Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 482 Goodbye Judy
Saturday, April 6.

Because Shiraishi had already deciphered the true time of the crime yesterday using the "aluminum mask," he wasn't too worried about the murder case being investigated by the Beika Police Station—the suspect had been basically identified, and the alibi had been cracked; all that remained was to test just how stubborn the suspect really was…

Early Saturday morning, Shiraishi didn't go to work, but returned to her apartment.

Before moving, Bai Shi still had many things left to take with him, and since there were still more than three months left on his lease, he wasn't in a hurry to move.

Around 6 a.m., Shiraishi was jogging along the way when he passed a barbecue restaurant not far from his apartment. There, he saw a police car from the Beika Police Station parked...

Seeing this, Shiraishi looked inside through the glass wall and saw that Fuji and Kawai were responding to a call, but it seemed to be just a normal argument.

"Ah! It's the director..." Kawai was startled when he saw the huge dark figure outside the glass wall.

When they saw that Director Mika was passing by, the shopkeeper quickly opened the door and invited him in.

"What's wrong? Is there a case?" Shiraishi asked, puzzled—he hadn't seen any bodies or anything like that.

"No...it's not a big case. It's just that this kid dined and dashed, so we won't trouble you, Chief Mihua." The shopkeeper said with a smile when he saw "Guardian Angel Mihua".

"I didn't dine and dash! I just lost my wallet..." a somewhat sleazy-looking young man retorted.

"Heh, that's what everyone who dines and dashes says... and he even sneaked away!" The boss naturally gave him a cold shoulder.

"I'm not trying to sneak away, I just need to use the restroom!" the young customer said angrily.

"Need to use the restroom? Don't I have a restroom in my shop?" the owner said, displeased.

“But there were people in the restroom the whole time…” the young customer retorted.

"What? There are people here? Are there any other customers in the store right now?" The owner laughed angrily.

Indeed, Shiraishi looked at him strangely—it wasn't surprising that the barbecue restaurant was open, since it was 24 hours... but why would someone come to eat barbecue so early in the morning? Such a good appetite?
"How would I know what happened..." the young customer chirped.

"You... you have no money and you still eat so much? Look at this..." The boss was so angry that he showed the bill to Fujiwara and Kawai—indeed, the bill was longer than a person!
"One person ate more than 40,000... Mr. Urushiyama, are you sure you're okay eating like that?" Fujiya exclaimed in amazement—it was a barbecue restaurant with very reasonable prices, and the other person didn't even look fat.

"This is a day's worth," Qishan muttered.

So this guy arrived yesterday morning and ate here all day!

“A day’s worth is enough, so can you pay now?” Teng emphasized.

"No, no, no... I invited a friend over, but what bad luck! We just came to have some fun on payday, and he lost his wallet!" Qi Shan said angrily.

Of course, neither the boss nor Fuji and Kawai believed him—after all, he had sneaked out and was caught by the boss, then claimed that his wallet was missing!

Just as Urushiyama was making the call, Fuji's walkie-talkie suddenly rang: "Fuji! There has been a murder at the Kagemi Flower Apartment. You and Kawai need to go there immediately and help cordon off the scene."

An order came from the department.

“Yes!” Teng said, looking at the shopkeeper and Qishan, “Then you…”

"You guys are busy, I'll just watch his friend come and pay!" the shopkeeper said proactively.

At times like this, one obviously can't care about whether or not one is trying to dine and dash.

Moreover, if the other party can pay the money, the restaurant owner is not really willing to pursue the matter. Otherwise, it would not benefit the restaurant owner if the customer who ate and dashed was detained, but would instead result in a real loss of revenue.

……

After Fuji and Kawa got into the car, they suddenly felt the patrol car shake violently. The next moment... the chief's big face stretched out from between the two of them to the front—it was the chief sitting in the back!

Now that he's ridden in this kind of "small car," Shiraishi has some experience with it. He sits in the middle of the back seat with his head sticking out in front of him. This position and posture would be very dangerous in the event of a car accident, but it's the only comfortable position for Shiraishi, and... Shiraishi isn't afraid of car accidents.

Fuji was already used to it, but the more timid Kawai trembled slightly when Shiraishi's large face came closer...

It's not far from Yingmihua Apartment, just a couple of steps on the gas.

Other patrol officers had already arrived at the scene, while the criminal police were on their way from the police station and had not yet arrived.

