Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 359 Two Generals
“After Kinoshita called the police, the police discovered that the murder weapon was Kinoshita’s kitchen knife, and Kinoshita’s fingerprints were indeed found on it, so he was listed as the primary suspect.

"Kinoshita claimed that he had lost the kitchen knife a few days ago. After investigation, no motive was found for Kinoshita to have committed the crime. Judging from the situation at the scene, it was not a robbery and murder, and it was impossible to rule out the possibility of outsiders entering during the time of the crime. Therefore, due to insufficient evidence, it was not sent for inspection.

"Although Kinoshita was not arrested at the time, the police continued to monitor him. Unable to bear the pressure, Kinoshita committed suicide. In his suicide note, he declared his innocence and expressed his hatred for the police, which caused a lot of public opinion at the time..."

Yamada then briefly introduced the case from five years ago. It was thanks to Kunikida being at Tsukishima Police Station that he was able to get the files so easily.

After listening to what Yamada said, Haitani also raised his hand. After Shiraishi nodded, he stood up and spoke.

"The old poster the deceased carried with him was a poster of the 'home chef service' run by Masayoshi Kinoshita, who committed suicide that year. We also met Kinoshita's widow today. After her husband died, she did not remarry, but lived alone with her children.

"Ms. Kinoshita is now quite resistant to the police and has not provided any valuable clues. She insists that she has not seen the deceased in recent years. We asked for her alibi and learned that she worked the night shift at a 24-hour diner last night.

"But... because there weren't many customers at night, and the restaurant was in Beika-cho, not far from the crime scene. It only took 40 minutes to walk there and back. If she had left for 40 minutes, she might not have been discovered, so her alibi is not completely established."

As Huitani said this, Shiraishi kept his eyes on Zinarcissism and noticed that he was acting like a normal person.

"Detective Haitani, how tall is Ms. Kinoshita?" Shima asked.

Huigu didn't look at him with tinted glasses just because he was a newcomer. He answered directly, "He's quite tall, less than 1.7 meters."

Obviously Huitani also knew why Shima asked this - the murderer in the surveillance video looked about this tall... shorter than a man, taller than a woman, and thin, because he was wearing a hood, a mask, and sunglasses... it could be a man or a woman!
"But... the murderer was clearly following the victim, not ambushing at the agreed location. This route also doesn't match the location of the restaurant where Ms. Kinoshita works. If you factor in the time it takes to disguise herself, if the murderer is Ms. Kinoshita, it would definitely take her more than 40 minutes to get out."

At this time, Shima obviously did not believe that the murderer was Erika Kinoshita - from the surveillance footage, the murderer followed and killed people, which did not seem like something that could be done by "coming out for a while".

"That's right. I can only say that the alibi is not completely valid. Subjectively, I don't really doubt Ms. Kinoshita. After all, her child is only six years old. There is no reason for her to suddenly choose revenge at this time." Haitani also nodded.

However, among all the people present, the one who most believed that Erika Kinoshita was not the murderer was Shiraishi himself!

Seeing that Zinarcissistic was acting like a normal person at this time, he neither spoke up to explain for Ms. Kinoshita nor was he complained by Haitani about being "shameful", it was obvious that he was not in love with Erika Kinoshita. In other words... Erika Kinoshita was not the criminal.

As for everyone else…

Subjectively, I think she is not a big suspect, but as a mature criminal policeman, I must always keep her under suspicion!

After Haitani finished speaking, everyone's eyes were on Kuroki - he and Kanzaki went to the "Iwasaki Art Transport Company" to track down the business card that the deceased had carried with him at the end.

Hei Mu stood up with a serious face and said, "We have discovered something very important this time..."

At the beginning, Kuroki only introduced Sakamoto Mikiya's identity and his own account of how he had poached Takahashi...

"In order to poach Takahashi, he gave him the business card? Could it be that Takahashi really had this idea in mind, so he kept the business card on him and was planning to contact him? But... Tsukishima Police Station... um." Yamada was a little puzzled at this time.

If Takahashi really wanted to resign and join the adult entertainment industry, it seemed that no one in Tsukishima Police Station knew about it - but Yamada thought about it and realized that this was normal... After all, judging from the previous situation, Takahashi was already isolated in Tsukishima Police Station, so it was normal that he didn't tell anyone about his desire to resign.

but……

Kuroki then said: "No, the important clue I really want to talk about is still behind... After further questioning, we found that this Sakamoto Mikiya was the partner of Takahashi Keisuke five years ago!"

