Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 278 Engagement Banquet

On Monday, February 2, Shiraishi arrived at the police station early and specially called together all the patrol officers who were about to go on duty, the criminal police who were not out, and the administrative staff to hold a morning meeting, so that everyone could feel the morning spring breeze and be more motivated to work!

After a fulfilling morning, Shiraishi sat in his office, looking at the work reports of various departments...

In the Criminal Division, Gen and Yamada are investigating the "Report Letter and Bones Case", and Aoki is following the "Misaki Misaki Murder Case" who is working overtime on his own initiative.

However, Shiraishi already had a bad feeling - the murder case was starting to "get stuck"!

Fortunately, the body found in the abandoned building over the weekend was quickly solved by the Criminal Division with the help of Maori Kogoro...

Moreover, the two cases that are being investigated now are not current cases. The "White Bone Case" occurred at least a year ago, but the body has been found now, and it cannot be confirmed that it was a homicide. The "Mihua Cape Murder Case" is an unsolved case from two years ago.

In fact, it was precisely because of this that not many people could be spared to investigate the two cases. Even Gen and Aoki were unable to mobilize patrol police on a large scale to visit and assist, which is why the cases were delayed.

After all, everyone’s work focus is on the “present”, and Beika Town will not stop new cases from happening just because they start investigating old cases.

The first thing the old director taught Shiraishi was that he had to control the investment in old cases and not delay other "current" cases because of an old case.

Otherwise, as time goes by, the case will become more and more difficult to solve, and there will only be more and more "congestion"!
Unsolved cases are not unimportant, but from the perspective of the "Director", the allocation of manpower must be controlled.

same……

Shiraishi himself cannot focus all his energy on these two cases.

This morning, Bai Shi wants to stamp and sign as happily as possible!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and Shiraishi has arranged a "PR class" for himself - not for his own date, but to attend the engagement party of the daughter of Police Inspector Matsumoto...

In the afternoon, Bai Shi took an hour to listen briefly to the progress of the two old cases.

Shiraishi first found the source and Yamada to go to the office...

"We went to Beika Prison and asked Mr. Kamei. In his impression, Mr. Hachiya was a man with ideas because he argued with the company many times during the closed labor.

“As for what President Takigawa said before, about Mr. Hachiya stealing the company’s products, Mr. Kamei also mentioned it… According to him, the factory manager has always told everyone that the remaining rice can be taken away as an employee benefit.

“It was just that because there were no proper procedures, when there was a conflict between Fengya and the company, the other party used surveillance to frame Fengya-san.

"However, Mr. Kamei insisted that he knew nothing about Mr. Hachiya's death, and... Mr. Kamei also remained silent about whether Takigawa foods had 'adulterated rice'." Yuan said, shaking his head helplessly.

"So there are no clues or investigation directions for the case for now?" Bai Shi asked back.

Yuan paused for a moment after hearing this, then nodded in shame, but still said: "Mr. Kamei will be released from prison tomorrow, and I will go to him again then, hoping to find something."

"Well, you should find some time to go, but you can't slack off on your job." Bai Shi said as a matter of course.

With just one word from Shiraishi, his "task" was withdrawn, and he now had to "find his own time" to investigate, which greatly saved manpower in the police station.

"Yes!" Yuan responded directly.

"And your shooting skills, practice more and I'll report you next month." Bai Shi is making a lot of money this time, and that's how he squeezed out the manpower.

source:……

Afterwards, Shiraishi found a meeting room and called Otaki and Aoki over. Although Shiraishi and Otaki were very familiar with each other, it was working hours after all, so they still had to be "polite". It was not a good idea to casually "summon" the Osaka Prefectural Police in the office.

When you come to the office, you report your work to Shiraishi. In the meeting room, both parties discuss the matter and the nature of their representation is different.

Although Shiraishi is the Superintendent and Otaki is only a police inspector, if he is from the Metropolitan Police Department, it would be okay for Shiraishi to meet him in the office, but after all, Otaki is from the Osaka Prefectural Police system.

Even if Otaki doesn't care, once the news gets to the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, I'm afraid many people will have some thoughts.

"Director... after further investigation at the scene, I suspect... the victim, Ono Yuuko, was probably hit twice. The first time, she was actually dead or unconscious, and was placed where the body was found. After that, she was... probably hit again by Yamauchi Yohei, who threw stones from top to bottom!"

Aoki then reported his discovery to Shiraishi...

In fact, Aoki suspected that Director Shiraishi had known about it for a long time - that's why he reminded himself yesterday to recycle the dummies and chairs!

Although the seasons were completely different, the sun had just shone on the place where the body was found. When Aoki went to clean up the virtual scene and picked up the book, he was blinded by the reflection of the book...

Soon Aoki also thought of the "light".

