Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Chapter 345 Sibling Relationship

Lin Xiuyi and the others stood not far away watching this scene, their hearts filled with mixed feelings.

"What a touching sibling relationship," Inspector Megure said with a look of sympathy. "They must have had a very good relationship when they were alive."

“Indeed,” Officer Matsumoto nodded with deep feeling, a hint of emotion on his face.

“Inspector,” Lin Xiuyi said, “could you investigate Ogasawara’s residence and the places he’s been frequenting lately?”

"Yuto Ogasawara?" Inspector Samezaki asked, puzzled. "Why are you investigating him?"

“Something’s not right with him,” Lin Xiu said.

"Lin-kun, aren't you being too sensitive?" Officer Matsumoto asked in surprise. "Isn't this a normal reaction from a younger brother who just lost his sister?"

“Since arriving at the scene, he hasn’t paid much attention to the corpse’s head,” Lin Xiuyi explained. “He said he identified the corpse as his sister by a small mole on the corpse’s wrist, but for a normal person, shouldn’t they notice that the corpse is disfigured first? But he didn’t seem to react much to that.”

"And now, he's really crying very sadly while hugging the body. Just now, a police officer stepped on the body's hand, and he was very angry. But look, because of his hugging, the body's head has rolled to the side, and its face is buried in the mud, but he seems not to see it and doesn't react at all."

“Something is definitely not right,” Officer Matsumoto paused, then suddenly realized something. “Could it be that the body is indeed his sister, but the head doesn’t belong to her? That’s why he was so indifferent.”

“That’s highly likely,” Lin Xiuyi said meaningfully. “If he knows these things, then this case is most likely related to him.”

“That’s settled then,” Inspector Samezaki said thoughtfully, “I’ll take him back to the Metropolitan Police Department for questioning, and you can take the opportunity to search his residence.”

After agreeing on the plan, the two sides split into two groups.

Inspector Samezaki and Inspector Megure took the body and two suspects back to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiuyi, along with Officer Matsumoto and several other officers, went to Ogasawara Yuto's house.

On the way, in the police car, Eri and Reiko, who insisted on following along, also learned about the case.

However, the two had completely different focuses.

"Didn't Ogasawara seem to have a good relationship with my sister?" Eri asked doubtfully. "What reason would he have to kill my sister?"

"Onii-chan, what's so fun about fighting each other?" Reiko blinked, her face full of confusion and bewilderment. "Is President Okawa lying?"

“You’ll know the answer to that question when you grow up,” Lin Xiuyi said with a smile, pinching his sister’s cheek before looking at Fei Yingli. “Who knows? Our belief that he’s involved in the case is just speculation.”

As the group chatted, the police car soon arrived at the apartment rented by Yuto Ogasawara.

Officer Matsumoto learned from the apartment manager that the brother and sister were renting room 303.

The administrator was a kind and amiable old man. After learning the purpose of the police's visit, he quickly led everyone towards room 303.

Midway through, Lin Xiuyi asked the building manager if anyone in the apartment had heard any strange noises or disturbances a week ago.

“A week ago? Nothing unusual,” the apartment manager thought for a moment. “But yesterday at noon, it seemed like Ogasawara from 303 was sawing something with a chainsaw in his house. It was making a lot of noise, and several residents who were working the night shift kept calling to complain. I even went up to find him.”

"What was he doing at the time?" Lin Xiuyi immediately asked.

“He said he was sawing wood to repair furniture,” the manager explained, “but when I went up there he had already finished, so I didn’t bother with him anymore.”

The group arrived at room 303, and the apartment manager opened the door.

The group went inside. The apartment was spotless, and the walls and tables were covered with photos of the Ogasawara siblings posing intimately together. The two smiled brightly in the photos, radiating warmth. "Why are there only the siblings in the photos?" Eri asked, looking at the pictures with a puzzled expression. "Where are their parents?"

“I heard from Ms. Ogasawara that their parents passed away a long time ago, and the two siblings have been relying on each other all these years,” the apartment manager said sympathetically. “Their relationship has always been very close, and some people even thought they were a couple.”

"Husband and wife?" Lin Xiuyi's heart skipped a beat, as if he had caught some important clue.

He stepped into the apartment's kitchen and discovered that there was a freezer there.

The freezer's surface was a bit worn, and there were some cute stickers stuck on it.

When the freezer was opened, there were only a few scattered pieces of frozen meat inside.

“Mr. Ogasawara is a chef,” the apartment manager said with a smile as he saw Hayashi Shuichi checking the freezer. “He often cooks dishes to share with the neighbors. He’s a very nice person.”

"Really?" Lin Xiu reached into the freezer and took out a package of frozen meat, gently touching the meat with his fingers to feel its texture.

"Lin-kun," Officer Matsumoto reached out and nudged him, asking in a low voice, "Is there something wrong with this meat? Could it be human flesh?"

“This is just ordinary frozen pork,” Lin Xiuyi shook his head.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Officer Matsumoto confirmed again. "I remember there was a piece missing from the neck of the corpse, wasn't there?"

“I’m a chef too, I can’t possibly mistake the type of meat,” Lin Xiuyi said irritably.

After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the freezer, Lin Xiuyi wandered around the apartment and soon arrived at Ogasawara Mari's bedroom.

On the bedside table was half a bottle of bright red nail polish, exactly the same color as Mari Ogasawara's toes.

Just as Lin Xiuyi was about to pick up the nail polish to check, her gaze fell upon some bright red marks on the bed leg next to her, which seemed to be nail polish spilled on it.

Ogasawara Mari clearly encountered something before leaving home, which is why she knocked over the bottle containing nail polish.

After confirming this, Lin Xiuyi went to Ogasawara Yuto's room.

Compared to his sister's tidy room, Yuto Ogasawara's bedroom was noticeably messier, with clothes scattered on the floor and books piled up haphazardly.

Lin Xiuyi looked around and soon found a funeral invitation on the table.

The deceased was a female high school classmate of Yuto Ogasawara. She died in a traffic accident, and her funeral was held two days ago.

The invitation was a bit crumpled; it seemed that Yuto Ogasawara had gripped it tightly in his hand, and the edges of the paper were somewhat torn.

Meanwhile, Officer Matsumoto and his officers searched the apartment thoroughly, but found nothing unusual.

"Could we have made a mistake?" Officer Matsumoto frowned. "Is Yuto Ogasawara really alright?"

"Which restaurant does he work as a chef at?" Lin Xiu asked the apartment manager.

“That shop is nearby; it’s an izakaya,” the apartment manager told the address.

“Let’s go take another look over there,” Lin Xiuyi called out.

(End of this chapter)