Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 412 Classic Multiple Choice Questions

"Inspector Megure, take a look at this..." Sato was holding an evidence bag containing what appeared to be a bankbook—an important clue that had just been discovered upstairs!
Since Nobuo Imai's room was upstairs, they also searched his room, and found...

Just two days ago, Nobuo Imai withdrew eight million yen from the bank!
“Eight million? That’s no small sum… Was there any cash found in the room?” Inspector Megure asked immediately.

After all, "money-related murders" account for a large proportion of homicide cases, and unusual financial transactions by the victim before death often indicate that the case is "related to the murder."
"No, I haven't found it anywhere." Sato shook his head.

“Eight million…” Inspector Megure felt that a restaurant owner who seemed quite frugal would not be able to spend eight million without making a sound.

If it was used for something, it is very likely related to a murder case, or even that it was taken by the murderer after the victim was killed!
Just then, Inspector Megure looked at Kishikawa, about to ask him something, when Tommy from the forensic department came over and whispered to Megure, "Inspector Megure, um... could you take a look at this?"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Megure was puzzled. Did he think he had to be so secretive about what he had discovered?

However, I still walked to the side...

"Inspector Megure, while collecting fingerprints at the scene, we found the fingerprints of a repeat offender," Tomi reported.

"A repeat offender?" Megure's expression shifted upon hearing this, and he immediately asked, "What kind of prior conviction?"

Although this is a restaurant, it is normal to have fingerprints of unrelated people here, but ex-convicts will naturally be more suspicious. If it is a serious criminal offense, the level of suspicion will be greatly increased!

“Robbery and murder,” Denmi said seriously.

Megure: ? ? ?
That's way too harsh a punishment!
At the same time, Denmi showed the tablet to Megure, which displayed the matching results.

Megure recognized him just like that...

Isn't that Kyoya Kishikawa, the shop assistant?
"So young? That makes sense... It's because he's young..." Megure was initially surprised, because when he heard about robbery and murder, Megure instinctively thought that the perpetrator must have served a long time in prison, so he expected him to be a middle-aged or elderly person. However, he quickly realized that if it was Kishikawa Kyoya... it must have been a case committed when he was a minor, so the sentence was relatively light.

Immediately afterwards, Megure also found Kishikawa, who had been waiting in the restaurant...

"Mr. Kishikawa, there's something I'd like to verify with you... Do you know why Mr. Imai withdrew the money? Are there any renovation plans for the store?" Inspector Megure asked directly.

"No, the boss didn't say, but I guess he doesn't have any plans to renovate," Kishikawa said, shaking his head.

Hearing that he knew nothing about it, Megure was not disappointed. Instead, he asked again, "So... you do know about Mr. Imai withdrawing money?"

Kishikawa:……

Kishikawa, now appearing somewhat impatient and agitated, said, "That's right, I know the boss withdrew money from the bank two days ago, but... since you're asking me this, it's because you discovered my criminal record and suspect I killed the boss and then took the money, right?"

"No, we're not..." Inspector Megure wanted to explain further, since "preconceived notions" are never a good thing.

but……

"Stop being willful! Isn't it natural to have doubts about this? Do you think that just because you've gone to jail, everything will be over and no one can bring it up again? It's normal for them to have doubts about you first. If you don't want to be doubted, then give me a proper answer!" Shiraishi scolded him directly.

"No, Brother Shiraishi..." Megure then whispered a reminder to Shiraishi, telling him not to go so far.

However, Shiraishi showed no sign of backing down, and Kishikawa seemed to have taken it to heart, remaining silent.

Immediately, Mugure also thought of...

Shiraishi knew Kishikawa before, and he wasn't surprised to hear about his criminal record, which clearly showed that he already knew about it!
Seeing this, Inspector Megure continued to encourage him, "However, we won't just assume you're the murderer like this. We just hope you can cooperate with us a bit more."

Kishikawa nodded upon hearing this.

Megure continued, "Let's talk about the case from ten years ago... Why would you do something like that?"

Upon hearing this, Kishikawa's lips twitched before he said, "Of course it's because I don't have money... I'm from Kamurocho. From as far back as I can remember, I only had my mother, and she passed away soon after. I dropped out of school early, and of course, I didn't have a job, so I hung out with... those people."

