The train arrived at Saitama Prefecture station, and Rin and Ellen waved goodbye to Mouri Kogoro and his group.
"Rin-san, Ellen, I wish you a pleasant morning tea!" Ran smiled as she said goodbye.
"Mm, you all be careful too." Rin nodded in response.
Watching Rin and Ellen leave, Ran looked at her father and said, "Dad, then it's time for us to go. We've already wasted too much time at the station hotel."
Mouri Kogoro pulled at the collar of his freshly changed shirt with a look of annoyance: "There's nothing I could do. After that whole scene, I had to clean up, didn't I?
It would be best if I don't find that fat guy and the lunatic, or I'll skin them alive."
After speaking, he put on a fawning smile and looked at President Anton. "President Anton, it's really troubling for you to wait for us."
"It's fine, we're all going the same way anyway." President Anton smiled and responded, waving to hail a taxi... to the luxury hotel where the Architectural Association's annual meeting was being held.
Upon arriving at the hotel, in the grand lobby, President Anton glanced at his watch and said to Detective Mouri, "Detective Mouri, my business meeting with President Yamazaki is about to start. I'll head over first."
"Alright, President Anton, you go take care of your business. I still have two hours before my appointment with President Yamazaki."
Mouri Kogoro waved his hand and led Ran and Conan towards the restaurant, planning to have a drink to pass the time.
Two hours later, Mouri Kogoro, looking a bit more refreshed, led Ran and Conan to the door of Suite 1701.
He knocked, but there was no answer.
He knocked a few more times, but still no response.
"Strange, Its the appointed time, but.. it seems he's not here?" Mouri Kogoro frowned as he looked at his watch, then tried twisting the doorknob, finding the door unlocked.
"President Yamazaki? Excuse me, I'm Mouri Kogo..." His words stopped abruptly as he pushed open the door.
In the height of summer, the air conditioner in the room was blowing hot air at full blast.
Yamazaki Naoto lay supine on the expensive carpet in the center of the living room, his eyes wide open.
Beneath him, the brown carpet was completely stained red with blood.
"Ah--!" Ran let out a scream.
Mouri Kogoro tried to save him, slightly propping up Yamazaki Naoto's upper body. "President Yamazaki, are you alright?"
It was then that he noticed eight fruit knives plunged into President Yamazaki's back, each neatly and deeply embedded, leaving only the black handles visible.
Yamazaki Naoto had long since stopped breathing.
"Dead... dead?!" Mouri Kogoro's face changed dramatically, and he instinctively took a step back. "President Yamazaki has been murdered! Ran, call the police quickly! We need to protect the crime scene!"
When a murder case occurred, Conan couldn't hold back.
After checking the victim's wounds with Mouri Kogoro, he quickly reached a conclusion.
President Yamazaki's cause of death was the eight short knives in his back.
One of them had pierced Yamazaki Naoto's heart from behind, killing him instantly.
What puzzled Conan, however, was that the bloodstains on the carpet were noticeably off, they were particularly faint.
The air conditioner in the room had also been manually turned up to the highest temperature.
These anomalies might just be crucial clues for solving the case.
The Saitama Prefecture police responded quickly, arriving soon after receiving the report.
Conan took a look.
Aside from the regular patrol officers, three main officers were in charge.
Through their discussion of the case with Mouri Kogoro, Conan learned their names and positions.
They were:
A tall, high-ponytail, capable female inspector — Officer Zhu Yuan, whose rank was equivalent to Inspector Megure.
A seemingly childlike, green-twin-tailed, yet somewhat mature-speaking assistant inspector — Officer Qing Yi, whose rank was equivalent to Sato Miwako.
A silver-haired, handsome, yet somewhat slow-witted police chief inspector, similar to Officer Takagi — Seth, whose rank was also the same as Officer Takagi.
The preliminary investigation quickly yielded results. Seth, holding a small notebook, reported to Officer Zhu Yuan.
"Inspector, before Detective Mouri and his group arrived, three people had entered Room 1701. According to the front desk and corridor surveillance, we confirmed:
10:15 AM: The victim's secretary, Kurofuji Kizo, stayed for approximately 15 minutes. It is known that Secretary Kurofuji's salary has been overdue for three months, and he had a fierce argument with the victim the day before the incident.
11:00 AM: Creditor, Nojiri Masakawa, stayed for approximately 20 minutes. It is known that the victim's company owed him a large sum of money which had not been repaid, and repeated attempts to collect were unsuccessful. He has a history of violent debt collection.
1:00 PM: Acting President of Belobog Heavy Industries, Anton Ivanov, stayed for approximately 30 minutes. There was no apparent conflict with the victim."
"However,"
Seth paused, holding up an evidence bag containing one of the short knives removed from the victim's back.
"After Officer Qing Yi's identification, Anton Ivanov's fingerprints were found on one of the murder weapons in the victim's back."
Upon hearing this, Kurofuji Kizo, one of the three suspects who had been summoned, immediately burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, with fingerprints, isn't it obvious who the killer is?"
Kurofuji Kizo glanced at President Anton and explained to the police:
"I'm just an employee. how could I kill someone? Although I did have some words with the president, I just wanted my salary back, which is completely reasonable."
The creditor, Nojiri Masakawa, had a rough face and a fierce tone:
"I came for my money! If he's dead, my money is even more lost! Kill him? Only if he agreed to pay today and then went back on his word, and I got angry enough, would it be possible! But he was still his deadbeat self today, saying he had no money! I just cursed a bit and left."
President Anton frowned deeply, defending himself: "I was just here to discuss a potential collaboration, I didn't kill anyone at all. As for the fingerprints on that fruit knife, they must have been left when President Yamazaki asked me to peel fruit for him to eat.
Look at the apple peels in the trash can, those are what I left when I peeled the fruit. I have no motive to kill, and I certainly wouldn't be so stupid as to leave my fingerprints on the murder weapon before leaving."
After listening to their statements, Conan's brows furrowed.
In terms of motive, Secretary Kurofuji and the creditor Nojiri were both highly suspicious.
But it was President Anton's fingerprints that were on the murder weapon.
It was truly puzzling.
Just then, Conan noticed Officer Qing Yi sliding her index finger across the bloodstains on the carpet, then putting it to her tongue to lick it.
He ran over in confusion, feigning an innocent tone: "Officer Qing Yi, what are you doing? Ran-neechan often tells me not to eat random things."
Qing Yi patted Conan's small head, winked her left eye, and said, "Boyya~, as a veteran detective, if I just lick it with my tongue, I can analyze the composition of the object."
"Hehe. Then Officer Qing Yi is truly amazing..." Conan showed an awkward, forced smile.
Come on, how could that be possible?
Officer Qing Yi laughed "Kid, don't disbelieve me. Don't old electricians often say that they know if there's electricity just by touching it? It's the same for veteran detectives.
After my tongue analysis, besides a small portion of the victim's blood, the rest of the stain on the carpet is all water."
"So, the truth of this case has already emerged."
Officer Qing Yi unscrewed her thermos, gargled with the water inside, and pointed at the victim's body.
"Although Yamazaki Naoto suffered eight knife wounds to his back, it was a carefully planned suicide!"
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TL:
BAM BAM BAM Good Job Qingyi. Btw are you okay im using Qing Yi instead of Qingyi? if its okay then i stay as it is.