The Daily Life of a Salted Fish Assassin in Anime Crossovers

However, they only saw so much and couldn't analyze the specifics of the car at all.

"Furthermore, you failed to determine that there should be an accomplice in that car."

Jiang Hang pointed to a cigarette butt that was thrown nearby.

"This cigarette butt must have been thrown here this morning, and it looks like it's been there for quite some time. That means the killer who set this off must have had someone in the vicinity driving over to pick them up."

The police officers seemed puzzled as to how Jiang Hang could deduce that the murderer had another accomplice based on just one cigarette butt.

Jiang Hang sighed and explained, "Because along the way, the traces left by the criminal were actually very few. If things had gone normally, it wouldn't have been discovered so quickly."

"With such counter-surveillance capabilities, the criminal obviously wouldn't make such a basic mistake or leave such a flaw. The person who threw the cigarette butt should just be an ordinary person who wasn't very vigilant, and looks like an accomplice who was temporarily pulled in by the real murderer."

Jiang Hang gestured to the police officers to take the cigarette butt back for testing to see if it could be compared with other cigarettes.

However, this possibility is not high. After all, Japan, with a population of over 100 million, only has a little over 100 forensic doctors. Apart from the data of habitual offenders and wealthy people that are kept in the database, who would bother to test these things for no reason?

It's just giving the police some work to do.

In addition, there were tire tracks left by the car when it left.

However, apart from the initial traces which were relatively obvious, once the car entered the main road, these traces were certainly not so easy to trace.

Jiang Hang could only roughly determine the tires used on the car and their possible model based on what he saw.

This information is enough for the police to investigate for quite some time.

Afterwards, Jiang Hang made another call to the high-ranking police officers in Hokkaido, explained the current situation, and asked them to remind Governor Asakura to temporarily suspend the schedule for the next few days. He would then announce that the schedule would remain unchanged after Governor Asakura had investigated the situation in Kitazawa Village.

Now, because Jiang Hang truly did save their lives, the officials in Hokkaido quickly agreed to these requests.

The other party even offered Jiang Hang a car without police markings, which was probably used for surveillance and reconnaissance, for him to use in Hokkaido.

After that, Jiang Hang planned to drive his current police car to get a new one.

It was at this moment that he suddenly received another questioning phone call from Sonoko Suzuki.

On the other end of the phone, Suzuki Sonoko loudly questioned Jiang Hang why he hadn't kept his word. He had clearly said he would take her to the scene for investigation that afternoon, so why had she just left?

"It was just a simple test to see if you had any talent for being a detective. It seems your vigilance isn't very high. Real detectives don't believe what suspects say just because of some pretentious explanations. They have their own thoughts and will question anything that doesn't make sense."

"When investigating a crime scene, the sooner you go, the easier it is to find more clues. I think you should know that too. If we wait until the afternoon to set off, we probably won't find anything at the crime scene by then."

Jiang Hang sighed and said that Suzuki Sonoko was too relaxed. She believed the suggestion to rest and didn't take the case seriously, which caused her to miss the opportunity.

"If you really want to try again, I'll put in a good word for you with Mori-nii. You and Ran are such good friends, I'm sure Mori-nii will be very willing to take you on as his apprentice."

"That's all for now. I have to go to the next place for investigation. We can talk again when we get back to Tokyo." Jiang Hang said this, and without giving Suzuki Sonoko any chance to speak, he hung up the phone amicably.

Given Sonoko Suzuki's carefree and easily distracted personality, once he returns to Tokyo, giving her a few tickets to a meet-and-greet with a famous idol will surely dispel any thoughts she might have about becoming a detective.

If all else fails, let her experience being a female assassin in the Animus, an all-ages version with full mission guidance.

Hearing the busy tone on the other end of the phone, Sonoko Suzuki was completely blushing.

She called Jiang Hang intending to confront him and demand an explanation.

Instead of achieving her goal of questioning him, she was instead lectured by the other party, who also said that she had no sense of suspicion whatsoever that a famous detective should have.

Suzuki Sonoko, who had been constantly teased by Jiang Hang in various ways for the past two days, was finally breaking down.

Even at this moment, she actually showed a bit of obsession.

She was determined to do the things Jiang Hang forbade her to do, just to prove him wrong.

So she directly called her best friend Ran, saying she wanted to ask Kogoro Mouri about something.

