Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 315 Hidden secrets
"Is this the only anonymous extortion you made from the deceased? Was there anything like that a month ago?" Uesugi asked.

"What do you mean? I just found out about this last week!" Hezi said unhappily.

Uesugi looked at Tsuruko and found no flaws, then continued to ask: "Have you told anyone else about this? Apart from your boyfriend."

"Of course not! A'du doesn't know either, I just told him and gave him some pocket money!" Hezi said as a matter of course.

Uesugi:……

No wonder this guy is so stubborn!

We've caught him, but he still refuses to say anything!
Bai Shi looked at the contents of the letter and said, "Do you know who this cheating partner is?"

"I don't know. It seems to be very confidential. The other party's name is not written in any of the letters." Hezi shook her head.

"But judging from the letters, the two have not been in contact for ten years ago, right?" Uesugi said on behalf of the deceased.

"Maybe he has switched to a mobile phone?" Hezi curled her lips.

Uesugi:……

"Okay, you can go out first..." After Uesugi figured out the situation on Sato's side, he finished questioning her and finally said, "By the way, we found Sato and his friends in a nightclub. He was quite generous after making a fortune."

Hezi's face darkened when he heard this...

Fortunately, Uesugi explained: "But he has been unwilling to cooperate with the police, and he refused to say where the money came from. You must criticize him seriously later!"

At this time, Shiraishi stopped Tsuruko from speaking and said, "Wait a minute, I have one last question... What do you think of the witch? What do you think she is here for?"

Hezi was stunned when he heard this, and then he said mysteriously: "Of course I came to negotiate with the warrior ghost... Don't disbelieve me, I really saw that ghost ten years ago!"

"What? Ten years ago...wait, you should have been only ten years old at that time?" Uesugi asked hurriedly.

"What's wrong with being ten years old? Ten years old doesn't mean I would remember it wrong! Because of that rumor, I went to that warehouse specifically to take a look, and I saw... the samurai armor stood up!" Tsuruko said anxiously and annoyed.

"And then?" Bai Shi asked.

"And then... of course I turned around and ran away! I fell seriously ill afterwards, and my father soon stopped using the warehouse because it was not clean." Hezi said a little depressedly when talking about her father.

Uesugi heard this and looked at Shiraishi. Seeing that he didn't continue to ask what he meant, he said, "Okay, go and call your aunt in."

"Although Tsuruko is dissatisfied with her father because of these things, but... it is hard to imagine that such a reason can constitute a motive for murder." After Tsuruko left, Uesugi shook his head depressedly.

"It seems that Tsuruko, unlike her brother, believes in the existence of ghosts and thinks that Koizumi is here to negotiate with them..." Shiraishi muttered to himself.

Uesugi listened and looked at Shiraishi strangely, as if he didn't understand why the police officer from Dongdu always cared about these things - just because the witch is your friend?
"And the wording used in these letters... well, not only do they not mention specific names, but they also don't ask about the other person's well-being. It seems that they don't care about how the other person is doing." Bai Shi just read it quickly.

"So... it's a purely physical relationship?" Uesugi speculated.

"You can think about it this way, but there is another possibility, that is, the people who wrote the letters are not actually in different places, but are nearby each other." Bai Shi said another possibility.

……

Then Akabane Miwa came in. Akabane Miwa was already in her forties, but she looked well-maintained. She usually wore a kimono and gave people a very conservative feeling. From the basic information learned before, this was an old woman who had never been married and had always stayed at home to help with the management of the farm.

but……

"Ms. Akabane, did you and the victim have any conflicts over the farm's accounts when he was alive?" Uesugi asked directly with a stern face.

"Contradiction? What are you talking about? Did Tadao say something to you?" Akabane Miwa said dissatisfiedly.

"No, Mr. Akabane didn't find anything, but we found out... the victim had commissioned a private detective to follow you before he died, and it does seem that your spending level is a bit high at the moment." Uesugi said, taking out photos of Akabane Miwa entering and leaving a high-end gigolo club.

These were obtained from the "private detective who was in contact with Tadao Akabane" after investigating the communication records. From this, the police learned that the deceased had investigated his sister's financial situation before his death.

Seeing this, Akabane Miwa's face darkened...

"You actually hired a detective..." Akabane Miwa's expression remained unchanged, but she said afterwards: "Yes, I did borrow money from my brother before... I think he might have misunderstood and thought that I was deceived by some shady man, but that's not the case. Saburo is a good man..."

As she spoke, her face was full of lust.

Uesugi:……

"Ahem, so you don't admit that you came from the farm..."