The patrol officers who arrived first were also surprised to see the chief get out of Fujiwara's patrol car. They quickly saluted and said, "Chief!"

At the same time, Shiraishi also saw another "acquaintance".

The patrol officers who arrived earlier had already handcuffed a man who looked panicked and had blood on his body and hands, and next to him was...

"Ms. Judy, what a coincidence, you're in Tokyo again?" Shiraishi calmly greeted Judy, who was standing to the side with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Although he didn't know why she was there, Shiraishi spotted Jodie at a glance!

“I found a job at a high school in Dongdu, and I just rented an apartment yesterday. Today I’m working on a murder case!” Judy said, pretending to speak with a slightly accented Dongdu accent.

"Aren't you on a tourist visa?" Shiraishi asked, getting straight to the point.

Judy: ...

Previously, in the case of the murder of the Aomori Chief, Shiraishi met Judy, who was the tutor of the Chief's daughter at the time, and Shiraishi pointed out that her actions were illegal.

“Ahem, I’ve already changed it to a highly skilled professional visa!” Judy denied.

Shiraishi nodded – as expected of the FBI, they changed the visa categories so quickly.

“Really? Then what is this now…” Shiraishi looked at her, then at the arrested suspect.

Upon seeing this, the patrol officers at the scene quickly reported, "Chief, this is the lady who just assisted us in arresting the murderer."

"What are you talking about..." Shiraishi glared at him.

"Ah! I mean... a suspect, a suspect." The patrolman said awkwardly, then explained, "But he really was like that just now, and he even abandoned the victim's body to try to escape. Fortunately, this lady was there and caught him right away."

"So, Ms. Judy practiced this before?" Shiraishi asked, feigning surprise.

After all, Judy had pretended to be very delicate back in Aomori.

"Of course! I also traveled to China and learned Chinese Kung Fu, it's really amazing!" Judy deliberately changed the subject.

Shiraishi, of course, didn't believe it at all...

You're still going to China? If you dare to go, I'll make a whopping 500,000 in foreign exchange.

"What high school hired Ms. Judy? Doesn't it have any requirements for East Island language proficiency?" Shiraishi asked deliberately.

"Yes... Teitan High School, do you know about Chief Mikasa?" Jodie also specifically told Shiraishi about this—pretending it was "natural."

After all, she discovered Vermouth's recent activities in Tokyo and speculated that she was there to investigate "Shinichi Kudo, who was suspected of being killed by the organization." For the sake of the big fish behind her, Jodie followed her and infiltrated the "surroundings."

"Teitan High School... Hmm, of course I know it." Shiraishi had even made an appointment to have dinner with the principal of Teitan High School today. Yes, that's right, Shiraishi was going to pull some strings.

Whether or not you graduate, or how well you do in school, doesn't matter, but Shiraishi wants to get Mayoi in!

While Shiraishi and Judy were talking, Fuji went to check out the scene. Although he was now a patrolman, he had been a detective before. Since no other detectives had arrived, Fuji decided to take a look first, just in case the scene changed later.

The incident occurred in the corridor on the third floor of Yingmihua Apartment, where a woman covered in blood was lying.

Although no autopsy has been performed yet, Teng could still tell that she had been stabbed more than once, and her front was completely soaked in blood.

Moreover, judging from her wearing home clothes, she should be a resident here, and the bloodstains have also spread to room 305.

Teng approached 305 and looked inside, discovering that the door was open and the bloodstains were starting from the doorway...

Preliminary assessment suggests that the deceased was attacked at his doorstep, managed to escape a few steps, but died on the spot.

Shiraishi then walked to the corridor where the crime occurred...

The apartment manager shook his head and said, "Oh, I didn't expect that something like this would happen so soon after you moved out, Director Mika."

Shiraishi:……

Even before I moved out, there were murders!
This is something I simply cannot control...

"Was he arrested right here?" Shiraishi asked the patrol officer.

"That's right, we received a report from the resident of 306. When we came up, we saw that this guy was holding the deceased. When he saw us, he immediately dropped the deceased and tried to escape across the street..." The patrol officer described what happened at that time.

There were elevators and emergency exits on both sides of the corridor, but the patrol officers did not specifically come up from both sides because the alarm they received was "an argument outside". As a result, the suspect immediately tried to escape from the other side.

