Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 583 The Savage Appears
After exchanging brief pleasantries with Jodie and the others, Shiraishi Mori and the others returned to the villa rented by the film crew.

Due to unforeseen circumstances that compressed the filming time, Hiruda made adjustments to some details and procedures of the filming to ensure that the filming schedule was not delayed.

Fortunately, the adjustments were not complicated, and Shiraishi and Mori only needed to follow the staff's guidance and adapt accordingly.

Just as everyone had finished discussing the filming details, Shiraishi asked, "By the way, shouldn't we discuss the filming with Ms. Kano?"

"No need, Ghana, she..."

Before Director Hiruda could finish speaking, Daimon interjected, "If Kano knew we disturbed her rest over such a trivial matter, she would definitely throw a tantrum, which would only make things more complicated. Let's talk to her when I pick her up tonight."

Ran noticed the sweetness in Daimon's words and couldn't help but gossip, "Mr. Daimon and Ms. Kano seem to have a very good relationship. Are they dating?"

Upon hearing Ran's words, Mori suddenly laughed: "Oh my, could it be that the rumors you two made back then were true?"

"Back then?" Xiaolan asked, puzzled, glancing at Maoli beside her. Maoli continued, "It's said that the two of you developed feelings for each other while filming 'Sweet Detective Diary' ten years ago, and were photographed entering and leaving the same apartment building behaving intimately..."

Halfway through his sentence, Mori suddenly felt the atmosphere become inexplicably awkward, and scratched his head: "Excuse me, is this something I can say?"

“It’s okay. I was indeed dating Ghana back then, but we broke up quickly, and we only recently got back together.”

"Oh, congratulations!"

I heard Ayako mention their past relationship when I was chatting with her yesterday.

Compared to Mori, Ayako, who is more interested in idol dramas, provided somewhat different information.

The two were indeed rumored to be dating while filming "Sweet Detective Diary," but behind the scenes, their relationship didn't seem as pure as it appeared.

Unfortunately, Shiraishi wasn't interested in the gossip about the actors. The more he listened, the more his head spun. So he simply ignored Ayako's words and activated his passive skill of "um," "ah," "yes," and "right," cleverly keeping the conversation going.

As they were chatting, the doorman's phone rang. He glanced at it and said, "Excuse me, I have to excuse myself for a moment. You guys continue your conversation."

After saying that, he got up and left. Faced with his sudden departure, no one asked any questions, but continued to chat about the details of the filming.

When Xiaolan saw the part about the wild man in the script, she asked, "Excuse me, what is the legend of the wild man in the mountains... could it be...?"

Director Hiruda explained, "This is actually a very famous local legend. The legend says that at midnight, long-haired savages with a nine-foot-tall body, blue face and fangs, will appear in the mountains and forests. They will use blunt weapons to smash the heads of the guilty into dust."

Seemingly sensing Ran's fear, Director Hiruda deliberately lowered his voice mischievously, leaving Shiraishi speechless.

It really is a grand stage for the monsters of Gunma. It seems that director Hiruda must have heard of this place before, which is why he deliberately chose this location for filming.

Just as the two were having a heated discussion about the mountain savage, Kenjiro Akechi, who had been silent all along, spoke up in a strange tone: "Little girl, you don't need to be so afraid. After all, we have 'Chief Beika' here. A mere nine-foot-tall hairy savage is nothing more than a punch to Superintendent Shiraishi. Don't you agree, Superintendent?"

Shiraishi replied, "That's right, Xiaolan, there's no need to be afraid. We have Inspector Mingzhi, who came back from studying in the United States. He's an expert in this field."

"An expert?" Everyone was puzzled, even Akechi Kengo was completely baffled.
Shiraishi continued, "That's right. After all, there have always been rumors about Bigfoot in the United States. Inspector Akechi used to be in the FBI, so he should have a lot of experience. I probably won't even need to take action."

Xiaolan's curiosity was piqued: "Really? Has Inspector Akechi ever seen Bigfoot?"

"Well... those are just urban legends. Let's continue discussing the process." Akechi gave an awkward laugh and could only steer the conversation back on track.

He, Shiraishi, resorted to physical violence to solve problems, but Shiraishi also mocked him for neglecting his duties while working for the FBI...

After everyone finished discussing the filming details, it was already dinnertime. After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms to rest and prepare for tomorrow's filming.

