Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

Chapter 167 How can this be cleared up?

Conan said, "Look, what is Mr. Manaka doing?"

"Kid, who told you to play the videotape backwards?"

“Look, when the criminal jumps in front of him to chop him up,” Conan said.

Conan's words made everyone watch the videotape again.

Before being killed, Mr. Manaka wrote something on a piece of paper with a pen, then threw the pen away, while the paper was tightly clutched in his hand.

"Could that note still be in the victim's possession?" Inspector Megure asked.

Sera Masumi frowned upon hearing this.

In order not to disturb the scene, we did not move the body before the police arrived. Did your police not find the note when they arrived?
It's in the victim's hands!
Only after Conan alerted them did the police belatedly return from the surveillance room to the murder scene.

Take the note from the victim's hand.

"Kubota?"

Upon seeing the name written on the note, Kogoro immediately pointed out the culprit, saying, "You knew there were cameras there, so you did it to avoid being discovered."

So you deliberately wore armor to commit the crime, only to have your identity revealed by the victim.

"No...it wasn't me!" Kubota took a step back.

Kogoro pressed further, "Where were you around 4:30, when the murder occurred?"

“I was alone in the office at the time, and the director asked me to do something,” Kubota said.

“So, nobody can prove it,” Kogoro said.

Another employee of the museum, Iito, said, "Mr. Kubota secretly took the artworks from here and sold them. After Mr. Manaka took over the museum, he demanded huge compensation from Kubota."

Kogoro nodded.

Now, even the motive for the crime is clear.

Inspector Megure frowned.

Kogoro is too energetic! You haven't closed your eyes yet!

He has completely become Zheng Yi's lackey, and you really can't trust the words of Zheng Yi's lackeys.

"Let's wait until we find the armor the prisoner used," Inspector Megure said.

Kogoro nodded indifferently.

He believed his reasoning was correct.

Inspector Megure actually didn't believe his reasoning; he's Tokyo's most famous detective, after all.

In the end, Inspector Megure will definitely accept his reasoning.

"oh oh!"

Conan and Sera Masumi crawled on the ground together, searching for something.

The two men's heads bumped together in front of a ballpoint pen.

Sera Masumi scratched her head, picked up the pen, and said to Conan, "Are you looking for this?"

“That’s right,” Conan said, rubbing his head.

"you……"

"Inspector Megure, there's a ballpoint pen here!" Conan shouted.

Inspector Megure arrived, and Sera Masumi gave him the ballpoint pen.

Inspector Megure took a ballpoint pen and drew on the notebook, discovering that the color and thickness of the handwriting were the same as those of Boss Manaka.

"I'm afraid this is the one the victim used. Who left it here?" Inspector Megure said.

Director Ochiai walked over and said, "These were given out during the museum's anniversary celebration, and all the staff in the museum have them."

Conan stroked his chin, as if he was thinking about something.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm wondering, if Kubota doesn't really respect art, why would he imitate that painting and kill someone?" Conan blurted out his thoughts unconsciously.

After he finished speaking, he looked up in surprise and saw the transfer student who had returned from England.

"Um~ I just suddenly felt something was off." Conan scratched his head and grinned sheepishly.

Sera Masumi nodded.

Although Conan's smile is rather silly, Sera Masumi doesn't think Conan is a silly kid.

Conan's eyes darted around as he ran sideways to Masakazu's side.

"Brother Zhengyi, could you take me to watch the video again?" Conan whispered.

"No problem." Zheng Yi nodded.

Zheng Yi led Conan to the monitoring room and saw two police officers guarding it. Zheng Yi immediately said:

"Play the recording again."

"But Inspector Megure said..."

"Then you can go out, I'll see for myself," Zheng Yi said.

"Uh, yes."

The two policemen walked out, and Conan immediately climbed onto a chair to carefully watch the contents of the video.

"Did you find anything?"

"Mr. Manaka seemed quite surprised when he saw the note," Conan said.

“And there’s something else that’s really strange,” Conan said. “When I saw the ballpoint pen, the tip was tucked in.”

