Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 341: Attack of Kanzaki

March 3, Sunday, the second day of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Grand Competition Finals.

The villas rented by the Metropolitan Police Department are "group purchased" and of course they are rented until the last day. However, those who are usually eliminated on the first day have to go back to the police station for duty the next day. After all, no one has abundant manpower.

On the first day of the Beihua Agency, they achieved a good result of top four and top three, and... Kanzaki strongly requested to stay.

If it was Gen or Fuji who made this request, Shiraishi might think they were just "taking advantage of their vacation", but when Kanzaki said he wanted to stay and help investigate the death of the Tsukishima police detective, Shiraishi believed him.

After all, Kanzaki is still a good kid...

While the other three were competing during the day, Kanzaki had been investigating Detective Murakami's case, and Shiraishi even specifically asked Inspector Matsumoto to take care of it - now the First Investigation Division is handling the case, and the Beika Police Station has no qualifications to investigate.

……

In the afternoon, Shiraishi and Ayako returned to the hotel villa. Ayako was tired after playing all day, but Shiraishi was still energetic. After letting Ayako go to sleep, he came to the villa of the Beika Agency.

I just happened to see that Kanzaki was looking up information on his laptop - all of it was news from the Tsukishima Police Station in the past two years!

Kanzaki has apparently determined that the case was caused by internal problems within the Tsukishima Police Station, so he wants to start with the motive, but...

"Are you looking for something to hold against Tsukishima Police?" Shiraishi suddenly asked, startling Kanzaki.

"Ah! Director." Kanzaki stood up quickly and said with a headache: "But I really have no clue... Sorry."

Kanzaki also knew that although he had the excuse of "the Beika Police Station was also involved" for intervening in the investigation, the chief of the Tsukishima Police Station would definitely feel pressured by investigating the Tsukishima Police Station. Today, he was also warned overtly and covertly by the people of the Tsukishima Police Station...

If there is a result, it will not be a big deal for Shiraishi. But if there is no result in the end, it will just make the director offend people for nothing!
"Kanzaki, in the police station... no, in the police world, sometimes it's not just false cases and frame-ups that count as 'handles'. Sometimes there are many dark secrets that are hidden in the dark that people don't want to expose. If you don't find anything in these big news, you can look at the more detailed and daily aspects to see if there are any abnormalities."

Shiraishi indirectly reminded Kanzaki.

In fact, Shiraishi didn't find out what exactly happened, and he forced Fengchuan to kill him, but...

What Minister Tanaka said before had already given Shiraishi a hint - it should be something that seems "insignificant" or "not a big deal", or even... Tanaka might know it!

Tanaka may not know or be sure about the murder case, but as the Minister of General Affairs, he must be aware of the problems in Tsukishima Police Station, which is why Tanaka hinted at Shiraishi before.

"More everyday... Director, I understand." Kanzaki agreed.

If Shiraishi wanted to know directly, it wouldn't be difficult...

The easiest way is to ask the omnipotent Iwata!
But Bai Shi didn't do that. There are some things that he still doesn't know, so there will be less resistance when doing them, and...

Unlike the previous major cases, if we ask Iwata about this kind of thing, it would be difficult for him afterwards.

After all, not everyone has killed someone, but everyone may have some "little problems".

Iwata gave Shiraishi the information about the murder cases. Even if other people knew about it, they would not feel any sense of crisis. However, if the clerical department shared all kinds of black material with Shiraishi without any obstacles, many people would not let Iwata off easily.

In this situation, it is better to let the young and inexperienced people under my command do it, which is less likely to offend others...

Ok?
Seeing Shiraishi in a daze, Kanzaki asked in confusion: "Director? What's wrong?"

"Ahem, nothing." Shiraishi suddenly remembered the previous case of Inukai.

It seems to be the case...

In name, everyone from Director Hakuba to Minister Odagiri put pressure on Shiraishi to stop holding on to the matter, but... in reality, the pressure was just that.

On the contrary, after Shiraishi gritted his teeth and held on until Inukai's golden body was completely broken, Director Hakuba immediately took action, using the opponent's force to expand the "results of victory", which led to Inukai's rapid collapse!
"Well, don't worry, just investigate the case well." After shaking his head, Shiraishi patted Kanzaki's shoulder, leaving the latter confused.

"Eh? Ah... yes." Kanzaki was stunned when he heard that, not understanding why the director said that.

But little did they know that Shiraishi was prepared to "resist the pressure" - Hakuba and Odagiri couldn't bear it at the time, so Shiraishi had to retreat first, but... Shiraishi didn't plan to sacrifice Kanzaki.

……

At this time, Yuan, Fuji and Muto also came back, and Shiraishi already knew the result of the competition the next day...

Teng’s good luck did not continue. He only got a “technical first victory” and failed to encounter the second “coward who believed in the rumor”, and was eliminated in the first round today.

