Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Chapter 474 Celebrities really know how to play tricks

"Shuichi, what are you saying? I don't understand."

Kogoro Mouri scratched his head, looking puzzled, and asked...

"What do you mean by deliberately leaking information? What do you mean by conducting a covert investigation?"

“Before, in front of the Horiuchi family villa, didn’t I say that I saw a flash of binoculars in a car parked not far away?” Lin Xiuyi explained with a smile. “That car is Officer Matsumoto’s private car. I’ve seen the license plate number before when I went to the Metropolitan Police Department.”

"When I saw Officer Matsumoto's car parked there, I guessed that the police hadn't given up the investigation, but were just keeping an eye on Shizuka Horiuchi in the dark, trying to find her weakness."

Upon hearing this, Officer Matsumoto couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "Lin-kun, your observation skills are truly remarkable. The reason we deliberately spread the word that the case was classified as a burglary was to lull Horiuchi Shizuka into a false sense of security and lower her guard. If she were really involved in the case, she would definitely slip up."

"Have you found any clues?" Eri asked curiously.

Officer Matsumoto rubbed his temples, his voice tinged with weariness: "We've discovered that Shizuka Horiuchi has two lovers."

"One of them was her manager when she was a star, named Kenichi Nagata, who was in his forties. The two had been secretly dating for many years and had never lost contact."

"There's another one, a second-year student at Beika University named Shinsuke Fuyuyama. He's only twenty years old. He met Shizuka Horiuchi at an alumni reunion about two weeks ago, and they're currently in the throes of a passionate romance, meeting up and spending the night together almost every week."

“Kenichi Nagata was probably her long-term lover; the two even bought an apartment together in the suburbs.”

“Shinsuke Fuyuyama was more like her ‘new playmate.’ Shizuka Horiuchi gave him a lot of money and also gave him an expensive watch.”

Officer Matsumoto tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

“We suspect that if Shizuka Horiuchi really did kill her husband for his money, she would likely have asked her two lovers for help—after all, it would be difficult for her to do such a thing alone.”

Wow! It appeals to all ages!

Kogoro Mouri couldn't help but whistle, his grin stretching to his ears.

"I never expected that this seemingly dignified Horiuchi Shizuka would be so dissolute behind the scenes!"

"When we were on set, I overheard the production assistants whispering that Mrs. Horiuchi had a bad reputation and often dined with different men," Yukiko remarked. "I never imagined she had two lovers..."

Lin Xiuyi glared at Kogoro Mouri, stopping his teasing, then looked at Officer Matsumoto.

“Kenichi Nagata has been with her for many years and probably understands her needs better. Shinsuke Fuyuyama is young and impulsive and is more easily manipulated by her.”

"Both of them are highly suspicious. Have you investigated their whereabouts on the night of the incident?"

“We investigated, but the results weren’t ideal,” Officer Matsumoto sighed with a headache. “On the night Shingo Horiuchi was murdered, Kenichi Nagata said he went night fishing at the beach and even produced several photos of the beach as evidence, but no one can prove that the photos were taken that night. Whether he actually went night fishing or not, nobody knows.”

"As for Nobusuke Fuyuyama, he was a loner and didn't have many friends at school. He also took leave to go back to his hometown before the incident."

“We sent people to his hometown to conduct a secret visit. His family said he stays at home every day, but there is no one else who can testify to that.”

"To put it bluntly, both of them had the opportunity to commit the crime."

"Then let's arrest them and interrogate them!" Kogoro Mouri suggested. "Just ask them where they were and what they did on the night of the incident, and we'll find out who's lying, right?"

He sensed something was off as soon as he finished speaking. Eri rolled her eyes, Yukiko covered her mouth and chuckled, and even Inspector Samezaki shook his head helplessly.

Kogoro Mouri touched his nose, looking aggrieved: "Did I...did I say something wrong?"

“Of course you’re wrong,” Eri Kisaki said irritably. “If asking directly would be useful, the police would have already done it! If Shinsuke Fuyuyama really is the murderer, wouldn’t asking him like this just alert him?”

“He will definitely collude with Horiuchi Shizuka immediately, and even destroy the evidence.”

Even if he is not the murderer, he may alert the real culprit and cause them to flee in advance.

“Miss Fei is right,” Officer Matsumoto nodded. “We can only monitor these three people secretly for now, and we can’t alert them.”

"Besides that, we're also investigating the murder weapon. The weapon that killed Shingo Horiuchi was a standard-issue handgun, which is very rare on the market. If we can find out where this gun came from, we might be able to follow the trail to find..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Xiuyi suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the television in the corner: "Wait a minute, look over there!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a small TV in the corner of the izakaya playing the evening news live, with the screen focused on the entrance of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Under the glaring lights, dozens of reporters huddled together, microphones in hand, their flashes going off incessantly, almost blinding everyone.

The person surrounded by reporters was none other than Shizuka Horiuchi.

Two men stood beside her: a policeman in uniform and a young man with his head down, his hands cuffed, and his disheveled hair obscuring his face.

"Mrs. Horiuchi! Did you really convince the murderer who killed your husband to turn himself in?" A reporter pushed forward on tiptoe, his voice shrill. "Is Fuyuyama Shinsuke really the murderer?"

"Since he killed for money, why did he surrender so easily? Is there some kind of deal behind it?" another reporter pressed, the microphone almost touching Horiuchi Shizuka's mouth.

"Mrs. Horiuchi, I've heard that you have a close relationship with Shinsuke Fuyuyama. Is your husband's death really related to you?"

Problems came raining down, and the scene was in complete chaos.

Horiuchi Shizuka appeared remarkably calm. She wore a black suit skirt, her makeup was exquisite, and a perfectly measured sadness lingered on her lips, yet she couldn't hide the smugness in her eyes.

She raised her hand to signal the reporters to be quiet, her movement as elegant as if she were at an awards ceremony. Once the noise subsided, she spoke in a clear voice, tinged with tears.
"Everyone, calm down and listen to me."

"Shin-suke is my friend, we've known each other for a long time."

As Horiuchi Shizuka spoke, she reached out to pat Fuyuyama Shinsuke on the shoulder, but the latter instinctively dodged away.

Her smile froze for a moment, then quickly returned to normal.
“His family has recently encountered difficulties and urgently needs money. In a moment of confusion, he thought of taking some things from my house to tide him over.”

"Unexpectedly, my husband happened to come home early that day, and the two of us bumped into each other and started arguing."

"Shin-suke was young and acted impulsively, which is why he accidentally killed my husband..."

She paused deliberately at this point, took out a handkerchief, and wiped her eyes, as if trying to suppress her grief.
“This was not his intention. He has been living with guilt these past few days, and today he finally couldn’t help but tell me everything.”

(End of this chapter)