Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 493 The Murder Thirteen Years Later

Monday, October 6.

Shiraishi arrived at the police station early in the morning and noticed right at the entrance that the countdown timer for the rice cakes had reached zero.

Shiraishi wasn't too surprised by this, after all, they had already reached the astonishing number "five", and it was about time to go back to zero!
However, as Shiraishi and the hurried Gen passed each other in the corridor, Shiraishi noticed something that caught his attention, so he called out to him.

"Wait a minute... what's that in your hand?" Shiraishi called out to him.

"Hmm? This? It's a report from the murder scene... The section chief will report to you about the murder in a bit." Yuan was taken aback upon hearing this.

The police were only dispatched to the scene of the murder this morning, so Shiraishi was naturally unaware of it.

Although Shiraishi said that murder cases should be reported to him, he would only report them after the section chief had prepared the basic materials, not immediately upon the return of the detectives at the scene...

However, Shiraishi didn't have time to wait for Section Chief Munakata, so he directly took the printed "on-site photos" from his hand and flipped through them.

The photos show that many printed portraits were scattered on the floor and table at the crime scene—the very same composite photo that the Tokiwa Group had given to the Takigawa couple!

"The victims were the Takigawa couple?" Shiraishi asked, frowning.

"Takigawa? No... The victim's name is Saijo Masahiro. We are currently investigating the deceased's social relationships. Chief... do you know this person?" Minamoto explained, while also realizing that the chief must know the person in the picture.

“We don’t really know each other. Just search for news articles with the keywords ‘Takigawa’ and ‘Tokiwa Group’ and you’ll see.” Shiraishi told Gen about this.

Then Shiraishi added a special note: "I will personally attend the investigation meeting. It will be early this afternoon, once we have a good grasp of the deceased's social relationships."

“Yes!” Yuan replied.

As Shiraishi sat down in his office chair, he was still pondering this matter—first the "return of the deceased," and then the discovery of this photograph at the crime scene…

However, after picking up the documents to be processed, Shiraishi immediately adjusted his mindset, put the matter aside, and focused on his "stamping business".

……

Shiraishi had instructed the Criminal Investigation Division to notify him when the investigation meeting was held, but he didn't expect it to happen so quickly—Munakata called before lunch to ask if Shiraishi would attend.

After all, they were the "former residents" of his house, so Shiraishi naturally paid more attention to this matter.

Shiraishi personally attended the investigation meeting...

After Kuroki spoke, Shiraishi understood why this investigation meeting was convened so quickly!

Because the victim, "Masahiro Saijo," was a typical shut-in who rarely went out and whose neighbors had almost forgotten what he looked like, his social relationships were very simple, and there wasn't much room for investigation.

Shiraishi then saw a photo showing the entire crime scene—a man in pajamas, lying face down on the kotatsu table with a knife stuck in his back, and the "composite wedding photo" scattered all over the table and floor.

"The victim, Masahiro Saijo, 30 years old, unemployed, usually lived alone in the home of his recently deceased grandmother. The estimated time of death was between 1 pm and 7 pm yesterday. His mother, Saijo, discovered his body this morning when she came to his house. The deceased had serious mental health issues and almost no social life..."

Kuroki gave a brief introduction.

The fact that the deceased had simple social relationships can be both an advantage and a disadvantage in solving the case.

The advantage is that there are very few suspects. If it were someone that people hate, trying to investigate based on their motives would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, the current drawback is...

This is too little!
Both his mother's testimony and the results of the investigation showed that Masahiro Saijo rarely had contact with people, so it was impossible to identify any suspects.

Fortunately, we're not completely without clues—Shiraishi told Gen about the photo this morning…

These printed "death wedding photos" were scattered all over the crime scene, and the criminal police at the scene would naturally notice them.

I was initially considering listing her as a suspect, but...

"Regarding the printed photos scattered at the scene, the 'people' in them have been identified, just as the director said... those are not real photos, nor are they wedding photos, but rather photos of a deceased marriage, which can also be seen on the website." Yuan said, showing the special website.

Simply put, it's a tool for parents who have lost their children to find partners online for their lost children...

