Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 498 Helper
Shirakawa Haruyoshi looked at the two high school students speaking with Osaka accents with a strange look in his eyes—he had initially thought they were young detectives, but now, listening to their conversation… it all seemed rather mysterious.
“After all, it was a dream. When you’re in a dream, it’s not so easy to distinguish between a first-person perspective and a third-person perspective,” Shiraishi explained.

Shirakawa:......

Hearing Shiraishi say this, Shirakawa was even more confused—why does this mean we have to consider even dreams?
Seeing that Shirakawa knew nothing more, Shiraishi took his leave.

Shirakawa personally escorted the three of them out...

After getting into the car, Hattori, sitting in the passenger seat, asked Shiraishi, "Taiyo... Chief Shiraishi, is there anyone named Taiyo among those involved in the case?"

“It’s not in the case file, but… speaking of the ‘sun,’ there was indeed a strange piece of evidence at the scene that was related to the ‘sun.’” Shiraishi’s tone was also puzzled at this point.

Because Shirakawa was present, and because if they continued talking, Shirakawa would think they were crazy, Shiraishi didn't say much.

"What evidence?" Hattori asked hastily.

"Actually... at the time, the police were not sure what kind of evidence it was. It was found about ten meters away from the body, near the baseboard, and it didn't look like something belonging to the victim. It might have just been dropped there by someone else. They only kept it because there were no clues."

As Shiraishi spoke, he placed his phone between the driver and passenger seats while the light was red. Hattori, seeing this, picked up his tablet and saw the photos displayed on it.

"This is..." Hattori was also full of questions: "The Winged Dragon of Ra?"

Yoshioka: ? ? ?
Upon hearing this, Yoshioka curiously peeked over from behind, only to discover...

The tablet displays a picture of a "card"—the Winged Dragon of Apollo, the sun god.

The incident occurred in 2000, right when the card was popular; it featured a golden "monster."

If we're talking about things related to the "sun" in the files, this is the only one Shiraishi can think of.

"The sun...is this it? No, no, no, that's too strange, isn't it? It couldn't have died in a dark duel, could it..." Hattori knew about this anime and joined in the吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical comments).

Indeed, Shiraishi thought about it, and the only scenario that would make someone shout "Sun!" because of this card was a starfish head, who slammed the card onto the Duel Disk and yelled, "Descend, Winged Dragon of Ra!"

It's really strange no matter how you look at it!
"And what I heard was 'sun,' 'sun' being shouted over and over again..." Yoshioka corrected sheepishly.

“As expected, ‘name’ is the most likely explanation, right? If it’s not at the scene, then it’s more likely to be the guy who escaped back then… Let’s go find that old lady and ask her if there was anyone named ‘Sun’ near the deceased!” Hattori speculated at this moment.

“We should indeed ask, but… it’s ‘you,’ not ‘us,’” Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

"Huh? Aren't you going?" Hattori was taken aback—he had thought that Shiraishi would be eager to know the truth.

“Do you know how busy the chief is? I’ll find two detectives to go with you later… um, I’ll find you another helper too. But you should know that the case is in Beika Town. It’s fine if you go to the Sekida family to find out about the case from Mrs. Sekida, but if you want to go to the crime scene to investigate, my men can only ‘assist’ at most. The chief of Beika and I don’t get along.” Shiraishi emphasized this point.

"I know, as long as we can find the case files from back then, we don't need the Beika Police Department's help," Hattori said casually.

He probably thought that since he was in Osaka, he didn't realize that when Shiraishi said "we don't get along," he meant the kind of person who could "cause trouble," rather than simply someone who wouldn't help.

In Osaka Prefecture, Hattori, as the eldest son of the Osaka Prefectural Police, usually gets preferential treatment from the police, even if they don't outwardly offer much help. But in Tokyo... the police are not so easy to deal with!

Therefore, Shiraishi still helped him find two subordinates to follow him...

Back at the police station, Shiraishi called Suzuki and Maki over and asked them to assist Hattori—mainly with coordinating official procedures and processes, and also…

Although Hattori said he didn't need it, Shiraishi still found him a "helper".

"Hey, this is Shiraishi... No, no, no, Hakuba-kun, how could you think of me like that? Does my calling you mean I'm taking the blame?" Shiraishi said seriously.

Bai Ma has also grown up, and he saw through Bai Shi's purpose in one sentence!
"Oh? Is there anything else that would make Chief Shiraishi contact me?" Hakuba said somewhat sarcastically.