Then she recounted in detail everything that had happened that morning, hoping to see if Kogoro Mouri and the others could figure out where Jiang Hang's next target would be.

“How could such a thing be possible? Jiang Hang has already been to the scene and clearly found some useful clues before planning to move on to the next place. You only rode in the car with him; how could you possibly know where he is investigating now?”

Kogoro Mouri immediately stated that he was powerless to help and could not do anything about it.

After all, he was just a detective, not a prophet who could predict the future.

He also overheard Suzuki Sonoko saying that Jiang Hang wanted her to become his apprentice.

Then he gave me a look that said, "Jiang Hang understands me better than I do." He continued, "Although I don't currently have any plans to take on apprentices, and you don't really meet my criteria, if you really want to learn some reasoning from me, I can still spare some time to give you lessons."

Hearing Kogoro Mouri's words, Sonoko Suzuki became even angrier.

He had just been looked down upon and teased by Jiang Hang, and now he was being looked down upon by his friend's father?

Xiaolan, on the other end of the phone, criticized her father and told him not to talk like that.

Then she apologized to Sonoko Suzuki, saying, "That's just my dad's personality, Sonoko, don't take it to heart."

"Furthermore, we can't figure out where Jiang Hang is right now. If Jiang Hang doesn't want you to know, how about I ask Miss Haibara for you? They came with Jiang Hang this time, so they should know something too."

Sonoko Suzuki also thought this seemed like a good idea.

But then she felt awkward again.

Xiaolan had a few exchanges with the other party. At most, she had met and interacted with the red-haired and pink-haired guys from Jiang Hang's firm a few times.

She wasn't very familiar with the two women who helped Jiang Hang manage his business, and who were said to be sisters.

Xiaolan was also in a bit of a dilemma.

She had only met him a few times.

Come to think of it, they're not as familiar with them as Conan is.

So Ran's gaze unconsciously fell on Conan, who was still watching the news.

She had barely uttered the word "Conan" when Conan shook his head in refusal.

“They are completely focused on Jiang Hang. If Jiang Hang is unwilling, they definitely will not reveal this information.”

Just as Ran showed a regretful expression and was about to explain things to her friend again, Conan suddenly said that Jiang Hang and the others might have gone to another place.

"But I think they might have gone here now."

"Kitazawa Village?"

"How did you deduce that?" Ran was stunned, wondering why Conan had made such a judgment after only watching a short police press conference.

"Because Sonoko... Sonoko-neechan mentioned it before," feeling everyone's eyes turn to him, he, who had just been able to maintain the Shinichi Kudo mode and talk to Ran in a normal tone, immediately reverted to his true Conan state.

He wiped his forehead and recounted what Sonoko Suzuki had just recounted—what she had seen in the car.

"As Sonoko said, Brother Jiang Hang must have guessed in advance that the criminal might use an explosion to launch an attack, and he made the police prepared accordingly."

"Although the police and Brother Jiang Hang were unable to prevent the explosion, they did avoid casualties."

"The train itself was not in any danger, and Governor Asakura's behavior on the train was normal. He even kept thanking Brother Jiang Hang for his investigation."

"Based on your explanation, Sonoko-neechan, I feel that Brother Jiang Hang actually had some doubts about the prisoner's situation before getting on the bus, which is why the people on the bus believed what Brother Jiang Hang said."

Although Sonoko Suzuki always felt that Conan's tone was a little strange, she was only thinking about finding Jiang Hang to prove herself, so she didn't care about that at all.

In fact, the Suzuki family has always had this stubborn streak.

Just like her second uncle, after he was robbed of his headlines by Phantom Thief Kid, he has been relentlessly challenging Phantom Thief Kid to prove that he is the most powerful person.

"That's right. Come to think of it, it seems that before Jiang Hang, the Hokkaido police chief had already heard something from Jiang Hang and told Governor Asakura. However, they never revealed any specific information, and I only vaguely understood what they were saying..."

Conan nodded: "I also noticed that you mentioned, Sonoko-neechan, that Jiang Hang and the others discussed their schedules when they got off the bus, right?"

"It's because Asakura Yuichiro wants to take advantage of the schedule adjustment these few days to entertain Brother Jiang Hang."

