Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 507 Violent Fraud
“We showed our IDs to the security guards and nurses at the nurses’ station when we came in!” the bald man said immediately.

Nonsense, if you weren't afraid, you wouldn't be able to get in!
Shiraishi stared speechlessly at the two people in front of him—Fine, so this is how you two go to the office to call people, is that it?
No wonder the doctor in the office thought he was involved with a violent organization!
Hmm? A violent organization...

"Wait... violent fraud? What is violent fraud?" Shiraishi asked.

Fraud is a crime of intelligence and falls under the jurisdiction of the Second Investigation Division.

What is the relationship between pairs and groups?
Even if it's a fraud ring, it should be the Second Investigation Division that's primarily responsible for the investigation...

"This fraud gang is despicable. They will first call the victims posing as lawyers or police officers, claiming that their children have assaulted someone, and ask the victims to prepare settlement money. Then... they will come to rob them!" the bald man said confidently.

Shiraishi then understood why it was called "violent fraud" and why a pair of detectives were investigating the case—it was outright robbery, which was no longer an ordinary crime and required a heavy blow!

"Robbery? What happened to my mother?" Yuan asked in surprise.

"Don't worry, don't worry... Madam Yuan is fine, she was just a little frightened... Um, we will do our best to recover the stolen money." The man in the leather jacket quickly reassured her.

Yuan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and then asked, "How much money was stolen?"

“Twenty million,” the leather jacket said.

Original:!!!

Judging from the way Yuan was about to pass out, this must be all of their family's wealth.

Shiraishi then understood why... if you're going to rob someone, why do you have to scam them first?

From this perspective, it actually makes sense!
The most vulnerable part of a scam is when the money is handed over at the end. If the act doesn't look quite right, the victim will become suspicious, and at this point, the victim will be a little more composed than before, making it easy for the scam to backfire.

The biggest challenge in robbery is that no matter how much you scout the location, you can't guarantee a profit—after all, even wealthy people might not keep large amounts of cash at home.

Combining the two...

That's really a valid point!

"Why didn't you answer the phone earlier?" the leather jacket asked.

"Before? I was in surgery before!" Yuan said helplessly.

"As expected... those bastards investigated you beforehand." The bald man nodded.

Suddenly remembering something, Bai Shi asked, "Fraud... Right, could it be that the Silver Dragon Society is the target of your suspicions now?"

As Wu Jing did mention before, although the Silver Dragon Society wasn't large in scale, it was very "capable," ranging from underground and online gambling venues to telecommunications fraud... it had everything!
Now that people from the Third Division and Fourth Department are here again, Shiraishi naturally guesses that they are investigating the Silver Dragon Society.

“I do have that suspicion, but… those loaches are too cunning, we can’t find any evidence,” the bald man said helplessly.

In cases like gambling dens, money is laundered online, making it difficult to use as evidence. And in violent fraud cases involving robbery and theft…

"Wasn't it cash that was stolen?" Shiraishi asked curiously.

“It’s cash, but after they steal the cash, they hire several unsuspecting people to pass the money on their behalf, and then launder it through underground banks. We’ve only caught a few of the middlemen,” the leather jacket explained.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi nodded—it seems to be a very cunning and greedy organization!
Then, seeing that Shiraishi was in a hurry, he took the initiative to say, "Alright, let's take him home quickly."

Although he said his mother wasn't injured, she was still quite frightened by the fraud and robbery.

These fraud and robbery cases were very likely also committed by the Silver Dragon Society, but...

This is a separate case from the murder of Koichi Hoshimiya, and Shiraishi did not forcefully request to be included in the investigation.

After confirming that it was just a misunderstanding, Shiraishi left the hospital, had dinner with Ayako, and then returned to the Kudo residence—Shiraishi's new home. Even if it didn't need renovation, it still needed to be tidied up before moving in.

but……

The very next day, June 22nd, Thursday...

The incident was still proactively linked to the Mikasa Police Department!

While Shiraishi was working, Munakata suddenly knocked on the door and came in.

When Shiraishi saw that it was Munakata, he thought that there was progress in the Hoshimiya case or that someone had died in his jurisdiction—after all, if it were a criminal case, only murder cases would be reported to Shiraishi immediately.

"Chief, the newly ordained monk has just been involved in another case," Zongfang said sympathetically.

