Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

"What are you saying!" Liuli angrily punched her boyfriend.

"It's not like I'm the only one watching," Kogoro Mouri scoffed. "You agree, right, Shuichi?"

"Ahem," Lin Xiuyi coughed lightly, quickly changing the subject, "So, Otsuka had a motive to deliberately run someone over with his car?"

“That’s right.” Officer Matsumoto nodded firmly. “His wife was seduced by his boss, and he was fired. Anyone would feel resentful in that situation.”

"Furthermore, we also found witnesses at the scene who said that Otsuka was not 'just starting up' at the time, but had already parked the car on the street corner and was keeping an eye on the direction Mr. Arai was coming from."

"After seeing Mr. Arai's car approaching, he suddenly started the car and accelerated, crashing into it."

"Isn't this case very clear?" Kogoro Mouri scratched his head, somewhat puzzled. "There are witnesses and a motive, so why isn't Otsuka pleading guilty?"

“No, he confessed.” Inspector Megure gave an unexpected answer. “He admitted that he deliberately drove his car into Mr. Arai.”

"Then..." Eri Kisaki was also a little confused, her brows furrowed. "You came to see Shuichi because of another case? Wasn't this case already solved? The culprit has confessed."

"No, it's still this case."

Officer Matsumoto sighed, a hint of weariness and confusion appearing on his serious face.

“We originally thought the case was clear: the murderer confessed, the motive was clear, the evidence was conclusive, and we could close the case. But then we discovered a problem.”

He looked at Inspector Megure, signaling him to continue.

Inspector Megure cleared his throat and continued, "During the interrogation of Otsuka, we investigated his phone records."

"It was discovered that Mr. Arai received a phone call an hour before his murder."

He paused, his gaze falling on Lin Xiuyi, and said, word by word,

"That phone call was made to him by Mrs. Arai."

The room fell silent instantly; everyone was stunned.

"What?" Yukiko was the first to exclaim in surprise, "Mrs. Arai?"

“Yes.” Inspector Megure nodded. “The call log shows that Mrs. Arai’s call to Otsuka lasted about three minutes, and then, an hour later, Otsuka ran over and killed Mr. Arai with his car.”

"This..." Kogoro Mouri opened his mouth wide, unable to speak for a long time.

Eri pushed up her glasses, her gaze sharpening: "Isn't this timing too coincidental?"

“So,” Lin Xiuyi began slowly, his gaze sweeping across the two officers’ faces, “you suspect that Mrs. Arai instructed Otsuka to cause the accident? That she is the real mastermind behind it all?”

Officer Matsumoto did not answer directly, but slowly said, "Otsuka insists that the phone call was just a casual greeting from a friend and had nothing to do with the hit-and-run."

"He said that Mrs. Arai called just to check on his situation and comfort him so that he wouldn't be too upset about being fired. They chatted for a few minutes and then hung up."

He paused, his gaze sharpening further.
"But after our investigation, we found that the two people did not know each other before and had no record of contact."

"Call records show this was their first conversation. Is it reasonable for a complete stranger to suddenly call and inquire about a strange man's well-being?"

Lin Xiuyi didn't speak, but listened quietly.

“Furthermore,” Inspector Megure continued, flipping through his notebook and glancing at the records, “we repeatedly questioned Mrs. Arai about where she went during the two days she was missing.”

“This is the biggest mystery in the whole case. She disappeared for two days without any news, and then suddenly a man brought her back. And this same man, just an hour later, ran over and killed her husband.” He looked up at Lin Xiuyi.

"Although she insisted that she went to a friend's house, she refused to tell us the name of that friend."

“We asked her no less than ten times, and each time she stammered. First she said her friend didn’t want to be disturbed, then she said she couldn’t remember, and finally she just kept quiet.”

"This attitude is highly suspicious."

"You suspect..."

Lin Xiuyi pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Was Mrs. Arai actually kidnapped by Otsuka during the two days she disappeared? Her disappearance wasn't voluntary; she was imprisoned?"

“Yes.” Officer Matsumoto nodded firmly, a hint of appreciation in his serious face showing that he understood immediately. “We’ve checked. Otsuka rented a yacht at the port three days ago.”

"On the morning Mrs. Arai disappeared, he took the yacht out to sea and didn't return until the next morning."

"Mrs. Arai has been missing for two days, and Otsuka has been at sea for two days. The timing is too coincidental."

“We have reason to suspect that Mrs. Arai may have been kidnapped by him and taken to that yacht.”

The room was silent for a few seconds as everyone processed the information.

“This…” Yukiko exclaimed softly, her eyes widening. “Isn’t this just like that…that…kidnapping case in the TV drama? The bad guys kidnap a beautiful woman to a yacht, and then…”

She was halfway through her sentence when she suddenly realized that what she said was inappropriate, and she awkwardly shut her mouth.

Eri glanced at her sideways, unusually refraining from making any sarcastic remarks.

Her attention was completely drawn to the case; as a future lawyer, such intriguing cases were exactly what interested her.

"But……"

Liuli spoke timidly, her expression still not good, but she still tried her best to participate.

"If it really was a kidnapping, why would Mrs. Arai help Otsuka cover it up?"

"Shouldn't she have called the police immediately after being released? Why did she say she went to a friend's house?"

That's a very good question.

Everyone looked at Lin Xiuyi.

Lin Xiuyi was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "There is only one possibility."

"Mrs. Arai was indeed kidnapped, but during the kidnapping, Otsuka obtained some incriminating evidence against her, such as taking nude photos of her or extracting some of her unspeakable secrets."

“Otsuka threatened her that if she dared to call the police, he would expose these things to the public. So she dared not tell the truth and could only cooperate with Otsuka to lie.”

"Or perhaps, the two made some kind of deal."

"A deal?" Midori Orikasa asked curiously. "What kind of deal?"

“Both of them were actually betrayed by their spouses,” Lin Xiuyi explained. “Mr. Arai had an affair with Otsuka’s wife, so Mrs. Arai and Otsuka were both victims…”

"After exchanging ideas on the yacht, the two reached an agreement and decided to cooperate to take revenge on Mr. Arai..." (End of Chapter)