Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 538: Finding a Partner in Criminal Investigation?

On Sunday, after Shiraishi and Ryoko went to see the results of the "simple tidying up," Shiraishi decided to move in—of course, the move would take a few days.

Monday, July 10th, early in the morning.

Shiraishi arrived at the police station as usual, only to find that the sign at the entrance, "Please don't let the numbers go to zero," had accumulated to an astonishing four days.

"Good morning, Director!"

"Good morning, Director!"

……

After Shiraishi entered the police station, everyone stopped to greet him wherever he went, and Shiraishi readily nodded and smiled at each of them.

Just then, in the corridor, I saw Narcissistic and Yamada, this "rare combination," who were looking very arrogant. Even though they were being mocked by Fuji, their faces still seemed to say, "You're just jealous."

"You two be careful, I have a feeling this is a honey trap! Ah... Good day, Chief." Fujii saw Shiraishi coming over at that moment.

"Director." Narcissist and Yamada greeted each other.

"You two... do you have some good news?" Shiraishi looked at the two ruddy-faced guys strangely.

It wasn't the gossip about Shiraishi, but... there could only be one thing that could make them so radiant!

Yamada is one thing, but his narcissism...

"The wedding is still a long way off, but... let's go on a social outing this weekend, hehehe..." He chuckled to himself.

Shiraishi:……

really!

"Isn't it just one-sided enthusiasm?" Shiraishi confirmed.

"Of course not!" the narcissist denied categorically.

"Neither of them even mentioned that they were civil servants," Teng remarked from the side.

"Huh? Do you think we're like you? You wouldn't even dare say you're a police officer when you go on a blind date!" Yamada said indignantly.

“That’s right, that’s right, Ye Hui really admires our profession!” the narcissist immediately said.

Teng continued to pour cold water on the situation, saying, "Those two women... one a reporter, the other some kind of psychological researcher, to me they sound like they're trying to get material from you two? A two-person interviewing duo?"

“Jealousy is a terrible thing…” Yamada sighed in regret.

"Officer Fujiwara, you can't do that! You can't be jealous of your colleagues," the narcissist said firmly.

Bai Shi didn't join in their nonsense, but... as he passed by the silent Tian Shu and Yuan, Bai Shi specifically reminded Tian Shu, "Keep an eye on him. It seems like nothing good ever comes of his infatuation!"

"Don't worry!" Tian Shu said earnestly.

Yuan wasn't in a good mood at this point...

Yesterday's social gathering was attended by Yuan and the other two, so the three of them went together.

As a result, Yuan is still alone today!

……

Shiraishi spent the whole day diligently working in his office...

Next Monday is "Sea Day"—a public holiday in the eastern island nation!

During the three-day weekend, Shiraishi and Ayako made plans to go to Shizuoka for two days.

The premise is that the people of Mihana can make things a little easier for Shiraishi!
……

Before leaving get off work, the narcissist, seeing that nothing had gone wrong, couldn't help but feel secretly relieved. Then he put on his suit and prepared to leave work on time, something he hadn't done in a long time.

At this point, Amagi specifically asked, "So eager? Do you have a date?"

Upon hearing this, Narcissistic said embarrassedly, "It can't really be called a date... It's Ye Hui, you know, they're studying psychology, they always tend to overthink things. They said they've been having a lot of precognitive dreams lately, all of which foretell their own death, so they're a bit scared and want me to pick them up from get off work, hahaha..."

Yes, he pretended to be "embarrassed" but was actually "very proud"!
Upon hearing this, Tian Shu frowned and said, "Precognitive dreams?" Then, feigning interest, he said, "I see. I love precognitive dreams... I'll go with you."

Tian Shu also felt that the director's words made sense...

Once this guy gets interested, nothing good ever comes of it!

"Isn't that unnecessary? The girl is just being coquettish..." He looked at him with disdain—are you here to be a third wheel?

“Let’s go, let’s go, precognitive dreams… I’m just so curious…” Tian Shu said, insisting on coming along with Narcissism.

Arriving outside the research institute, and seeing Ms. Nishimuta Yoru emerge, Amagi nodded to himself—yes, at least her profession is real!

"Ye Hui, I'm sorry... This guy is my partner. He insisted on coming along because he was worried about your safety," the narcissist said somewhat awkwardly.

