Science: The Little Shota of the Maori Family

Hattori Heiji curled his lips, not arguing with Watanabe Toru, and explained, "I went to Kudo's house and found that he was not at home. I went to your school and learned that he had not been to school for a long time, but my classmates told me that you must know his whereabouts."

Mao Lilan's half-moon eyes: "Really..."

Then she raised her voice slightly and said, "Although Shinichi sometimes calls me, we haven't met since he took a leave of absence from school.

"Phone call? Can you tell me what you talked about with Kudo on the phone?" Hattori Heiji looked at Xiaolan.

Xiaolan thought for a moment and said, "Well... just talk about things that happened in life. The mystery novels I read recently, football games, and some things that happened at school, that kind of thing."

"Didn't he ask you anything?"

"Eh?"

"Usually when they call you they'll ask about how you've been doing, how you're doing, things like that, right?"

"If that's the case..." Xiaolan looked a little sad, and she lowered her head slightly: "Now that I think about it, it seems like he never asked about me at all."

Hattori Heiji thought for a while, and suddenly seemed to remember something. He quickly rushed to the window, opened it and looked around outside.

"Hey, what are you doing?" His action startled Maori Kogoro, who was sitting by the window. He said dissatisfiedly, "You are so rude, kid."

Ignoring Maori Kogoro's complaints, Hattori Heiji retracted his gaze and said with certainty, "If I'm right, Kudo must be nearby."

"Eh?" Ran exclaimed, "You said Shinichi is nearby?"

"That's right." Hattori Heiji's eyes were full of confidence. "Don't you think it's strange? Since he would call, he should at least ask about the other party's recent situation, such as whether he has been doing well recently. He didn't ask, so there are only two possibilities. First, he doesn't care about you at all. Second, Kudo has been keeping an eye on you somewhere. You are his girlfriend, so the first possibility can be ruled out. Then, the answer is the latter. He must be secretly watching you somewhere."

"Shinichi has been paying attention to me?" Xiaolan murmured, and her eyes lit up for a moment.

Watanabe Toru glanced at her and pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Then why did he peek? If he really wanted to see Sister Xiaolan, why didn't he come up to her directly? This is not a very difficult thing."

Xiaolan's eyes dimmed again.

Yes, the idea of ​​peeping is totally untrue. There is only not wanting to see, not being able to see.

Xiaolan's tone returned to calm: "Shinichi and I are not in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, so the first possibility also exists."

Hattori Heiji scratched his head. He was just a detective. When it came to matters of the heart, he became a rookie and could not explain the questions that Watanabe Toru mentioned.

Maori Kogoro stared at Hattori Heiji: "By the way, who are you?"

Hattori Heiji then remembered that he had not yet introduced himself, so he took off his hat and said, "My name is Hattori Heiji, and like Kudo Shinichi, I am a high school detective."

"High school detective?" Maori Kogoro was stunned and rubbed his chin. "Now that you mention it, I seem to have heard that there's a very powerful high school detective in Kansai..."

"That's right. Kudo Shinichi and I, one is the Hattori of Kansai, the other is the Kudo of Kanto. People often compare us to each other. But I haven't heard from Kudo recently, and he hasn't appeared in the news. Rumor has it that he has disappeared."

Maori Kogoro pointed at himself and said proudly, "So now Kanto is me, Maori..."

Before he could finish his words, Xiaolan interrupted him: "So, what do you want to talk to Shinichi about?"

Hattori Heiji put his hat back on. "Nothing much. Actually, I just wanted to meet him and confirm whether the rumors were true. But now it seems that I may not be able to meet him in the short term. Until then, I have no choice but to bother you here. By the way, I brought you a gift."

He took out a bottle of Lao Baigan from his bag.

Is this dark-skinned guy a very familiar person? Watanabe Toru was speechless.

"dong dong dong"

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

A well-dressed middle-aged woman stood in the open doorway with a dissatisfied expression on her face.

"How long are you going to let me ring the doorbell? Your detective agency is quite hospitable. Could you please spare a moment and listen to me?"

Maori Kogoro said quickly: "Sorry, we were just dealing with an emergency. Please sit down, Xiaolan, and make some tea."

2.9 "Okay."

The middle-aged woman sat down on the sofa and placed a document on the table. "My name is Ikemura Kimie, and my husband is a diplomat. Here are photos and past experiences of my son's girlfriend. Please make sure to investigate her character before they get married."

"Oh, oh, okay." Kogoro Mouri opened the file bag and a gentle face came into view.

