Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 543 The Arrogant Suspect
"I didn't know that people all over the country would participate in this costume parade..." Shiraishi exclaimed in surprise.

Shiraishi originally thought it was just a city-wide event with individual businesses participating, but now he realizes that the scale is much larger than he imagined, with the entire Kikuno Shopping Street being a single entity!
"That's right, but our Kikuno hasn't won first place for several years," the older woman at the next table said regretfully.

Kikuno is a very small town, not even as populated as Beika Town...

The people in the tavern were the main force behind Kikuno's costume parade.

It's clear that although the atmosphere is mainly celebratory, everyone really wants to win...

The organizer of Kikuno's competition was the older sister at the next table—Maya Miyazawa.

Among the participants were a middle-aged man wearing glasses—Shusaku Tojima, the owner of a small meat processing plant; a couple at the next table—Naoki Niikura and Rumi Niikura, with Niikura being a well-known local music teacher who was responsible for composing the music; and some other young people…

"Takagaki! You've finally arrived. It's been a long time... Miss Maya is still waiting for you." Namiki Natsumi saw a young man lingering outside the door and immediately beckoned him in.

Shiraishi just stared at this person...

I always felt that he was a bit dull and seemed preoccupied.

If that were all, Shiraishi wouldn't be too concerned, since many people have their own worries!

But just then...

click-

Xia Mei dropped the plate on the floor again while serving the food.

What startled her this time was a thin-looking middle-aged man who, after entering, ignored her reaction and sat down at the empty table next to him...

Shiraishi then noticed that after this person entered, not only Xiaoxiamei, but also everyone else in the store became wary... and even angry.

Tojima, who seemed like a kind-hearted person, quickly stepped forward and pulled Natsumi behind him to shield her. At the same time, the young man who had just entered, Takagaki, and Miyazawa-neechan, glared angrily at the old man...

The one who reacted the most was the proprietress, Matoko Namiki, who almost collapsed to the ground. Her husband, Taro Namiki, who was in the kitchen, rushed over to check on his wife. When he saw who had entered, his eyes widened in surprise.

Meanwhile, like Shiraishi, Ms. Niikura, who was sitting at the next table, also didn't know who this guy was.

Sensing something was wrong, Naoki Niikura whispered to his wife, "Who is it? Do you know them?"

Rumi Niikura, head bowed, answered in a low, panicked voice, "It's... Hasunuma! It's that... murderer!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Shi's expression shifted—the murderer?
Soon after, Shiraishi became familiar with the surname "Hanzuma" through this word.

Isn't this the person who was sued in Dongdu a few days ago?

At the time, Yujian was having quite a headache...

They've already released them?
Judging from the timeline, it seems that no lawsuit was ever filed at all!
A while ago, a fire broke out in an old house in Tokyo, where the body of a high school girl from Shizuoka Prefecture who had disappeared three years ago was discovered. Interestingly, this old house also belonged to the grandmother of one of the suspects from that case…

Therefore, the police quickly arrested the suspect again and handed him over to the prosecutor's office—although the suspect remained silent, not only was the female high school student's body found at the scene, but also his blood-stained work clothes.

Even though he did not plead guilty, the police still sent him for prosecution.

However, after some hesitation, the prosecution seems to have ultimately decided not to indict him...

After all, this guy was a suspect in a missing little girl case eighteen years ago. He used the "stay silent" tactic to allow his lawyer to make the most of his skills and ultimately won a not-guilty verdict.

After being detained for several months, he sued and received tens of millions of dollars in compensation.

Therefore, when faced with his "silent tactics" again, the prosecution also adopted a conservative approach, and in the absence of stronger evidence, they ultimately dropped the charges...

Originally, Shiraishi didn't know much about this matter because it had nothing to do with him.

Now, hearing "murderer" and "Hanzuma" reminds me of this...

They quickly realized that, judging from everyone's expressions, it seemed... the victim was someone they knew?
"I want omelet rice and oden." Hasunuma was so arrogant that she seemed not to notice everyone's reaction and even ordered her own food.

Just then, Mr. Namiki walked out with a kitchen knife, yelling, "You bastard, die..."

"and many more!"

"Yutaro, calm down!"

"husband……"

His friends quickly intervened and took the cleaver away from him.

