Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 209 Behind the Suicide Case
"What are you doing now? That case is now in the charge of Minister Odagiri himself, right? It's none of your business, so why don't you just call some people and give orders to the people above?"

As soon as Shiraishi's phone was connected, Iwata's somewhat exasperated voice was heard from the other end.

That's right, Shiraishi just sent him a text message, asking about the records of the case in August - although it happened in Beika Town, because the Metropolitan Police Department took over, there are not many case files in the Beika Police Station!
Iwata was confused at first, and then... he saw the news online and learned about the press conference.

Although matters related to Congressman Atsumori and the kidnapping case were not made public, Iwata, as a "Metropolitan Police Department insider," was able to find out what happened after a little inquiry.

……

"Don't worry, don't worry. I'm here to learn about the case in order to rescue the hostages as soon as possible." Bai Shi said soothingly.

"Don't try to play tricks on me!" Iwata didn't believe this nonsense at all. He had said the same thing in the case of Minister Inukai before. Then Iwata couldn't help but warn: "Although Atsumori has never been a minister of state, his political resources are not comparable to those of the promoted Inukai."

Atsumori is a member of parliament, and Shirai is also a member of parliament, but their status is completely different.

Everyone knows that Shirai is just a chess piece of Minobe, and Atsumori... although he is much worse than Minobe, he is also a chess player!
If we really want to deal with him, it will definitely not be easier than dealing with Inugami!

"You have already lost half your life in the case of Minister Inukai, and the remaining half will definitely not be able to replicate this effect." Iwata warned directly.

Shiraishi didn't say anything for a long time, and finally said, "It seems... you really discovered something? Otherwise, how could you be so sure that I would 'deal with' Councillor Atsumori?"

Iwata:……

"Don't worry, I've learned a lot of lessons from that Inukai. My life motto is 'every failure makes you wiser'." Shiraishi said confidently.

Having said that, Iwata also understood that even if he didn't tell her, Shiraishi would find out from other channels, which might cause more trouble, so...

"Congressman Atsumi is actually different from Minister Inukai. He...actually judging from the rumors, he has not done anything illegal." Iwata concluded first.

It's not that he has any good feelings towards Atsumori's actions, but he mainly wants to appease Shiraishi to prevent him from getting overwhelmed by his sense of justice and directly going against the will of others with his own strength!

"Yes, I also think he is quite upright." Bai Shi said perfunctorily.

Iwata paused and said, "In fact, the case of Mikumo Life Insurance... even judging from the 'rumors', it should have been a suicide."

"Hmm? Rumors?" Shiraishi noticed Iwata's choice of words.

"Well, the family of the deceased did not have any doubts about his suicide. They just... kept complaining that the deceased was abused and humiliated by the company before he committed suicide, which led to excessive mental stress and suicide. However, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare did not confirm this statement, so the police naturally cannot say anything."

In fact, Iwata still had an impression of this incident without having to look at the case files.

"Abuse and humiliation?" Bai Shi frowned when he heard this.

"The insurance companies... many of them are from the Devil's Club, including Sanyun. It is said that they not only publicly humiliate employees with poor performance, but also organize employees to go to a deserted island, beat and insult them, in order to destroy the personality of the employees and realize the control of the company... You should understand this in detail, right?"

Iwata knew that Shiraishi studied psychology, so he didn't go into too much detail.

"What did the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare say in the end?" Shiraishi asked.

"The boss of Mikumo Life Insurance is a classmate of Congressman Atsumori. In fact, this kind of thing is not the first time it has happened, but it has been suppressed. As for the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare... you know, with people like Congressman Atsumori taking the lead, there is no need for any illegal operations to resolve the matter satisfactorily." Iwata spoke as a matter of course, but also with some sarcasm.

However, perhaps out of concern that Shiraishi might do something dangerous again, Iwata emphasized, "You should also understand that neither Atsumi nor the Ministry of Health, Labor, or Welfare has done anything illegal or criminal, so the police have no authority or responsibility for this."

Iwata specifically emphasized that this was different from Inukai's situation.

After all, that dog-raised guy really used violent organizations to launder money, and even cooperated with them to frame innocent people...

But if Councillor Atsumori wants to settle this matter, he doesn't need to commit any crime at all - after all, the victim did "commit suicide", and as for the reason why he committed suicide...

No matter how much the family members make a fuss, Atsumi only needs to talk to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and he doesn't even need to go through the back door. He can just say something like "I think Mikumo Life Insurance is a healthy and valuable company"...

People from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will naturally buy this favor tacitly!
"A favor deal? I understand..." Bai Shi's tone was filled with helplessness.