"What did I admit? Can you police officers just talk nonsense like that?" Akabane Miwa interrupted unhappily, and then added: "Besides, Tadao was the one who managed the farm before. What could he find out? He didn't even... Humph!"

Akabane Miwa did not admit that she had tampered with the farm's accounts. This statement was indeed just a lie made by Uesugi...

"So you did owe the deceased money before? Was it the money from a month ago?" Uesugi further confirmed.

They found that the deceased had withdrawn a sum of money a month ago, but they were not sure what it was used for.

"Yes, I borrowed 5 million last month." Akabane Miwa said with a straight face.

"The repayment date you agreed on is..." Uesugi wanted to confirm again.

"I have no intention of paying it back!" Akabane Miwa said confidently, and then she started to argue: "I have devoted so much time to this family, what's wrong with taking some money? Tadao has never urged me, and... when Saburo's business is successful, I will pay it back to Tadao."

Uesugi:……

"Ahem, okay... let's talk about something else. What did you want to say just now, that Mr. Tadao didn't discover 'anything'?" Uesugi asked.

After a moment of hesitation, Akabane Miwa said, "Actually... I suspect Qing Gu is secretly selling the wine from the winery. After Tadao took over the farm, the wine production was not right, but... Qing Gu is responsible for this, so I am not sure."

"Does the victim know about this?" Uesugi asked further.

"I mentioned it to him... Although he told me not to think too much about it, I think he would take it to heart. The reason why he recently removed Tadao's management rights and made a new comeback is because he is worried that Tadao can't control them." Akabane Miwa's words seemed very sincere.

"Them? The deceased should have trusted Qinggu and Huangchuan very much before his death, right?" Uesugi confirmed.

Akabane Miwa shook her head and said, "No, I think... he trusts Huang Chuan more. After all, Huang Chuan doesn't have a family yet, so he might have fewer selfish motives. And I think he should let Huang Chuan investigate Qing Gu's secret sale of alcohol. I heard Qing Gu and Huang Chuan had a quarrel before."

Upon hearing this, Uesugi showed an expression of "as expected". Apparently, they had also found similar information.

Then Uesugi looked at Shiraishi, and then took the initiative to ask for him: "What do you think of the legend of the dead souls, and... the witch you invited?"

In fact, Uesugi wants to ask more - are there any collusion between you and that witch!
After all, the reason why this murder case is so difficult is because of this spiritual ritual...

Judging from the scene alone, it is impossible for anyone to have committed the crime.

At present, it seems that this "witch" from Dongdu did not know the Akabane family before. If she did anything in the case, the most likely possibility is that she colluded with Akabane Miwa who invited her!
But now that Bai Shi was present, he couldn't ask so directly.

And it seems that Akabane Miwa has no real motive for murder at the moment...

When Akabane Miwa heard Uesugi ask this, she immediately said, "I know you men may not believe it, but... the witch really has magical powers! This time, maybe my brother was really possessed by the dead..."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Uesugi felt a headache when he saw this.

Bai Shi seemed to have heard something and interrupted, "Wait, you said...'you men' refer to your nephew?"

"Well, that includes my brother!" Akabane Miwa said confidently.

When Shiraishi heard this, his expression slightly changed, but he did not say much. Instead, he asked, "Ms. Akabane, did you know that the deceased had an improper relationship with other women about ten years ago?"

"Ten years ago?" Akabane Miwa frowned when she heard that, but then she shook her head and said, "I don't know."

Seeing that Shiraishi had no other questions, Uesugi said, "There is nothing else to ask for now. If you think of anything later, you can always contact us.

"Oh, by the way, let me remind you of something... that gigolo club is suspected of marriage fraud, my colleagues are investigating it, and the gigolo named Sanlang also said that he will not serve you anymore... Well, this is not our request, he just wants to avoid trouble."

Akabane Miwa: !!!
"Um...you can go now. Call Mr. Qinggu in later."

After watching the distraught Akabane Miwa leave, Uesugi scratched his head and said, "Although Ms. Akabane had a financial dispute with the deceased, it should not have reached the point of conflict, let alone the intention to kill..."

"After that, Qing Gu was the only 'outsider' who was not from the Akabane family among the people present at the time, except for the Witch Koizumi who had no connection with the Akabane family..." Uesugi said, and also became excited.

Judging from the motive alone, Qinggu should be the most suspicious.

Seeing Qing Gu coming in, Shang Shan asked as soon as he came up: "Mr. Qing Gu, someone saw you and Mr. Huang Chuan quarreling a few days ago... Can you tell me more about this matter?"

Qing Gu frowned when he heard this and said, "I don't think this is related to the case!"