"Of course there are 'interesting cases'! Have you ever heard of reincarnation? A murder case from seventeen years ago, is that big enough?" Shiraishi said frankly.

After a moment of silence, Hakuba said, "I guess... it's not a case from the Mikasa Police Department."

Based on Hakuba's understanding of Shiraishi, if it were Mika's own case, he would not "let it go" to him. He would either personally supervise the case and solve it as soon as possible, or train his subordinates.

"Yes, it happened in Beika Town... but the victims are Beika people!" Shiraishi said sternly.

White Horse: ...

What good is it if the victim is a Mikasa person?

You really think Beika has extraterritorial rights? You're the Beika Police Station, not the Beika Embassy...

“Alright, then there’s nothing I can do.” Shiraishi said helplessly, “I didn’t want to get involved either, but the son of the head of the Osaka Prefecture Hattori Department came and said that he was the number one high school detective in the East Island. He said that he would solve cases that the people of Tokyo couldn’t solve and catch murderers that the detectives of Kanto couldn’t catch… Well, let’s leave it at that.”

White Horse: ...

"I'll contact Detective Suzuki after the second period this afternoon," Hakuba said helplessly.

Since Shiraishi has already said that, Hakuba can't just keep "playing dead," can he?

With the "Heiji Hattori + Saguru Hakuba" combination, Shiraishi felt that even investigating cases in Beido Town would be no problem.

After all, Yan Tu Haici was still quite "ambitious"...

Even if he and Hakuba are not on the same side in higher-level relationships, it doesn't change the fact that Hakuba is his superior's superior and directly controls his promotion path, not to mention Hattori Heizo!
Although most people in eastern Japan would consider the Metropolitan Police Department to be the most elite police headquarters in each region, most people in Osaka Prefecture would want to compare, as it is also the representative of the Kansai Police Headquarters.

The positions of "Chief of Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters" and "Superintendent General of the Metropolitan Police Department" are often two separate promotion paths...

Localism is also prevalent within the police force. Historically, 90% of the Metropolitan Police Department's commissioners are from the Kanto region, and most of them are from Tokyo. Meanwhile, 70% of the Osaka Prefectural Police's chiefs are from the Kansai region. Even if someone from the Kanto region holds a position, they must have extensive experience in overseeing operations in the Kansai region.

In addition, as a "superintendent of police", the Osaka Prefectural Police Chief may never be promoted to the highest "superintendent of police" in his lifetime, since senior officers of the Osaka Prefectural Police are usually not transferred to the Metropolitan Police Department. However, unlike the "superintendent of police", who retires upon leaving office, most "Osaka Prefectural Police Chiefs" are younger than the "superintendents of police" of the same period, and are often transferred to the "National Police Agency" afterward.

He'll be guaranteed at least a ministerial position, and it's not impossible for him to become the Commissioner of Police.

Yan Tu Haici, who is always striving for excellence, would never do something that would offend both Director Hakuba and Head of Department Hattori at the same time... Shiraishi also specifically instructed Suzuki and Maki that they were only responsible for communicating with the public. If the Beika Police Station had any objections, they only needed to give a simple explanation, insisting that it was "to see if the high school students from Osaka were intentionally harassing the victim's family." If they didn't believe him, they could go and communicate with Hattori and Hakuba. If that didn't work, they could contact Shiraishi.

In this way, when it is necessary to "gain people's trust", there are detectives from the Beika Police Station, so that the two high school students are not untrustworthy. If the Beika Police Station has any opinions, they can also go to the "two high school students" to talk to them.

Since he had already fallen out with Yan Tu, Bai Shi didn't bother to give him any advance notice.

However, the day after tomorrow is the 15th, which is the day of the Director's meeting. Yan Tu may bring up this matter then. It would be best to achieve a breakthrough in these two days!

When the Beika Police Station finally uncovers the truth behind the 17-year-old cold case in Beika Town, Yan Tu Haici will have no choice but to swallow his pride.

As for the concept of "reincarnation," Shiraishi was also interested, but...

The director has been neglecting his work too much lately!
Although I'm interested, my "real job" is more important.

While Shiraishi was engrossed in his work, Suzuki and Maki, along with their two fathers, first visited Mrs. Sekida. As for Yoshioka himself, Hattori first told him to go back to the hotel where the Kaifang Kendo Team was staying to rest.