"Then Ms. Judy, who lives in 310, came out and saw the suspect... the suspect was running away, so she immediately tackled him and pinned him down," the patrol officer continued.

Just then...

"No! It wasn't me! I didn't kill anyone..." the suspect suddenly shouted.

"Behave yourself!" The patrol officer immediately grabbed his shoulder to stop him from struggling.

"It really wasn't me... I was just drunk last night and wanted to rest at my sister's place... But as soon as I got out of the elevator, I saw her coming over covered in blood... I... I was shocked too! Just as she collapsed, these people came..." the suspect hurriedly explained.

"If you didn't kill him, why are you running away?" the patrolman asked dismissively.

"I...I was scared. What if you treat me like the murderer and torture me to extract a confession?" The suspect did seem quite timid, and continued muttering, "I definitely can't take the torture, then I'll confess, and then I'll go to jail...I didn't kill him..."

"You bastard..." The patrolman's veins throbbed—are you scared? Or are you mocking us?

"Don't be nervous, what's your name?" Shiraishi asked while using her calming abilities to help him calm down.

“My name is… Oyamada Taichi,” Oyamada replied, having calmed down a bit.

“Your sister is a resident here,” Shiraishi asked.

“Yeah, my sister lives in 303! But… it seems like nobody’s home right now,” Oyamada said helplessly.

While they were talking, Teng circled around several times, seemingly looking for something.

Shiraishi then looked at the patrol officers who had arrived first and asked, "Were you searched?"

"Yes, we've already searched it," the patrol officer replied.

"Did you find anything?" Shiraishi pressed.

"Nothing... except for bloodstains." The patrol officer hadn't quite grasped the situation yet, assuming he was being asked about something "suspicious."

“That’s strange…” Shiraishi nodded and then instructed, “In this situation, if we want to consider him a criminal caught in the act… the murder weapon must be at the scene.”

That's right. If we believe the murderer was caught red-handed, then the murder weapon must be on his person.

Fujiya was looking for this...

However, no murder weapon was found on Oyamada or around the crime scene!
If there is no murder weapon, it cannot be considered a "criminal caught in the act," and if it is not a "criminal caught in the act," then the premise for arresting Oyamada simply does not exist.

Of course, Shiraishi did not blame the two patrol officers.

After all, in this situation, at the scene of a murder, a man covered in blood ran away as soon as he saw the police officers...

There's absolutely no problem with arresting him at this point!
As for the subsequent determination, that's what criminal police officers are supposed to do. Shiraishi's guidance was meant to encourage them to improve, not to accuse them of dereliction of duty.

"Did the resident of 306 call the police?" Bai Shi asked after looking at the apartment number.

"Yes, she's a woman living alone. We just told her not to come out yet," the patrol officer quickly said.

Since the person died right in front of apartment 306, people coming out might disturb the scene. As for questioning and taking statements, that's something the detectives who arrive later are supposed to do.

And precisely because it was a Saturday morning, there weren't many people out at this time...

The street-facing shops downstairs from the apartment building were also quiet. Apart from some shops that were open 24 hours or opened early in the morning, there were only delivery trucks in the early morning.

"Then, Ms. Judy, you are..." Shiraishi said, looking at Judy, who had "acted bravely."

“I don’t know what happened. I just woke up when I heard screams outside. When I went out to check, I saw this guy running away and being yelled at by the police officer to ‘stop.’ So I used the grappling techniques I learned to catch him.” Judy’s accent was much more normal now, perhaps because she had just been questioned about her East Island language skills by Shiraishi.

"You opened the door after hearing the screams?" Shiraishi frowned upon hearing this—that would greatly increase the suspicion surrounding Oyamada.

After all, based on the screams we just heard, the person next to him must be the murderer!

“No, I’m a naked person! Of course I put on my clothes before coming out,” Judy said openly.

Shiraishi:……

Shiraishi ignored her, but this made her realize that there was a time lag between when Judy heard the scream and when she opened the door to check.

Judy then asked, "By the way... can I go back and put on my underwear? It's a little chafed..."

Shiraishi:……

At this moment, Fuji offered, "Ms. Judy, since there might be a murderer nearby... I'll go with you."

"Thank you so much!" Judy knew the policewoman wanted to keep an eye on her and even search her, but she was just using this as an excuse. However, she didn't refuse.

(End of this chapter)