Chapter 52 Chapter 52 Rich Family Banquet Murder Case (Solved...
"This case isn't complicated. As long as we can figure out the true cause of death, the suspect will naturally emerge."
Saionji Tamon noticed that Conan disappeared after the reasoning began, and guessed that he might have run to a hidden place to hide, while the sleeping Sonoko was making normal sounds, and guessed that Conan must have installed a pocket amplifying microphone or something on Sonoko.
"First, the cause of death. On the surface, it appears that the unidentified deceased, disguised as Matsudaira Ryoichirō, died from injuries sustained during an argument when Matsudaira Kojirō pushed him and knocked him down, with the back of his head hitting the corner of a table. However, based on my observations and deductions, the cause of the deceased's fall and death is most likely poisoning. We'll need to wait for the forensic doctor to perform an autopsy and issue a detailed report before we can know the specific results."
When Inspector Megure heard this, his face became serious and he immediately ordered Takagi to go to the Forensic Department and ask the forensic doctor not to miss any toxin tests.
"Secondly, the suspects. When the case is classified as an accident, the suspect is clearly Matsudaira Kojiro. However, once it's classified as premeditated murder or poisoning, the pool of suspects becomes much wider. It's uncertain when the unidentified deceased was poisoned. Besides Matsudaira Kojiro and his girlfriend, Kotani Eri, who were at the scene, anyone who came into contact with "Matsudaira Ryoichiro" in the banquet hall could have been responsible. This widening pool of suspects could lead the Matsudaira family to pressure the police to label the case an accident in order to minimize the impact and protect Matsudaira Kojiro, their only remaining heir. As long as the Matsudaira family refuses to perform an autopsy, the truth that the deceased died from poisoning could remain buried forever."
Matsudaira Yasuyo, who was both the host and a relative of the suspect, was so angry when he heard what Sonoko said that his mustache trembled. He shouted angrily, "Nonsense! How could I do such a thing?"
In fact, he was shocked that Sonoko could predict his plan so accurately. He always thought that the second daughter of the Suzuki family was carefree and innocent, and he sneered in his heart that the Suzuki family could not raise children. He did not expect that it was all a disguise. Matsudaira Yasuyo had to pretend to be angry to cover up the embarrassment of being said.
"Hey, Uncle Matsudaira, don't panic. I'm just making a random guess. Just listen to it. And now that it's confirmed that the deceased is not your son, you naturally can't interfere with the autopsy. On the contrary, you would rather find out the identity of the deceased and the current whereabouts of your eldest son, the real Ryoichiro Matsudaira, right?"
Matsudaira Yasuyo snorted heavily. What Suzuki Sonoko said meant that if he cared about it, he would be bullying the weak. From her tone, it seemed that she knew where Ryoichiro was, so she stopped talking.
So, "Sonoko" continued, "If this is a poisoning case, then the motive is crucial, and we need to find out whether the murderer knew the victim's identity. There are two possibilities. One is that the murderer intended to kill Matsudaira Ryoichirō, and the victim was mistakenly killed because he was disguising himself as him. The other is that the murderer intended to kill the victim himself. Based on these two aspects, according to my investigation, Matsudaira Ryoichirō has done too many things that could have led to revenge killings, such as the car accident ten years ago. Uncle Matsudaira, don't you agree?"
Matsudaira Yasuyo said with a straight face, "That case has nothing to do with Inuko. As everyone knows, the real culprit has already surrendered himself and is in prison."
"Sonoko" tutted her tongue a few times and changed the subject: "Uncle Matsudaira still doesn't care enough about your son. If you had paid a little more attention to what happened back then, you would have quickly discovered that the deceased was none other than Maruyama Shoichi, the university classmate of the eldest son who was imprisoned for that case."
Matsudaira Yasuyo was startled and tried to recall the face of the body that had been taken away, but he couldn't remember if it was Maruyama Shoichi. In fact, it was not his fault. Ten years had passed and Maruyama Shoichi's appearance had changed a lot compared to before. It was not surprising that he could not recognize him.
Inspector Megure's expression remained unchanged. He had already known the deceased's true identity. After entering the deceased's face into the police database, he quickly found out that he was a member of the team that robbed the Yokohama vault half a month ago. However, there was still one member of the gang who had not been arrested, so he did not make it public.
However, he was somewhat curious about how Sonoko knew that the other person was Maruyama Shoichi.
