Detective Conan: The Ultimate Growth Space

Seeing Mori's embarrassment.

Hattori Heizo explained, “Mr. Mori, if it were you, I could accept that explanation. But this kid is different. He’s not investigating the case at all; he’s just causing trouble. He’s just smug because he’s called a high school detective. He’s messing with evidence and bodies according to his own whims. This will only damage the crime scene and affect the police investigation. It won’t help at all.”

Then he looked at Heiji and said, "He watched two people die right in front of him, but he couldn't take precautions and thought that with the police on the scene, there wouldn't be any problems."

Ginjiro Toyama also said, "However, our police force did indeed have some oversights in this matter."

Hattori Heizo didn't say anything, but said to Heiji, "Now, please, you outsider, don't interfere with our investigation, and don't appear in front of me again."

Officer Da Long began, "Chief, you're doing this..."

at this time.

Ginjiro Toyama stopped Officer Dairyu from continuing to speak.

Hattori Heizo covered Katagiri Maho's body with a white cloth again.

He then asked, "Da Long, were both of these cases murders?"

Officer Dairyu hurriedly said, "We've found some new clues in the case of Mr. Kato's death after falling from the castle tower during a fire. It's highly likely he was murdered. As for the second case, Ms. Katagiri's death, since Kazuha and Ran discovered that she started the fire herself, and no other clues have been found, it's currently being ruled a suicide."

Hattori Heizo nodded and said, "I see. Then leave a few detectives to handle the case here. We'll go back first. We need to have a meeting to discuss this case. Also, the ceramics found at the scene may be related to the previous case. We need to discuss that as well."

Hattori Heizo and Toyama Ginjiro left.

Heiji, however, remained seated on the ground.

Officer Dairyu comforted him, "Heiji, you're not upset. I think it must be because two cases happened right in front of headquarters that angered the chief."

Mori said, "No matter what, there's no need to hit someone."

Kazuha also said, "It could also be because of the murderer."

Everyone looked at Kazuha strangely.

She continued, "As I mentioned before, when Heiji's father was driving us back, I overheard the pottery incident in the car. Actually, there's more to it than that. Thirteen years ago, after the charred corpse was discovered, several robbery and murder cases occurred one after another."

Mori asked in confusion, "Murder and robbery?"

Officer Da Long explained, "Back then, we discovered five murder and robbery cases in a row, with a total of seven victims. The murderer has still not been caught."

Ran suddenly realized, "So, Hattori's father believes that the murderer this time is the robber from back then."

Mori also said, "I see. In order to prevent his son from being in danger, he played the bad cop and forcibly drove you away. It was all for your safety. It's really touching."

Heiji also got up from the ground.

A smile appeared on his lips as he said, "Yes, I was so moved I almost cried. I never expected my dad to have such a cunning plan."

Kazuha looked at Heiji and said worriedly, "Heiji."

Heiji continued, "I won't be like Yoshitsune, who was beaten but still loyal to his lord. The more he forbids me from doing it, the more I will do it. I will definitely find the murderer in front of him."

After saying that, he burst into laughter.

Officer Dairyu listened to what Heiji had to say.

He pulled the white cloth covering Katagiri Maho off and said, "Heiji, you said you wanted to find the real culprit, but no matter how I look at Katagiri-san, it seems like she committed suicide."

Heiji said confidently, "Then take a look first. Near the right breast of Katagiri-san's outer garment, although the marks have faded a bit due to the water, you can still clearly see three strange marks."

Officer Da Long examined it carefully and said, "It really is. There are indeed three marks, and they are all exactly the same shape."

Mori stepped forward and looked at it, saying, "This should be blood."

Heiji nodded and said, "That's right. This blood must have come from the murderer. If I'm not mistaken, Katagiri's fatal head injury was not caused by hitting the bridge pier when she fell into the water, but by someone hitting her with a heavy object. The bloodstains were sprayed on the murderer when he committed the crime, and then they got on Katagiri again when he helped her up."

As he spoke, he confidently said, "In other words, Kazuha and Ran saw Katagiri on the bridge, but she had already been murdered. After setting the fire, the murderer pushed Katagiri off the bridge and into the river, which is why they mistakenly thought it was suicide."

Xiao Lan asked in confusion, "But after the fire was lit, the person struggled in pain for a while."

Kazuha also said, "That's right, that's right, it doesn't look like a dead person at all."

Heiji replied, "That was just an illusion. Wasn't it pitch black back then, and we couldn't see anything at all?"

Kazuha said doubtfully, "In that case, it's possible."

Zhiyong smiled and said, "Even if it was pitch black then, after Miss Katagiri set herself on fire, were they blind and couldn't see clearly?"

Heiji asked, "So you also believe it was suicide?"

Zhiyong shook his head and said, "I think that at that time, the person Xiaolan and the others saw was not Miss Katagiri at all, but the murderer."

Heiji exclaimed in surprise, "This...!"

Zhiyong said, "The murderer first killed Miss Katagiri, pushed her into the river, poured gasoline on her, and then waited for someone to come. When he saw Xiaolan and the others, he set himself on fire and then jumped into the river."

Ran asked doubtfully, "But Miss Katagiri has burn marks on her body?"

……

Chapter 542 A Photograph

Regarding Xiaolan's question.

