Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 273 Is there something dirty in this corridor?
At the Orange Apartment, the Osaka Prefectural Police worked extra hard because of the presence of "Touto police officers". Although it was already the late night, they were all alert and fearful of losing their momentum.

"The keyhole shows signs of having been pried open. I just asked the administrator, and this room, as well as the four rooms above, below, left and right of this one, are all empty rooms, so no one can visit them." The criminal police reported to Otaki helplessly.

As for the other residents in the apartment...

It was already late at night, and unless there were any clues, there was no need to visit immediately, otherwise the other party might not cooperate.

"It seems that the murderer took advantage of the special environment of this apartment..." Otaki sighed, and then asked: "Has the identity of the deceased been confirmed?"

"Not yet. No identification was found on him... We will start the visit after daybreak."

……

Seeing that it was already past two o'clock, Bai Shi was about to go back and rest.

Shiraishi couldn't help much by staying here - because his identity was a bit embarrassing. Although the Osaka Prefectural Police would not reject him as they did other ordinary detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department, it was not easy for them to invite him to join the investigation, so they all "pretended that this person did not exist."

but……

Just then, patrolmen came over with a man in a blue down jacket and passed by Shiraishi in the corridor.

Suddenly, Bai Shi seemed to realize something and followed him back...

"Officer, officer... have you seen anything big?" The man in blue was a little scared and didn't dare to look at Bai Shi at all.

after all……

A "giant" walked here, but everyone acted as if they didn't see him. Coupled with the surrounding "ghost apartment" environment, the atmosphere was indeed a bit scary!
Especially since this "giant" actually ignored the police officers and followed him and looked at him. The police officers couldn't see him either. The man in blue was afraid that there was something dirty in the corridor...

Fortunately, the patrolman replied somewhat awkwardly, "This is Superintendent Shiraishi of the Metropolitan Police Department. Now... he is communicating with me about work with the Osaka Prefectural Police!"

The man in blue heaved a sigh of relief...

Shiraishi was also sure at this time - brown curly hair, high nose bridge, thick lips, about twenty years old...

Obviously this is the man that He Ye mentioned just now, the man that she and Heiji saw when they were downstairs!
……

"Inspector Otaki, we found this person acting suspiciously downstairs, and his characteristics were similar to the person we had ordered to pay attention to before." The patrolman said directly.

"So...what happened? I saw the isolation line, can't I come over to take a look? Is this illegal?" said the young man in blue impatiently.

"Ah! It's him. Heiji and I were downstairs and we just passed by him!" He Ye directly pointed out.

"Kazuha..." Heiji stopped him in a low voice.

If Kazuha didn't tell it first, the police would definitely ask him if he was here before. If he answered that he was not here, and then Heiji and Kazuha could prove it false, it would be a greater psychological blow to him, and it would be easier to ask him later!
Now that He Ye had said it directly, the man in blue knew that he could not argue, so he admitted: "Yes, before twelve o'clock, I was here..."

"Here? Are you talking about... Room 906?" Otaki asked immediately.

Originally, Otaki didn't think that he would admit it. After all... if the matter had nothing to do with him, he wouldn't be in this room. If it had something to do with him... then he wouldn't admit it so easily!
"Yes, it's here." The man in blue nodded directly.

Otaki, Heiji:? ? ?

Shiraishi:……

Otaki was also shocked. What kind of lunatic is this?

"So...what is your relationship with the deceased?" Otaki said with a serious face.

"Huh? The dead? What dead?" The man in blue showed a "puzzled" expression.

"I say...you don't mean to say that you were in this room but didn't know there was a dead person?" Heiji looked at the man speechlessly.

"The dead... I don't know! Where are the dead?" The man in blue also looked shocked.

"It was in the bathroom, didn't you see it?" Otaki also frowned and looked at him.

“How is that possible… I’ve seen it…” the man in blue said, looking towards the direction of the bathroom.

Seeing that he denied it, and...his way of denying it was so weird, Otaki brought him over and took a look at the scene where the body was found.

But now the body has been moved away and is just in the bathroom, surrounded by a circle of human-shaped patches.

"Here? How is it possible..." The man in blue showed an expression of disbelief.

"Please come this way first, and let's start with the most basic things!" Otaki said with a stern face and called him over.

"Name, age, occupation."

"Rokuninbe Shiro, 26 years old, I'm a writer... but I haven't published anything yet."

[Rokuninbe Shiro, unemployed.] Otaki wrote it down.

"Why are you here?" Otaki continued to ask with a stern face.

"Actually... I received an anonymous letter during the day today, asking me to wait for him in Room 906 here." said the Six-Man Division.

