Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 489 Why play with models if you're afraid of dying!
Outside the Poirot Apartments, Kikuji Bancho stood on the wall of the unfinished building next door, just within reach of the second-floor window of the apartment.

At that moment, Bancho was under the window of room number five, pouring chloroform he had obtained from the grey channels into the window crack.

The original plan was to drug everyone inside, and then "play tricks" to completely confirm that the apartment was haunted—if even Chief Mikasa could be scared, who would dare to disagree?

Then, just as he had poured out a tiny bit...

click-

Suddenly, the fog-shrouded window went black, then was abruptly pulled open, revealing a huge white stone lying across it...

"What are you doing?" Shiraishi asked, glancing down at him.

Chloroform is colorless, but it is not odorless!
Although it was very faint, Shiraishi's sense of smell immediately detected this subtle sweetness.

"I... um..." Banmachi was covered in sweat, and was just about to make up an excuse when...

Bai Shi snatched the mineral water bottle from his hand and grabbed his head with his other hand, dragging him through the window into the house!
"Ah! This is..." Sonoko was startled and didn't understand what was happening.

"Fanmachi? What's going on?" Old Man Otonashi was also puzzled.

Bai Shi then placed the hand holding the mineral water bottle by the window to ensure ventilation, and asked, "Question: What is a colorless, transparent liquid with a special odor, a sweet taste, a high refractive index, that is non-flammable, denser than water, volatile, and oxidizes to produce phosgene under light?"

Sonoko silently turned her head away, while Mayoi muttered, "What are they mumbling about?"

At that moment, Ran and Ayano both spoke up...

Chloroform!
"Chloroform..."

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi nodded and said, "That's right, that's it... So, Mr. Banmachi, could you explain why you're pouring this out in front of the window?"

"I...I'm sorry...Actually, I was...yes, I was just pretending to be a ghost...After all, the rent is really too expensive...Hehehe..." Banmachi had already come up with a reason.

After all, having been caught poisoning someone by Chief Mikasa, it was impossible to get away with it.

That being the case...

Bancho decides to admit that he was responsible for the ghosting. Anyway, he's not wanted by the police, which is better than the real reason being discovered!
"The rent here is expensive?" Yin Wu looked at him strangely—before the apartment was haunted, the rent wasn't high.

Shiraishi sneered, "Still won't admit it? But whatever... Let's get started."

The second half of Shiraishi's sentence was spoken into his phone.

The next moment, the sounds of engines and brakes came from outside... or more precisely, next door. Bancho's face turned pale.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Sonoko was still confused.

“Of course we’re going to catch ‘ghosts’,” Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

“A ghost? Could it be…” Of course, Otonashi still remembered that the first time he saw the so-called “ghost fire” was in the unfinished building next door.

“That’s right. The person you saw at the beginning should be this accomplice of Bancho, who is... the scarred man who was wanted back then!” Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

Four years ago, in the case of the charred body of a woman, the police had already found eyewitness testimonies and reconstructed the appearance of one of the victims, and issued a warrant for their arrest...

Shiraishi estimated that the one hiding in the abandoned building was the wanted one, and as for the charlatan, he was naturally another accomplice!

"What? Wanted? Could it be..." Xiaolan realized something at this moment.

"That's right, Mr. Bancho, you must be one of the murderers who killed that woman back then, right? You guys are really bold... The most dangerous place is the safest place? Or is it to get firsthand information about the case? You actually stayed in an abandoned building not far from the crime scene..."

"The reason you're putting on this show in this apartment is because Mr. Otonashi saw the photos of your accomplice's life that day and was worried that the people here would eventually discover that someone is hiding in the building across the street, right?" Shiraishi then began to explain.

Shiraishi had suspected him from the start, but because Bancho wasn't there at the time, Shiraishi was afraid that if he alerted Bancho, Bancho would escape. After all, Shiraishi was just the chief of the Beika Police Station. While the officers of the Beika Police Station were outside Beika Town, it wasn't that they had no law enforcement power, but it was still inconvenient for them. So Shiraishi didn't think about searching for him and just pretended not to suspect anything and waited for him to return.

However, Shiraishi had already contacted the police station and arranged for manpower to surround the unfinished building as soon as he gave the order, to prevent the scarred man from escaping...

