Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 77 Director for One Day

In Beika Town, the legal publicity team is advancing...

"Hello everyone, I am Yoko Okino, who is serving as the director today. Please understand and cooperate with the police!"

"The autograph collection event will be held at Sanchome. Everyone is welcome to go. We are waiting for you!"

"I'm Yoko Okino! I'll meet you all at the guild hall at noon. See you there!"

Yoko Okino and Shiraishi behaved very professionally at this time. Yoko, needless to say, was originally an idol, so she was already proficient in smiling, waving, and interacting with passers-by. Shiraishi... had also practiced it specially, so he didn't need to say anything at this time, but also smiled and waved to passers-by.

For a while, it really attracted a lot of people's attention...

"Mom! It's Popcorn Man!"

"Come on Rice Krispie Man!"

"Yika-cho Red Hair! Can you give me an autograph?"

"Woo, woo, woo, mom, that sheep is so scary..."

"Yoko! Yoko! Yoko!"

……

Shiraishi:……

Shiraishi suddenly realized that he seemed to be more conspicuous not only in terms of his body shape, but even... in Beika Town, he seemed to be more popular than Okino Yoko!
Fortunately, Yoko Okino also has a lot of cheering groups, who came specially and danced to support her under the leadership of a cheering group leader who wore glasses and had forked eyebrows.

Bai Shi was relieved when he saw this, otherwise it would be too embarrassing...

At the same time, after Yoko Okino's fans found out that someone was "competing for the role", they started to cheer even harder.

As for the "Rice Flower Baa" on the side...

Another day of scaring the kids in Beika Town!
Honestly speaking, the fact that Kawai, whose hands and feet are not well coordinated, swayed around while wearing the leather suit has greatly reduced the fear index. Otherwise, if this red sheep walked firmly on the road, adults would have to take a detour when seeing it. No wonder Yuanwei noticed her athletic ability (lack of it) at first sight.

After a three-kilometer walk, the patrol team arrived at the first street check-in location. Here, Shiraishi and Okino Yoko stamped the police station commemorative stamps and gave the idols' autographs to the residents who participated in the event.

It was also the first time that Yoko Okino saw...

The popularity of Director Gaizhang's side is actually higher than his own!
Normally, for such activities, the police station would have to find some people to help, or simply line up and have everyone stamp and sign one by one...

Finally they were able to take a short break, and Shiraishi listened to Marubi continue to report on the future arrangements. At the same time, he discovered that "Murakami Secretary" had gone to chat with Okino Yoko.

Secretary Muranaka is the secretary of the city councilor Muraoka, who is from Beika Town. She looks to be in her thirties, is gentle and wears glasses.

The secretaries of these politicians are also politicians, but they are not just “secretaries”. Their secretarial experience is an important part of the politician’s resume…

"Why didn't Congressman Muraoka come today?" Shiraishi remembered this and asked Maruyo - the plan stated that Muraoka himself would come to participate in the event.

"He said he was feeling unwell..." Maruwei said, and then gossiped quietly, "But I heard that Councillor Muraoka seemed to have offended a lot of people recently, and he was threatened."

"Eh? A threat?" Bai Shi immediately became concerned when he heard that.

"No, no, no, I'm not sure about that. I just heard that... he has a say in several projects in the town." Yuanwei shook his head quickly, indicating that he was just gossiping and not taking any responsibility.

Upon hearing this, Bai Shi did not investigate further. He just winked at Yuanwei and said, "We still have three kilometers to go. Go remind the village secretary to take a rest."

"Okay." Yuanwei immediately understood what the director meant - he didn't need to rest! It was Okino Yoko who was always walking and talking who needed to rest. Didn't this man consider the occasion when he approached her?

After Yuanwei went into the village, Yoko seemed to sense something. She looked at Shiraishi and bowed slightly to him to express her gratitude. Shiraishi just smiled and raised the drink in his hand.

……

The rest time passed in a flash, and then another three kilometers passed, and finally arrived at the Beihua Town Public Hall. The female police officers of the honor guard could start their lunch break...

But Shiraishi and Yoko Okino are not enough!

After drinking some water and taking a short rest, I immediately started my speech.

"Ms. Yoko, you will be introduced to the stage at about 10:35, and then you will have 25 minutes..." The staff arranged the tasks.

Shiraishi saw that Yoko had not recovered yet, after all, she was still greeting fans and passers-by along the way, so he took the initiative to say to the staff at the guild hall: "I have something to do at noon, I will give a speech later."

"Eh? Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

For such a small matter, Director Shiraishi could easily exchange time with him.

"Thank you..." Yoko said thank you quietly after the staff left. Shiraishi just smiled. This amount of exercise was not even considered a walk for him, and he didn't need to ask for help during the patrol.

