Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 527 Psychologist
"Ran-chan...you must be joking...I'm Conan..." Conan said, his voice tinged with embarrassment and nervousness.

"Conan? Yes, yes, I know you like Conan Doyle, but you can't change your name, can you?" Ran tilted her head and looked at "Shinichi who's acting really strange today."

"Ran! Do you remember what just happened?" Mori asked anxiously.

"Just now... Waaah..." Xiaolan said, covering her head, looking very painful.

"Wait, don't rush," Shiraishi interjected.

Shiraishi approached the bedside...

"Ah! A bear! A bear!" Xiaolan exclaimed.

Shiraishi:……

"It's okay, it's okay... He's Officer Shiraishi... Don't you recognize him?" Mori quickly reassured him upon seeing the situation.

"Officer Shiraishi...?" Ran looked puzzled.

Shiraishi then asked gradually, "Don't you recognize me? The first time we met was on a plane to the United States... Of course, that plane never made it to the United States."

"Airplane? I've never been on an airplane before..." Xiaolan looked confused.

Shiraishi then asked, "Ran, what grade are you in this year?"

"First grade!" Xiaolan said confidently.

"When did the Taika Reform take place? What was reformed?" Shiraishi asked without hesitation.

"I... um... it happened during the reign of Emperor Kōtoku, when we learned the political and economic system from the Tang Dynasty," Xiaolan answered, sounding somewhat bewildered.

After all, this is one of the most frequently tested topics in high school island nation history...

"How tall are you?" Shiraishi continued to ask.

"I...I'm about 1.6 meters tall," Xiaolan said uncertainly.

Seeing this, Shiraishi nodded, then asked again, "Do you remember what you ate this morning?"

"This morning..." Xiaolan suddenly had a headache.

“Alright, stop thinking about it… Let’s change the subject. Do you remember who Attorney Fei is?” Shiraishi asked directly.

If it were Xiao Lan when she was a child, she would probably not be familiar with her mother's original surname, and she would be completely unfamiliar with the fact that "her mother is a lawyer".

“Fei… Lawyer… is… my mother? Hmm… Mother? Hmm?” Xiaolan kept making doubtful sounds.

"Alright, let's stop here for now. Your mother will be here soon," Shiraishi reassured him.

"Officer Shiraishi, what's wrong with Ran...?" Mori knew that Shiraishi was knowledgeable in psychology.

While Sonoko was pulling Ran along, trying to convince her that she was Sonoko and not Sonoko's aunt, Shiraishi was quietly explaining the situation to Mori.

“Retrograde amnesia usually occurs in the case of head trauma, but... there are also precedents of it occurring after extreme stimulation.” Shiraishi basically confirmed the situation.

"Retrograde?" Mori confirmed again.

"Yes, it means that you lose a period of memory before the accident... but the knowledge that has already become common sense will not disappear," Shiraishi explained.

"Then... can it be restored?" Mori asked immediately.

“Of course, most patients who experience symptoms will recover soon, but… losing ten years of memories is still very rare,” Shiraishi reminded.

"Most of..." Mori was clearly not optimistic.

After all, Shiraishi also said that there are very few cases of people losing so many memories!
"Shinichi, what are you doing..." Ran looked at Conan with some fear.

Although she fully accepts her 1.6-meter height, she still feels safe around the tiny "Shinichi".

"Sister Ran..." Conan was about to explain.

After coughing twice, Shiraishi said in a low voice, "If you look a lot like that brat, you can start by calling yourself Shinichi Kudo. That way, it will be easier for you to guide Ran to regain her memories from your perspective."

Conan: ...

Conan would be willing, since opportunities to call himself Shinichi Kudo are rare, but...

Conan is now a little worried that after Ran recovers, she might still remember what happened, or... what if her memories from when she was six or seven years old suddenly become clear—then she'll realize that Conan and Shinichi are no longer just similar in appearance!
Because of Ran's unusual mental state, Mouri and Sonoko didn't take her mistaking Conan for Shinichi seriously.

I just feel that Xiaolan's amnesia is indeed very serious; she even mistook that brat/arrogant detective.

However, this would make it difficult for Conan to continue pretending not to be Shinichi—after all, to Ran now, "Conan" is clearly the Shinichi Kudo she sees every day, and denying it would only confuse her further.

