The cross-dressing master in the world of Detective Conan

Chapter 372 Seven Years, Kyoto

After the plane landed, the two of them wouldn't leisurely go to the Osaka Prefectural Police to report as before.

Instead, after connecting with the officer in charge, he went straight to the crime scene.

After giving the taxi driver the address "Stachyshohei, Neyagawa City," the car drove towards its destination in the dark.

Urged on by Kaoru Kazama, Miwako was able to get a proper rest along the way, which was a rare treat.

Sitting in the taxi, Kaoru Kazama glanced at his watch and realized it was almost four in the morning.

The murder occurred at 12:30 a.m., and the body was discovered at nearly 1 a.m.

It's really not easy to find a flight from Tokyo to Osaka in such a short time.

Fortunately, there was an airplane, otherwise the two of them might have had to fly there in a helicopter.

Time is of the essence, and there's no time to lose, is there?

The taxi driver was a local from Osaka, and he quickly took the two of them to their destination.

They didn't exchange a single idle word the whole way, not because the driver was honest and dutiful, but mainly because of the police uniforms the two women were wearing.

It's fine to wear casual clothes when handling cases normally, but you need to wear formal attire when working on joint cases.

Kazama Kaoru just had a good look at Sato Miwako in her police uniform. Even though she was asleep, her heroic aura was almost overflowing. She was definitely a fierce and domineering woman.

Even someone who has never committed a crime would feel guilty if they had two police officers with them, so it's understandable that the taxi driver remained silent.

In the end, the taxi driver even said he didn't want the fare, saying that it was every citizen's duty to assist the police in handling cases.

Although his motives may not be pure, Kaoru Kazama was still very happy to hear it.

Of course, in the end, you should still pay the full fare.

But despite her words, she couldn't really let people make a wasted trip from so far away.

Then they wouldn't be police, they'd be local thugs.

"Officer Toyama, hello, I'm Kazama from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."

Upon entering the takoyaki shop, which was heavily surrounded by police officers, Kaoru Kazama's first sight was Ginjiro Toyama, Kazuha's father, who was squatting down examining the body of the deceased.

"Hello, I am Ginjiro Toyama, Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Osaka Prefectural Police. Thank you for your hard work."

Kazuha's father is an upright middle-aged man. Although he appears very few times in the original work, his upright image of resolutely protecting his subordinates has left a deep impression on the audience.

"Inspector Toyama, nice to meet you."

As the head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Osaka Prefectural Police, and a police superintendent, his rank is much higher than that of Kaoru Kazama.

It's just unexpected that such a powerful figure is quite approachable. Perhaps all the protagonist's relatives are like that, otherwise, if an arrogant and domineering character appeared, it would easily bring negative attention to the comic.

After exchanging pleasantries, Kaoru Kazama began to carefully examine the crime scene.

I learned from the police officer in charge of taking notes that the victim's name was Bizen Heishiro, 35 years old, and he was the owner and chef of a takoyaki restaurant.

The cause of death was a stab wound to the center of the chest. The murder weapon was a knife found in the store, and no fingerprints were found on it.

Through comparison and investigation of the scene, it was found that apart from the chair brought by the deceased, there were no signs of disturbance at the scene. After ruling out the possibility of burglary and theft, the case was directly linked to a revenge killing.

After the autopsy, Osaka police discovered that the murder weapon was thrown directly into the victim's chest, causing death, which directly indicates that the murderer had a high level of throwing skill.

In addition, considering the deceased's age and name, and adhering to the principle of "better to arrest the wrong person than let the guilty go free," the Osaka Prefectural Police contacted the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department for a joint investigation.

"So, Officer Kazama, have you found anything?"

After explaining some things to the people around him, Ginjiro Toyama came over and asked about Kaoru Kazama's progress.

"From what we can see, the age of the deceased is very close to that of the three deceased in Nishi-Kuni City, Tokyo. They were all born in Kyoto and, for unknown reasons, came to Osaka alone seven years ago and opened this takoyaki shop. The three deceased also settled in Nishi-Kuni City seven years ago and returned to Kyoto every now and then, without fail for the past seven years."

"Is that so? Seven years, in Kyoto, all of them were killed by masters skilled in using cold weapons."

Ginjiro Toyama kept reciting the commonalities among them.

These are all the clues that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department colleagues found over a day and a night.

Because those seven people didn't live in Tokyo from the beginning, and they didn't seem to have any contact with their neighbors, collecting clues about them almost broke my legs.

"Hey, what happened to his hand?"

While Ginjiro was deep in thought, Kaoru Kazama noticed something unusual.

The deceased, Bizen Heishiro, the owner of the takoyaki shop, seemed to be pointing at something.

Judging from the marks on the ground, the deceased had moved around with great effort before dying.

Bizen Heishiro laid his left hand flat on the ground, but the four fingers of his left hand were bent, with only the index finger showing, and then he pointed to a spot on his counter.

This could very well be a message left by Bizen Heishiro before his death. If the previous reasoning was correct and these people really knew each other, then this message could very well symbolize the true identity of the murderer.

