Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 570 The Poisoned Arrow of Disturbance

After taking the phone, Shiraishi looked curiously at the screen in front of him—this "James" really has something!
The Mikasa Police Department only learned after conducting an investigation that Aya Mimura had an alibi, yet James had made this judgment before that?
"How is it?" Changjiang's calm voice was filled with confidence.

“Impressive, James,” Shiraishi said to the screen.

However, James showed no reaction at this point...

Upon seeing this, Changjiang explained, "For safety reasons, James usually sets his phone to only respond to my voice."

“I see…” Shiraishi nodded and said, “Like being afraid that a child will be tricked by a stranger, right?”

“That’s right.” When Changjiang heard Baishi say this, his usually stern face softened a little. Then, as if he had thought of something, he said, “I will need to ask Director Mihua to help James grow. Let me activate your permissions first.”

As Changjiang spoke, he recorded Baishi's voiceprint and facial features into James's computer.

"James, how did you know about Ayana Mimura, and how did you know she wasn't the murderer?" Shiraishi then continued the conversation.

[I first analyzed the usual information about Section Chief Fujii and the personnel list of the target company, and selected young women that Fujii might be interested in. Then I compared their recent shift records with Section Chief Fujii's to confirm the candidates.]

[Furthermore, in the photos from the scene, I noticed that the hotel room chosen by Manager Fujii was a non-smoking room, while both Manager Fujii and Ms. Mimura regularly smoke, which doesn't make sense given the logic of booking a non-smoking room.]

James's electronic synthesized voice began to play.

Bai Shi had been wondering how it knew the alibi since it couldn't connect to the internet. Now it seemed that it wasn't judging from the alibi, but rather reasoning purely from known information and logic!
"James, you're really amazing," Shiraishi praised.
"Thank you, you're amazing too, Chief Mika." James's voice rang out.

Bai Shi's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this.

"By the way, the officers at my station just learned from Aya Mimura that Chief Fujii's wife probably already knew about his extramarital affair. We're going to investigate Mrs. Fujii again. The Metropolitan Police Department will compile the details and send them over later," Shiraishi reminded him before leaving.

Shiraishi then left the research institute, and...

"Hey, this is Shiraishi... What's Narcissistic doing? Have him go and revisit the current case, this one with the Ministry of Justice... Yes, have him visit both the wife and the mistress again!"

After getting into the car, Shiraishi first called the police station.

LeBron James, you're really good, aren't you?

Bai Shi was going to let it know what it meant to be "all artificial and without intelligence"!
See if its reasoning is faster and more accurate than Cupid's poisoned arrow.

After driving...

"What do you mean by 'spirited aura'? Has anyone died there?" Shiraishi suddenly muttered to himself.

At the same time, Ayari's figure appeared to Shiraishi's left.

"No, it shouldn't be a ghost... It feels strange, but there is definitely a sense of 'spirit' about it," Ayari said vaguely.

Bai Shi fell silent for a moment, his mind also filled with doubt—could it be that…this AI has transcended science and possesses some supernatural attributes?

Otherwise, if it were a normal spirit, regardless of whether it was human or complete, Ayari shouldn't have been so vague—even a male Red Demon like Shiraishi didn't feel anything, yet Ayari could sense the spirit's presence; after all, he's a professional "spirit medium"!
The reason for the ambiguity, Shiraishi suspects, is that this is "something new," so even the mediums don't understand it.

Thinking about it carefully, since APTX4869, a biological and chemical concept, can exhibit supernatural properties, it seems not impossible for AI, a field of information technology, to also exhibit supernatural properties!
Shiraishi was also very interested in this, but it wasn't appropriate to probe further at the moment.

……

Before Shiraishi left work that evening, news came from the Criminal Investigation Division that Mrs. Fujii did indeed know about her husband's affair and had presented an alibi. However, her alibi was not only unverifiable but also disproven!
"The cinema's security cameras didn't capture her, and both theaters showing the movie at the time had sold more than half their tickets?" Shiraishi listened to Zongfang's report.

“That’s right, but we can be pretty sure that Mrs. Fujii was lying when she said she was ‘watching a movie in an empty theater’ during the time of the incident,” Zongfang said, then added after a pause, “and we also discovered that Fujii had purchased life insurance… about 2000 million yen.”