Hearing what Kuroki said, everyone's attention became more focused.

"I see... Sakamoto must be older, so he should bear more responsibility for what happened five years ago and just resigned directly, right?" Sohkata nodded.

The follow-up investigation led to the suspect's suicide. The person primarily responsible was of course the person in charge of the "Investigation Headquarters" at the time, but the police officers under him were not completely blameless either.

When Kinoshita committed suicide, the two detectives who were responsible for following him undoubtedly also had to bear the responsibility.

Although Takahashi was isolated after this incident, he did not resign, which was a relatively light punishment...

As a former inspector, based on his understanding of the police organization, when Zongfang heard about this incident, he suspected that "someone who resigned" must have taken the responsibility.

"Another person related to the case five years ago? It could be a coincidence, but..." Narcissism sighed at this time.

Too many coincidences, that’s not a coincidence!
At present, it seems that the current case is likely to be a continuation of the case five years ago...

Of course, judging from the current situation, Takahashi may indeed be investigating the case from five years ago. At the same time, as a former partner, it is normal for Sakamoto to want to recommend him to his company since he is doing well. It cannot be said that there is necessarily a problem.

But Kuroki continued: "It's not just that..."

Bai Shi glared at him - Aixiu's problem has come back again, right? In the investigation meeting, he still kept people on edge?

In fact, when watching the restored version of the surveillance video just now, Shiraishi saw that Kanzaki seemed to have discovered something - in fact, Shiraishi could probably guess what he had discovered. After all, Shiraishi had also discovered it, but he just wanted to test everyone's observation skills, so he didn't make it public.

Kuroki also stopped Kanzaki at the time. Shiraishi guessed that he wanted to investigate further on his own first, and then show everyone the results...

Kuroki felt Shiraishi's gaze and immediately calmed down. He said honestly, "When we were at the Iwasaki Artwork Transport Company, we found an assistant named Shibata who seemed to have seen the deceased. We questioned her separately afterwards."

At that time, Kanzaki also noticed Ms. Shibata's abnormality, but Kuroki did not let her speak immediately.

After all, she still has to work in the company, and this case is related to her direct superior. It would be difficult to get any information from her in a fair and open way, and she would be unlikely to cooperate.

In this regard, Kuroki was more experienced. Afterwards, he asked Shibata out under the pretext of "afternoon tea" and asked her why she looked so strange at the time...

"What we learned from Assistant Shibata is somewhat different from what Sakamoto said... It is true that the last time Shibata saw Takahashi come to the company to find Sakamoto was a week ago, but... According to Assistant Shibata, the two had a fierce quarrel at that time... No, to be precise, according to Assistant Shibata, it was Takahashi who yelled at Sakamoto unilaterally." Kuroki said the most crucial information at this time.

"Did you hear what was said specifically?" Huigu asked quickly.

Kuroki shook his head regretfully and said, "No, after all, it's the boss's business, so Miss Shibata didn't dare to stay for long."

Of course, Kuroki didn't ask Sakamoto afterwards...

Otherwise, it would not only be equivalent to "betraying" Shibata, but Sakamoto was also a police officer before. If you ask him directly about this kind of thing, he will have plenty of excuses to make it go away.

"In other words, a conflict broke out between the two... Could it be that Takahashi's former partner killed him?" Yamada muttered to himself at this time.

Shima: ...Shima was starting to feel a little uneasy at this moment.

Shiraishi and Munakata also noticed this, and only they knew why.

For a moment, Shiraishi couldn't help but sigh in his heart. This case had the suspect committing suicide, and the detective partner was suspected of murder. It was really full of elements and made people scream...

Afterwards, Zongfang arranged a search mission. Currently, there are three directions worthy of further investigation - the widow of the suicide case five years ago, the former partner who resigned, and... the surveillance footage.

After the restoration, we can clearly see the murderer's clothing, assess his height and build, and then try to visit him nearby.

Seeing that Munakata arranged the search mission in an orderly manner, Shiraishi and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

The others were only now certain that the new section chief sent by their superiors was not someone who didn't understand investigations.

