Stay away from Conan.

"Well... although we don't know how the other party judged the three of us to be trustworthy, and we don't know if other police officers received this email, given the current situation, until we can be completely certain, the three of us can only investigate and confirm the contents mentioned in the email first."

"That's how it is," Officer Shiratori said very seriously, and both Miwako Sato and Wataru Takagi nodded in agreement. At least based on the current situation, that seemed to be the case.

"Although we still don't know who this mysterious person who sent the email is, to be honest, even if Tomonari Makoto really hates our police force because of Inspector Tomonari's incident, I absolutely do not believe that Tomonari Makoto is the culprit in this case. Therefore, now that someone has provided us with some other reasonable and well-founded clues, there is no reason not to investigate!"

Sato Miwako said this very seriously, and then Takagi Wataru, who was standing next to her, continued:

"Me, me too!"

"Alright... In that case, let's discuss our division of labor first, if it's just the three of us conducting the investigation..."

Thus, seeing the serious attitude of the two, Officer Shiratori naturally assumed that the three of them were allies in verifying the contents of the email sent by the mysterious person. After all, it was still uncertain whether there was a mole within the police force who was colluding with the murderer.

However, just as Officer Shiratori was about to continue, all three of them suddenly tensed up and looked towards the door that they had locked from the inside—

Just then, someone outside was trying to open the door, turning the doorknob. But since the door was locked, the person outside couldn't open it. So immediately, the person outside changed from trying to turn the doorknob to come in and started banging on the door.

The three of them had chosen to talk behind closed doors because they couldn't easily discuss their matters with other police officers. Besides, at this hour, most officers still in the Metropolitan Police Department were busy working, and no one should be coming to this meeting room. So…

Who is knocking on the door?
Perhaps feeling a little guilty, the three couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about the situation. After exchanging glances, and at Officer Shiratori's signal, they quickly put away their phones. Officer Shiratori then took the initiative to walk towards the door to open it.

"What are you doing here?"

As Officer Shiratori opened the conference room door, the person who had been banging on the door paused. The three people inside then saw only the tall figure emerging from the doorway, a stern face with a scar near his eye…

"Manager Matsumoto?"

For a moment, Officer Shiratori was somewhat surprised to see that the person who came in was Matsumoto Kiyonaga, the superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Department. He was quite astonished, as he had never expected that it would be Matsumoto Kiyonaga who had knocked on the door earlier.

"I, we..."

Upon hearing Matsumoto Kiyonaga's question about what the three of them were doing there, the three inside, upon seeing that it was Matsumoto Kiyonaga, Takagi Wataru, whose composure was somewhat lacking, showed a slight hesitation. He wanted to explain, but when he opened his mouth, he didn't know what to say.

"Because we're talking about this incident!"

Seeing that Takagi Wataru was somewhat hesitant in his opening remarks, Sato Miwako immediately chimed in, which surprised Takagi Wataru.

After all, the reason I was somewhat unsure how to put it was because I felt it was inappropriate to speak frankly about the details of this incident. If asked for further information, I might be forced to reveal the emails, but…

"This incident? What are you all talking about here? Isn't the suspect still being interrogated?"

Faced with Sato Miwako's answer, Matsumoto Kiyonaga couldn't help but feel puzzled and asked this question.

"—This is it, we need to explain the situation to Manager Matsumoto..."

At this moment, Takagi Wataru couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Although he couldn't possibly suspect Matsumoto, the superintendent, but...

Because of an email from an unknown source, suspicion was placed on an internal police colleague. This was something that Matsumoto, the superintendent, found out about...

With this in mind, Takagi Wataru looked at Sato Miwako, who was answering Matsumoto's question, with some concern. Sato Miwako replied quite naturally, "Since the interrogation has continued, Tomonari Makoto still insists that he is not the criminal, we met on the road and started talking about our views on this matter. We got so engrossed in the conversation that we decided to come to the conference room to talk."

"Ok?"

Hearing this answer, Matsumoto Kiyoshi frowned slightly and asked in confusion:

"Then why lock the door?"

"I just turned it off casually, it's a habit."

Officer Shiratori, standing nearby, offered his explanation for why the door was locked.

Listening to the reasonable explanations from the three people in front of him, Matsumoto Kiyonaga said:

"Hmm... It's good to be concerned about the case. Anything can happen before the evidence is completely conclusive... However, if you have any ideas, it's best to discuss them with others, like this..."

As he spoke, Matsumoto Kiyonaga glanced around at the two men and one woman present, and said with a hint of meaning:

"It's easy for people to misunderstand."

Upon hearing this, all three people present were taken aback.

After all, it's no secret within the Metropolitan Police Department that Shiratori is pursuing Sato, but Sato has a better relationship with Takagi, so could it be...?

"Alright, since there's nothing else, I'll be going now. You guys... never mind."

After thinking for a moment, Matsumoto Kiyonaga felt it was inappropriate to continue the conversation, so he stopped there and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Takagi Wataru breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed he had managed to get away with it this way.

"By the way, Manager Matsumoto, why did you suddenly come over at this time?"

Just then, Sato Miwako suddenly stepped forward and asked Matsumoto Kiyoshi, who was about to leave, a question. After all, it was late at night, and the sudden appearance of Matsumoto, the manager, made Sato Miwako a little surprised.

At this point, Matsumoto Kiyonaga, turning his head slightly, simply said:
"I just remembered there's something urgent I need to come and deal with."

After giving a brief reply, Matsumoto Kiyonaga continued walking towards his office.

Watching Matsumoto Kiyonaga's departing figure, Sato Miwako looked at him thoughtfully. Then, Officer Shiratori approached, glanced at Matsumoto Kiyonaga, and whispered to Sato Miwako:

"You don't suspect...?"

"Manager Matsumoto suddenly came back late at night, and I had a feeling that something big was about to happen..."

Sato Miwako's thoughts seemed to differ from Inspector Shiratori's. She simply responded with this statement and then looked at Shiratori and Takagi present.

"Let's not talk about that now. So, regarding the division of labor..." (End of Chapter)