Chapter 6, Case 521
"She's just dead, it doesn't mean she stopped loving me."
Just as mentioned on the phone, Inspector Megure quickly led a group of First Investigation Division officers, including Miwako Sato, Wataru Takagi, and Wataru Date, to the Beika-cho Supermarket.
The police quickly and methodically cordoned off the scene. As the clicking of camera shutters and occasional flashes of white light filled the classroom, Conan stood up from beside the corpse, his glasses reflecting a thoughtful white light.
While the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department may not be particularly adept at finding murderers, they are quite skilled at identifying murder suspects.
Soon, the three suspects, two men and one woman, stood in front of the police and were questioned.
The deceased was named Amamiya An. The preliminary cause of death was determined to be excessive blood loss caused by a knife piercing her chest. She worked in a well-known design studio on the 8th floor of the department store's office building, serving as the secretary to the studio's owner, Oshima Moriyama. She was also a fledgling designer.
The well-known designer, Moriyama Oshima, who owns an independent studio, is the middle-aged man standing next to her body in the elevator. He is also the owner of the blood-stained carving knife. At the time of the incident, the two took the same elevator from the floor where the studio is located, intending to go down to the first floor to finish get off work.
Oshima Moriyama, who was standing right next to the deceased, was naturally among the suspects.
When asked about what happened, the middle-aged man, who kept repeating that he was not the murderer, bitterly said that the elevator was completely dark for a period of time because the glass-walled elevator was intended to be a highlight when the high-rise department store was built, and the only light inside the elevator car was the fluorescent buttons.
Japan at that time did not achieve widespread surveillance, so the true situation inside the elevator could not be verified.
Besides him, a man and a woman were quickly identified by the police as suspects.
One of them was a male designer named Ryo Takayama, who joined the design studio around the same time as the deceased and was also a classmate from the same university. At the time of the incident, he was on the rooftop looking at the Tokyo night view, a place he often went to gather inspiration.
The chat logs show that he met the deceased on the rooftop before the incident. After the meeting, Amamiya An took the elevator down first and met Oshima Moriyama. He returned to his office to work five minutes later, which his colleagues can attest to.
Another person is a short-haired woman named Kujo Ayako. She was supposed to be off work today, but she showed up at the design studio instead. When asked by her colleagues why, she said that she was there to see Amamiya. She had gone to the restroom before the incident and had no alibi.
According to colleagues, Ayako Kujo, who had worked at the studio for many years, had competed with the deceased for the position of secretary but failed. After that, she was often critical of the deceased.
With his thick notebook that he always carried with him, Ida Wataru quickly wrote down all the clues, whether they were useful or not, on the slightly yellowed pages, and listed some key points together according to his intuition.
Meanwhile, Takagi Wataru was also diligently recording these clues in a brand-new notebook. He had been assigned by Inspector Megure to follow his senior, Date, and the diligent and responsible young officer was trying his best to keep up with his senior.
The clues were quickly gathered. Ida Wataru stared at the dense notes in his notebook, the key points of which were not yet clear, and pondered for a while before deciding to check the forensic report.
The burly man lifted his foot and realized that two children with similarly pensive expressions were standing beside him.
Conan, who had already noticed something amiss with the deceased, lowered his head in thought, while Zhuge Tongzhi glanced at the inconsistent attire of the designers and staff, and then thoughtfully looked back at Amamiya An, who was lying on the ground.
The two elementary school students naturally followed Date Wataru's steps, heading towards the forensic doctor who was reporting to Inspector Megure. Meanwhile, the police officers from the First Investigation Division, who were walking around, were used to the presence of the little kids and would carefully avoid the thoughtful children as they hurried along.
Date: ?
Should such a young child stay at the crime scene?
Does the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department have a habit of placing two small mascots at crime scenes? This is probably not good for children's mental health.
The officer, with a rugged face but a sensitive heart, thought for a moment and then noticed that the little boy beside him seemed to think he was walking too slowly. He darted over to Inspector Megure and Inspector Sato, tugged at their clothes, and began asking about the autopsy results in a clear voice.