On the one hand, his condition was really bad, and he was already somewhat delirious. On the other hand, it was also because Guan Tian might still be angry about their previous claims of reincarnation.

dong dong dong-

Suzuki, who rarely looks kind during criminal investigations, went up and knocked on the door.

"Hmm? You're from the Mikasa Police Station..." Mrs. Sekita still remembered Maki Takashi behind her.

However, upon seeing the dark-skinned boy further behind, he immediately glared at him coldly.

"Mrs. Sekita, may I ask you some questions about the case?" Suzuki asked awkwardly.

"Of course! Chief Mikasa, do you want to reopen the investigation?" Sekida's eyes lit up with anticipation upon hearing this.

However, Suzuki had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "No, it's just... we have a few clues to verify, and the case didn't actually happen in the Beika Police Station's jurisdiction."

“A new clue? Could it be…” Sekita frowned and looked at the Osaka black boy behind him.

Seeing this, Maki Taka quickly explained, "Mrs. Sekita, although what he said before was a bit exaggerated, it did provide some new clues. In fact... we found the person who was at the crime scene and heard the sound!"

Suzuki and Maki didn't dare to say that it was actually "Yoshioka-kun who dreamed about it."

On the way, Suzuki, Maki, and Hakuba were speechless after listening to Hattori's explanation of the case. They felt like they had so much to say but no idea where to begin—"reincarnation" and all that was just ridiculous!

If Hattori hadn't later mentioned that Chief Inspector Shiraishi had found some internal case file details that weren't publicly available, and that all matched up, they probably would have thought this trip was just a joke to Hattori...

Upon hearing that there was a new witness, Guan Tian immediately welcomed everyone in.

The Sekita couple had no children. After her husband passed away seventeen years ago, Mrs. Sekita lived alone and refused to move out of the house she shared with her husband, even though it now appears somewhat empty.

Seeing that Mrs. Sekita was about to pour more tea, Suzuki quickly said, "No need to trouble yourself... we were just asking."

"Let me help you." Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Mu Gao offered to help as well.

After the tea was poured and everyone sat around the tea table, Hattori eagerly inquired about the "sun," but...

"The sun?" Mrs. Guantian fell into thought, but after a moment she shook her head and said, "No, I have never heard of it. My husband has no relatives or friends with that name, and he has never mentioned it."

First of all, we can confirm that this is not a surname. If it were a given name, people would call each other by their given name, and it would be someone close to them.

"What if it's not a name? Anything else is fine," Hattori pressed further.

Upon hearing this, Guan Tian shook his head, unable to recall anything related.

Perhaps Hattori was being too enthusiastic, because Sekita sensed something and finally couldn't help but ask, "You guys... don't really believe in reincarnation or anything like that, do you?"

"Well... of course not." Hattori was also embarrassed upon hearing this.

Although the on-site verification proved that Yoshioka really remembered some things at the murder scene, it's still not appropriate to directly tell others about reincarnation or anything like that.

"After your husband passed away, you didn't participate in any projects related to organ donation, did you?" Bai Ma asked again.

Some legends say that transplanting vital organs such as the heart can give people extra memories or even change their personality.

Of course, the more scientific explanation at present is that these are normal physiological changes in the body that affect the mind.

However, Yoshioka doesn't actually fall into this category!
"No, the murder case hasn't been solved, how could I donate my body?" Mrs. Guantian said with a hint of resentment.

In order to assist in solving the case, the forensic doctor also conducted a thorough autopsy on Guan Tian's body, but there was no progress.

“Although I don’t believe in reincarnation or anything like that, I think Yoshioka’s memories are real!” Hattori assured Sekita at this moment.

Mrs. Sekita remained noncommittal upon hearing this.

They didn't get any useful clues from Mrs. Sekita, but Hattori and Hakuba certainly didn't give up.

"Are we going to the crime scene next?" Suzuki asked hesitantly.

After all, that was in Beika Town, and Beika Chief was, in a sense, his own superior. If Shiraishi dared to ignore Yan Tu Haici, other detectives wouldn't.

“No, let’s look at the case file now… For a case from seventeen years ago, the information that can be gleaned from the scene won’t be more than what’s in the case file,” Bai Ma suggested.

The case file was readily available; Shiraishi had obtained it from the main store and naturally handed it over to Suzuki. Suzuki understood the chief's intentions and, with a heavy heart, gave this information—which theoretically couldn't be leaked—to the two high school detectives...

(End of this chapter)