"Although I was still young at the time and hadn't actually joined any organization, stealing was a regular thing. Later, when I broke into a house, the owner happened to be home, and we started fighting. When I pushed him down, the back of his head hit the coffee table..."

As Kishikawa spoke, he noticed the questioning look in Detective Mouri's eyes, so he emphasized, "You might think it's an excuse, but that's really how it is! I... never mind."

Kishikawa did not elaborate further on some of the details.

Calling it "robbery and murder" is indeed a bit harsh. Initially, it was actually a failed attempt to break into a house, which turned into a robbery, and then the homeowner was accidentally killed—these objective reasons were acknowledged by the court at the time.

Otherwise, Kishikawa would have been over sixteen at the time, and he wouldn't have received such a lenient sentence!

He committed the crime ten years ago, and in Shiraishi's memory, he was already at this shop seven years ago, which shows that he only spent three short years in juvenile prison...

"How did you end up at this shop?" Inspector Megure continued to ask.

“Seven years ago, after I was released from juvenile prison, the Department of Juvenile Protection introduced me to this job,” Kishikawa said.

"Protection Division... Does Mr. Imai know about your past?" Megure asked again.

Kishikawa shook his head and said, "I'm not sure either. According to the regulations, the Protection Division shouldn't disclose information about a juvenile offender like me. Boss Imai has always taken good care of me and has never shown any suspicion towards me."

but……

After all, Kishikawa has killed people!
He wasn't sure if the Protection Division would really keep it a secret...

Afterwards, Inspector Megure asked about Imai withdrawing money, but Kishikawa still only admitted that he knew the boss had withdrawn money, but he didn't know what the boss did with the money.

"Do you know that the boss keeps the money upstairs?" Mori asked at this point.

Kishikawa hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "Perhaps..."

It seems that in Kishikawa's memory, the money was indeed brought back by Boss Imai at the time.

This indicates two things—first, Imai did not immediately hand over the money to anyone, and second,... Kishikawa did know where the money might be kept!

Sato then walked over and whispered, "Inspector Megure has found the customer who made a reservation at this restaurant nearby, as well as... the victim's son. They've been brought here."

The two "case-related individuals" who had just appeared on the surveillance footage had not yet left the area covered by the surveillance cameras, and they have now been located.

……

Soon Shiraishi met the two people. One was a young man about the same age as Kishikawa, whom Shiraishi had met many times seven years ago, but now he was more mature and less childish. The other was a middle-aged woman with exquisite makeup.

However, there were obvious injuries on his face and bandages wrapped around his head, as if he had been beaten by someone. Of course, this kind of outfit is very common in Kamurocho, and people even assume it is a regular look when walking on the street!

"What? The old man actually... How could this be... By the way, when will I get his inheritance?"

Upon learning of his father Nobuo Imai's death, Yasuhiko Imai showed some grief, but immediately followed up with a statement befitting a filial son. "Hmm? Mr. Yasuhiko Imai, right? Are you short of money right now?" Inspector Megure asked him suspiciously.

"No...nothing." Imai said, his eyes darting around, then added somewhat uneasily, "If there's nothing else, may I leave?"

"Of course not!" Sato said, somewhat angrily.

Now that he's involved in the case, not to mention that it was his father who died, why is this guy in such a hurry to leave?
Imai shuddered in fright, then awkwardly said, "Y-yes...hehe...heh."

"What happened to the injury on your face? Who did you fight with?" Mori asked, staring at Imai.

"No, no, no... This is... um, I fell by accident," Imai said guiltily.

No one present believed this; it looked like it was caused by a fight.

……

Meanwhile, another customer who had made a reservation and arrived nearby before the incident was already in the store.

"It's terrifying that something like this could happen... But I'm sorry, I don't know anything. I just happened to be wandering around nearby." Ms. Matsubara said somewhat affectedly.

Shiraishi glanced at her a few more times at that moment...

This Ms. Matsubara Misa, who is in her forties, doesn't look like she's taken very good care of herself; wrinkles are faintly visible under the thick foundation.

However, not only was her makeup exquisite, but her clothing was also very particular—not that she had great taste, but rather that she was obviously trying too hard to look young, but she was indeed wearing a lot of designer brands.

He remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was starting to have doubts.

Judging solely from her outward appearance, one would assume she is a middle-aged woman with ample financial resources, however…

Shiraishi felt that she didn't seem like someone who lived a wealthy life, and judging from the previous surveillance footage, she hadn't even been driving.

"Lady Matsubara..." Mori seemed to want to ask something more.

However, Matsubara interrupted, "Ah! Didn't Detective Mouri realize? I'm single right now!"

"Ah? Oh... cough cough, Ms. Matsubara, are you acquainted with Mr. Imai?" Mori changed his tune and asked.

“No, I’m not a very long-time customer. I’ve only been here a few times recently… right, Mr. Kishikawa?” Matsubara said, looking at the shop assistant.

"Mm." Kishikawa nodded.

Just then, Takagi returned with a menacing-looking man with a large beard, and Conan was with him...

"Inspector Megure, Mr. Shimamoto has been brought back, and Conan and I just found..."

Just as Takagi was about to say something, Shimamoto, who looked quite fierce, immediately came up to Shiraishi, put his knees on his hands, bowed, and greeted him, saying, "Brother Shiraishi!"

"No need for 'Big Brother,' what's your name? Why did you leave as soon as you saw me?" Bai Shi rolled his eyes.

Although they seem to respect me, Shiraishi knows that these people are very cunning!

If Shiraishi hadn't memorized his face, he definitely wouldn't have come back.

"Um... I'm Ken Shimamoto, who's with Hinata-nii... Um... When I saw you, Shiraishi-nii, I was intimidated by your imposing presence. I didn't mean to run away," Shimamoto explained awkwardly.

At the same time, Shiraishi also saw that Takagi not only brought people back, but also a cane. After Kishikawa confirmed, it was indeed the cane that the victim usually used!
At this moment, Inspector Megure also instructed Tomi to immediately examine the marks on it...

Shiraishi estimates that Conan must have guided him to find it.

In addition...

Because Conan uses his glasses to contact Shiraishi, he basically heard the entire conversation in the store!

Shiraishi's expression also turned strange at this moment...

Could this be one of Conan's special skills?

When they arrived, the murder had already occurred, but now, after all this time, they've managed to come up with four suspects?
Is it turning into a multiple-choice question again?

Of course, there are quite a few suspects this time; it's not a classic three-choice question, but a four-choice one.

At first glance, Kishikawa, with his criminal record and numerous suspicious points, seems the most suspicious of the four, followed by Shimamoto—of course, Shimamoto is far less suspicious than Kishikawa; Shimamoto simply fled the scene after being discovered by Shiraishi…

It's understandable that members of violent organizations in Kamurocho wouldn't want to have much contact with Shiraishi, even if they haven't done anything wrong!

Furthermore, Imai Yasuhiko was clearly hiding something, and at this moment he seemed a little afraid to look at Shimamoto...

The least suspicious person is Ms. Matsubara, who seems to have little to do with the case, but...

By this time, Shiraishi had almost recognized her too!

Although it has no necessary connection to the case, Shiraishi gradually felt that her appearance here was not a coincidence.

“Mr. Imai, we just asked the bar where you work. You recently owe some money to some shady guys, so you want to get an advance on your salary... and you want an advance of seven million, right?” Sato said as he came over.

Imai:……

When the phrase "someone who's not good" was mentioned, everyone couldn't help but look at Ken Shimamoto—clearly meaning someone who owed a loan shark to a violent organization!
And now there's a "sour guy" around!

However, Shimamoto's reaction was somewhat strange...

It didn't seem like he was feeling guilty or hiding anything; rather, he looked like he had suddenly realized something.

With Shiraishi around, there's no need to play riddles with him.

Seeing that Megure was looking at him, Shiraishi directly asked Shimamoto, "He owes you money? Did you hit him?"

Upon hearing this, Shimamoto shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, no, no, we don't lend money... As for this guy... I did hit him, but... he deserved it! Yesterday he actually tried to break into my house, and I caught him red-handed!" Shimamoto sounded very angry as he spoke.

Everyone:...

Good heavens, this little Imai is a true Kamuro person, a penniless guy who actually sets his sights on the family of a minor leader of a violent organization...

(End of this chapter)