No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

Hearing Mary Akai's flattery, Masaki Kitahara smiled, not because he was pleased by the praise, but because his letter had served its purpose.

"No need to flatter me, Ms. Sera. Although I can tell from past cases that Sera is a good girl, I still need you to explain the matter of falsifying your hotel check-in information. This means that you actually passed through customs smoothly. Even the Japanese underworld would have a hard time doing this level of forgery. So I hope you won't hide anything from me. After all, this is our first conversation—it's better not to mix in lies."

Hearing Kitahara Masaki's casual threat, Akai Mary couldn't help but smile bitterly and sigh at the bad luck of the mother and daughter, who were forced to reveal certain truths with just one flaw.

"Ahem, of course I wouldn't lie, but before I tell you what's going on, Officer Kitahara, I hope you'll accept the information I'm about to share!"

Kitahara Masaki on the other end of the phone almost burst out laughing again. It's just the Black Organization, why act like the Trisolarans?

Next, Mary Akai explained to Masaki Kitahara that she and her daughter had come to Japan to escape the Black Organization's search. Mary Akai was even more astonished to learn that Masaki Kitahara also knew about the Black Organization.

After all, the Black Organization's style is to leave no trace. Basically, those who investigate them are intelligence organizations from various countries. However, it seems... there's nothing wrong with a famous police officer knowing about them. The strange thing is that this police officer is still alive.

"Heh, it seems the Japanese police are really underestimated. But it's true that most officers don't know about the Black Organization; I only know about it by chance."

"So that's the situation. I hope Officer Kitahara can let us stay. The Black Organization seriously injured me, and my husband has been missing for a long time. I only want to protect my daughter. If you insist on reporting our information, I hope you can allow me to leave Sera and her sister with us. With your care, I believe they will be much safer."

Oh, she's playing the emotional card, but this is probably her true feeling. Also, as a mother, she has to pretend to be her daughter's sister. She really went to great lengths to hide her identity.

"Don't worry, I just don't like that there are some details I don't understand. You and your daughter can stay here, but please don't stay in the hotel anymore. It's too conspicuous. I will find a place to settle you down."

"Thank you so much! Actually, I have another question for Officer Kitahara—why did you investigate Sera? She really is just a high school student."

Kitahara Masaki chuckled. He had already guessed that they would have doubts about the investigation on the envelope. After all, Sera was just a high school girl and not worth Kitahara Masaki doing so much investigation for.

"Yes, but she's also a detective. The high school detectives I encounter all have amazing backgrounds. First, there's Shinichi Kudo, whom I haven't seen in a long time. His father is a world-renowned novelist, and his mother is a famous actress. Then there's Heiji Hattori from Osaka. His father is the head of the local police force in Osaka, and his mother is the eldest daughter of a prominent family in Osaka. Finally, there's Saguru Hakuba. His father is the Superintendent General of Police, and I haven't been able to find out about his mother's identity yet. So you understand now, right? Because of their illustrious families, I always investigate the family backgrounds of the high school detectives I meet."

The reason is actually this!

Mary Akai finally understood why Masaki Kitahara had suddenly launched an investigation into Sera; the reason was to avoid certain special circumstances...

Sigh, with three high school detectives in a row having such outstanding backgrounds, his actions are not surprising. Even I would be interested in a newly emerged detective.

Unfortunately, what she didn't realize was that Kitahara Masaki used the results to deduce the truth, rather than using forward deduction to arrive at the results.

In any case, by now, Akai Mary's suspicions about Kitahara Masaki have been largely dispelled. After all, if he were also a member of the Black Organization, he and his mother would have been arrested by now. But he is only making Sera a trainee police officer, probably to keep me, who has never shown up, in check.

After some further discussion, the two finalized a plan: Sera Masumi would still attend half-day classes, followed by her internship at the police station. Sera, standing nearby, agreed with the plan; she could see her friends and solve cases at the same time. Studying? Nothing beats the fun of deduction!

On the afternoon of the second day, Sera Masumi arrived at the Criminal Investigation Division on time. Only Kitahara Masaki was willing to take on the task of training a high school student at the police station.

"Last time it was Hattori, and this time it's a girl again. Kitahara, why do you like sending detectives to the police so often?"