"Thank you, Officer Amagi... Maybe I'm just being too sensitive." Contrary to her self-admiration, Ye Hui didn't seem dissatisfied at all; in fact, she seemed genuinely happy.

Because Amagi was there, Narcissistic couldn't extend any other invitations and simply escorted Ye Hui home as usual. Along the way, he gave Amagi quite a few eye rolls, but Amagi pretended not to notice and instead chatted enthusiastically with Ye Hui about "precognitive dreams" and her psychological research...

"My house is just down the road ahead. Please take me home... Come in and have a cup of tea!" Ye Hui invited.

"Actually, Tian Shu doesn't like drinking tea..." The narcissist gave him a look—we're almost home, is that enough? Do you still want to come inside?

But at that moment, Tian Shu ignored what the narcissist was saying and instead twitched his nose, as if he had smelled something.

"Can you smell... Watch out!" Just as Tian Shu was wondering, he noticed that the narcissist and the female psychological researcher had continued walking forward, and... there was a small puddle ahead.

At the same time, Tian Shu followed the source of the unusual smell and saw an electrical distribution box...

Realizing something was wrong, Tian Shu quickly called out, "Watch out! Don't step in front!"

Seeing that Ye Hui was about to step into the water with one foot, there was no time to react.
Hearing the narcissistic call from Tian Shu, he leaped forward, knocking Ye Hui down and vaulting over the puddle...

Just as Ye Hui was at a loss, there was a loud "bang" and sparks flew from the electrical box.

Now Ye Hui also knew what would have happened if Tian Shu and Zi Lian hadn't made a move!
At the same time, Tian Shu hurriedly looked around and saw a black-clad figure leaving in the distance, but it was too late to chase after it.

……

There's clearly something wrong with this distribution box!
Since they didn't leave Beika Town, it was convenient for Amagi and Narcissistic.

Forensic officers were quickly dispatched to the scene to examine the situation...

"Kanzaki, how is it?" Amagi asked Kanzaki, who had just finished inspecting the distribution box.

"Yes, just as you guessed... there was a problem with the distribution box before, which caused an electrical short to the puddle. As for what you smelled, Amagi... it was probably the smell of ozone produced by the high voltage in the distribution wires in the air," Kanzaki confirmed.

"Was it deliberate or accidental?" While comforting Ye Hui, Amagi whispered to Kanzaki. Kanzaki cautiously analyzed, "This... I can't confirm, but I tend to think it was deliberate. After all, there's nothing leaking nearby, and it didn't rain today. Besides, the electrical box wouldn't last long under these conditions. If it were an accident, it would be too coincidental... Of course, I don't have any evidence."

“As expected…” Tian Shu nodded, clearly sharing the same thought.

"By the way, it really was deliberate. If the target was you, and it wasn't a random attack, it shouldn't have taken so long. Otherwise, it might have accidentally injured other passersby, and the power distribution box wouldn't have lasted long either," Kanzaki reminded him.

At this moment, Tian Shu also remembered the figure that had left earlier, but the other person was already far away, and there was a puddle in between that was of unknown safety, so Tian Shu did not chase after them.

At the same time, Tian Shu looked at Ye Hui—sure enough, it wasn't some kind of precognitive dream, but she really knew that an assassin would come to kill her!

but……

why?

To say it was a ruse would be somewhat illogical.

After all, if Amagi hadn't smelled something and become alert, Narcissism and she would probably have already lost their lives under the high voltage!
Especially Nishimuta Yoru herself—her movement just now was completely natural walking; if her foot had landed, she would have been dead.

No matter how elaborate the plan, it couldn't possibly be this natural, right?

Could it be that she's convinced that narcissism will save her?
Tian Shu preferred to believe that she genuinely didn't know there was a trap, and that she simply knew someone wanted to kill her for some reason.

Just then, two unexpected people arrived.

"Huh? Narcissistic Officer, Officer Amagi, what's going on?" The Mori family passed by forcefully at that moment.

Since there were police officers all at the scene, Kogoro and Conan immediately knew something was wrong, but...

It shouldn't be a murder case!

You can tell from the number and scale of the police officers who cordoned off the area.

"There's something wrong with the electrical box here. It almost electrocuted Narcissist and his...girlfriend?" Tian Shu explained in a strange tone.

"Electrified?"

"Huh? The narcissistic police officer has a girlfriend?"

Is there a problem with the distribution box?

Mouri, Ran, and Conan each have their own points of interest.