Although he couldn't calculate the angle of sunlight in August in his mind like Shiraishi, he always had a stupid way, which was to look for crime photos from that period for comparison!
Eventually Aoki discovered this and re-determined the time of death of the deceased.

Once it reaches this point, it is only a matter of time to deduce that "Yamauchi, who left last, is the most suspicious" and "the two committed the crimes separately."

"Well, so the murderer who killed Ono Yuuko, and... the murderer who killed Yamauchi Yohei in Osaka two days ago, if nothing unexpected happens, is among these four people." Shiraishi nodded at this time.

Seeing Shiraishi so calm and without even a thoughtful look on his face, Aoki became even more certain that Director Shiraishi had intentionally given him some advice before.

"That's right, so I discussed it with Inspector Otaki, and now we have two main search ideas...

"One is that Yamauchi Yohei was entrusted by someone to deliberately confuse the public, or he was a partner in crime, and now he has been brutally silenced;
"The second possibility is that Yamauchi Yohei did not know that the victim was dead at the time, and he wanted to kill Ohno on his own initiative. Now he was killed by someone who knew about this in revenge." Aoki listed two possibilities at this time.

He looked at Otaki as he spoke, and Otaki said, "Yes, the Osaka Prefectural Police have also launched a related search for the two cases."

Bai Shi then said: "Motive, what about motivation?"

Upon hearing this, Otaki and Aoki shook their heads helplessly: "So far, we have not found any enemies of the deceased."

"If it's not a revenge killing, then judging from the scene, it's definitely not a murder for money or rape, so there is another possibility..." Bai Shi said quietly at this time.

"A murder of passion?" Otaki was stunned when he heard this - of course he knew that Shiraishi would not say this out of thin air.

Indeed, in terms of criminal motives, except for pleasure criminals, the motives of other murderers can be summarized into these four points.

Generally speaking, among murder cases, "love killings" and "vendetta killings" are the most common. After all, seeking money or sex will not lead to murder, and the number of "love killings" has always been more than twice that of "vendetta killings"...

Among the six people present, including the deceased, four were young men and women, none of whom had boyfriends or girlfriends, which made it even more suspicious. As an experienced criminal police officer, the police considered "love killing" two years ago, but...

"If it's a murder of passion..." Aoki looked at the relationship network written on the whiteboard and felt that the conditions were not sufficient, but he still concluded: "Based on the testimonies of others, Oono Yuuko liked Munakata Masaaki, and Munakata Masaaki liked his cousin Kijima Akemi..."

Simply connecting these two lines, there is no sign of love murder, unless...

"Could it be that Takashima Akemi..." Aoki then placed a marker next to Takashima's name, as if he wanted to add another line - if Takashima Akemi also liked Munakata Masaaki, then "Takashima's" motive for committing a murder of passion against Ono would be established.

But at this moment, Bai Shi interrupted and said, "There are two more points that you can use as a reference..."

Otaki and Aoki both looked over when they heard this, knowing that the clues provided by Shiraishi would definitely be valuable.

"First of all, when we were questioning the six-member club in Osaka, his expression looked a little unusual when he mentioned that Oono Yuuko liked Munakata Masaaki. From the perspective of micro-expression analysis, he may also like Oono Yuuko, but he has never expressed it openly." Shiraishi first talked about what he discovered in Osaka.

Upon hearing this, Aoki directly connected the six people "outside the circle" - he finally entered the circle!

At the same time, the two continued to look at Bai Shi. Since there was a "first", there must be another...

"Secondly, when I met Takashima yesterday, I deliberately said that Munakata Masaaki liked Ono Yuuko, but she didn't let it go. Instead, she took the initiative to correct me, and... I found that she was slightly disgusted at the time, which means...

"She knows that her cousin actually likes her, and either her acting skills have concealed it from me, or... she doesn't have any feelings for Munakata Masaaki, and she is even a little distressed by it."

Just to test this point, Shiraishi deliberately made the mistake in the testimony of the six-member department yesterday.

After all, if no evidence of "vendetta" is found after investigating, then we must consider the possibility of "murder of love"!

Later, Shiraishi realized that she should know that her cousin liked her, and... she was not very interested in it. After all, not everyone likes to "take advantage of the familiar", and when Rokuninbe Shiro was mentioned, Takashima showed no strange expression, which shows that this four-corner relationship could not be completely connected.

In this way, a new clue was revealed!
[Rokuninbe Shiro → Ono Yuuko → Munakata Masaaki → Takashima Akemi] - There is such an emotional relationship between the four people.

At this time, Bai Shi couldn't take care of "training" Qing Mu. After all, the six-member team was not in Dongdu, and...

It is a bit too difficult for straight men like Aoki and Otaki to understand this kind of hidden emotion. It is not something that can be achieved overnight or by a sudden inspiration. It can only be "fed" to them directly.

