Conan: The Self-cultivation of Fake Wine

It feels unlikely...

After the incident, the police conducted detailed investigations into the identities of the three deceased persons.

The victim in the first case was named Fangchuan Suiji. He was fifty years old when he was killed and was the director of a private hospital.

The victim in the second case was named Atsunori Umatada. He was 42 years old at the time of the murder and was a university professor at Toto University.

The victim in the third case was named Susumu Nabei. He was 34 years old at the time of the murder and was a corporate lawyer.

Susumu Nabei was killed fifteen years ago. Pushing forward five years, he was only twenty-nine years old twenty years ago. This was a bit too different from the age of the first two victims.

Not only is there a big age gap, but the three people's occupations, work places, and home addresses are also completely different.

The victims’ families also had no memory of the other victims.

Theoretically there is no intersection between them.

Therefore, after many days of visits and investigations to no avail, the police finally characterized this series of cases as indiscriminate homicides.

This caused quite a stir at the time, and the police were naturally scolded.

Had it not been for the unfortunate death of a police officer while chasing the prisoner, the police responsible for the case would have been under greater pressure.

But for those police officers back then, this may not be something worth celebrating.

only……

Do these three victims really have nothing in common?

Lu Ren was skeptical.

There were no signs of damage to the door lock at the scene. In addition to the crime being committed by an acquaintance, it is also possible that the murderer had strong skills in sliding doors and picking locks.

But if it's the latter, the murderer is either a professional locksmith or a habitual burglar.

The police had investigated locksmith companies and their employees in Tokyo that day, and they all had clear alibi.

Excluding the locksmith, it can only be a habitual thief.

But no money was missing from the crime scenes. If the murderer was really a habitual thief, how could he not take any money?

Of course, there is also the possibility that the murderer is a special talent like Kaitou Kidd who has never filed a case with the Metropolitan Police.

But such people are too rare. This may be basically negligible.

Lu Ren still prefers acquaintances to commit crimes. There must be something in common between these victims, including the murderer, but the police failed to find this commonality.

Lu Ren has solved similar cases before. It was a serial murder case that occurred in Osaka.

They were all strangled by the inmates and then stabbed into their hearts with a knife that pierced their wallets.

At first glance, these deceased persons seemed to have no connection with each other, and the Osaka police almost characterized it as an indiscriminate homicide.

Of course, they actually have something in common, but this point is extremely hidden.

These victims were all students of the same driving school many years ago, and they collaborated to murder their own driving school teacher.

The murderer was the son of the murdered teacher. When he grew up, he chose to kill his enemies and avenge his father.

However, when investigating the serial murder case, Lu Ren was able to point out the commonalities between the victims as quickly as possible because he had set up a plot hook at the time.

There is no such good thing now.

So even after a whole night of thinking and checking, Lu Ren still couldn't find any possible common points between these people.

This is nothing to be upset about.

This is a typical case in the conventional world and an atypical case in Ke Xue's world. It would take a lot of time to search for evidence.

If it could be solved so easily, it wouldn't have left the police in trouble for twenty years.

Unable to find common ground for the time being, Lu Ren did not give up, but tried to start from other aspects.

The murderer first stunned the victim with a stun gun, then killed him with a knife and carved letters on his back.

The reason for choosing a stun gun for a sneak attack is not difficult to guess. It is to control the victim as quickly as possible and prevent unnecessary noise from making the people around him alert.

At the same time, this also reflects that the murderer is not physically strong and does not have much strength.

If his physical fitness is really on the line, he can completely strangle the victim to death like the murderer in the Osaka serial murder case.

The fraudster Kusumoto Ryuhei, who is still in custody, can also prove Lu Ren's guess.

He and the serial murderer had a frank meeting in the sauna. Although he didn't see his face, his figure was clearly visible.

According to his confession, the serial murderer was extremely thin, with shoulder blades and ribs clearly visible.

At the same time, Matsumoto Kiyonaga, who once faced the murderer and almost arrested him, also said that the murderer was not very tall, less than 1.7 meters in shoes.

Taking into account the possibility that the murderer was wearing height-increasing shoes, his true height should be between 1.6 and 1.7 meters.

As for age, since the murderer liked the Beatles, a foreign rock band, he shouldn't be much older.

Probably between the age group of 20-30.

This can also be seen from the condition of the skin. If the murderer was already in his forties or fifties when he committed the crime.

Five years later, when Kusumoto Ryuhei met him in the sauna, he should have been able to easily tell that the latter's skin was sagging.

Moreover, this person was able to injure the young Matsumoto Kiyonaga, and successfully escaped subsequent police pursuit.

It was a bit embarrassing for a middle-aged man who was already in his forties or fifties and whose physical strength had seriously declined to complete the above series of actions.

Twenty years ago, I was 20 or 30 years old, now I am 40 or 50 years old.

So the murderer is a short middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.

