Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 380, Section 374: Discovery!

Following the clues given by Chima Kazuyo and Oogami Kizen, Shiratori returned to the Metropolitan Police Department and began investigating the "Tanabata" clue.

Check them one by one, year by year.

Although there was only one victim who died in Tokyo, several of the other victims were from Tokyo.

Shiratori simply dispatched members of his special task force to investigate the victims' itineraries on Qixi Festival in recent years, going door to door.

The investigation didn't take long; it only took until two years ago, around Qixi Festival, to find commonalities among the victims we visited.

"Tanabata, the Kyoto Oriole Hotel?!" Shiratori was greatly excited upon receiving the report from his subordinate.

The case, which had reached a stalemate, suddenly became much clearer!
These victims, at least those from Tokyo, had all visited a hotel called the Kyoto Oriole Hotel two years prior.

"Quickly contact your colleagues at the police headquarters in other prefectures, and then investigate what exactly happened at the Kyoto Oriole Hotel on Tanabata two years ago?"

The sixth victim's dying words about Tanabata (the seventh day of the seventh lunar month) and the word "Kyoto" likely refer to the events that occurred two years ago at the Orihime Hotel in Kyoto on Tanabata.

Since the hotel is not in Tokyo, both the investigation and the request for assistance from the Kyoto Prefectural Police will take some time.

It will take some time for the criminal police in other prefectures to verify the information, but the Kyoto authorities have already sent over the information about the Kyoto Oriole Hotel.

The Kyoto Oriole Hotel is a unique hotel in Kyoto, distinguished by its name and interior design incorporating elements related to the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

Thanks to these elements, this hotel is always fully booked during Qixi Festival every year.

There's nothing more romantic than staying at the Weaver Girl Hotel on Qixi Festival, isn't there?
Of course, the Kyoto Oriole Hotel usually does pretty good business.

Otherwise, we can't just do business for one day a year, can we?
There is a lot of information about the Kyoto Oriole Hotel, and the members of the Shiratori Project Team in the office all pitched in to search for useful information from the pile of documents.

The key timeframe is Qixi Festival two years ago!

"Inspector Shiratori, you have to take a look at this!" A detective was shocked when he saw the contents of the document and hurriedly took the document to Shiratori's side.

"Let me see." Shiratori hurriedly took the documents and began to read them carefully.

"Two years ago, on Tanabata (the seventh day of the seventh lunar month), a fire broke out at the Kyoto Oriole Hotel, and people died!!"

After reading for less than a minute, upon reaching a crucial point, Shiratori suddenly looked up at his subordinate.

"Yes, Inspector Shiratori, we've confirmed with our colleagues in Kyoto. A fire did indeed occur at the Kyoto Oriole Hotel two years ago on Tanabata."

I've also asked them to expedite the sending of the lists of fire survivors and victims.

If a fire breaks out in some obscure little place on an ordinary day, and no one specifically calls the fire department, it will probably be ignored after the fire is extinguished.

But the Kyoto Oriole Hotel is different, especially on Tanabata, when the hotel is at its busiest.

When a fire suddenly breaks out in a densely populated area, the police will definitely have to investigate it thoroughly afterward.

At the very least, the cause of the fire needs to be determined, and why it started. A list of survivors and victims should also be compiled.

The fax machine of the White Bird Project Team has been running non-stop since morning.

The fax machine is now sending out a list of survivors and victims of the fire at the Oriole Hotel on Tanabata two years ago, which was kept by the Kyoto City Police Department.

Two years ago, on Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day), the Weaver Girl Hotel was packed with people as usual. That evening, a resident on the fifth floor failed to completely extinguish his cigarette after smoking, causing a fire.

The fire spread very rapidly, and this sudden fire resulted in burns of varying degrees to many people and multiple deaths.

In a fire, the flames themselves are one aspect of the disaster, as are the dense smoke and toxic fumes produced by the fire.

Many of the victims did not die from the flames themselves, but from the toxic fumes.

The list of survivors and the list of victims were handed to Shiratori by his subordinates. He stared at the two lists for a moment, then picked up the list of survivors first.

After navigating through a long string of unfamiliar names, Shiratori finally found what he was looking for.

Shuhei Jinno, Shizuko Kaga, Masaaki Okakura, Azusa Kitajima, Kozo Zaitsu, Tsutomu Ryuzaki
Yes, and Shindo Sumire too! It's them, definitely them! Shiratori felt a surge of relief; the connection between the victim and the police had been searching for so desperately...
We've found it!
The connection between the victims has been found, so how far away is it to find out the identity of the murderer?

Shiratori quickly realized that he needed more detailed information and more accurate data.

"Just help me check with the Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters!" Shiratori originally wanted to contact the Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters through "public" means.

However, considering that the Shiratori Investigation Team may be somewhat well-known within the Metropolitan Police Department, who in the entire police force would know them?

So Shiratori decided to use his connections.

Speaking of which, he was quite familiar with Inspector Ayanokoji Fumimaro of the First Investigation Division of the Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters.

Everyone involved had an impressive background and family wealth, and they were all members of the police force's "Gold Watch Group".

Under these circumstances, Shiratori and Ayanokouji naturally became acquainted.

With less than two days, or rather, just a little over a day left, Shiratori needs to be more efficient and more effective.

For Shiratori right now, time is money!

"Inspector Ayanokoji? This is Shiratori. I have something I'd like to ask you!"
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"Colleagues, welcome. I am Inspector Shiratori from the Violent Crimes Division 3 of the First Investigative Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."

Next, I will speak on behalf of the First Investigative Division of the Metropolitan Police Department.

When Shiratori stepped onto the stage, detectives from the special task force naturally presented the newly supplemented information to the detectives attending the meeting.

These materials were naturally sent by the Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters. After being selected, classified, and recompiled by Shiratori and his subordinates, they were bound into volumes and distributed to the police inspectors and police assistants of the police headquarters in each prefecture on site.

Those who attended this joint meeting of the Metropolitan Police Department were mostly key members of the criminal investigation teams from the prefectural police headquarters.

These are the officers in the criminal investigation team who actually lead the work.

As is well known, once you become a police superintendent, you spend most of your time in the office. Therefore, most of those present this time were police inspectors and police assistant inspectors.

These are all Megure and Shiratori from the Criminal Investigation Departments of the Prefectural Police Headquarters. These are the people who actually do the work; they start looking through the documents as soon as they get them.

Some of those who read quickly already showed expressions of surprise!
"As you can see now, after several days of investigation and with the cooperation of many colleagues, we have uncovered the connection between the victims."

Please see the information.

(End of this chapter)