"Hmm? A new monk... what's going on?" Shiraishi quickly asked.

Not long ago, a murder occurred in this "newly ordained monk's home." The male head of the household was killed, and the murderer was his wife.

This didn't cause much of a stir, because the Mori family was also present and solved the case immediately!
However, because of this incident, Shiraishi suddenly remembered that in the original work, Vermouth seemed to be disguised as the family's son, "Dr. Shinichi"!
Shiraishi had long forgotten his name, only remembering that he was the school doctor at Teitan High School...

Although Vermouth's plan seems to be different from the original work, just in case, Shiraishi still specifically instructed Munakata to report all the details of the new cases to him, and... not to let him feel that the Beika Police Department was paying special attention to him.

During this time, Shiraishi did not notice anything unusual about the new monk, and it did not seem like he had been replaced.

However, upon hearing that something had happened to their family, he immediately inquired about it.

“It’s fraud…no, it should be considered burglary,” Zongfang replied.

Shiraishi:? ? ?
Fraud and burglary...

Why does that sound familiar?

Under Shiraishi's questioning gaze, Zongfang began to explain in detail.

Sure enough, it was another scam targeting elderly family members. Moreover, after urging them to raise money and confirming that the victim had raised the money, the scammers would immediately rob them at their home to ensure that the victim would not realize what was happening!
The victim in this case was Xin Chu's maternal grandmother, who was the only elder in the family after his father's death and his stepmother's arrest.

Fortunately, although the elderly woman is quite old, the robbers only wanted money and didn't want to kill her, so she is out of danger.

Upon hearing that his maternal grandmother was still alive, Shiraishi was certain that the current Shinichi could not possibly be Vermouth in disguise.

However, this case forced Shiraishi to pay attention...

"Were there also criminal police officers present during the team meeting?" Shiraishi asked directly.

“That’s right. It’s said that this is the seventh similar case to occur in Dongdu. The main branch’s investigation is now focusing on the possibility of a violent organization,” Zongfang nodded.

"Yes, send more people, including criminal police... The mastermind behind this case is very likely the Silver Dragon Society," Shiraishi reminded.

Upon hearing this, Munakata's expression changed, and he began to reassess the case. If this were merely "the seventh heinous fraud and robbery case in Toto," then the Beika Police Station wouldn't have much room to maneuver, since the previous six cases hadn't occurred in Beika Town.

In this situation, the Mikasa Department could only play a supporting role...

If it weren't for Shiraishi's connections, the group wouldn't have proactively informed the Mikado Bureau about the "Silver Dragon Society," and naturally, the Mikado Bureau wouldn't have known that this fraud case and the previous Hoshimiya case might have some objective connection.

However, since Shiraishi knew about this, he naturally gave him special instructions.

Munakata did indeed allocate a significant number of additional personnel to this case, which theoretically only required basic police assistance. Therefore…

Before Shiraishi got off work, he received a call from Takei!

"This is Shiraishi." Shiraishi looked at the number on the caller ID and already knew who it was.

"Inspector Shiraishi, has the murder case of Koichi Hoshimiya been solved? The Beika Police Station is so idle..." As soon as Takei opened his mouth, Shiraishi knew what he was complaining about.

It seems that Munakata has indeed deployed a lot of resources in the fraud case. It's clear that Takei is getting anxious and feels that the Beika Police Station is "challenging" him.

“Well, I didn’t have any leads at first, but the Silver Dragon Gang guys are actually running a scam in Beika Town. I suspect they’re connected to Hoshimiya Koichi’s murder case,” Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

Takei, of course, didn't believe this: "Inspector Shiraishi is too modest. With you in Beika Town, how could any violent organization dare to kill someone in Beika Town?"

“Inspector Takei thinks too highly of me. Murderers in Beika Town don’t talk about these things,” Shiraishi said, shaking his head.

Seeing that Shiraishi had no intention of giving up, Takei said, "If the Beika Police Department insists on cooperating with the investigation, then they must follow my arrangements from now on!"

“Our officers are all excellent, Inspector Takei, don’t worry,” Shiraishi said, seemingly to reassure her.

“This isn’t a good question! Dealing with those guys might require some tactics, and without unified command at this point… I don’t need to teach you, do I?” Takei hinted.

It's clear that Takei wants to use special investigative methods like "fishing".

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi also found it reasonable, and so...

