Conan: The Heart Thief

"What!" Hibiki was shocked. But before she could ask, there was a commotion at the place where the names were registered!

"It's you! Stop right there!" The one who shouted was Mrs. Takeuchi, who was obviously very excited at this moment. "What are you doing here!"

The target of Mrs. Takeuchi's sudden outburst was the "Prosecutor Kujo" who has recently been wildly criticized by the media.

When Kisaki Eri saw this, she was surprised. She didn't expect Prosecutor Kujo to appear at the memorial service.

Lin Xiao's eyes also fell on the depressed Kujo Reiko, and his eyes flashed. The woman's temperament was even more gloomy than yesterday, probably because of the media's criticism!

However, this woman was truly a beauty with outstanding temperament. Even though she looked haggard and was wearing plain clothes, she did not lose her charm at all. Her depressed state at this moment added a bit of the beauty of "Daiyu burying flowers" to her, which made Lin Xiao's heart restless.

Lin Xiao suddenly found himself in an awkward situation! At the funeral, he saw a beautiful woman with a slender figure and a gloomy face, but he thought of applauding for love with the beautiful woman at the funeral.

"When did I become like this?"

Lin Xiao remembered that before he traveled to Japan, he was still a good young man. Was it the environment that changed him, or was it just his nature?

"My husband is dead because of you. I don't want to see you, you murderer!"

"How dare you show up here? Leave right now. You are not welcome here!"

"My husband doesn't need to force his murderer to be hypocritical!"

Mrs. Takeuchi kept scolding Reiko Kujo. Her sarcastic and mean image was annoying, forming a strong contrast with the vulnerable beauty Reiko Kujo.

As Mrs. Takeuchi spoke, Kujo Reiko's face became paler and paler. She swayed and her eyes were filled with guilt. After Mrs. Takeuchi finished scolding her, she whispered weakly, "I'm sorry, at least let me burn some incense for Mr. Takeuchi!"

"What qualifications do you have to burn incense? You're just a murderer pretending to be so!" Mrs. Takeuchi refused mercilessly.

After that, the mean woman wanted to rush up and use violence against Kujo Reiko, but fortunately she was stopped by the people around her.

Kujo Reiko opened her mouth guiltily, and her pale lips lost all color in an instant, and her eyes dimmed. The drizzle of rain poured down on her body, making her look even more desolate.

"Prosecutor Kujo!"

Kisaki Eri held an umbrella to shield Kujo Reiko from the rain. She also raised her hand and pressed it on Kujo Reiko's shoulder, whispering, "Prosecutor Kujo, you don't have to feel so guilty. The truth behind Mr. Takeuchi's 'suicide' has not yet been solved."

"Lawyer Kiss." Kujo Reiko shuddered and looked up at Kiss Eri. There was gratitude and confusion in her eyes.

Mrs. Takeuchi was horrified and asked, "Lawyer Fei, what do you mean?"

Mrs. Takeuchi wanted to question Kisaki Eri, but Kisaki Eri left with an umbrella and Kujo Reiko.

"We're leaving now, Mrs. Takeuchi."

Lin Xiao appeared at the right time and blocked Mrs. Takeuchi.

……

The three of them returned to the car, Lin Xiao sat in the driver's seat, while Kisaki Eri and Kujo Reiko sat in the back seat.

Kisaki Eri handed Kujo Reiko a handkerchief and said, "Wipe it first!"

"thanks!"

After taking it, Reiko Kujo wiped the rain off her body.

"Miss Kujo, I have something to ask you, is that ok?"

"If I could say that!"

Kujo Reiko nodded, looking at her former rival in front of her, a bitter smile crossed her lips. At this juncture, almost everyone stood against her and accused her, even her superiors and colleagues had complaints about her, accusing her of discrediting the Procuratorate.

The Madonna of the prosecution world fell into the trough of life. The person who lent her a helping hand was none other than her old enemy, Eri Kisaki.

