Chapter 61: Investigation Begins



Xian looked towards the street and saw a police car speeding towards him. The police car slowly stopped near the workshop and a short, fat policeman wearing an orange hat got out. Then, a middle-aged man and... Mao Lilan got out from the back seat of the car.

Xian: ...? Wait, the uncle with Mao Lilan is probably Mao Li Kogoro who we haven't seen yet, but why are these two people coming here in a police car? He was just wondering who Conan would let experience the anesthetic needle without Mao Li Kogoro.

"Ah, Sister Xiaolan!" Conan noticed Mao Lilan at a glance and hurried forward to greet her, "Why is Sister Xiaolan here?"

"Conan!" Mao Lilan took two steps forward to make way for the police, and said awkwardly, "My father and I went to take a statement. Just as we were about to go home, we saw Officer Megure received a case. When my father heard that it was near our house, he followed us." After saying that, she looked at the scene with some concern, "Conan, you didn't cause any trouble, did you?"

"Ahahaha...no." Conan scratched his head.

Conan finished talking to Mao Lilan and went to the side to think about the crime scene alone. He just checked the ground and found nothing. The sewing machine seemed to have fallen from the open-air balcony on the second floor. There were no other suspicious objects at the scene. Everything seemed like an ordinary accident.

But Detective Conan's intuition told him that everything was not that simple.

"So, you all have alibis?"

The correct version of this content can be found on 6/9*Shu.ba%! 【6*9*S*H*UBA.CX】

According to Asashima Kihide, there were wooden boxes piled up in the corner of the balcony all year round, which contained tools that her father rarely or didn't use. There were a lot of boxes, and they were piled up very high, almost as high as the balcony railing.

"Not necessarily. After all, this sewing machine fell from above. Maybe we can go upstairs to see if there are any clues." Mitsuhiko commented calmly.

"I see." Officer Megure looked Chihara Masako up and down. "In that case, this lady should rest aside for a while. The ambulance just happened to be here. Let the accompanying doctor take a look at her." Officer Megure waved his hand and signaled the police officer beside him to call the doctor. "But I'm very sorry, we can't let her leave for the time being, because we are not sure what kind of case this is, so we need to temporarily seal off the scene."

Today, Asajima Kihide originally planned to bring Aoyama He to meet his father. This was their first meeting, so Asajima Kihide asked her best friend Chihara Masako to be a witness. Because they played together since childhood, with her help, maybe the father would recognize Aoyama He more quickly.

"Ahaha...it's okay, Mr. Maori is also a famous detective, these things won't bother him." Xian smiled. It's so funny, without Conan, it's still unknown how Maori Kogoro can solve the case correctly.

"Ah, yes..." Conan said perfunctorily.

Inspector Megure nodded, saying that it was a relief that no one made a fuss about leaving.

"Xiaoya? Why did you come out?" The shop owner's daughter saw the woman and was a little worried. She turned to Officer Megure and said, "Officer, this is my good friend, her name is Chihara Masako. She came to my house today, but she suddenly felt unwell, so I asked her to go to my room to rest."

"...A child wearing glasses? Could it be Conan?" Inspector Megure said with a half-mooned look.

"Is that so..." Xian turned around and said to Mao Lilan apologetically, "Then I will take Conan down there. Don't worry, I will keep an eye on him and won't let him move around."

For this event, Asajima Saburo specially closed the restaurant for a day. Asajima Kihide also prepared everything last night and got up early this morning to plan and prepare for the lunch gathering.

Although Boss Hinamori doesn't know his identity, from his attitude towards the Junior Detective Team, he seems to be a very patient person with children. So he probably won't easily discourage a child's detective heart...

"…So just when you were sending him to the door, a sewing machine fell from the second floor and hit Xiangshan He on the head?" Inspector Megure asked seriously.

The deceased was named Aoyama Ko. According to Asajima Kihide, he was her boyfriend of half a year. Because they had very similar interests and hobbies and got along very well, they had reached the stage of discussing marriage and meeting each other's parents.