Amagi offered a brief explanation, but didn't mention that "human intervention is highly likely," since Detective Mori's involvement in the case was unrelated this time.

“That’s really dangerous…” Mori chimed in.

Just then, Xiaolan exclaimed in surprise, "Eh? The narcissistic police officer's girlfriend is...?"

“Ah! It’s… Nishimuta… cough cough.” Mori suddenly fell silent.

"Hmm? You know her?" Upon hearing this, Tian Shu immediately became interested.

"This..." Mori hesitated for a moment.

However, remembering his purpose, Mori honestly said, "Actually, I came to see Ms. Nishimuta... Well, actually, I encountered a case yesterday!"

Amaki was a little puzzled. "What case have you encountered that makes you want to come to Nishimuta Yoru?"

Mori didn't keep them in suspense any longer...

It turns out that in the past few days, he had been hired by Associate Professor Emoto of the same psychological research institute to investigate her colleague, Nishimuta Yoe.

And just yesterday, Associate Professor Emoto died!
She was stabbed to death in her own home.

The police... mainly Inspector Megure, found Kogoro Mouri's business card in the room, so they went directly to him for questioning.

Upon learning this, Mori didn't dare to delay and immediately went to assist in the investigation.

It turned out that the photos he had taken were on Emoto's desk at the time, so Mori suspected that the murder might be related to Nishimuta.
After all, the deceased had asked Mori to investigate her before she died.

And he actually uncovered some things!
However, there is an even more obvious suspect in this case—Emoto had previously interviewed some volunteers with psychological problems in order to conduct his research, promising not to disclose their information. However, he then disregarded his verbal promise and used their stories as material in his publicly published book.

As a result, Emoto has recently been embroiled in legal troubles...

Because someone saw one of the victims of this privacy breach loitering near the Emoto residence, the police focused their attention there.

However, Mori felt that something was off about Nishimuta, so he came to her house to ask her some questions, and that's when he happened to witness this scene.

Hearing that someone wanted to attack Nishimuta, Mori felt even more that something was amiss, but...

But I still can't figure it out!
"What are the results of the investigation? Does she have something on her?" Tian Shu asked hurriedly.

"Well, she has a paper that involves plagiarism, but that's a minor issue. After all, most people at the research institute don't consider it plagiarism. The key thing is that she and... Ouch!" Kogoro cried out in pain, then, seeing Ran winking at him, he changed the subject, saying, "The key thing is... just the day before yesterday, she contacted a member of a violent organization who had recently been released from prison, and they even met privately!"

Kogoro Mouri had clearly done some surveillance, and at this point he even showed Amagi a photo of the two of them eating together at a restaurant.

“I heard that Ms. Nishimuta used to provide psychological counseling to prisoners at the Beika Police Station. Maybe you met her back then and thanked her after you were released?” Amagi had just been on the road and had also talked to Nishimuta about some things.

“That seems to make sense, but… during my investigation, I also saw that Nishimuta handed the other party a very thick envelope, which the other party accepted with some difficulty. It looked like money. Normally… people wouldn’t accept money to express their gratitude, right?” Mori said matter-of-factly.

"Didn't they find this person?" Tian Shu asked, puzzled.

Since he was recently released from prison and is still a member of a violent organization, the police shouldn't have any pressure regarding evidence when they come to his door if he's suspected—you're just suspicious!
"I looked, they took a flight this morning and have already left the country," Mori shrugged.

In other words...

"Does Detective Mori suspect... that he hired someone to commit murder?" Amagi asked.

It's definitely not impossible to explain!
“But now it seems that Nishimuta is the one being targeted!” Amagi emphasized after looking at the distribution box.

By this time, Nishimuta Yoru had calmed down and walked over, accompanied by Narcissism.

"Detective Mouri, what a coincidence," the narcissist greeted.

“No, it’s not really a coincidence, after all, I came here to see Ms. Nishimuta,” Mori said seriously.

"Huh?" The narcissist looked puzzled upon hearing this.

Nishimuta Yoe appeared timid and hesitant, but she revealed no flaws when questioned by Mori.

"Is it... about Associate Professor Emoto? I've told you everything I can." Nishimuta guessed, while also replying, "I've been resting at home since 9 p.m. the night before last."

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 16th, China Brain Health Day. I feel like my brain is about to fail. Please vote for me! Please vote for me! Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)