Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 144 Surrender
In a park in Haido Town, Itabashi Takuji and his wife came to play with their five-year-old son. At this moment...

"Hmm? Detective, is there anything else?" Itabashi saw Yuan and Yamada coming over.

Because he used to be Majima Hiroyuki's roommate, the detectives had questioned him before, from "Search 1" to "Beika Police Station", several groups of people came back and forth, but...

What he cares about most are the people from the Rice Flower Agency!
After all, the other police officers only came to get the testimony and never doubted him...

"Mr. Banqiao, are you here with your kids?" Yuan came over and looked at a seat nearby and said, "Come over here and talk?"

"Hmm? Okay...you take him out to play first, I have something to do." Banqiao said to his wife.

The wife seemed to sense something as well. She looked at Banqiao and just nodded.

……

"Mr. Banqiao was not in the shared dormitory that night, right?" Yuan asked directly.

Of course Banqiao knew which night they were talking about.

"That's right...if I were here, maybe I could testify for Majima..." Itabashi looked a little nervous.

"Actually, we discovered something before." Yuan took out his mobile phone and showed Banqiao the photos on it - they were surveillance evidence from the time.

"Although I can't see the face clearly, this is indeed Majima's electric bike and helmet. Even... the top and jacket should be his." Yuan said to the photo at this time.

"Eh? Could it be..." Banqiao adjusted his glasses at this time - they were sliding down because of sweat.

"But the height is wrong," Yuan interrupted.

Yuan then looked at Itabashi beside him and said, "After comparing the perspective drawings, this person's height is only about 1.7 meters, which is totally inconsistent with Majima's height."

"Yes, yes..."

"So the murderer is a man who is about 1.7 meters tall, very familiar with Majima, and can borrow his electric car and wear his coat at any time." Yuan translated what he just said.

Banqiao was no longer speaking at this time.

“Afterwards, we were at Majima’s house and saw some pictures of the basketball team… and we discovered something.

"When you were a freshman, you were always next to Majima in photos. But after your sophomore year, Ono became the manager of the basketball team and became Majima's boyfriend. Since then, you have always been away from Majima and Ono in every photo..." Yuan scrolled through a few more photos and told Banqiao.

"This... is just a coincidence." Banqiao shook his head and avoided looking at the phone.

"Also, according to the testimony of Ono Miki's friend, although her relationship with Majima was in crisis at the time, but... there is another point. Ono Miki complained to her at the time that a 'troublesome person' confessed to her, but she didn't say who it was." Yuan continued.

That is because Ono Miki did not tell any of her friends about this person's identity, so...

The police deliberately ignored this clue at the time!
After all, it is obvious that she has an emotional crisis with Hiroyuki Majima, and "being confessed to by a troublesome person" cannot lock on the target at all.

"Really? I don't know either." Banqiao's tone became stiff.

Seeing this, Yuan stopped talking nonsense, turned off his phone, turned his head to look at Banqiao beside him and asked, "Mr. Banqiao... How tall are you?"

Banqiao immediately began to sweat, but he still said stubbornly: "Okay! I have nothing else to say!"

He stood up and was about to leave. Just then, his five-year-old son ran over with a children's basketball, picked it up at the foot of the plank bridge, and said, "Dad! Have you finished talking to uncle?"

"Dad and uncle are busy here, how about I come and play with you?" Yamada took the initiative to speak and took Xiao Banbashi to the small basketball hoop in the park.

"Okay!" Xiao Banqiao was not shy at all. Instead, he seemed very happy that someone was playing with him.

Seeing this, Banqiao stood there in silence.

"Mr. Banqiao, you were also a guard on the basketball team back then, right? But I heard... you never played basketball with your son." Yuan did not stand up at this time, but just asked towards Banqiao's back.

"I'm too busy..." Banqiao said weakly.

"In that case...Mr. Banqiao, just treat my next words as my own monologue.

“Since 2004, the statute of limitations for murder has been extended from years to years. In recent years, the [National Crime Victims Association] has continued to propose that the statute of limitations for all capital crimes be abolished, and it is likely to be passed.

"It's been eighteen years since 1998, but there are still seven years to go before the twenty-fifth year. If the statute of limitations is extended to thirty-five years, it will be seventeen years... or even forever!" Much of the evidence from that year is still preserved. Regardless of the outcome of this retrial, I believe... many police officers, including myself, will not forget this case, and various investigative techniques are also improving.

"Seven years later, Xiao Banqiao was 12 years old. Twelve years later, Xiao Banqiao was 17 years old. Seventeen years later, Xiao Banqiao was 22 years old... When was the last time I wanted to play basketball with my dad? I can't remember...

