Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Chapter 57 The Sumitomo Group is the culprit!
"Mouri Kogoro?" Heiji pronounced the name slowly and deliberately.

Is Zheng Yi's henchmen in Tokyo about to wreak havoc in Osaka?

Faced with Heiji's vigilance and skepticism.

Kogoro Mouri said with a cruel twist of fate, "Actually, Heiji Hattori's analysis is quite correct; he has deduced that Mr. Takahashi committed suicide."

Now, I will tell you the reasons why Mr. Takahashi committed suicide, and why he wanted to frame Mr. Shoichi.

"I don't!"

Heiji shouted, "I never said that Mr. Takahashi died by suicide."

Don't drag me into this.

I don't want to become a henchman of the Zhengyi sect.

Shoichi looked at Heiji strangely and said, "Are you going to overturn your previous reasoning? There are so many people here, and they all heard what you said before."

Heiji's lips twitched.

Although all the clues point to Takahashi's suicide, the possibility of homicide cannot be ruled out because of Shoichi's existence.

Heiji also believes this is a stereotype.

However, there really was arsenic on Zheng Yi's sleeve.

Beside the body, there was a man who frequently committed murder, who pulled a bloodstained knife from his backpack.

Can you believe that he used that knife to kill chickens?
Heiji finds it hard to believe anyway.

“I’m just saying there’s a possibility; whether it’s true or not, we need some other things to corroborate it,” Heiji said.

"Conan, take that thing out."

"it is good!"

Conan jumped out from behind Kogoro Mouri and handed Heiji the papers he had taken from the toilet trash can.

Zheng Yi covered his nose and also came over to take a look.

“Oh, so Takahashi owes a lot of money,” Masakazu said.

This is the collection reminder letter the bank will send after the payment is overdue.

The letter stated that Takahashi owed Sumitomo Bank a total of one billion yen in principal.

If Takahashi fails to repay the loan, the bank will take strong measures to mortgage and auction off his house and shares in the "News Specialty Store".

Heiji saw the words "Sumitomo Bank".

I subconsciously thought it was a setup.

Mr. Takahashi owed money to Sumitomo Bank, and he died at a Sumitomo family banquet, where he also got into an argument with the Sumitomo family.

Detectives never believe in coincidences.

"Huh? How could Mr. Takahashi owe so much money?" someone asked, puzzled.

Takahashi is considered a wealthy man.

He already has enough money to enjoy a luxurious life, so there's no reason for him to take out a bank loan.

"Is this payment reminder letter genuine?" Heiji asked.

Zheng Yi took out his phone and said, "I'll ask for you."

After the call connected, Masakazu asked, "Could you check if Takahashi Ueki in Osaka has taken out a loan from Sumitomo Bank?"

"Ok."

After waiting a few minutes, Sumitomo Bank also found out the truth.

Zheng Yi turned on speakerphone.

“Mr. Takahashi borrowed a total of one billion yen from Sumitomo Bank, and I checked his bank cards; he may have also taken out high-interest loans.”

Zheng Yi asked, "Did you send him a payment reminder?"

"Yes," the bank employee said.
"Ahem, because the Positive and Negative Banks are dealing with the bad debt crisis of the 'Residential Specialized Financial Institutions' and have been forced to inject capital, the Ministry of Finance has asked banks to reduce non-performing loans and increase collection efforts."

Therefore, banks have been intensifying their efforts to collect on non-performing loans recently. Furthermore, because the collateral was overvalued previously (during the bubble period), his collateral is now insufficient to repay the debt, and he will need to make up the difference.

As soon as the bank clerk finished speaking, everyone immediately looked at Sumitomo Taro.

As expected, Takahashi's death was inextricably linked to the Sumitomo family.

If Sumitomo Taro hadn't orchestrated the 'copper mine incident,' the banks wouldn't have intensified their debt collection efforts, and Mr. Takahashi might not have been driven to suicide.

Shoichi said to everyone in a low voice, "See? This debt collection letter is real. Mr. Takahashi committed suicide because he couldn't repay his debts."

“Mr. Shoichi is right,” Kogoro Mouri said at this moment.

He leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, looking utterly unfathomable.

'Kogoro Mouri' said, 'As for the arsenic in Mr. Shoichi's sleeve, it was indeed Mr. Takahashi who put it there.'

The purpose was to frame Mr. Shoichi for his own death. If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Sumitomo Taro's clothes should also have that, right?

“That’s right.” Sumitomo Taro nodded.

He raised his sleeve and said, "There was white powder on my sleeve just now, but I accidentally smeared it off."

However, a forensic examination would likely reveal the result.

Heiji frowned.

His gaze lingered between Shoichi and Sumitomo Taro.

He said softly, "If it were just a bank debt collection, Mr. Takahashi, he wouldn't frame Shoichi and Sumitomo Taro for his own death, would he?"

Although the bank that collected the debt from Takahashi was Sumitomo Bank.

Although banks are intensifying their collection efforts because of bad debts caused by the Sumitomo Group.

Zheng Yi continued, speaking into the phone, "Have you been able to find out what Mr. Takahashi's money was used for?"

"Please wait."

It didn't take long before the bank clerk stammered and said:
"Ahem, Mr. Takahashi spent all his money speculating on copper prices. After the copper price collapsed, Mr. Takahashi went bankrupt."

Upon hearing this news, everyone fell silent.

So, Mr. Takahashi's bankruptcy was also thanks to your Sumitomo Group.

Now, not only Heiji, but even an innocent bystander believes that Takahashi was killed by the Sumitomo Group.

Not only because the copper mine incident left him heavily in debt.

Your bank even lent him money, leaving him with huge debts, and then aggressively pursued repayment.

Even if you didn't poison Mr. Takahashi to death, you still forced him to his death.

The Sumitomo Group is the culprit.

"Ahem." After coughing without changing his expression, he said, "Now Mr. Takahashi has a good reason to frame me. He must hate my uncle to death."

Sumitomo Corporation, which speculates in copper mines, needs to be separated from the entire Sumitomo Group.

Sumitomo Bank also suffered significant losses as a result, and Masakazu was also a victim.

“Ahem, speaking of which, Sumitomo Corporation is also a victim,” Sumitomo Taro said.

Sumitomo Taro said in a serious tone, "It's all those foreign short-selling organizations and some shameless individuals or small groups that are shorting the price of copper."

This has led to copper prices being far below normal levels, pushing countless people to the brink of bankruptcy and causing families to be torn apart.

The bad guys are those foreign empty-headed organizations and certain shameless individuals.

This shameless villain certainly doesn't include Zheng Yi.

He was merely following others and getting a piece of the action when the tide was irreversible.

He made some money from this, which meant that the Sumitomo Group lost less money.

Zheng nodded.

Yes, the bad guys are all overseas.

(End of this chapter)