It is clear that Munakata has doubts about Mrs. Fujii.

Shiraishi shook his head and said, "Only twenty million? Given Fujii's family's financial situation, if they were killing for money, they would have at least bought two hundred million in insurance beforehand..."

The planning department is lucrative; surely the head of the department's wife wouldn't be so easily fooled?
"Have Narcissism and Amagi returned?" Shiraishi asked again to confirm.

"Not yet." Zongfang shook his head.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi's eyes lit up, and he said, "Is it because of narcissism?"

If she's narcissistic and has taken a liking to someone's widow, then she's highly suspicious.

"No, it seems... it's because Tian Shu discovered something." Zong Fang shook his head again.

Shiraishi was slightly disappointed upon hearing this.

"Okay, I understand." Shiraishi checked the time and realized it was time to get off work, so he decided to go see "James" again today.

……

At the research institute, Changjiang had already instructed that Baishi could come in directly.

"Good evening, Professor Changjiang, good evening, James." Baishi greeted both Changjiang and James as he entered the terminal room.

[Good evening, Chief Mika.] James's voice rang out—because

"Good evening." Changjiang greeted Baishi and James, his expression softening considerably. He then asked, "Are you investigating Fujii's wife?"

Shiraishi wasn't surprised that Changjiang knew about the progress of the investigation—after all, the investigation reports were sent to her and then entered into James's database.

“That’s right.” Shiraishi nodded.

"Mrs. Fujii is innocent," James interjected.

Upon seeing this, Shiraishi's heart stirred—just this "interruption" revealed...his extraordinary side.

“I think so too, but we still need evidence when we investigate cases. The detectives at the Mikasa Police Station are investigating this... James, do you know what ‘evidence’ is?”

"Evidence" refers to materials that prove the facts of a case, including objective physical evidence and documentary evidence, as well as subjective testimony and confessions. James answered methodically.

“That’s right, so James, where do you think we can find the evidence?” Shiraishi asked openly.

[Basis for judgment: 1. The insurance amount is too small; 2. The victim has a habit of purchasing insurance; 3. It is impossible for the suspect to have booked a hotel room with the victim, and the suspect could not have known the victim's room number.]

James explained his reasoning, but...

“There’s no evidence yet…” Shiraishi said helplessly, then asked in confusion, “By the way, how do you know that the Suzuki Hotel won’t leak the room number?”

Indeed, this is one of the reasons why Shiraishi judged that Mrs. Fujii did not meet the conditions for committing the crime.

but……

While "not disclosing guest room numbers" is standard practice in all hotels, not all hotels adhere to it. Shiraishi wanted to know if James's judgment stemmed from "Suzuki Hotel having this strict management," or if he simply based his assumption on standard practice or hotel staff testimonies, making a hasty conclusion that disclosure was impossible.

If it's the latter, then it means he still has a lot of room for improvement...

Before James could answer Shiraishi's question, Changjiang interrupted, "I searched for some basic materials online... Although internet access is usually prohibited, access to specific content is allowed when investigating cases, which is how I found some reviews of the Suzuki Hotel."

"I see." Shiraishi looked enlightened upon hearing this.

However, Bai Shi still had some doubts about Changjiang's attitude.

Just then, before Shiraishi could think any further, his phone rang...

"Excuse me," Shiraishi said, answering the phone again.

"Hello, this is Shiraishi... Hmm? Are you sure? Okay... I understand."

After hanging up the phone, Shiraishi smiled slightly and said, "It seems that James and we were right. We have found Mrs. Fujii's real alibi."

Tian Shu is very perceptive...

Judging from the location of the movie poster, it can be inferred that Mrs. Fujii lied about going to the movies because she must have actually seen the poster nearby and remembered it, which led her to say that based on her memory.

Our investigation revealed the actual place Mrs. Fujii went to...

It's a couples' hotel upstairs!

That's right, Mrs. Fujii also had an affair...

After realizing that her affair had been exposed, Mrs. Fujii admitted that she had been in a hotel room with a young man at the time.