Even so, in the list of female police officers' arrest skills, Fujiya has already entered the top eight, which is an example of extraordinary performance!

Yuan and Muto continued to perform steadily and broke through to the third day...

"Director, Teng has been eliminated!" When Yuan came in and saw the director, he was shocked at first, and then immediately started to "complain".

"Okay, I understand... You and Muto should also strive to get into the top eight." Shiraishi glanced at him.

Fuji, who was a little worried at first, immediately became arrogant after hearing what the director said, and said to Yuan: "Did you hear that? Then you have to work harder, at least until the last day of the competition, to get into the top eight!"

"Uh..." Yuan became nervous now.

After all, neither Yuan nor Muto could be sure of making it into the top eight.

With Muto's strength, he has a better chance of making it to the top 16, but he'll need some luck to make it to the top 8. As for Yuan...

We must ensure that the "Personality Mask" is stably activated throughout the entire process!
Once the mask falls off halfway, there is a risk of elimination at any time. This situation has happened before in the qualifiers, but at that time Yuan was far ahead in points and could advance even with mistakes.

Of course, if his "personality mask" remains stable throughout the whole process, Yuan may even have a chance to win the championship.

Muto was silent at this time, and Yuan changed the subject and said, "Muto will have a chance to take revenge tomorrow! Isn't that Katsumura going to fight you tomorrow? Kill him!"

Katsumura of Tsukishima Police Station is still very powerful. He participated in and was shortlisted for both "Shooting" and "Arresting Techniques". The "Shooting" was only eliminated today - and it was because he was in the same field with Gen, and was disturbed and hit the misleading target by mistake, and was directly eliminated at the last place.

"Yes!" Muto nodded confidently.

"Patrolman Fuji, you stay here as well and assist... the Investigation Division 1 in solving the case." Shiraishi still nominally let them use the title of Investigation Division 1.

Fuji Seiko was just a patrolman, so there was no need for him to go back to the police station to be on duty immediately.

Shiraishi did not stay long afterwards, but let them balance the competition and the case on their own - in short, Shiraishi wanted both good results and solving the case!

……

March 3th, Monday, the third day of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Grand Competition finals.

Muto Toru was eliminated unexpectedly.

Originally, when facing Katsumura, Muto had a clear advantage, and he drew a large explosion-proof shield to fight back - this thing is the main weapon of the mobile team members, and they use it most of the time!
but……

The battle was like a replica of Fuji's, but this time the one who was "disturbed" was Muto Tou.

Although Muto said nothing afterwards, he only apologized to Director Shiraishi and reviewed his poor performance, but Gen and others guessed that it must be the opponent who mentioned Murakami's accidental injury during the game and interfered with Muto.

"Damn it! He actually used unorthodox tactics in the ring...his mouth should be sewn shut!" Teng said angrily at this time.

"No, it's my own fault that I didn't perform well..." Muto himself didn't give so many excuses.

"Don't be so dejected. Remember to fight back next time!" Teng slapped him on the back.

Muto himself didn't take this to heart...

Next time, when will it be?
"By the way, where is Kanzaki?" Yuan asked curiously.

"He found the key clue and discovered Murakami's cloud notes, which might contain the real reason why he was silenced. Unfortunately, he couldn't find his account number and password anywhere. Kanzaki went to ask that arrogant brat for help." Fuji explained.

"Huh? Password? Can't you just pry it open directly?" Yuan didn't react yet.

"I already told you it's 'Cloud Notes', it's on the Internet!" Teng rolled his eyes at the guy.

As for the "cocky brat", he was of course referring to Yuuto Hayashida, the "special consultant" of the Beika Agency. Now Yuuto has regained his confidence and is not as withdrawn as he was when he was bullied, but... he also began to boast about his skills frequently, so Fuji began to call him that.

“Why is it still saved in the cloud…” Yuan muttered.

"Because...his cell phone and notebook had already been formatted when they were found." Teng said meaningfully.

The notebook was fine, it was found in his house, maybe someone got there first, but...

The cell phone was found on the body!
If it had been formatted by the murderer before, why didn't he just destroy it?
If it hadn't been formatted before, then... it means there's a mole in the police force!
……

March 3th, Tuesday, was the penultimate day of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Grand Competition finals.

Gen Seiji, the only remaining player in the Mika Agency, continued to advance and broke through to the finals under the personal blessing of the director!

At the same time, Kanzaki is close to the truth, but still lacks the final "evidence", or even...

"Muto, I think I'm being followed. There are so many people here, so they shouldn't be able to do anything to me... I'll go to the crosswalk at Harumi 3-chome, please come over here." Kanzaki secretly contacted Muto using a wireless headset.