Due to personal reasons, Shiraishi had to sleep on a makeshift bed on the floor in the living room with the crew. Director Hiruda repeatedly apologized for not arranging a proper bed for Shiraishi, but Shiraishi himself did not mind.

Given the current situation and lineup, we'd be grateful if he could even find a place to sleep soundly.

Because the filming time was scheduled for very early the next day, everyone gradually went to sleep. Around midnight, Shiraishi, who was sleeping in the living room, was awakened by a series of hurried footsteps.

"Wake up, everyone, wake up!"

He got up and saw that Director Hiruda, wearing pajamas, was hurrying towards the living room with his phone in one hand.

Hiruda said into his phone, "Don't worry, we've installed hidden cameras around the villa where we're filming. I'll have someone check it right away, nothing will happen."

As Bai Shi "stretched out" and returned to its normal size, he stepped forward and asked, "What happened?"

“Ghana said someone was smashing the villa’s door with something,” Hiruda replied, while urging Michio Akashi, who was in charge of the camera, to turn on the equipment.

"Ghana, don't be afraid. Hide in the room first. We're already checking the security footage."

"Hurry, that guy's coming in!" Ghana's voice on the receiver was tinged with tears.

"He's coming in!"

Just as Ghana screamed, Michio Akashi had already set up the equipment. In the surveillance footage, a huge, hairy monster was holding a hammer, walking straight down the corridor to the door of Ghana's room, and pounding on the lock again and again.

"It's...it's a savage!"

Other people in the same villa, alerted by the commotion, also came out and witnessed the scene unfolding before their eyes…

"Are there really wild men?"

"Director, this is... the script, right?"

Hiruda didn't have time to explain.

"No, don't come any closer! Help! Someone help! He's coming in!" Ghana shouted hoarsely into the receiver. Without hesitation, Shiraishi rushed out of the villa and headed towards the mountain stream.

Awakened by the noise, Mori and the others, still in their pajamas, chased after him. Seeing Shiraishi rushing towards the ravine, Kengo Akechi shouted after him, "Inspector Shiraishi, there's a canyon down there, you can't jump over it..."

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Shi leaped into the air like a god, clearing a ravine more than ten meters high and landing steadily on the opposite cliff.

Although he had heard that this police inspector was a person of terrifying physical strength, he was still speechless with shock when he saw it with his own eyes.

After landing, Bai Shi rushed straight towards the villa. He ran at full speed, wasting no time, but there was still some distance between them. Nearly three minutes passed by the time Bai Shi reached the villa. According to the surveillance footage, Bai Shi went straight to Ghana's room. Upon reaching the top floor, he found the door to Ghana's room wide open.

It's still too early to determine whether the perpetrator has left the scene. If it were a regular police officer, they might need to be on guard before entering the room, but Shiraishi clearly doesn't have that concern.

After all, even if the murderer really is a savage, he probably wouldn't want to confront Shiraishi.

The room was dimly lit. Shiraishi saw that Gana was lying motionless on the ground with blood all over his head. Even though he had already guessed the outcome, Shiraishi still went over and placed his hand on Gana's neck to confirm that he was dead.

Shiraishi looked around, confirmed the direction of the hidden camera, and was about to wave when his phone suddenly rang.

"Hey."

"Officer Shiraishi, how's the situation?"

It was Mori who called, and Shiraishi asked, somewhat puzzled, "Didn't you see me?"

"You had barely rushed out when the camera's backup power ran out. How is Miss Ghana?"

“He has been murdered… He just died recently. I didn’t find any trace of the murderer when I arrived. He must have fled immediately after killing the person. You should call the police first, and we can talk about the rest when we get to the scene.”

After hanging up the phone, Shiraishi still chose to secure the evidence at the scene first, since chasing after the culprit might not lead to any results.

About twenty minutes later, the Mori group arrived at the scene by car. Upon seeing Kano's dead state, Ran couldn't help but recall the legend that director Hiruda had told her about a mountain hermit smashing a person's head. She instinctively shrank behind Mori.

"Could there really be wild men?"

"How could that be? Those are just urban legends. Don't scare yourself." Mori comforted his daughter. The props staff standing next to them also said to Ran somewhat guiltily, "That... those are all props prepared by the crew."

That's right, the crew recognized him right away!

