Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Chapter 245 Lin Xiuyi: Teacher, you didn't want to get drunk yourself...

Despite half a day of resuscitation efforts, Kitamura remained completely unresponsive.

Despite guarding outside the apartment, Kitamura was still murdered!

Thinking of this, Hattori Heizo slammed his fist against the wall beside him: "It's all my fault. If only I had been more careful sooner..."

Inspector Megure stood there, looking frustrated: "I'll go and request permission from Inspector Samezaki to arrest the academic affairs director of Sakuragaoka right now."

"Do you have any evidence?" Hattori Heizo asked.

"Kitamura was fine before, but after he came, Kitamura died," Inspector Megure said, puzzled. "And this suicide note, you also said it was forged?"

"But when we arrived, the apartment door was locked," Hattori Heizo pressed. "If the dean of academic affairs killed the person, how could he have locked the door after leaving?"

"...With a key?" Inspector Megure replied uncertainly.

“Look over there,” Hattori Heizo pointed to the table next to him, where a bunch of keys were placed.

"This...this is a locked-room murder?" Inspector Megure's eyes widened as he finally realized what was happening.

“Inspector Megure, go to the supermarket in the suburbs right away,” Hattori Heizo urged. “Once you find that dean of students, even if you can’t arrest him, you have to find a way to stall him.”

"Okay!" Inspector Megure quickly nodded. "And what about you?"

“I will continue my investigation here,” Hattori Heizo said coldly. “Even if it was a locked-room murder, there will definitely be clues. As long as we can find evidence, we can arrest that dean of studies.”

……

Inside the Mihana Gymnasium, the atmosphere was bustling with noise, a mix of cheers and chatter.

The first round of matches this morning has concluded, with Osaka University defeating Kyoto University with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses.

Some spectators waved their flags excitedly, some jumped up excitedly, and others high-fived each other in celebration.

Shizuka Ikebab, who won her first match, is undoubtedly the biggest contributor to the victory.

"Fortunately, Heizo Hattori from Kyoto University didn't come," Mikio Morizono said thankfully, "otherwise, the outcome of this match would have been very different."

“Even if he comes, I will defeat him,” Ikenami Shizuka snorted defiantly.

"It's a bit of a shame we couldn't see your match against Hattori Heizo," Morizono Mikio said with a nonchalant smile, "but as long as we won, isn't that enough?"

As he spoke, he hurriedly ran towards the stands.

"Akio, Kazumi, I won!"

"Morin really likes his girlfriend," his teammate joked. "He always tells her the good news after a match."

girlfriend?
Ikeba Shizuka glanced at the three people chatting by the stands.

When Morizono Mikio was playing, she was resting on the sidelines. She glanced at the stands and noticed that the girl named Kazumi was completely focused on the young man next to her and wasn't paying much attention to the game.

She clearly prefers the people around her to Mikio Morizono...

Although Shizuka Ikemura noticed this, she chose not to say anything. Relationships are complicated, and it's not something an outsider like her can casually interfere with.

"Everyone, take a break and don't forget there's a competition this afternoon," the team leader said with a smile as he walked over. "But don't be too nervous. The opponents this afternoon aren't very strong. Just play your best."

“Teacher, Kyoto University is a strong team that won the championship last year,” one of the players said. “We beat them, shouldn’t we celebrate tonight?”

“…Alright,” the teacher in charge nodded. “Chi Bo, you were a hero in today’s competition. Just tell me where you want to celebrate, it’s on me tonight!”

The team members cheered loudly. Ikenami Shizuka tilted her head and thought for a moment: "I'm not familiar with Mika either. How about we go to that izakaya from last night? The food there is delicious."

……

Teitan High School

After Lin Xiuyi finished making a phone call to the First Investigation Division, he was dragged to the classroom by Murakami Yui-sensei by the ear.

"Teacher, could we try a different position?" Lin Xiu looked up at the teaching building, and many students noticed the commotion at the school gate.

The students in Class A of the first grade took advantage of the teacher's absence to gather by the window to watch the commotion. Among them, Kogoro Mouri laughed the loudest, and even Hayashi Hideichi, who was standing downstairs, could hear his gloating laughter.

"Now you realize how embarrassing it is?" Murakami Yui was furious. "Well, you dare to skip class in broad daylight? Do you really think I... your teacher, am blind?!"

"I'm just going to the front door to make a phone call," Lin Xiuyi argued. "If I really wanted to skip class, I wouldn't use the main entrance."

"Hmph, why did you have to make a phone call during class of all times!" Murakami Yui scolded. "Your grades were so good when you entered school, what if..."

