Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 377, Section 371: When in doubt, consult a detective.

How competent are the detectives at the Metropolitan Police Department? I can only say, if they are competent...

When it comes to attitude, the detectives of the First Investigation Division, who work overtime all year round, are absolutely impeccable.

But speaking of ability, if they were truly capable, would they have allowed detectives to flourish in Tokyo and even throughout the entire island nation?

Clearly, they lack the ability, or rather, their ability is insufficient to cope with the increasingly complex security situation in Tokyo.

As the joint investigation meeting drew closer, Binga, who was in charge of the First Investigation Division, could no longer sit still.

Everyone had planned everything perfectly beforehand, and the organization was supposed to seamlessly take the person away once the police found clues or the killer's identity.

But several days have passed and there's still not a single clue.

Which line of this?
The organization went to great lengths to kidnap the superintendent of the First Investigation Division, but the case made no progress at all, and a group of people were doing useless work every day.

At other times, Binga would have plenty of patience to wait, but things are different now.

This was the first time Ireland had assigned him a task, and he was hoping to perform well this time so that Ireland would give him an important position.

If you mess up the first mission, what's the point of reusing it?
Binga decided he couldn't just sit idly by; he had to find a way to expedite the case's progress.

Thinking of this, Binga picked up the internal phone on the table and called the 3rd Division of the First Investigation Division.

"Call Shiratori over here."

Not long after, Shiratori arrived at Matsumoto Kiyonaga's office: "Manager Matsumoto, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, has there been any new development in Shiratori's case recently?"

When Shiratori heard Matsumoto Kiyonaga come to ask about the progress of the case, he wore a bitter expression.

"I'm very sorry, Manager Matsumoto." The implication of the apology was that there had been no progress.

There is nothing we can do about it.

To date, the Metropolitan Police Department and the police headquarters of each prefecture have been responsible for their own case investigations.

They would share any leads they had, but no matter how much they investigated the victim's relationships or conducted interviews, there was no significant progress.

Being able to investigate and discover that some of the victim's personal belongings were taken is already a testament to the dedication of frontline criminal investigators.

"Shiratori, this can't go on," Matsumoto Kiyonaga said earnestly to Shiratori.

"The joint investigation meeting is about to be held, and detectives from all the prefectural police headquarters involved in the case will come to our Metropolitan Police Department."

If we, as the hosts, can't even produce any decent progress, what will our colleagues from other places think of us?

"Yes! Manager Matsumoto, you're right, but..." This reasoning and solving of the case is just like solving a math problem.

If you know it, you know it; if you don't, you don't.

The investigation has been going on for so long since the incident occurred. Could Shiratori have finished it in just two days?

"No buts. We are criminal police officers in the capital region, after all. We can't be laughed at by our colleagues from other places, can we?"
Of course, I understand your difficulties. We've tried so many investigative approaches, but isn't there still one method we haven't tried?

"Is there another way?" Shiratori hesitated. As Matsumoto Kiyonaga said, they had investigated all the possible directions of investigation.

But really nothing was discovered.

Matsumoto Kiyonaga said there was another way; they couldn't just let them grab someone off the street and accuse them of being the murderer.

"What would that be?" Binga knew from Bai Niao's expression that he had misunderstood him, and couldn't help but continue:
"We police alone may not be able to make a breakthrough in the case, but we can seek all available resources."

"Isn't Inspector Megure usually doing a good job? How come he forgot about all that help this time?"

Upon Matsumoto Kiyoshi's prompting, Shiratori immediately realized what he meant.

Inspector Megure usually does a good job. Isn't that because there are detectives helping him at the crime scene?

Putting aside everything else, my brother Xia is definitely top-notch when it comes to connections.

As for Shiratori, he didn't think his connections were inferior to Inspector Megure's. Inspector Megure knew the famous detective, and Shiratori knew Ryoma Hayashi!
"Yes, Manager Matsumoto! I understand, I will go and seek all possible assistance!"

Matsumoto Kiyonaga smiled knowingly: "That's right, and I also remember that Inspector Megure and Mori have a very good relationship."

"Let's invite Mori to the joint meeting too. This case is too heinous; it's no longer the time to worry about the police's reputation."

"Yes, Manager Matsumoto!"

Since the superintendent had spoken, Shiratori naturally wouldn't maintain the dignity of a so-called detective who couldn't solve the case.

He then left the office and returned to the 3rd Department of Criminal Investigation to relay the supervisor's instructions.

After delivering the order, Shiratori left the Metropolitan Police Department building and drove to Isshin Consulting & Investigation Company.
-
"Oh, what brings you here, Ren Sanlang? What a rare guest!" Lin Longma was quite surprised when his secretary told him that Shiratori had come to visit.

Shouldn't Shiratori be busy with that serial murder case right now? How dare he come here to visit?
"I've come here to ask for help," Shiratori said, his expression a mixture of emotions.

Although Ryoma was his friend, as a detective, he needed help with cases. Shiratori really couldn't bring himself to ask.

But then Matsumoto, the manager, assigned him another task, as he was hoping to take over from Matsumoto Kiyoshi.

When it really comes down to it, Shiratori doesn't expect Matsumoto Kiyonaga to strongly recommend him to the Metropolitan Government, but at least he shouldn't cause any trouble.

This time, Shiratori had no choice but to come, whether she wanted to or not.

"Tell me, there's anything I can do, and I'll definitely help," Lin Longma said decisively without any hesitation.

"Have you heard about that high-profile serial murder case that's been making headlines lately?"

"Yes, I've heard of it. Is the case still unsolved?"

"Solve the case? Not a chance," Shiratori sighed. "The investigation is at a standstill, and the joint investigation meeting is scheduled to be held at the Metropolitan Police Department the day after tomorrow."

Eager to solve the case, Superintendent Matsumoto hinted that we could hire some detectives to help.

Matsumoto, the manager, isn't that Binga?

Good lad, he's really taking initiative as an administrator. The real Matsumoto Kiyonaga probably wouldn't have issued such an order.

However, it cannot be said that Matsumoto Kiyonaga did anything wrong by choosing to ask for help at this time.

What could be more important than catching the real culprit in a murder case? Let it be embarrassing, the Metropolitan Police Department has been embarrassing itself for a long time.

"Understood. I'll have someone contact Advisor Ogami and Advisor Senma right away. With their help, this murder case shouldn't be too difficult to solve."

Since Matsumoto Kiyonaga has given such an order, and Shiratori was able to approach Hayashi Ryoma, then Mouri Kogoro certainly wouldn't miss out either.

Three famous detectives are assigned to handle this serial killer case. How lucky must this killer be?
Lin Longma immediately instructed his subordinates to contact two senior advisors. With Shiratori's endorsement, it was only natural for the two famous detectives from the Isshin-kai to get involved in this murder case.

(End of this chapter)