"What?...I'm the victim here! It's all because of your lies that I was treated like a criminal and lost my job." Hasunuma looked at everyone disdainfully, then lit a cigarette and said, "How are you going to compensate me?"

Tojima, who had been trying to stop Namiki Yutaro, retorted angrily, "Aren't you a murderer yourself?"

"Oh? Then why am I here? Why am I not in prison?" Hasunuma asked matter-of-factly.

"You bastard..." Namiki Yutaro struggled, "Let me go! Let me kill him!"

Shiraishi also realized that the victim should be a member of the Namiki family, and in terms of age... she should be Natsumi's older sister?
"Tch, stop talking nonsense. I'm going to sue you for defamation!" Renzuma said with a sneer.

Immediately, Renuma stood up and said, "Then let's skip dinner today... Next time I come, I'll be talking about money, so get your compensation ready!"

Hasunuma stood up unhappily, bumping into the chair next to him.

Just then, Shiraishi noticed that Takagaki, who had been sitting with his back to him and hadn't said a word, had quietly grasped the craft knife on the table—it was Maya's old table, which had some craft tools and implements on it, so they must have been discussing the costume parade...

It was clear that the other young people at the table also looked very upset; the victim was probably around their age.

Just as Hasunuma got up to leave, Takagaki suddenly sprang into action, turning to stab Hasunuma, but tripped over his own feet and fell hard...

Seeing this, Renuma laughed and said, "What are you guys doing? A bunch of useless trash... gurgling."

Shiraishi then stood up.

It was at this time...

It was only then that Hasunuma noticed that the people standing at the entrance were actually "people"!
Because the size is completely wrong, if Shiraishi doesn't make any moves, other people won't mistake him for a human if they just glance at him... This isn't the first time Shiraishi has encountered this situation.

Hasunuma was startled when he suddenly saw the "wall" stand up.

"Apologize." Shiraishi then walked directly to the middle of the passageway that was blocking him and the others and said.

"W-what?" Hasunuma hadn't reacted yet.

at the same time……

Having just received a signal from Shiraishi, Ai suddenly cried out, "Brother! He just hit me!"

That's right, when Hasunuma got up, she bumped into Ai's chair.

For the exact opposite reason—Ai is too short and was hidden by the chair back, so Hasunuma didn't see her at all. Even if they had bumped into each other, it wouldn't have mattered, and an apology was out of the question…

He was just giving these people a warning today, a warm-up for the "extortion" later, so of course he couldn't show any weakness.

Those cowards in Dongdu didn't fall for the trap and quickly released him, leaving him no chance to sue for compensation. This made Hasunuma, who had tasted the sweetness of it, very unhappy, so he wanted to change the direction of "extortion" and make money to live a life of debauchery for the next few years!
That money from eighteen years ago has long been squandered...

How could I show weakness at this moment?
Anyway, nothing will happen if I don't apologize for this kind of thing.

but……

Under the intimidating gaze of Shiraishi's expressionless face, Hasunuma was unable to move an inch.

"I..." Rationally, Hasunuma wanted to be stubborn, but intuitively, he was already frozen in place.

"Do you want me to teach you how to apologize?" Shiraishi said in a deep voice.

"I...I'm...I'm sorry...little friend," Hasunuma said in a hoarse voice.

He then lowered his head and glared fiercely at Ai—you all had better keep an eye on little girls this age, otherwise…

But just then...

Ai's seemingly mocking "little devil's sneer" sent a chill down Hasunuma's spine—what's wrong with this family?

"By the way, there's one more thing to correct. The murder clearance rate in the Eastern Island Country is around 95%, so logically speaking, not being prosecuted or imprisoned does not equate to not committing murder... Although citizens enjoy the right to reputation, as long as the statements provided to the police or reporters do not contain any lies, it does not constitute an infringement of the right to reputation."

"As for your unemployment, legally speaking, you can consider suing the police or your employer," Shiraishi said calmly.

Hasunuma:......

Of course he knows!
If he could sue, he would have sued for compensation directly. However, after providing his lawyer's advice, he felt that he would have a better chance of success if he harassed the suspect himself.

Suing the police and the company would only be a protracted battle, and there wouldn't even be enough money to pay the lawyers!
"Who...who are you?" Hasunuma asked, her face grim.

