Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 483 The Director's Reminder

"Ah...that's how some things are. You feel good when you have them, but you feel tormented when you lose them..."

As Judy emerged from the room, adjusting her bra, she uttered this profound statement.

At this time, Gen and Yamada also arrived—although they had another murder case on their hands, as detectives from the Beika Police Station, they were used to having more than one murder case on their hands.

Fujiya followed Judy out, and after seeing Gen, he turned his back to Judy and shook his head at Gen—he didn't find anything hidden on her, and there was nothing unusual in the room.

After all, Judy was one of the first people to discover the crime, and according to normal procedures, she should have been searched.

As a contemporary of Fuji, Yuan naturally understood immediately and nodded slightly.

"Huh? Where's Director Mika?" Judy asked, slightly disappointed that Shiraishi wasn't there.

That's right, Judy had actually discovered something, but she didn't say it. She originally wanted to observe Shiraishi Kuro more closely—after all, Shiraishi Kuro was a prominent figure in Tokyo and held such an important position, so she would inevitably have to deal with him in the future. Back in Aomori Prefecture, Shiraishi Kuro's abilities had left a deep impression on her...

“The director has other urgent matters to attend to; we’re in charge of the search here,” Yuan lied directly.

It's true that they're in charge here, but Chief Shiraishi... it's nothing important, he's just moving some things from his apartment!
This is normal, after all, the chief of police can't handle every murder case personally.

At present, this murder case doesn't seem to have anything special about it...

The victim and the prime suspect both come from ordinary families; the former is an ordinary woman living alone, and the latter is an ordinary person who lives off their parents. Their cases do not involve anything sensitive to public opinion.

After initially contacting the victim's family and friends, Yuan discovered that the victim had been harassed by a stalker before his death and was recently hesitant about whether to report it to the police.

Of course, the arrested Oyamada denied knowing the victim, and even more so denied stalking anyone...

The case can only be described as having some doubts at this point—namely, the contradiction between "catching the perpetrator in the act" and "not finding the murder weapon at the scene."

“Detective Yuan… um… blah blah…” A patrol officer came over and whispered something in Yuan’s ear.

Yuan nodded deeply at this moment.

Teng rolled her eyes at the side. After the patrol officer left, she came over and complained, "You've even learned to act like a veteran detective now?"

"Hahaha..." Yuan laughed a few times, then said seriously, "Could it be... because I'm a veteran detective? After all... a detective's experience is proven by the cases they've solved!"

That's absolutely right.

Let alone Yuan, who is considered an "elite," any detective in the Mikado Police Department has impressive qualifications, not to mention elites like Yuan.

The current criminal investigation division of the Beika Police Station, specifically the rapist unit, is none other than "Kohanagata" from Tokyo...

"Alright, veteran detective... what's the possibility of an outsider?" Teng could guess what the other party had just reported.

“Yes, the surveillance footage from the emergency stairwell and elevator… no one should have left during the time of the incident,” Yuan said.

"What do you mean by 'should'? You're a veteran detective!" Teng said, dissatisfied.

"Because the emergency staircase is only monitored on the opposite side! However... judging from the deceased's condition, he had just died when the patrol officers arrived, so the time of the incident shouldn't be too far off. The two patrol officers who arrived at the scene first came up from this side of the emergency exit. If someone left from this side, they would definitely have been discovered."

"Moreover, Oyamada himself said that he didn't see anyone else, so... either he's lying, and he killed the person but the murder weapon was hidden, or the person is still hidden on this floor!" Yuan analyzed.

Judy, out of their sight, subtly curled the corners of her lips—the police officers of Dongdu were nothing special, even those under that person's command.

at this time……

“I live right here… Is something wrong?” A woman dressed as a housewife stood outside the cordon, looking bewildered.

Yuan then walked over and asked her, "May I ask which number you live in?"

"303, what... happened here?" The housewife asked anxiously, looking at the bloodstains in the corridor and the tape that circled a human figure.

"Ms. Kyoko Katsuragi from room 305 was just murdered in the corridor... Speaking of room 303, you must be Ms. Oyamada, right?" Gen looked her over more closely.

Judging from her clothes and the things she carried, she must have come back from the morning markets around Dongdu.

“Yes, how did you know?” Ms. Oyamada asked, even more uneasy.

