Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 502 Another New Demon Joins the Ascension Staircase in Beika Town
Mrs. Sekita was also arrested by the Beika Police Department for stabbing "Yoshioka Tsubasa".

However, considering his surrender, the Yoshioka family's forgiveness, the fact that no major consequences occurred, and his status as a "family member of the victim in a 17-year-old cold case" which is inconvenient to disclose, the prosecution decided not to prosecute for the time being.

On the other hand, the Yoshioka family also decided to take this opportunity to correct the family registration of "Taiyo" and cancel the family registration of the real "Tsubasa"...

The practice of disposing of corpses privately should also be examined.

In addition...

Hattori, who hadn't slept all night while investigating the case, eventually fell asleep on the train and missed the kendo match, for which he was scolded by Kazuha, needless to say.

Having learned about Mrs. Sekita's situation, Ayari Chihiro also introduced this "job" to her younger sister...

Shiraishi doesn't know how Mayoi ultimately gained Mrs. Sekita's trust, but she did briefly "awaken" Sekita's spirit, bid a final farewell to Mrs. Sekita, and resolved Mrs. Sekita's long-standing inner conflict.

The price was that Mayoi was so upset she had to take two days off—the backlash from a "spiritual medium's" abilities, even if seen by ordinary people, is relatively minor, but the problem is...

"Spiritual mediums" use their abilities primarily "to make people believe," so although the backlash is small, they almost always suffer some backlash each time.

This is one of the reasons why the abilities of spiritual mediums must be used with caution.

……

Over the weekend, Baishi looked at several inexpensive renovation teams and chose a plan that required the fewest changes.

To thank Ayako for staying by his side, Shiraishi originally wanted to treat her to beef rice...

"Sorry, I have a restaurant I want to eat at today, and I've already made a reservation." Ayako acted first and asked Shiraishi for permission beforehand, then pulled her to the restaurant she had booked.

After seeing the villa-style private kitchen restaurant, Shiraishi gave up on paying.

After getting off the bus, Shiraishi couldn't help but glance at the backs of a couple walking out...

"Do not make jokes."

"I'm not kidding, you only have one option left: marry me, right?"

"I already have a fiancé, how could I possibly marry you..."

"Madam, you don't want to put everyone in a difficult position, do you?"

……

"Ahem, are you two having any difficulties?" Bai Shi sensed that the man was being rather unreasonable, so he took two steps closer and coughed.

The two turned their heads at the sound, and then... they were both startled.

The man, who had initially intended to reprimand her for "meddling," immediately restrained herself.

"Uh...is this...Chief Mika?" The man seemed a bit glib.

“We’re not having any problems!” the woman said, and quickly walked away.

Seeing this, the man quickly followed.

Although the woman seemed somewhat disgusted, she didn't raise any objections at this point...

Bai Shi frowned upon seeing this. Why did the woman look more guilty?
"What's wrong?" Ayako asked, catching up with him in confusion.

"No, the atmosphere feels weird, like..." Shiraishi muttered to himself: "It feels like there's a cow!"
However, judging from the woman's reaction, it didn't seem like something the police could get involved in; being "arrogant" wasn't illegal.

Instead, Ayako glanced at the departing figures of the two a few more times, seemingly wondering about something...

"Hmm? Is it someone you know?" Shiraishi asked curiously upon seeing this.

"I feel like I've seen that woman somewhere before... Oh well, we're not that close anyway." Ayako didn't think much of it.

After all, she has met too many people, and perhaps only at a banquet, so it's impossible for her to remember them all.

……

On Monday morning, Shiraishi went for a morning run to work, and on his run, he walked through several "popular spots" in Beika Town, which was a kind of deterrent.

but……

The deterrent effect has failed today.

Right on the west side of Mihana Bridge, at the foot of the long steps along the embankment of the Tsutsumi River, Shiraishi saw a figure lying on the ground!
That's right, it's the long staircase where multiple conflicts resulted in people falling to their deaths and bodies being dumped.

Originally, nothing had happened at the "Mount Ascension Stairs of Beika Town" for a while, and Shiraishi had only glanced at it when he passed by. But this time, he actually made a discovery.

Upon seeing this, Shiraishi quickly ran down.

"Hey, are you alright, sir?" Shiraishi checked on the man, trying to minimize physical contact.

Unsurprisingly, it's already completely cooled down.