"Katsuragi Sachiko, 24 years old, graduated with honors and entered Toudou Medical University... She seems like a very outstanding girl. Is there anything you are dissatisfied with?"

"Not really, it's just..."

Hattori Heiji, standing by, chimed in, "It's because the conditions are too good that you don't like it, isn't it? Humans are inherently suspicious and jealous creatures. When they see something perfect, they find fault with it. You're right, aren't you, Madam?"

Ikemura Gongjiang frowned slightly and asked, "Who is this person?"

166. Xiaolan wants to get the answer

Maori Kogoro glared at Hattori Heiji, as if blaming him for being too talkative, and then explained: "He... he is my daughter's friend."

Ikemura Gongjiang withdrew his gaze expressionlessly. "In short, you can discuss the details with my husband when you get to my house."

"Now?" Maori Kogoro looked surprised. "In that case, why didn't you come with your husband just now?"

Ikemura Kimie explained, "Didn't I just say that my husband is a diplomat? If people found out that he came to a place like this, there would be a huge scandal the next day."

"How about this!" Hattori Heiji narrowed his eyes and said, "I'll go with you, uncle. This way, we can just say that the father is visiting the Ikemura family with his son."

"That's right." Ikemura Gongjiang nodded in agreement: "Then I'll leave it to you."

Hattori Heiji raised a meaningful smile and looked at Xiaolan: "Why don't you go with us, Xiaolan?"

"Huh?" Xiaolan was stunned: "Why should I go too?"

"Because if you're here, Kudo might show up."

Xiaolan pursed her lips, a little tempted. If she could see Shinichi, then many questions would be answered, right? 17?

"Okay, I'll go too."

She said firmly.

……

An upscale residential area in Beikacho, Tokyo

Koike Fumio, who worked at the Ikemura family, heard the sound, opened the door, and said respectfully, "Madam, you are back."

Ikemura Gongjiang nodded: "Where is the master?"

"I think the master should be in the study." Koike Fumio said, looking puzzledly at the unfamiliar faces following behind him: "Who are these guests?"

"He's a friend of mine. Mr. Maori. We..."

Before Ikemura Gongjiang could finish his words, he was interrupted by another clear and gentle voice: "Mom, you're back."

"Ah! You are the one in the photo—"

As soon as Kogoro Mouri spoke, Hattori Heiji quickly covered his mouth.

What an idiot! How can you say such a thing in front of the person concerned?

Ikemura Gongjiang had no time to pay attention to other people. Her expression turned a little ugly the moment she saw the girl: "Why are you here?"

"I asked her to come." Ikemura Takayoshi walked out of the room and put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders very naturally. "I saw that Dad was reluctant to meet Sachiko, so I thought of bringing Sachiko home directly, as a way of forcing him to agree. It seems that Dad hasn't left the study since a while ago."

"By the way..." Katsuragi Sachiko tilted her head slightly, a warm and gentle smile on her face: "Are these all your friends, Mom?"

Ikemura Gongjiang angrily said with a stern face, "Whether we are friends or not is none of your business! Besides, I don't know what status you have to call me mother now."

Being suddenly scolded, Katsuragi Sachiko's expression became stiff.

She quickly apologized: "I'm sorry..."

Ikemura Kimie ignored her and turned to Maori Kogoro and said, "Mr. Maori, please follow me."

"Okay, okay."

Several people followed Chicun Gongjiang to the second floor, where they met an old man with a long beard walking towards them with a hunched back.

Seeing that person, Ikemura Gongjiang's expression of dissatisfaction and anger softened a little: "Why, Dad, you haven't left yet?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I was just about to show you this big fish I caught." The old man blinked his eyes and suddenly unfolded a picture as if by magic: "Isn't this fish very big?"

"Yeah, it's quite big indeed," Ikemura Kimie said perfunctorily, "I'll be right there. Please wait for me in the Japanese-style room."

The old man responded and slowly walked down the stairs with his hands behind his back.

Ikemura Kimie glanced at him and brought Maori Kogoro and others to the study where her husband was.

Ikemura Gongjiang reached out and knocked on the door, but after a long time, there was no movement from inside.

"Eh?" She whispered in surprise, "Isn't it in the study?"

She took out the key with the pendant and opened the study door.

An opera was playing in the study. A middle-aged man was sitting on an office chair behind the desk, his face tilted to the side and his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.

"Oh, you're here. You actually fell asleep with the music on."