Really... Conan was speechless. Why on earth was this old man so desperate to become a detective? Thinking of this, he wanted to go and see the balcony where the sewing machine fell.

"Conan!!!" Inspector Megure screamed. Damn it, he let these kids slip in again without paying attention.

"Let me, the great detective Maori Kogoro, solve the case from now on! Ahahahaha!"

A year ago, the family replaced the sewing machine with a new one, so the old one was placed on the top of the boxes, most of which were beyond the railings. However, the base of the sewing machine was still placed steadily on the box, and because the box was made of wood, the lid was very stable, and there was no unevenness or instability.

"Okay, I understand." Xian nodded.

Xian knew in his heart that Conan and his friends had definitely gone to the second floor, but he still chose to bring it up on purpose. Although it hindered Conan's investigation to a certain extent, as an ordinary person, how could he accept a child running around at the scene without any scruples? Xian thought he could pretend to be more innocent.

"It's okay, because... because if you become a detective you won't be afraid of these things!" Conan said with a laugh.

"Hello, young lady. A murder has just occurred here. Please cooperate with the investigation." When Inspector Megure saw that there were more people coming out, he could only repeat his words seriously.

"Excuse me...what happened?" The person who came looked about the same age as the owner's daughter. She didn't look very well and her steps were a little unsteady, as if she was sick.

Soon, Masako Chihara and Hei Aoyama arrived. Asajima Kihide asked them to talk to their father in the living room first while he went to prepare meal.

"Yes, the sewing machine has always been placed on the balcony on the second floor, but it's a little higher. It usually doesn't get into any trouble. I didn't expect it to fall down today..." As he spoke, tears welled up in Asajima Muxiu's eyes again.

No, he needed to take another look at the sewing machine. But the police probably wouldn't let him see it now. Uncle Maori insisted it was an accident, so he had to find a reason quickly...

"Eh?" Xian didn't expect that Conan would be watching him like this. He really didn't want to solve the mystery, and he really didn't want Conan to find out that he could be a tool to find clues. But since he said so, he might as well help. "Conan really wants to be a great detective. The sewing machine is now on the first floor, and it's covered in blood. Won't Conan be scared?"

Lang.

If...assuming it was dropped by someone, then from everyone's description, it seems that the murderer didn't push it directly from a close distance, so it is very likely that it was pushed from a long distance. If it was from a long distance, it is possible that...

"That makes sense. Why don't we go upstairs and take a look?" Ayumi's eyes lit up. "Conan, let's go together?"

"Old-fashioned sewing machines like these have very flat bases. How could they just fall over so easily and land downstairs?" Conan spoke in a child's tone.

"...Ah, okay." Conan half-moon eyes, you really are not going to cause trouble? But I do need to go in and take a look at the specific situation.

"That's right, my grandma also has a sewing machine like that. When I was a kid, I pushed it hard and it just moved forward. It didn't tilt at all, right?" Ayumi put her hands on her hips angrily, and Mitsuhiko and Genta nodded seriously.

"Conan!" The three little ones ran over, and Ayumi said, "Conan, did you find anything?"

"I know!"

"There's nothing at all. Maybe it was just an accident." Yuantai complained.

"...What?! Murder?" The woman's eyes widened and her movements were a little slow.

Damn... the child's body is still too troublesome. Conan secretly clenched his fists. There must be something fishy about this case. It's not just an ordinary accident.

Uh... Conan looked with half-moon eyes at Kogoro Mouri who was standing in the distance with his hands on his hips and laughing. This confused uncle still exudes an unreliable aura as always.

"Okay, kids, don't run around!" The forensic department staff picked up Conan and sent him to Mao Lilan, and then drove the Junior Detective Team to the side, "Don't disturb the uncles collecting evidence."

A few kids took advantage of their size to sneak into the store.

"In that case, let's just ask the routine questions: whether you have met the deceased, whether you have a motive for murder, and whether you have an alibi." Inspector Megure made the final decision.