As Ida watched his two colleagues casually hand the whiteboard to the boy, even crouching down to accommodate his height, the boy glanced at the autopsy report and his glasses began to reflect a strange light.
Date Aircraft: ? Are you guys serious?
"32 meters ahead, southwest direction, please keep left."
Zhuge Tongzhi glanced at the prompts that appeared in the void from the O-D navigation system and gently tugged at Ida Hang, who had inexplicably stopped.
The girl looked up, her obsidian-like glasses gleaming at the officer whose expression still held some shock, and asked in confusion, "Hey, Officer Ida, why are the uncle and aunt wearing different clothes, but both of them have a pen clipped to their chests?"
Just as a universe was exploding in his mind, Ida Kou was brought back to his senses by the girl's voice. He glanced at the designers around him who were waiting for the police to evacuate them to other places, hesitated for a moment, and then squatted down like his colleagues to explain to the young girl who had returned from abroad.
"This is a tradition of designer Oshima. It is said that Mr. Oshima's proudest work was drawn one day with a pen from his breast pocket."
Having made ample preparations, Ida Wataru flipped through his notebook and explained to Zhuge Tongzhi in an orderly manner, "So when Mr. Oshima established his personal studio, it became a custom within the studio. You can think of it as wearing a school uniform to school."
For adults, it's somewhat similar to wearing a uniform to work, but for designers, it has evolved into a more narrative symbol.
“But Amamiya-neechan doesn’t have a pen in her breast pocket.” Zhuge Tongzhi raised his hand and pointed directly at the woman who had fallen against the elevator car. The woman, who was wearing a light green long coat, had an empty chest. “If the pen is like my school uniform, then she’s very careless.”
No, Date Wataru instinctively wanted to refute, but Amamiya An became Oshima Moriyama's secretary precisely because of her exceptionally meticulous work, and she could not possibly have forgotten the rules set by the studio.
Upon noticing the anomaly, Itako quickly borrowed a pen from a designer and strode toward the elevator car. Zhuge Tongzhi followed behind him, leisurely walking along the route planned by O-D navigation toward a corner of the elevator car.
They found a pen there with a bent nib, but there was no cap on the ink-splattered ground. Date Wataru frowned as he examined Amamiya An's pen and another designer's pen. Both pens, issued by the studio, were in excellent condition and almost identical in every way.
Turn right and go straight for 5 meters.
Zhuge Tongzhi held up the pen cap she had found and gestured to Date Hang: "Officer Date—I found it!"
Ida took the pen cap from the girl who was running towards him. Instead of putting the pen and cap back together, he turned around and took a closer look at the deceased who could no longer speak.
A carving knife was deeply embedded in the center of Amamiya An's chest. The bloodstains no longer spread outwards from her dress, but although large patches of blood-red blood soaked the pocket on her chest, the creases of the pocket opening, where a fountain pen had been clipped for years, were still clearly visible.
Date Hang reached out his hand, which was covered with a rubber glove, and gently rubbed the fabric of the deceased's outer garment, which was not a soft linen.
In other words, it can support the weight of a pen and will not easily let the pen slip down even if the deceased's head is drooping forward.
If the murder weapon was aimed directly at the chest, why would the pen from the outer pocket be found at the other end of the elevator?
With a pen in each hand, Date Kou suddenly remembered something, turned around, and rushed out of the elevator car.
Zhuge Tongzhi watched as the tall police officer grabbed a designer who was being questioned. The designer's face showed fear, his legs went weak, and he began to scream in agony, "Officer, save me!" The police officers next to him quickly explained that this was not a fugitive criminal.
Zhuge Tongzhi shook his head slightly.
yakuza boss Matsuda Jinpei, street racer Hagiwara Kenji, and fugitive criminal Date Wataru
There are also two others, Rei Furuya and Kagemitsu Morofushi, who are trying to make it in the underworld.
You police academy students really have a great life.
"Pathway: A Fatal Gift from a Lover (Completed)"
She stepped out of the elevator car, and Conan was walking past the elevator to go up the stairs next to it. Zhuge Tongzhi glanced at the navigation and, as expected, followed Conan up to the second floor.
"Go upstairs ahead and walk straight for 65 meters to reach the waypoint."
