The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

"However, it's quite remarkable that Miss Shizuka, who knows nothing about cooking, could recognize this as a tilefish." Aragaki Yu shifted his gaze from the pleasant scene on the table to Miss Shizuka.

"Hehe~" Miss Jinghua covered her mouth and chuckled, her tone showing no sign of panic, "That's because I happened to have tilefish for breakfast today."

"What a coincidence!" Aragaki Yu said with a squinting smile.

Although he didn't believe that Ms. Shizuka was the culprit in this case, Aragaki Yu found that more and more mysteries surrounding this woman were emerging.

Was Miss Jinghua's purpose this time really to commission Kogoro Mouri to find the photos?

Or is her real target actually—Shinichi Kudo!?

Of course, Aragaki Yu didn't think that Miss Shizuka was someone sent by the organization to investigate Kudo Shinichi.

After all, apart from Vermouth, no one in the organization should be paying attention to a high school detective.

Even Gin, who personally fed Shinichi Kudo the poison, has probably long forgotten about Shinichi Kudo as a victim.

Then this woman...

Who is it?

Looking at Ms. Jinghua's face, Aragaki Yu felt it was becoming increasingly familiar.

"Yes, that's what I think too." Faced with the questioning, Miss Jinghua met Aragaki Yu's gaze without changing her expression.

……

More than ten minutes later, Officer Yokomizo, who had completed a preliminary investigation of the murder scene, gathered everyone together.

"So, that's how it is!" Inspector Yokomizo said, looking at the group of Kogoro Mouri and the others gathered together. "When Mr. Mouri and the other four came to visit Mr. Shibata, they rang the doorbell several times, but no one answered the door."

Then, he looked at Yoshikawa Takezo, who was standing somewhat uneasy to the side, and said, "Next, Mr. Yoshikawa, who had arranged to play mahjong with Mr. Shibata, arrived. When he tried to turn the doorknob, he discovered that their door was not locked at all, so you all went inside together."

Yoshikawa Takezo nodded.

“No, Inspector Yokomizo, to be more precise, only Mr. Mori, Mr. Yoshikawa, and Conan went into the house at that time!” Aragaki Yu added, pointing to Ran and Shizuka beside him. “As for me and Ran, we stayed outside the door the whole time.”

"Hmm." Inspector Yokomizo nodded to show he understood, then looked at Kyoko Shibata. "Not long after, Mr. Shibata's wife, Ms. Kyoko, returned home from outside and bumped into Mr. Mori and his group. At that moment, Mr. Mori and Mr. Yoshikawa discovered Mr. Shibata's body lying on the ground, bleeding from the head. I think I'm right."

"Yeah." Everyone nodded.

"So, did you two discover Mr. Shibata's body together?" Inspector Yokomizo confirmed.

"No," Kogoro Mori shook his head and replied, "It was Mr. Yoshikawa who discovered it first. I heard him calling out from the room before I ran in and saw Mr. Shibata's body."

"I see." Officer Yokomizo muttered to himself, then looked at the forensic personnel next to the body.

Meanwhile, the forensic team had already completed their initial investigation of the body and jogged over to Officer Yokomizo to report, "Based on my estimation, the time of death should have been sometime this morning."

“Okay.” Inspector Yokomizo patted the forensic officer on the shoulder, exchanged a glance with Kogoro Mouri beside him, and then looked at Kyoko Shibata again. “I would like to ask, Ms. Kyoko, where are you at this time?”

"Huh?" Shibata Kyoko was visibly nervous when questioned by Inspector Yokomizo. "I, I... I had made plans to play golf with a friend, so she drove over to pick me up at five o'clock this morning. After I prepared breakfast for my husband, I left home even though it wasn't five o'clock yet."

"Was Mr. Shibata at home at that time?" Officer Yokomizo continued to confirm.

"Yes, because he didn't get home until 3 a.m. last night, so he was still sleeping at that time."

"He didn't get home until 3 a.m. last night?" Officer Yokomizo seemed a little puzzled when he heard this.

"Ah, right..." Shibata Kyoko's expression turned slightly unpleasant when she mentioned this.

"Playing mahjong!" Yoshikawa Takezo spoke up at this moment. "Yesterday he played mahjong with a few of us at my place on the fourth floor. Mrs. Shibata was right, we did finish around three o'clock."

"Oh!" Officer Yokomizo nodded.

However, Aragaki Yu couldn't help but glance at Shibata Kyoko and Yoshikawa Takezo again.

After all, according to the habits of the Conan world, if Miss Jinghua is also included, then it would be a very typical "choose one of three" routine.

Moreover, based on the accounts of Kyoko Shibata and Takezo Yoshikawa, Yuu Aragaki couldn't help but sigh slightly, "Alas, a gambling husband, a broken home."

"..."

Although no one else heard Aragaki Yu's voice, Shizuka, who was standing next to him, clearly heard Aragaki Yu's soft muttering.

Although she sensed something was amiss, Miss Jinghua thought about it carefully—

You know what, it actually makes a lot of sense...

Chapter 444 Broken Home

“I noticed a morning newspaper on the table,” Officer Yokomizo said, pointing to the newspaper. “What time are your newspapers delivered?”

