Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 524 The Case
Near the traffic intersection next to Mihua Park.

After the Junior Detectives reported the incident, the patrol officers who arrived at the scene immediately skillfully took the bollards from the park entrance, tied up the cordon tape, and sealed off the area...

"Huh? Kuroki, still at the scene?" After arriving at the murder scene, Gen discovered that Kuroki and Kanzaki were actually there before him.

"We have to stand guard until the very end!" Kuroki said helplessly.

He wasn't actually that keen on the promotion...

Moreover, the place he was promoted to was not anywhere else, but right next door—the Team Building Section of the Kamuro Department, and he became the section chief!
The head of the Kamuro Police Station colluded with a violent organization and betrayed an undercover officer...

In this situation, regardless of whether there is any connection, the current head of the team at the Kamuro Police Department will inevitably be dismissed from his post and subject to investigation, and afterwards, it will simply be a matter of being either sidelined or imprisoned.

Just like when Chief Tsukishima killed a police officer in the station to cover up a financial problem, the entire Tsukishima Police Station was replaced...

"Don't pretend to be innocent after getting the benefits, Section Chief Kuroki," Yamada teased.

For Kuroki, this was indeed a promotion that broke the rules.

Although he is now a supplementary police inspector, he has only been a supplementary police inspector for a year, and he has never even held a position such as chief before. He was directly promoted to the rank of police inspector and the position of section chief.

And it's the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division of the Kamuro Police Department...

"We might be sent back at any time; that's the Kamurocho Bureau," Kuroki said, rolling his eyes.

After a pause, Kuroki added, "And the new chief is still Inspector Ninomiya."

Just as the main division of the Beika Police Station is the "Criminal Crime Division," the main division of the Kamuro Police Station is, of course, the "Organized Crime Countermeasures Division," since most of the offices of registered violent organizations in the entire Tokyo are located in Kamurocho.

This place is also the headquarters of the Tojo Clan, the largest violent organization in the Kanto region. You can imagine how serious the situation is for the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division...

"What are you afraid of? Aren't you very familiar with the people in the head office team?" Yuan said with a wink.

Kuroki: ...

That's right, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Beika Police Station doesn't actually need to be this busy. It's mainly because Chief Shiraishi has to conduct independent investigations. Otherwise, murder cases would directly fall under the jurisdiction of the First Investigation Division!

The same applies to the Organizational Law Countermeasures Division of the Kamuro Police Department.

Serious organized crime is definitely handled by the General Headquarters' Organization Department, with the Kamuro Police Station playing only a supporting role. However, to say that Kuroki is very familiar with the main organization's organization is... well...

"Hey, don't chat at the crime scene." Kanzaki walked over and reminded them with a stern face.

After Kuroki is transferred, Kanzaki will also be transferred to the forensic department.

"Huh? Didn't the Junior Detective Club call the police?" Yuan asked doubtfully—in his memory, cases like this were usually solved quickly.

Sometimes it's Detective Mori's sleep-deprived reasoning, sometimes it's Professor Agasa's scientific reasoning, and sometimes... for some inexplicable reasoning, his thinking just flows smoothly, and he always manages to come up with a brilliant idea at just the right time!
but……

“No, this time it probably won’t be so easy. The suspect has already escaped.” Kanzaki also knew why Gen was so “confident.”

"Huh? He escaped?" Yuan was taken aback—why wasn't he following the expected pattern? Usually, when the Junior Detective League or Detective Mouri reports a crime, the culprit would confidently hide in the crowd, engaging in a three-way selection process with the police...

"That's right, Conan did try to catch up, but he didn't succeed." Kanzaki's tone was also helpless.

It's not that I was helpless because I couldn't catch him, it's that I was helpless... How dare you chase someone who has a gun?
At this point, even unarmed detectives can stop chasing!

"Has the deceased's identity been confirmed?" Since Yuan Jian couldn't "cheat" his way out of it, he honestly asked.

After a moment of silence, Kanzaki said, "It's Detective Nara Sawa Osamu from the First Investigation Division of the Headquarters."

As he spoke, Kanzaki took out an evidence bag containing a police officer's ID and a police officer's handbook.

Upon hearing that it was a police officer, and a rather ruthless one at that, the group's expressions turned serious—another police officer killed? Could something bad be about to happen?
Just then, Kanzaki added, "And this police officer's manual was found in his inner breast pocket..."