"I want to ask, why did Miss Kujo go to the victim's home at that time?"

"It was Mr. Takeuchi who suddenly called me and said he wanted to tell me the truth, so I went to his house!"

"Is it the truth about the hit and run?"

"no……"

At this moment, Lin Xiao, who had been sitting in the driver's seat and remained silent, spoke.

"Prosecutor Kujo, you mean the truth about an incident that happened five years ago, am I right?"

When these words were spoken, the two girls were surprised.

Kujo Reiko stared at Lin Xiao in astonishment, not understanding how this stranger could know about the events of five years ago. She looked through the rearview mirror and saw a sunny and handsome boy. The boy gave her the feeling of a ray of sunshine shining into her heart.

"You are... high school detective Lin Xiao!"

Kujo Reiko blurted out that she had actually noticed Lin Xiao, but she didn't recognize him because she had something on her mind and didn't think about it carefully. Moreover, the combination of Lin Xiao and Kisaki Eri made her mistakenly think that Lin Xiao was just Kisaki Eri's young assistant.

Chapter 273: Hibiki Eri Becomes Submissive

Fei Yingli asked: "Lin Xiao, what do you mean by five years ago? How come I don't know?"

"Oh, I asked Inspector Megure to find out that. He just sent the information to me a while ago, and I haven't had time to tell you yet!"

Lin Xiao explained casually.

Lin Xiao continued to say to Kujo Reiko: "That was the case when Prosecutor Kujo was just appointed as a member of the Special Investigation Department."

"right!"

Reiko Kujo nodded: "At that time, I was investigating a case of illegal shoddy work by a construction company, and the subject of the investigation was Mr. Takeuchi's father-in-law! And I thought that the case would develop into a bribery case involving politicians, so I was seconded!"

"Later, the case could not be investigated because an important person involved, the director of the design firm, committed suicide, and it came to an end..." Lin Xiao took over the conversation.

"Yes! At that time, Mr. Takeuchi was... an important subordinate of the director of the office. If we could have his testimony at that time, it would have been a breakthrough in the case. Unfortunately, he was unwilling to testify at that time, so the case has been shelved until now!"

At this point, Kujo Reiko paused, and then continued with a gloomy expression: "Later, Mr. Takeuchi married into the Takeuchi family and even became an important member of Takeuchi Construction Company and held an important position. I don't believe there was no deal involved!

And, coincidentally, five years later, Takeuchi was involved in a hit-and-run case. Because of various clues, I suspected that he was convicting his wife. I just wanted to take the opportunity to investigate the truth of the case five years ago...

What I didn’t expect was that I would drive Takeuchi to suicide.”

Reiko Kujo had a gloomy expression. She mistakenly thought that she was the one who caused Takeuchi to commit suicide and felt guilty.

"Prosecutor Kujo, there's no need to blame yourself. You were just doing your job."

"Do you think so too?"

In an instant, Kujo Reiko felt a warm current flowing through her chest. Not only did her old enemy Kisaki Eri understand her, but also the famous detective Lin Xiao understood her, which made her feel not alone.

"If Takeuchi didn't commit suicide, then it has nothing to do with you! You were just doing your job anyway, and you don't need to have any psychological burden."

"It's not suicide!"

Hearing Lin Xiao's words, Kujo Reiko and Kisaki Eri were both shocked.

Fei Yingli couldn't help but ask: "Lin Xiao, do you know anything now?"

"Well! Takeuchi's motive for suicide is unclear. Just like what you said, Eri, Takeuchi was finally released on bail, but the first thing he did was to commit suicide! It's so unreasonable!

Besides, Miss Kujo said that Takeuchi called her to come over and wanted to tell her the truth, so why did he commit suicide? Takeuchi's actions are too contradictory!"

After Lin Xiao finished speaking, the two women in the back seat were silent for a moment. They all felt that the matter was just as Lin Xiao said, too strange.

"Ms. Kujo, could you please describe in detail the entire process from your visit to the Takeuchi family?"

