Chapter 286: Re-investigation of the Crow Shadow Case
If Kudo Yusaku wants to participate, Lin Xi will of course welcome him.
In fact, this was not her first time to come into contact with Kudo Yusaku.
When she was in the United States, it was she who suggested to Tadaki Kashimura that he invite Yusaku Kudo to participate in the scriptwriting of the "Cocoon" related games.
She has read Kudo Yusaku's novels. Wow, the Dark Night Baron series is really good.
This time when he returned to China, Lin Xi even planned to ask him to sign the title page of her novel.
The meeting place is at Kudo's house.
"I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Kudo, Ms. Yukiko - maybe I should call you sister? You are really too young." Lin Xi said with a smile.
Kudo Yukiko was coaxed into smiling by her.
This Miss Lin speaks so sweetly!
"Hey, please sit down, Miss Lin, and this lovely young lady... I'll go get you some tea~"
Looking at his mother who was walking more lightly, Conan twitched his lips.
He knew... that his mother would definitely get along well with Sister Lin.
Huiyuan Ai sat down with Lin Xi in a reserved manner.
Lin Xi took out the book he carried with him and asked Kudo Yusaku to sign it; the other party readily agreed.
After the greetings, the four of them quickly got down to business.
Lin Xi placed Kiichiro Numabuchi's file on the table.
"Kiichirō Numabuchi committed three murders."
"The first case occurred on May 17th in Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The deceased was a 37-year-old man named Rintaro Kawakami, who lived alone and ran a fish shop in the seaside market of Nanami-cho, Kamakura City. According to nearby accounts, Kiichiro Numabuchi appeared at the deceased's fish shop on April 20th and offered to help him transport and prepare the fish in exchange for payment."
"On the day of the incident, Kiichirō Numabuchi entered the deceased's residence and stabbed him to death. He was stabbed more than a dozen times, with wounds distributed across his chest, abdomen, and neck, each one hitting a vital spot. He ultimately died from excessive blood loss."
Lin Xi pointed at the photo on the table.
"A liquor bottle was found at the scene of the death. Police speculate that Kiichiro Numabuchi killed the deceased under the influence of alcohol after a conflict occurred while he and his wife were drinking together."
The photos were taken at the scene of death, and there are more than a dozen of them, capturing various details of the scene.
Kudo Yusaku picked it up and examined it carefully. Several bottles of wine lay in a pool of blood, and the unfinished wine spilled on the ground, mixing with the blood.
He was a little worried that the two children present might feel uncomfortable seeing these images, but as a result, both his son and the little girl with brown hair behaved very calmly.
Kudo Yusaku: “…”
It's okay with Haibara Ai, after all, she's also a genius girl trained by the organization, but his own son... leaving him alone in Japan is really too hasty. Agasa said that he encounters murders every day, and he's probably seen more corpses than his mother has made him tea.
Lin Xi took the black tea handed to her by Kudo Yukiko and said thank you sister with great emotion, which made Kudo Yukiko's smile even brighter.
"After killing the person, did Mr. Kiichiro Numabuchi escape quickly?" asked Yusaku Kudo.
Lin Xi nodded. "Yes. He didn't leave any clear images on the surveillance cameras, so the police could only create a wanted poster based on the descriptions of him given by the surrounding residents."
"Apparently, such a brief wanted notice didn't work. The police were unable to find him. On June 2, a second death occurred, this time in Yokohama."
Kudo Yukiko also sat down next to them and listened curiously.
"The second deceased was a married woman named Maya Fujitani, 29 years old, who lived with her husband and daughter."
"She is a nurse who works at Yokohama Central Hospital. Her husband works at a nearby company. Their daughter is five years old. These two were witnesses to the Kiichirō Numabuchi case."
Kudo Yusaku frowned: "Witness, does that mean...?"
"They witnessed Maya Fujitani's murder," Lin Xi said. "Both were diagnosed with varying degrees of PTSD related to the incident, making it very difficult to collect their testimonies."
"However, after active intervention, both patients' symptoms have been alleviated and they have now returned to their normal lives."
"According to Kei Fujitani's recollection, Numabuchi Kiichiro became their neighbor on May 23rd. The house next door had been unoccupied, and it seems the owner rented it to Numabuchi Kiichiro. As neighbors, they gradually became familiar with each other through daily interactions."
"On the evening of the incident, Maya Fujitani invited Kiichiro Numabuchi to her home for dinner. Shortly after entering, Kiichiro Numabuchi struck the deceased on the head with a blunt instrument, resulting in death. The deceased had several wounds on his body, with the fatal wound being on his head."
"After the murder, Kiichiro Numabuchi quickly fled. The owner of the house he had lived in confirmed that it had never been rented out. He had simply trespassed."
Kudo Yukiko showed a sympathetic expression.
PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a severe stress disorder caused by intense emotional stress, such as sudden catastrophic events or natural disasters. For people with PTSD, recalling the people, times, and places associated with the traumatic event can cause emotional distress or physiological stress reactions.
