Isn't it very scientific to use the Death Note to kill people?

"Speaking of which, Ms. Hanoi is staying at the Koto Inn in the village, isn't she?"

"What time did she leave this morning? Could you ask the hotel staff for us? It would be best if you could also ask if anyone called the hotel's landline this morning to look for her... After all, with the intermittent cell phone signal here, it would be more convenient to contact her using a landline."

Hayashi Yoshiki was communicating with Shiroyama Kazuma.

Because he was a famous detective from Tokyo, Shiroyama Kazuma was very cooperative and quickly rode his bicycle to the Koto Inn in the village.

Hattori Heiji nodded unconsciously.

Although he wasn't as quick to react as Hayashi Yoshiki, he had also considered these issues.

Sure enough, with this guy by their side, no case can stump them...

"Shall we wait here for Mr. Shiroyama's reply?"

He asked.

Hayashi Yoshiki nodded, but quickly added, "By the way, let's assume that Yuta Makoto is the murderer."

"Hmm, assuming he's the murderer, then what?" Kogoro Mouri, who had been silent until now, stroked his chin, feigning profundity.

Lin Jiashu smiled and glanced at him, then added:

“Okuho Village isn’t very big, and Makoto Yata is the adopted son of the former village chief, so the villagers should be very familiar with him… Therefore, if he really returns to the village, he should be easily recognized.”

"But the villagers all say they haven't seen him in a long time."

"That means he didn't stay at the village inn, and he's never even been seen by the villagers... So where did he stay, and where did he move around?"

What Hayashi Yoshiki said was based on the assumption that Yuta Makoto was the murderer, and that it did indeed return to the assumption of Okuho Village.

So, setting aside other influencing factors and considering only this point—

"In the forest!"

Hattori Heiji immediately asserted.

The legend of the god Shiro instilled a sense of awe in the villagers of Okuho Village, and indeed, forests were a place where people could easily hide and move about—even the death of the former village chief was believed by the villagers to be the work of the god Shiro in the forest.

Hattori Heiji didn't believe in such folk tales and supernatural phenomena.

He stared intently at Lin Jiashu, feeling as if he could somewhat understand the other's so-called writer-style reasoning.

how to say?

This is definitely something special.

Rather than passively discovering evidence and then connecting everything, this approach is more like actively deducing everything, extending all possibilities from the very beginning...

"Yes, it is indeed a forest."

"How about this, we'll go to the forest together after Mr. Shiroyama returns."

Okuho Village is not large.

About twenty minutes later, Shiroyama Kazuma returned on his bicycle.

He said he had confirmed with the hotel staff that a man with a hoarse voice, who identified himself as Shinichi Kudo, had indeed called out to Fukasato Kawachi...

"I've been bothered by what Miss Hanoi said last night. Look at your face, do you think you can fool me?"

Shiroyama Kazuma paused here, looking at everyone, and said, "Actually, after you all went back last night, I went to ask Ms. Kawachi about this. She told me that Kudo's amnesia was fake; he definitely has ulterior motives."

"Just listen to what these unscrupulous journalists say, don't take it seriously. Compared to this—"

Lin Jiashu smiled and gestured with his thumb towards the forest behind him: "Mr. Shiroyama, would you like to come with us into the forest?"

"Your view of journalists is really terrible," Hattori Heiji remarked.

"Are you going into the forest?"

The village policeman hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

In any case, the group quickly entered the forest.

The remoteness and small size of Okuho Village is largely due to this forest... because the forest is indeed very vast, and even Shiroyama Kazuma, a local, might not be able to say he knows it inside and out.

"Let's start our search from the area where we found Kudo naked in the lake."

Hayashi Yoshiki said this to Shiroyama Kazuma.

Do you have any thoughts?

Hattori Heiji was somewhat curious.

He tried to follow Lin Jiashu's train of thought, but looking at the lush forest in front of him, he felt like he had no idea what to do.

"The person who called Ms. Kawauchi to arrange the meeting was someone who claimed to be Shinichi Kudo."

"If I'm not mistaken, the person who called for the police car and ambulance was also someone who claimed to be Shinichi Kudo."

"And Kudo, who had lost his memory, was found in that house, holding a knife that appeared to be the murder weapon and covered in blood."

"—Why do you think he was there? And when questioned, he claimed he knew nothing."

"Isn't that strange?"

"It's true that Kudo-kun has lost his past memories, but why did he deliberately leave home quietly this morning and go to that house? Could those memories have also mysteriously disappeared?"

Hayashi Yoshiki's words not only made Hattori Heiji fall into deep thought, but even Mouri Kogoro and Ran found it a bit strange.

Indeed, upon closer examination, there are far too many abnormalities.

He wasn't knocked unconscious and left there before being given a weapon. How could he not even know how he got to the scene and was carrying a knife?

Chapter 459: You're caught, Shinichi Kudo

A small wooden cabin stands deep in the rugged mountains and forests.

When he discovered it, Shiroyama Kazuma was also surprised.

But Hayashi Yoshiki didn't; he and Hattori Heiji quickened their pace slightly.

