Ghost Detectives in the Detective World

“Mr. Masuo, you can remain silent, but there is more and more evidence against you now.”

As he spoke, Matsuda turned to the next page of the investigation report.

"There are many dents on the bookshelf caused by collisions, as well as paint chips on the surface of the exercise bike. The forensic team determined that so many dents were caused by multiple collisions."

"Is this an experiment to test the accuracy of the mechanism? Who else would be able to conduct this kind of experiment multiple times in your home?"

"Your stubbornness now doesn't mean you can get away with it. In my opinion, you're completely challenging us police officers, as well as future prosecutors, judges, juries, and so on. You're challenging the limits of our intelligence."

Masuo became increasingly flustered by Matsuda's words. He licked his slightly chapped lips and said, "I... I want to drink water."

"Bang!" Matsuda slammed his hand on the table. "Tell me your motive for killing him!"

At this point, Zengwei is clearly wavering and is in a state of hesitation.

If he were to drink a couple of sips of water and calm down, he would probably swallow back what he was about to say.

"I... I didn't want to kill her."

Startled, Masuo blurted it out instinctively.

"Is that so?" Matsuda smiled smugly. "You didn't originally intend to kill her?"

After accidentally letting something slip, Masuo's body, which had been holding on, suddenly went limp, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Can you tell me your motive now?"

Seeing that Masuo had given up on his pretense, Matsuda immediately pressed his advantage and asked him questions.

“Actually, it’s for the insurance money.” Masuo lowered his head, avoiding Matsuda’s eyes. “I bought a huge insurance policy for my wife, and recently she’s suspected that bank robbers are targeting her, so I wanted to use the excuse of bank robbers.”

“Japan’s criminal law has been very lenient in recent years, and the death penalty is practically nonexistent.”

Matsuda's topic then drifted back to criminal law.

"It seems you take this kind of thing quite seriously. You bow your head, admit your mistake, get sentenced to a few years, and come out with 2 million yuan in savings. But, you really trust your friend that much?"

As he spoke, Matsuda held up two photos, the two people that Masuo Kayo had circled in the album.

"I believe we'll have results from over there soon. Are you still going to keep lying?"

Upon seeing the photo, Masuo's last remaining strength to support his body vanished, and he slumped into a chair.

With a clear goal in mind, the lesson proceeded quickly.

The investigation into the identities, addresses, and recent activities of the two individuals took only a few hours.

Of course, the fact that they disappeared for several hours a few days before the bank robbery was also investigated.

Then the rest is simple: break in, subdue, and search.

When the 2 million yuan in embezzled funds was recovered,

Matsuda also obtained a complete confession from Masuo Keizo.

He confessed to the entire plan, steps, and details of robbing the bank and murdering his wife, thus closing the case.

Masaki Oe, Masaki Oe Kadai.

A wife who uses the law to coerce her husband for money.

A husband who would kill his own wife for money.

It's true what they say, birds of a feather flock together.

Matsuda glanced at Masuo's statement with disgust, then put it in a file bag, handed it to Takagi, and got up to leave.

......

"Shirley, let's celebrate our reunion with your favorite roses, those bright red ones!"

"what......"

When Ai saw Gin step out of his black Porsche and utter those words in his usual cruel tone, she was immediately so frightened that she sat up abruptly.

Looking at the dark surroundings, Ai smiled self-deprecatingly.

Was it a dream?

She picked up the water glass from the bedside table, but it was already empty.

Ai, who was startled awake from a nightmare, might not actually be thirsty.

But she wanted to do something to dispel the emotions brought on by the nightmares.

She wanted to show herself through her actions that dreams are just dreams, and are far removed from reality.

After getting out of bed, Ai went to the living room to pour herself a glass of water.

But after opening the door, I casually glanced at the window and saw a dark figure.

In the pitch-black room, the curtains blocked out the moonlight, but it wasn't hard to spot a dark shadow from the limited light.