“Inner pocket? Wait… could it be…” Kuroki seemed to realize something—he had just seen the corpse’s death.

Kanzaki nodded upon hearing this, saying, "That's right, it's the one he was holding in his hand before he died, the one in the pocket on his chest."

"What? He was clutching something before he died? He... was shot in the chest?" Yuan immediately realized something as well.

“No, he was shot in the abdomen, probably the abdominal artery, so he died very quickly… Before he died, he covered the spot where he was shot in the abdomen with his left hand and clutched the left side of his chest with his right hand. I just found his police ID in his inner pocket there,” Kanzaki explained.

It's not surprising that someone would cover the bullet hole; it's an instinctive reaction after being shot.

but……

At the same time, he was clutching his chest!

The fact that there was no bullet wound here seems very abrupt, and it can basically be considered as... a death message.

But if we really consider this as death information, does the information refer to the "police officer's handbook"?
This is a very serious matter...

Although no one spoke, everyone suddenly thought of a possibility—the murderer…was connected to the police? Or perhaps even someone within the police force?
hiss--

That fat bastard from the Kamuro Police Station was arrested yesterday!

Another one is coming soon?
……

The Junior Detective League, along with the Mori father and daughter who had been called in, were all at the Beika Police Station.

The First Investigation Division arrived immediately, and Shiraishi didn't say much this time—it was a detective from the First Investigation Division who was killed, so how could they wait for the Beika Police Station to solve the case?
Shortly after receiving Munakata's report, Shiraishi received a call from Chief Inspector Odagiri. This time, Odagiri's tone was unusually serious, and Shiraishi promised to cooperate fully with the First Investigation Division to solve the case as soon as possible.

only……

Odagiri's serious tone earlier made Shiraishi feel that this matter was not so simple—Department Chief Odagiri was obviously very concerned about this case, but he didn't say anything to Shiraishi.

Afterwards, an investigation headquarters would be established at the Beika Police Station. However, after writing the calligraphy, Shiraishi handed over the matter of establishing the investigation headquarters to Munakata and Madoka, and went to the conference room...

The meeting to establish the investigation headquarters had not yet started, but Megure had already arrived and was taking notes from the Junior Detective League.

but……

"It's a young man..." "No, no, it's a beautiful older woman!"

"Hmm? I remember him being a middle-aged man?"

"He was holding a black umbrella."

"No, it's green!"

"I remember it was blue..."

The three members of the Junior Detective League then gave completely different testimonies!

"Did you really witness it?" Mori asked, speechless.

Shiraishi opened the door and came in. Several detectives from the Third Division immediately stood up to greet him. Although Megure addressed him as "Brother Shiraishi," he did not refrain from being impolite.

At the same time, Shiraishi overheard the three of them arguing, so he directly asked Ai, "Ai, do you remember?"

Witnesses can lie, even unconsciously...

Some of these are due to memory biases, while others stem from certain psychological instincts in humans, such as the messianic complex or the white knight complex. The former arises from an eagerness to demonstrate one's role, while the latter is due to preconceived notions and a desire to uphold justice, which subjectively alters one's memory.

Even adults cannot avoid it, let alone children whose personalities are inherently unstable.

but……

At least Ai and Conan wouldn't be bothered by this kind of psychology. Even Kotomi was calmer than the three kids at this time—after all, Kotomi was two years older and had a special background, making her more mature than her peers.

"The killer was wearing a trench coat and holding a gray umbrella. It was impossible to tell whether he was male or female, or what his height was. He had to say something unusual... However, he was holding the umbrella in his right hand and shooting with his left... By the way, the handgun he was using was probably an M60 with a silencer."

After Ai finished speaking, she noticed that Megure and the others were looking at her in surprise, so she pretended to be Conan and said cutely, "It's the gun-identification game that my brother and I usually play!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Shiraishi with reproach—weren't there any games more suitable for girls of this age?
"Ai, you can come to the detective agency and play with Conan often in the future!" Ran said sympathetically.

"Ahem, the M60 is suitable for both men and women. It seems this rain really comes at a bad time," Shiraishi said after coughing awkwardly twice.

Because it was raining, there were very few pedestrians on the road, and everyone was holding umbrellas. If the detective team hadn't seen it at the time, other passersby probably wouldn't have seen it either. The police officers from the Mihana Police Station were also trying to inquire at the scene, but no news came back, so it seemed they hadn't found anything.

So far, all we know seems to be that "the murderer has a well-proportioned build" and "the murderer is left-handed".