It's because you guys lack reasoning skills. If other police officers could follow my train of thought, I'd be slacking off all the time.

"Ahem, Inspector Megure, nurturing the next generation is always the most important thing. One day I will have to hand over my seat in the First Crime Investigation Division to the next generation."

Inspector Megure assumed Kitahara Masaki was already contemplating his future, his old age, and patted him heavily on the shoulder. Little did he know that Kitahara Masaki was thinking about capturing the boss, destroying the organization, and then immediately resigning.

After Sera Masumi finally changed into her police uniform and put the word 'trainee' on her arm, Kitahara Masaki took her directly to the scene.

At this moment, Sera's gaze toward Kitahara Masaki was different from yesterday. Yesterday, it was as if she were seeing a person from TV for the first time in person, but today she looked at him with respect and caution, after all, he had managed to uncover another case from a single clue.

“Sera, there’s no need to be so reserved. In the end, the reason why bad things happen is because of the Black Organization’s ambition. It has nothing to do with you and your mother. You were just affected by it.”

"Okay, I understand! So, Officer Kitahara, where are we going now?"

“You found a floating corpse yesterday, right? We’ll go to his house now to search it. Although the autopsy results showed that the composition of the water in his lungs was the same as that in the ditch, I still think there are a few suspicious points in this case.”

“I understand! Because there were no signs of resistance on the victim’s body, if this is a homicide, then the victim must have been knocked unconscious by the murderer elsewhere before being thrown into the ditch, and that place is very likely the victim’s home.”

"That's right. That's exactly it."

Looking at the high school girl in front of him who was starting to get into the deduction mode, Kitahara Masaki sighed and said that detectives are all the same.

Chapter 276 Are you sisters or mother and daughter?

After arriving at the victim's home, Kitahara Masaki asked the building manager to open the door for them. He then took out a magnifying glass and looked around, but unfortunately, he didn't find any decisive clues. He then had to rely on his naked eye to identify any traces. However, strangely, the victim's home was very clean, and there were no traces at all, not even a speck of dust.

"The house was so clean, could it be because the murderer erased all traces inside?"

"It's possible. I'll have the forensic team come over right now and see if they can extract fingerprints or other traces."

Now that they had confirmed that the traces left behind were not visible to the naked eye, the two prepared to leave. However, while changing their shoes in the entryway, Kitahara Masaki suddenly looked at the deceased's shoe cabinet.

"Officer Kitahara, is there a problem?"

Do you remember what kind of knot was tied on the deceased's shoes?

"The deceased's running shoes should have been tied with a bow—oh! But all the shoes in the shoe cabinet were tied with Ian knots! That means this is indeed the primary crime scene! The deceased was murdered at home, then taken out of here, and finally thrown into the ditch!"

That's right. It's suspicious that someone who always wore an Ian knot suddenly switched to a bow tie on the day he died. So it's very likely that the murderer put running shoes on the victim after killing him.

"But—didn't the autopsy report say that the composition of the water in the deceased's lungs was the same as that of the water in the ditch? Does that mean the murderer first took water from the ditch and then used it to drown the deceased?"

"It is indeed very possible, but we cannot even identify a single suspect right now. Because the deceased was the president of a debt collection company, there are at least hundreds or thousands of people who might have wanted to kill him. The police will not use a large number of officers to find alibis for all the debtors in this case."

"So how do we identify the suspect?"

"It's very simple. How could such a large debt collection company not have employees? There must be someone who knows which debtors are particularly 'concerned' about their president."

Upon arriving at the debt collection company run by the deceased, Kitahara Masaki and Sera Masumi were greeted by a female secretary. After she served tea, Kitahara Masaki went straight to the point:

"Excuse me, Secretary Tsuda, is there any debt that you've been particularly focused on collecting lately?"

"Yes, there are two debts that the president has been pressing for recently. The debtors have contacted the president, but he rejected their requests for extensions."

"Heh, when it comes to collecting debts—does that mean you just hand them over to those burly men outside the door?"

"Yes, but we were just showing a tough stance. Our company has never used violence to collect debts, and we have no connection with organized crime."

