Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 540 An Accidental Encounter with a Murder Case
Nishimuta Yoh: ...

After hearing Amagi's reasoning, Nishimuta had nothing to say.

Almost everything they predicted came true!
Narcissism falling in love with her is indeed another instance of being struck by Cupid's poisoned arrow—compared to many vicious criminals, Nishimuta Yoe even seems somewhat "kind."

After all, although she hired a hitman, it was for suicide purposes, and incidentally to collect an insurance payout... half of the money was donated to the victim's legal fees!
Although Emoto's actions nearly drove Nishimuta to her death, she did not intend to physically eliminate Emoto.

only……

To her surprise, after hiring the hitman, Emoto was killed, and the hitman couldn't cancel the "order"!

Seeing that Nishimuta had already answered with silence, Amagi added, "Hiring a hitman... even if it's to kill yourself, is undoubtedly a crime. As for whether it will be prosecuted, that depends on the prosecutor's office."

This is definitely a crime!

It's not surprising that a prisoner would provoke "Cupid's poisoned arrow".

"I'm sorry..." Nishimuta said sheepishly.

The narcissist standing to the side, despite knowing he was being used, still took the initiative to say, "It's okay! Ye Hui, you should have told me sooner..." As he spoke, he even tried to hug his "girlfriend".

However, Nishimuta then took a step back...

Narcissism: ? ? ?
“Sorry, I’m being narcissistic… Actually, there’s another reason why I regretted my suicide attempt… Well, Officer Amagi probably already knows, but the thing that Emoto did that really gave me the biggest headache was threatening to expose my affair with the chief.” Nishimuta then took the initiative to say this.

"Huh? Why would she have such a misunderstanding..." The narcissist was taken aback upon hearing this.

"No, it's not a misunderstanding..." Nishimuta said apologetically.

Narcissism: ...

"The competition for promotion has just made me nervous lately. The reason I wanted to commit suicide is because a while ago... the director suddenly became indifferent to me and stopped mentioning divorce. Because I was threatened by Emoto at the same time, I thought my lover had also abandoned me."

Narcissism: ...

"That's why I felt life was meaningless, but I also felt that dying like this would be too easy on that guy Emoto. That's why I found out about Aoyagi and asked him to hire an assassin, so that at least the insurance money could help the patient who was betrayed by her!"

"However, I only found out the day before yesterday that the director was deliberately keeping his distance from me because he discovered that a detective had been following him recently. In fact, he had already filed for divorce from his wife..."

“But when I tried to contact Aoyagi, I couldn’t reach him, so…” Nishimuta said, looking at Narcissistic with embarrassment.

Narcissism: ...

Narcissists are already numb.

"Narcissistic Officer, thank you, you're a good person!" Nishimuta said with a bow: "Red Bean Paste Secret Marseille!"

Narcissism: ...

"There's even such a defeat posture."

"I feel like narcissism is about to unlock a new defeat CG..."

"Yamada, your reporter girlfriend, is she with Nishimuta?"

"I'm warning you, don't talk nonsense, she's different!"

Other colleagues said they were quite full from eating melons.

"By the way, did Qingliu tell you what the name of the assassin he hired was?" Tianshu asked at this moment.

"It seems... it's called 'Silver Fox,' and they say it's very powerful," Nishimuta said.

“I see. For your safety and for the hitman’s testimony, you’ll be spending the night at the police station,” Tian Shu said matter-of-factly.

After leaving the house, Amaki first called Kuroki.

"Hello, this is Amagi... Inspector Kuroki, of course I have something to say... It's easy to pass on a message to an assassin in Kamurocho, right? No, no, no, it's not about arresting him... Just spread the word widely so he knows... Actually, it's like this... Please help me out... After all, she's a narcissistic woman... my ex-girlfriend!"

After Amagi made a plea and shared his melon with Kuroki, Kuroki agreed to help.

This "Silver Fox" is a notorious assassin in the underworld; no one knows his identity, making him very difficult to capture.

Although we now have Nishimuta as bait, which presents an opportunity to capture him, but...

After all, he's just an "ordinary citizen," not even a narcissistic girlfriend, so it's not appropriate to use the public as bait.

Therefore, Amagi chose a safer approach—spreading the word in the underworld that Aoyagi's hiring had gone wrong, and the employer didn't want to die... in order to make Silver Fox give up.

Of course, it also implies that "the above information comes from the Miho Police Station." Even if Silver Fox is really stubborn and insists on assassinating the target despite the employer's cancellation, she should consider that the target is already under police protection.

