Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 363 Jiroji: Don’t ask, if you ask, I’m just born not to laugh!
Thursday, January 3, morning.

The police cars of the Beika Police Department were dispatched again, passing directly through Haido Town, passing through Chuo Ward, crossing the bridge to Tsukishima, and heading straight for the "Iwasaki Art Transport"!
Everyone was terrified along the way, and...

In order to prevent the real murderer from escaping after receiving the news of the Beika Police Department's deployment, the Beika Police Department notified the Tsukishima Police Department in advance and carried out a joint operation.

Before the dozen police cars from the Beika Police Station arrived, there were already detectives from the Tsukishima Police Station on the scene.

So many police cars parked at the door certainly alarmed the people inside...

The person who came down first was Zong Fang himself.

Zongfang wants to "prioritize child-rearing", so he works from 9 to 5 and refuses to work even a minute longer.

But he is not opposed to performing on the scene!

At this time, Sakamoto was probably negotiating with the police from the Beika Police Station downstairs because of his background as a police officer. When he saw Soumata, he immediately came over - looking at the C position, you can tell who is the person in charge.

"Didn't I tell you yesterday? Between Takahashi and I..." Sakamoto was still a little impatient.

However, Zongfang showed his police ID and said, "The Metropolitan Police Department has received a report from the Beihua Police Station that your company is suspected of smuggling illegal drugs. We are now conducting an internal search."

Sakamoto:? ? ?
What Police Department?

Aren’t you from the Mihua Department?

How many times have I seen those detectives behind in the past two days?
"Is it okay? Let's start." Zong Fang said, and gave a wink, signaling the criminal police and cooperating patrol officers to take action.

"Hey... wait..." Sakamoto wanted to stop them, but the police officers from the Beika Police Station had already filed in.

Before leaving his job, Munakata was an "Inspector". In theory, he was under the Personnel Section of the General Affairs Department. However, in reality, the "Inspector" system was not under the jurisdiction of the Chief of the Personnel Section. The "boss" was the Chief Inspector, who reported directly to the Superintendent General and, if necessary, directly to the National Police Agency.

Because of the special nature of the "Inspector's" tasks, separate investigations, internal searches, and other borderline actions are commonplace, so they often have to "wear the clothes of the police department" - the police department has the function of performing special tasks and has more "flexible" authority.

Although Zongfang is no longer an inspector and even left the position for several years, he was just recently invited by Director Baiba to resume his post, but...

The personal connections are still there, and Munakata can still "borrow clothes from the police department."

As long as it doesn't get to the point where they have to take responsibility, even if you ask the police department, they will admit it - of course, if they have to take responsibility, the police department will definitely say "his clothes were stolen."

Therefore, Zongfang is not afraid of the other party's non-cooperation, and will not be restricted by the "search warrant".

After the people from the Rice Flower Bureau entered the office area, they also had a clear purpose. They went straight to each employee's workstation and the office of the cadres. They seemed to be searching for illegal drugs, but in fact they were more concerned about collecting fingerprints...

"What are you doing? I'm going to file a complaint with the Metropolitan Police Department!"

"Hey, what did you come up with? A frame-up?"

"Are you sure this is a search for illegal drugs?"

"Ahem... Sorry, I'm not very skilled."

……

A very strange scene can be seen - the police officers, who are nominally searching for illegal drugs, each hold a bag of white powder.

Of course, this isn’t a frame-up, this is… fingerprint powder.

Although the fingerprint collection work is usually done by the forensic department, all police officers have actually learned it when they were in the police academy.

Although some police officers choke themselves because they are not used to using it, this is an office after all, there are enough fingerprints here, and it is only for collecting samples for comparison, not for analysis, so it doesn't matter if some are destroyed...

Most of the people in the forensic department are now in the police station.

Looking at the fingerprint sample photos sent back by their colleagues, the forensic examiners in the Department were all very proud - that's it? I can do better with my feet!
After receiving the photos, the forensic experts immediately edited them into a usable version while complaining about them. They then compared them one by one with the fingerprints on the brown paper bag sent by Kuroki...

"Mr. Sakamoto, Detective Takahashi came to you because of the sale of counterfeit goods, right?" Shima asked Sakamoto at this time.

Upon hearing this, Sakamoto said firmly, "What kind of guy? You are so young, and as a police officer, don't talk nonsense!"

