Chapter 6: Unknown Ritual

Uncle Maori, who had been joking, retorted seriously: "No, this proves that you have a motive for committing the crime. You have every reason to kill Professor Endo." Previously, the case was filed as missing, but if someone has a motive to kill, it can also be filed as a homicide case. In this way, the police's search intensity and methods will be different.

Mrs. Endo's face changed when she heard this, and she even cried out: "Anton, could it be you..."

Yamada Masakazu also echoed: "Anton, I didn't expect you to be such a person. Although Senbon Tomomi did it unintentionally, she harmed so many people. Endo teacher escaped by luck, but you still!" He didn't finish his words and looked angry and refused to say anything else.

Only Kokiyo Kasako seemed to be hesitant to speak. She frowned and looked worried, as if she wanted to argue for Yayoi Andong.

Anton Yayoi nodded. So that's how it is. There is such a method. But he knows that everyone present has a motive for committing the crime as he has Endo Shinzo's memory. "I'm not the only one with a motive. For example, Miss Koshimizu has been harassed by Endo for a long time. He even went to your apartment some time ago."

The young and beautiful female teaching assistant looked at An Dong Yayoi in surprise. She didn't expect that she would be the first one to be criticized by An Dong Yayoi. With tears in her eyes, she turned to look at Mrs. Endo whose face suddenly changed, and said hesitantly: "It is true, but I have already told Mr. Endo that I have a boyfriend. I hope he will stop harassing me."

"The boyfriend you are talking about is Yamada, right?" Ando Yayoi continued to reveal, "Yamada's ancestral home was swindled away and sold at a low price by Endo, which caused his grandmother to become so angry that she fell ill and passed away some time ago. Did you know?" These are all Endo Shinzo's memories, and of course what Ando Yayoi said was correct.

Yamada Masakazu also looked at Andong Yayoi in shock, "How did you know!" He looked at the people who suddenly looked over, rubbing his hands nervously, and trying to explain something in a panic. But Andong Yayoi did not stop revealing the news.

"As for Mrs. Endo, you cheated on me, right? Endo threatened to kick you out of the house." Anton Yayoi dropped another bombshell, "He also told you that if he died before the divorce, you would still be kicked out of the house, and the murderer he hired would hunt you and your lover down. So you tried your best to prove that you were not the murderer, right?"

Everyone: What?!

The crowd that had been aggressive towards Anton Yayoi just now suddenly became quiet, and an awkward atmosphere spread.

"Since you can't find the body, why not just leave it at that. Mrs. Endo, you can also let him disappear for two years. Then you will be automatically granted divorce. And to be declared dead, he must have been missing for five years. This way, he won't be counted as dead before the divorce." Yayoi Anto made a suggestion that he thought was very good.

Mrs. Endo glanced at the police and the detective, complaining in her heart. If she had known that everyone wanted him dead, she would not have bothered to call the police. She was afraid that it would be said that Endo was killed by her, so she was scared and hoped that the police would solve the case quickly. If she had known earlier, wouldn't it be better for the four of them to sit down and make up their statements? How could she report to the police now?

Officer Takagi was sweating when he heard about this blatant collusion in front of him. "You can't say that. Although there is no body, Professor Endo's whereabouts are still unknown. We still need to investigate."

Although the situation became more complicated, the absence of a body was the biggest guarantee for Yayoi Anton. He didn't want to continue chatting with the police detectives. Conan was a smart kid beyond his imagination. If he continued to investigate, he might be able to find some evidence that Yayoi Anton committed the crime. So Yayoi Anton tilted his head and looked at Officer Takagi: "But the police didn't want to go out before, right?"

Takagi: ...ah this

Anton Yayoi continued: "Although we now have a motive, there is still no body, right?"

Takagi: ...ah this

Anton Yayoi hit three times: "Even if the body is found, do you have evidence to prove that it is related to us?"

Detectives and police: ……

"Why don't you let us go back first and come back to look for the criminal when you find evidence?" Even Yamada Masakazu joined in. "We have no evidence now. What reason do you have to ask us to cooperate with the investigation?"