"When...when did you find out?" Bancho asked, his face pale.

"When? It must have been when you noticed I looked guilty and became suspicious, right? More importantly, those things you collected in room number three..." Shiraishi said, shaking his head.

"Just because of that terrifying doll? I clearly never used that!" Banmachi said angrily.

Yes, Bancho did use his dolls to "play tricks," but the dolls in Room 3 were never used; they were just there to deceive people.

The truly valuable evidence is all kept carefully hidden in my room...

If that's why "Chief Beika" suspects him, Banmachi is very indignant—"Is your reasoning really that bad? How could you get it right like that? I'm really not convinced!"

However, Shiraishi shook his head and said, "No, the point isn't that scary doll, but the other model kits..."

Bancho was taken aback when he heard this, and everyone else looked over as well—they had all seen those things before and didn't find anything strange about them.

"Is there something wrong with those Transformers?" Maya asked, tilting her head.

"Putting aside what it is... you just did a basic assembly, sprayed some matte finish, and put it out, right? You didn't even do any seams, and you still say you work at a model shop?" Shiraishi retorted.

"I……"

While Bancho was speechless, Shiraishi continued, "And I smelled it... Actually, the matte varnish you're using is water-based, isn't it? You don't even dare to use oil-based paint. You're so afraid of death, yet you call yourself a professional?"

Bancho:……

With both pieces of evidence corroborated, Shiraishi was basically certain that Bancho was an accomplice of the one hiding "next door"!

Sure enough, not long after, Yuan brought the scarred man out...

All exits were blocked, and every corner was thoroughly searched; he had no way to escape.

Incidentally, Shiraishi then asked, "You're not from Beika Town, are you? Why are you here killing someone?" "I... I'm not from Beika Town, and I didn't intend to kill her... Damn it!" Bancho knew he couldn't escape now.

Shiraishi nodded upon hearing this—if they were Beika people, they would have already killed their accomplices and run away, why would they be playing the victim here?

Soon, the two suspects were taken back to the station by officers from the Mihua Police Station.

Shiraishi also spoke with the remaining three residents in the apartment, urging them to trust science and report any unusual occurrences to the Mikasa Police Station as soon as possible!
After going out...

"I'll take you home afterwards... Ujigen-kun, where do you live now?" Shiraishi asked.

Bai Shi remembered that Shi Yuan's hometown was not Dongdu.

"Come stay at my place tonight, I can copy... cough cough, help you with your homework," Sonoko said matter-of-factly.

Ujigen's life in Tokyo was arranged by the Suzuki family. Of course, she had a place to stay, but Sonoko often invited her to stay at her villa. After all, Sonoko usually lived alone, and the villa was full of servants, so there was not much to talk about and it was not very interesting.

This saved Shiraishi some trouble. He first sent Ran back to the Mouri Detective Agency, then went to Sonoko's house to drop off Sonoko and Ayano, and finally took Mayoi home with him.

"By the way, Brother Shiraishi, what is a pervert?" Mayoi asked Shiraishi after they were alone in the car.

Shiraishi:? ? ?
"Mayoi, who told you all this?" Chihiro floated out helplessly and asked Mayoi with a sigh.

How come you've learned so quickly after only a few days of school? What have you been learning?
“Everyone’s talking about it… saying that the Mika Police Station caught a pervert, or some big shot.” ​​Mayoi said matter-of-factly, and explained, “But when I asked, everyone seemed embarrassed and wouldn’t answer me.”

Upon hearing this, Chihiro frowned and asked, "Everyone knows?" She then turned to Shiraishi and asked, "Chief Shiraishi, has this matter... been on the news?"

"There shouldn't be any, at least not before I left work, otherwise the General Affairs Department would have reported to me." Shiraishi had specifically instructed that any news reports about the Beika Agency, or any online information with a significant number of clicks or influence, should be reported to him immediately.

Shiraishi then wondered, "It is indeed strange. In this kind of case... neither side should want to face each other in the public eye before the final step, right?"

Shiraishi is a veteran of dealing with violent organizations. In terms of sex-related crimes, from minor acts of molestation and harassment by members of violent organizations to large-scale forced prostitution, Shiraishi has cracked down on countless cases.

During my year in Beika Town, my experience with conspiracy murder cases improved dramatically...

