Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Chapter 143 I think this is drowning

Classical operas were also playing in the room.

A stack of books on Tsujimura Isao's desk fell to the ground as he collapsed.

"The deceased was Tsujimura Isao, 54 years old, a diplomat."

When Inspector Megure arrived at the scene, he was horrified to see a bunch of familiar faces.

Damn it.

The armed helicopters appearing over Tokyo haven't been dealt with yet.

The people of Tokyo already have extreme distrust of the Metropolitan Police Department, and now they've encountered this murder case.

Inspector Megure glanced at the deceased again.

Beside the body, forensic pathologist Chosune was examining its condition.

"So, there happened to be a detective at the scene where the body was found. So, Mori, this is a murder case, right?" Inspector Megure asked.

Kogoro said awkwardly, "Well, I don't see any obvious external injuries on the body. It might just be a sudden death."

Inspector Megure shook his head helplessly.

Asking Kogoro such a question is really unnecessary.

"So, Mr. Seiichi, may I ask what brings you here to see Tsujimura Isao?" Inspector Megure asked.

Zheng Yi said, "Because Mr. Tsujimura Isao proposed to lower the tariffs on imported cars, I came here on behalf of the industry to advise Mr. Tsujimura Isao."

So, you have a conflict with him?

And to make matters worse, he was carrying the industry's trust; Tsujimura Isao really did something big.

Inspector Megure was feeling a bit of a headache.

This case is going to be very difficult again.

"Officer, I believe the deceased was poisoned."

"Oh?"

Inspector Megure looked at the dark-skinned young man who was speaking.

Heiji said, "Besides a small red dot on the edge of the hair, there was a silver needle that looked like the murder weapon lying next to the body."

I think the deceased was poisoned and then arranged in this way.

Kogoro had a very bad impression of this brat who, like Shinichi Kudo, loved to show off.

He still insisted on his opinion, saying, "However, this could also be a suicide case."

"Don't you understand?" Heiji scolded Kogoro.

He looked into Kogoro's eyes.

It's not necessarily that they don't understand, but rather that they're pretending not to understand.

His true purpose may not have been to solve the case.

Heiji looked at Shoichi and saw that Shoichi had a smile on his face, as if he was happy and relaxed after seeing Tsujimura Isao's death.

Zheng Yi was even sitting in a chair eating fruit.

Such arrogant behavior seemed like a provocation against him.

When he noticed Heiji's gaze, Shoichi even made his eyebrows dance for Heiji.

Heiji clenched his fist.

I accept your challenge.

Heiji pointed at the corpse and said, "The lips and the tips of the hands and feet of the deceased have already begun to turn purple."

Furthermore, there were bleeding spots on the conjunctiva, all of which prove that the deceased died of suffocation.

But no signs of strangulation or drowning could be found here.

Heiji did a lot of analysis.

Even Conan, who was almost asleep due to a cold, seized the opportunity to show off:

"Therefore, the deceased could only have been poisoned, and by a deadly poison that caused immediate death."

Furthermore, there were no signs of rigor mortis on the deceased's body, nor was the limb stiff, so the deceased must have died thirty minutes before we entered the study.

Inspector Megure nodded to Conan.

Then he looked at Heiji with hope.

His analysis was very logical and insightful; you could tell at a glance he was a great detective.

Could this person be the savior sent by God to the police?

It must be that God saw how difficult it was for the police, with Shoichi's lackeys everywhere in Tokyo, so He specially sent a savior.

"So, who are you?" Inspector Megure asked.

“I am Heiji Hattori from Osaka,” Heiji said.

"Hattori Heiji?"

Inspector Megure blinked and said, "You're the son of Hattori Heizo, the current head of the Osaka Police Department, right?"

"Yes."

Seeing Heiji nod, Inspector Megure's heart plummeted from the sky to the ground.

They initially thought he was a savior sent from heaven, but it turned out he was just a lackey from Osaka who had come after them.

Osaka, that's the headquarters of the Sumitomo Group.

When Seiichi returned to Osaka, Inspector Megure also kept up with the news from there.

When I see news like 'Osaka plunges into darkness' or 'Minister's son becomes a lackey'.

Inspector Megure had to admit that he was indeed gloating.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has always been the target of criticism, and now it's finally Osaka's turn.

But when he saw the spies from Osaka chasing after him, Inspector Megure's smile vanished.