"Teacher, did you drink last night?" Lin Xiuyi suddenly asked.

"Who, who's been drinking?" Murakami stammered.

“You didn’t just drink last night, you got completely drunk,” Lin Xiuyi said with a smirk, deliberately drawing out her words, “You didn’t go to a bar and complain to your friends about not being able to find a boyfriend…”

"How...how did you know?" Murakami-sensei's face turned pale and then red.

"Teacher, you don't want to get drunk yourself..." Lin Xiuyi hesitated before speaking.

"What do you want to do?" Murakami-sensei instinctively covered his collar and took a step back warily.

Uh, what's with your reaction?
"Teacher, what are you thinking about?" Lin Xiuyi asked, somewhat amused. "You're not very tall, your figure isn't great, and you have a terrible temper..."

"You brat!" Murakami Yui said, her face darkening, as she grabbed the student by the collar. "If you've got the guts, say what you just said again."

"Wait until I finish speaking," Lin Xiuyi quickly said. "What I wanted to say is that you are petite and cute, and many men like your type. Even if you can't find a boyfriend for the time being, there's no need to rush."

“Tch, at least that’s sensible,” Murakami Yui released her grip, then asked hesitantly, “You’re not lying to me, are you? There really will be someone…”

“A cute tiger in the palm of your hand, there will always be men who like to be masochistic,” Lin Xiuyi said, and then hurriedly ran towards the teaching building.

"You brat!" Murakami Yui paused for a moment before realizing what was happening, and then shouted angrily.

Just as she was about to run after Lin Xiuyi, she looked up and saw that the windows of the teaching building were covered with photos of students gossiping and peering out.

Ms. Murakami blushed and quickly put on a gentle demeanor, walking gracefully towards the classroom. Perhaps fearing that Lin Xiuyi would expose her past, Ms. Murakami Yui didn't pursue the matter of him skipping class any further.

After class, Kogoro Mouri learned what had happened and asked curiously, "How did you know that Mr. Murakami had a hangover last night?"

“Although she took a shower in the morning, you can’t smell it from a distance, but you can still smell a faint smell of alcohol when you get close,” Lin Xiuyi explained. “In addition, the two socks she was wearing were different colors, which clearly indicates that she rushed out in a hurry in the morning.”

"That's all?" Kogoro Mouri asked in surprise.

“Isn’t that enough?” Lin Xiuyi said irritably. “Make bold assumptions and verify them carefully. Even if you guess wrong, she’ll just scold me again at most, and it won’t be any worse than before.”

……

Kitamura-sensei's apartment.

Hattori Heizo, accompanied by two police officers, thoroughly searched the apartment, finding only some fishing gear and a small hole about six centimeters in diameter on the side wall of the apartment.

I asked the apartment manager and learned that the small hole was recently drilled and is intended for the installation of an air conditioner.

Hattori Heizo stared at it for a while, then immediately ordered an officer to notify Inspector Megure that he had found evidence and could arrest the head of academic affairs at Sakuragaoka.

Half an hour later, Inspector Samezaki arrived with his men: "Megure said you found evidence?"

“Yes,” Hattori Heizo nodded confidently, “the murderer used the small hole in the wall that was meant to be used to install air conditioning ducts to create the locked room.”

"You don't mean that he took the key out, locked the door, and then threw the key back into the house through that little hole, do you?" Inspector Samezaki sighed in disappointment. "That little hole is almost ten meters away from the table where the key was placed. They're not even in the same room. How could it have just happened to fall onto the table?"

“Normally, it’s impossible, but what if we add some mechanisms?” Hattori Heizo explained unhurriedly. “Actually, it’s very simple. We can do it perfectly well using the things in Kitamura’s house.”

"Find a fishing line, thread it through the apartment door, then tie it around the table once, and then connect the other end to the small hole."

As Hattori Heizo spoke, he personally began to work.
"After killing the person, the murderer left the apartment, locked the door, tied the end of the fishing line to the doorknob, then went to the small hole, threaded the key ring through the fishing line, pulled the line tight, and threw the key in."

As he finished speaking, the key ring slid down the fishing line and quickly landed on the table.
"After that, all you have to do is pull the fishing line away from the doorway."

"Where's the evidence?" Inspector Samezaki's brow remained furrowed. "How can you prove he used such a device?"

“To make the key slide down the fishing line, the line has to be tightened,” Hattori Heizo bent down and pointed to the side of the table. “I checked, and there are fresh marks on the table, along the edge of that small hole, and in the door crack. That’s enough to prove that the murderer used that method.”