“Is the reason I was so shocked… because Sato was injured?” Mori muttered to himself.

“Hmm, I think it’s also because… there’s an element of self-blame,” Shiraishi speculated at this point.

While outside Sato's operating room, Shiraishi mentally reviewed the scene.

Although he only glanced at it, Shiraishi had already memorized it!
A handgun and a flashlight were left at the scene, and Shiraishi remembers that the locker under the sink was also open...

The "flashlight" is undoubtedly the strangest item. The "gun" is the murder weapon, which must have been thrown away by the murderer. The fact that it was thrown away can only mean that the murderer did not intend to continue using the gun to kill people... But why would there be a flashlight at the scene?

Ran and Sato were both wearing skirts, so there's no reason for them to be hiding a flashlight on their person, right?

Combined with the storage cabinet under the sink...

Shiraishi suspects that the murderer deliberately placed the flashlight there and left it on. When there is no power outage, no one would notice the flashlight's light. However, after the power outage, the surroundings were pitch black, and light shone through the crack in the locker door.

As for the purpose, it was obviously to use the light of the "flashlight" to shoot and kill in the dark... Sato—if this is a continuation of the police killing case, then the target should be Sato, not Ran.

Judging from where the flashlight fell, it should have been Xiaolan who was holding it at the time.

This also explains the situation when the two fell down—Sato probably noticed the flashlight beam and immediately rushed forward to tackle Ran to protect her, but ended up exposing his back to the culprit...

In other words, Ran likely witnessed the killer's appearance at that moment, and the killer shot Sato right in front of her. This made her realize that picking up the flashlight was a mistake—self-blame was probably the root of Ran's great shock.

Otherwise, given Xiaolan's experience, if it were just blood, nothing serious should have happened...

“So...the culprit might also be targeting Ran!” Mori’s expression turned serious at this point.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps approached, and Eri Kisaki arrived.

"Where's Ran? What happened to Ran?" Eri Kisaki had just been left behind for gunpowder testing and rushed to the hospital immediately after leaving the Beika Sun Plaza Hotel.

She thought Ran was alright, so she went to Sato's place first—the lawyer had also heard that Sato had saved Ran, but outside the operating room, Megure told her that something was wrong with Ran.

Eri Kisaki then hurriedly came to her daughter's side...

“Eri, Ran…” Mori explained the situation with guilt. Although it happened in the bathroom, Mori still couldn’t help feeling that he hadn’t protected his daughter well.

Eri Kisaki rushed into the ward, only to find...

"Mom? Hmm, Mom doesn't seem as old as Dad..." Xiaolan said in confusion.

Eri's expression softened further.

“But Shinichi hasn’t changed at all!” Ran said, looking at Conan, to which Conan could only respond with an awkward laugh.

After confirming Ran's situation, Eri hesitated for a moment before saying to Mori, "Until Ran regains her memories... I'll go back to my place first."

Although Shiraishi said that most cases like Xiaolan's can recover with rest, Xiaolan's memory is not yet at the point where the two of them should be separated. If she were to accept this matter rashly, it might create new stress.

Normally, even if Mori is willing, he'll still grumble a few words.

But now he simply nodded seriously and said, "Yes, please..."

Just then, Shiratori arrived, bringing with him a man with a similar hairstyle and a beauty mark under his eye.

"Detective Mouri, is Ran alright?" Shiratori asked with concern.

Mori shook his head helplessly and said, "It should be retrograde amnesia."

“That’s perfect… uh, that’s not what I meant. I meant… this is my psychologist, Kyosuke Kazato. He heard about Ran’s situation and I specifically dragged him here.” Shiratori then introduced the person he had brought.

"Ah, Dr. Kazato, hello..." Mori quickly grabbed Kazato's hand.

Although Shiraishi understands psychology and some neuroscience, he is not a professional doctor and his advice does not constitute treatment.

"Wasn't Dr. Kazato also at the celebration party?" Shiraishi asked at this moment—although they hadn't spoken, Shiraishi's memory allowed him to recognize the person he had just met.

"That's right, I never expected to encounter something like this." Kazeto looked shaken.

Kazeto immediately went to examine Ran...

