Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

Soon after, Ryuno and his companions followed Officer Yui to the final pilgrimage site, the Chikuma River.

The group stood on the bridge, looking down at the area below.

"Longye, look! What a beautiful view! The river is crystal clear too!" Xiaolan excitedly tugged at Longye's arm.

Longye took a deep breath and nodded with a smile.

Putting the scenery aside, the air here is indeed very fresh, and even has a faint fragrance.

"Yes, you wouldn't guess there was ever a war here, would you?" Officer Yui chuckled. "Speaking of which, there's a poem specifically praising the Chikuma River..."

At this point, Officer Yi looked up at the sky, as if recalling the poem.

A few seconds later, seeing that she still hadn't remembered, Officer Zhu Fu Gaoming coughed lightly, closed his eyes, and said, "The bones of brave warriors piled up like mountains and rivers of blood. The scars of time are vividly reflected in the red river."

After listening, Kogoro Mouri asked in confusion, "What does this poem mean?"

Zhu Fu Gaoming slowly explained:

"Although it is uncertain whether the river in the poem is a tributary of the Chikuma River, it is said that during the Battle of Kawanakajima, the blood of the fallen soldiers stained the river flowing in front of the shrine red for three days and three nights."

"It is said that after that battle, people called that river the Red River."

Hearing this, Officer Yamato shook his head at Kawakawa and said, "The people at the time were exaggerating. How could Kawakawa have been stained with blood for three days and three nights?"

Unexpectedly, just after he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed a large patch of blood on the water's surface, and his expression changed.

Everyone saw the change in Officer Yamato's expression, but before anyone could ask, Officer Yamato shouted out a single word: "Blood!"

Less than two seconds later, Officer Yamato exclaimed in surprise, "Wait...it's a human head! Uehara, call the forensic team over immediately!"

After giving his instructions, he immediately turned around and ran down the bridge to the shore, ready to stop the 'heads'.

Besides Officer Uehara, everyone else followed him and ran down the bridge.

Shortly after, Officer Yamato stopped his head with his cane.

Seeing that he had already stopped him, Kogoro Mouri immediately asked, "Is it really a human head?"

Inspector Yamato looked at the severed head in his hand, his face grim. "Yes, that's right. And it's the head of someone we know. This person is Inspector Shigeru Takeda, the head of the Takeda Group in the First Investigation Division of Nagano Prefecture."

Upon hearing this, Longye and the others immediately recalled what had happened not long ago.

Takeda... isn't he the leader of the three police officers who suddenly appeared earlier?

Chapter 355 Appearance is the window to the soul

After confirming the deceased's identity, Officer Yamato immediately looked around, searching for the body.

"Where is his body? It doesn't look like it's in the river..."

“Here,” Officer Morofushi Takaaki replied softly from the side.

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Zhu Fu Gaoming.

At this moment, Morofushi Komei was squatting under the bridge, carefully observing the 'body' on the ground that had already been burned.

"Unfortunately, the body had been severely burned, and some parts were even broken. It seems that it is impossible to put the head and body back together like 'Yamamoto Kansuke' did."

Conan glanced at the head in Officer Yamato's hand a few times, then turned around and ran to Morofushi Takaaki's side to examine the corpse, busy with his own thoughts.

At this moment, Officer Yui, who had finished reporting to the bureau, arrived.

Shocked by the head and body of Chief Takeda, she also saw 'Conan' who shouldn't have been next to the corpse.

After hesitating for a moment, she turned to look at Longye and the others, and said in surprise, "Speaking of which, Conan is really brave. Most kids would have been..."

Upon hearing this, Kogoro Mouri immediately realized why he always felt that something was missing.

Before Officer Yui could finish speaking, he stormed up behind Conan and delivered a 'loving iron fist' to Conan.

"Ah! It hurts!"

"You brat! You're disturbing the police investigation again! How many times have I told you, don't disturb other people's work!!"

After saying that, Kogoro Mouri picked up Conan, who had a tangle of hair on his head, and walked to the side.

……

Shortly afterward, several police cars arrived at the scene.

Because the victim was a 'police officer', the case received considerable attention.

In addition to the basic forensic personnel, the deceased's team members also rushed to the scene.

"Team Leader Takeda?! Who...who was it...?"

"Why did this happen?"

"..."

Soon after, the forensic team reached a simple conclusion.

Based on the situation at the scene, the victim's body had been burned for more than half a day.

Although most of its body had been burned to pieces, it could not be confirmed that this was the body of Chief Takeda.

However, forensic investigators managed to find the right big toe in the burnt toe section of the shoe, which could be used for DNA comparison with the head.

In addition, there was a strange mark resembling the English letter 'X' in the center of the victim's forehead.

Upon seeing the mark, everyone began to speculate about its origin and meaning.

Just then, a deep voice rang out from the side.

—"Those are woodpecker feet. The woodpecker's claws are shaped like an 'X' to grip the tree trunk firmly."

Upon hearing the sound, everyone quickly turned around to look.