The matter was actually quite simple. Conan had taken a photo of the deceased's face before the police arrived and sent it to Dr. Agasa, asking him to help him identify the deceased. Initially, Conan had given up hope, as it was difficult to verify the identities of ordinary people, except for celebrities or those with public criminal records. However, Dr. Agasa replied and sent him the information shortly afterwards, which really helped him find the name of the deceased: Maruyama Shoichi. He was not only one of the suspects in the vault robbery case that had just been wanted, but also the person who was ultimately imprisoned in the car accident case involving Matsudaira Ryoichiro ten years ago.
"After discovering Maruyama Shoichi's connection to the car accident ten years ago, I had an idea and had the case files re-investigated. The deceased in that case, Terada Manye, had a brother, Terada Mahimi, who was several years younger. After Terada Manye's death, his parents were overwhelmed with grief and divorced soon after. Terada Mahimi was raised by his mother, Matsuo Mai, who later remarried Odani Nobu and changed her name to Odani Mamiya. Odani Mabu had a daughter, Odani Edari. Four years ago, Matsuo Mai divorced Odani Nobu, and Odani Mamiya changed her name back to Matsuo Mamiya, but he has always had a good relationship with his stepsister, Odani Edari. Am I right, Mr. Matsuo Mamiya, the waiter, and Ms. Odani Edari, Matsudaira Kojiro's lover?"
As early as when "Sonoko" mentioned the names of Odani Eri and Matsuo Mamiya, the people around who knew them had already started glancing at them. Now that it was completely made clear, everyone's eyes were focused on them.
Tamane and Atobe looked at Matsuo Mamiya and found that he was the waiter who knocked on the door and brought the food cart.
Matsudaira Kojiro looked at his girlfriend in surprise, "Eri... Is what Suzuki said true?"
Kotani Eri's face flushed instantly. She didn't directly answer Matsudaira Kojiro's question, but turned her head and glared at "Sonoko": "What do you mean by that? You have no evidence at all, just based on my relationship with Shinmiya-nii, and you think I harmed someone. You, you are slandering me!"
On the other side, Matsuo Mamiya remained silent.
"Sonoko" ignored Xiao Guzhili's questioning and continued, "If this is a premeditated murder, the most important thing for the killer is information, information about the victim's movements. He wants to ensure that the poison he administers harms the victim precisely, so he needs an accomplice who can provide information, someone who can help him ensure that the poisoned food or object comes into contact with the victim."
At this point, no one could miss the fact that the accomplice she was referring to was Xiao Gu Zhili.
"And after the victim collapsed from the poison, he had his accomplice help destroy the evidence. Yes, he was able to complete the entire poisoning process, and before the police arrived, he replaced the poisonous substance and, taking advantage of the victim's panicked escape from the room, handed it to the murderer. The murderer then used this opportunity to buy time and destroy the poisonous evidence before the police cordoned off the area. This method of committing a crime can only be accomplished by the combined efforts of Mr. Matsuo and Ms. Kotani."
Xiao Gu Zhili's face turned pale, and she was still struggling: "Where's the evidence? What you said are just your guesses, there is no evidence at all!"
"The evidence is in your hands."
However, "Sonoko" immediately said, "Unlike Mr. Matsuo, who was a waiter and wore gloves, you, Miss Kotani, were with Mr. Matsudaira Kojiro the entire time. So although you could replace the poisonous object when he wasn't paying attention, you couldn't wear gloves to arouse his suspicion, and the toxin got on your hands. The evidence is that after the incident, even though you acted like you were frightened and extremely emotionally unstable, you didn't take the hot tea that Xiaolan handed you, nor did you eat any food. When you refused, you used the excuse that you had no appetite, but the truth is not that you had no appetite, but that you couldn't. Now the police only need to test your hands, or items that can be used to wipe your hands, such as handkerchiefs, tissues, or fabrics on clothing, to detect the toxin. After comparison, it can be found that the toxin is consistent with that in Maruyama Shoichi's body."
Xiao Guzhili was originally twisting a handkerchief between her hands. Upon hearing this, she finally loosened her hands and the handkerchief fell to the ground.
Inspector Megure waved his hand and instructed the forensic department to take the evidence away.
"Needless to say, I did it."
Before the forensic department could put the handkerchief into the evidence bag, Matsuo Mamiya couldn't wait to jump out and expose himself.
"I was the one who killed Maruyama Shoichi. It had nothing to do with Eri. Although the person I originally wanted to kill was not him, but Matsudaira Ryoichiro, his death was not innocent either. He was an accomplice in my brother's death!"
Matsuo Mamiya laughed heartily, tears streaming down his face. He wiped his tears with his hand, "I only regret that I can't kill the culprit, Matsudaira Ryoichiro, with my own hands..."