The blue and white arrow started from the second-floor stairwell and extended all the way to the fire cabinet installed on the opposite side of the corridor. The arrow gleamed faintly in the dimly lit safety passage. Zhuge Tongzhi looked at the fire cabinet, which was twice as tall as him now, and moved his left arm, which was still covered with a plaster.
Let's go!
...
Conan sensed something was wrong the moment he saw the deceased.
The nimble elementary school student casually placed the milk and cakes he was carrying at Ran Mouri's feet, and then darted over to the woman in blue who was lying in the elevator. Only when he got closer did he notice the suspicious thing.
First, the deceased's posture when he fell was not natural; his shoulders were hunched upwards.
You might say that she was sliding down the elevator, so her shoulders should naturally be up, but after Conan examined her, he saw obvious marks of being pulled under her armpits. Moreover, the thing that was pulling her was so thin that the scratches on her clothes were deep but not obvious.
Secondly, there was too much blood, and the elevator was too clean.
With such a deep wound and a significant amount of bleeding, if Oshima Moriyama, who was standing close to Amamiya An and committing the crime at close range with a carving knife, were to kill her, neither Oshima Moriyama nor the elevator car would be in such a 'clean' state due to the influence of human blood pressure.
But in reality, all that blood was neatly gathered under the body of the deceased, as if it were flowing out rapidly.
Conan immediately ruled out Oshima Moriyama as the culprit, along with Kujo Ayako.
Nine-tenths of the carving knife was deeply embedded in the deceased's chest, but he had observed Kujo Ayako's dominant hand.
Her arm, which trembled slightly as she held the cigarette, bore a deep, intertwined scar. It was likely that even if someone were pinned down and forced to stab her, she wouldn't be able to penetrate it; she didn't possess that kind of strength.
The three-choice question has become a proof problem.
However, the only remaining suspect, Ryo Takayama, does have an alibi, and Conan has seen the forensic report. Based on the analysis of the wounds and the time of death, Ryo Takayama's alibi times are perfectly staggered.
But after Conan used his skill of "getting an accurate answer every time he asks a question" to obtain the complete forensic report, the clever detective glanced at the two examination conclusions and suddenly had a clue about Takayama Ryo's investigative methods.
Upon examination, it was found that the deceased had some vomit residue in his throat.
The great detective shoved the report into the hands of Takagi Wataru, who was walking over, and ran towards the second floor. He wanted to go up to the top of the elevator to take a look!
...
But he needed to figure out how to open the elevator door first, especially when the elevator had to stop on the first floor. Conan leaned against the elevator door, thinking about whether he could persuade the police to open the door based on the clues he had.
Damn it, Uncle Mori isn't here, it's so inconvenient.
The great detective, holding a tranquilizer dart but having no one to use it for the moment, stomped his foot in frustration, ruffling his long black hair. He couldn't possibly attack Ran; was he supposed to just randomly arrest someone...?
"Looking for this?" A hand was held out in front of him, with a key lying in the palm.
"Hey." Conan then noticed that Zhuge Tongzhi had followed him up to the second floor.
“I often put my keys on top of the cabinet too.” The girl, stretching her left shoulder, gestured toward the keys and said, half-jokingly, “Officer Ida and I found a clue. He said he was going to come up to the second floor to check the elevator, but I saw you were coming up too, so I came along.”
"I wonder who will find the murderer first, you or Officer Date?" The girl, whose eyes were full of curiosity, showed no desire for the truth, only for winning or losing the bet she had made. "I think it's Officer Date. He's a professional criminal investigator."
Did Officer Ida, the one who had lunch with them today, also guess the killer's method of committing the crime?
Conan, who rarely sees the First Investigation Division police solve cases before him, blinked. A sudden surge of competitive spirit made him grab the key from the girl's hand and smoothly insert it into the lock of the old-fashioned elevator door.
As the key turned, the power assist mechanism inside the door activated, and soon the elevator doors slowly opened before our eyes.
Using the light from his watch, Conan peered into the dark elevator shaft and quickly spotted a glimmer of light on the ceiling.