Thinking of this, Kaoru Kazama couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Kaoru Kazama walked around the deceased and went to the place he had pointed to.

Many Japanese restaurants adopt this counter-style layout, allowing customers to sit around the cooking counter and watch the food being prepared. This also helps to enhance their taste memory, which can be said to incorporate a lot of psychological knowledge.

But right now, Kaoru Kazama isn't concerned with this marketing psychology; he's more interested in this seemingly insignificant counter.

Along the wooden counter, Kaoru Kazama raised his index finger and gently tapped the junction between the counter and the floor.

This scene, which often appears in TV dramas, is indeed a good way to determine if there is a hidden compartment.

Sure enough, when they knocked on the third one, the sound coming from inside was no longer that of solid wood, but a hollow sound.

Kaoru Kazama was overjoyed. He grabbed the wooden board and used a little force as usual, only to find that it was nailed shut.

This further suggests that the clues inside are extremely important, or rather, something he intends to seal away and never open again.

"Xiao Xun, what are you doing? Is there something in here?"

Miwako had noticed Kazama Kaoru's strange behavior long ago, ever since she crouched down to observe the deceased's gestures.

"I reckon there's something we're looking for in here."

Kaoru Kazama smiled slightly, a hint of smugness in his eyes, and said to Miwako.

Then, turning around and applying gentle force, he exposed the seemingly secure but actually not very well-sealed hidden compartment.

Inside was a notebook and a red-covered book that looked quite old.

Upon seeing this scene, even though Kaoru Kazama was already mature, a childish thought still involuntarily flashed through her mind: "Could this be a treasure map?"

Chapter 373 Night owls are born that way

And then, a sense of familiarity suddenly welled up in my heart.

I feel like I've seen this scene somewhere before, but I can't quite remember where.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Kaoru Kazama decisively abandoned this very troublesome option and instead began to carefully examine the notebook in his hand.

At this moment, almost everyone nearby noticed Kaoru Kazama's actions and gathered around to watch.

"This is?"

Ginjiro Toyama arrived immediately and, seeing the notebook in Kaoru Kazama's hand, asked with a puzzled expression.

"You can tell from the deceased's hand gestures. These must be the coded messages he left before he died. They might contain something that can prove the killer's identity."

Kaoru Kazama spoke as she opened her notebook.

Then a folded piece of paper fell out of it with a clatter.

Upon picking it up, I discovered it was a painting.

A simple line drawing in the shape of a pagoda, with various small animals drawn on it in colored pencils, such as cicadas and celestial dogs, is quite vivid and lifelike.

However, the first thing Kaoru Kazama thought of when she saw the painting was her earlier thought: could this be a treasure map?

Moreover, this painting is not hand-drawn but a photocopy, which means that the original is not here, or has been taken by the murderer.

Make bold assumptions and carefully verify them—this is the fundamental principle of handling cases.

"Hey, this looks like the diary of the deceased."

Kaoru Kazama opened his notebook and observed it carefully for a while before coming to this conclusion.

She seems to have developed an inexplicable connection with diaries; she seems to find the owner's diary everywhere she goes.

As for the other book with a red cover, it is a book with a slightly unusual title, Yoshitsune's Record. It seems quite normal, the kind you can buy on the market, nothing special. As for its purpose in being placed here, it is probably as a keepsake.

Kaoru Kazama later found the reason for this in this diary.

This diary can also be called Bizen Heishiro's criminal confession.

It tells the story of his mental journey as a member of the infamous Genji Hotaru gang.

Genji Hotaru was a theft ring centered in the three cities of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Unlike ordinary thieves, they mainly targeted works of art and Buddhist statues.

The basic process involved stealing artworks from the ancient cities of Osaka and Kyoto, and then reselling them in Tokyo.

After all, there are many wealthy people there, and regardless of their taste, their wallets are thick enough to satisfy them.

Furthermore, it details the internal structure of the theft ring.

It's surprising how successful this organization was. It never failed before it was disbanded, and there wasn't even a police file for this theft ring. It's incredibly juvenile.

Each member of the group has a title. The leader is named Yoshitsune, and there is a guy named Benkei who is the second-in-command. After that, there is Ise Saburo, Bizen Heishiro, and so on, following the numbers.

It evokes the atmosphere of a retainer and lord from the Warring States period.

Although these people are a bit immature, their professional skills are still excellent.

The fact that they haven't revealed a single clue after all these years of turmoil is something that no ordinary organization could accomplish.

One winery that deserves special mention is one that claims to have been in the industry for half a century, yet has been thoroughly infiltrated like a sieve.

They really should learn a thing or two from this Genji Firefly.

Upon learning this, Kaoru Kazama immediately told Ginjiro Toyama about it.

After all, these people's activities aren't limited to Tokyo; they also operate in Osaka and Kyoto.

If the Tokyo police are all incompetent and failed to detect Genji Hotaru, who stole countless works of art, then the Osaka and Kyoto prefectural police are also implicated.