Inspector Megure looked around but couldn't find anyone reliable.

"Brother Takagi, you must do your best on this case."

"Huh? Me?" Takagi looked at Inspector Megure in disbelief.

He felt he didn't yet have that ability.

"Brother Takagi, you have to believe in yourself," Inspector Megure said.

The Metropolitan Police Department has reached a point where it needs to fend for itself.

Having received all of Inspector Megure's expectations, Takagi was extremely restless.

“Inspector Megure, I have some results from my investigation,” Choso said.

"What was the result?" Inspector Megure asked, frowning.

Cases that can be linked to Zheng Yi.

The forensic pathologist Changzong's findings are nothing more than something to be taken with a grain of salt.

“I believe the deceased drowned,” Choso said confidently.

Heiji retorted directly to Choso, "Did you buy your medical license? How did you come to the conclusion that it was drowning?!"

Heiji couldn't understand.

Zheng Yi's lackey has gone mad; in order to clear himself of the possibility of being murdered, he has started fabricating stories.

There was absolutely no water at the scene.

The only thing related to water was the empty bottle on the table.

"Detective, please trust the judgment of a professional," Chosokazu said calmly.

"If you want to get a medical license, you need to finish college."

Conan didn't have much prejudice against Chosokabe and asked directly:

"Then why did you say the deceased drowned?"

Choso said, "This should be called hypoxic asphyxia caused by excessive retention of intracellular fluid."
In layman's terms, it's like 'intracellular drowning'.

He picked up an empty mineral water bottle.

"The deceased drank excessive amounts of pure water before his death, which led to a severe imbalance of electrolytes in his body. Water rushed into the cells through osmosis, especially brain cells, which is equivalent to his brain 'drowning' in his own body."

Look, this empty bottle is the evidence.

Choso then asked Mrs. Tsujimura, "Does Mr. Tsujimura enjoy drinking water?"

Mrs. Tsujimura nodded and echoed with a sorrowful expression, "Yes, Uncle never listens to advice. He says that drinking more water can detoxify and keep you healthy, and he insists on drinking ten liters of water a day."

"I've warned him so many times that this is dangerous, but he just won't listen!" Inspector Megure looked at Mrs. Tsujimura suspiciously. Was that really the case?
And that empty bottle could also serve as evidence.

Zheng Yi said incredulously from the side, "In a broad sense, this can be considered an extremely special way of suicide, right?"

Spontaneous bodily breakdown caused by an overly healthy lifestyle.

Then, Zhengyi instructed Curaçao, "You must be careful in the future, because you often drink too much water."

"What a joke! You've come to such an absurd conclusion. Do you really believe it's true?" Heiji questioned the crowd.

Zheng nodded.

He trusts these professionals the most.

Inspector Megure nodded, then realized what he meant and quickly shook his head.

"Chōzō! Did you get your medical license as a freebie when you bought the manga?" Heiji asked.

"Didn't you see the silver needles on the ground and the tiny holes in the corpse?"

Choso calmly replied, "I'm sorry, that's not my job. My job is simply to examine the condition of the body."

As for the small holes on the neck, examining the body for toxins would take several hours, and I can only offer a simple guess at this point.

"Then didn't you smell bitter almonds?" Heiji asked again.

"Ah!"

Choso sneezed and said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, I caught a cold today."

Moreover, with a mask on, I can't smell anything.

Heiji glared angrily at Choso.

This ability to distort the truth and call a deer a horse is simply unparalleled.

Even if a cyanide vial is eventually found in Zheng Yi's pocket, he can probably argue that it was...
"The bitter almond extract that Mr. Tsujimura asked me to buy is for health purposes."

How shameless!
Inspector Megure covered his head and said uncertainly, "So, was the deceased drowned or poisoned?"

“Of course it’s poisoning!” Heiji said.

Inspector Megure then looked at Nagamine and found that Nagamine did not refute him.

"So it really was poisoning." Inspector Megure nodded.

Inspector Megure looked at Heiji strangely.

He's completely bewildered by Chosoko's words. Why are you opposing him, another lackey of the Zhengyi?

Inspector Megure glanced at Kogoro Mouri.

These two had often opposed each other before.

"Since it can be confirmed that he killed him, and the windows of the room were all locked from the inside."

"So, the murderer is very likely the person who has the key to the study," Kogoro Mouri said.