"By the way, Detective Nara... cough cough, Detective Mouri, could you please take the children home first? Ai, you and Kotomi stay at the police station to do your homework." Shiraishi originally wanted to ask about the case, but when he noticed Megure winking at him, he sent the "unrelated person" away first.

"Eh? Chief Shiraishi, we think we can still help..."

"We really saw the killer, and we're sure we can remember even more!"

The three little ones are very proactive, and in this regard...

“Never mind, Detective Mouri…” Shiraishi had just started to speak when the three little ones looked over excitedly. But then Shiraishi called out to the outside, “Tanaka, go and contact their parents. Make sure they come to the police station to pick them up!”

The three little ones: !!!

To prevent the three kids from disobeying orders, Shiraishi decisively chose to contact their parents...

After everyone else left, Shiraishi spoke up and asked Megure, "Inspector Megure, what's going on? You're all being so secretive."

The reason I said "you guys" is because Shiraishi previously thought that Odagiri was also a bit strange.

Megure hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually... when the Nara detective died in the line of duty, he was reinvestigating a suicide case from a year ago."

"Suicide case?" Shiraishi frowned upon hearing this.

"Hmm, a year ago, a doctor named Nino Yasushi committed suicide in his apartment. Do you remember him?" Megure asked tentatively.

Shiraishi's first reaction was confusion—a year ago, I was still in the organization's countermeasures department, and... at this time, I should have already been keeping an eye on that Inukai, how would I know anything about suicide... huh?

Shiraishi suddenly realized...

"Is it... that you suspect the case involving Odagiri's son?" Shiraishi suddenly realized.

At that time, Toshiro Odagiri was indeed having a real headache!
On the one hand, it was because his own son, Toshiya Odagiri, was such a troublesome person, getting involved in a murder case. Moreover, the head of the Criminal Investigation Department at the time was biased towards the Ministry of Justice and kept using this matter to restrain Odagiri, interfere with the investigation of the group against the Ryumaru Association, and protect the Minister of Justice at the time.
On the other hand, one of his subordinates, such a big guy, was also a troublemaker. Even though he wanted to secretly protect him and continue investigating the Ryuuma Society, the guy was too reckless!
Shiraishi then remembered this matter as well...

Upon hearing this, Inspector Megure nodded.

"Was the case closed as a suicide at the time? Now the investigation has been reopened?" Shiraishi asked rhetorically—the case was closed when Shiraishi was hospitalized.

Seeing that Shiraishi had overturned that dog-raising incident, the former head of the criminal investigation department was also kicked out of the game by Hakuba.

At this time, the case involving Toshiya Odagiri also ended with his suicide...

Well, there were no factors outside of the investigation, so Shiraishi couldn't say for sure, nor had he specifically inquired about it, since it had nothing to do with him.

"Yes, not long ago, Chief Odagiri personally ordered the investigation to be reopened, and the Nara Detectives were one of the officers in charge," Megure nodded.

"That's why we say that Department Head Odagiri is a man of noble character!" Shiraishi praised his old boss.

There may have been "external factors" at the time, but after Odagiri secured his position in the Criminal Investigation Department, he brought this matter up again. Obviously... Odagiri was also suspicious, fearing that the brat might have really done something!
After all, Odagiri Toshiya had fallen out with his father long ago because of his involvement in rock music, and the two had not been in contact for a long time.

However, this "reopening of the investigation" cannot take up too much police resources; it is only a small-scale operation, with a few criminal police officers in charge.

Now, a detective from this "investigation team" has been shot and killed, and the gun in question is one of the more commonly used models by the police...

This explains why Odagiri and Megure's attitudes were somewhat strange; they hadn't even wanted Mori to know anything before—after all, Mori was no longer a police officer, and Megure didn't want to involve him.

"There's no need to be so tense. The focus of the investigation at the time was on Minya, which was partly due to internal power struggles. It's not like Minya was really that much of a suspect. Besides... detectives are the easiest to be resented. It's not necessarily because of the case we're investigating that he was killed." Shiraishi advised Megure.

Of course, Inspector Megure also said that Odagiri only recently ordered the investigation to be reopened...

Nara's murder at this time certainly raises suspicions!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Dongdong: Today is September 2nd. To celebrate the 120th anniversary of the abolition of the imperial examination system in the late Qing Dynasty, I'm asking for your votes!
(End of this chapter)