Ikemura Kimie walked over to her husband and shook him, "Husband! Wake up! I brought Detective Mori here. Husband!"

"Ah?" Kimie Ikemura seemed to be frightened. He exerted a little force with his hands, and Mr. Ikemura's body fell to the ground limply like a broken doll.

Mouri Kogoro and others, whose attention was originally on the opera, looked over in surprise when they heard the noise.

Ikemura Gongjiang rushed to her husband, looking anxious: "Husband! What's wrong with you? Wake up."

Hattori Heiji quickly rushed over to check, and after a few seconds he withdrew his hand from Mr. Ikemura's neck and whispered, "It's no use, he's dead."

"W-what?!" Ikemura Kimie burst into tears upon hearing this: "Husband!!!"

……

A few minutes later, Inspector Megure led his team to the scene.

Seeing Maori Kogoro was there, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly and he said, "Maori, you are here too?"

"Yes, Inspector Megure." Maori Ko737 Goro saluted Inspector Megure.

"So, this is a murder case?"

"Well," Maori Kogoro scratched his head and said uncertainly, "I see no obvious external injuries on the deceased, so..."

"Uncle, please take a closer look," Hattori Heiji interrupted. "This is clearly a case of poisoning. Look, besides a small red dot at the root of his hair, there's also an iron needle next to the body that looks like the murder weapon. Although the deceased died with his face sticking out, I think the murderer probably deliberately assumed this position after stabbing him with the poison needle."

Maori Kogoro said unconvincedly: "Based on these alone, we can't be sure that this was poisoned."

Hattori Heiji glanced at him. "What? You still don't understand? Look at the body. The deceased's lips and the tips of his hands and feet have already begun to turn purple, and there are spots of blood on his conjunctiva. These are all evidence of death by asphyxiation. But there are no signs of strangulation or being strangled by you. Therefore, the most likely scenario is that the murderer paralyzed the deceased's nerves with a poison that is instantly lethal. Furthermore, judging by the deceased's body temperature and the lack of rigor mortis or death spots, he must have been poisoned within thirty minutes before we entered the study."

167. When the Lover Becomes a Sister

Inspector Megure looked at this young man who was so popular and asked Maori Kogoro, "Mori, who is this guy?"

Maori Kogoro said with disdain, his hands in his pockets: "His name is Hattori Heiji, and he's an arrogant high school detective."

"Hattori Heiji?"

Officer Megure repeated the name twice, then suddenly raised his voice and said, "So it's you, the high school son of Osaka Prefectural Police Chief Hattori Heizo!"

Kogoro Mouri looked stunned.

This kid actually has such a family background?

Hattori Heiji was completely unconcerned about the superiority his father had over his subordinates in the police system. He lowered his head slightly, as if he was still immersed in reasoning.

Inspector Megure began to survey the scene, pinching his chin as he analyzed, "The windows in the study are all locked from the inside, making it impossible to enter or exit from the outside. Therefore, the only entrance and exit is the study door. In other words, the most likely suspect is the person in your family who has the key to this door. Madam..."

He fixed his gaze on Ikemura Kimie and asked, "There should be several keys to this study, right?"

"No." Ikemura Gongjiang shook his head. "There are only two keys. One is in my hand, and the other is kept by my husband. He usually keeps it in his trouser pocket."

"Then let me take a look." Inspector Megure walked to the body, squatted down, reached into the deceased's trouser pocket, and after fumbling for a while, a key slipped out of it.

"This...how is this possible..."

"What's wrong? Is there anything strange about this?"

Seeing everyone's expression of disbelief, Kogoro Mouri was a little confused.

Hattori Heiji's face was solemn. "Don't you understand? When we entered, the study door was locked. This means the murderer locked the door after committing the crime and then left. There are only two keys to the study. One was with the lady who entered the study with us, and the other was in the deceased's pocket. This makes it a perfect impossible crime. This is a closed-room murder case."

Kogoro Mori was stunned.

Hattori Heiji looked at him deeply and continued, "What we need to do now is to quickly find the alibi of the person who may have committed the crime during the period of time when the crime occurred."

"That's true." Inspector Megure agreed with a smile, pulling Maori Kogoro aside and whispering, "Brother Maori, what's wrong with you? You were actually upstaged by a little kid? I put all my hopes on you, great detective."

The disputes between Kanto and Kansai have never stopped. Inspector Megure certainly does not want a murder case that occurred in Tokyo to be solved by a person from Osaka. This would not only lose face for the Metropolitan Police Department, but also for himself as a Kanto native.