I was amazed to see how professionally the detectives and forensic doctors in Osaka analyzed the cases.

Kogoro Mouri, of course, was not to be outdone.

Tokyo detectives are absolutely no less skilled than Osaka detectives.

Kogoro asked, "Then, Mrs. Tsujimura, who has the key to this study?"

“Only my husband and I have it,” Mrs. Tsujimura said.

Inspector Megure felt something was off as he watched Kogoro question Mrs. Tsujimura.

In this case, the possibility of Zheng Yi being the murderer is greatly reduced.

Inspector Megure looked at Masakazu.

Could he really be the murderer?

They had just arrived here, and apart from Tsujimura's family, there was no one else around. It was impossible for anyone to be Shoichi's assassin.

So this time it really has nothing to do with him, right?

Inspector Megure walked over to the deceased and took the study key from Mr. Tsujimura's pocket.

Heiji stroked his chin and said, "Mrs. Tsujimura had the key and was with us the whole time; she didn't have time to commit a crime."

Mr. Tsujimura's key was in his trouser pocket.

When we came to the study, the door was locked, so the murderer must have locked the door before leaving.

Without a key, he cannot lock the door from the outside.

Therefore, this is a locked-room murder case.

"Hey?"

While Heiji was thinking, he suddenly heard Shoichi's voice.

Zheng Yi was holding the phone and seemed to be talking to someone.

Furthermore, because Zheng Yi was eating fruit, he placed his phone directly on the table and selected speakerphone mode.

Shoichi said, "I was at Mr. Tsujimura's house, where I was supposed to discuss automobile tariffs with him."

"Are you starting to take action so quickly?"

He spat the grape seeds from his mouth into the trash can and said, "I've always been very fast."

It's a pity that Mr. Tsujimura had already passed away when I arrived at his home.

"You acted very quickly, just as we promised..."

"Alright, the police are still here, so it's not convenient to talk in detail," Zheng Yi said.

"I understand. Let's schedule a time to talk about it."

After the phone call ended, everyone looked at Zheng Yi with strange expressions.

Heiji clenched his fist.

Is it really true that you don't hide anything at all?
Making such a call in front of police officers and detectives—isn't that a bit too brazen?
Heiji looked around at the people around him.

The forensic doctor, Inspector Megure, and Kogoro are all Shoichi's lackeys; only Hattori Heiji can figure out the truth.

Skillful.

The others thought the same as Heiji.

Among the forensic pathologist, Heiji, and Kogoro (Megure), only Megure (Kogoro) wants to know the truth.

"Ah!"

Conan rubbed his nose.

My cold is getting worse; I need to solve the case as soon as possible.

Moreover, Brother Zhengyi is really unlucky. It would be strange if he didn't misunderstand when he received such a strange phone call at this time.

I must solve the case as soon as possible, otherwise Brother Zheng will become a criminal suspect.

Conan, somewhat dazed, searched for evidence.

He clutched his chest.

He seems to know the method used in this locked-room murder.

Before he could reveal who the culprit was, Conan stumbled and fell to the ground. Just as he was about to fall, Masakazu caught him.

"What's wrong with Conan?" Masakazu asked.

Conan leaned on Shoichi's arm, his eyes half-closed, unable to utter a single word.

"Conan caught a cold today, and he has a slight fever." Ran came over and touched Conan's head: "He's so hot."

"With such a bad cold, why are you still wandering around?" Zheng Yi said.

"When Conan came out, he said he was almost fully recovered." Ran looked at Conan with a guilty conscience.
"And he drank the baijiu that Hattori Heiji gave him, and said..."

"He's got a cold and still wants to drink baijiu? Conan's alcohol addiction is really something." Zheng Yi said, "Where's Hattori Heiji?"

The butler pointed outside and said, "He just asked me where the Japanese-style room is."

Masashi shouted at Inspector Megure, "Hattori Heiji has fled to avoid punishment! Why aren't you arresting him?"

"Huh? Could he be the murderer?"

"He's not the murderer of Mr. Tsujimura, but he's the murderer of Conan." Masakazu patted Conan's head.

Under normal circumstances, this temperature would really burn someone to death.

"Ran, go call the doctor first. I'll take care of Conan," Masakazu said.

"I have a lot of experience taking care of children with fevers."

(End of this chapter)