"It's no use for you to deny it. Someone has already authenticated the so-called 'Yōhen Tenmoku Tea Bowl' and found it to be just a sophisticated imitation." Shima was not surprised. A veteran like Sakamoto would not admit it so easily.

However, after hearing what Shima said, Sakamoto knew that the truth had been revealed, so he changed his statement...

"I just introduce the products to customers. In the end, it is the customers who decide that the products are worth the price and want to buy them, right?" Sakamoto began with a disclaimer.

"But is it right to sell expensive imitations to the company's regular customers?" Shima asked back.

Sakamoto was silent for a while.

Indeed, Takahashi came to see him before to advise him not to do this kind of business anymore.

but……

Sakamoto was making money at the right time, and he was working with Iwasaki to quickly cash in on the company's reputation, so of course he was unwilling to stop at this time.

After a moment of silence, Sakamoto said sullenly, "Instead of talking about this, why don't you investigate how Takahashi died!"

"This is to investigate how Detective Takahashi was killed!" Shima said seriously.

"What? You still think that I killed him? Just because of... those questionable antiques?" Sakamoto sneered.

"No, it's true, Mr. Sakamoto, you just had a quarrel with Takahashi, but the point is not what happened after Detective Takahashi investigated the matter, but... why he investigated this matter." Shima said as a matter of course.

"What do you mean?" Sakamoto frowned when he heard it, he really didn't understand.

"Five years ago, a bourgeois named Washimiya was murdered at home..." Shima then told the story.

"Why are you talking about this now?" Sakamoto said a little annoyed.

He was forced to resign because of this case, and now Gaoqiao still nags him for making some money...

"Washimiya also bought a 'Yōhen Tenmoku tea bowl' before he died." Shima said with certainty.

"What?" Sakamoto frowned when he heard this, and found that things were not simple.

"In fact, when Kinoshita first came to provide door-to-door service, he saw this bowl, and Washimiya mentioned this bowl to someone on the phone at that time... And Mr. Washimiya had already asked someone to identify this bowl, and of course it was a fake.

"That is to say, Mr. Washimiya was killed when he was trying to hold the person who sold him the counterfeit products accountable!" Shima deduced.

"You mean..." Sakamoto came to his senses at this point, but then he said, "Wait... How come I don't know about this? What on earth is this..."

"Mr. Sakamoto, judging from this alone, you are the most suspicious person." Shima said warningly.

"I...how could it be possible..." Sakamoto tried to explain himself, but didn't know what to say.

It is impossible for me to kill someone for money, especially my former partner?
Five years ago, I was just an ordinary criminal policeman. Even if I knew some antique dealers, it would be impossible for me to sell the "Yōhen Tenmoku Tea Bowl"?
These can indeed be considered as "excuses for making excuses", but they cannot be used as "proof that the crime will definitely not be committed"!
"I... I don't know what a Yohen Tenmoku tea bowl is!" Sakamoto said anxiously and annoyed.

"That's right. Although Kinoshita did mention the 'Yōhen Tenmoku Tea Bowl' back then, Detective Takahashi knew the value of this thing very well and immediately refuted it, saying it was impossible. In addition, Mr. Kinoshita's testimony was not clear. He did not hear the content of Washimiya's phone call and there was no connection between the past and the present, so the police did not accept his testimony." Shima said regretfully at this time.

Sakamoto was stunned at this time. He originally thought that Takahashi noticed the "Iwasaki Art Transport" because of him. Could it be...

"I think Detective Takahashi has set his sights on this company because he discovered that Washimiya had authenticated the Yohen Tenmoku tea bowl during his lifetime, and because someone has recently started secretly reselling this national treasure-level antique... Am I right? President Iwasaki?" Shima said, looking to the side.

The meeting room where Sakamoto and Shima were originally located was right next to Iwasaki's president's office. The decoration of Iwasaki Transport Company was very chic and trendy, and the rooms were all glass walls, which were not completely soundproof...

Iwasaki seemed to be looking at the documents all the time, but in fact, his ears had been pricked up for a long time!

"Huh? Detective Shima, what do you mean? I don't know what you are talking about." Iwasaki stood up and asked in a seemingly normal tone.

Yamada, who was standing by, took the initiative to step forward and said, "President Iwasaki, there's no point in playing dumb now."

As Yamada spoke, he showed a list - this was the list of customers when Kinoshita was a home chef.

This is the "husband's legacy" that they both got from Erika Kinoshita after they were so exhausted from eating it.

