Solving cases with Detective Conan's science? No, I'm a cultivator!

"It's been a long time," Miwako Sato greeted.

Takagi Wataru asked, "Officer Sato, is he your friend?"

"No, they were my father's friends from his high school baseball team."

Next, Sato Miwako introduced the three of them.

The man with the Mediterranean hairline is Hideaki Saruwatari, the ace pitcher who partners with Masayoshi Sato; the man with medium-length hair, Shuji Kano, is known for his strong arms and quick legs.

The short-haired, chubby man is named Mitsuo Inomata, and he is the main player of the baseball team; the woman, Choko Kamitori, is the team manager.

Kitagawa Taki's gaze swept over the four people. The murderer should be among these four people, and he first ruled out Shinto Choko.

The four of them placed a bouquet of flowers under the telephone pole, exchanged a few pleasantries with Sato Miwako, and then took their leave.

“Kitagawa, what you just said, ‘Go and turn yourself in,’ is very likely what my father really meant!”

Miwako Sato was somewhat agitated. Over the years, the statute of limitations for this case had expired, and she had given up hope of solving it.

I never expected to get such a crucial clue today.

“According to Mr. Kitagawa,” Takagi Wataru guessed, “could the murderer be someone that Inspector Sato Masayoshi knows?”

"It's hard to say." Sato Miwako shook her head. Given her father's character, he might say that even to strangers.

Kitagawa Taki, however, had already figured it out: the murderer was that guy named Kano Shuji.

The romanization of the hiragana character かの in 鹿野 is KA NO, and the カンオ (KAN O) is likely his nickname or something similar.

“The murderer is someone your father knew. It’s likely that he recognized the murderer back then but didn’t expose him directly. Instead, he let him turn himself in, but then an unexpected accident happened.”

"Why do you say that?" Sato Miwako had a guess that Kitagawa Taki probably knew something to be so sure!

"That Shuji Kano just now..."

Kitagawa Taki shared his guess.

Sato Miwako's eyes widened. Kitagawa Taki's guess was easy to verify; all she had to do was check whether Kano Shuji was related to "Kano".

But in her heart, she had already believed Kitagawa Taki's words.

She never imagined that the murderer was her father's good friend, who had been pretending to be a good person and deceiving her and her mother for many years.

Just now, she came to pay respects to her father as if nothing had happened.

Sato Miwako clenched her fists, her eyes blazing with fury. She wished she could bring Kano Shuji to justice immediately!

But she couldn't do it because the 15-year statute of limitations had long expired.

"Calm down." Kitagawa Taki patted Sato Miwako on the shoulder. He was quite familiar with the statute of limitations for this case.

The murderer thought the statute of limitations had expired, but in fact, due to special circumstances, it had not.

"Aren't there exceptions to the statute of limitations?"

Sato Miwako's eyes lit up; she would not give up as long as there was a glimmer of hope!

"Takagi, Shiratori, can you two go and track down that arsonist?"

They were just passing through; they had a mission to complete.

Takagi Wataru and Shiratori Ninzaburo exchanged a glance and both smiled bitterly. They had no doubt that they had lost; Kitagawa Taki had beaten them to Sato Miwako's condition.

Chapter 418 Fire

After receiving affirmative answers from both of them, Sato Miwako looked at Kitagawa Taki and asked, "Kitagawa, can you come with me?"

Kitagawa Taki nodded.

The two drove away, one after the other.

Miwako Sato originally intended to go directly to the Italian restaurant owned by Shuji Kano, but after careful consideration, she decided against it.

She parked her car on the side of the road and called her mother.

Sato Miwako cut to the chase: "Mom, do you know Auntie Shin-Niao Choko's phone number?"

Sato's mother, sitting across from her, asked curiously, "Hey, Miwako, why are you asking for her phone number?"

"It's something very important!" Sato Miwako didn't have time to explain.

"Wait a minute, let me go take a look."

Less than two minutes later, Sato's mother gave Sato Miwako the phone number of Shinto Choko.

Before Sato's mother could say anything, Sato Miwako hung up the phone in a hurry.

Sato House.

Sato's mother listened to the busy tone on the phone, then put it down. "This child."

She shook her head and continued organizing the large stack of information about potential blind dates she had prepared for Sato Miwako. This time, she was determined to make Sato Miwako go on those blind dates no matter what.

Miwako Sato is 28 years old, and in her eyes, she is already one of the most "leftover" women.

The key issue is that Sato Miwako is completely focused on her work, which is contrary to her expectations for Sato Miwako.

In her opinion, women should still be "virtuous wives and good mothers," and she hopes that Sato Miwako will become a traditional woman who supports her husband and raises her children in the family.

Moreover, being a criminal investigator is very dangerous, and she doesn't want to follow in her father's footsteps.

