Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 207 Kidnapping Case

Thursday, December 12, the day of the joint press conference.

Xiaolan and Shinichi had originally agreed to meet at the entrance of the community center, but...

Shinichi saw Megure's plainclothes police car along the way and deduced that they were handling a difficult case!
Shinichi, who is addicted to crime, immediately forgets his mother and childhood sweetheart and volunteers to help the police...

It turns out that this is no ordinary case!

Just at the Beika Apartment, a "kidnapping + assault case" had just occurred, and the kidnapped person was the great-grandson of Councillor Atsumori, and the injured person was his granddaughter...

Because Atsumori contacted the police directly, given his status, this case naturally became the "focus of attention" of the Metropolitan Police Department. There was no phone call to the police, and the kidnapping investigation required secrecy, so the Beika Police Department was not aware of it...

The case is not complicated. Atsumori Maki, who lived in Beika Apartment, was attacked while taking care of the baby Atsumori Itsuki in the room!
After discovering the incident, Atsumori Maki's mother, Takami, the daughter-in-law of Congressman Atsumori, immediately asked Congressman Atsumori for help, and Congressman Atsumori also contacted the Metropolitan Police Department directly.

……

Although Atsumi Maki was sent to the hospital with injuries and blood all over his head and was still unconscious, Shinichi volunteered to go to the scene. After some reasoning and elimination, he identified the suspect through the surveillance video - a thin man wearing a hat and a mask, covering his face, and going out in a cart!
The little tree that was kidnapped should be in the cart...

Afterwards, the kidnappers contacted Congressman Atsumori - the person they wanted to threaten was indeed this powerful figure who was quite influential in the political arena of East Island Country.

Not only did they want money, but they also wanted Atsumori to deliver it personally.

Although Atsumi is not young, he cares a lot about Xiaoshu. After all, Xiaoshu is the only child in the Atsumi family. So he went to deliver the ransom in person despite all the dissuasion.

What followed was the "fixed program of the kidnappers" - changing the targets various times and being fooled around. Finally, Atsumi got a letter and a photo of Xiaoshu being kidnapped!
The kidnappers threatened that they must rush to the community center immediately and let Hitomi Kanzaki and Yukiko Fujimine read the letter. If this part was not seen on the live broadcast after the press conference, the kidnappers would kill them immediately.

At this time, there were less than twenty minutes left until the end of the press conference...

Atsumi didn't have time to discuss with the police and hurried to the community center. He was so tired that he almost fainted on the way. It was Shinichi who realized something was wrong, so he took Megure and the others to take over.

Because they didn't have much time to think, they could only choose to meet the kidnapper's demands - the police might not agree to change the victim, and in such a large-scale live broadcast, meeting the kidnapper's demands, but...

Atsumori is not an ordinary person, not even an ordinary "parliamentarian". He really has huge political resources in his hands and is not a mascot for canvassing votes!

At the critical moment, even the Metropolitan Police Department did not dare to disobey him.

……

Megure stopped the press conference from ending, and Takagi and Shinichi came to Hitomi and Yukiko and whispered something to them. Judging from the reactions on the scene, it was clear that this was not arranged in advance!

Seeing this, Bai Shi paid more attention to his surroundings...

Are they trying to tell us there's a bomb? I checked everywhere!

"Huh? Souyi's people?" Feng Jian also became nervous when he saw this.

at the same time……

Bai Shi listened attentively to their brief conversation!

"Ms. Kanzaki, Ms. Fujimine, I'm so sorry to bother you at this time... I'm a police officer from the Investigation Division. Please be sure to read this letter. It concerns the life safety of a child." Takagi whispered to Kanzaki Hitomi.

"What? Shin-chan, what's going on?" Yukiko immediately looked at Shinichi.

"Mom! There's no time to explain. You and this aunt, go read the letter quickly!"

Hitoko Kanzaki:......

You think you're polite?
Although Hitomi and Yukiko were full of confusion at this time, since the police said so, they still took the letter - the envelope had not been opened at this time, and Megure and the others did not know what was written inside, which was also the kidnappers' request.

At the same time, Shiraishi heard Kazami whispering into the intercom: "What? Kidnapping case? What does it have to do with Kanzaki Hitomi?"

Yukiko and Hitomi returned to the podium and looked at the contents of the letter with shock on their faces. Then they looked at each other. Hitomi's eyes were filled with anxiety and confusion, and Yukiko's eyes were... the same.

There is no other choice at this time. Since the police said that this is related to "the life of the child", then...

"We hereby report that Mr. Hiroshi Amano, a member of Mikumo Life Insurance who passed away in August, did not commit suicide but was murdered."

Yukiko and Hitomi read these two short lines together.

but……

The scene immediately became noisy! "Ms. Kanzaki, Ms. Fujimine! Do you know any inside information?"

"Excuse me, what is the relationship between Amano Hiroshi and you?"

"Is this press conference held specifically for this matter?"

"He was murdered... reported... Then who is the murderer?"

……

The reporters were immediately in an uproar, but Yukiko and Hitomi didn't need to answer anymore. They also looked confused.