Aoki and Otaki looked at this relationship line and couldn't help but feel confused - wow, there isn't even a two-way arrow, right?

"If that's the case, the only motive for a murder of passion is..." Otaki then looked at Rokuninbe Shiro.

Since Takashima Akemi has no interest in her cousin and even has some feelings for him, she should not have any murderous intentions towards Oono Yuuko!
"You guys are required to continue investigating this." Bai Shi really doesn't have time to do everything himself now.

but……

In terms of the general direction, Bai Shi has a clear idea, but they have to discover some details on their own. Even if there are any mistakes, Bai Shi will pay attention to it.

……

After dealing with the affairs of the police station, Shiraishi made a round of inspection to ensure the overtime rate of the police station. Then he left work on time and went to the high-end hotel that he and Ayako had booked a long time ago...

Since you don’t have time for Valentine’s Day, just celebrate it in advance!
"Sorry, I'm late!" Ayako arrived after Shiraishi, which was rare.

"It's not late, it's not time yet." Bai Shi stood up and pulled out a chair for her.

Ayako was wearing a white evening dress at this time...

Although it’s not a private room, but... Ayako has booked this floor.

"Here, a gift." Ayako said, handing a gift box and a piece of chocolate to Shiraishi.

Shiraishi was not prepared. In the East Island, February 2th was the day for women to give gifts and chocolates, and the next month was the time for men to return the favor. "It's very heavy, let me see what it is." Shiraishi opened it on the spot as usual.

The gift box is not big, but it is quite heavy. Bai Shi guessed that it is made of some metal.

I opened it and saw...

"Is this... a tie clip?" Bai Shi saw that it was a silver-white tie clip.

Of course, Shiraishi's tie was also specially made in a large size - an ordinary tie, when worn by Shiraishi, was not only thin, but also did not even reach his belly, making him look as if he had it tied with a rope, which was too sloppy.

Therefore, Shiraishi ordered a batch of special ties, most of which were black, and senior police officers also needed to match their uniforms with ties.

However, Bai Shi doesn’t usually wear a tie clip. After all, there is no suitable one, and... tie clips are not easy to make!

Ayako also noticed this - when working as a detective, it was okay not to wear a tie clip with a work suit. On the contrary, if you wore one, it would look a bit artificial.

But now that Shiraishi wears the uniform of a senior police officer every day, the tie clip becomes more important.

The best match for a black tie is, of course, a silver tie clip. In addition...

Shiraishi discovered that this tie clip was not only heavy and large, but also... it clearly had a "mechanism" on it!
"That's right, guess what's the use?" Ayako asked deliberately.

"It should be possible to open it here... and then fold it up here... this shape looks familiar..." After Bai Shi unfolded the tie clip along the movable position into an "L" shape, he felt vaguely that the arc looked familiar.

Shiraishi immediately responded: "Ah! I see... This is a sheath, right? For the gun handle."

That’s right, this thing can now be buckled behind the gun handle to have the effect of lengthening and widening it!

Shiraishi had told Ayako before that it was difficult for him to use a pistol because when he held the handle, his fingers could not reach the front trigger. After all, the designer of the pistol would not have considered hands as big as Shiraishi's.

Because Bai Shi's palms, when calculated in proportion, are obviously much larger than those of ordinary people, it is difficult to find such large hands in the world!
"Yes, this is specially made by the craftsman according to the size of the M60 handle. It can be directly clipped on it. And if you adjust it like this..." Ayako said, reaching out to teach Shiraishi how to adjust it, and then said: "It can be clipped on the P230JP."

The latter is another common police equipment gun.

Ayako sounded very mechanical when talking about the gun models. It was obvious that she didn't know much about them. She just looked up the information for Shiraishi and then memorized it.

"That's great, very practical, thank you!" Bai Shi said with emotion.

"As long as you like it." Ayako also smiled.

This is definitely useful...

The reason why Shiraishi was able to recognize it was because when he was on the front line, he had made something similar and tied it to his pistol.

However, because it was not fixed well, it was not very practical, and gradually Shiraishi discovered that fists were actually more useful, so he slowly gave up "shooting".

Like when we were surrounded in the parking lot before...

If Shiraishi was given an automatic rifle, it would indeed be easier to break the situation. However, if he was given a pistol, the effect would not be better than using his fists and feet!
Of course, in some cases, a pistol is still useful, especially this special "holster", which can also be used as a tie clip. It is not cumbersome and does not need to be carried specially.

Another thing is chocolate.

"Ah! It's homemade chocolate, you are worthy of it!" Bai Shi praised.

Ayako rolled her eyes when she heard that. "That's right, we should melt the finished chocolate and then put it in another finished mold to freeze it into homemade chocolate!"