"Mr. Kinoshita's last visit was at the Washimiya family, and just three days ago..." Iwasaki said as he moved his finger to the back of the list.

Finally, he pointed at a name - Shinji Iwasaki!
"President Iwasaki, you also asked Kinoshita to come over five years ago, three days before Washimiya's death, right?" Yamada asked in a ferocious manner.

Iwasaki heard this, and although he still had a smile on his face, as a detective, he could see that his defense was broken...

It was probably when Iwasaki was at his house that he stole a kitchen knife from Kinoshita!

It was just that the private sale of antiques was not discovered at the time, and even Washimiya's relatives and friends did not know Iwasaki, so Iwasaki did not enter the police's field of vision. He only appeared on Kinoshita's customer list and was not involved in the case.

"Maybe. After all, I sometimes invite friends to my house for dinner." Iwasaki neither denied nor admitted it. He just said he didn't remember.

At this time, Munakata came over and said, "Is that so? Then President Iwasaki, you'd better explain why there are your fingerprints on the pocket of the envelope that Ayabe Yutaka used to repay the loan?"

Iwasaki showed an expression of disbelief at this time...

He immediately stamped his feet with a grim look on his face: "Damn it! Damn it... How could this happen!"

Seeing this, Munakata gave a signal, and Yamada and Shima went straight forward to arrest him.

……

Iwasaki was powerless to refute it...

Iwasaki thought he had done a good job.

The murder method five years ago had been concealed from the police. After Iwasaki fell out with Washimiya, he observed his life and found that he often hired Kinoshita, especially when he entertained friends at home...

So Iwasaki came up with this plan!
If he didn't take action that day, Washimiya might tell his wealthy friends about his selling of counterfeit goods, and then his and his company's reputation would be ruined.

Before this, because of the transaction between Iwasaki and Washimiya, basically no one knew about it, and the police would not pay attention to anything when they saw his name on Kinoshita's place.

The incident with Washimiya also served as a wake-up call to Iwasaki.

Even if he could make a profit temporarily by directly selling fake goods, it would be too dangerous in the future. So he ran an art transportation company for five years and even gained a good reputation in the industry because he did not pursue profits.

And five years later...

Iwasaki decided to use former police officer Sakamoto to cash in on his "reputation"!
Firstly, as a former police officer, Sakamoto should not be easily caught. When accepting these "fakes", he would first "stack up" and put various disclaimers on the transaction contract. It was all hinted, and the final price was slightly lower than the real authentic ones.
Secondly, there are enough "fish" now. Even if the matter is exposed, the money earned is enough for Iwasaki to run away, and then Sakamoto can be thrown out to take the blame!
However, when Iwasaki discovered that Takahashi was always hanging out near his company, the pawn shop that Washimiya had found, and Kinoshita's widow, he began to become concerned!
"That's right, that Ayabe guy... I also saw him on video. He lives like a social maggot every day, always cursing this and blaming that... It doesn't matter if such a person dies, right?" Iwasaki said in the interrogation room, breaking his guard.

At this point, Iwasaki no longer hides anything.

"Officer, after seeing those videos, you also want to kill him, right?" Iwasaki said with a wicked smile on his face, looking at Kuroki in front of him.

But before Kuroki could say anything, Kanzaki beside him said angrily, "Stop it, this is no reason for you to use him to kill people and then kill him to silence him!"

Upon hearing this, Iwasaki spread his hands, as if he was speechless about people like Kanzaki.

"In order to make huge profits, you sold fake goods, and then killed three innocent people one after another... Mr. Iwasaki, many murderers have been tried here, but I think you must be one of the most despicable and will receive the heaviest sentence...!" Kuroki said seriously at this time.

When Kuroki mentioned sentencing, Iwasaki said angrily, "Damn it... Why? How come you guys were able to solve the case so quickly?"

……

In the second interrogation room, Shima and Yamada faced Sakamoto.

At this moment, Sakamoto was like an eggplant hit by frost.

Not only was his dream of becoming a "branch president" shattered, but he was also accused of colluding in selling counterfeit goods, and more importantly, because of Takahashi's death...

"So you really are detectives at the police station... Judging from your temperament, you really do look like Detective Hanagata." Sakamoto brought this up again.

Shima did not interrupt him at this time, and Yamada...

Unconsciously, he sat in the "audience" seat again. When he came to his senses, he found that the main seat had been taken by Shima. Although he looked at him with resentment, he did not ask him to leave.

