Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 289: Travel before PR
[Achieve the "Capacity Improvement (Aoki Shin)" achievement - the comprehensive ability rating of subordinates is increased to SR, and 3000 achievement points are awarded. ]

After Shiraishi sent Takashima back to school, he happened to hear a tip from science...

As expected, Aoki's [Trial Mission] was also completed!
Although Bai Shi will not know the specific direction of his ability improvement until the next time he sees him, Bai Shi estimates that his gains should be considerable.

After all, Aoki had contributed a lot in this case. Although Shiraishi had suspected Munakata Masaaki from the beginning, he had been controlling the situation and not giving any further reminders in order to train his subordinates...

Including the "Mihua TV program", when the leopard aunt mentioned it, Shiraishi had already vaguely realized what program it was - after all, Gaotang was arrested by Shiraishi himself, how could Shiraishi not know how big a commotion it caused?
……

Knowing that Shiraishi was coming to take Takashima back to school, Ayako, who happened to be nearby, also rushed over.

Therefore, Shiraishi declined Takashima's invitation to go to the cafe, and also gave her some time to rest...

"Have the cases in Mika Cape and Osaka been solved?" Ayako asked in a good mood while sitting in the passenger seat.

"Well, it went pretty well... Detective Aoki did a good job." Shiraishi was also very satisfied.

"The criminal is indeed the guy who was not surprised after seeing you? Why did he kill that girl?" Ayako knew before that Shiraishi had already grasped the general outline of the case.

Shiraishi:……

After Shiraishi told Ayako about Sotenhori's reasons, Ayako was speechless for a while.

Ayako took a while to process the news, and finally came to her senses. She changed the subject and said, "But Detective Aoki was able to find clues from the program list. You are a good leader!"

Ayako credits Shiraishi as a leader without hesitation.

Compared to Shiraishi, Aoki checked the program list and then did some research on the legal issues mentioned...

This is also what Shiraishi is most satisfied with - in this way, under the effect of the [Trial Mission], Aoki's [Legal Knowledge] should also be improved.

"Well, grassroots detectives like Aoki usually lack knowledge of the law. They probably think that they won't need it. At most, they think that as long as they understand the ethical regulations on searches, it will be enough... It would be good if they could pay more attention to legal knowledge now." Shiraishi also nodded.

In fact, there is a reason for the laziness of front-line criminal police - after all, they are not required to prosecute criminals or judge crimes, and everyone is busy enough investigating cases!

But in reality, these are of course useful, such as...

"Hmm? Are you planning to recommend Detective Aoki for promotion?" Ayako immediately realized the meaning of what Shiraishi said.

That’s right, for front-line criminal police, the most useful thing about legal knowledge other than investigation ethics is... promotion assessment!

For the professional group or semi-professional group, the promotion assessment is not difficult, especially for the professional group, who don’t even need to review much. After all, the original professional group exam was much more difficult than the promotion assessment.

However, for the non-professional group of cattle and horses, the promotion assessment is a big hurdle!
Otherwise, there would not be a special police rank like [Patrol Chief] - some old patrolmen can't even learn the assessment content of [Patrol] to [Patrol Chief], so they can only be given a [Patrol Chief] without assessment, so as to avoid them having the same police rank as the young policemen who have just joined the job at such an old age...

Even for the semi-professional group, they will not be too scared when facing the assessment. After all, they have passed the exam, their brains have been trained, they know how to use their brains, and most of them are not front-line police officers, so they have more time to review.

Only the top talents in the non-professional group are given the opportunity to be promoted, but there is also a chance that they will be kicked out in the assessment!
"It's not just Aoki, there's also Akasaka, and many more... There are a lot of talented people in the Beika Agency now." Shiraishi knew it.

In the Criminal Division, Shiraishi will mainly promote Akasaka and Aoki. If the two of them can move up, especially to the "head office", there is a high probability that they will be promoted to police captain within a year.

"Will you go to watch the arrest training tomorrow?" Ayako suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Shiraishi was stunned for a moment - tomorrow is Saturday again, and it is indeed the day for arrest training, but Ayako's turning point seems to be irrelevant.

Seeing Shiraishi in a daze, Ayako said as a matter of course: "From now until April, it is the peak period for internal personnel turnover in the police, right? If you want to push your men up, now is the time to go to the Metropolitan Police Department!"

That’s right, the police station will “welcome new people” in April. New people will come, and old people will naturally have to move around. The period before this is also the time when personnel turnover is the most frequent.