"Huh?" After seeing his face, Shiraishi suddenly realized... he knew this person!
……

The police chief personally called the police, and soon patrol officers from nearby units quickly mobilized and sealed off the scene. Other units from surrounding areas also came to provide support in an orderly manner. The whole process demonstrated professionalism and proficiency.

The criminal investigation team was also in place immediately, and the first to get off the train were Kuroki and Kanzaki.

"Chief, this is..." Upon seeing the corpse, Kuroki was speechless—was this long staircase an omen of bad luck?
Could you please change the location for repair?
"I saw this during my morning run... There were no signs of a fall, but the fatal wound was underneath. It seems like someone stabbed him in the stomach, stabling his abdominal artery," Shiraishi said, pointing to the large pool of blood seeping from beneath him.

When Shiraishi examined the body, he only confirmed that it was already cold; he did not move the body, but only made inferences based on the bleeding.

Kuroki was about to check, but Shiraishi suddenly looked at the road on the embankment and said, "Your old acquaintance is coming."

Kuroki: ? ? ?
Under Kuroki's questioning gaze, several police cars from the Metropolitan Police Department arrived.

Kuroki was wondering why the First Investigation Division had arrived so quickly today.
Then, upon seeing the person getting out of the police car, Kuroki's face darkened—it wasn't the First Investigation Division, but Inspector Takei, the head of the Fourth Section of the Third Investigation Division!
It wouldn't be wrong to say that he was an "old acquaintance" of Kuroki. After all, during the murder case involving the director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Kuroki confidently identified Takei as the mastermind and, together with Inspector Megure, almost arrested him...

After that, Takei also caused him trouble several times.

Of course, if we're talking about "familiarity," then Shiraishi is clearly more familiar with her.

After all, when Shiraishi was still the section chief in the team, Takei was his supervisor, and the two could be said to be "partners".

The relationship between the two appears strained on the surface, simply because of some differences in their beliefs.

"Why are the team members here?" Kuroki asked, puzzled.

"Don't let them ruin the scene," Shiraishi warned.

The team tends to be rough around the edges, since crimes involving violent organizations are usually rather crude, and their investigative logic often differs from that of ordinary homicide cases.

However, it's still uncertain whether it's related to organized crime...

If they messed things up and damaged the scene, it would only make things more difficult. Hearing the chief's order, the patrol officers did not immediately let them go.

Bai Shi didn't leave his old subordinates hanging; instead, he took the initiative to greet them.

"What happened? Inspector Shiraishi, the suspect we've been following for so long, just died in Beika Town like that? We finally found the lead, it wasn't easy, you know?" Takei frowned as he saw Shiraishi.

"What's wrong with you guys? Why did you send the suspect to Beika Town to die? Don't you know Beika Town is already very busy?" Shiraishi retorted.

When the two started arguing, the other officers in the surrounding group sneered and pretended not to see it.

After coordination, Shiraishi allowed them to approach and examine the body, but did not allow them to handle it. He only allowed them to examine the deceased's personal belongings and share basic search information.

"Trouble... just have your people withdraw. We'll take over here," Takei said, taking full responsibility.

"Oh? If it's a regular murder, how does Inspector Takei plan to investigate?" Shiraishi asked directly.

"Heh, Inspector Shiraishi, have you forgotten? It's not like we haven't investigated ordinary murders before," Takei said matter-of-factly.

Because of someone's meddling, the three departments and four sections of the previous team had also forcibly investigated non-organized crime murder cases—once they were implicated, they demanded the team's intervention.

"You really are a police inspector? You didn't fail the police superintendent exam, did you?" Shiraishi said, feigning shock, when he saw that Shiraishi did not refute the title.

Takei:…

After arriving at the Shiraishi Mika Police Station, Takei had been acting as the section chief. He was only one step away from being promoted to a higher police rank, at which point he could remove the "acting" title.

The Metropolitan Police Department wouldn't block a promotion that requires a specific position, so the only possibility is...

Takei's face darkened. He ignored him and went straight to look at the deceased's personal belongings on the table next to him.

"Huh? My phone is missing?" Takei frowned.

"Yes, it wasn't found at the scene, but the wallet is still there," Shiraishi nodded.

If the wallet is still there, robbery and murder can be ruled out. So taking the phone is likely to be to hide some secret.

……

Meanwhile, Kuroki also checked with the patrol officer Fuji, who had arrived at the scene first: "Has the deceased's identity been confirmed?"

“That’s right, the director recognized him…it’s Koichi Hoshimiya, the president of Hoshimiya Furniture.” Fuji nodded.