Found it! The detective, whose clues perfectly aligned with the chain in his mind, smirked and grabbed the edge of the elevator, ready to leap—he was going to preserve the evidence.
Then Ran Mouri grabbed him and picked him up.
"Conan—don't do such dangerous things!" The high school girl with pointed hair narrowed her eyes dangerously, the power of her gaze amplified by the national women's karate champion. "I don't want to end up like Daddy, hitting you on the head!"
"Haha, Ran-neechan..." Conan, whose legs were swaying weakly in the air, chuckled awkwardly. He turned his head and saw the members of the First Investigation Division walking behind Ran, among them Takayama Ryo looking indignant.
"Hey! I already said I wasn't there!" The young man's face flushed red as he pointed angrily at the tall Date Hang. "What does taking the wrong pen prove? What are you insisting on anyway?"
Date Kou just shook his head, passed by Ran Mouri, flipped into the elevator shaft, groped around with a flashlight in his mouth, and quickly used something to prop himself up on the elevator door and nimbly flipped himself up. He spread his hands, revealing two clean fishing lines that had already been broken.
"Damn it, if it weren't for Ran, he would have gotten the evidence first!" Conan thought, blushing as his beloved girl held him tightly in her arms. "But even if he had gotten it, I wouldn't be able to deduce it, so... oh well."
"How pathetic," Zhuge Tongzhi glanced at Conan, who was blushing silently, and quietly slipped away from the edge of the crowd. The destination given by O-Dream Navigation was not just about who the murderer was; she needed to find the next waypoint to go.
The crowd's attention was not on her; the nimble figure quickly slipped down from the second floor.
The moment he saw the fishing line, Takayama Ryo's incessant chatter suddenly went silent, and a deathly ashen look appeared on his face.
“Mr. Takayama, no need for you to say anything more, I’ll just get straight to the point.” Ida Wataru handed the fishing line to his colleague in charge of collecting evidence. “You put □□ in your pen. Although the dosage was small, it was enough to make someone nauseous, unconscious, and vomit.”
Officer Sato glanced at the forensic report, nodded to everyone, and confirmed that the deceased did indeed have this symptom.
"After the deceased smelled the pen, she felt nauseous and fainted. You took the opportunity to kill her with Mr. Oshima's carving knife, and at the same time used fishing line to strangle her under the armpits from the top of the elevator to lift her up, creating the illusion that she was standing." As Ida Wataru spoke, he showed everyone photos of the unnatural areas of the deceased's clothing under her armpits.
"You hide on top of the elevator and drag the deceased. After Mr. Oshima enters the elevator, you take advantage of the elevator lights being off to reel in the fishing line and let the deceased slide down the elevator car naturally. That way, when Mr. Oshima reaches the first floor and the elevator lights are turned on, it will become the scene that everyone sees."
Date picked up the transparent evidence bag containing the fishing line. The broken fishing line reflected an extremely bright and fine light under the lamp. "And I think you originally intended to retrieve the fishing line, but it got stuck, right?"
“…Nonsense.” Takayama Ryo’s trembling body betrayed his fear, but he still clung to the illogical points in Date Wataru’s reasoning and retorted, “According to you, how could I return to the top floor and then to the office in such a short time? Besides, Amamiya’s time of death coincided with my alibi.”
"Mr. Oshima, you've been holding an exhibition lately, haven't you?" Instead of answering Takayama Ryo directly, Date Wataru asked Oshima Moriyama, who was standing next to him looking incredulous.
“Yes, officer, it’s not just me. Several floors in the middle of this department store have been booked for exhibitions.” Oshima Moriyama, who was wiping the sweat from his forehead with a tissue and then rubbing his stuffy nose, quickly replied. He then understood Date Wataru’s thinking, “So the elevator won’t stop on the floor between the eighth and first floors.”
"And the top floor is on the tenth floor, five minutes is more than enough." Date Wataru added the second half of the sentence, and Conan nodded silently in Ran Mouri's arms.
The discrepancy in the time of death is a common time-delay trick. Conan recalled the bloodstains on the clothes that Amamiya An wore, which had very faint edges, as if the clothes had been soaked in water first, and then the water was driven to the very edge by the blood.