"Wait, there are still us!" Ayumi and Genta hurriedly followed. Mitsuhiko walked forward a few steps, and suddenly thought of something. He looked at the person who was stating his alibi, thought about it, and decided to stay. He shouted to the stairs: "I'm here to listen for any other clues!"

However, judging from the scene today, it is still undoubtedly a choice between the three. In order to show his innocence, Xian chose to stand with Mao Lilan, and then followed Mao Li Kogoro, acting as a background board who knew nothing.

"Well... Conan is indeed very smart and likes detective games very much, but it is really worrying that he always runs around the murder scene." Mao Lilan smiled sheepishly, "I am always worried that he will disturb my father's work."

After chatting for a while, Chihara Masako suddenly said that she had a severe headache. Asajima Kihide asked her to go to her room to rest first, then he looked through the medicines at home and found that there was no medicine to relieve the headache, so he asked Xiangshan He to buy some.

"Well, Conan is a kid who can't sit still. Sorry to bother Mr. Hinamori." Mao Lilan smiled, "But don't worry, Conan has gradually become professional with his father. He knows how to use a handkerchief to pick up evidence. It won't be too much trouble."

"I feel like Conan is really a decent little detective." Xian smiled, of course he was not talking to Conan, but to Mao Lilan beside him.

Inspector Megure nodded repeatedly after listening to the statements of the people present.

"...Okay, I understand." The shop owner's daughter nodded and walked over to support Chihara Masako, "We will cooperate with the work well."

So why didn't the forensic department go to the second floor in advance? What's the point of checking at the scene of the falling object? Shouldn't they know at a glance that they should go to the second floor to check first? Xian silently complained in his heart.

"Huh? This is obviously an accident, right? The sewing machine was not placed properly and fell from the balcony or something like that." Maori Kogoro went to the second floor to look at the scene, and said with a bored look on his face. "Well..." Officer Megure nodded, "If that's the case..."

"Huh? What are you doing, little brat?" asked Kogoro Mouri impatiently.

Xian also said that it didn't matter,

"I see. It sounds like an accident." Officer Megure nodded seriously and turned to look at Maori Kogoro. "Brother Maori, what do you think?"

"Yes! It was nearby just now, but now I can't find it...ah, it's upstairs." Xian pointed to the open-air balcony. A little boy wearing glasses was upstairs, looking at something with a handkerchief. The other three children were also touching something with their handkerchiefs.

So there must be some external force that caused the sewing machine to fall. Conan frowned and thought, but he didn't see any other traces around the railing just now. What did he overlook? Conan looked at the top of the empty box and wondered what external force could have caused the sewing machine to fall.

"We are not just ordinary kids! We are the Junior Detective Team! Conan, what do you think?"

"But!!" Conan, who was squatting on the side and checking the ground, suddenly shouted, "Uncle, don't you think it's weird?"

He could wait there, but he said with some worry: "Officer, did you see the children who came with me? There was a little boy with glasses and three children who said they were from the Junior Detective Team."

Xian was simply explaining the situation to Officer Memu, and just when Xian was about to finish, another person suddenly walked out of the room.

Hey, hey, don't you see who is solving the case... Conan's eyes widened when he heard this. But this also reminded him that there was someone who might be able to help him - Boss Hinamori.

Thinking of this, Conan tugged at the corner of Xian's clothes and said pitifully: "Hey, Xian brother, can you take me to see the sewing machine?"

"That makes sense, Maori brother." Inspector Megure looked at Maori Xiaowu again.

The store manager's name is Asajima Saburo, and his daughter is Asajima Kihide. Like Xian, they both run a store and live here.

"Oh, yes." Asajima Kihide nodded.

When the deceased died, she was sending him downstairs and was instructing him on what brand of medicine to buy. Chihara Masako was with her father.

"But isn't this strange?" Mitsuhiko walked over and raised an objection boldly, "Asajima-sister clearly said earlier that Chihara-sister was resting in her room."

"...Ah." Asajima Muxiu was stunned, "Yes, that's right."

(End of this chapter)


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