My phone wasn't with me, and I didn't have my business card holder, driver's license, or anything like that on me.

Although this identity can be verified sooner or later, it wouldn't have been known so quickly if Shiraishi hadn't recognized it directly.

"President? This furniture company...do you have any connections in that regard?" Kuroki said, looking towards the group of people.

As a result, several sensitive detectives immediately turned around and glared at him, revealing a sinister smile that said, "We've seen you again, kid." Kuroki quickly shrank his neck and turned his gaze away.

Kuroki guessed that the team was able to arrive so quickly because the chief had summoned them—otherwise, how would they know who had died?

If that's the case, then it must be... this guy is connected to a violent organization!
“I don’t know about that, but speaking of Hoshimiya Furniture… at least in the general public’s eyes, it’s definitely not the kind of company that has any open connections with those guys. At first, I thought the director only recognized him because he was currently renovating…” Fuji explained.

Companies associated with violent organizations can be divided into at least three categories. One type is a company that is actually run by a violent organization, essentially a legitimate department under the violent organization.

The second type is the well-known "collaborators of violent organizations." These companies are nominally unrelated to violent organizations, but in reality, they have a "good reputation," and everyone assumes they are "on the other side."
The third type involves covert cooperation; the general public is unaware that they are involved in this...

If Hoshimiya Furniture Company is indeed related to violent organizations, then it's the third possibility—Fuji had never heard of them having any connection with violent organizations before.

but……

Director Shiraishi, who came from a team background, obviously knew this!
Kawai, who was standing nearby, remarked with a sigh, "I never imagined he was connected to those people... You really can't judge a book by its cover."

"Huh? Is he that handsome?" Kuroki asked Kawai with a strange look.

Even if he was handsome, you can't tell now; the corpse's face only shows terror and pain.

"Don't you know, Kuroki-senpai?" Kawai said, taking out his phone to show Kuroki.

The above is a tabloid news report about the engagement of Naomi Kobayakawa, daughter of Congressman Taizo Kobayakawa, and Koichi Hoshimiya, the new president of Hoshimiya Furniture.

The accompanying photos for this kind of news are, of course, taken in a bright and clear manner.

Under the banner at the announcement ceremony, a man and a woman looked very much in love; they certainly seemed like a perfect match, but...

"Hmm? Let me see." Shiraishi appeared behind Kawai at some point and happened to see her phone.

Kawai was startled, then realized—I wasn't playing on my phone, what am I afraid of? I was assisting with the investigation!

After taking Kawai's phone, Shiraishi looked at the photo a few more times, becoming even more certain...

Of course, Shiraishi knew Hoshimiya Koichi and didn't need to confirm it, but... at this moment, Shiraishi realized that he also knew this Kobayakawa Nahomi, or rather... had seen her before.

It was the same woman I saw outside the restaurant last night.

At the time, she seemed to be harassed by someone, and she did say things like "I'm already engaged."

"What's wrong?" Takei noticed that Shiraishi seemed to have discovered something and immediately came closer.

Instead of answering, Shiraishi asked, "What's the deal with this Representative Kobayakawa?"

This Koichi Hoshimiya was someone the team had been eyeing for a long time, and naturally, he was also on Shiraishi's radar.

However, until Shiraishi left the team, no one knew that he had any connection with any of the council members, such as Kobayakawa.

"These politicians, who only got together in the last few months... are always short of money for their activities," Takei said with a hint of sarcasm and indifference.

Money is the key to campaigning, campaigning is the key to votes, and votes are the lifeblood of these politicians.

In Takei's view, it was perfectly normal for these politicians to collude with "rich people".

The reason it made the news is because Kobayakawa is a veteran member of parliament, and Hoshimiya Furniture is an industry leader, which means...

Very influential politicians and extremely wealthy people.

As for ideas like "politicians should cherish their reputation and distance themselves from those involved in shady dealings," Takei finds them utterly laughable—after all, as someone who has been in a group, he has seen too many similar collusions and has no reason to have such expectations of them, so he is not surprised at all.

"I see... Did you find a new backer? Or are you a middleman between the Silver Dragon Society and members of Congress?" Shiraishi pressed.

These are two completely different situations.

“He didn’t sever ties with the Silver Dragon Society; instead, he transferred black gold to the Kobayakawa family… but we haven’t found any connection between the Silver Dragon Society and the Kobayakawa family.” After explaining, Takei said impatiently, “So, do you know something?”

(End of this chapter)