It's hard to say whether he was thin or not. After all, fifteen years had passed since Ryuhei Kusumoto discovered him.

As for gaining weight, one month is enough, let alone one year.

Ok……

Japanese people with such characteristics are everywhere in Tokyo.

Besides this?

The letters on the dead man’s back and the rock music the murderer often hummed.

In the Osaka serial murder case, the murderer chose to pierce the wallet because the wallet contained the driver's licenses of these people.

The driver's license represents the crimes these people have committed in the driving school in the past.

Wait, the occasion!

If it was really an acquaintance who committed the crime, there must be an occasion that could bring everyone together.

The scene in the Osaka murder case was a driving school, but what about this Tokyo murder case?

The victims in Osaka had driver's licenses in their wallets, and the place the driver's license referred to was the driving school.

The letters E, S, and W are engraved on the back of the deceased. How can they be connected with these three letters?

If the letters represent the directions southeast, northwest, then what is related to the directions?

Or, what has it to do with the compass?

compass……

Jungle trip? Forest hunting?

Wait, something seems wrong.

A driver's license is a clearly defined item. EWS are just letters.

From ESW to southeast, northwest and then to compass.

There are too many links in between.

Does ESW necessarily mean southeast, northwest? Does the north, south, east, and west necessarily represent the compass?

Forget it, whatever. At least there is now a new direction for investigation.

After a while, I will visit some of the family members of the victims to see if I can find out from them whether there was any place that the victims particularly liked to visit during their lifetime, and if it can be linked to ESW.

Lu Ren put away his notebook and looked at the time and asked casually, "Have you finished investigating the sauna room?"

"No. Takagi just went in." Miwako Sato, who was sitting in the driver's seat, answered Lu Ren's question.

After learning that Takagi and the others were coming to investigate the sauna, Lu Ren, who had spent the whole day at the Metropolitan Police Department, also came with them.

Lu Ren's move was firstly to obtain possible new discoveries as soon as possible, and secondly to change the environment and change his mind.

Now it seems that the harvest is not bad.

"It's almost time. I'm going to buy a lunch box. What do you want to eat? I'll bring it to you."

"Rice balls or bread, and a bottle of mineral water."

"OK."

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Takagi, who had finished the investigation, walked out of the sauna and told the results of the investigation to Riku Ren and Sato Miwako who were waiting outside.

The store owner, including the store employees, had no impression of the scarred man.

As for what happened fifteen years ago, I can’t remember clearly.

This unsatisfactory survey result was entirely expected.

Sato, who had been mentally prepared for it, just sighed softly, "It's normal to not gain anything. It's been fifteen years, and except for the name of this store, everything has changed. Even the equipment has been completely renovated."

"Speaking of renovations, a sauna in the Fifth Chome has also been renovated. It is said that that store also has an open-air hot spring."

"Oh." Miwako Sato's reaction to Takagi's statement was unremarkable. After casually responding, she took out a small notebook, lowered her head and began to write and draw.

"Then you can stay with Chiba and the others during your next vacation."

Takagi said frustratedly: "Then I'd better go alone."

"Huh?" Sato Miwako raised her head and asked after realizing, "Were you inviting me just now?"

"That's for sure!"

"How about this? If you can solve this case before it completely fails, then we can go to the hot springs together."

"Ah?! But there are only three days left." Takagi was stunned.

"Come on, you must take me to the hot springs."

Lu Ren, who was standing beside him, silently took out lemon-flavored fructose from his pocket.

Are these men and women in the world of Kexue so sudden?

Lu Ren, who was so angry, began to seriously consider whether to leave these two people behind and visit the families of the victims alone.

After thinking carefully for a while, Lu Ren finally gave up the idea.

Because he did not know the home addresses and contact information of several victims' family members.

If you want to contact these people as soon as possible in a short period of time, you must use the help of the police.

In this case, avoiding Sato Takagi seems pointless. Even without them, other police officers would join in.

It would be better to let them follow up from the beginning. At least these two know the basics and are relatively easy to use.

After waiting patiently for the two of them to finish spreading the dog food, Lu Ren asked aloud: "Do you have anything else to do this afternoon?"

Miwako Sato replied: "It goes without saying that we will continue to pursue this serial murder case."

"Then do you have any direction?"

"Not yet." Sato Miwako shook her head, and suddenly her eyes lit up, "Did you think of something?"

Although she had never dealt with Lu Ren unilaterally, she had to admit that this guy really had a way of solving crimes.

Strictly speaking, it was this guy who solved her father's case of Chou Si Lang.

"Well, I'm going to visit the families of the victims. Do you want to go together?"

"This one……"

"Of course." Takagi was still hesitating, but Sato had already agreed.

She took out her mobile phone and said, "I will call the Metropolitan Police now and ask them to send over the interview materials from that year."

"That would be great."

While Sato was on the phone, Lu Ren glanced at the surrounding environment.