Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 185 Exclusive Subsidy
Early Monday morning, Shiraishi arrived at the director's office and found that there was no report from the Criminal Division on the "Murder of the Nightclub Top Performer Case" or the "Murder of the Female Chess Player Case" in the files to be processed, so he called Kunikida over in confusion.

This does not count as "over-involvement in the investigation of the case" - as the director, when he sees that an important case has not been solved, he pulls the person in charge over to scold and urge him on, which is normal!
Kunikida knocked on the door and came in soon. Although he could guess Shiraishi's intention, he did not try to be smart, but took the initiative to ask: "Director, are you looking for me?"

"Well, what's the status of the case of the chess player Nagai? The suspect is injured and hasn't woken up yet?" Shiraishi asked directly without any polite words.

It’s not that Bai Shi looked down on the ladies in the nightclub...

It is because the murder of Nagai Chion is of greater concern to society, so naturally the police station is under greater pressure to solve the case.

Kunikida's face froze when he heard this, "Director, Takuma Noboru has woken up, but... he confessed to the murder of Maria Miyamoto, but he insisted that he had no knowledge of Ms. Nagai's case."

"Not aware of it?" Bai Shi said without frowning, "I remember there are clues that are related to the two cases, right?"

"That's right. The threatening letter that Ms. Nagai received before her death mentioned the death of Maria Miyamoto. In addition, a hand towel that was used as the murder weapon was found at the scene of Ms. Nagai's death, and the biological information of Takuma Noboru was also extracted from it.

"Moreover, we also found towel fiber residue on Ms. Miyamoto's body. It is certain that the murder weapon in both cases was the towel that Takuma Noboru always carried with him...

"But Takuma Noboru insisted that he had never sent a threatening letter and did not know Nagai Tomonori at all. As for the murder weapon... he said that he did not take the towel away from the scene of the first case." Kunikida explained at this time.

The murder weapon in both cases was a "towel", and it has now been confirmed that this "towel" was used by Takuma Noboru to wipe his sweat. In addition, the second victim, Nagai Tomoe, received a threatening letter asking her to shut up before her death, which mentioned "Maria Miyamoto's fate". In addition, the location of Nagai Tomoe's apartment...

No matter how you think about it, she must have accidentally seen the crime scene and was then silenced by the murderer!
"So... we're still not sure who the murderer of Nagai Tomoe is?" Shiraishi confirmed to Kunikida without making a comment.

"Yes, I also think there are still some doubts." Kunikida lowered his head and faced Shiraishi with his greasy scalp.

If someone else were to be the head of the Criminal Division...

Even if they are like Kunikida, they are all elite soldiers of Souichi!
There is only one thing that can be done at this time - intensify the interrogation!
Especially cases like this one, which have attracted social attention.

Even if he denies it, the police cannot forcibly send him for examination without evidence...

However, Kunikida, out of "high principles", not only limited the intensity of the interrogation, but also... since Takuma Noboru did not admit to the second murder, the Criminal Division did not give up investigating other possibilities.

Including Zhaijian Sheng's "alibi" - he said that he was wandering alone at the time and there were no witnesses, but now there are still many criminal police and patrol officers who are trying their best to look for witnesses near the location he stated.

It's not that Kunikida really believed what Takuma Noboru said, but out of caution, he would not make a preconceived notion based on the first murder case...

Shiraishi did not say much about his decision, but only confirmed: "Has the victim's body been sent to UDI?"

"That's right, as you said, Director, for cases that have not been solved within 12 hours, the bodies of the victims will be sent to UDI for further autopsy, regardless of whether the cause of death is clear or not. However, the report from UDI will not arrive until noon." Kunikida nodded.

After hesitating for a moment, Bai Shi asked, "What did the deputy director say?"

Although the Beihua Police Department has two deputy directors, Kunikida knows that Director Shiraishi must be asking about Deputy Director Akihabara. After all...

Deputy Director Bichuan is in charge of the money!
The standard for sending autopsies is undoubtedly much lower than before. It is certain that the autopsy rate of the Mihua Agency will increase significantly in the future. Correspondingly...

The cost will also be much higher!
However, what Shiraishi did not expect was that Kunikida said without any hesitation: "Deputy Director Aikawa was also embarrassed at first, but after learning that UDI has exclusive subsidies from our department, he did not say anything."

"Subsidy? Exclusive?" Bai Shi was stunned when he heard this.

UDI charges a fee. If it is a criminal case and the police station insists on an autopsy, the department's accounts must be used.

Moreover, although this money was not paid by Shiraishi himself, it was also the agency's fund, and the Metropolitan Police Department would not reimburse it in full. At most, during the annual financial audit, if the General Administration could convince the agency that the funds of the agency were spent reasonably, there would be a chance to approve more funds in the following year!
This must be a headache for Deputy Director Bichuan.

This is how local police departments are, lacking money and people everywhere. If there were ten times the financial and human resources, 99% of the problems could be solved, but this assumption is meaningless.