"not good……"
"Sonoko" was halfway through her words when Conan suddenly jumped out from the side and shouted, "Stop him! He's going to commit suicide!"
Yuyin reacted the fastest. She had been paying attention to the scene. When she heard Conan's reminder, she immediately rushed forward and punched Matsuo Mamiya in the stomach.
Matsuo Mamiya immediately hugged his attacked abdomen and reflexively spat out the poisonous capsule he had just swallowed by wiping his tears.
The policemen nearby finally reacted and came over to stop him. After taking the handkerchief, the forensic officers picked up the capsule he spit out and stored it as evidence.
"Brother!" Odani Eri rushed over worriedly. She knew clearly that her brother would not commit suicide if it was not to clear her suspicion and before killing Matsudaira Ryoichiro.
Officer Takagi stopped her and said sternly, "Ms. Kotani, please come with us."
Xiao Guzhili's eyes had been fixed on her brother, and she nodded absentmindedly, "Yeah."
"Eri!" Matsudaira Kojiro called her, "Are you approaching me to help your brother?"
"Yes." Xiao Guzhili didn't look back, leaving him only with her back.
"Have you ever loved me?"
Xiao Guzhili was silent for a long time, and finally said: "...No."
"I don't believe it!"
Matsudaira Kojiro rushed over and tried to grab her shoulders. Kotani Eri hid beside Officer Takagi, still unwilling to look at him, and only said, "Officer, let's go quickly."
"Zhili!"
Matsudaira Kojiro wanted to catch up, but Matsudaira Yasuyo finally lost her patience and shouted, "Have you had enough? I told you long ago that this woman had ulterior motives for approaching you, but you still didn't believe me. Stop bringing shame to our Matsudaira family!"
Today was supposed to be a happy day, and Matsudaira Yasuyo was in a very happy mood. However, in the banquet hall, in front of so many guests, his youngest son pulled a commoner woman and told him that this was his girlfriend, which made him lose all his face and was so angry that he was fuming. As a result, all these incidents happened later. Fortunately, it was found out that this incident was not done by him (Kojiro). The reputation of the Matsudaira family cannot be tarnished.
Matsudaira Kojiro's face changed and he immediately became dejected. He was a coward by nature and had always lived according to his family's arrangements since he was a child. Choosing Eri was the first time he mustered up the courage to disobey his father, and as a result, his sincerity was trampled upon.
Matsudaira Yasuyo put on a smile again and shook hands with Inspector Megure. "Thank you, police, for clearing my son's name. To repay you for what you did today, our Matsudaira family will definitely increase our sponsorship of the Metropolitan Police Department this year. However..." He paused, "My eldest son is still missing. I hope you, officers, can help me find him."
Inspector Megure actually had no regard for these kinds of wealthy and powerful people, but since they hadn't revealed their crimes and were one of the Metropolitan Police Department's annual revenue streams, he couldn't afford to give them the cold shoulder. So, he said stiffly, "Mr. Matsudaira, this is serious. This is our duty. Furthermore, we didn't solve this case; Ms. Suzuki deduced the truth. As for Mr. Matsudaira's whereabouts, if you can confirm he's been missing for more than 24 hours*, you can report him as missing to the police. After going through the formal procedures, the Metropolitan Police Department will handle the case according to the law."
After saying that, Inspector Megure turned around to direct the others' finishing actions.
Matsudaira Yasuyo's face froze. He almost had an argument with Suzuki Sonoko just now. How could he possibly go and thank that little girl? Moreover, the competition between the Matsudaira family and the Suzuki family over the development project was fierce recently.
As for calling the police... he just didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Who knows when Maruyama Shoichi got in. If he were to tell him, he might have ulterior motives and come here to take revenge because he felt that the money Ryoichiro gave him was too little.
He turned his gaze and saw Saionji Tamune standing back next to Atobe Keigo. His eyes lit up immediately and he quickly walked over to try to establish a connection. "You are... the junior sister of Master Deba, Miss Tamune, right? I was just talking to your senior brother in the hall, and Mr. Deba said you were shy. I didn't expect to see you here."
"Hello, Master Matsudaira." Yuyin greeted him lightly. Not to mention that she didn't like dealing with the powerful and wealthy, but after listening to what she had just heard, she also knew what the atmosphere of the Matsudaira family was like.
"Miss Yuyin, you were so brave just now. If you hadn't stepped forward in time, the murderer would have succeeded in committing suicide. It would have been too easy for him!" Matsudaira Yasuyo said indignantly.