"Hehe, don't be nervous, Secretary Tsuda. I'm just a little curious. Actually, what I wanted to ask is that you seem to have had a relationship with your company president, right?"

Kitahara Masaki naturally noticed the fleeting look of surprise in Secretary Tsuda's eyes, and then continued to ask:

"I wonder when your relationship ended?"

“Officer Kitahara, this is a private matter between me and the president! Besides, wasn’t the president’s death due to his bad luck and drowning? Please don’t make unfounded accusations against me.”

After handing over the information of the two people who were being relentlessly pursued for debt to Kitahara Masaki, the secretary immediately ordered them to leave.

Next, Kitahara Masaki took Sera Masumi to visit the two debtors. During the drive to their workplace, Sera Masumi asked:

"Officer Kitahara, how did you figure out that the deceased and Secretary Tsuda were ever in a relationship? There was no indication of a romantic relationship between them in the deceased's home or on social media!"

"I really didn't realize it. I just tricked her out of habit. I didn't expect her to react so strongly. I guess that relationship didn't leave a good impression on her. It's probably another story of a scumbag hurting a woman."

"Oh dear, won't this kind of chatting method get reported?"

"It doesn't matter. I've received a ton of complaints, but I still got promoted. It's all thanks to my connections and abilities. Of course, the reason I can still be so blunt about this is my connections. Cough cough, it's a bit early to be talking about this with you."

Sera Masumi looked at Kitahara Masaki in the driver's seat and suddenly realized that the seemingly warm smile on television was just a facade for the average person. He only revealed his true colors when investigating cases. Unlike a detective, this policeman was willing to provoke others for even the slightest clue, just like a 'ruthless' detective.

"Officer Kitahara... are you willing to provoke a group of people to solve the case in order to find the truth?"

Kitahara Masaki glanced at Sera Masumi in the passenger seat. It seemed that the girl was curious about his blunt way of solving cases, but the truth was far simpler than she thought.

"Of course, if we police don't do this, who will?"

Haha, actually I don't care at all what those people are thinking.

Kitahara Masaki, who smiles at the citizens, doesn't need to give the suspect a friendly look. Sharp, enterprising, and willing to offend some people to uphold justice is Kitahara Masaki's persona. However, the truth is just as he thinks—he doesn't care.

Having been fooled by Kitahara Masaki's performance, Sera Masumi volunteered to ask the questions herself after getting off the train, and Kitahara Masaki naturally agreed. Sera already had experience in questioning when she was a detective, so it was a good thing that she didn't have to waste her breath.

However, after two rounds of questioning, it was discovered that both debtors could have reasons for being active in the early morning, as one was a night shift security guard and the other was a bartender. Naturally, neither of them had an alibi.

Upon seeing the result of the inquiry, Kitahara Masaki naturally understood that this should be a three-choice puzzle.

"Officer Kitahara, who should we start our investigation with?"

"Hmm, that bartender, but it's almost dinner time now, so I have to take you back. It's in the contract, trainee officers don't have any search rights and have to be back at their residence before nightfall. Well, although you're currently staying at a hotel, the moving company will soon help you move all your things to the room I mentioned."

The place Kitahara Masaki lent them for temporary accommodation happened to be right next to the Mouri Detective Agency. I believe this detective will soon be able to see Conan and Amuro Tooru. I wonder how she will react to this, but whatever her reaction is, he will know, since Sera has now become a trainee police officer.

"By the way, I didn't ask you before, but what is your relationship with the light blond-haired child who's staying with you at the hotel?"

"Um, she's my sister! I inherited my father's looks, and she inherited my mother's looks. Anyway, we're both staying at the hotel with each other to avoid the Black Organization."

"Yeah, that's definitely inconvenient."

At this point, Kitahara Masaki stopped the conversation. If they talked about school later and Akai Mary actually went to elementary school, then Ai Haibara's identity would definitely be seen through by her, because Ai Haibara is her sister's daughter.

At this stage, he doesn't want to expose Haibara to them so quickly. After all, who knows if they have any contact with Shuichi Akai? Ever since Kitahara Masaki devised a plan to keep the Public Security Bureau entangled with the FBI, those American investigators have disappeared for a long time, so Kitahara Masaki doesn't need to get in the way when he's doing his work.