When Kuroki learned that it was actually his narcissistic ex-girlfriend, he agreed to help—how ​​fresh was this ex-girlfriend? When I transferred last week, he didn't even have a girlfriend!
……

The matter of "Silver Fox" came to an end at the Beika Bureau, and she indeed did not appear by Nishimuta Yoru's side again afterward.

but……

Nishimuta Yoko was detained for a period of time for hiring a hitman. Although the prosecution ultimately decided not to prosecute, the institute dismissed both of them because her affair with the director was exposed.

The "good news" is that the director did indeed get divorced, and the narcissist even received an invitation to Nishimuta and that director uncle's wedding banquet...

But that's a month from now!
On the same day that Amagi exposed Nishimuta Yoru's actions, Inspector Megure, with the help of "Sleeping Kogoro," solved the murder case on Emoto's side. After verifying all the victims related to the "privacy leak," only three of them did not have alibis, and choosing one of the three is "Sleeping Kogoro's" forte.

……

As the week went by, Shiraishi started to feel uncertain as he looked at the "Beihan Timer" every day.

It's been a week already!

There have been no murders for 7 days!

Are they going to give me something big?
Can I still go out during the short holiday?
Fortunately, Shiraishi's tension didn't last long. On Thursday, exactly seven days later, the owner of the Beika family's photo studio was murdered, and... coincidentally, it was Sonoko and Ran who... took Conan to the photo studio!
This not only restored the rice cake's timekeeping to normal, but also solved the case on the spot.

On Friday evening, after getting off work, Shiraishi and Ayako set off for Shizuoka Prefecture with peace of mind.

The destination for this trip was chosen by Ayako—Kikuno City in Shizuoka Prefecture, where a grand costume parade is held every year on Marine Day. Although it is a small city, the festival is said to have a great atmosphere.

Since it was a holiday, Ayako specifically chose this relatively unknown but well-regarded place—although there wouldn't be any outsiders at her own private beach, Ayako was worried that Shiraishi would feel pressured.

This would give it a more festive travel feel, rather than having Shiraishi "hosted" at home.

Marine Day is the third Monday of July, while Kikuno City's festival is held on the Sunday before Marine Day.

To have more time to explore the area, Ayako and Shiraishi decided to set off on Friday night...

Ai Haibara accompanied Shiraishi and Ayako.

Although both Shiraishi and Ai said she could stay and do the experiments, Ayako, out of concern for Ai's mental health, insisted on taking Ai with her so she wouldn't think her brother was abandoning her...

“Sorry, we have to leave tonight… I’ll drive! I didn’t work today, I rested all day.” Ayako volunteered—after all, Shiraishi had already worked a full day. “It’s alright, we can get there tonight anyway, this little bit of stamina is nothing.” Shiraishi smiled slightly.

Only Ayako was worried that Shiraishi would get tired after "working a full day"...

Because Ai was also there, Ayako made a point of sitting with her in the back.

Starting from Tokyo, the destination is only about 200 kilometers away, but there are mountain roads along the way, since most of Shizuoka Prefecture is mountainous...

Just then, it started to rain, which made Ayako a little worried: "With such heavy rain, won't there be mudslides in the mountains?"

"Don't worry, if there really is a mudslide, I'll definitely hear it beforehand," Shiraishi reassured her.

Ayako:……

"Ah..." Shiraishi suddenly slowed down and stopped.

"What's wrong?" Ayako asked anxiously.

"There's a mudslide ahead," Bai Shi said helplessly.

This is exactly what I feared...

"We can't get through, can we?" Ayako felt like she had asked a pointless question.

"Don't go over there, dragging it will damage the chassis," Shiraishi said confidently.

What should we use to drag it?

Ayako knew without asking...

If it were a police car on an emergency mission, and this happened, Bai Shi would simply tow the car across the mudslide area!

But since it's my own car, I can't just mess it up like that...

"There's no cell phone signal either..." Ai added at this point.

“I just saw the lights on at the villa on the mountain… Let’s go up and ask if we can borrow their phones.” Bai Shi looked towards the mountaintop.

Immediately, Shiraishi turned to Ayako and asked, "Should I go up by myself? Or should you come with me and see if the villa owner will let us rest for a bit?"

If it were just a matter of making a phone call, Shiraishi could go up there by himself... Yeah, right!
Before Ayako could say anything, Ai chimed in, "Don't scare them, they'll think they've encountered a bear."