Taking the opportunity, Shiraishi asked Shiratori, "What were the results of the smoke test?"

Before asking, Shiraishi had no hope. After all, if the culprit was caught, not only would Shiratori definitely tell him, but it was the "Beihana Sun Plaza Hotel," and so many police officers from the Beihana Police Station had been there and reported to him long ago. If they hadn't reported, there probably wouldn't be any results!

But I'll ask anyway...

"This..." Shiratori glanced at Mori with some hesitation.

"My daughter almost lost her life! What are you hiding from me?" Mori roared at Shiratori in dissatisfaction.

Upon hearing this, Shiratori felt embarrassed but still hesitated...

"Brother Shiratori, don't keep it from Mori anymore." Inspector Megure walked over at that moment.

"Eh? But..." Shiratori was still a little worried.

I hadn't told Mori about it before, because I didn't want him, the "former detective," to get involved...

“Ran is now involved, and Mori has the right to know,” Inspector Megure decided.

Shiratori nodded and then said, "No one showed any signs of gunfire, so the culprit probably left before we sealed off the area."

"He's pretty fast," Shiraishi muttered, frowning.

Of course, it's not impossible; at least Shiraishi could definitely do it.

"Where are the gun and flashlight?" Shiraishi pressed.

“The fingerprints on the flashlight are Ran’s, there are no fingerprints on the gun, and the model matches the murder weapon that killed Detective Nara and Detective Shiba. The bullet hole test results are not yet available,” Shiratori said readily.

"Sure enough, Ran's fingerprints are on the flashlight... This matches what Inspector Shiraishi predicted," Mori remarked.

"Huh?" Shiratori was taken aback by what he heard.

Then Mori mentioned Shiraishi's earlier speculation...

Just then, a nurse wearing a mask and with a name tag that read "Youjian" walked over and pushed a medicine cart past Shiraishi.

“Hey…” Shiraishi turned around and called out to her.

The nurse stopped in her tracks.

Immediately, Shiraishi said somewhat awkwardly, "The psychologist inside is our friend."

Because Sato's injuries were serious, Shiraishi sent an ambulance directly to Tou-tei Hospital, where Ran also received treatment. Kazeto is a psychiatrist at Beika Yakushino Hospital, and some petty attending physicians would definitely be angry if they were in his place.

"It's alright, as long as it helps the patient," a nurse nodded and said.

Seeing this, Mori also stepped forward and said a few words of apology.

Afterwards, Shiraishi inquired about the situation at the scene and learned that there hadn't been any major discoveries. If he had to say something, it would be...

"The suspicion against him can be ruled out. At least in this case, his alibi is completely valid, and Minister Odagiri can rest assured." Shiraishi nodded and said.

Shiraishi estimates that the reason why Minister Odagiri's attitude was so bad before was not only because there were problems in their father-son relationship, but also because Minister Odagiri could not completely rule out his son's suspicion of committing the crime before there was solid evidence. It was reasonable to suspect him a year ago, as someone saw him arguing with Nino Yasushi, who "committed suicide" a year ago!

Upon hearing this, Shiratori nodded with a strange expression.

Yes, the suspect has indeed been ruled out. After all, when the incident occurred, Mina was still singing a rock song he wrote that satirized Minister Odagiri on the radio...

Even if Minya was on the seventh floor at the time, he wouldn't have had time to get to the fifteenth floor to commit the crime after the explosion—Shiraishi only managed to arrive at the scene of the crime just in time!

Whether Odagiri, the department head, breathed a sigh of relief or gritted his teeth in frustration remains to be seen...

After a nurse came out, Shiraishi and Mori went back into the ward.

"Dr. Kazato, how is Ran doing? Is she going to recover?" Mori asked again.

Judging from Attorney Fei's expression, she wasn't that optimistic...

"Your daughter's condition is likely due to witnessing an extremely bloody scene. As for whether she can recover... it's too early to say," Kazeto said, shaking his head.

Shiraishi's brow twitched slightly, and he glanced at the doctor a couple more times—although Shiraishi wasn't a psychologist, he was still considered a professional.

Hearing Kazeto's words, Shiraishi felt that he was exaggerating somewhat...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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(End of this chapter)