This father and daughter will probably have to face the shadow of their relatives being killed in front of them for the rest of their lives.
"However, this time, because there were witnesses at the scene, the police arrived quickly and Kiichiro Numabuchi was unable to escape far. He was intercepted and arrested by police in the suburbs of Yokohama."
Lin Xi placed two stacks of documents on the table and picked up the third stack.
"The third case occurred after Kiichiro Numabuchi was arrested. On July 13, he escaped from his car on the highway in Mount Origae, Gunma Prefecture. On July 15, he appeared in Amagi-cho, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, and was seen by a police officer returning home from get off work."
"The police tried to approach and subdue him, but he fought back and strangled him from behind."
"He disappeared soon after committing the crime. Afterwards, Kiryu City police implemented large-scale traffic control in the city in an attempt to catch Kiichiro Numabuchi, but because Gunma Prefecture has many mountainous roads and is well-connected, the pursuit ultimately came to nothing."
Haibara Ai's gaze lingered on those color photos.
The shooting method is very subtle and the body has been moved, but the large amount of blood still reveals the brutality of the murderer.
This method...is nothing like the man she had in mind who only knew how to cry.
Even now, she still refused to believe that Kiichiro Numabuchi would do such a thing.
Sister Lin must have thought the same, which is why she re-investigated with the Kudo family.
"Sister Yukiko, the black tea you brew is really delicious." After introducing the case, Lin Xi, whose throat was a little dry, took a sip of tea and smiled with satisfaction.
"Haha, this is Ceylon black tea given to you by Yusaku's friend. If Miss Lin likes it, we have a lot left at home. Please take some home!" Kudo Yukiko said with a smile.
Lin Xi did not refuse.
After finishing the lukewarm tea in one gulp and chatting for a while longer, Lin Xi smiled and suggested, "Mr. Kudo, the detectives you write about don't have a habit of playing armchair detective, and I don't think you do either. Why don't we go to the scene and take a look? I've already asked my friends in the public security department, and the local police will cooperate with our investigation."
"You're right, Ms. Lin. However, it's not appropriate for you and your sister to show up now. We need to minimize the risk of you being discovered by the organization. Therefore, to conceal our presence, we need a little disguise..." Kudo Yusaku smiled and shook Kudo Yukiko's hand. "As it happens, my wife knows a little about disguise. Please ask Yukiko to disguise us for us. This way, our investigation will be foolproof."
.
Who did Kudo Yukiko learn the art of disguise from?
Lin Xi was a little curious.
Although her skills are not as good as Beibei's, whom she taught herself, she is still very good at fighting.
They all disguised themselves. Kudo Yusaku and Yukiko were transformed into a plain-looking couple, while Lin Xi was dressed up as a gloomy schoolgirl with long bangs. As for Conan and Ai… investigating a case with a child seemed too suspicious, and for safety reasons, Lin Xi suggested that they wait at Kudo's house.
Conan immediately protested.
"I want to go with you!" he said. "I'm not really a child. I can help!"
Kudo Yusaku smiled and rejected him: "Are you sure you want to leave Miss Haibara here alone? A proper gentleman should learn to take the initiative to protect a lady, right?"
Conan looked at Haibara Ai anxiously.
Ai Huihara took a sip of black tea slowly.
"I agree to stay here," she said. "It's not like I have to go along to help. You can call me anytime, and I'll provide off-site assistance with chemistry knowledge."
Conan looked up at the sky in despair.
Dad, Mom, Huibara, and Sister Lin, so many people, but not one of them stood on his side.
"Xiao Xin, just stay home and be a good boy, okay?" Yukiko couldn't help but rub his face because he was so cute. "The case shouldn't be complicated. We'll be back soon, okay?"
"The firewood isn't the point..."
But they didn't come back early.
Later, whenever Conan recalled this day, he would secretly regret in his heart: If he had been tougher that day and followed them, maybe... that thing would not have happened.
.
"Please resolve this quickly." The policeman who brought them here was very cold.
They were temporarily notified by the police to let these three people into the sealed crime scene. Although they had no choice but to follow this capricious order, they did not want to give Lin Xi and the others a good face.
Wasn't Kiichirō Numabuchi's case closed? That damned lunatic had murdered three people, two of whom had helped him. A life in prison was what he deserved.
The police don’t know what the public security department is thinking as they are reopening the investigation after so many days.
Kudo Yusaku was the first to step into the house.
The body had long been cremated and buried, leaving only a detailed autopsy report. The blood on the floor had been briefly cleaned up, but the chalk lines where the body had fallen had not yet completely faded, faintly showing on the dark wooden board.
The windows were wide open, and the wind blew in and out freely, washing away all the odors in the room.
"Is this the crime scene?" Kudo Yukiko murmured, "It's been more than two months, and it's completely unrecognizable."
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