Chapter 277 Entrapment

"What! Officer Kitahara, you've found the decisive evidence?"

"Yes, just yesterday, an anonymous call told the police that the evidence in this case was kept in a coin locker. We found the key mentioned in the call at the bottom of the locker, opened it, and took out a suitcase containing a stun gun and a container for water. The forensic team also found a clear fingerprint on the suitcase handle, which, after comparison, matched the bartender's fingerprint."

Just one day later, Sera Masumi received a call from Kitahara Masaki. Since these things happened at night, Kitahara Masaki summarized the events and told Sera Masumi over the phone.

"This—this is too strange! This must be the real culprit's conspiracy. So the real culprit collected the bartender's fingerprints in advance and then planned to frame the innocent bartender for the crime!"

"Don't worry, of course I won't overlook this possibility. The murderer would be too careful to leave fingerprints. After all, the forensic team thoroughly searched the victim's home yesterday afternoon, from the entrance hall to the living room. All traces were cleaned up, leaving only the traces we left when we searched."

Kitahara Masaki paused after saying this, and told Sera to go to school obediently and come back in the afternoon.

"I understand! See you this afternoon."

Seeing her daughter adapt to police work so quickly, Mary Akai didn't know whether to be happy or worried. To be honest, Sera's "mentor" was a top police officer in Japan; but this also limited Sera's actions. Originally, the mother and daughter came to Japan not only to escape the Black Organization's pursuit, but also to get close to the little boy who looked exactly like him ten years ago. According to the previous investigation, the little boy's name was Conan Edogawa, and he currently lived in the Mouri Detective Agency.

The reason why Mary Akai noticed Conan was actually due to a coincidence. At that time, they were preparing to come to Japan to avoid trouble. Mary naturally had to do some basic research on Japan online, and she naturally learned about the Metropolitan Police Department's ace, Masaki Kitahara. While Mary was reading the official documents of the Metropolitan Police Department and various Japanese websites, she suddenly saw a photo on a website. In the photo, Masaki Kitahara was sitting on a bench, and five children were playing games next to him. A little girl with long hair had her back to the camera, but the other children, especially the one wearing glasses, were clearly photographed.

The boy wearing glasses was Conan, and he looked exactly like the little boy Mary had seen ten years ago. So they suspected that Mary's shrinking was not an isolated case, and naturally began to investigate the connection between Conan and Shinichi Kudo.

However, since Sera has to go to the police station for her internship, the investigation into that kid has been suspended. After all, Mary is in no condition to investigate anything right now, so the investigation can only be left to Sera. As a result, it was interrupted by Kitahara Masaki's intrusion.

Looking at her daughter, whose mind was completely focused on the case, Mary, standing on a chair, stroked Sera's head and said:

"Don't forget why we came to Japan, and it's best to keep a certain distance from that police officer. Even if he knows about the Black Organization, it doesn't mean we can drag an outsider into this."

"But Mom! I think his reasoning and observation skills are excellent, so why can't we ask him for help? As for whether he's involved or not, wasn't we already dragged into it when he started investigating us? Besides, I'm already a trainee police officer now!"

Although Mary Akai knew that her daughter was right, as a mother, she was only willing to believe her own child. People like Masaki Kitahara were always outsiders, and who knew if he would betray her at some point? This man had become a police inspector at the age of twenty-seven and was independently leading a department. Although he had taken off by taking advantage of favorable circumstances, he had a rich young lady backing him up.

"Mom, are you thinking about those troublesome things again? Actually, I don't really understand those power struggles, but we came here to find out if that kid named Conan is actually the shrunken Shinichi Kudo. Even if we're wrong and the Black Organization is after us, we can just go to another country to avoid them."

Mary Akai sighed at her daughter's nonchalant attitude, thinking to herself how all three siblings were so confident, and that she would have to play along with their antics once again.

"Alright, I know what you're thinking. When you have time later, try to probe the kid. I remember a company called 'Detective Guild' recently opened in Tokyo. Doesn't it have records about Kudo and Hattori? A high school boy of this age should really want to become the best detective, right?"

"Oh, I see! It means I need to have the two of them compete in a reasoning contest, and then test the child's reaction, right?"