“But these alone are still not enough to prove that the dean of studies is the murderer,” Inspector Samezaki said, exasperated. “You’ve only proven the murderer’s method of creating the locked room.”

“Of course I have evidence,” Hattori Heizo said. “Inspector, I found some fresh bloodstains on the outside of that small hole. It must have been left by the murderer accidentally cutting his hand when he tightened the fishing line.”

"As long as the bloodstain's blood type matches that of the dean of academic affairs, it's enough to prove that he is the murderer."

Upon hearing this, Inspector Samezaki couldn't help but nod approvingly: "Good, as long as there's evidence, I'll apply for an arrest warrant right now!"

"By the way, Inspector," Hattori Heizo asked with concern, "has Inspector Megure found any trace of that academic affairs director?"

“Not yet,” Inspector Samezaki shook his head. Seeing the resentment in Hattori Heizo’s expression, he kindly offered some words of comfort. “Kitamura’s murder wasn’t your fault. Before Lin-kun warned us, none of us expected that this matter would involve other teachers at Sakuragaoka Junior High School. We don’t know if his guess about the school organizing student prostitution is accurate. If it is true…”

At this point, Inspector Samezaki couldn't help but shake his head.

Although Sakuragaoka is not a good school like Teitan, it still has two or three hundred students, more than half of whom are girls.

Once the school is found guilty, the girls who attend there will inevitably face discrimination and be implicated by others.

Hattori Heizo nodded silently. Before Lin Xiuyi reminded him, although he had realized that he had overlooked something, he had not thought that Kitamura might have accomplices.

It wasn't until Lin Xiuyi reminded him that he suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly led his men into the apartment in Beicun, but it was too late.

If the problem had been discovered earlier, Kitamura might have been saved, and the investigation would have been much simpler.

"I don't know how that kid came up with the idea of ​​compensated dating," Inspector Samezaki said with a strange expression. "At his age, he probably shouldn't be involved in that kind of thing..."

……

After school in the afternoon, as Lin Xiuyi and Fei Yingli arrived at the downstairs of the Mouri's house, they saw a large group of people gathered in a circle at the entrance, watching something.

Curious, the two went over to investigate.

It turns out that most of these people were members of the Osaka University Kendo Club who had visited yesterday.

There was also an older person, presumably the teacher in charge, and two young men and women.

Besides, Midori Orikasa had also rushed over after school. At this moment, she was holding a bamboo sword and standing gracefully in the middle of the circle, while opposite her was Shizuka Ikenami, who was also holding a bamboo sword.

After a brief standoff, Ikeba Shizuka remained calm and composed.

On the other hand, Midori Orikasa was clearly unable to restrain herself. With a soft shout, she suddenly thrust forward, trying to hit Shizuka Ikenami in the chest.

Before she could even move her hand, Ikenami Shizuka reacted swiftly, her bamboo sword appearing like a phantom in front of Orikasa Midori in an instant.

The speed was so fast that it was dazzling, as if Ikenami Shizuka had already seen through Orikasa Midori's intentions and made preparations in advance.

Looking at Ikeba Shizuka, whose expression remained calm and composed, exuding the air of a master, Orisaka Midori asked in bewilderment, "How did you react so quickly?"

“It’s not that I reacted quickly, it’s that you were too hasty,” Chibo Jinghua pointed out. “When people are anxious, they are more likely to reveal their flaws. Before you made your move, the expression on your face already revealed your thoughts.”

“I see,” Midori Orikasa nodded in agreement, then saw Hideaki Hayashi and Eri Kisaki standing in the crowd. “Senpai, you’re back.”

"What are you doing here..." Lin Xiuyi asked in confusion.

“Osaka University won both of their matches today,” Midori Orikasa explained. “The first one was against last year’s champion, Kyoto University, so they wanted to celebrate at an izakaya. I noticed you guys hadn’t returned yet, so I asked Ms. Ikenami to give me some pointers on kendo.”

“Our opening hours are…” Eri Kisaki frowned, but before she could finish her sentence, Lin Xiuyi interrupted her, “Sorry to keep you all waiting, I’ll open now.”

As he spoke, he walked to the door of the izakaya, took out his key, and unlocked it.
"Hey," Eri Kisaki walked over and asked in a low voice, "Are you really going to host them?"

“They’re already here, we can’t just turn them away, that would be bad for the izakaya’s reputation,” Lin Xiuyi replied matter-of-factly.

“You didn’t care about any of this before,” Eri Kisaki sneered. “I think you were more concerned about that swordswoman. You were practically staring wide-eyed when you saw her defeat Orikasa!”

(End of this chapter)