Zhiyong smiled and said, "Because when the murderer set himself on fire, he had already thrown the lighter into the river. Because of the gasoline, it directly ignited Ms. Katagiri's body. The murderer then jumped into the river, swam to the other side, and then climbed up the cliff."

Xiaolan asked again, "But, if the murderer set himself on fire, wasn't he afraid the fire would burn him?"

Zhiyong replied, "You must have seen scenes in movies where people are set on fire. The murderer took advantage of this. He was wearing Ms. Katagiri's trench coat on the outside and protective clothing underneath. In such a dark environment, you couldn't see him clearly."

Heiji nodded and said, "If that's the case, then it will indeed be as Kazuha and the others saw. It's as if Katagiri committed suicide. Even if they discovered the head injury on Katagiri, they would assume that she hit the bridge pier and was injured."

Xiao Lan asked doubtfully, "But that's only because the two of us happened to be passing by, which proves it. If there were no witnesses, wouldn't that be inconsistent with the time of death?"

Zhiyong replied, "No, actually, the murderer had already arranged for a witness. It was you who saw the murderer light the fire and then jump off the bridge. You found another person behind you. That person was tricked by the murderer into coming here as a witness. The murderer just didn't expect that you would arrive before that person."

Heiji also said, "That's true. If Miss Katagiri really wanted to set herself on fire, why would she jump into the water to put out the fire? It's a very strange thing."

Zhiyong also said, "Now it can be confirmed that Miss Katagiri did not commit suicide, and the murderer is in the tour group, among the remaining three people."

Just as Zhiyong finished speaking, a hoarse voice came from the side.

"You mean the three of us?"

These were the three remaining members of the tour group.

Kasuya Yuhiro said, "We came back as required, but we didn't expect there to be so many people here."

Shigehiko Wakisaka also remarked, "There are so many more people here now than before."

Fukushima Toshiaki asked, "What happened this time?"

He told the three people about Katagiri Maho's death, which greatly surprised them.

Zhiyong could tell just by looking at the three people's behavior.

Kasuya Yuhiro was genuinely surprised, while Fukushima Toshiaki, though surprised, seemed somewhat feigning surprise.

What Zhiyong was most concerned about was Wakisaka Shigehiko. Although he pretended very well, Zhiyong felt that he was being very deliberate.

This time, he had some doubts about Shigehiko Wakisaka.

Heiji asked, "Now I'd like to ask the three of you, after you and Ms. Katagiri left, until you returned here, where did you go and what did you do?"

After waiting for a moment.

Kasuya Yuhiro replied, "I went to a nearby restaurant for dinner after I left."

Shigehiko Wakisaka also said, "Me too, but I didn't go to the same restaurant as Kasuya, I went to a different restaurant instead."

Fukushima Toshiaki pointed to his clothes and said, "Wearing clothes that have been soaked in the rain makes me feel very uncomfortable, so I went back to the Seven Guns Hotel where we are staying to change my clothes."

Officer Dairyu asked, "When Ms. Katagiri left, she also said she needed to go back to change her clothes. If that's the case, did you two go back to the hotel together?"

Fukushima Toshiaki nodded and said, "Yes, we went back to the hotel together. If I had known this would happen, I would have stayed with Ms. Katagiri. Maybe she wouldn't have gotten into this mess."

At that moment, a forensic doctor shouted, "Officer Dairyu, a similar piece of ceramic was also found on Ms. Katagiri."

Officer Da Long picked up the shard and said, "It's really strange. Why is there a shard like this on every single one of the deceased?"

The forensic doctor added, "Besides this fragment, we also found a photograph on Ms. Katagiri."

"photo."

Officer Da Long took the photo and examined it carefully.

There are five people in the photo.

They were divided into two rows. The first row consisted of an elderly man and a middle-aged man, while the second row had three young people.

He then exclaimed in surprise, "Aren't the two people on the right in the back row of the photo Mr. Kato and Ms. Katagiri?"

Heiji and Conan also gathered around.

After looking at the photos.

Heiji also said, "Really? So they already knew each other before that."

Officer Da Long asked in confusion, "But who are the other three people? Do you know them?"

He finally asked the remaining three people in the tour group.

Toshiaki Fukushima walked over.

After looking at the photos, he pointed to one of the men and said, "This is Hirano, the man on the far left in the back row."

Shigehiko Wakisaka also came over and said, "That's right, this person is Hirano, but he was still very young back then."

Heiji asked, "Who is Hirano?"

Kasuya Yuhiro replied, "Our trip was organized by Hirano; we are friends who met online."

Fukushima Toshiaki nodded and said, "Yes, he was the one who came up with this role-playing game."

Shigehiko Wakisaka also said, "Yes, but he had something to do before we set off, so he couldn't participate."

Fukushima Toshiaki asked, "Ms. Katagiri, are you sure you didn't commit suicide?"

Police officer Da Long replied, "We cannot be certain yet, so further investigation is needed."

Kasuya Hiroya also said, "If the murderer really planned this trip to commit murder, then he should have asked Hirano. After all, it was he who first proposed it and organized it, but he himself did not participate."

Shigehiko Wakisaka said, "You'll understand once you investigate the website 'The Legendary Golden King'."

After the three finished speaking, they left.