Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 566 Instigation
July 29, Saturday, 7:7 p.m., Okuho Town, heavy rain.

Braving the torrential rain, detectives from the Okuho Police Station arrived at the safe house immediately, led by Chief Akimoto...

As soon as Akimoto got out of the car, he saw Shiraishi holding a parasol over his stall and quickly walked over: "Inspector Shiraishi, do you know the deceased?"

Shiraishi had warned them in advance to be careful, and although he hadn't given them the location of the safe house, he had given them a range to be prepared to seal off the surrounding area at any time.

Not long ago, Shiraishi reported to the police that a body had been found. Akimoto, of course, understood that the deceased must be someone that Chief Shiraishi knew.

"Yes, the deceased was Hidekazu Shimoyama, and his occupation was... a member of parliament," Shiraishi introduced.

Akimoto:......! ! !
Akimoto remained calm at first, but then his heart immediately jumped into his throat.

"A member of parliament? Then... what's he doing here?" Akimoto couldn't help but raise his voice.

"Come in first, the situation is complicated," Shiraishi said calmly.

Akimoto and Shiraishi entered the villa, while the detectives outside continued examining the scene—most of the evidence had already been destroyed in the heavy rain, but... the longer it dragged on, the less evidence could be collected!
As Shiraishi and Akimoto entered, Amano immediately came to greet them, frowning as he looked at Akimoto and asked, "Is this the detective from the Okuho Police Station?"

“That’s right, this is Chief Akimoto of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Okuho Police Station, and this is... Chief Amano, who invited Representative Shimoyama here... um, the Chief of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.” Shiraishi introduced the two of them.

Akimoto:......

Luckily, Akimoto is slow to speak!
I heard it was this guy who invited the councilor from Shimoyama, and Akimoto is already thinking of questioning him.

Thankfully, I heard Shiraishi's follow-up...

"You must be... Chief Amano? I've heard so much about you..." Akimoto forced a smile.

After all, Amano used to be the head of the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Case Division, and Akimoto, as a veteran detective in Toto, had at least heard of his name, even if he had never met him.

"Yes, the Okuho Agency responded promptly," Amano acknowledged.

Indeed, like Okutama, Okuho Town is a sparsely populated mountainous area, and now it's raining so heavily...

When Shiraishi called the police, everyone assumed that it would take a long time for the police to arrive, and that they might not arrive until the rain stopped.

But actually...

It only took about ten minutes!
"Yes! This is all thanks to Inspector Shiraishi, who had already discussed and made arrangements with our chief." Akimoto said honestly.

Perhaps fearing that Chief Amano might still be uneasy, Akimoto added, "Don't worry, we've blocked off both roads leading here! No one has entered or left since this afternoon, so the culprit is definitely still here!"

"Is he still there? Could it be that guy... crossed mountains and valleys in this weather?" Amano said worriedly.

“Okuho Town is sparsely populated and mostly mountainous. It is indeed possible that the unknown foreign assassin, after killing the councilor, took a shortcut through the deep forests during the downpour…” Shiraishi paused here, then continued, “However, it is more likely that the murderer is still here, among us!”

click-

Just then, a clap of thunder struck, shining brightly through the window.

"What...what do you mean by that?" Ise Hikaru exclaimed in surprise.

"Aren't we the ones who are supposed to be killed? Are you doubting us?" Sasaki Hiroshi seemed to have completely lost his composure.

Kunihito Yabe, who was standing to the side, did not speak—in fact, he was the least suspicious...after all, his arm was badly injured, and although he was strong, it was almost impossible for him to commit murder with only one hand.

Shiraishi just did a preliminary inspection...

The senator was killed by a stone or similar object striking his head, not by a knife or gun. It required a certain level of physical fitness!
Shimoyama, Ise, and Sasaki were all just "ordinary middle-aged men," so they might have had a chance to ambush them. However, Yabe, who only had one left hand, didn't have much opportunity to commit a crime.

In addition...

"Of course I don't doubt either of you..." Shiraishi shook his head and said.

Sasaki and Ise breathed a sigh of relief, while Shiraishi continued, "The ones we should be suspicious of are you two, Secretary Tanaka... and the five of you—Chief Amano and the company executive!"

Everyone:...

When Yabe saw that he wasn't on the list, he was... even a little moved.