And now that February is halfway through...

Ayako is reminding Shiraishi to go to the head office more often for "public relations" recently!
"That's right... Then I'll go to the main store tomorrow to visit my old friends." Bai Shi nodded when he heard that.

Shiraishi usually doesn't tolerate any sand in criminal cases, but he is not someone who doesn't know how to adapt - there are more than a hundred police stations in Toudou, and there are many capable and motivated detectives in each police station...

It is true that the detectives of the Beika Police Station have the advantage of "outstanding meritorious service", but the pressure for promotion among the front-line detectives is too great. Many veteran detectives who have solved many murders have been "subordinate police officers" all their lives. If they want to go further, they need their leader Shiraishi to work harder!

"No, why don't we find a nearby place tomorrow and travel for a day, and then you can visit the day after tomorrow," Ayako reminded.

"Huh?" Bai Shi was stunned when he heard that.

"This way you can bring some souvenirs, and it will give you a reason," Ayako reminded.

"No need for that. I don't ask them to open any backdoor..." Bai Shi hesitated.

The "old friends" that Shiraishi mentioned are mainly from Investigation Section 1, Investigation Section 3, Forensic Science Section... plus a few paired classes, some acquaintances from the Life Safety Department, and the General Affairs Department too!
The main people he visited were the "senior frontline officials" such as police captains and superintendents...

After all, when it comes to recommending police officers from the police station, these people are the main ones who give the nod. For example, during the transfer period, Superintendent Matsumoto and even Inspector Megure gave the nod to transfer young inspectors and patrol captains over. As long as there are vacancies, they can just go to the Personnel Section of the General Affairs Department to say hello. The Personnel Section will not make things difficult for Shiraishi for such a small matter.

Unlike dispatching senior police officers above the rank of "Superintendent", which requires the approval of the National Police Agency, Shiraishi cannot do such a thing.

The main purpose of going to the "Life Safety Department" is to find opportunities for police officers in the administrative department - the police station is not just about the criminal department, and Shiraishi also has to take care of things.

As for departments such as the "General Affairs Department" and the "Police Department", Shiraishi really couldn't find a way to recommend them. After all, even if there were positions in these two departments, they were all lucrative ones and it was not up to a director to have a say.

"I'm not asking you to bribe me. I'm just looking for an excuse. You can't just go in empty-handed, right?" Ayako said as a matter of course.

"Of course I won't go empty-handed. I know the gifts!" Bai Shi said generously.

"What I mean is that you can't go empty-handed..." Ayako suspected that Shiraishi would not go there empty-handed!
Seeing that Ayako was so enthusiastic about planning for him, Shiraishi nodded and agreed.

After Shiraishi agreed, Ayako started searching directly on the passenger seat...

"It can't be too far, and it can't be just in Touto, so it has to be in the surrounding counties... I got it! There will be a fire festival in the Red Oni Village in Gunma Prefecture tomorrow. We can go to the festival, buy some souvenirs at the festival, and then buy some specialties of Gunma Prefecture at the station..." Ayako made a plan in the blink of an eye.

Because we had to consider the round-trip time, and we were just looking for an excuse, there weren't many choices. Since there happened to be a fire festival in the Red Oni Village and it was in Gunma Prefecture, which was near Touto, Ayako decided to go there.

Although Gunma Prefecture is not directly adjacent to Touto, the distance is only about 100 kilometers. In particular, the Red Oni Village is located in the southeastern part of Gunma Prefecture, the side closest to Touto... Even if the fire festival is at night, as long as you are willing to go through the trouble, you can return to Touto that night after participating in the festival, and leave later in the morning, so you can come back in time to visit the head office on Sunday.

"Red Ghost Village... okay." Bai Shi nodded, muttering to himself that the East Island Country just likes these kinds of mysterious place names.

"Then let's drive to Gunma now! I'll guide you." Ayako said excitedly.

Although the main purpose was not to travel, and the trip was only around Dongdu, it could still be considered a "trip" after all.

"Eh? Do you want to go back and get your clothes first? And we haven't booked a hotel yet..." Shiraishi still felt that time was a bit tight.

"It doesn't matter, we can just book a B&B and then I'll ask the people from Suzuki Hotel to deliver the things over." Ayako certainly had a solution.

Since the Red Oni Village Fire Festival is being promoted, the local area is developing tourism, and there is definitely no shortage of homestays. In addition, there is also a Suzuki Hotel chain in Itakura Town in the southeast of Gunma Prefecture, which can provide "support" at any time...

