Chapter 26 Internet Celebrity Cuisine
Shinichi's first target for investigation is Hiroshi Shintani.
The reason was simple: he was the ex-boyfriend of the deceased, Ms. Horii.
If his intuition is correct, then everything needs to be investigated again from three years ago.
"Sakai, go knock on the door in a bit and say that this is something Mr. Miyazaki asked you to return to Mr. Shintani. If he asks why you're only returning it now, just say that Mr. Miyazaki just found it while moving recently," Shinichi instructed, handing the other man a small box.
"What's in here?" Yuuki asked.
"shaver."
"But Uncle Miyazaki didn't move?" Yuuki asked, puzzled.
Shinichi was amused by the other person's blank expression and said, "This is just a pretext to get close to Shintani. I bought the razor! If Shintani is really involved in this case, he might be more wary of strangers, so I'm asking you to come forward. Don't worry, I'll go with you."
Yuuki nodded blankly, only then realizing that he was being asked to lie.
"Kudo-senpai, should we just go like this without telling Officer Takagi and the others?"
"No need."
"Huh? Why?"
"Isn't it more satisfying to catch criminals with your own hands?"
Shinichi answered confidently.
However, what Shinichi didn't make clear was that ever since Matsuda and Hagiwara had thoroughly outmaneuvered him in the fire case two years ago, the Metropolitan Police Department's credibility in his eyes had plummeted.
Good guy or bastard? This question remains unanswered.
Especially given the current situation, Shinichi doesn't want to be bothered by the police again.
God knows how much that blond bastard has infiltrated the Metropolitan Police Department.
So, this time he's going to go it alone!
Shinichi and Yuuki arrived at Shintani's house.
I rang the doorbell a few times, but no one answered.
"Strange, isn't he home?" Yuuki muttered, reaching out to knock on the door and calling out, "Mr. Shintani, are you home?"
However, something strange happened when Yuuki knocked on the door for the first time:
The door opened by itself.
"Huh? Did I forget to lock it when I left?" Yuuki muttered to himself.
Shinichi immediately realized something was wrong and rushed inside.
Yuuki called out from behind, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate, Kudo-senpai?"
But Shinichi ignored him because he was stunned by what he saw!
Shintani was lying motionless on the dining table, the food still steaming hot…
"What's wrong with Mr. Shin-Tani?" Yuuki was terrified. "Should we call an ambulance?"
Shinichi's eyes darkened, and he sighed before replying, "No need, call the police! He's already dead."
The corpse's skin was still warm, proving that Shinya had just died.
"Damn it! Just one step away!"
Shinichi glanced at the food on the table and seemed to have only eaten a few bites.
"Could it be food poisoning? But the way it died is very similar to Ms. Horii's."
"Could the culprit be the same person? Why kill him?"
Shinichi frowned, rapidly considering all sorts of possibilities.
He carefully examined the crime scene and was about to go to the kitchen to find out what was going on when Yuuki walked in.
"Kudo-senpai, I've already called the police. Um, should we go outside first?" Yuuki looked terrified, his voice trembling slightly.
"Sakai, you can go outside and wait. I'll stay here."
"Huh? But I can't leave Kudo-senpai alone with the corpse..."
"It's okay!" Shinichi interrupted Yuuki rudely before he could finish speaking. "Go outside and wait for me. Isn't there a sushi restaurant on our way here? We can go there for lunch in a bit. You go first and I'll be there soon."
"Huh?" Yuuki was completely baffled, and the other person's almost stern tone made him uneasy.
He stood hesitantly in the entryway, finally saying, "Okay, I'll wait for you at the sushi restaurant."
No sooner had Yuuki left than Shinichi asked the kitchen door, "Can we come out now?"
However, to Shinichi's surprise, the door suddenly swung open with a bang.
Before I could even see the other person's face clearly, I was firmly restrained and my mouth and nose were covered with a white cloth.
"Oh no! This is an anesthetic!"
Shinichi cursed himself for his carelessness and tried to hold his breath.
However, he soon couldn't hold it in any longer and inevitably inhaled the anesthetic gas.
Shinichi's consciousness began to fade, his vision became increasingly blurry, and finally everything went dark and he could see nothing at all.
He vaguely sensed that the other person took his phone, carried him outside, put him in a car, and tied his hands and feet.
Shinichi struggled desperately, but he couldn't muster any strength anywhere in his body.
At the last moment, he seemed to hear the other person speak: "Zero, I have..."
What is zero?
Is he counting off?
"Is it a beginning, or an end?"
Before Shinichi could figure this out, he completely lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep…
When Shinichi woke up again, everything was dark.
Once his eyes adjusted to the surrounding light, he realized he had been thrown under a bridge.
The ropes binding my hands and feet were gone, and when I checked my pockets, my phone was safely inside.