And only then did Shiraishi realize that Munakata was not only capable of "internal search"!
With the recommendation of Director Bai Ma, Shiraishi did not doubt Zong Fang's ability, but investigating the police system and investigating cases outside were two different things, especially in terms of methods, which were very different...

In a way, Munakata can be said to be the opposite type of Kunikida. Shiraishi, who can directly see the "subordinate attributes", knows this very well...

【Shotarou Sokata (Chief of the Criminal Division of the Yoneka Police Department):

Age: 56 years old.

Overall rating: SSR.

心：正义（87）、原则（29）、温柔（41）、主观（69）、热血（71）、坚韧（82）。

Body: Anxiety, restlessness, mild premature aging...

Skills: Interrogation (SSR), Reasoning (SSR), Infiltration (SR), Tracking and Surveillance (SR)...

Potential: All aspects are difficult to improve. 】

……

Not only has he maintained his abilities in infiltration and surveillance, but he is also very proficient in interrogation and reasoning.

Although there are some differences in the direction of their abilities, Munakata is basically "Kunikida without restrictions" and both are SSR-level detectives.

only……

In contrast to Kunikida, Munakata's [Principles] are only 29 points. Although not as extreme as Kunikida, it is a bit too low.

Furthermore, unlike his lazy appearance, Munakata not only has high [Justice] and [Passion], but even in the "Physique" category, in addition to Kunikida's "anxiety", he also has a "restlessness" state!
Kunikida's "anxiety" is because he is still thinking about the suicide of the criminal that year, and he may even be unable to let go of the case, so he is always alert to himself.

And Zongfang is not only "anxious", but also "restless"...

This made Shiraishi suspect that his current laziness was just a disguise, and in fact he had always wanted to get Minister Takamori into it!
It was just like when Shiraishi was investigating Inugami half a year ago, he was also very agitated.

After arranging the follow-up tasks, Zong Fang glanced at his watch and said, "Okay, it's time for me to get off work. If you have anything else, you can text me. If there is something urgent..."

Just when everyone thought that there was something extremely urgent and they could ask him to work overtime, Zong Fang said seriously: "You can contact the director directly."

Everyone:...

I’m a little afraid that the director will kill him with a single punch!

However, Shiraishi had already promised Director Hakuba that "childcare should be given priority", so he didn't say much at this time - this kind of favor will eventually be repaid by Munakata!
Hakuba introduced Munakata to Shiraishi, but it's hard to say whether it was more for Munakata or for Shiraishi...

Being in the Beihua Agency and under Shiraishi did give Souma a lot of convenient conditions, but for Shiraishi, it was not a disadvantage either!
It's not just because of Munakata's ability, but also because of his identity as a "veteran inspector."

Given that Shiraishi gets into trouble every other day, and is reckless enough to "strike hard" not only in the political and business circles, but also in the police force when he gets anxious, there are simply too many opportunities for Munakata to help him.

In comparison, satisfying his "childcare priority" is just a small matter. What's more, when school starts, he will help Shiraishi pick up and drop off Ai.

After the meeting, Shiraishi said, "Detective Shima, please stay for a moment."

This was the first time Shiraishi met Shima - after all, he was just an ordinary criminal policeman transferred here, and he didn't have to report to Shiraishi specifically.

At the meeting, Shiraishi also saw his "attributes"...

【Shima Kazumi (Detective of Beihua Police Station):

Age: 32 years old.

Overall rating: SR.

心：正义（67）、原则（56）、温柔（51）、主观（61）、热血（38）、坚韧（74）。

Body: Urgent, natural curls...

Skills: Case analysis (SSR), reasoning (SR), pistol shooting (SR), interrogation (SR)...

Potential: High, managerial talent tendency. 】

In general, Shima's level is very high. Although his overall rating is still SR, he already has an SSR skill. If we compare it horizontally... he is only slightly worse than the narcissistic person who has not yet "gone crazy".

After all, Zi Nai was Souichi’s trump card before, and Shima didn’t even have the title of “trump card” before he was left idle…

Moreover, Shima's "normality" and the right "heart" even touched Shiraishi, who was used to seeing "monsters and devils". As for his mentality, he was a little anxious and wanted to make meritorious deeds because he had just returned to his post as a criminal police officer, which was also within the normal range...

(End of this chapter)