"We will judge whether it is related. If you must conceal it, we will also ask Mr. Huangchuan, which may be even more disadvantageous to you." Uesugi emphasized.

After a moment of silence, Qinggu said, "Yes, they suspect that the decrease in cider production in the past two years is because I hoarded it and resold it." "Who are they referring to?" Uesugi asked.

"Akabane...it must be him who asked Huangchuan to investigate me!" Qinggu said with some resentment.

"So this is really just 'suspicion'?" Uesugi asked further.

Qinggu was silent again after hearing this...

"If you don't want to be suspected of murder, you'd better cooperate honestly." Uesugi looked like he had already mastered something.

After Uesugi urged him, Qing Gu had to say: "It should only be a suspicion at present, but... someone may have discovered it."

In other words, this is indeed true, but...

"What do you mean? What do you mean by 'possible discovery'?" Uesugi frowned when he heard that.

"I did sell some wine secretly... I've been in debt lately. I've been a winemaker for the Akabane family my whole life. I just want to get back what belongs to me..."

Uesugi interrupted, "Okay, you can explain your involvement in illegal gambling to my colleagues later... What did you mean by 'someone might find out'?"

That’s right, although the police did not discover Qinggu stealing wine, they did discover his financial problems - he owed gambling debts, and he paid off a lot of them this year!

"I... usually hide some cider in an abandoned warehouse. When the buyers come, I will sell it to them at a low price. But recently I found that... someone has been to the abandoned warehouse. Although they didn't touch my cider, they did touch some things in the warehouse..." Qinggu felt a little guilty as he spoke.

"Are you talking about the haunted warehouse?" Bai Shi confirmed with him.

"Yeah, it's there... I feel like someone moved something, but since there's not even a light there, I'm not sure... There should be a 'person' there." Qinggu obviously also thought of ghosts or something like that.

But he definitely didn't believe this before - after all, in order to avoid being discovered, he specially chose a haunted warehouse that no one would normally approach to hide his things!
After all, it was too conspicuous to transport the wine out of the farm by himself. In addition, he was also the one who contacted the buyers of the cider, so he used this method to falsely report the wine production and took a lot of kickbacks.

This is probably also the important reason why Zhongfu gradually began to spend more than he earned after taking over the management of the farm.

"Since you think that someone has been to the warehouse where you store wine...why do you think it's not the victim, or Huang Chuan who was entrusted by him, but instead you think they haven't discovered it yet?" Shiraishi further confirmed.

Qing Gu shook his head upon hearing this and said, "It's definitely not Tadao... His legs and feet have not been good in recent years, so he can't go there at all, and Huang Chuan... If he found out, he would have told Tadao."

Qinggu was worried that Huang Chuan would find out, so he had a quarrel with Huang Chuan out of guilt and anger, only to find that Huang Chuan seemed to know nothing about it.

"When I was communicating with the spirit world, I was always being held by Tadao and Miwa. It's impossible that I killed someone!" Qing Gu was afraid that the police would suspect him.

"Okay, we will go and confirm this matter with Huangchuan again. You'd better not hide anything." Uesugi said calmly.

It can be seen that Qing Gu was indeed anxious at this time, and he emphasized: "Huang Chuan...that guy is not without motives!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Uesugi immediately became concerned when he heard that.

Qing Gu hesitated for a moment and then said, "His wife ran away from home after a big fight with him ten years ago... Others only know that his wife was cheating on him, but before that, I once saw Zhongxiong and his wife having a secret meeting in the city!"

"I see..." Bai Shi nodded in understanding.

Uesugi looked over in confusion, and Shiraishi said, "The words in those letters are very cautious, as if they are avoiding someone...

"If they were just trying to avoid the deceased's wife, there would be no need to hide it like that. After all, if the deceased was found to have an affair, no matter who he was having an affair with, the nature of the affair would not make any difference, unless... the person they were having an affair with was someone they all knew, or maybe even someone close to them.

"And then it would make sense why the letter was filled with shameless love words and no concern for each other."

Shiraishi had suspected this before, so he asked Akabane Miwa specifically, but she didn't know the answer.

"Huang Chuan knows about this? Did you tell him?" Uesugi asked with a frown.

Uesugi did not believe all of Qingtani's words.

If Huang Chuan already knew, then how could he continue to work in the Akabane family for ten years, and why did Akabane Tadao still trust him?
Qing Gu paused when he heard this and said, "Of course I didn't say it... I even scolded Tadao at that time, but... maybe he will know it now."

Obviously, Huang Chuan should not know about this, and ten years ago, when Qing Gu just found out about this, he was angry at Akabane Tadao's behavior, but at the same time he did not want to ruin the relationship between the three of them, so he scolded him privately.