This has been confirmed with the parties involved, meaning that Mrs. Fujii's alibi is valid!

"As expected of Director Mihua... What do you think? James is perfectly capable as an assistant, isn't he?" Changjiang finally asked with a slight smile.

“Not bad. I would be very happy if it were my colleague,” Shiraishi praised, then probed, “It’s hard to believe that this is an AI created through programming. It’s almost like it has real consciousness!”

Upon hearing this, Changjiang said somewhat unhappily, "Of course James has his own mind."

Shiraishi also realized that Namiko Nagae was somewhat "eccentric," which might be the reason why AI could generate special "spirit"!

But if others heard her say that, they would only think she was talking nonsense...

However, Shiraishi was able to understand at this moment: "Yes, that's right, I also think James was conscious... How about I enter the new investigation data into him?"

Hearing Bai Shi say this, Changjiang's expression softened slightly and he said, "It's great that Director Mihua is willing to help."

Soon, the Mika Police Station delivered new search data.

After discovering that "James" might possess supernatural elements, or even be a special kind of "spirit," Shiraishi's interest in him also increased significantly.

Instead of waiting for the head office, I decided to do it myself...

"Director, here are the documents you requested." The narcissist was just about to leave work and go home when he delivered the files to Shiraishi.

"Good, the previous search was well done. Make sure to find any new suspects tomorrow," Shiraishi encouraged.

The investigation has now reached a dead end—because all the suspects initially suspected have now been proven not to be the murderer…

"Yes!" the narcissist said, his gaze uncontrollably drifting towards the Yangtze River beside him.

Shiraishi:……

If the Yangtze River were some kind of beautiful woman, that would be one thing.

The problem is that Changjiang is not only plain-looking, but he also always has a stern face and is extremely timid...

This is clearly not normal for men to look at you with "admiration" or even "drooling" eyes—especially since this person is narcissistic!

"Detective Kogure?" Shiraishi's heart skipped a beat.

"Ah...ah! It's nothing. This must be Professor Changjiang, right? What a beautiful scientist!" she said bluntly, her narcissism evident.

Shiraishi:……

It's true, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
and……

Among narcissistic lovers, there may be true culprits.

Of course, Shiraishi cannot yet determine whether Namiko Nagae committed other illegal acts in this case, or whether... she really is the murderer!

Theoretically speaking, any illegal behavior she exhibits in this case will be targeted by Cupid's poisoned arrow—it might even just be a way for James to obtain information through shady channels, which is why Shiraishi cannot be 100% certain about anything.

Changjiang then showed a look of disgust—which was normal; anyone would feel disgusted if they were looked at like that by a greasy detective they were meeting for the first time.

"Well... there's nothing for you to do here." Shiraishi first sent the narcissistic guy away, who had no reason to stay.

Immediately, Baishi asked Changjiang, "Teacher Changjiang, is it okay if I send the information to James via chat later?"

“Yes, it’s possible. Although it’s not as efficient as directly entering data into a fixed-format table, I still believe that this is more helpful for James’s development,” Changjiang said directly.

Shiraishi then readily provided James with the additional information from the investigation.

If submitting documents directly is like directly entering data, what Shiraishi is doing now is more like "teaching" James.

The mistress and wife have been cleared of suspicion, and the Mikasa Police Station is now focusing more on interviewing the deceased's work environment. If the station chief were any other, seeing so many statements from "Ministry of Justice Criminal Investigation Bureau" staff members in the investigation report, he would probably be losing sleep for nights on end.

However, Shiraishi didn't think there was anything wrong with it...

The head of the Criminal Investigation Bureau's Planning Division is dead. I need to find out what happened by asking them. I haven't even said I suspect them yet!

After "teaching" James this superficial information, Shiraishi asked directly, "James, which scenario do you think is more likely: a crime of passion, a crime for money, a crime of revenge?"

Because James remained silent for a while, Shiraishi called out again, "James?"

"I think... it was suicide." James said calmly, offering the explanation that Shiraishi found most unacceptable.

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 October 22nd. 94 years ago today, Puyi became the first emperor to divorce (abdicate). Please vote for me! Please vote for me! Please vote for me!
(End of this chapter)