After all, if you have no money, you have no money. Local police stations don't have enough money. To put it simply, it's due to the national conditions, and to put it more broadly, it's due to human productivity.

……

Bai Shi really didn’t know about the subsidies before, and... it sounds like they are "exclusive" to the Rice Flower Agency?

"Is it a subsidy from the Metropolitan Police Department?" Shiraishi confirmed with a frown.

Kunikida was stunned at first when he heard this, but when he saw that Shiraishi really didn't know, he immediately passed the blame on to others, saying, "No, it should be... subsidies for private charity. I don't know the details." This aspect is indeed not something the Criminal Division should be responsible for, so Kunikida felt justified in passing the blame on others!
"Private charity...Okay, I got it." Shiraishi probably had guessed it, so he let Kunikida go ahead and did not say anything more in person.

However, after Kunikida left, Shiraishi immediately contacted Ayako!

Private charity, and something exclusive to the Rice Flower Agency... Where else can this be called charity?

"Are you busy?" Bai Shi asked directly.

"Xiao Hei, what's wrong?" Ayako keenly noticed that Xiao Hei was not very happy. It must be that she did something wrong and was being blamed.

"Did you pay money to the Rice Flower Bureau again? I told you before that this is absolutely not allowed!" Bai Shi scolded sternly.

It’s called “again”, but before that, Ayako didn’t pay money to the Rice Flower Agency, but... paid money to the Group Opposition Department!
Shiraishi was very angry at that time...

This is not a matter of face. If Ayako wanted to give a gift that was too expensive, Shiraishi would not be angry even if he did not accept it.

However, spending money on Shiraishi's career is a matter of "name" at a minimum, and a matter of "status" at a maximum - whether it is a department of the Metropolitan Police Department or a local police station, how can they accept sponsorship from the chaebol for no reason?
Will the Metropolitan Police Department and police stations be privatized in the future?
This doesn't make sense morally...

In the past, Ayako really had no choice - after being criticized by Shiraishi before, she never tried to use money to help Shiraishi solve his work problems.

But this time, Ayako really grew up. She said calmly, "Ahem, Mr. Shiraishi, please don't be anxious!"

Shiraishi:? ? ?
“It’s like this. This is not about me paying the Mika Agency. It’s about me and Sancheng Forensic Doctor getting to know each other and understanding the UDI situation. I realized the importance of autopsy and forensic medicine, as well as how society ignores them!
"At my suggestion, the Suzuki Foundation founded the [Justice Forensic Foundation], and UDI is our primary funding target. In addition to direct funding, the funding method is mainly reflected in providing additional subsidies for some autopsies to reduce the cost of autopsies.

“In this regard, the Metropolitan Police Department and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare have been very supportive, and the National Police Department even sent us [the Fair Forensic Medicine Foundation] a special inscription to commend us.

"So... Officer Shiraishi, you don't have to feel any psychological burden. Just remember your mission and responsibilities. This is what our responsible consortium should do. It is our social responsibility!"

puff...

As Ayako was talking, she couldn't help laughing.

But what Ayako said was indeed right. Although she spoke in a high-sounding tone, she did not tell a single lie!

That's right, after hearing Shiraishi complain several times about the limited capabilities of the police station, Ayako became secretly concerned.

She didn't dare to directly hire a forensic doctor for Shiraishi, or directly give money to subsidize him. The idea of ​​this foundation was suggested by Tomoko who saw her in distress and reminded her of it - the old ones still have the best experience!
After receiving the tip, Ayako contacted Director Kamikura directly and asked her mother to introduce her to some contacts in the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare...

As for the [Fair Forensic Foundation]... there are many public welfare foundations in the Suzuki Group. This is one of the means for the chaebol to influence other industries and even control society!

With Miss Ayako Suzuki personally in charge, the Fair Forensic Foundation has naturally become more competitive among the Suzuki Group's public welfare foundations.

After the foundation was established, it obtained funds directly from the Suzuki Foundation and was subject to the foundation's supervision. The president was Ayako herself, and the foundation then openly funded the counterpart organization UDI.

UDI is a non-governmental organization with an official background founded by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, so it is natural that it is happy to accept funding from other foundations...

And the president is Ayako, so naturally she doesn't need to speak personally. The autopsies submitted by the Beihua Agency are all within the scope of "subsidies" and they all enjoy the largest proportion of subsidies!

"Xiao Hei, are you angry?" Ayako couldn't help but worry when she saw that Shiraishi didn't say anything for a while.

"No... This is what Aunt Tomoko taught you, right?" Shiraishi did not refuse again.

"Well, my mother said... that's how the consortium does things. I'm sorry, my previous method was indeed too childish, and that's why I made things difficult for you." Ayako said embarrassedly.

Shiraishi:……

That's not what Shiraishi meant, but...

Indeed, what Ayako is doing now is not only completely legal, but even "reasonable" to the extent that it can be used as positive publicity!

In this way, the autopsy expenses of the Beihua Agency could be barely maintained, and... Shiraishi couldn't say anything to refuse.

(End of this chapter)