I'm in Detective Conan, and the system has appointed Batman.

Chapter 540 What? Beika Town is starting to use poison gas to kill people?
Shiratori Ninzaburo has been working for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department for several years.

However, he had to admit that the crime scene of the heinous murder he was witnessing was one of the worst he had ever seen in his career.

He stared at the villa before him, which was mostly burned and had charred walls, and frowned.

Meanwhile, the fire truck next to it was slowly retracting its water hoses into the fire truck.

—There were no survivors at the crime scene here.

A family of seven all died inside the villa.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was able to receive the report because the fire was so intense that the entire building was ablaze. A passerby saw the situation and called the police, which led them to discover the heinous murder.

Otherwise, given the possibility of the entire family being wiped out.

It would take the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department at least several days to discover that a heinous murder had occurred here.

"The toxic gases inside have been completely removed."

"However, just to be on the safe side, I think it would be safer to wear a gas mask before entering the crime scene for on-site investigation."

Officer Chiba, who was on duty with Shiratori Ninzaburo, said earnestly.

He wore a gas mask on his face, just like Shiratori Ninzaburo.

The reason why Shiratori Ninzaburo considered the heinous murders here to be among the worst of his career lies in this toxic gas—

It wasn't the combustion that caused the toxic gas; rather, someone poured toxic gas into the villa.

Poison gas, what does that even mean?
The last notorious gas attack was the Tokyo subway gas attack, which was caused by the Japanese police's negligence. This is no laughing matter!

Kazunobu Chiba and Ninzaburo Shiratori were able to tell that there was poison gas inside.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene first braved the flames to rescue people, but two of them were knocked down.

Other firefighters dragged the person out and found that they had been poisoned. Subsequent monitoring revealed that the room had been filled with toxic gas before being set on fire to ensure the person died completely.

"Do as you say."

"This case is really tricky. Fortunately, it was discovered early, otherwise it would definitely have become the headline news in all the newspapers in Tokyo. It would have been difficult to handle once the public opinion was in turmoil."

Shiratori Ninzaburo sighed.

They waited until nearby police officers had set up a cordon.

He then led Chiba Kazunobu and forensic officers, all wearing gas masks, into the villa. What he found inside was even more heartbreaking for Shiratori Ninzaburo.

This single, heinous murder case resulted in the deaths of eight people.

Such a heinous murder has rarely occurred in Tokyo.

Those incidents at the Tokyo National Stadium don't count; those were pure terrorist attacks and had nothing to do with heinous murders.

"The elderly, women, children, and even the male head of the household who returned home were all killed."

"The time of death... cannot be confirmed. All eight victims had extensive burn marks. As for whether they died from burning or from poison gas, we need to take the bodies back for autopsy."

"However, that will have to wait until the next day."

The forensic officer sighed and said.

Others might not know, but as a forensic officer, he couldn't possibly not know.

Forensic experts are a scarce resource in Tokyo, no, throughout Japan.

While the medical industry is generally highly profitable, forensic medicine is the only profession with a heavy workload and low pay. This has led to a shortage of forensic doctors, resulting in various negative consequences.

For example, in some small places, if a case cannot be solved, it will be closed as an unnatural death.

Because they lack forensic experts, if a victim's cause of death is even slightly unusual, the local forensic officers are unable to determine the cause and have to close the case as an unnatural death. This is one of the reasons why the Japanese police are generally not trusted by the public.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's forensic division does have officers capable of performing autopsies, but faced with this particular body, they were unsure whether to allow non-professional personnel to perform the autopsy.

Faced with such difficult and complicated cases, they usually invite medical teachers and students from the neighboring university to come over.

—For medical school faculty and students, this is one of the methods for hands-on practice.

Therefore, university medical school teachers and students become the main force in autopsy reports and the biggest help to forensic officers when there is a shortage of forensic experts.

Hearing this, Shiratori Ninzaburo sighed, shook his head, and said helplessly,
"So it seems that this is the only way now."

"The forensic officers will take photos as evidence. Chiba, you and I will go out first."

As soon as Shiratori Ninzaburo finished speaking, he walked directly out of the villa.

Chiba Kazunobu, standing behind, blinked and said in surprise,

"Hey, me, me?"

Although somewhat bewildered, he still followed.

The two arrived outside the villa.

Shiratori Ninzaburo was about to give Chiba Kazunobu a few words of advice and ask him to deliver the information about the case to Matsumoto, the superintendent, when he suddenly froze.

He looked with some surprise at the figure that had appeared at the crime scene at some unknown time.

Chiba Kazunobu, on the other hand, listened attentively.

After realizing that Shiratori Ninzaburo was not saying anything, he raised his head with some confusion.

Then, I noticed that Shiratori Ninzaburo seemed a little confused and surprised.

Following Shiratori Ninzaburo's gaze, Chiba Kazunobu turned to look in the direction Shiratori Ninzaburo was looking.

The next moment, Chiba Kazunobu was startled.

Because, at this very moment, the person standing next to them was none other than the famous urban legend.

Batman, the Dark Knight of Beika Town!

"Shiratori Ninzaburo, what's the situation on the ground?"

Batman's brow furrowed slightly.

His gaze fell on the burned-out villa in front of him. Just by noticing that there wasn't even an ambulance nearby, he knew that everyone in the villa was probably dead inside, and no one had managed to escape.

Faced with Batman's question, Shiratori Ninzaburo nervously swallowed.

This was his first time speaking with this famous superhero, and he was likely to become the second person in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to speak with Batman, so he couldn't help feeling a little nervous and excited.

However, Shiratori Ninzaburo didn't forget the important matter and answered seriously.
"The situation on the ground is not optimistic."

"None of the eight family members came out. Based on the situation at the scene, the murderer should have first used poison gas to fill the villa, and then entered the villa and set it on fire, thus burning down the entire villa."

—What? They've started using poison gas to kill people in Beika Town?
A hint of surprise appeared in Chen En's eyes.

Of course he knew about the Tokyo subway sarin attack, the most infamous incident involving the Japanese Public Security Bureau. Back when he was fighting Black Mask, he even used this as an excuse to prevent the Japanese Public Security Bureau from taking any action.

Now I hear about someone killing people and poisoning them with gas.

He couldn't help but wonder... Could it be that the evil organization has been resurrected?

(End of this chapter)