When Boss Zhenzhong was killed, how could he still have the mind to put the pen back?

Also, why did Mr. Manaka throw the pen away?

"Putting the pen tip back might be due to obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Conan shook his head and said, "Brother Zhengyi, how could it be something like obsessive-compulsive disorder?"

"Ok?"

Conan paused, realizing that the voice he had just heard was different from Zheng Yi's.

He looked up and saw it was that transfer student again.

Zheng Yi stood next to the transfer student.

How did this person get here? Does he walk silently?

Sera Masumi blinked. "You're very observant."

"Uh, Uncle Mori taught me all of this. You have to be careful when observing things," Conan said.

"is it?"

Sera Masumi nodded.

Even Kogoro Mouri himself didn't come over to watch the video again. Are all the kids he taught this meticulous?

That great detective jumps to conclusions so easily; he doesn't seem like a very skilled detective at all.

"I'm going to find Uncle Mori."

Conan jumped off the chair and ran towards the murder scene.

Sera Masumi watched Conan's retreating figure and said to Masakazu, "Masakazu-nii, don't you think Conan is acting strange?"

"Is there?" Zheng Yi asked.

“He seems a bit too smart,” Sera Masumi said.

"What's so strange about that? Ai is smart too," Shoichi said nonchalantly.

Sera Masumi touched her chin.

So Ai is also suspicious, right?

"Shoichi-nii, don't you usually notice that Conan isn't like a child?" Sera Masumi asked.

"No, he's just a pretty smart kid." Masakazu shook his head. Ai is already tackling difficult problems in the field of chemistry, and it's perfectly normal for Conan to solve cases and learn all sorts of miscellaneous skills in Hawaii.

I could do it too; we're all just normal kids.

He said, "Ran and Conan live together, and Ran hasn't noticed anything abnormal about Conan. How did you figure it out?"

Sera Masumi frowned.

But Conan's behavior is really abnormal, why can't you guys tell?
Ran also felt that Conan was acting strangely, especially in the last few days, as Conan's behavior was very abnormal.

She saw Conan run straight to the police officer, snatch the note from the victim's hand, and then be picked up and beaten by his father.

"What are you doing, you little brat?"

"Inspector Megure, we found this bloodstained armor in Mr. Kubota's room." Two policemen walked over together carrying a large bag.

Kubota exclaimed incredulously, "This... how is this possible?"

Why would there be this in his room? This must be a frame-up.

Kogoro Mouri said, "The armor and the note with Kubota's name on it are enough to prove that Kubota is the murderer."

"I'm not the murderer!" Kubota shouted.
"That armor was put in my room by someone else, and there's something wrong with that note too!"

Kubota ran to Inspector Megure's side and asked with pleading eyes:

"Officer, do you really believe this swindler? The whole of Japan knows that Kogoro Mouri is Shoichi's lackey. How can you trust his reasoning?!"

"This..." Inspector Megure hesitated as well.

But all the clues point to you.

Kubota's words completely broke Kogoro Mouri's composure, and he said to Kubota:

"What nonsense are you spouting! Everyone says the Metropolitan Police Department is also Zheng Yi's lackey! How can you believe such things?"

Kubota's face turned deathly pale upon hearing Kogoro Mouri's words.

We're doomed, we're doomed.

Inspector Megure's face darkened. "Brother Mouri, it's best for a detective not to talk nonsense."

The group of people looked at each other with suspicion.

Who are the lackeys of the Zhengyi sect?
Who is the murderer?
Who is innocent?
Who else is spreading misinformation?

"Seiichi-nii, are you alright?" Sera Masumi asked softly.

"It's alright, I'm used to being misunderstood," Zheng Yi said.

They haven't contributed anything, yet they've gained so many lackeys.

Honestly, I clearly had no intention of getting something for free.

"Wow~"

"My stomach hurts so much! Where is the toilet?" Conan suddenly shouted as he ran around.

"The toilet is..."

"I can't remember, you might as well draw it out." Conan walked up to Director Ochiai with his notebook.

