation.

“He’s scheduled to be released on May 26th… only two more days.” Shiraishi frowned.

"This is already the limit. Illegal possession of prohibited drugs, false accusations... even when he secretly went to Saionji's house to put away clothes, he kicked Saionji's dog, and that was considered animal cruelty, but he still only got this long sentence." Yujian said, shaking his head helplessly.

"So right now we only have circumstantial evidence, namely, 'Higashiyama lied on key testimonies to frame Saionji and broke into her home to fabricate evidence,' and 'Higashiyama's vehicle went to a body disposal site that he wouldn't normally go to on the night of the incident.' Other evidence, such as ropes and shovels, has not been found as evidence of the crime." Shiraishi confirmed again.

"To be precise, there is also indirect evidence... During the interrogation after the body was found, after the police officer left the interrogation room, the surveillance footage showed him muttering to himself, 'It's over,'" Yujian added.

Legally speaking, this kind of thing doesn't even qualify as circumstantial evidence, so naturally it wasn't recorded in the case file.

However, it does have great reference value for investigations!
In short... it seems that Dongshan's suspiciousness is so great that he's practically just short of confessing.

However, Dongshan, who already had a criminal record, managed to withstand the interrogation.

Two years earlier, he might not have been able to hold on, after all, the mandatory installation of surveillance cameras in the interrogation room was something that happened during that period...

Adding to the difficulty of the case is the fact that the body was submerged in water and was discovered too late!

This resulted in no useful clues being extracted from the body, and combined with Dongshan's tight-lipped nature, it became a "cold case".

"But... there are no marks on the rope or the shovel?" Shiraishi asked, paying close attention to this detail.

"No, both were purchased shortly before the incident," Yu Jian said impatiently.

He immediately retorted on his sword, "Our Director Mika is not trying to prove that he is indeed innocent, is he?"

"Whether he is innocent remains to be investigated," Shiraishi calmly replied.

Of course, Shiraishi was already 90% convinced that Higashiyama was the murderer!

There's no evidence, especially now...

Five more years have passed, and finding evidence has become even more difficult.

“Yes, the Metropolitan Police Department won’t reopen this case now. If Chief Shiraishi can’t find any results either, then let’s just release him as he wishes,” Miken said somewhat resentfully.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi feigned surprise and asked, "Eh? Aren't you going to file a lawsuit this time? Can't you at least 'hmm' some evidence?"

As he spoke, Shiraishi made a "pinching" gesture and made an "hmm" sound.

Seeing this, Yu Jian's face darkened, and he said, "I'll say it again... Our Prosecutor's Office... at least I haven't fabricated any evidence!"

Yujian originally wanted to say the entire "Tokyo Prosecutor's Office," but thinking about the previous case of "collusion between the judge, prosecutor, and defense," Yujian didn't feel so confident anymore.

However, Yujian can argue that he did not fabricate any evidence—slightly altering the case file records to make his testimony more rigorous; concealing some irrelevant evidence to prevent cunning lawyers from taking the opportunity to lie; hinting to the witnesses to make their testimonies more straightforward... these cannot be considered "fabrication," right?

At the very least, Yu Jian would never do something like fabricating false evidence.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi understood and asked in return, "So it's not what I wanted, but rather the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office's current intention is not to prosecute, right?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Jian fell silent for a moment.

Indeed, five years ago, when he was still young, Mitsurugi proposed to forcefully initiate a lawsuit!
However, he ended up getting a good scolding from the Demon Hunter – "Sue? There's no direct evidence at all, what are you suing for?"

A conviction rate of 99.9% not only means that once a case is filed, every effort is made to succeed, and some prosecutors even refuse to admit wrongdoing and deliberately conceal problems... It also means that unless they are 100% certain of success, they will not easily file a prosecution and would rather leave it as an unsolved case.

Of course, Mikami knew that Shiraishi was right, even...

He came to Shiraishi to talk about the case, partly as a last resort, and partly because of what happened last night, which made him want to teach Shiraishi a lesson!

In his view, it's normal that Shiraishi couldn't find any entry point or evidence.

Then let Shiraishi experience the helplessness of watching a criminal go unpunished due to a lack of evidence...

However, Shiraishi looked at the case file from left to right, and finally muttered, "So... this rope and shovel..."

"Can't you pay attention to something useful?" Yu Jian reminded him impatiently.

Ignoring his agitation, Shiraishi leaned back in his custom-made chief's chair, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "This Higashiyama deleted the driving records from the day of the incident, as well as the day before..."

Before Bai Shi could finish speaking, Yu Jian emphasized, "That's right, and the place he went to that day, Hulu Lake, was the location where the body was dumped!"

Shiraishi then shook his head and said, "No, what I want to ask is... where did he go the day before yesterday?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Jian paused for a moment.

"What does this have to do with the case?" Mikazuki asked indignantly. Seeing that Shiraishi was still staring at him, Mikazuki then said, "I don't know... but there should be a record of it at the Beika Police Station."

At the time, during the "disappearance" phase of the case, it was Mitsurugi and Itokozuke who were investigating. After it was confirmed to be a murder case, an investigation headquarters was directly established. Therefore, the Beika Police Department did not actually lead the investigation.

However, since the report was filed in Mikasa and the perpetrator was also from Mikasa, the criminal police and patrol officers of the Mikasa Police Station were naturally involved in the investigation. Moreover, the search headquarters was also located in the Mikasa Police Station, and the case files were also backed up in the Mikasa Police Station!
This made it easier for Shiraishi to look up the information...

Shiraishi made a phone call and asked the general affairs department to keep all the case-related materials and bring them to his office.

Soon after, Shiraishi saw the floppy disk containing the "driving record backup".

Shiraishi:……

Then they brought in a mainframe computer that could read floppy disks, and Shiraishi and Mitsurugi saw the contents of the dashcam backup.

"That's great... thankfully it wasn't just a backup of that day..." Shiraishi remarked.

"So what do you want to see?" Yujian still didn't understand what Shiraishi was trying to do—why are you so concerned about what happened the day before the case?
Shiraishi then looked at Miken and said, "If you were a murderer who planned to kill someone and dispose of the body, what would you do the day before committing the crime?"

Yu Jian frowned in thought, remaining silent. Bai Shi directly revealed the secret: "Scouting the location. Since there's a plan, scouting is essential, especially if the body needs to be disposed of!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Jian seemed to realize something, but then frowned and said, "I remember he didn't go to Hulu Lake the day before..."

“That’s right, so that must be why his rope and shovel haven’t been used,” Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

After pondering for a moment, Yu Jian vaguely understood what Bai Shi meant: "You mean..."

"Yes, he didn't go to Hulu Lake the day before, but instead wandered around the Mihua Forest... I guess that was the place he originally planned to dump the body at, but for some reason, he had to change his mind on the day of the case and went to Hulu Lake instead, which he hadn't scouted..."

Shiraishi recognized the date from the start, and now he could guess why Shiraishi had changed his mind!
(End of this chapter)