It's a human figure; there's someone there.

Ai's body stiffened, and she turned her head stiffly to look at Matsuda's room.

She wanted to scream, but her throat was filled with fear, and she couldn't make a sound.

One second, two seconds, three seconds—actually, I don't know how many three seconds passed.

Ai finally mustered all her strength and prepared to scream loudly to warn Matsuda inside that someone had broken in.

But just as she was about to make a sound, a large hand covered her mouth.

The person by the window had already nimbly darted to her side.

Chapter 267 The Arrogant Little Girl

"Hush! Hush!"

The man put his other index finger to his lips, shushed twice, and tilted his head forward at the same time.

With the help of the dim light, Ai could see the person's face; it was Matsuda.

Matsuda smiled kindly when he saw that Ai had recognized him.

But after a moment, he moved his hand away from her mouth.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Matsuda touched Ai's forehead, which was very wet.

"Ah."

Ai nodded, a hint of doubt in her eyes, but ultimately didn't ask.

Seeing Ai's expression, Matsuda pointed out the window and explained,

“I check the situation outside every night. Don’t worry, everything is still safe.”

This was obviously just something to fool Ai Haibara; every night at this time, it was the Ghost Knight who went out to capture wandering spirits.

Matsuda was simply waiting for him to return so he could send those wandering souls to the underworld.

Ai misunderstood; she thought Matsuda was standing guard here specifically because he was worried about her safety.

The girl wanted to say something, but in the end she just bit her lip with a haughty air, turned around and went back to her bedroom.

......

The next day, Matsuda went to the Metropolitan Police Department to report for duty as usual, but there was nothing for him to handle.

I haven't seen Conan around for a long time now.

After making a few inquiries, I learned that he had followed Kogoro Mouri to another place to cause trouble for others.

As it was time to leave work, Sato and Yumi were preparing to go out for a nice meal, but when they invited Matsuda to join them, he surprisingly declined.

"Not today. Ai hasn't been doing well these past few days. She had a nightmare yesterday, so I want to spend more time with her lately."

"is it?"

Yumi peeked out from the passenger seat of Sato's FD.

"What a good guardian. So attentive. Is she really not your illegitimate daughter with some other woman? Poor Miwako, she's not even married into the family yet and you have to raise your illegitimate daughter."

"Hey, hey, this kind of provocation is not very polite, it's too immoral, you might never be able to get married in the future."

Matsuda waved his hand, knowing he couldn't joke with Yumi in front of Sato.

You're the one who's shameless!

Amid Yumi's laughter and scolding, Matsuda shamelessly went to find a colleague going the same way to hitch a ride.

Not back yet?

School should be over by now, right?

Matsuda found it a little strange, but he wasn't particularly worried.

Ai Haibara sometimes hangs out with Conan and the Detective Boys.

Even if we might get involved in some incidents, there's no need to worry. With Conan around, everything will be fine.

With that in mind, Matsuda began preparing dinner with a clear conscience.

Thanks to Ai's picky palate, Matsuda's cooking skills have improved considerably recently, if not to the point of being comparable to a master chef. At least he's gotten the hang of the seasoning dosage.

Cooking, eating, and then just the tedious waiting.

He waited and waited, but the other day it didn't come back. Matsuda scratched his head in confusion.

Does this mean they're going to spend the night outside?

Just as Matsuda was about to fall asleep from boredom, there was finally some movement.

However, it wasn't Ai Haibara who came back; it was his phone that rang. It was Inspector Megure calling.

"Brother Matsuda, where are you? Hurry up and come to Beika Restaurant."

"Imperial Megure said anxiously,"

"A murder has occurred. The officer we are to arrest tomorrow, Shigehiko Tomoguchi, is dead. We need you to come here immediately."

Aha?

Matsuda looked around in distress. Ai hadn't returned yet. It wouldn't be good to leave her alone at home at a time like this, since she'd been acting suspiciously lately.