“Mr. Oyamada Taichi, is he your younger brother? He was arrested because he was at the crime scene, had contact with the victim, and fled when the police arrived,” Gen replied.

"Ah! Taiichi... No way, he would never kill someone! He's very introverted and usually doesn't dare to talk to girls..." Oyamada quickly explained.

but……

This sounds more and more like a stalker story!
"Okay, okay, let's confirm a few things first, so it'll be easier to come to your house and talk about it then?" Yuan said after reassuring him.

……

After that, Gen confirmed a few things with Ms. Oyamada.

She did indeed have a call from Taichi Oyamada on her phone, and the time matched what he said: after a hangover, just before dawn, he wanted to come to his sister's place to rest for a while.

Furthermore, nothing unusual was found in Oyamada's room...

Then, the staff of the Mikasa Office also checked the other rooms.

The person who called the police was a woman living alone. She initially only heard arguing, so she called the police. Unfortunately, because the door was closed, she could only make out some indistinct sounds, and she could only make out that it was a man and a woman, and the man was also a young man... As for whether it was Oyamada himself, she could not confirm.

As for the other three rooms in this section, one was occupied by an elderly couple whose hearing was not very good, and the other two were empty.

"Looking at it this way, it's true... the one who was arrested, Yamada, is the most suspicious." Gen muttered to himself after leaving room 306.

“The premise is that the murderer really can’t escape…and isn’t here!” Teng said, and went into 305—the victim’s own room.

Hearing Fuji say that, the officers from Beika were a little nervous, but...

After searching high and low, they found that there was indeed no one hiding there!

Immediately, Teng went to the small balcony and looked down...

Seeing this, Gen and Yamada also came over and looked down to take a look.

"This height... the chief could definitely manage, but a normal person... cough cough, a normal person probably wouldn't jump down, right?" Yamada thought to himself.

Although it's the third floor, the height of the third floor shouldn't be underestimated because the first and second floors are street-facing shops with much higher ceilings than typical apartments.

"Yeah, it's not surprising he fell to his death. It was already daylight, and this side is right next to the street. It's impossible to crawl slowly. Even if he mustered up the courage to jump, he probably wouldn't have been able to escape, right?" Yuan nodded. We can't assume the criminal is the "chief," otherwise we can't investigate the case.

After gathering evidence, the suspicion against Oyamada only became more and more solid...

The only problem now is what I mentioned at the beginning... the murder weapon!
"It's still a bit strange, isn't it? If he really had time to hide the murder weapon, how come he was still next to the body when the patrol officers came up? And why did he panic and run away immediately..." Yuan was scratching his head at this point.

"Wait, Oyamada came up by elevator, right? So what was the time..." Fuji suddenly remembered what Oyamada had just said.

“It was much earlier than when the police were called! He said that as soon as he got out of the elevator, he saw the deceased covered in blood, but that testimony isn’t accurate… He took the elevator up around 4 a.m., much earlier than 306 called the police,” Yamada said at this point.

After a pause, Yamada added, "However, during Inspector Haitani's supplementary interrogation, he changed his statement, saying that after he came upstairs, he knocked on his sister's door, and because no one answered, he leaned against the door and fell asleep. When he woke up, he saw the deceased."

“It’s really suspicious… If what he said is true, then the murderer had an argument with the victim while there was someone sleeping in the corridor, killed her, and then left without knowing how?” Teng couldn’t help but say.

Based on the existing evidence, it can only be Oyamada.

Given his escape attempt and alteration of his statement, it's not surprising that he was sent to the prosecutor's office without a guilty plea!
“However, the department also did a breathalyzer test on him, and it was already 1.2 mg/mL... It’s normal that he’s not fully conscious.” Yuan explained on Oyamada’s behalf.

"It's almost noon, let's lift the blockade first," Yamada suggested after checking the time.

Yuan had no other choice at this point, so he could only nod and say, "Okay, remove the outer blockade, continue to blockade both sides of 306, and keep searching the surrounding area. We must find the murder weapon!"

Previously, one floor was sealed off, but now only the two ends of 306, including the location of the body, are cordoned off. Since there are stairs and elevators on both sides, it does not affect other residents' access.

"Huh? You're leaving? Did you catch the murderer?" Judy asked.