Ayako has done this before...

But Shiraishi complained about it like this.

……

"Sorry, I can't accompany you tomorrow." Bai Shi talked about this again.

"It doesn't matter, it's the same every day... and I actually have an engagement party to attend tomorrow," Ayako said.

Of course, if Shiraishi hadn’t been busy, Ayako would have found someone to go in her place!

It's not something that you have to do anyway...

"Eh? Whose engagement party?" Bai Shi asked curiously.

"The man is the heir of the Takasugi Group, and the woman seems to be a junior high school teacher. They are in a free love relationship." Ayako said meaningfully.

"Where are you? If I finish here first, I'll pick you up." Bai Shi took the initiative to say.

"Katsushika District..." Ayako didn't know the exact address - for this kind of activity, of course Ayako would have a driver. It was only when she went out with Shiraishi that she would not bring a driver.

"Katsushika Ward? That shouldn't be far." The engagement party that Shiraishi was going to attend was also held in a rented villa in Katsushika Ward.

……

In a blink of an eye, it was February 2th.

In the morning, Shiraishi came to the police station wearing a dress uniform and worked half a day. In the afternoon, he marked "public relations visit" on his work schedule, and then left his post directly - changed into a dress uniform and came to the address given to him by Inspector Matsumoto.

As soon as Shiraishi got off the car, he looked very cool.

It instantly attracted the attention of the people in the yard...

When Shiraishi saw these people in the yard, he smiled and said, "Really? Why did Inspector Matsumoto call you here? You look too fierce. Will you scare the groom?"

That’s right, at this moment, the yard was full of guys with ferocious faces who didn’t look like good people.

Shiraishi took a quick look and saw that most of them were Souichi police officers, but there were also some guys from Team 4. Shiraishi even saw Section Chief Kakuta from Team 4.

Inspector Kakuta, who was familiar with Shiraishi, immediately complained after hearing this: "How dare you say such a thing..."

The "Organized Crime Countermeasures Department" is a small department, and the section chief is a superintendent, one level lower than the section chief of the "Criminal Department" and at the same level as Matsumoto, the management officer.

After hearing Kakuta's complaints, the other police officers' expressions also relaxed.

After all, Shiraishi now holds a very high police rank, and this is still very important within the police system.

Since Kakuta and Shiraishi were both so casual, everyone just treated it as a "private occasion" and didn't need to think about those things.

"You guys, stop smoking outside!" Section Chief Genma of Section 5 came out of the villa and scolded the police officers.

"Everyone, go in there straight and behave like decent people. Don't scare the male guest!" Yuan Ma then scolded his men.

By the way, the other police officers from the Investigation Section also listened to the noise and their stern faces softened a little.

Bai Shi felt that among these guys, he was the most like a good person...

He has a completely kind face, and he is even the only one wearing a tuxedo and a suit!
but……

The other family members obviously still walked around Bai Shi...

After Shiraishi came in, he also saw another elegant man in a tuxedo suit - Inspector Shiratori.

"Inspector Shiratori is here too? I haven't congratulated you on passing the test yet." Shiraishi said and congratulated him.

Shiratori has already announced that she has passed the assessment, but...

In fact, there is nothing to congratulate. Compared with the professional group examination, the police inspector's promotion examination is not difficult at all. It would be strange if Shiratori failed!
At this time, Shiratori asked with emotion: "Police Officer Shiraishi didn't go to Valentine's Day either?"

"Huh?" Shiraishi was stunned at first, then followed his gaze and saw the figure of Inspector Sato.

Bai Shi laughed and shook his head at Shiratori's useless behavior...

Shiraishi immediately changed the subject and asked, "By the way, who is Miss Sayuri's fiancé? Why did Inspector Matsumoto call so many colleagues over..."

Shiraishi knew Sayuri Matsumoto before, but they were not very familiar with each other.

Generally speaking, this kind of engagement party is usually attended by the couple's relatives and friends, so when Bai Shi saw a group of evil-looking guys smoking at the door, he felt it was out of place...

"Huh? Don't you know yet?" Bai Niao was stunned when he heard this.

"I want to know?" Bai Shi was puzzled.

"He's the eldest son of the Takasugi family." said Shiratori.

"Takasugi?" Shiraishi felt it sounded familiar.

"Well, and he's the heir of the Takasugi family... Inspector Matsumoto doesn't seem to like this kind of young master, so he found so many colleagues to suppress him." Shiratori said in a low voice.

"So you really are here to scare people?" Bai Shi shook his head helplessly.

Shiratori looked at him and wanted to correct him. It was not "you", but "we"...

"Wait... the heir of the Takasugi family?" Shiraishi's tone suddenly became strange.

Could it be that what Ayako said yesterday...

(End of this chapter)