After entering the cabin, the two observed it for a while. They saw that the cabin was full of cabinets but not many other items. There was only a walkie-talkie sitting alone on a cabinet.

There was originally another door inside the cabin, but it was sealed off with planks and nails.

"The room inside has windows; you can climb in through those windows!"

Hattori Heiji recalled the window he had noticed when he was observing the exterior of the wooden house.

He rushed over immediately.

Lin Jiashu followed leisurely behind.

The windowsill of that room was a little high. He braced himself against the windowsill with one hand and nimbly and gracefully vaulted over. When he landed, he saw Hattori Heiji looking at the things in the wooden house with a surprised expression.

Following his gaze, one could see that the room was covered with newspapers by Shinichi Kudo.

—Ever since this high school detective became famous, photo-based news reports about every case he handled have practically filled the entire room.

"What... what is this?"

Xiao Lan was also preparing to climb over the windowsill when Lin Jiashu reached out and pressed down on the hem of her skirt as she stepped over.

This thoughtful gesture brought a faint smile to her face.

Kogoro Mouri noticed this, but said nothing. He just tripped and fell to the ground in a sorry state while climbing over the window.

Lin Jiashu smiled and pulled him up again.

"The owner of this cabin seems to idolize Kudo immensely," Hattori Heiji said, then abruptly changed the subject, "to the point of wanting to kill him—"

Their eyes immediately fell on a newspaper in the center of the wall.

In this photo of Shinichi Kudo, there are several grotesque knife marks crisscrossing his face, and a knife is stuck in his face.

There was also a line of words carved with a knife on the table next to it.

It's all or nothing.

Lin Jiashu stepped forward and touched the knife marks with his hand.

"The marks are quite deep... Whether it's the writing on this desk or the wall behind this newspaper, you can tell that a lot of force was used; it must have been written in a state of extreme anger."

There was also a broken mirror on the floor next to the desk.

"I suddenly have a very interesting idea."

"When we investigated the former village chief's house before, there was a room that was also covered with pictures of Kudo-kun, right?"

"Yada Makoto, he must be a fan of Kudo-kun."

"However, after the tragedy of the former village chief, he also left the village, and no one has seen him for a year now, or even been able to contact him..."

"But the letter of commission we received stated that he discovered Kudo's reasoning error from a year ago, which caused everyone in the village to hate Kudo... As the village chief's adopted son, his hatred might be even more intense."

“I handled a case involving a blue castle before.”

"The situation in the case was that the castle's maid, coveting the treasure left by her deceased master, killed the old lady in a secret passage of the castle, abandoned her youthful appearance and underwent plastic surgery to resemble the old lady. From then on, she took the old lady's identity in the castle and secretly searched for the treasure."

"You mean... plastic surgery?"

Lin Jiashu's words were like a heavy hammer blow, leaving everyone present somewhat dazed.

Plastic surgery, when considered within the bounds of normal reasoning, still feels somewhat surreal.

However, this way the logic makes sense...

Hattori Heiji's gaze was also fixed on the broken mirror on the ground. When Hayashi Yoshiki made this guess, he thought about it from this angle and felt that it made more and more sense.

"You mean that young master Shinichi Kudo, Makoto?"

Shiroyama Kazuma opened his mouth, then couldn't help but retort, "That's impossible!"

Nobody paid him any attention.

Having seen most of what he needed to find, Lin Jiashu prepared to leave... As he left, he considerately reached out his hand to Xiaolan.

The latter held his hand and carefully lowered it, still showing a faint smile despite her lingering doubts.

At that moment, Lin Jiashu's gaze suddenly drifted into the forest.

Facing the empty space ahead, he seemed to smile slightly.

"Will you come with me to the medical check-up?"

"……it is good."

The girl nodded, blushing slightly.

Soon, the group descended the mountain.

The local police continued their investigation in the house. Heiji Hattori brought Shinichi Kudo, who was hidden in Yoshiki Hayashi's car, to the police officer and told him that Shinichi Kudo was the murderer.

The policeman seemed incredulous.

He was a police officer who had successfully solved a case a year ago with Shinichi Kudo's help, so he had a very strong impression of this high school detective.

"How could this be! The reasoning you came up with a year ago was so brilliant! You could spot the flaws instantly, guiding us to solve that case like lightning, didn't you!? Why would someone as brilliant as you—"

"...You're giving me too much credit."

"I speak in a hoarse voice with my head down," Shinichi Kudo said.

Tears streamed from his eyes.

“Because I am not a god, I also have resentment, and I also make mistakes... Just like the case a year ago, I accused the completely innocent village chief of Hihara of being a murderer!”

"..."

The policeman's face stiffened.

Then he remembered that the other party had lost their memory and didn't remember anything, and he wanted to bring up the case from back then.

“I was terrified because that reporter said he would expose the reasoning error I made a year ago and threatened to ruin the reputation I had built up so far, so I…”

Just as Shinichi Kudo was standing there, sobbing uncontrollably, Yoshiki Hayashi walked up to him with a smile.

pat.

He took a pair of handcuffs and cuffed Shinichi Kudo's right hand.

"Congratulations, Kudo-kun, you've been caught."