There is indeed no evidence to prove that Endo is dead. In fact, the current evidence is more like Endo arranged his own disappearance. The recorder in the study, the window that someone climbed over on his own, the surveillance video that the owner edited for convenience, and the unclaimed car.

"Well, that" Xiao Qingshui Lizi suddenly interrupted, "Actually, the study door was open at that time. I saw that Endo teacher was not inside, so I closed it. Later, I forgot about it." Well, in this way, the sound of the recorder in the study can also be heard outside. But speaking at this time, it seems like a lie, even Detective Maori heard the problem and showed a speechless expression.

"Ms. Xiao Qingshui, giving false testimony is an aggravated crime. If you have not committed a crime, you are committing a crime in front of the police. You have committed a crime before, and now it is an aggravated crime! Please think twice!"

Xiao Qingshui stiffened his neck, changed his previous fear and weakness, and said firmly: "I'm not lying! I just forgot before!"

Detective Maori was choked speechless, and looked at Officer Takagi for help. Officer Takagi was also a weak character. He gritted his teeth and advised: "Miss Shimizu, we are not questioning the authenticity of your testimony, but your timing is too coincidental."

"You can go check it out! Don't you have a fingerprint test? Check to see if there is my fingerprint on the study door handle!"

You are Professor Endo's teaching assistant. How could there be no fingerprints of yours on his study? What's the point of checking it? Officer Takagi pouted speechlessly.

Seeing that the police and detectives were choked and speechless, Yayoi Andong said, "In 1994, in the United States, Simpson was charged with two first-degree murders for killing his ex-wife and a restaurant waiter with a knife. Due to serious mistakes made by the police, the strong evidence in the case was invalid. In the end, the court decided to follow the principle of presumption of innocence and acquit Simpson. Let's not talk about whether you have made serious mistakes or not. Just the most basic thing is that you didn't find the body, right? Japanese law inherits American law and also follows the principle of presumption of innocence. Let alone going to the court, it can't even be filed as a murder case now, right?"

This is indeed the biggest problem. Even Conan can't think of any excuse to refute it. He can insist that Yayoi Andong is the murderer and track down the murderer, but the police and the procuratorate will not arrest and try Yayoi Andong because of his idea. It is even difficult for the police to open a case without a body.

Seeing that everyone was speechless, Yayoi Andong continued, "Endo recorded his own screams, then left the villa and prepared to drive away to do something, but something unexpected happened on the way, and now he is missing. At a certain time, the recorder started playing, creating the illusion that he was still in the villa. The surveillance video may have been altered by him somewhere else. Although I don't know why he disappeared, does anyone object to this explanation?"

The three suspects all echoed: "No, no, Mr. Endo disappeared on his own."

Mrs. Endo gave the police an awkward smile and said, "Sorry to have kept you here. Let's close the case. Endo disappeared on his own."

Officer Takagi was hesitant to speak after being summed up as "solving the case" at the speed of light, but he really couldn't say anything to refute. It was true that the four people in front of him had motives, but now the police couldn't even tell whether they were covering up for each other. They had no body, no evidence, and the previous police response was due to Mrs. Endo's strong request. Now even Mrs. Endo didn't insist, so they really had no reason to continue the investigation.

Even Conan couldn't think of a second explanation. He kept muttering "but" for a long time, but was shut up by Kogoro Mouri's punch.

Seeing that the situation was obviously not right, Officer Takagi still tried to struggle a little and squeezed out a question: "But why is Professor Endo leaving?"

Yamada Masakazu shrugged, "Who knows, maybe he's trying to avoid the stalker An Dong Yayoi? He's investigated everything about us, who knows when he started investigating, maybe he was lucky to be admitted to Toudou University in the first place."

Unexpectedly, this could be pinned on him. An Dong Yayoi rolled his eyes and said, "Stalking is a personal prosecution case. Without evidence, it is a false accusation."

Yamada Masakazu had no grudge against Andong Yayoi, and he of course knew that stalking was a personal prosecution case, so he smiled maliciously and said, "Junior, you see, in order to avoid you, Endo hid in a place where we can't find him. I guess he couldn't find any evidence to sue you. Oh, I hope he is safe." He finally understood that Andong Yayoi must have killed the person, but he didn't care how. He only knew that his enemy was dead, and he didn't do it himself. There was no happier thing than this.