After receiving Kanzaki's call, Muto rushed over immediately, but he was still a step too late - after the other party found out that Kanzaki was on the phone, he immediately accelerated to catch up...

When Muto arrived, Kanzaki was being beaten up in the passage by two men wearing motorcycle helmets!
"Stop!" Muto rushed over and quickly killed one of them. But the other one...

A bit of a fighter!

Muto is not only a big man, but also a skilled fighter. He not only knows the "arrest technique", but also the "combat technique". However, the opponent is only slightly inferior...

After a few moves, Muto suddenly reacted.

"You are..." Muto felt that the other party's moves looked familiar.

Although they had used the "arrest technique" to fight and had a large shield before, and were now fighting flesh to flesh, Muto still felt that this guy looked "familiar" from the way he exerted force and his body shape!
but……

Duang——

At this time, the opponent took advantage of the fact that Muto was looking directly at the sunglasses of the motorcycle helmet and hit him directly with a headbutt - a headbutt while wearing the helmet!
While Muto was feeling a lump in his throat and taking a few steps back, the other party's companion had already stood up. The two of them then turned around and ran away.

"stop!"

"Muto..." Kanzaki hurriedly called out to Muto who was about to chase after him.

At the same time, a patrol car from the Tsukishima Police Department drove over and stopped next to Muto and Kanzaki...

"What are you doing...huh? You are police officers from the Rice Flower Police Department, right? What happened?" The patrolman opened the car window and asked the two people on the roadside.

"Someone just attacked..."

Muto was about to say something when Kanzaki beside him stopped him and said, "Nothing, I just went out to drink and accidentally fell. It's hard work on patrol."

"Oh, that's good. Walk carefully." The patrolman took a look, then stepped on the accelerator and drove away.

"Kanzaki?" Muto looked at Kanzaki in surprise, not understanding why he said that.

"Those two guys ran towards the patrol car. They pretended not to see two guys in conspicuous clothes. What's the point of you talking to them? They might even be taken back to the police station to cooperate in the investigation. I don't know how long it will take." Kanzaki said calmly.

This investigation has indeed made Kanzaki grow a lot. If it were before, he would be playing the role of Muto, and it would take Kuroki to stop him!
"These guys... are so brave!" Muto said angrily.

Kanzaki shook his head and said, "If you are really brave, you won't just use your fists in hiding."

Kanzaki knew very well that this attack was more of a warning than a silencing. Even if Muto hadn't arrived, the other party wouldn't have done anything to him, just a beating...

"Then... go back and tell the director?" Muto looked like he was going to sue the parents.

However, Kanzaki still shook his head and said, "I haven't got any solid evidence yet... I can't just go to the director just because someone blocked me, right? Hiss..."

Kanzaki said this, touched the bruised corner of his mouth, and couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

and……

Kanzaki also thought about it in his mind, what would Kuroki do if he was here?
Then I thought, could this be a conspiracy?

If the director makes a big fuss without any evidence, will the other party take advantage of the situation to make the matter bigger, putting the Mihua Agency in a passive position and preventing it from continuing to participate in the case investigation?

Of course, Kanzaki's guess is very likely to be correct, but it is unlikely to be correct...

The other party may indeed think so, but... the premise for this plan to work is that Bai Shi is really a reckless man, but in fact it is obviously not the case.

If Kanzaki was beaten by someone from a violent organization, even if there was no evidence, Shiraishi could go to the other party's office and make a scene. However, Shiraishi would never rush into other police stations, let alone fall into a trap.

If Kanzaki really went to Shiraishi for this, Shiraishi would just tell him to go back to Beihua to rest and not to investigate anymore...

"What should we do then?" Muto said helplessly.

"Don't worry, although there is no direct evidence, I also got Murakami's notebook before his death." Kanzaki said with his eyes flashing, obviously he was already planning something.

"Murakami's notebook?" Muto was stunned at first, then asked happily: "Is there..."

"There's nothing useful about it. It's not a detective's notes, it's just his own notes. There are only some psychological activities in it. It's not even indirect evidence." Kanzaki shook his head when he heard it.

Before Muto could wonder, Kanzaki explained, "But... the people at Tsukishima Police Station don't know! When they find out that I got Murakami's notes, they will definitely think that I have some important evidence, and... I probably also know what they are trying to hide."

……

That night, Kanzaki successfully caught fish...

The people from Tsukishima Police Station ordered a bowl of soba noodles for him - Kanzaki's father... Kuroki's biological father, quit his job as a criminal policeman, abandoned his wife and children, and ran a soba noodle restaurant and raised Kanzaki Ryuichi.

The soba noodles sent to Kanzaki are exactly the same soba noodles from his home!
This is undoubtedly a silent threat.

In fact, at this time, Kanzaki could have gone to "find the director" to complain...