After the speech on popularizing the law, Shiraishi went to the resting place of the honor guard and other police officers who participated in the event, and gave them a good comfort. He also verbally reminded Yuanwei that the standard of lunch boxes for everyone should be higher...

"Especially the ones in the middle, they need to be nourished well." Shiraishi said to Kawai who was exhausted.

Well, even though the project plan already states who the bento was ordered from, and the order has already been placed and the bill has been settled, but... it doesn't prevent Shiraishi from talking, right?
After greeting the police officers, Shiraishi went to his own lounge to prepare for lunch. When he looked at the table, he saw three lunch boxes, all of which were high-standard luxury takeaway bento boxes.

"Huh? Where are the village secretaries?" Bai Shi asked puzzledly upon seeing this.

"Theirs have been delivered. These four are for you, Director!" Yuanwei looked thoughtful, but after looking at the table, he was surprised and said, "Huh? Why are there only three..."

"It's okay, it's enough. Next time my snack can be calculated according to the normal meal standard." Bai Shi said quickly.

Even though I said that, not long after, a delivery man from the store still brought another one over...

……

After that, they were supposed to rest until two o'clock before the patrol team set out again, but twenty minutes before departure...

dong dong——

"I'm here." Bai Shi heard the knock on the door and thought that he was asked to confirm the follow-up matters, but when he opened the door...

"Eh? You are... Officer Takagi, right?" Shiraishi realized that the person at the door was Takagi, who usually followed Inspector Megure. He immediately had a bad feeling in his heart - could it be... my record of no deaths in two days in Omikka Town was broken just like that? And it was broken in the guild hall?

But then he thought about it and felt something was wrong - he was right here, if something happened in the Beika Public Hall, he would definitely be notified first, right? Why did Takagi, who was searching for the first and third divisions, come here first?

"Director Shiraishi! Sorry to bother you. It's been a long time since we last met..." Takagi bowed 90 degrees.

It can be seen that although Takagi had prepared himself mentally, he was still shocked when Shiraishi opened the door.

Shiraishi:……

Am I that cruel?

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Shiraishi asked when he saw this - if Takagi was fine, he would not have come to see him.

"It's like this... not long ago, a murder case occurred in Toriya Town! Inspector Megure sent me here to find out some things, hehe..." Takagi said embarrassedly.

Shiraishi even suspected that Inspector Megure called him here just to test his courage.

"Toriya Town? Murder case?" Shiraishi was stunned when he heard it, and then he understood.

It turned out that the record of no deaths in two days in Beika Town was not broken, but it happened in the neighboring Toriya Town. No wonder Shiraishi didn't hear about any case.

"That's right, it was in the office building at Toriya-cho 6-chome... The deceased was Councilman Muraoka from Yūka-cho. The body was found in his office." Takagi reported the case consciously.

There is indeed some connection between the deceased and the "One-Day Director" event held by the Rice Flower Agency today.

Muraoka's office is in Toriya-cho, but it is on the side adjacent to Beika-cho, so it is not far from the Beika Public Hall.

"Indeed, Congressman Muraoka was supposed to attend an event today, but he said in the morning that he was not feeling well, so his secretary attended on his behalf." Shiraishi didn't know the "gossip" about Muraoka, so he naturally didn't say anything at this time.

Since this is already a widely circulated "gossip", I think Inspector Megure must have already investigated it...

Shiraishi didn't even understand what Takagi was here to investigate. Muraoka didn't show up at the "One-Day Director" event today!
"Secretary...you mean the village secretary, right?" Takagi said immediately.

"That's right, what's wrong?" Bai Shi nodded and asked in confusion.

"It's like this...Murakami's secretary and the deceased's wife discovered the scene together, so I came to confirm Murakami's alibi." Takagi finally got to the point.

In a homicide case, the first person to discover the murder is often required to confirm his alibi!

But Muranaka was not an important suspect, so Megure sent Takagi over - Muranaka was indeed with Shiraishi and the others before, and I think he also stated the evidence in this regard, but...

"The office building at Toriya-cho 6-chome...it's only about fifteen minutes' drive from here, right? What time did the crime happen?" Shiraishi confirmed with Takagi.

Shiraishi never saw him again after arriving at the Community Center. If the crime occurred after the team arrived at the Community Center, his alibi might not be valid!
"The time of death of the deceased..." Takagi said as he flipped through the police notes, "Between 12:23 and 12:50. The attack must have happened at 12:23."

Shiraishi immediately realized it and asked, "Huh? How can it be so precise? Did anyone see the moment of the crime?"

Even if the body was discovered not long after death, it shouldn't be so precise. What's more... there was no police officer among the first people to discover the body.

(End of this chapter)