Indeed, there was no illegal or criminal behavior involved, and there was not even any economic dealings. It was not a matter of bribery or corruption. It was just that the powerful people were "doing a favor" to each other.

The life of a deceased person is life only to his relatives and friends. To these people, it is just a general equivalent for exchanging "face" with each other.

But just as Iwata said, the police have no position to pursue or investigate such matters... All the police can do is to rule out the suspicion of homicide, as for why the person committed suicide, the police have no control over it.

"It's good that you know, and... after all, it was indeed suicide. It would be a bit alarmist to say it was a homicide. Most of the victims have basically accepted compensation. This kind of thing is not something we can control," Iwata further advised.

"Most of the time?" Bai Shi reacted.

"Of course this kind of thing doesn't happen just once or twice, otherwise it wouldn't be the company's problem...right?" Iwata said as a matter of course.

"Can you find the list?" Bai Shi asked immediately.

"You..." Iwata was annoyed when he heard this - it doesn't make sense, right?

"I want to see if there are any clues about the kidnapper! Now we are only investigating the family of Hiroshi Amano. If there are other victims, then... the scope of suspicion of the kidnapper must be expanded." Shiraishi explained hurriedly.

"You really don't mean to..."

"What can I want? Besides, the child is still in the other party's hands. You know me. No matter what, what I hope most now is that the hostages are safe." Bai Shi said frankly.

Iwata thought that Shiraishi might not know the current situation, but he definitely knew what was important and what was not. Even if he was unhappy with Atsumori Ryuzou, he would not ignore the safety of the hostages.

"Okay, I'll send it to you later." Iwata said sullenly.

"Well, especially those who did not accept the compensation or who are still dissatisfied afterwards..." Bai Shi reminded.

"That's all the information!" Iwata said in a tone that said, "I don't need you to remind me."

……

While Iwata was distributing the information, Shiraishi called the Criminal Division of the police station...

"It's me, Shiraishi... Section Chief Kunikida. Did you watch the press conference?"

"Of course there is a case... A congressman's family member has been kidnapped, right in the Mihua Apartment. Let's send some people over there. There are already searchers there, so they need to use their brains!"

"No, the main purpose is not to help them! We need police officers with 'sharp brains' because after we go there, the main purpose is... to get all the clues for me! Don't let Souyi's people do anything secretly in our territory! Oh, right, let Yuan and the others go... rest? Rest means working overtime!"

Shiraishi assigned a task to the Criminal Division, which was also the purpose of the Metropolitan Police Department asking him to get involved - the crime scene was in Beika-cho, and although the priority of "searching the crime scene of the kidnapping case" was far lower than that of "searching for the kidnapper's contact", some manpower had to be deployed, which required the cooperation of the local police station.

but……

Kunikida felt a toothache when he heard Shiraishi's request - the director didn't want to help Souichi, but to listen to clues. It was obvious that he had his own ideas!
"Also, send some people to me. I'm here with the families of the kidnapped people... Oh, especially the Gray Valley Squad. If there are any missions, send them to me... No, not the guild hall, but in Jianggutian District. I'll send you the address..."

Afterwards, Shiraishi called some police officers to come to Atsumori's house. After all, as a director of such a high position, how could he do everything by himself?

Especially narcissism...

The main reason for calling the Gray Valley Class here is for "narcissism"!
Shiraishi still feels that it is too coincidental that it was Hitomi Kanzaki, who had a grudge against Takamiya Atsumi, who was named the "public person" by the kidnappers, which makes him wonder whether Hitomi Kanzaki has any connection with the case.

……

After calling the police station, Shiraishi had already received the information sent by Iwata.

It’s more than just “one or two” cases!
According to the data sent by Iwata alone, there were more than 30 suicide cases, 28 of which involved the death of the parties involved, and the time span was as long as eight years...

Although he had heard about this from Iwata before, Shiraishi was still shocked by the large number and the long duration of this incident.

For the past eight years, these cases have been suppressed. Not only have there not been many reports in the media, but even the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry have never identified these as the companies' responsibility!
Even if the family members sue, most of them eventually succumb to reality and reach a settlement...

In addition to the "Amano Hiroshi suicide case" that just happened, there were six other cases in which no settlement was reached - all of which ended in defeat.

After all, without the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s determination of responsibility, it is impossible to get “justice” in court.

At this time, Shiraishi also paid close attention to the course of these six cases...

Unfortunately, all of these cases happened more than a year ago, and there was no such thing as listing all the family members of the deceased in detail. At the moment, Shiraishi did not get too many clues, and could only say that there was a direction for the investigation!
(End of this chapter)