However, Shiraishi does lack experience with minor cases like "bizarre behavior," which mostly don't end up in court!

Chihiro, on the other hand, has seen a lot more...

[This suggests that a third party might be trying to profit from this, or... perhaps one of the parties isn't as reluctant to go public as one might think.] Chihiro's tone clearly indicated that she was already used to it.

“The possibility of a third party is not small. That executive director, Mikan, was not popular in the Imperial Capital Trading Company to begin with, and it is said that he colluded with other directors to sideline the young new president.” Shiraishi also knew something about the case.

This executive director, Mien-kwan, is very "old-fashioned" and belongs to the type of person who enjoys the privileges of being in a position of authority. He has extremely poor interpersonal relationships among the grassroots employees.

Although Shiraishi didn't say it outright, he strongly suspected that it was the new president's faction at Teito Trading who was taking advantage of the situation to kick him while he was down!
……

At this point, Shiraishi had no idea what exactly happened. After all, he had only "inquired about" the matter and didn't know much about it, especially regarding the case itself, which he knew absolutely nothing about.

but……

The day after the haunted house visit, on June 7th...

Good news came from the criminal investigation department—Mian Guan had already "turned in".

After Kobe and Maki Takashi persuaded them with reason and emotion, Watanuki's driver and administrative secretary were finally turned and provided their work records showing that Director Watanuki "did not take the official car" and "attended the meeting at the time of the meeting"!

Based on mutual corroboration, it can be basically confirmed that Mian Guan's so-called alibi is completely fabricated.

With this compelling evidence, Kobe and Maki went directly to the Imperial Capital Trading Company to block its doors...

At first, Ikuma tried to refuse to cooperate with the summons and publicly announced that he would complain about the Mikasa Police Department's wrongdoing.

However, after the driver and secretary turned against him, not only was Mian Guan stunned, but Ikura also dared not say anything more. Instead, he quietly advised Mian Guan to cooperate with the police.

"Driver and secretary... or administrative secretary? So how did this Mian Guan end up in such a high position?" Shiraishi couldn't help but purse his lips after seeing the report.

These should all be the most trusted confidants who shouldn't be swayed...

If people in both of these positions can betray us, what kind of idiot is Mian Guan?
"After all, he's getting old. His original driver and secretary have retired one after another in recent years. He is also unabashedly harsh on the new people he hires. It is said that his driver worked for him for three years, but he couldn't even remember the driver's name."

Ash Valley, who had delivered the report, also spoke with disdain.

It seems that Mian Guan's betrayal by his subordinates was both accidental and inevitable!
"Did the driver and secretary 'voluntarily' correct their testimonies?" Shiraishi asked with some concern.

"Don't worry, that young lady wasn't given the opportunity to use the money." Haiya knew, of course, what Director Shiraishi was worried about.

"By the way, regarding the victim... what are the results of the investigation into Ms. Asakura? Who is her fiancé?" Shiraishi suddenly asked.

"Huh? This... we haven't even investigated that far yet, and you've already confirmed Mian Guan's criminal activities." Haiya was taken aback, seemingly not understanding Shiraishi's meaning.

We can't possibly need to worry about this much, can we?
"Let's ask about it later. I feel... something's a bit strange," Shiraishi said.

"Yes." Although Ash Valley didn't understand why, he still agreed.

After Haiya left, Shiraishi thought for a moment and then called Yuto.

"Hey, could you please come to the station this afternoon? We need you to verify a suspect's phone and other internet accounts." Shiraishi called the "technical advisor."

Sure enough, in the afternoon, Ashiya came to Shiraishi's office again, acting mysteriously and even somewhat guilty.

"Chief... something seems wrong. We investigated Miss Asakura's social circle and found that... none of her relatives or friends knew she had a fiancé." Ashiya had a bad feeling.

Asakura came to Tokyo from his rural hometown and was usually quite aloof. It was rather strange that someone kept calling him "fiancé," as neither his family in the countryside nor his few friends in Tokyo had ever heard of him before...

Shiraishi comforted him, saying, "Regardless, we did catch him in the act this time, and he 'coincidentally' didn't have an alibi for the dates Asakura gave, so we probably didn't arrest the wrong person..."

(End of this chapter)