“My name is Shiraishi Kuro, and I’m a police officer.” Shiraishi paused for a moment before saying, “By the way, the place where the body was found is right next to my jurisdiction… Heh, I’ve seen even more arrogant guys who thought they had alibis and told me, ‘I won’t be arrested’… I wonder how they’re doing in prison now.”

As he spoke, Shiraishi deliberately shook his head, looking disdainful.

To Hasunuma, it sounded as if Shiraishi was saying—if you anger me, I have plenty of ways to make you confess, and even an alibi won't help!
Hasunuma:......

Hearing Shiraishi say that, Hasunuma didn't dare to say anything more.

After all, Shiraishi's "art style" alone demonstrates his strength and skill...

Hasunuma turned and left, not daring to utter any more harsh words.

but……

His last look caught Bai Shi's attention—it didn't seem like he had given up on extortion.
Shiraishi then turned his head and looked at the table where the Arakura couple were sitting, only to see Arakura also glaring angrily at Hasunuma's back.

Although they didn't know who he was before, the victim was clearly very familiar with him.

Wuwuwu——

Hasunuma left, but the atmosphere in the shop suddenly turned cold.

Especially the Namiki family of three; the male head of the household, Yutaro, was barely managing to shed tears, but Machiko and her daughter Natsumi were already crying out in grief.

They have endured three years of torment from the disappearance and lack of news of their loved ones.

In the end, all that came was news of the death of a loved one.

Although the suspect was briefly arrested, he was later told that he would not be prosecuted and that the search would be suspended.

This left the family of three not only heartbroken but also unable to vent their grief, and even worse, the murderer turned on them at this critical moment.

"Is Mr. Shiraishi a police officer in Tokyo? Why can't that guy..." Takagaki asked with a hint of resentment, but Tojima and Maya stopped him: "Takagaki!"

“Inspector Shiraishi also said that it’s not in his jurisdiction, and... actually, the crime scene should be Kikuno, but..." Maya, who had been so carefree just moments before, seemed very downcast.

Although Shiraishi had just dampened the opponent's spirit and interrupted that guy's "provocation," at this moment, as the person involved, it was clear that he couldn't have much respect for Shiraishi.

After all, he said he was a police officer...

If you guys were really useful, why haven't you solved the case yet!
Even though they rationally knew that there were so many police officers in Tokyo, and this matter had nothing to do with Shiraishi, who was just passing through on a trip, they still couldn't accept it emotionally, and even "had already put colored glasses on the police officers."

Although Shiraishi felt helpless, he could understand their thoughts.

after all……

Criminals are not separate entities, nor are they one and the same. But no matter how the police try to separate them, they are still one entity. At this point, it is meaningless for Shiraishi to explain that "the useless thing is my colleague, not me."

"You...you've come here to reinvestigate this case?" Maya asked expectantly.

"I'm sorry... I've only heard about this case. I'm really just here on vacation." Shiraishi said apologetically.

"Oh... well... have fun." Maya looked downcast, but she was understanding enough not to say anything more.

Just then, the door opened again.

Everyone turned to look...

At least it's not that bastard who's back!

Instead, it was a guest I didn't know...

The customer had a middle-part hairstyle and a cold expression. He frowned when he saw the situation in the store, especially after seeing Shiraishi.

Upon seeing this, Shiraishi's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "This is truly... Speak of the devil, and he appears! Everyone, this is Inspector Yujian from the Tokyo Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office. You were in charge of the case with the Hasunuma before, weren't you?"

Shiraishi wasn't intentionally "betraying" him; in fact, his tone lightened somewhat—Mitsuken's appearance in Kikuno at this moment was definitely not a coincidence…

Most likely, he was also worried about Hasunuma's case!
In this way, Shiraishi can also take advantage of the situation...

Thinking of this, Shiraishi looked at Ayako with some embarrassment. He had only thought that with Mitsurugi present, he could also take the opportunity to intervene in the case, but he forgot that he had come with Ayako.

but……

Ayako looked at him with an expression of understanding and encouragement...

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 22nd, the 1836th anniversary of General He Jin's assassination by the Ten Attendants. Please vote for me! Please vote for me! Please vote for me!
(End of this chapter)