He struggled to stand up, but then heard hurried footsteps approaching from not far away.
"Don't move! Police!"
Shinichi was startled, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the visitor was Yuuki, not a policeman.
Yuuki was overjoyed to see Shinichi crying tears of happiness, and hugged him tightly, exclaiming, "Kudo-senpai, I'm so glad you're alright!"
Shinichi was confused and asked, "Sakai, how did you know I was here?"
"You called me, and I tracked you down using my phone's GPS!"
Shinichi took out his phone and realized that it had been in a call the whole time.
Yuuki explained, "I received a call shortly after I went out, but no one answered. I was wondering if something had happened to Kudo-senpai, because you taught me before that if you're kidnapped but still have your phone, you can call someone else. Even if you don't say anything, the other party can still find your location."
"So you just came all by yourself?!" Shinichi yelled angrily. "Do you know how dangerous that is? Why didn't you wait for the police first?"
"Because I'm afraid something might happen to Kudo-senpai. What if the phone line drops and I can't find you?" Yuuki replied, feeling wronged.
Shinichi sighed helplessly, thinking that in the end, it was his fault. He had greatly underestimated his opponent and made such a stupid mistake!
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. You did a great job this time, but don't do it again next time."
"Kudo-senpai, did the culprit bring you here?"
Shinichi nodded and then shook his head, replying, "When I first discovered someone in the kitchen, I also thought it was a criminal hiding there. But if it were a criminal, what reason would he have brought me here? It's clear he doesn't want to harm me; he just wants to take me away."
"But why would he do that? If he wasn't a criminal, why would he be there?"
Shinichi pondered for a moment and said, "If I were the criminal, and after killing someone I couldn't escape in time, and unfortunately encountered other people, my first reaction would be to leave the crime scene as quickly as possible. As for the bystanders, I could kill them or knock them unconscious. But that person insisted on taking me away and luring you here too. The most reasonable explanation is that he didn't want us to stay there."
"But we've already found the body and called the police. Does it make any difference whether we stay there or not?"
"It might make a big difference to him! Maybe he doesn't want us to find out about time-sensitive evidence, or maybe he doesn't want us to see certain people."
"Anyone else in the house?
"I don't know. But I heard him talking in that person's car just now. It didn't sound like he was talking to himself. He was probably talking to someone or on the phone."
"Kudo-senpai, did you get a good look at what that person looked like?"
Shinichi sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Sorry, I didn't see it, but when that person attacked me, I thought I smelled something...like fish?"
"Mr. Shintani's lunch was steamed sea bass. Sure enough, that person was the culprit! He poisoned the food!" Yuuki exclaimed excitedly.
"Hey, not bad! You even recognized what Mr. Shintani had for lunch," Shinichi praised, having thought Yuuki was too scared to look!
Yuuki scratched his head sheepishly and said, "I recognized you right away because we just met last week."
Shinichi asked warily, "Saw what? Where did you see it?"
Yuuki quickly waved his hand and said, "It has nothing to do with the case! I saw it on a food blogger I follow. Uncle Meow has been cooking a lot of fish lately!"
"Uncle Meow? You mean Inuya Meow?"
"Yeah, yeah! I didn't expect Kudo-senpai to know about this! It was Xiaofeng-gege who recommended it to me. He's usually very busy and often misses mealtimes, so he learned to make bento boxes from Miao-shu. Actually, I don't cook; I just watch Miao-shu's videos because I think he's very funny. But speaking of which, Miao-shu initially became popular by making simple work meals, but I don't know why he suddenly switched to making mother and baby-related dishes at the end of last year. Fans are speculating whether his wife is pregnant or something, but Miao-shu has denied it, saying he's still single..."
Yuuki launched into a long, detailed account of Uncle Nyan's gossip to Shinichi.
However, Shinichi didn't listen, because the thought of who recommended he follow Inuya Neko still stung his heart.
Shinichi did try to find those two officers later, but all his attempts ended in failure.
He could sense that they were deliberately avoiding him.
For two years, Shinichi never clicked on any of Inuya Neko's videos.
The cat remained quietly in his following list, just like the alarm clock box that Matsuda had fixed.
I don't want to look at it, and I don't want to think about it.
"I'll settle accounts with you after I've gathered enough evidence!"
Yuuki, who had been talking nonstop, noticed the expression on the other person's face and asked with some concern, "Kudo-senpai, are you alright?"
"It's okay, I'm fine. Let's go! We should go back."
"Um, I have another question! Do you think the culprit could be the blond man driving the white RX-7 that Kudo-senpai has been looking for?"
“It wasn’t him,” Shinichi said firmly.
"Huh? Why? Didn't Kudo-senpai not see what the other person looked like?"
“Although I didn’t see it, I heard it,” Shinichi replied calmly and steadily. “The engine sound was different.”
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