It’s just that Qinggu is afraid that he will be suspected, so he speaks without thinking.

From Qinggu, we learned that Akabane, Huangchuan and Huangchuan's wife were childhood sweethearts. Later, Akabane married the daughter of the owner of this farm and inherited the family business, while Huangchuan married his wife, for whom Huangchuan had deep feelings.

Qing Gu was of course very dissatisfied with Akabane Tadao's behavior.

After observing him for a while, Uesugi asked, "What do you think of the legend of the dead samurai and the witch's spiritual communication this time?"

"I...well...of course I didn't believe it at first..." Qinggu said with a guilty conscience.

Indeed, if he believed in this legend, he would not be bold enough to hide wine there.

It's just that recent events have made him suspicious.

"What about the witch?" Uesugi asked.

"He should just be a scam... He looks too young." Qinggu shook his head.

Qing Gu still didn't believe in Koizumi Hongzi.

"What do you think the victim thinks about this?" Shiraishi asked at this time.

Qing Gu was stunned for a moment, then said: "Tadao probably doesn't believe it either. He just abandoned the warehouse because Tsuruko was scared by something when she was a child. It was Miwa's idea to find a witch."

Bai Shi nodded when he heard this, as if he was thinking about something.

"Tell us more about the spiritual ceremony." Uesugi started asking again.

Qinggu had no choice but to tell it again, but there was nothing new.

Obviously, the person Shangshan is most suspicious of now is Qinggu, but...

His "alibi" or "proof of inability to commit a crime" was also very detailed - the victim's brother and sister held him on both sides during the spiritual ceremony, so how could he have stabbed anyone?

Even if he broke free from the victim and the victim didn't have time to question him, he was still being held by Akabane Miwa and had no conditions to commit the crime.

After letting Qing Gu go out, Uesugi looked at the confession record and seemed to have a headache.

Seeing this, Bai Shi reminded, "There is another person who wants to ask, right?"

"Eh? You mean... Huangchuan Jingta? He should have the least conditions to commit the crime. After all, he was not in the room at that time." Uesugi hesitated.

However, Bai Shi said at this time: "No, if we are talking about the conditions for committing a crime, according to our current thinking, none of the relevant persons have them. Although the others are in the house, they are only close in space. In fact, in terms of committing a crime, they are no closer to having the 'conditions for committing a crime' than Huang Chuan."

Upon hearing this, Uesugi asked someone to call Huang Chuan over as well.

Huang Chuan looks like an honest middle-aged man. Unlike Qinggu, he looks as stylish as he is and seems a little dull.

"Mr. Huangchuan, could you please tell us more about what happened at the time of the incident?" Uesugi asked.

The Aomori Prefectural Police had not found out any clues related to Huangchuan before. If they had to say something, it was only what Qing Gu said just now. However, they didn't know whether it was true or not, and Huangchuan himself didn't seem to know it either.

"Eh? This... I actually don't know much. I didn't go in at that time, but was outside making tea for everyone. Not long after they went in, I heard Tsuruko screaming, so I immediately pushed the door open, and then I saw Tadao lying on the table with a knife in his back..." Huang Chuan's answer was the same as before.

Bai Shi looked at Huang Chuan seriously at this time, and then asked: "What do you think of the legend of the dead warriors and the witch who came yesterday?"

"Well... To be honest, I'm very afraid of this kind of thing and I don't dare to touch it, but I don't really believe in it... Can you understand?" Huang Chuan said awkwardly.

Bai Shi nodded and said, "Of course."

They don’t believe in ghosts, but they don’t dare to watch ghost movies or enter haunted houses... There are many people like this, and it’s very normal.

After all, human sensibility and rationality cannot suppress each other.

"As for that witch... well, I don't believe it, but if that witch can make the farm workers no longer afraid, it would be a good thing." Huang Chuan is very rational in this regard.

"How did the victim view this incident before he died?" Bai Shi suddenly asked.

"Eh?" Huang Chuan was stunned at first, as if he didn't expect Bai Shi to ask this. Then he said, "Akabane should believe it..."

"Have you and your ex-wife been in contact during these ten years?" Bai Shi suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this, Uesugi couldn't help but look over in surprise - it's not a good idea to ask such a thing so directly, right?
If it had nothing to do with the case, Uesugi had no intention of asking about it.

Sure enough, Huang Chuan's face showed annoyance when he heard this, but when he looked at Bai Shi, he calmed down and said sullenly: "Who told you this... No, she hasn't contacted me since she left ten years ago!"

(End of this chapter)