After hearing what Ayako said, Shiraishi filled up his car with gas and drove towards Gunma Prefecture.

At around 8 o'clock that evening, Shiraishi had already passed through Saitama Prefecture and arrived in Gunma Prefecture...

Because of the fire festival, Red Oni Village is very lively now, but Ayako had already made arrangements. Outside the booked homestay, two receptionists wearing headscarves and ceremonial short-sleeved robes were also waiting outside.

"Sir... ahem, please come this way." The receptionist warmly welcomed the two to the simple front desk.

It is called a B&B, but it is a small hotel based on family units, not a real home.

In addition...

Shiraishi took another look at the two receptionists and felt that they were somewhat "suspicious".

It's not that suspicious in the way that a criminal does, but...

They were a little too professional, and didn't seem to be very familiar with other people in the store, even the boss's wife. And... these two people didn't react at all when they saw Shiraishi!
Shiraishi estimated...

They should be from Suzuki Hotel!
The Suzuki Hotel not only sent the necessary clothes to be changed, but also sent two people, so that the small B&B would not be able to serve the young lady well.

Shiraishi understood that Ayako might be afraid that she would feel uncomfortable if the remarks were too formal, so she asked them to pretend to be B&B service staff. Anyway, as long as they paid, the B&B would not expose these "free employees".

So Bai Shi also pretended not to know...

"Please come this way, this is the best room we have," the proprietress said enthusiastically.

Although I don’t know the details, this is a wealthy man who brings his own staff to entertain him…

At this time, the proprietress looked at Bai Shi and smiled - otherwise, in such a small B&B in a remote place, even if Bai Shi was not forbidden to come in, he would inevitably feel a little scared, as if a bear had entered the store in the middle of the night!

And now...

Although the proprietress looked at Bai Shi timidly, she was still very enthusiastic.

Since it was this kind of B&B, of course I only booked a Japanese-style room, and then I slept on the tatami floor.

"The beds and quilts are in the cabinet over here... If two beds are not enough, we have more at the front desk." The proprietress glanced at Bai Shi at this time.

It is impossible for such a small B&B to have a mattress suitable for Shiraishi...

Bai Shi didn't care, he was used to it.

Coming to the window sill, Bai Shi opened the curtains and found that there was a cliff here, but it was not too high. There was an open space below the cliff...

"Be careful on this side of the window sill, but the view is great. Look... the open space below is where the fire festival will be held tomorrow night. The materials for building the wooden tower have already been piled up. If you don't want to go out tomorrow night, you can watch from here."

The proprietress pointed to the open space outside and said.

The direction of this room is really good. Although it is far away, you can see the fire festival scene, but...

Shiraishi estimated that this would be a smoke-view room tomorrow night!
"Fire Festival" is generally a celebration in the countryside to pray for a good harvest. Some people light huge bonfires, while others build tall wooden towers to burn. The "Fire Festival" in Honggui Village belongs to the latter.

Tomorrow these wooden piles on the ground will be built into a wooden tower, and then they will be filled with oil and set on fire at the celebration tomorrow night...

Fortunately, Shiraishi and Ayako didn't plan to stay here tomorrow night.

The "Fire Festival" is to be lit at 8 o'clock in the evening. Shiraishi and Ayako have already agreed that after participating in the celebration, they will return to Toudou overnight.

After the proprietress left, Shiraishi also said to Ayako: "It's a bit cool here. I'll sleep by the window and you can sleep by the corridor."

"it is good……"

……

The next morning, Ayako woke up from Shiraishi's arms - the wind was indeed a bit strong, and it was a bit cold for Ayako to sleep in it in the middle of the night.

Afterwards, the two of them drove to the city to stroll around and bought some gifts - all of them were gift boxes of Gunma Prefecture specialties, not very expensive, but showing their thoughtfulness.

In the afternoon, I returned to Red Ghost Village and strolled around the celebration market. I also bought some small sculptures and other gifts. I don’t know what they are, but they all look fierce and aggressive. Shiraishi thinks they are suitable for giving to the detectives...

Of course, the two of them joined in the fun in the evening and came to the "Fire Festival".

At this time, a large fire tower had been built. After a round of gongs and drums, everyone began to throw torches at the wooden tower.

The huge wooden tower was burning, which looked quite spectacular. For safety reasons, the crowd was kept away from a safe area after it was lit.

But just then...

As the wooden tower burned, someone saw something that looked like a human figure at the base of the tower...

(End of this chapter)