Director Ochiai took out his fountain pen, but suddenly paused as he was about to write.

Conan said, "Why didn't the curator draw it? Did he know before he started drawing that this pen couldn't write?"

Conan then pointed to the note on Inspector Megure's paper and said, "I just looked at this note again."

It looked like it had been scribbled on with an inkless pen.

Sera Masumi came over and said, "The original note should have had the name Kubota written on it."

The owner, Mr. Manaka, was holding a pen that had run out of ink, trying to cross out the name.

Inspector Megure frowned and asked, "Then why did Mr. Manaka pick up this note?"

“It’s very simple,” Kogoro Mouri said. “Because the murderer inside the armor told Mr. Manaka that the murderer’s name was on that piece of paper.”

When Mr. Manaka saw Kubota's name, he knew he wasn't the murderer, which is why he wanted to alter the writing.

Inspector Megure scratched his head.

If that's the case, then the case has taken another turn, hasn't it?

Kogoro Mouri turned his gun around and said to Director Ochiai, "So, you're the murderer, right?"

Inspector Megure looked into Kogoro Mouri's eyes.

It still hasn't closed.

If Mori opens his eyes, can his words be trusted?
When Mori was serving as Shoichi's lackey, his eyes were always closed. So if he opened his eyes, would he still be a lackey?

Inspector Megure asked, "So, Director Ochiai, what were you doing around 4:30 PM?"

Director Ochiai calmly said, "I'm meeting with a hopeless fellow, a demon who has fallen into hell."

“I was hiding inside that armor at the time, and you all know what happened next. I killed that guy.” He readily admitted his crime without any concealment.

Director Ochiai said, "Mr. Manaka is a selfish and self-serving guy. I will absolutely not allow him to destroy this sacred art museum."

Therefore, I must get rid of him; he can forget about taking away the artwork that I consider my own child.

I also need to punish Kubota, who still sells his works at will.

Director Ochiai looked at the painting and said softly:

"Although the knight killed the demon, he was also baptized by the demon's blood, which means that he himself was corrupted by the demon."

No matter what, I am a murderer, and I have become the embodiment of evil.

Director Ochiai bent down and said to Conan, "Little boy, you don't need to go to the toilet now, right?"

"Uh, huh?"

Ai Haibara, watching Conan jump around solving cases, whispered to Shoichi:

"I think I can see what you will look like when you are old."

"Ok?"

"I will grow old alone, with only these artworks for company, and I will treat these artworks as my children."

"How could I do that?" Zheng Yi gently patted Ai's head and said softly, "I still have you."

"I'm not your child!" Ai said, dissatisfied.

Zheng Yi vigorously rubbed Ai's head, "You say it's not, so it isn't?"

I'll go change your status tomorrow, making you my legal daughter.

After admitting his crimes, Director Ochiai walked over to Shoichi's side.

"Mr. Shoichi, after Mr. Manaka's death, will you still take over this art museum?"

“I will reconnect with Mr. Manaka’s family and the museum owner,” Shoichi said.

Looking at the museum director who was about to go to jail, Zheng Yi made a promise:
"If I take over this art museum, I will definitely continue to run it."

"Okay, then I'll leave everything to you."

Director Ochiai bowed deeply to Masakazu, as if he had completed his mission.

The only problem was that their conversation was strange.

Director Ochiai killed Boss Manaka so that Shoichi would take over the art museum.
Zheng Yi also promised to run the business well so that Ochiai could stay in prison with peace of mind.

The mastermind behind it all seems to have already come forward.

Director Ochiai said, "What are you waiting for? Why don't you arrest me and put me in jail?"

Inspector Megure didn't move his hands, but shifted his gaze from Shoichi to Director Ochiai.

Zheng blinked, and said to everyone with a puzzled look:

Why is everyone looking at me like that?

The murderer is Director Ochiai. This case has nothing to do with me. Why are you all looking at me?
Conan rubbed his head.

Why did Director Ochiai say those things before going to prison? Those words were too easy to misunderstand.

(End of this chapter)