When Sato Miwako was hospitalized after being shot, she was almost worried to death.

From then on, she had the idea of ​​forcing Sato Miwako to participate in matchmaking events and began to find matchmaking partners for Sato Miwako.

"Resigning from one's job upon marriage" is a common phenomenon among Japanese women.

……

Miwako Sato had no idea that her mother had already found her a large number of potential partners for marriage.

At that moment, she was making a phone call to the divine bird, Butterfly.

"Auntie Divine Bird, do you know what Uncle Luye's nickname is?"

Shinchoko replied with a smile, "Kano, your father gave him a nickname back in high school. I remember... it was something like 'Kano'."

Having received confirmation from the Divine Bird Butterfly, Sato Miwako glanced at Kitagawa Taki beside her and asked with slight trepidation, "Has Uncle Kano ever been abroad?"

According to the provisions of the Japanese Criminal Procedure Law, the statute of limitations is suspended when the offender leaves the country, meaning that the time spent abroad is not counted.

Shuji Kano owns an Italian restaurant, so it's very likely he's been abroad.

Shenniao Diezi said, "Yes, Luye runs an Italian restaurant. He studied cooking in Italy for three years, which is why his restaurant is so successful."

Upon hearing this, Sato Miwako's face lit up with joy. Fifteen years plus three years would make a statute of limitations of eighteen years.

In other words, today is the last day of the statute of limitations.

No matter what means she uses, she will bring Shuji Kano to justice!

"Aunt Shenniao, please don't tell Uncle Luye about the phone call I made to you."

She was worried that the divine bird, Choko, might let something slip and alert Shuji Kano.

But the divine bird Choko misunderstood: "Miwako, are you also going to celebrate Kano's fiftieth birthday tomorrow?"

Sato Miwako was slightly taken aback, but laughed it off and brushed it off.

After hanging up the phone, Sato Miwako let out a long sigh of relief, wondering how she could get Kano Shuji to confess and submit to the law.

So many years have passed, and Shuji Kano has still not turned himself in. It is obviously unrealistic to try to persuade him to do so.

Seeing this, Kitagawa Taki suggested, "Let's check his flight information first."

Sato Miwako nodded; that was all she could do for now.

Upon further investigation, an unexpected discovery was made: Shuji Kano's flight back to Japan had actually been delayed.

The flight, which was originally scheduled for 9 p.m., was delayed until after midnight.

In other words, the actual statute of limitations should end tomorrow.

Upon hearing the news, Miwako Sato was overjoyed and excitedly gave Taki Kitagawa a hug.

Kitagawa Taki hugged Sato Miwako and gently patted her on the back.

Sato Miwako then realized what was happening and quickly released Kitagawa Taki.

She changed the subject, saying, "Did you already know this information, Kitagawa?"

This was not a baseless conjecture on her part; she still vividly remembered the amazing methods Kitagawa Taki had displayed last time.

“How could that be?” Kitagawa Taki laughed. “It must be your father’s spirit in heaven protecting us, Sato.”

Sato Miwako glanced at Kitagawa Taki but didn't reply. What did she mean by "we"?

Kitagawa Taki asked, "Do you have a way to get Kano Shuji to confess?"

"Yes!" Sato Miwako said confidently.

She glanced at her watch and said, "Let's go to his restaurant around midnight, that's when he closes."

Then, she suddenly realized something and apologized, "Kitagawa, you go ahead and do your thing. I can go by myself tonight."

Kitagawa Taki waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I'm fine."

Sato Miwako nodded and asked, "Shall we go to Takagi and the others first?"

She thought she should first go to Takagi Wataru and Shiratori Ninzaburo's place to help investigate the arson case.

“Okay, I’ll leave my car here.” Kitagawa Taki then asked, “By the way, arson cases shouldn’t fall under the jurisdiction of your First Investigation Division, right?”

As she drove, Miwako Sato explained, "Because someone was stabbed and their body was found near the scene of the fourth arson, it's very likely that they witnessed the arson and tried to stop it, which is why they were killed."

Kitagawa Taki asked, "Where did the arson incidents take place?"

Miwako Sato said, "All five times were at the train station. The first time was in Ikebukuro, the second time was in Asakusabashi, the third time was in Tabata, the fourth time was in Shimokitazawa, and the fifth time was in Yotsuya."

"Hmm." Kitagawa Taki stroked his chin and asked, "Do you have a pen and a map of Tokyo here?"

“Yes.” Sato Miwako casually picked up a pen and a map from the side and handed them to Kitagawa Taki.

Kitagawa Taki drew a few lines on the map and quickly determined the arsonist's next target.

Miwako Sato couldn't help but ask, "Kitagawa, have you discovered anything?"