"Besides... it's been eighteen years since Ono Miki was murdered, but it's only been two months since Majima Hiroyuki committed suicide. He's escaped the statute of limitations, so is the matter really over?"

(In the real world, Japan officially abolished the statute of limitations for homicide cases in 2010. However, since several subsequent cases were related to the statute of limitations, the statute of limitations will not be abolished in this book for the time being. After all, it is a parallel world.)
Listening to Yuan's "self-talk", Banqiao's hands began to tremble at first, and then, as could be seen from behind, his shoulders began to shrug.

The reason why Yuan wanted to take a gamble and persuade him to surrender was not only because of the objective reason of "it was difficult to find strong evidence", but also because Yuan felt in the previous investigation contact...

Itabashi Takuji himself has also been bearing the condemnation in his heart!
In this regard, his wife actually noticed something. Even though she had known him for so long, she rarely saw him smile, especially in the past two months...

And starting eighteen years ago, I began to be "afraid" of basketball.

……

Eastern Metropolitan High Court, Courtroom No.1.

The prosecution witness, Hisahiko Saegusa, has just appeared in court and described how he witnessed Hiroyuki Majima at the Toriya Watergate Bridge!
"Mr. Saegusa, according to previous files, you had always claimed eighteen years ago that you were hit by the defendant riding an electric bike on the Toriya Bridge. But now you suddenly changed it to the Toriya Watergate Bridge. Why is that?" Lawyer Hime raised the question during the questioning session.

"Objection! The testimony was re-determined before the trial, and the defense's question is meaningless." Kujo interrupted at this time.

"Objection. The defense believes that the authenticity of the testimony is questionable because it was only revised eighteen years later." Lawyer Fei said directly.

"Objection! Mr. Saegusa only corrected the deviation in his memory at the time under in-depth questioning. The defense's accusation is groundless and an insult to the witness!"

dong dong——

The judge banged the gavel and said, "The defense lawyer's doubts are well-founded. Please ask other questions or move on to the next step."

Eri Kisaki also expected this result. After all, the prosecution had already applied for a change in testimony before the trial. She did not expect to be able to directly deny the testimony by bringing it up at this time, but just wanted to leave an impression on the judge and the jury.

"The defense needs to continue questioning... Mr. Saegusa, you claimed that you had a clear memory and saw the other person's face because you were hit by an electric car. May I ask where on the vehicle were you hit?" Eri Kisaki continued to ask.

"Front left." Sanzhi said righteously.

"Judge, the defense requests to present evidence No. 12... As shown in the picture, from the photos taken eighteen years ago, the defendant's electric car does not have any signs of collision." After playing the projection, Eri Kisaki looked at Sanzhi again.

"Because the collision was not that serious, just a minor scratch. I was walking and not driving, so it's normal that there is no trace, right?" Sanzhi said as a matter of course.

"It's true that there might be no traces if a pedestrian is hit, but... we found a similar electric car before and conducted a collision test... Presiding Judge, the defense requests to play exhibit No. 13." Kisaki Eri said, and started playing the video.

The content of the video is a simulation experiment...

After all, the electric car from eighteen years ago is long gone.

After the electric car changed its shell, it collided with the dummy again and again. The first time, the speed was very fast, not only the dummy was seriously damaged, but also the electric car was left with marks. After that, the collision was slower and slower...

"Stop, right here. You can see that from this point on, the collision will not leave any marks. In the experiment, the electric car started to slow down and brake two seconds in advance each time. At this time, the speed of the electric car was about 15 kilometers per hour. The speed that left a slight dent last time was 20 kilometers per hour...

"According to the surveillance video near the crime scene, the speed of the car captured at that time was close to 60 kilometers per hour. The defense believes that there is no reason for the murderer to slow down the speed so much while fleeing."

Eri Kisaki explains the purpose of the mock test...

After hearing the defense's argument, some people started whispering in the courtroom. The presiding judge saw this and banged his gavel to stop them, saying, "Silence! Silence!"

“Objection, the accuracy of the defense’s experiment is questionable, and the simulation cannot represent the moment when the murderer began to slow down, so it cannot be used to reconstruct the speed of the car at that time.

"It is very regrettable that we could not conduct metal fatigue tests at that time, and only had the basis for judgment by the naked eye. Small collisions with pedestrians could not be detected, but Mr. Saegusa's eyewitness testimony can be corroborated by surveillance records not far from the scene!" Kujo does not approve of this experiment and speculation.

"Objection! The surveillance footage does not prove that the image is related to Majima Hiroyuki."

"The prosecution's protest is valid." The judge nodded, not recognizing the defense's experimental evidence.

Just at this moment, Shiraishi received a message from Yuan on his mobile phone - a photo...Itabashi Takuji's confession!

(End of this chapter)