“Usually, it’s delivered to the mailbox on the door around six o’clock in the morning,” Kyoko Shibata replied after a moment’s thought.

“I see.” Inspector Yokomizo rested his chin on his hand and analyzed, “So, Mr. Shibata got up this morning, took the newspaper, and was attacked from behind by an uninvited guest. That must be right!”

Yoshikawa Takezo, however, seemed puzzled and asked enticingly, "How did you know he was attacked while eating?"

Officer Yokomizo explained confidently, "Besides the fact that only half of the food on the table was eaten, and the rice had already cooled down and hardened, it was impossible to notice."

Aragaki looked at Inspector Yokomizo with some surprise, and he actually saw a kind of wisdom in the other man's eyes.

It must be said that if Conan or Kogoro Mouri had not been involved in this case, then Inspector Yokomizo's deduction would indeed have been very plausible.

"But who would do such a thing?"

Perhaps because of her husband's death, Kyoko Shibata seemed somewhat agitated.

"I'm not clear on that right now; we need to wait for further evidence collection and investigation," Officer Yokomizo said regretfully, shaking his head.

However, he did not seem too anxious about this matter.

After all, this place is home not only to the legendary sleeping detective Kogoro Mouri, but also to the rising star, high school detective Yuu Aragaki, who is currently making waves in the police force.

Therefore, Inspector Yokomizo turned to Kogoro Mouri behind him, hoping to get some useful clues from him. "Mr. Mouri, after you entered the living room, did you notice anything unusual about it?"

"Well, about that..."

Kogoro Mouri tilted his head back, looking as if he was thinking carefully.

After a moment of contemplation, Kogoro Mouri muttered to himself, "I only noticed that the television in the living room was on at the time."

"What!" Inspector Yokomizo jumped up upon hearing this, glaring at Kogoro Mouri and roaring, "You mean the television! But why was the television off when we arrived!"

"Um... it was too noisy, so I turned it off..." Kogoro Mouri explained cautiously. "I guess Mr. Shibata was watching TV while eating breakfast, there's nothing special about that!"

At the same time, Kyoko Shibata seemed to realize something and hurriedly added, "Now that you mention it, I think my husband might be watching a period drama called 'Legend of the Swordsman' that airs at eight in the morning."

"What?" Officer Yokomizo looked at Kyoko Shibata with a puzzled expression.

Kyoko Shibata took a couple of steps, then pointed to the sofa and television set next to her and said, "My husband records it every week, and he often plays it here in the living room."

Kogoro Mouri also walked over and looked at the shelf next to the television that was full of videotapes. "That's right, there are indeed many videotapes on this shelf."

"Okay!" Upon hearing this, Officer Yokomizo immediately waved to the forensic personnel not far away and said, "Go and check the TV series over there right now."

"But why is LD's projector gone?" Conan, who had been running around the room doing nothing, appeared next to the TV cabinet and pointed to an empty space on the cabinet.

This was the only empty spot on the entire TV cabinet, and there wasn't a speck of dust on it, so something must have been placed there before.

Combined with the numerous videotapes and LD discs on the shelf next to it, it's easy to imagine that this place was originally where an LD player was placed.

"Well, I don't think it was taken for repairs, is it?" Kogoro Mouri guessed, stroking his chin. "Isn't that right, Mrs. Shibata?"

“Ah? It really is my husband…” Kyoko Shibata’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant as she said this.

Instead, Yoshikawa Takezo nervously changed the subject, "This isn't important, why bother with it now! Just hurry up and investigate what needs to be investigated, and then let me go home, okay!"

The unnatural expressions on these two people's faces were naturally noticed by Aragaki Yu.

Seeing the performance of Yoshikawa Takezo and Shibata Kyoko, Aragaki Yu couldn't help but smile slightly.

It seems the video recorder issue is not as simple as it appears.

The only connection that Yoshikawa Takezo has is their playing mahjong together.

Could it be that Mr. Shibata pawned the VCR because he lost too much money?

Yoshikawa Takezo was so agitated because he was afraid that the police would find out about their gambling.

It's important to know that even in Japan, any form of gambling is illegal, except for state-run gambling games such as horse racing, rowing, and cycling keirin.

Although some forms of gambling exist in a gray area, such as the pachinko parlor that Kogoro Mouri frequents.

These forms of gambling are not explicitly regulated by law, thus creating a degree of ambiguity in practice.

However, if a large sum of money or even items are involved in a private mahjong game, it can be very troublesome if the police find out.

This scene was also witnessed by Ms. Shizuka, who was standing next to Aragaki Yu.

She glanced at Aragaki Yu, then looked thoughtfully at Shibata Kyoko and Yoshikawa Takezo.

Clearly, Miss Jinghua had also realized something.

At the same time, Aragaki Yu's earlier words, "A gambling husband, a broken home," unconsciously echoed in her ears.

"..."

It has to be said that if things are really as she thinks, then Aragaki Yu's words are far too realistic.

After turning her gaze away from the two whose complexions had returned to normal, Miss Jinghua couldn't help but look at Aragaki Yu again, examining the boy with some curiosity.

There was no way around it; this boy had indeed piqued her interest.

However, just as she was about to look away, she noticed that Yuu Aragaki suddenly turned his head and smiled slightly at her.