It was probably because Yamada could see that Shima was very touched by Sakamoto’s situation…

"When I was a criminal police officer... because I was in the police station and was in the theft department, I felt that the people I dealt with every day were all guys who rolled in the mud! They were either thieves or some stolen goods dealers...

"I was already very impatient, and when that incident happened five years ago, I took the opportunity to resign, which was also a way to protect Takahashi. After all... he wanted to be a good police officer, and maybe this is good for both of us.

"Before, when he came to me and talked about the fake goods, I was very angry. I thought he was secretly investigating me. I thought he was just talking nonsense... Who did I leave the police force for? I can also pursue a good life, right?

"But...if I had realized earlier that he was actually investigating Iwasaki...or even...if he hadn't come to me again and again to help me get away...perhaps Iwasaki wouldn't have discovered it..."

Sakamoto said regretfully at this time.

"Mr. Sakamoto, what would you do if Takahashi told you the truth?" Shima suddenly asked.

“Hey…” Yamada reminded in a low voice - your question is too unprofessional?

What's the point of asking such hypothetical questions?
"Kid, don't underestimate me!" Sakamoto glared at him, the answer was self-evident.

Shima seemed relieved by this meaningless answer...

……

That night, Shiraishi asked Ayako to have dinner together.

After all, there was nothing for him to worry about regarding the case.

Iwasaki's scheme seems to be very complicated. If it weren't for the investigation by the Beika Police Department, the case might have been closed by Ayabe Yutaka.

but……

Although he thought he had done it perfectly, he could not resist the actions of the Rice Flower Agency, none of which were within his plan!
From the continued investigation after Ayabe Yutaka's death, to getting the envelope from the violent organization, to the final forced search...

Iwasaki was killed instantly by one blow.

However, Shiraishi was also a little surprised. When he was about to get off work, Ayako called hurriedly - there was a change in the date in the evening!

It's not that I suddenly don't have time, but...

Ayako brought one more person!

"I'm really sorry! Uncle Jiroyoshi insisted on coming to see you... Although I refused, but... you also know... Uncle Jiroyoshi's character." Ayako looked very embarrassed.

"Advisor Jiroyoshi... No problem, just meet him." Shiraishi was also wondering what that old kid Jiroyoshi wanted, but he didn't refuse and just met him.

When Shiraishi went to pick up Ayako at night, Jirokichi followed and got into the back seat without saying anything... and he was holding the dog...

But he is the elder after all, and he is a carefree person, so Bai Shi doesn't think that this is rude.

Ayako got on the passenger seat with a helpless look on her face.

"Uncle, don't you have something to say to Shiraishi?" Ayako brought up the topic.

"Hmm? No, no, I want to see how you guys get along...hahaha." Jirokichi said obviously insincerely.

But he didn't talk about business, and Shiraishi and Ayako were helpless - you can't mean "see how we get along" by listening to us talk from such a close distance, right?

After a while of silence, Ayako felt that the atmosphere was too solemn, so she took the initiative to ask: "Shiraishi...how is your work going recently?"

"Very good... Oh, by the way, a counterfeit selling gang was arrested recently!" Shiraishi suddenly remembered that Jirokichi also liked collecting and might be interested in this case.

Of course, for the sake of confidentiality, Shiraishi did not have any specific details.

"What they're selling is some Yohen Tenmoku tea bowl... What kind of national treasure is that? And they can actually sell it..." Shiraishi exclaimed.

"Puchi, the buyer is quite generous." Ayako also echoed.

"Well, the mysterious buyer was probably embarrassed, so he secretly took it to a pawn shop in Kamurocho for appraisal..."

"Kamurocho?"

"After all, that place is a place where selling stolen goods is rampant, and the pawnshop owners there have very sharp eyes. Although they don't have the reputation of being first-class appraisers, they are first-class appraisers in reality, and... they will never betray customers who come for anonymous appraisals." Shiraishi knows Kamurocho very well.

"I see... By the way, uncle, you also went to Kamurocho a few days ago, right? Did someone annoy you there?" Ayako suddenly remembered - if it was this kind of thing, it would be normal to ask Shiraishi for help to vent her anger.

but……

"Shiraishi, stop in front, Lupin and I are getting off!" Jirokichi had a stern face, maybe he was just born not to smile.

Shiraishi, Ayako:......

(End of this chapter)