"You used ice, didn't you?" Date Wataru's words made Takayama Ryo's legs go weak and he collapsed to the ground. "You used ice to plug the deceased's wounds, which slowed down the bleeding and reduced the smell of blood. You also poured a lot of perfume into the elevator vent, didn't you? That's why Mr. Oshima had obvious nasal congestion."
"Yes! So what if it was me!" Takayama Ryo suddenly pounded the floor like a madman, raising his eyes to stare intently at Oshima Moriyama, who had taken a step back. "You have no idea what that woman and this old geezer did to me!"
...
"Pathway: The Cellphone That Records Love and Evidence of Crime (Completed)"
When Zhuge Tongzhi, wearing rubber gloves and holding Amamiya An's phone, arrived on the second floor, the place was already in complete chaos.
Takayama Ryo roared like a mad beast, while Oshima Moriyama raised his voice to try and drown him out, while the surrounding police officers formed a circle to try to calm both of them down.
The girl standing at the top of the stairs listened quietly for a while, and then summarized her thoughts as follows:
Amamiya An stole Takayama Ryo's prized design for Oshima Moriyama's exhibition, and the design was signed only by Oshima Moriyama. Takayama Ryo learned of this from the documents in Amamiya An's bag. Furious at his inability to get ahead, he decided to kill Amamiya An and frame Oshima Moriyama.
Oshima Moriyama kept repeating that it wasn't true, as if he found the whole thing utterly absurd and didn't know where to begin refuting it.
Seeing that Takayama Ryo had finally vented all his strength, Zhuge Tongzhi walked over to Oshima Moriyama with his phone in hand, squatted down and waved the still-lit phone screen in front of the man, "That's not all, is it? After you killed her, you also wanted to use her phone to record evidence that Oshima Moriyama stole your work."
Otherwise you could get back to the top floor much faster.
Date looked at the suddenly appearing child and the evidence of the deceased in her hand with a puzzled expression.
Did the colleague downstairs just let a child take the deceased's personal belongings? Shouldn't those items have been collected and put into the evidence bag earlier?
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department First Investigative Division, you're a bit puzzling. Is this how big cities are?
However, the conversation had already started smoothly, and the girl's phone had perfectly started a new round of talking for Takayama Ryo.
"Yes, so what?" Takayama Ryo's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the girl in front of him who seemed completely oblivious to his pain. "She betrayed me, she stole my work, she simply, simply!"
“Well then, let’s listen to the recording results.” Zhuge Tongzhi interrupted him, pressed the button, and played the three-minute audio recording that showed the time it took to go from the eighth floor to the first floor.
The speakers on old-fashioned cell phones weren't very good; even at maximum volume, everyone present needed to be completely quiet to hear the content clearly.
But Zhuge Tongzhi moved the phone an inch closer to Gao Shanliang to make sure he could hear it clearly.
After a series of hissing sounds, a muffled voice, obscured by the elevator music, rang out.
"Mr. Oshima, will Takayama's work be exhibited tomorrow?"
A muffled voice came from inside the elevator. The indistinct tone didn't sound like her, but since it was just her and Oshima Moriyama in the elevator, the other party didn't suspect anything.
Oshima Moriyama, who had been watching the night view through the glass windows, had his back to Amamiya An and was unaware of the woman's gradually stiffening body in the darkness. His voice, very serious, came through the phone recording.
"Yes, I've already given you the documents, haven't I? His work will be on my exhibition tomorrow."
Takayama Ryo was panting heavily, like a disheveled ox. He left after confirming the progress of the conversation.
Oshima Moriyama abruptly changed the subject, his voice now carrying a hint of affectionate laughter, "Why are you calling yourself Takayama now that you're trying to avoid suspicion? Aren't you childhood sweethearts, and aren't you getting married tomorrow?"
That one sentence stunned everyone present except for Oshima Moriyama, including Takayama Ryo, who was pinned to the ground.
“…What?” Takayama Ryo asked mechanically.
But Oshima Moriyama sighed deeply, and answered for himself on the phone.
“Well, young people are easily embarrassed.” Oshima Moriyama found an excuse for his usually meticulous secretary to remain silent.