"Anonymous letter? Someone anonymously asked you to come, and you came?" Otaki glared at him, warning him to be quiet.

The six hesitated for a moment and then said, "Actually... there is something written on it that makes me very embarrassed. It says that if I don't come, it will be made public. Because of that... I came."

"A very unfavorable thing?" Otaki continued to ask.

"That's my own business! I didn't break any law, I was just caught with some evidence... I don't want to talk about it!" The six men shook their heads firmly.

Otaki hesitated for a moment, but did not pursue this point to the point, and continued to ask: "So what time did you come here, what happened afterwards, and what time did you leave."

"I came at 10 o'clock as the letter said. The door was not locked at that time... By the way, the letter also specifically said not to leave fingerprints, so I wore these gloves...

"But there was no one in the room at the time. I looked around but didn't find anything special, so I just waited in the living room...

"But it was almost twelve o'clock and still no one came. I became anxious, so I left and went to the river to have a midnight snack. When I came back to take a look, I found that you had blocked this place, and then the police officer over there called me over." The six-man unit told his story.

"Riverside" is the side of "Sotenbori". The river is called "Sotenbori". There are many shops along the river and it is very busy. This apartment is also within the scope of "Sotenbori-cho".

"Hey, hey, hey, brother, you don't mean to say that in the two or three minutes when we passed each other, someone carried the body over here?" Heiji interrupted directly.

"How should I know what's going on! When I looked in the bathroom, there was nothing there!" The six people also became impatient at this time.

"But judging from the situation at the scene and the corpse spots... although the first scene may not be there, the body must have been there for a long time!" Otaki stared at Rokuminbu seriously and said, "Mr. Rokuminbu, you should understand the current situation, right? According to what you said and the situation at the scene, you are too suspicious no matter how you look at it!"

"Really...it happens again! Why am I so unlucky!" said the six-man team unhappily.

"Again?" Otaki noticed it immediately and asked, "Have you ever been questioned by the police before?"

In fact, when Otaki asked just now, he felt that he was very "experienced".

Of course, Otaki can be sure that he has no criminal record, otherwise there would be a comparison reminder when collecting fingerprints - now he is just a "relevant person" and his fingerprints are collected for the purpose of review and exclusion. If he is not a criminal, the record will not be kept.

"It was the same in Dongdu before... Two years ago, my friend and I went to Mihua Cape for a trip, and... my friend's tutor was killed, and I was also questioned!" The six people said helplessly, and then added: "Of course I'm not the murderer!"

"Cape Mika?" Upon hearing this, Otaki and Heiji both looked at Shiraishi - Toudou, and it's also called "Cape Mika", it sounds like it's from your place!
Shiraishi, who had been just listening, also came over at this time...

When the six people saw him coming, their sense of space was suddenly overwhelmed and they instinctively sat back.

"Two years ago, at Cape Beika... ah, I know... the victim was a piano teacher named Ono Yuuko, right? At that time, the deceased and five other relatives and friends went to Cape Beika in Beika Town for fun. Afterwards, while sunbathing on the beach, someone hit the back of the head with a rock hammer and killed her.

"Then the police investigated the five people who were traveling with her, but found that all five had alibis, and no motive for murder was found. Of course, there was no sign of robbery at the scene... It is still an unsolved case until now."

Shiraishi recalled at this time.

"Who is this..." The six men looked at "Mr. Giant" with concern - just now they only knew that this was a senior police officer.

"This is the current chief of the Beika Police Station, Inspector Shiraishi," Otaki explained solemnly.

"Mihua Police Department...but I haven't seen this...Officer Shiraishi back then." Although the six-man department is not very good at remembering people, but...if they have seen Shiraishi, they will definitely have an impression of him!
"Of course, I only took office last year, and I have only looked at the files of pending cases in the agency," Shiraishi said as a matter of course.

Not long after taking office, Shiraishi went through all the files, so that when related cases arise in the future, Shiraishi will be able to remember them.

At this time, Heiji looked at Officer Shiraishi even more - firstly, because of his sense of responsibility, and secondly... his memory was really extraordinary!
A large-scale police station has many unsolved cases, not just a few. Over time, there are probably countless unsolved cases!
"As expected of a graduate of the University of Tokyo!" He Ye exclaimed in admiration.

It seems that he is not a sports student... "Yes, I was interrogated many times at that time! Mr. Ohno and I... are not familiar with each other at all!" The six-member team said excitedly.

Otaki didn't see any connection between the two cases at this time, so he took out the photo of the deceased and asked, "Calm down for a moment... Check if this deceased is someone you know."