Akimoto was at a loss for words at this moment!
He had originally thought that he could make a good impression on Chief Amano this time, and maybe he would have a chance to be promoted in the future. He was also glad that Inspector Shiraishi was there. If he hadn't prepared in advance, how could he have been able to respond to the call in time?
Who knew... Shiraishi would turn around and list Chief Amano as a suspect as well!
"Wait! Why? He's so strong, he could fight better than any of us with just one hand, right?"

"And...aren't there the three of you too..."

Ise and Sasaki, unwilling to accept this, started arguing.

Shiraishi stated, "First of all, the victim died from a severe blow to the back of the head with a stone. Judging from the direction of the injury, the perpetrator was holding the stone in their right hand. Although we don't know if Mr. Yabe's eyewitness testimony is true, the injuries are genuine..."

“As for the three of us… First of all, we weren’t involved in the case to begin with; secondly, Gen and Yamada have been together all along, and as for me… if you want to doubt me, then doubt me. I’m the one doing the reasoning now.” As he spoke, Shiraishi shrugged.

Shiraishi then looked at Amano and asked, "Chief Amano, is there any problem with this direction of the investigation?"

"That's a bit of a stretch," Amano said with a straight face.

Just then, Ise Hikaru gritted his teeth and said, "I...I want to report this! I saw...Member Shimoyama, in the second-floor corridor, saying something to her, and then...she walked away very angrily, her face looking very ugly..."

At this point, Ise Mitsu directly testified against Yami Miko.

"Oh?" Shiraishi looked at Yami Miko upon hearing this.

However, Miko smiled slightly and said, "Because that guy said some nonsense about me becoming his lover, I scolded him and left."

Considering Lao Deng's behavior before descending the mountain, the situation described by the community is indeed very credible.

"I see..." Shiraishi remained noncommittal, simply looking at Akimoto and saying, "Inspector Akimoto, remember this!"

"Huh? Me?" Akimoto was taken aback when he heard this, then chuckled awkwardly and took out his notebook, writing nervously.

"Ms. Shiraishi, may I ask what you were doing between 5:30 and 6:30? Is there anyone who can testify to that?" Shiraishi then asked further.

At 5:30, Tanaka's secretary last saw Representative Shimoyama. At 6:30, Shiraishi determined the shortest time of death after discovering the body at 7:30.

She then shook her head with a long face and said, "Of course not! I've been busy in the kitchen because of someone!"

Shiraishi:……

This reason left Shiraishi speechless. Just then, Chief Amano spoke up directly: "Neither I nor the company secretary have any room for doubt. Putting aside the alibi this time, two of the previous three murders occurred on weekdays during the day, when we were all on internal duty."

Upon hearing Amano's words, Ise and Sasaki seemed about to say something as well—if an alibi is possible for every case, they also have one.

but……

“The other three murder cases? Oh right, Chief Amano just said that my reasoning was a bit far-fetched, right? I think if I add this, it won't be so far-fetched, right?” Shiraishi said, showing off his phone.

Two videos are playing above...

"This is the result of our joint investigation by detectives from the Toya Police Station over the past two days... Although there were no direct cameras at the crime scene, our two stations checked all the cameras within a one-kilometer radius. We didn't find any suspicious foreigners, but we did find these two people..."

"This is footage from a store's security camera, 200 meters away from where Kenji Ogura was pushed. It shows that during the time of the incident, Yosuke Kusaka... the second victim, appeared here."

"Furthermore, this is the closest station camera to where Wakashima Hirofumi was stabbed to death. It is estimated that this person exited the station from here around the time of the incident... Although he was disguised, it is still possible to identify him. This is the fourth victim in this case, namely the senator Shimoyama who was killed not long ago."

Shiraishi then presented the important evidence he had previously received.

In other words...

"Does Inspector Shiraishi mean... that these victims killed each other's previous targets?" The director then realized.

“That’s right. Based on this, the most likely scenario for killing the person who came down the mountain is one of the three of you. However, Mr. Yabe doesn’t seem to have the conditions right now… Of course, we can’t completely rule out the suspicion of the three of you: Chief Amano, the company secretary, and Secretary Tanaka, especially since… alibis from other cases are meaningless.” Shiraishi calmly looked at the group.

It is said that Yabe did not have the means to commit the crime...