In the traditional culture of the island nation, suicide is not a shameful thing, but rather the best way to protect one's reputation. Matsudaira Yasuyo believed that confessing his guilt and committing suicide was more advantageous than going to jail*.
Yuyin said calmly, "Human life is at stake. I will naturally not let it go."
Matsudaira Yasuyo detected a hint of dissatisfaction, but he still smiled and said, "I heard the head of the Chang family praise Miss Yuyin before. Miss Yuyin also handled the last commission neatly and beautifully. I was blind to its true value and neglected it before." After a few words of flattery, he revealed his true meaning, "Did you know that Miss Yuyin has accepted the commission to find someone? You must have heard that my eldest son, Matsudaira Ryoichirō, is missing..."
"My senior brother is better than me when it comes to finding people. I think you, Master Matsudaira, have found the wrong person." Yuyin really didn't want to continue this topic here. Didn't she see that Mr. Ango pushed his glasses and the lenses reflected light, while little Conan had already pricked up his ears and was collecting information?
As soon as Atobe Keigo saw Yuyin's face, he knew that she had reached the limit of her patience. He was very impatient and interrupted, "Master Matsudaira, the banquet is not over yet. I'm sure the people in the hall outside are very curious about what happened here. Why don't you go out and take charge of the situation and quell the rumors?"
When Matsudaira Yasuyo saw Keigo Atobe and Tamion Saionji standing so close to each other, she was curious about their relationship and wanted to try to find out. However, she was politely rejected by Tamion Saionji. After hearing what Keigo Atobe said, she also thought that it was most important to go out and find Shizuka Osaka and maintain order at the same time.
He immediately smiled and said, "My dear nephew Atobe, you're right. Have fun and let me know if you need anything. It's unlucky that someone died in the lounge here. The Matsudaira family has booked a few luxury suites upstairs. If you need anything, just let me know."
"Thank you, Master Matsudaira, for your trouble," Atobe Keigo replied, maintaining a social smile. "But it's not necessary. I have a room in this hotel."
*
"He finally left," Yuyin complained to Atobe, "It's a good thing you still managed to put on a smiling face for him."
In the past, when she saw Keigo Atobe's flamboyant behavior at school every day, Yuyin was occasionally curious whether Atobe was still so self-centered in other situations. Today, the facts proved that even Atobe needed to act when encountering social situations of the same level.
Atobe shrugged and warned her: "Matsudaira Yasuyo looks kind, but he actually holds grudges. If it's not necessary, don't quarrel with him."
"Forget it. Today is probably the last time I meet him." Yuyin waved her hand and said disdainfully.
"Actually, if you, Saionji, had accepted the commission to find someone, I could help provide information." Sakaguchi Ango said with a smile.
Yuyin then remembered that if there was only one person left in the world who knew the whereabouts of Matsudaira Ryoichiro, that person would naturally be Sakaguchi Ango, who had come into contact with Maruyama Shoichi's body and extracted his memory using the [Theory of Degeneration].
"Where is he?"
After asking subconsciously, Yuyin immediately regretted it and said, "Forget it, don't tell me, this should be a secret from your side..."
"Matsudaira Ryoichirō's whereabouts are not a secret. There is nothing unspeakable. The unspeakable thing is another matter."
Another undisclosed matter was, of course, the whereabouts of the 2 billion yen in cash stolen by Maruyama Shoichi. Sakaguchi Ango had already obtained the exact location from Maruyama Shoichi's body and reported it to Commander Taneda. Originally, recovering the stolen money had nothing to do with the Special Ability Division, but with the final suspect still unapprehended, he had to personally oversee this matter.
Ango Sakaguchi glanced at his watch. It was less than two hours until midnight, so he probably wouldn't be able to get off work today.
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The author has something to say: *Note: It is not certain how long the time limit is for filing a missing person case in an island country. For now, it is calculated based on the domestic 24 hours. If there are any errors, they will be modified.
The suicidal behavior and views on suicide in this chapter do not represent the author's views, but are part of the island's culture. I disagree with this part of the view, and the good children of our flower-growing family should not learn from it.
If you finish writing the second chapter before midnight, there will be a second update_(:з」∠)_
*Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-01-01 08:01:13 and 2022-01-02 20:42:45~
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: No Regrets Coming to China in This Life, 20 bottles; Catch That Cat, Hibye, Meng San, Wu Wu Ka, Zhi Zhou 5 bottles; Su Qianxin, Luo Bo, Xing Nan 2 bottles; God Said Let There Be Light 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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