After seeing the photo, the six people's expressions changed significantly, and they did not intend to hide anything...

"This is... Uncle Yohei? He's from the Munakata family... No, his surname shouldn't be Munakata... But he's Munakata's uncle, and his name is... what's his name..." The six people obviously knew this person, but they were not familiar with him.

"Yamauchi Yohei?" Shiraishi added at this time.

"Yamauchi...ah, yes, yes!" The six people nodded repeatedly.

Otaki and Heiji looked at Shiraishi in surprise and asked in confusion: "Shiraishi, do you know the deceased?"

"I don't know him, but when the Mika case happened two years ago, this Yamauchi Yohei was also present. He was one of the five people who took the main responsibility for taking the statement." Shiraishi said as a matter of course.

"You remember this too?" At this point, Heiji even suspected that the security in Beika Town was very good, so there were few unsolved cases?
"What? So... you and the deceased are both parties to a case from two years ago?" Otaki immediately looked at the Rokumanbu.

This makes the Six-Man Division even more suspicious, and...

The possibility that this case is related to the case two years ago has also greatly increased!
"I'm not a party to this matter... I'm not familiar with them." The six-member group also spoke in a weak tone at this time.

"Mr. Rokurenbu, given the current situation, it seems that you need to go to the headquarters to cooperate with the investigation." Otaki said confidently.

After all, the six members themselves admitted that they had arrived here at ten o'clock!

Even if he doesn't cooperate now, Otaki is confident that he can apply for an "arrest warrant".

The six-member team did not "resist stubbornly" and nodded directly...

But at this time, Shiraishi interrupted and said, "Wait a minute, Otaki, let him sign the transcript first."

"Huh? Okay." Otaki was stunned when he heard it, but he still did it.

What he just wrote was not a formal "transcript", but just a memo written in his police officer manual for himself to read.

But since Shiraishi said so, Otaki still took the manual and asked him to sign it - Otaki knew that Shiraishi must have his own purpose.

[Rokuninbu Shiro] After Rokuninbu signed, Shiraishi took it directly and looked at it carefully.

"What's wrong? Shiraishi." Otaki asked in confusion.

"Inspector Otaki, it seems that the case in Osaka this time is very likely related to the case in Beika Town two years ago. As the director of the Beika Police Station, I will also cooperate with your investigation." Shiraishi suddenly said at this time - mainly to the other detectives around him.

Originally, Shiraishi had no intention of speaking, at least not in his own capacity. Even if he discovered something, he would tell Otaki first, but...

Since it is related to the case in Beika Town, it is a different situation.

Upon hearing this, Otaki also said solemnly: "Officer Shiraishi, rest assured, we will cooperate sincerely and will definitely solve the case as soon as possible."

After hearing Shiraishi's initiative to "cooperate", the other police officers became less resistant...

At the same time, Kazuha and Heiji were whispering...

"What are you thinking about? Heiji." Seeing him thinking, Kazuha couldn't help but ask.

"I was wondering... why didn't Mr. Rokuninbu see the body?" Heiji wondered.

"Huh? Of course it's because he lied!" He Ye said with certainty.

"You're an idiot! How can someone lie so falsely..." Heiji shook his head repeatedly and muttered, "Let me think... According to what Mr. Rokuninbu said, he came to the apartment, and then... Hmm? Wait, just now in the elevator..."

At this time, Shiraishi said, "Inspector Otaki, I think we should send someone downstairs to check 806... The administrator just said that no one lives in 806, and the apartment layouts in this apartment are all the same."

"806? What you mean is..." Otaki also realized what Shiraishi meant at this time.

"Well, I think Mr. Liu Renbu entered the elevator, pressed the 9th floor, and then got off when the elevator stopped, right? Also, the light outside the elevator was very dim, and I couldn't see the floor number clearly. The sensor light on this side of the corridor is brighter, but the rooms here only have room numbers, and there is no floor number at the front." Bai Shi said as a matter of course.

"Indeed! I came out as soon as I opened the door!" The six men said as if they had grasped a life-saving straw.

"Eh? But... didn't you even look at the floor display board?" Otaki questioned.

"This... maybe not... right?" The six people seemed unsure at this time.

"8 and 9 are only different by a vertical line. Let's check if there's any tape residue there... and isn't there something in the elevator that attracts a lot of attention? With that thing there, I don't think people who come here for the first time will notice the changes on the floor display board." Shiraishi reminded.

"Attract attention...ah! It's that message board!" Otaki also reacted at this time.