A one-eyed, burly man dressed in a brown suit and white tie appeared before the crowd.

Upon seeing the newcomers, Officer Yamato and the others immediately greeted them: "Section Chief Kuroda!"

The burly man nodded to the crowd and continued his analysis: "Judging from the manner of the death, the murderer probably harbored a deep hatred for Takeda. But of course, we still need to wait for the forensic team to confirm that this is indeed Takeda's body."

As for that head that suddenly appeared…

At this point, Section Chief Kuroda looked up and saw a rope-like thing tied to the railing of the bridge.

"The prisoner must have made a simple trap using something like a plastic bag. After a while, the rope will break, and the head and blood bag will fall into the river," Zhu Fu Gaoming pondered.

Officer Yamato nodded and said, "That's right, I also heard a 'plop' sound at the time, that should be the sound of a head falling into the river."

Upon hearing this, Conan glanced at the two of them in surprise, not expecting that the Nagano Prefectural Police officers had such excellent reasoning abilities.

If it were that village police officer from Gunma Prefecture...

Section Chief Kuroda nodded, then turned to the Takeda Group officers, including Saegusa Mori, and said, "Speaking of which, shouldn't your Takeda Group be heading to the hideout of the wanted robbers with a search warrant today?"

Seeing this, the three members of the Takeda group immediately lowered their heads and began to explain:

“That’s right, but we haven’t been able to get in touch with the team leader since this morning. We agreed to meet at Hachiman Shrine, but he didn’t show up…”

"In the end, the three of us had no choice but to break into the robber's house ourselves. However, the robber seemed to have already noticed us and had already run away."

"After that, the three of us split up and searched for Team Leader Takeda until we just received the notification that his body had been found..."

"Could it be that the team leader made contact with that robber before us and was then..."

After listening to the three people's words, Section Chief Kuroda and everyone present lowered their heads to consider the possibility of this situation.

Just then, Officer Yamato asserted, "No, Chief Takeda would never do such a thing. He's the kind of person who wouldn't care if he killed someone, as long as he could catch the suspect."

“More than that, I’m more interested in what the woodpecker mark on his head means,” said Morofushi Takaaki, who was standing nearby.

After listening, Section Chief Kuroda looked at everyone and asked, "Does anyone know what the connection is between Takeda and the woodpecker?"

Everyone shook their heads, indicating they didn't know.

After a few seconds, Officer Yui suddenly spoke slowly: "Woodpecker Society."

Upon hearing this word, a hint of astonishment flashed in the eyes of the three officers from the Takeda Group.

Officer Yamato and the others also turned to look at Officer Yui.

“When I married into the Torada family, my late husband told me that there was a group called the ‘Woodpecker Society’ within the Nagano Prefectural Police. But after he learned that I had also worked as a detective, he never mentioned it again.”

"But judging from his tone, this Woodpecker Society is probably not a 'respectable' group."

Section Chief Kuroda lowered his head and thought for a few seconds before giving his orders: "Anyway, since the murderer burned the body under this bridge, someone might have witnessed the flames or smoke. Saegusa, Kano, Akiyama, you guys inquire around this area!"

"Yamato, Morofushi, and Uehara, go and investigate the cases Takeda handled and find out who might hold a grudge against him!"

After saying that, Section Chief Kuroda's expression changed: "Don't let your guard down! If that woodpecker mark really is a 'shot down' mark, the culprit may very well use it as a starting point to kill us detectives one by one."

"It's time to show the spirit and capability of our police force!!"

--"yes!"

This scene surprised both Kogoro Mouri and Conan.

They never expected that the terrifying-looking Section Chief Kuroda would have such outstanding observation, judgment, and command abilities.

The same words, if spoken by Inspector Megure, would certainly not have the same force.

Seeing that his subordinates had already begun to take action, Section Chief Kuroda walked up to Tatsuno and the others.

"Detective Mori, I'm sorry, but I'll have to trouble you to travel with Uehara and the others for the time being, since you were the first to discover the body."

Kogoro Mouri, looking at the terrifying face before him, stammered nervously, "Y-okay! Of course, no problem..."

At this moment, Section Chief Kuroda turned his gaze to Tatsuno and Conan, and nodded with a smile.

"You must be Takeda Tatsuno-kun and Conan, right? I've heard them mention you before, thanking you for helping my subordinates."

Although Longye and the others could tell that he was trying to appear 'amiable,' his face and that smile still gave off a creepy feeling.

Not only did Ran blink in fear, but even Kogoro Mouri, who had seen it all before, couldn't help but straighten up, his legs trembling slightly.

Chapter 356 Don't judge others by their appearance

Nagano Prefectural Police Headquarters

Under questioning from Kogoro Mouri and Conan, Officer Yui began to introduce 'Section Chief Kuroda' to Tatsuno and the others.

Section Chief Kuroda's full name is Kuroda Heibei, and he previously worked in the Security Bureau of the National Police Agency.

More than ten years ago, he was involved in a car accident, which resulted in serious injuries and a coma that lasted for ten years.