"Uh... we're still searching," Yamada said awkwardly.

"There's still no danger, right? Oh my god!" Judy said, and then began to use her charm to seduce Yamada.

"This..." Yamada was completely bewildered.

However, Fuji then astutely remarked, "Ms. Judy, you helped us arrest Oyamada before, but you don't seem to believe that he is the real culprit?"

indeed……

Gen and Yamada, reminded of this, immediately looked over as well.

Faced with such questioning, Judy, of course, was...

"I don't understand what you're saying, you guys hurry up and catch the murderer, he's really, really bad, he's dead, dead, dead, you guys." Judy demonstrated her ability to instantly regress in her East Island language skills.

Source, Yamada, Fuji:……

Judy, however, was thinking that if the officers still had no leads by tomorrow, she would try to give them a hint.

at this time……

"Dinner's served! Dinner's served!"

Little Kawai then carried up a large stack of bento boxes.

Upon seeing this, Yuan and the others quickly came over to take the lunchboxes. They were surprised when they saw them and exclaimed, "Hey? What's wrong with the people in the General Affairs Department today? They actually gave us field staff such luxurious lunchboxes?"

Kawai replied, "No, it was the director who made the decision; he ordered it from the restaurant downstairs."

"Director?" Yuan was taken aback when he heard this—although he knew that it wasn't the director who took the money, but rather that the director "made the decision," it was still a rare display of generosity from the director!

"Yes, when the chief left this morning, he specifically told me that he saw the bento shop downstairs serving tuna delivered directly from the freezer, so it must be very fresh. He told me to tell you to savor it carefully!" Kawai said very seriously—after all, he was repeating the chief's "order".

"Then I will truly appreciate it and savor it with gratitude." Yuan was still somewhat unaccustomed to the director's generosity today.

Judy's expression changed slightly, then she smiled and said, "Alright, since everyone is fine, I'll be going now... I'd like to explore the Eastern Capital properly."

After turning around, Judy's glasses reflected light—no wonder she's the legendary "Chief of the Mikado Bureau," it seems she understood the "scheme" from the beginning, but... she wanted to train her subordinates, so she didn't say it directly?

Since that was the case, Judy no longer cared about what was happening here—although the murder had occurred right at the door, it wasn't anything scary for Judy.

……

While Gen and Yamada were squatting downstairs eating, Fuji seemed to be lost in thought, somewhat absent-minded.

Suddenly, Fuji seemed to realize something and quickly asked Kawai, "Is the restaurant the chief booked the meal at? The second one to the east... the one downstairs from the crime scene?"

"Huh? That's right... Was that the place directly downstairs from the crime scene?" Kawai realized at that moment.

"Hmm? Fuji, did you find something?" Yuan asked, puzzled.

"All you ever think about is eating... Do you remember what the chief told Kawai to tell us?" Fuji rolled his eyes.

"The tuna... is indeed very fresh?" Yamada nodded in puzzlement.

"Ah! Yes..." Yuan realized at this moment.

"A chilled truck!" Teng blurted out.

“That’s right… a truck, and the kind with refrigerated containers in the back… it must be very tall, right?” Yuan then shoveled down a couple of mouthfuls of rice, hastily swallowed it, threw the lunchbox away, and wiped his mouth.

"You mean..." Yamada understood after being prompted.

A very tall truck, if parked in front of the store, would be parked directly below the crime scene!

If the car was tall enough, the killer could have easily gone back into the house and jumped off the balcony.

"But... isn't this too much of a coincidence?" Yamada wondered.

“These kinds of stalker murders are often crimes of passion. He probably ran to the balcony in a panic and just happened to see a truck parked below, at a height that was acceptable… Let’s go ask him where the truck is from. If he jumped onto the roof, there would be a lot of traces!” Yuan said confidently.

Seeing that Gen and Yamada had left in a hurry, Kawai was a little puzzled—usually at this time, Minister Fuji would have decisively "snatched the credit," so why was there no reaction now?

"Kawa, do you remember that free meal we dealt with this morning?" Fuji suddenly asked.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Kawai asked in return.

"That big eater... even though he was the only customer, he said the toilet was locked, right?" Fuji then looked in the direction of the barbecue restaurant.

(End of this chapter)