Shiraishi:……

Ayako and Ai should definitely come along too!
Otherwise, what's the difference between this and letting Pigsy go begging for alms himself?
It's alright in Beika Town, but this is a mountaintop villa in the middle of the night, almost midnight, in the middle of nowhere...

Ayako picked up Ai and held an umbrella over her, while Shiraishi put on a special-sized raincoat—a modified waterproof tarpaulin—that he always kept in his car.

The three arrived at the villa on the mountaintop and found that although the lights were on, the lighting was dim and the atmosphere did not resemble the festive atmosphere.

But that's not surprising...

It's almost midnight!
Ayako led Ai to the door and knocked. Shiraishi was waiting a few steps away.

dong dong dong-

After knocking on the door for a while, someone opened it, and to Ayako's slight surprise...

It was actually a young woman?
Ayako had originally imagined that there would be quite a few people in this villa, since the location was more like a vacation villa and it was indeed a holiday.

But if that's the case, why is it a girl who opens the door?

"Hello, we're just passing by. There's been a mudslide down there, and our car is stuck in traffic. Could we borrow your phone...?" Ayako then noticed that the woman was already holding the phone, as if she was already on the phone.

"Ah!" the young woman who opened the door suddenly exclaimed, pointing behind Ayako and Ai and shouting, "Come in quickly! There's a bear!"

Shiraishi:……

"What's wrong? Ms. Koishikawa, Ms. Koishikawa?"

The person on the phone seemed to have heard the woman's exclamation and immediately called out.

Although Bai Shi was a few steps away, the voice sounded familiar...

At the same time, Ayako quickly explained, "It's not a bear, it's not a bear, don't worry... It's my boyfriend, he's quite tall... By the way, he's a police officer in Tokyo, he's definitely not a suspicious person!"

"Such a high-ranking... police officer? Ah! It must be Chief Mikasa, right?" Koishikawa seemed to know Chief Mikasa.

That's not surprising; it's very likely that she works in Tokyo on a regular basis.

Then, Shiraishi's familiar voice continued to come through the phone...

"Ms. Koishikawa? Ms. Koishikawa? Are you alright? I think I heard something about Chief Beika?"

Seeing this, Shiraishi stepped forward and pointed to the phone in her hand, saying, "Is this... a conversation with Inspector Yokomizo? If there's any trouble, you can tell me first. Because of the mudslide, the Shizuoka Prefectural Police can't come either, right?"

“I don’t know… It is indeed the Shizuoka Prefectural Police.” Koishikawa said, handing the cordless phone to Shiraishi.

Koishikawa clearly didn't know Yokomizo, so why did he call the Shizuoka Prefectural Police? Was it because he had "called the police"?

Of course, this was definitely not an emergency call—even if Yokomizo had beaten up the head of Shizuoka, he wouldn't have been demoted to a switchboard operator on the spot. Shiraishi probably received the call and then contacted the caller...

"Hello, this is Shiraishi..." Shiraishi answered and put the phone on speakerphone.

"Inspector Shiraishi, it's great that you're here..." Yokomizo breathed a sigh of relief. Before Shiraishi could ask any questions, Yokomizo explained, "Ms. Koishikawa just called the police. She found a body in her house. However, the road to our location is blocked by a mudslide. It won't be cleared until tomorrow morning. Could you please... uh, look after Ms. Koishikawa and protect the scene for a while?"

Yokomizo's main concern was that Koishikawa, a single woman, would be afraid to be with a corpse, and she was also worried that the murderer might be in danger nearby.

but……

Thinking about it carefully, since Shiraishi is a police officer from the Metropolitan Police Department, it doesn't seem like a good idea to directly ask him to get too involved in the case.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi exclaimed in shock, "A corpse?" He then looked at Koishikawa, who nodded in response.

Ayako, Ai: ...

Is this even possible? You can just run into someone whenever you go out?

“Okay, I understand. I’ll take a look at the scene for you first. If there’s any time-sensitive evidence, I’ll try my best to preserve it,” Bai Shi said generously.

"Then... I'll leave it to you." Yokomizo, of course, couldn't bring himself to refuse.

------

Dongdong: Today is September 18th. 94 years ago today, the September 9th Incident broke out. Let us remember history and cherish the memory of our martyrs.

Requesting monthly votes! Requesting monthly votes! Requesting monthly votes!
(End of this chapter)