Such an exciting message board is indeed something that everyone will instinctively go to after seeing it, and there is a lot of content. If it is your first time there, you will probably be attracted to it the entire time, just like Otaki and Shiraishi just now.

If the elevator stops and the display shows "8 with one stroke missing", you will instinctively think that you have reached the 9th floor. However, if the button for the 9th floor is not turned off, it will be difficult to notice the discrepancy...

"That's right, that message board... Actually, when I saw it for the first time, I realized that the content on it was fake. Although the forger deliberately changed the handwriting, if you look closely, you can tell that it was copied by one person." Bai Shi nodded at this time.

But at that time, Bai Shi just thought that someone was doing abstraction...

After all, it’s easy for someone to be abstract in a shabby apartment like this!

Bai Shi, who is highly accomplished in handwriting identification and has his own "suspicious flashing special effects", can easily spot the flaws - although he cannot accurately tell that every word was written by the same person, after all, some of the handwriting has been completely distorted, but it is inevitable that flaws will be revealed in the treatment of some strokes.

"So..." Otaki then looked at the signature on the notebook - [Rokuninbe Shiro].

"Well, six, people, four... they are all on the message board, and they are not written in the same handwriting." Bai Shi nodded.

When the six people heard what Bai Shi said, they breathed a sigh of relief: "Director Bai Shi, thanks to you..."

"Don't be happy too soon... If you really went downstairs, the Osaka Prefectural Police would definitely find traces. Even if you wore gloves, there would be other hair, sebum and even clothing fibers left after staying there for so long. If no evidence is found, it's just my speculation." Shiraishi said this specifically.

Because this is not the Beihua Police Station, or even the Dongdu, Shiraishi certainly cannot directly command the police officers to do their work. Not only is there no subordinate relationship, but it may also arouse their resistance.

But now that this is said, the forensic police officer on the scene immediately asked Otaki for permission, and then went downstairs...

"As expected of a graduate of the University of Tokyo! Heiji, Officer Shiraishi is so awesome!" Kazuha said to Heiji at this time.

"What... I thought of that too..." Heiji pursed his lips.

"Eh? Heiji, you're not...unconvinced?" Seeing this, Kazuha deliberately teased.

"I really... forget it. He could see the problem with the handwriting, but I really couldn't." Heiji had indeed thought of this possibility just now, but he was indeed a step too slow!
More importantly, Heiji understood that he had clearly lost in the handwriting recognition battle. At least he had not noticed the abnormality on the message board so quickly.

Thinking about Shiraishi's "freehand portrait" during the previous refrigerated truck case, Heiji felt deeply impressed that Officer Shiraishi's skills were truly comprehensive!
"But...if it's like what Officer Shiraishi said, what if we arrive early? Wouldn't he still be on the eighth floor?" He Ye muttered at this time.

“No, the murderer was able to stop the elevator on the eighth floor, which means he was in the apartment at the time. He saw Mr. Six coming and the elevator started working again, and then he pressed the up button on the eighth floor!
"The murderer definitely didn't leave after that. He was downstairs, observing whether we would come. Even if Mr. Rokuminobu didn't come downstairs when we came, he could still call Mr. Rokuminobu and tell him that he would be fine tonight. He could then artificially control Mr. Rokuminobu and make him pass by us or even meet us in front of the elevator." Heiji explained.

"So that's how it is... It's quite scary to think about it." He Ye's face turned pale when he thought about the murderer pressing the elevator button for the six-person group.

At this moment, Heiji changed his mind and thought - if I could also see the problem with the handwriting, I wouldn't have to wait until now and would have seen through the murderer's trick long ago... To round it off, it means that my reasoning ability is still stronger!

To verify this, Heiji took advantage of Shiraishi being free and walked over to ask, "Officer Shiraishi, when did you find out that Mr. Rokuinbu didn't come to this room?"

"Hmm?" Shiraishi looked at Heiji in confusion - why do you high school detectives like to ask this kind of questions?

"Puuuuu, Heiji is still not convinced, shame on you!" Kazuha whispered at the side, but was glared at by Heiji.

Shiraishi replied: "If I had to say when... it was when I saw him in the corridor."

"Eh?" Heiji was stunned when he heard that - you are just bragging? How can we tell from this?
"Because he has a faint smell of men's perfume on him. Although it's not very strong, but... if he has been here for three hours and there is no ventilation, there is no way I didn't smell it when he came." Shiraishi said as a matter of course.

That's right, it was because Shiraishi discovered this when he passed him in the corridor, so he turned back and spoke again when the six-man group was under suspicion.

Heiji:……

What a strange way of discovering this!

So am I losing on the sense of smell?

(End of this chapter)