But right now, Yabe Kunihito is the one who sees the Khan the most!
“Wait… if that’s the case, Mr. Yabe, you were attacked earlier…” Yabe realized at this moment.

"There was no killer at all... You're lying!"

"That's right, who exactly attacked you?"

"It's you... your injuries must be fake, you're the murderer!"

"No... Chief Mikasa, I know! He must have tied the stone to the back of his hand and pretended it was his right hand that attacked!"

Although the two detectives from the Beika Police Station had insisted that no killer had entered the apartment, the idea of ​​a "self-inflicted injury" was ultimately just speculation—after all, Yabe was seriously injured!

No one doubted Kunihito Yabe's testimony at first, but now it seems...

There were no "foreign killers" in the previous three murder cases, which makes his previous testimony highly unreliable!

and……

From the very beginning, when analyzing the suspects, Shiraishi always included everyone except Yabe, which naturally made everyone not consider him "one of their own".

If anything becomes suspicious at this point, they will be immediately "punished by the masses".

Yabe was also stunned. After all, when he heard that others had been ordered to kill, he had suspected that it might be the same person who had coerced him. He quickly denied it, saying, "No...no! I didn't kill anyone..."

"Mr. Yabe, do you still want to stick to your previous testimony?" Shiraishi asked, staring at him.

"I...yes, I...stabbed myself with a knife." Yabe finally admitted.

It has to be said, he was really ruthless to himself.

"What's the reason?" Shiraishi pressed.

"I... don't want to be suspected," Yabe said, his eyes darting around.

"Heh, it seems Mr. Yabe isn't going to tell the truth." Shiraishi shook his head, feigning helplessness, and then said, "So the person who made you stab yourself also ordered you to kill Councilor Shimoyama, is that right?"

"No! I wasn't ordered to kill anyone... I was just asked to attract the police's attention, and... to describe the murderer as a Maoist! I... Chief Amano, say something!" Yabe hurriedly pleaded with Amano for help.

However, Amano glared at him, his face also turning ashen.

That's right, this is tantamount to admitting that Amano instructed him to do this!

"Oh? How did Chief Amano convince you? There shouldn't be any dirt on you regarding your deal with Arro, right?" Shiraishi asked directly.

“I…he said…he would go to my hometown…and spread rumors that I betrayed the country…unless I cooperate with him,” Yabe said helplessly.

At this moment, Miko also realized something and looked at Chief Amano in disbelief, but she did not say anything.

Bai Shi then said, "I see. So, even if there's nothing that can be done through the law, they'll still resort to exploiting people's weaknesses in private?"

Amano just sneered without saying a word, which seemed to be both an admission and a mockery of Shiraishi for having no evidence.

However, Shiraishi then said, "This involves seven people. I don't think even if we wanted to find their weaknesses, Chief Amano wouldn't have gone to investigate personally, right? I wonder if investigating other people might yield any clues..."

That's right. If you want to exploit someone's weaknesses, you need to know what those weaknesses are first.

"Is there a problem with conducting background checks on people who leak information to spies?" Amano countered.

"That makes sense, so you don't agree with Mr. Yabe's accusations either?" Shiraishi took a step closer to him and asked with an imposing aura.

Upon hearing this, Amano's expression flickered slightly before he said, "No, I did ask him to do that... but that was just to attract the attention of the Public Security Bureau, so that we could truly protect them."

"Heh, let's assume for now that you really were the one instigating the murder. Then the fact that you coerced Yabe into self-harm instead of killing him suggests that the plan changed, right? After all, I just went to the internal investigation office to see you earlier that day..."

"At this time, gathering everyone here is certainly not for protection, but rather... to take this opportunity to kill everyone!"
"Unfortunately, because I'm here too, you have to abandon your plan. As for killing Councilor Shimoyama, that's another unplanned event..."

"Of course, all of this is only true under the premise that 'you are the one who instigated it'."

Shiraishi paused, and Amano, his voice trembling slightly, asked, "What are you trying to say?"

“If you’re not the mastermind, there shouldn’t be any highly toxic substances, explosives, or ignition devices in your luggage or on you… Can we check?” Shiraishi asked calmly.

Amano:……

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Dongdong: Today is October 17th. One year ago today, Japanese left-wing anti-war actor Toshiyuki Nishida passed away (he played the role of the narcissistic father and the headmaster in Michiko Daimon).

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(End of this chapter)