Shiraishi didn't say anything. If nothing unexpected happened, this item should be lost by now!

"Officer Shiraishi!" Director Hiruda rushed over and inquired about the situation: "Kana, she really..."

Shiraishi shook his head.

Seeing this, Hiruda covered his face and began to sob. Conan looked around and noticed something was wrong: "Strange, where is Mr. Daimon? Why isn't he here?"

“Yes, Mr. Daimon said he was going to pick up Miss Kano tonight, but we haven’t seen him since he left.” Mori also noticed something was wrong: “Has anyone seen him?”

Everyone shook their heads. Director Hiruda wiped away his tears, took out his phone and was about to call Daimon when he saw Daimon's manager, Marina Ayatsuji, rushing over.

"Maria, where have you been?"

"Sorry, I was sleeping a little late, so I followed the second car here. I heard there was an accident here."

Shiraishi interrupted Ayatsuji: "Isn't Daimon-san with you?"

"Mr. Daimon, isn't he here?" Ayatsuji asked, puzzled. "Isn't he with Miss Kano?"

"No, I just did a quick check. Apart from the murderer's traces, there were only traces of Ms. Kano's activity in the room," Shiraishi replied.

“After he went back to his room to get his clothes in the afternoon, he said he was going to see Miss Ghana and told me not to call him. I was afraid of disturbing them, so I didn’t contact Mr. Gate. Where else could he have gone if he wasn’t here?”

As Ayatsuji spoke, she took out her phone and called the front door, but after a long time, all she heard was a busy signal: "Strange, why isn't anyone answering?"

Shiraishi frowned. There was still someone missing—was he the murderer? Or…?

About three or four hours later, just before dawn, the Gunma police arrived at the scene. Upon seeing his old acquaintance Mori, Inspector Yamamura greeted him familiarly: "Oh, it's Mr. Mori! It's been a long time! What a grand scene this is! What brings you here again?"

"Well, actually I was invited..."

Before Mori could finish speaking, the village police officer mysteriously pulled Mori's arm and whispered, "Mr. Mori, did you know that on my way here I heard that there are wild men in these mountains? It is said that these wild men are nine feet tall, with blue faces and fangs, and covered in black hair. They are active only at midnight. You must be very careful. If you encounter them, do not turn back. If you do, the wild men will eat your brains."

As Shancun was speaking, a huge dark shadow loomed over him from behind, and Shancun felt a chill run down his spine. Suddenly, a large hand landed on his shoulder.

"Waaah! Don't eat me!" the mountain village ghost screamed and turned to run away, when suddenly it heard a familiar voice coming from above: "Officer Yamamura."

When Yamamura looked up and saw Shiraishi's familiar face, he almost burst into tears: "Inspector Shiraishi, it's so good to see you."

Shiraishi knew without a doubt what this guy had just misunderstood him as, but clearly he didn't have time to chat with this guy about savage legends.

"Come over here, let's talk about the case."

"Ok."

Yamamura and Shiraishi and the others went to the living room of the villa to discuss the case. After Shiraishi and Mori conducted a simple investigation, the other crew members went back to their accommodations to rest.

Only four people remained on set: director Yuko Hiruda, sound equipment manager Yoichi Takada, cameraman Michio Akashi, and Yusaku Daimon's manager Marina Ayatsuji.

Based on the traces at the scene, it was determined that the murderer used a hammer to forcibly break down the door and enter the villa.

It is noteworthy that the murderer did not linger in other rooms of the villa to search, but went straight to the room where the victim, Rie Kana, was, and killed her.

Based on the recordings from the hidden camera and the time it took for director Hiruda to talk to the victim, the process of the murderer entering the room and killing the victim was extremely short, lasting only two or three minutes.

Furthermore, after inspecting the scene, Shiraishi also checked the surrounding environment and found no trace of vehicles.

To carry out a disguise and commit a quick murder in such a remote villa in the middle of nowhere, and then escape unnoticed, the murderer must be extremely familiar with the environment.

It's obvious that the murderer stayed in the vicinity after committing the crime, and... it should be these people from the film crew!

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Hello everyone, this is Xianyu. As we all know, Dong was unfortunately injured yesterday, but fortunately it's nothing serious. However, he can't open one eye right now. In order not to delay the progress, Dong will provide the outline for the next two days, and I will write it. We will revise the details after Dong recovers.

(End of this chapter)