“Inspector Takei is right. In that case… I’ll make all the arrangements!” Shiraishi said, waving his hand.

Takei:…

"Inspector Shiraishi, Chief Beika's job isn't exactly easy either, is it?" Takei countered.

"It is precisely because the work in Beika Town is so complicated that I must take precautions... If we continue to let them swindle all the savings of the Beika residents, a terrible murderer might be born at any time!" Shiraishi said sternly.

Seeing Shiraishi's insistence, Takei had no choice but to accept it—after all, Shiraishi had a higher rank, the case was currently in Beika Town, and... as his long-time partner, Shiraishi was used to forcing Takei to accept his opinions!

Moreover, the three departments and four sections of the group are all Shiraishi's old subordinates, so Takei couldn't prevent Shiraishi from interfering even if he wanted to.

Shiraishi's concern about this case stemmed from two main reasons: firstly, the fear that "the people of Beika Town would be harmed and go berserk on the spot," and secondly, the fact that he was a newly ordained monk.

Although Shiraishi is 80% certain that Vermouth is currently focused on Teitan Elementary School rather than Teitan High School, and therefore won't pursue Dr. Araide anymore, there is still 20% uncertainty: Araide could still "become" Vermouth.

Shiraishi immediately changed out of his uniform and drove to Shinjuku.

By this time, pairs of plainclothes police cars and patrol cars from the Miho Police Station were already parked outside—because those guys had tricked and then robbed, and there was actually an element of burglary involved, so many police officers had come.

At the entrance to Shinichi's house, two burly men in suits and two uniformed police officers stood facing each other, neither giving way...

"Director."

"Big brother!"

Upon seeing this, the patrol officers and detectives from the Miho Police Station all saluted/greeted them.

"Yeah, relax your expressions, don't look like you're at a crime scene!" Shiraishi scolded both of them.

The Shin-do-kyo family is a typical Japanese-style garden. Although it is not a wealthy family like a zaibatsu, the Shin-do-kyo family, which has been practicing medicine for three generations, is quite well-off.

After entering, Shiraishi went to the courtyard and saw the old lady, Araide, complaining to Takei and the others, while Dr. Araide stood to the side with an awkward smile.

Shinichiro's father married into the Shinichiro family. Although Shinichiro was Shinichiro's maternal grandmother, he also had the surname Shinichiro.

"Ah! It's good that Chief Mikasa is here... I don't know if these police officers are trustworthy!" Shinichi said, glaring at the burly men, suspecting they were just all show and no substance.

"Grandma..." Shinichi said to Takei and the others, with an apologetic look on his face.

Shinichiro is way past the age of reasoning...

"Grandma Shinichi, even someone as shrewd as you fell for those petty thieves' tricks. It seems they did their homework." Shiraishi said, trying to coax the old lady.

"Who says otherwise! They must have done a lot of research. They even know that Zhiming is very popular with girls, and that Zhiming will be working in the Health Bureau in the future!" Shinichi said confidently.

"Health Bureau?" Shiraishi glanced at Shinichi with an "I knew it" look.

Shinichi graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, and was the top student in his class.

Although the school doctor at Teitan High School has a good salary, it shouldn't be able to attract talent of that caliber. Besides, Araide isn't just good at academics... he also has a good family background!

If Shinichi's original intention was to enter politics, and he first obtained the qualifications of a school doctor before joining the Health Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, then this career path makes sense.

Shinichi said helplessly, "Grandma, I haven't made that decision yet..."

He didn't seem to be lying.

However, the old lady Shinichi said matter-of-factly, "What nonsense are you talking about? As the successor of Shinichi, can you really be a school doctor for the rest of your life?"

"Ahem, Shinichi-chan, so... what exactly did the scammer tell you?" Shiraishi wasn't too concerned about Shinichi's career plans.

"That guy claimed to be a lawyer, and said that Shinichi got a high school girl pregnant, and that her parents were very angry and wanted a settlement. He also mentioned that Chief Ono was worried about Akechi's stance... Honestly, I was so happy for nothing," Shinichi said regretfully.

Shiraishi:……

"Grandma! Of course this is fake... and it's a serious illegal act, what are you happy about?" Shinichi said helplessly.

After that, the old lady believed it, since the "popularity among female students" and "connections with the health bureau" both matched up.

After preparing ten million in cash, robbers broke into the house...

(End of this chapter)