Kujo Reiko nodded and recalled: "That day, I received a call from Mr. Takeuchi, and he asked me to meet him at his apartment at 8:, and I arrived on time.

When I was getting on the elevator, Mrs. Takeuchi suddenly came back from outside when the elevator door was about to close. I was wondering why Mrs. Takeuchi came home so late. Mrs. Takeuchi said that she was originally busy, but she received a strange text message from Mr. Takeuchi, and she rushed back to check because she was worried!

The general content of the text message was to express gratitude to his wife and ask her to forget him and find a happy life!"

When Kujo Reiko said this, Hibiki Eri subconsciously said, "The content of this message is really strange, like a last will and testament!"

Kujo Reiko couldn't help but pursed her lips and lowered her head.

When Fei Yingli saw this, she knew that she had said the wrong thing and could only look at Lin Xiao as if asking for help.

Lin Xiao gave her a look that said "leave it to me", and only then did Fei Yingli feel relieved.

"Ms. Kujo, what happened next? What happened after you entered the Takeuchi family?"

“Oh!”

Jiujo Reiko was awakened from her guilt by Lin Xiao's voice: "After entering the door, Mrs. Takeuchi went to find Mr. Takeuchi first, and when I was changing my shoes, I suddenly heard Mrs. Takeuchi screaming, as if something happened to her husband!"

"I rushed in immediately, and when I got to the living room, I heard Mrs. Takeuchi shouting that her husband was on the balcony, and then I rushed to the balcony. The door to the balcony was closed at the time, and I saw Mr. Takeuchi on the balcony with his back to me, and he jumped down from the balcony. I opened the door and looked out to the balcony and saw..."

Kujo Reiko was completely unable to continue speaking at this point, and buried her face deeply in her arms.

"Where was Mrs. Takeuchi at that time?"

"Eh?"

Kujo Reiko's breath paused, and she looked in the rearview mirror, only to see a serious face.

Lin Xiao repeated the question: "You heard Mrs. Takeuchi's reminder at that time. She told you that her husband was on the balcony. Was she also on the balcony when you arrived?"

Kujo Reiko was subconsciously taken aback by Lin Xiao's serious aura: "No, no!"

She paused, then continued, "Mrs. Takeuchi came to the balcony only after Mr. Takeuchi jumped off!"

When Lin Xiao heard this, he knew the truth. He couldn't help but curl his lips and said with sarcasm: "That's strange! You followed Mrs. Takeuchi's reminder and went to the balcony. But Mrs. Takeuchi was not there to stop her husband from jumping off the building. She was somewhere else. What was she doing?"

"This……"

Kujo Reiko couldn't explain it, and hesitated, "Mrs. Takeuchi might have been frightened, or she was watching from the side! At that time, my mind was all on Mr. Takeuchi, and I didn't pay attention to Mrs. Takeuchi's actions!"

"So... Miss Kujo's preconceived judgment that Mr. Takeuchi committed suicide is too presumptuous!"

When Kujo Reiko heard this, her heart was shocked, and it seemed as if a shooting star flashed across her eyes and disappeared in a flash.

"Even if there are some suspicious points, I clearly saw Mr. Takeuchi commit suicide with my own eyes!"

“Even if you see it with your own eyes, it may not be true.”

Lin Xiao's eyes sparkled with wisdom, which made Kujo Reiko admire him. The famous detective who was highly praised by the media really lived up to his reputation!

……

later.

Lin Xiao drove Kujo Reiko back home, and then he and Kisaki Eri went to the izakaya that Mr. Takeuchi often visited to investigate the situation.

Because of Lin Xiao's identity as a detective, the izakaya owner told him all the information he knew.

According to the izakaya owner, Mr. Takeuchi was in a very good mood the night he committed suicide. He said that he would be free soon and could go abroad to live a wealthy life! Mr. Takeuchi also said that he and his wife were planning to divorce and he was finally free.

It was already late when the two returned to the apartment.