"Gaoshan's work is indeed excellent, but if it weren't for your strong recommendation and the fact that the theme was indeed relevant, even if he had applied to participate in the exhibition, he wouldn't have been able to have his first exhibition of works independently signed by himself so quickly."
Gao Shanliang on the ground seemed deeply puzzled. He moved closer to the phone, as if to prove that there might be something wrong with his ears. Zhuge Tongzhi complied with his wishes and almost pressed the phone to his nose.
"I hope everything goes well on your proposal day tomorrow, Anzu." Oshima Moriyama's voice was filled with emotion. "Works that come from love are the most touching. I can see Takayama's love in his works. You will be happy."
Over the phone, Oshima Moriyama added, "But Rie has listed all her works as my name, so I'll have to trouble you to revise them again tonight."
What followed was the clattering of the elevator doors opening, the scraping sounds, screams, and chaotic footsteps. Oshima Moriyama cried out Amamiya An's name, then began repeating over and over that he hadn't killed her, that it wasn't him...
Zhuge Tongzhi turned off the recording, stood up, and looked at Gaoshan Liang, who was lying on the ground with his head down, seemingly lost in thought. Beside him came the tired voice of Oshima Moriyama, "Xiao Xing told me that you two are childhood friends and like each other. Wasn't this piece designed for her?"
The established designer recalled the exquisite design sketches he had seen and was moved by the young man's passionate yet shy expression of love, which led him to decide to include the work in the exhibition.
"Gaoshan, why would you think of Xiaoxing like that? She clearly..." She can't love you more than anyone else.
"No...no! I don't know! This isn't true...it's not..." Takayama Ryotsu twitched violently one last time like a dying fish, but the cruel reality ultimately shattered his heart, which was filled with hypocrisy and suspicion.
“It’s true, sir,” Zhuge Tongzhi said slowly. “Miss Amamiya still has a flower order notification on her phone. The florist just called to confirm the time and location again.”
“She ordered a whole bunch of lilies of the valley, I guess that’s your favorite flower, right?” The girl looked at the incredibly quiet man in front of her, and the more she spoke, the more her head began to throb with intense pain.
But her voice remained clear and coherent. "The florist told me that the lily of the valley symbolizes 'happiness is coming.'" Takayama Ryo's breathing grew heavier.
“But you…” Zhuge Tongzhi looked down at the man who was struggling again, his mental state, shattered like a net of glass, clearly displayed before him.
All she had to do was reach out her hand.
The pain in her mind reached its peak, and the girl with dark eyes opened her mouth.
A gentle push with the truth.
"Enough! Zhuge!" Conan, who suddenly appeared beside her, grabbed her shoulder, snatched the phone, and handed it to Date Wataru, who was standing next to them. "Kids can't steal evidence. You have to return it to the officer quickly."
"Hiss..." Zhuge Tongzhi suddenly came to his senses, clutched his forehead and squatted down on the spot, it hurt so much.
Ran Mouri crouched down worriedly to check on the girl, while Conan stood to the side, frowning.
Ida took the phone, hesitated for a moment, glanced around at the reactions of his colleagues, and found that everyone was indeed too used to elementary school students speaking on the spot, so he just silently put the phone into the evidence bag.
Matsuda, Hagiwara, Tokyo doesn't seem to be the Tokyo we knew when we were in police academy anymore.
Having arranged to take a statement from the precocious Conan the next day, the officer got up at Date Airport and followed his colleagues from the First Investigation Division into the already thick Tokyo night. Thinking about what Miwako Sato had told him—that the little boy could also defuse bombs—the officer thought with a touch of melancholy.
Kids these days can not only defuse bombs and disarm guns, but they're also naturally adept at searching corpses, investigating cases, and interrogating criminals.
Is this already the future of cherry blossoms?
A note from the author:
----------------------
O-Navigation's Victim Today: Ida Aircraft in Self-Doubt
Date: What kind of jobs are my classmates doing?!
Big cities are great; even elementary school students handle bomb disposal and crime solving (just kidding).
Matsuda and Hagiwara, who haven't encountered Conan frequently yet: Hmm?
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