The police officers then asked the two to leave the stage. Not only did other police officers from Souichi arrive, but the public security department also became nervous - they came because they were afraid that Kanzaki Hitomi would talk nonsense at the press conference!

They were relieved when they learned that it was a kidnapping case and Hitomi Kanzaki herself was not aware of it.

The police officers at the scene immediately began to maintain order and blocked the reporters from chasing them, but...

Bai Shi followed directly - he also wanted to know what happened in his jurisdiction!
Seeing Bai Shi following him, the police and search team did not stop him for a moment...

Criminal Minister Odagiri, who was commanding remotely, also directly authorized them to report the case in detail to Shiraishi.

After all, the press conference was held in Beika Town and the kidnapping case also happened in Beika Town. There are many areas where the police station needs to work hard. Even if the news needs to be covered up, it is not convenient to hide it from Shiraishi.

"Officer Shiraishi, please get in my car first." The car that Megure was driving at that time was quite large.

In front of outsiders, Megure no longer called him "Brother Shiraishi".

Shiraishi sat in the passenger seat, Megure drove, and on the way they talked about what had just happened...

"I see... Kidnapping case? They didn't even take the ransom, but just asked Ms. Fujimine and the others to read a letter? In other words... their purpose was to use the heat of today's press conference to make this report a bigger event?"

Bai Shi instinctively felt that there might really be an injustice here!
"Well, and the person who was kidnapped is the only great-grandson of Congressman Atsumori. Let's go to Congressman Atsumori's house now. It is the command headquarters now." Megure nodded sullenly.

In Megure's heart, the safety of the hostages is the most important thing, but...

He also had to admit that if it weren't for Congressman Atsumori, the top leaders of the Metropolitan Police Department would have stopped their actions first!
How is it possible that just by kidnapping someone randomly, the kidnappers can use a press conference to announce such a thing?
"Congressman Atsumori...sounds familiar..." Shiraishi felt as if he had heard this name not long ago.

"Of course, that very famous congressman!" Megure said as a matter of course.

"No, no, no, it doesn't sound familiar in that way. It seems to be somewhere else... That's right! Kanzaki Hitomi! Before Kanzaki Hitomi went to the country of hair, she was in love with the son of Councillor Atsumori. Later, the son of the Atsumori family married someone else and got pregnant. It seems that his wife had a conflict with Kanzaki Hitomi because of her entanglement!"

Shiraishi recalled it after a moment's recollection - this was what Ayako and he had gossiped about before.

"Huh? There is such a thing?" Megure was stunned when he heard this - although he was still at the age of listening to music fifteen years ago, but... Megure is not that gossipy!
"Well, and it seems that before leaving, Hitomi Kanzaki was attacked by Atsumori's daughter-in-law. It was because of Atsumori's pressure that no case was filed." Shiraishi also remembered that Hitomi Kanzaki had been wearing black satin gloves on her hands at the press conference just now.

Although the outfit is good in terms of taste, but... the gloves are indeed used to cover up the scars left by the attack and the splash of sulfuric acid!
"Come to think of it, that Ms. Takami Atsumori should be the one who had a conflict with Kanzaki back then, right? The person who was kidnapped is the grandson of Kanzaki's love rival... wait!" Shiraishi suddenly "Hashidou Madai".

"Hiss... That's not right! Didn't they get married fifteen years ago? How old is their daughter? How could they have a grandson?" Bai Shi discovered a BUG.

Hearing this, Megure also said in a dissatisfied tone: "Who knows what's going on in their family... Ahem, Councillor Atsumori's son died a few years ago. Granddaughter Atsumori Maki got pregnant a year ago, and the father of the child is unknown. Maybe that's why she doesn't live in Atsumori's house... When Councillor Atsumori heard that his granddaughter was in Toudou, he was very surprised."

"Unidentified...crime, this is definitely a crime!" Bai Shi said affirmatively.

Although the age of sexual consent in East Island countries is 13, if the age is between 13 and 16, the age difference between the male and female partners must be within five years to constitute effective sexual consent. Otherwise, it will be regarded as "deception", and in all likelihood... this is a criminal act!

Megure was also very angry when he found out Atsumi Maki's age, but since the other party did not report the case and Congressman Atsumi did not want the family's disgrace to be made public, he could not say much.

"The important thing now is the kidnapping case. We have to ensure Xiaoshu's safety first. Congressman Atsumori is also putting pressure on the top leaders." Megure said helplessly.

Congressman Atsumori's son, Atsumori Masaru, died eight years ago, leaving behind only a daughter. In this case, no matter what he thinks about the origins of his great-grandson, it cannot change the fact that this is his "only descendant."

"August... Mikumo Life Insurance... Hiroshi Amano..." Shiraishi looked at the report on his phone and muttered, "There are so few reports on the case, huh."

Shiraishi then discovered that this case actually met some of the characteristics of a "wrongful conviction" - there were very few reports and signs of public opinion control!

So Shiraishi called Aida again, wanting to ask her if she had any inside information, but no one answered...

(End of this chapter)