Regardless of whether this kind of "marriage pressure" is excessive anxiety, it is indeed "arranging blind dates for the dead"!

"Eh? A marriage ended in death? So this Ms. Tagikawa Mirai is actually already..." Kuroki frowned, realizing that the problem was not so simple.

“That’s right. This Takigawa Mirai was registered as dead six years ago. And it’s important to note that, to be precise, she wasn’t actually ‘dead,’ but rather she went missing thirteen years ago. Because she had been missing for seven years, she was presumed dead…” Gen emphasized at this point.

"Missing?" Shiraishi specifically asked him to elaborate.

“Thirteen years ago, eleven-year-old Mirai Takigawa disappeared on her way home from school. The Metropolitan Police Department officially opened a case at the time, but they only found her schoolbag in a garbage dump on her way home, and they were unable to find her.” Genta explained the disappearance case from thirteen years ago.

"Eleven years old? Then this photo is..." the narcissist wondered.

"Oh, this is a composite image created by Tokiwa Group based on photos of Takigawa as a child. It seems to be a future appearance prediction software they haven't officially launched yet... There was some news about Takigawa's parents seeking help from Tokiwa Group." Yuan said, showing the news images on the projector.

"Have you found out who printed these photos of the crime scene?" Shiraishi asked at this point.

It's likely that either the item was already at the crime scene, belonging to Masahiro Saijo, or... the murderer brought it there!
"It has been confirmed that the printout was made by the printer in the deceased's room, and the fingerprints on it are indeed those of the deceased," Kuroki confirmed.

"So...the deceased printed these photos himself before he died?" The narcissist's tone was strange. "Was it some kind of unusual fetish?"

You can find this photo on that website, but...

That's for the deceased to find a partner!

Looking for "materials" on this is terrifying!
“It’s also possible… that the case is related to the Tagikawa family?” Amagi looked at Gen inquiringly.

Previously, it was Gen who went to investigate the "Takitawa family" line, but...

"The address the Tagikawa family left at the town hall is currently unoccupied. They must have moved out more than a week ago and haven't registered it at the town hall since. We're still looking for them," Gen said somewhat awkwardly.

The Takigawa couple haven't been found yet! After all, all they've found so far is "a picture that can be found online" at the crime scene. Although this picture is a "composite photo" of their daughter, it doesn't prove anything, and it's impossible to issue an arrest warrant for them because of it. They're just relying on Yuan to follow his connections, so the efficiency is naturally limited.

"Hmm? They don't have any relatives or friends...and they don't have jobs either?" the narcissist asked curiously.

"For several years after her daughter went missing, Mrs. Tagikawa searched everywhere for her, abandoned her descendants, and became very withdrawn. Mr. Tagikawa also recently resigned from his job, and the couple have few close relatives or friends," Yuan explained.

However, to everyone's surprise, Director Shiraishi spoke up at this moment...

"By the way, the address registered to the Tagikawa family is the same as the house I just bought. I'll give you the real estate agent's contact information later, so you can ask them if they know where the Tagikawa family has moved to," Shiraishi said directly.

"Eh?"

"The director bought a house?"

"I haven't congratulated you yet."

"That house is..." Yuan looked at Baishi in surprise—he had looked into it and knew that the villa was special.

"Well, there's one more thing, you might want to look into it too." Shiraishi said, explaining the special features of his "new house" and... what he had heard from his new neighbors the day before yesterday.

Suddenly, everyone felt a chill in the office...

The case involving Amagi Makoto happened two years ago; Kuroki, Gen, and Yamada all still remember it, and...

Upon hearing "a woman who looks exactly like the photo," people naturally think of things like "devil rituals" and "resurrection of the dead" that Amagi Makoto did before his death!

The way everyone was looking at the director now was a bit strange—the director was really lucky; if it were them, they wouldn't dare to take this "bargain."

Amagi was the first to snap out of his bizarre "resurrection of the dead" thought and said, "So, this Takitawa Mirai... might not have died at all? If that's the case, we have to investigate what the Takitawa family's relationship is with Saijo Masahiro."

“Okay, we’ll go to various real estate agencies this afternoon to check.” Yuan nodded.