"Who knows why Endo ran away? Maybe he faked his death and let the killer kill Endo's wife, and then came back to get the inheritance." Ando Yayoi shrugged. He did not admit that it was his fault. Who knew if he would be asked to pay some civil liability at that time? He could not afford the compensation, so he had better clear as much as possible.

The two of them talked back and forth, directly pinning Endo's disappearance on his own reasons. Officer Sato and Officer Takagi looked at each other and finally decided to turn a blind eye and go back to the Metropolitan Police Department to ask Inspector Megure for instructions. With their positions and levels, they really couldn't challenge the Japanese judicial system.

After watching the detective and the police leave, Mrs. Endo smiled with relief and quickly said goodbye to the three of them at the door of the villa. Ando Yayoi even saw the ticket purchase information on her phone, and the destination was Hawaii. Yamada Masakazu was in a very good mood. He came over and patted Ando Yayoi on the back, exchanged an expression of "you know, I know you" with him, and then left without even saying goodbye to his girlfriend.

As his girlfriend, Kasako Koshimizu didn't care about Yamada Masakazu. She was thinking about something beside him. When she saw everyone else leave, she walked straight to Yayoi Anton and said, "I don't know how you did it, but you did it, right?"

Knowing full well that there were eavesdropping devices in this world, Anton Yayoi looked at Koshimizu silently without saying anything. He couldn't be sure what the other party was going to do.

Xiao Qingshui, however, began to speak on her own, "I don't know if Zhimei has told you about me. Zhimei is my best friend. In fact, I knew your identity when I saw your necklace. Zhimei told me about you." Xiao Qingshui took out a photo of her and Zhimei as proof. In the photo, the two young girls hugged each other and smiled. "Thank you for avenging Zhimei."

Anton Yayoi said calmly, "No need to thank me." After all, the real Anton Yayoi's soul was broken, and now he was just a god who borrowed his shell, and soon this shell would become something else. He couldn't afford to thank "Anton Yayoi" himself.

Xiao Qingshui didn't care at all and continued, "We had planned to have dinner that day. She sent me a message at 3:30, saying that although we had already gone down the mountain, Endo's camera was lost, and she insisted that they go back to find it. So they turned around and went back to look for the camera, saying they were sorry for breaking the appointment and would meet again next week. As a result..."

As Xiao Qingshui spoke, tears gradually welled up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. At that time, I was still Endo's student. He usually liked to bully students and had something on me. I was scared, so I didn't send the message, let, let Tomomi..."

Yayoi Ando looked at Koshimizu crying breathlessly and said, "What does this have to do with me? I'm leaving." Since she didn't have the courage to stand up and tell the media the truth at the beginning, and now "Yayoi Ando" is dead, who is she crying for?

Xiao Qingshui was stunned for a moment, not expecting to be treated like this, and hesitated to speak, but still said sorry while standing against the wall. Her face was gray and confused, her eyes were blank, and she didn't even notice that her white skirt had rubbed against the dirt on the wall.

Seeing how devastated Koshimizu was, Anto Yayoi finally thought about it and turned to her and said, "The person you want to say sorry to will never hear these words again. Don't dwell on the past anymore. You can't change anything anymore."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingshui seemed to have received an unbearable blow. She knelt on the ground and cried inconsolably. She was like a flower blooming in the mud, struggling to get out of the quagmire, but sinking deeper and deeper. Anton Yayoi didn't understand why the other party cried even harder despite his kind words of comfort. He could only stand there awkwardly, hesitated for a moment, and chose to pretend that he didn't see it and turned around and left.

At this time, Conan, who was sitting in the back of the car and forced to leave the villa, felt that he had encountered the biggest problem in his life. Although the clues showed that Endo was more likely to be the one who disappeared, and even the reasons were sufficient, his intuition as a detective told him that the murderer was definitely the person named Yayoi Ando.

But now, let alone finding the truth, we can’t even open a homicide investigation.

how so? !

Conan decided to go back and contact Heiji and his father to see if they had any other suggestions.

Although he was reluctant to ask others for help, he couldn't let a murderer escape!