Since it happened when she got off the bus, Sonoko Suzuki naturally still remembered it. She said that Conan was right: "As a result, Jiang Hang told them that he might have already solved the case before the schedule was adjusted."

"However, at the press conference held by the Hokkaido police just now, the police officer who was speaking was clearly reminded otherwise, and specifically mentioned at the press conference that Governor Asakura, who had received threats, had to temporarily postpone his schedule for the next week for safety reasons. And of the schedule released by the police, the one that felt most suspicious to me was Kitazawa Village."

Sonoko Suzuki pouted, seemingly still unaware of why Conan would suspect Kitazawa Murakami based on the police announcement.

"Is that all? That's too hasty. Although the person wasn't seriously injured, such a big incident still happened, along with that threatening letter. It's normal to postpone the schedule for a week."

Conan shook his head: "If this was a prepared press release from the beginning, it could be explained that way. But it's obvious that after Brother Jiang Hang had already been to the crime scene and perhaps even found some important clues there, the police suddenly reminded the spokesperson to change the subject and mention Governor Asakura's cancellation of his schedule. In fact, shortly after he said that, news about it could already be found online, and it seems to be even more eye-catching than the tunnel explosion case."

"So it feels to me like Brother Jiang Hang deliberately had the police do this, just so that the criminal would see this."

Knowing how advanced Jiang Hang's network technology was, Conan immediately suspected Jiang Hang when he noticed this trend.

Of course, what led him to conclude that Kitazawa Village was not just the police's impromptu statement.

Rather, he had actually paid attention to the Kitazawa Village Dam issue before.

Moreover, after learning in the morning that Suzuki Sonoko was going to attend the opening ceremony with Jiang Hang, he had already searched for Asakura Yuichiro, who was hosting the ceremony, and connected him with the Kitazawa Village topic he had seen online years ago.

Firstly, there is a large lake near Kitazawa Village, and there is also a ski resort, making it a relatively well-known tourist attraction.

Then there was the construction of the dam in Kitazawa Village, which was a huge project. Yuichiro Asakura visited each household to persuade them to leave their village, offering them generous rewards and benefits. He eventually succeeded in persuading all the residents of Kitazawa Village to relocate.

This also became a rather brilliant achievement in the other party's resume.

However, there have been opposing voices online for many years, indicating that there are still many people who oppose the construction of the dam, but these voices have been forcibly suppressed by other villagers who want compensation.

Don't be fooled by the threatening letter, which seems to refer to something Asakura Yuichiro did during his years as governor of Hokkaido that displeased the criminal and led to the other party's revenge.

However, Conan knows that while the police are receiving threatening letters and comparing them one by one to find those who are dissatisfied with Asakura Yuichiro becoming the governor of Hokkaido, they may also fall into the criminal's trap.

It's possible that the culprit harbored hatred for Asakura Yuichiro long before, and the Kitazawa Dam, being the place where Asakura's career was most impressive before he became governor, naturally became the most likely location for the murderer.

As Conan spoke, Sonoko Suzuki on the other end of the phone was completely engrossed.

So, it turns out that only a few clues are needed to determine the possible location of the murderer?

"Haha, it's all thanks to Brother Jiang Hang and Uncle Maoli for teaching me so well! I just tried my best to incorporate Brother Jiang Hang's way of thinking and analyze it from his perspective. If it's inaccurate, please don't blame me!"

This simultaneously boosted the morale of Jiang Hang and Kogoro Mouri, dispelling their suspicions.

"Whether it's true or not, let's go there first. I'll arrange a car for you. Even if nothing happens in Kitazawa Village, we can stay there for a few days." Sonoko Suzuki made a particularly decisive decision at this moment. After expressing her gratitude to Conan, she hung up the phone directly.

"Are we going to Kitazawa Village? It's a pity we haven't been here long enough," Kogoro Mouri muttered, though he really didn't care.

Anyway, this trip was arranged by Miss Suzuki, so he can just go along and have fun.

Ran, however, looked at Conan with a hint of reproach.

"How confident were you about what you just told Sonoko?"

Conan, feeling a bit insecure under Ran's intense gaze, replied, "I'd say 50%. I've done a thorough analysis, and based on Sonoko's observations, this is indeed the most likely location."

He thought it might be a good idea to let Suzuki Sonoko cause some trouble for Jiang Hang, so he seriously helped with the analysis.

However, Xiaolan's face showed a worried expression.