If you get beaten up without any evidence, Bai Shi won't care at all and will just think that you need more practice.

But if it directly threatens personal safety, then it is not a matter of evidence, not to mention that it will harm the family...

But now Kanzaki had deliberately facilitated this, as for his father's safety... Kanzaki is not worried!
The people at Tsukishima Police Station apparently only found out the address of the small shop in Kanzaki's hometown, but did not understand it in depth.

Otherwise, you would know that the store owner was also a criminal policeman, and a criminal policeman from the Kamuro Police Station who specialized in dealing with violent organizations - at that time there was no special "Organized Crime Countermeasures Department", and the criminal policemen who dealt with violent organizations were much more dangerous than they are now!
If Tsukishima wants to threaten old Kanzaki, these two tricks he has... still need practice!

However, since Tsukishima Police took the bait, Kanzaki certainly did not explain to them. Instead, he "gave in" and accepted the threat.

……

March 3th, Wednesday, is the last day of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Grand Competition Finals.

But the competition hasn't started yet. It's just after midnight, the moon is dark and the wind is strong...

Kanzaki came to an abandoned building carrying his backpack.

The director of Tsukishima Police Station, Toyokawa, had been waiting here for a long time - even though he was in an abandoned building, he brought a good chair with him and looked as steady as a rock.

Next to him is Detective Katsumura, and two other detectives...

There are only these four people. After all, only those with deep interests involved can get involved in this kind of thing. Toyokawa did not dare to let ordinary police officers know this. After all, he was only the "Director" and not a feudal lord. A Murakami almost reported him!
"Detective Kanzaki is finally here..." Toyokawa said with a smile when he saw Kanzaki.

Seeing that he was wearing sunglasses to hide the bruises on his eyes, Fengchuan's smile became even wider.

Seeing this, Fengchuan said in a didactic tone, "You became a criminal police officer only last year, right? At first, you were disliked by your station because you were too stupid, and you were almost dismissed. Later, I don't know what kind of relationship you had, but you found someone in the personnel department and transferred to the Beihua Station, which happened to be short of staff... Hehe, I hope that after this time, you can make some progress."

Well, after all, old Kanzaki was a veteran on the front line of anti-violence. Although his rank was not high, he still had some connections, so Kanzaki was transferred to the Beika Police Station at a time when new police officers were not recruited.

"Progress? At most I understand a little bit more why my father is no longer a detective." Kanzaki said deliberately.

Fengchuan was stunned when he heard this. He really didn't know before that the soba noodle shop owner was also a former criminal policeman. He couldn't help but glare at the police officer next to him - is this how you investigate?

Then Kanzaki asked, "Can I ask who directly attacked the village?"

"Then I have no comment." Fengchuan's tone became stiff.

However, Kanzaki continued to talk to himself, "I think it should be Detective Katsumura, right? If I guess correctly, after Murakami told you about some things in the police station and said he would report to the inspector, you should have agreed with him on the surface and used his trust in you to make an appointment with him...

"Ask him to hide behind the car in advance and wait for you at that place. You will take Director Toyokawa with you, and then ask him to talk to you by the car and have him record it. This way you will have direct evidence.

"But what Murakami was waiting for was not the words you told Toyokawa. When he saw you open the trunk, he was still wondering why the plan had changed... At this moment, you took out a pistol with a silencer, shot him, and then pretended to have found a body!

"From the beginning, there was no such thing as moving the body. Asking the hotel staff to clean up in advance was just an excuse for 'no signs of murder in the room'.

"And the reason why there were no signs of a struggle in the car was because Murakami had gotten into the trunk and wrapped himself in a sheet to hide himself!"

At first, because the recovered data only contained a mysterious recording that sounded like simple breathing, Kanzaki didn't understand what it meant, but...

When he was beaten before, he curled up and listened to his own breathing, which made him understand all at once - that should be the sound of waiting!

And two days ago, he also heard from those three children...

Those children claimed that they saw the driver get out of the car and open the trunk - normally, this is impossible. If the murderer hid the body in the back, how could he expose it on the road so carelessly?
The only explanation is...

The driver was actually not the murderer at all, it was Murakami himself!

Katsumura said dissatisfiedly: "Hey, kid, are you here to get beaten? I didn't say you can slander us at will!"

Seeing that he didn't admit it, Kanzaki continued, "We have a person in our department who is very good at computers. Although Murakami's phone had been formatted, he still restored the last data on the phone... It was a recording, and it contained your voice."

Katsumura panicked when he heard this, but he immediately reacted and asked, "Are you cheating me?"

"Ah, so you knew that only the sound of breathing was recorded inside, right? Unfortunately, Murakami must have trusted you very much, so when he saw you coming, he cut off the recording, and in the end, we only heard the sound of the car opening." Kanzaki said regretfully.

(End of this chapter)