“Although it’s not certain whether there’s a connection, let’s investigate the disappearance case from thirteen years ago. There should still be a record at headquarters,” Tian Shu said.

After hearing that the little girl had disappeared when she was in elementary school, Amagi probably thought of his own daughter.

Since the disappearance did not occur in Beika Town, we need to go to the headquarters to find information.

To encourage everyone, Shiraishi said before the meeting ended, "This is related to the feng shui of my new house, so you all need to work hard."

“Of course… but Chief, this is just one of the ‘ghost stories’ about that house, isn’t it?” Yuan muttered the last part of his sentence.

However, he still got glared at by Shiraishi.

……

While it's still uncertain whether this murder is truly related to the Tagikawa family, the victim's social connections are too simple, and there are few further clues. Therefore, we can only hope for a breakthrough from the Tagikawa family...

The afternoon passed, and before Shiraishi got off work, the case made progress. At five o'clock, another search meeting was held.

It's still Munakata in charge!

Although when he joined the company, he was told that "childcare is the priority," but without realizing it, Munakata had gotten used to his daughter "playing" with the Junior Detective League—after all, Kotomi hadn't been traumatized by the "death mask" incident, and she had gotten used to it.

"I heard there's been a breakthrough in the case?" Shiraishi asked as soon as he entered the conference room.

"The case is still quite confusing... but we've found the Tagikawa family!" Gen said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Two bites or three bites?" Shiraishi asked directly—clearly, Shiraishi wanted to know what was going on with that "woman who looks just like the photo of the dead."

“A family of three… However, regarding that young lady, their explanation is that she is ‘my future cousin, Yaoxiang,’ who has just arrived in Dongdu and is temporarily living with my uncle and aunt,” Yuan replied.

"Their explanation?" Zongfang noticed Yuan's choice of words.

Yuan said awkwardly, "Well, actually... I don't completely believe it either, but if we question that lady carefully, she will start complaining about the disappearance case thirteen years ago. In the current situation... it is indeed difficult for us to speak."

Given the current situation, it's hard to say whether they have any connection to the murder case. At this point, the Tagikawa family brought up old grievances and expressed their unwillingness to discuss their daughter's affairs, making it impossible for Gen to continue the conversation.

"Do you have an alibi?" Zongfang asked.

“Yes…they vouch for each other,” Yuan said awkwardly.

A family of three providing each other's alibis is basically worthless!
Tian Shu glanced at Zilian, who was still looking smug, and then raised his hand to say, "We have discovered some things about the disappearance case from thirteen years ago."

Upon hearing this, Yuan immediately looked over. He had been rendered speechless by that "Yaoxiang" earlier that day—"You can't find my cousin, so why are you asking so many questions here? You should be kicked out!"

"What else has been discovered in the missing persons case?" Kuroki asked in surprise.

Those were cases from thirteen years ago...

The case couldn't be solved back then, how come there's a new discovery now?

"Yes, after re-examining the trajectory of Mirai on the day she disappeared, we discovered... that Mirai Tagikawa and Masahiro Saijo, who was murdered yesterday, actually had some connection." Amagi's words sent a shockwave through everyone.

If simply "printing that composite photo" is not enough to prove that the Tagikawa family is related to the murder case, then adding the intersection mentioned by Amagi makes it hard to call it a coincidence!

"What happened?" Zong Fang immediately asked.

“We reinvestigated the disappearance of Mirai according to the case file and found that Mirai, who was in fourth grade, was also learning piano at a music school in addition to attending school. Mirai’s piano teacher also had another student... who was Masahiro Saijo, who was in high school at the time.” Amagi said this in a shocking way.

"What? Such a thing actually happened? What are the people at headquarters doing..." Zongfang frowned as he spoke, probably cursing the police officers at the time for being irresponsible.

However, upon seeing this, Tian Shu explained for them: "No, it's not that you were not aware at the time, because there was no piano lesson on the day Future disappeared. Future's piano lessons are every Monday and Wednesday, and the day she disappeared was Thursday. Theoretically, she shouldn't have gone to the music store that day."

(End of this chapter)