RNP Page 124
Page 124
"Speaking of which, it's been ten years since I last saw that old man."
After learning of Ayako's plan, Matsuda and the other two were immediately relieved.
After having dinner at the observation restaurant, and seeing that it was almost time, the four of them got into Matsuda's police car and headed to the airport.
On the way, Matsuda remembered that the Metropolitan Police Department's First Division seemed to have little work these past two days, so he asked Ran about Conan's recent activities.
"Conan should be helping my dad investigate a case right now, right?" Ran said after thinking for a moment.
"A case?" Sonoko asked in surprise. "What case has Uncle Mori gotten involved in this time?"
"On the day we went to the island, he received a commission to follow someone, but this morning, my father discovered that the man he had been following a few days ago had been found dead in the fire festival in Gunma Prefecture."
At this point, Xiaolan suddenly trembled with fear.
"I heard that the man died a terrible death. He was thrown into the fire of the fire sacrifice and burned alive."
“Now that you mention it, I think I remember,” Sonoko recalled, “the news this morning should have reported on this case!”
“Yes, my dad only found out about the murder from the news.” Ran nodded. “Conan has always been very interested in these kinds of cases, so he went with him to investigate.”
"That brat, even if he goes with us, he'll only get in the way," Sonoko snorted.
Ayako, standing to the side, disagreed with her sister's opinion: "I think that kid named Edogawa is exceptionally smart."
"Huh? Sis, you must be mistaken. How is that kid smart?" Sonoko complained.
The two sisters were discussing Conan's intelligence.
Matsuda, upon hearing that the case occurred in Gunma Prefecture, didn't pay much attention to it.
I just asked casually, as is my habit.
"Any leads or suspects at the moment?"
"Yes, now my dad and the police both suspect that the murderer is the person who previously placed the commission with my dad."
"Because the man who was burned to death in the fire festival in Gunma Prefecture was a good friend of this client."
Xiaolan said, "Moreover, before that man died, he had just taken out a life insurance policy worth 500 million yuan, and the beneficiary of the policy was my father's client."
"So," Matsuda confirmed, "the police and your father are now suspecting that the client plotted to kill his best friend for the 500 million yen insurance payout?"
“That’s right,” Xiaolan nodded. “But because my father has been following the deceased for the past two days, and the client has been traveling in Kyushu during this time, my father’s surveillance has provided the client with an alibi.”
"My dad and Conan have been fretting about this all day!"
“Since Uncle Mori can provide an alibi for that client, perhaps the murderer really isn’t him?” Sonoko suddenly said.
"That's not necessarily true. Perhaps the client used some kind of trick to mislead Mr. Mori."
Ayako thought for a while,
"For example, the person the client asked Mr. Mori to follow these past two days isn't actually the deceased, but someone who looks very much like him. The real deceased was actually killed by the client long ago."
"If that's the case, then the client's alibi would be invalid, right? And it makes logical sense, doesn't it, Officer Matsuda?"
At the end, Ayako asked Matsuda for his opinion.
"Well..."
Matsuda carefully considered Ayako's statement and finally nodded in agreement.
"Perhaps the murderer really did use the method you mentioned, Ayako, to create an alibi."
"In that case, wouldn't I have helped the police solve this case?" Ayako joked.
Neither she nor Matsuda paid any attention to these discussions.
After all, this was just their guess based on Xiaolan's fragmented words; no one knew the truth. So they didn't take the joke seriously.
But what happened next was beyond their expectations.
……
At Tokyo International Airport, Conan smugly pulled out a tape recorder and spoke to the middle-aged man wearing glasses in front of him.
"But, sir, if you say it yourself, the police should believe you, right?"
As he spoke, he pressed the play button on the recorder. A man's voice came from the recorder.
"The person who killed Masaki Negishi was indeed me, it was me, Yutaka Abe! But I will not turn myself in, I'm about to go abroad to enjoy my retirement..."
Before the recording could finish playing, the middle-aged man pounced on Conan, grabbed him by the collar, and shoved him to the ground.
The tape recorder in Conan's hand also fell to the side.
"You brat, you're courting death!" the middle-aged man roared angrily. "You wretched brat, how could you possibly understand the feelings of a company president whose company is on the verge of bankruptcy!"
The man's face was contorted with rage.
He roared, "Those people get scammed because they're too stupid. Take Gen'an, for example. That idiot listened to my advice and took out a 500 million insurance policy for himself without a second thought!"
"Did he think that if one of us died of natural causes, the other would be able to collect the insurance money?"
The middle-aged man sneered.
"What a stupid idea! That idiot never even considered that my old classmate had actually been planning to kill him all along! Haha..."
Taking advantage of the man's sickly laughter, Conan struggled to lift his head and bit down on the hand that was pressing down on his neck.
The middle-aged man, in pain, grabbed Conan and threw him out!
At the same time, Matsuda arrived at the airport in a police car.
As he was looking for a parking space in the parking lot, he suddenly heard a "thud," accompanied by a violent tremor in the windshield of the police car. A small figure slid off the windshield on the driver's side and landed on the hood.
Chapter 154 How did they manage to catch the criminal?
"This outfit...it's Conan's!" Ran immediately screamed.
"...Hold on tight!"
Matsuda looked ahead, suddenly shouted, and then stepped on the gas, rushing towards the man who was trying to escape not far away!
The middle-aged man who had just thrown Conan into the police car clearly hadn't expected a policeman to run him over with his car.
After a moment of stunned silence, he realized he needed to run away.
Unfortunately, he hadn't run more than a few steps when, with a "bang," he was hit directly by a police car and sent flying, landing on the concrete ground four or five meters away!
As Conan was about to be thrown off the hood due to inertia, Matsuda reached out from the car window and grabbed his collar.
"Conan!"
Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Ran hurriedly jumped out and went to check on Conan.
"I'm fine..."
Conan coughed twice, glaring at Matsuda with a resentful expression.
"You bastard, you almost killed me just now!"
"Don't worry, I'm confident!"
Matsuda waved his hand and walked towards the middle-aged man lying on the ground.
"Besides, isn't it something you often like to do: risk your life for the criminals' capture?"
Before Conan could speak, Ran retorted, "Officer Matsuda, when has Conan ever done such a thing!"
"Tell me, what's the deal with this guy?"
Matsuda pinned the middle-aged man down, handcuffed him, then turned around and asked,
"Don't tell me he's Mr. Mori's client?"
Conan rolled his eyes, still harboring resentment from what had just happened, and remained silent, too lazy to pay any attention to Matsuda.
Fortunately, there was the thoughtful Xiaolan. The girl came over and looked at it carefully.
"Officer Matsuda, this is Mr. Yutaka Abe!"
"Officer, it's all a misunderstanding, I'm really not the criminal..."
Abe Yutaka hurriedly said.
"I have to catch my flight, or I'll miss it!"
"Not a criminal?" Matsuda sneered. "Do you think we police officers are all fools?"
Even if there's no evidence yet to prove you did it in the Gunma case.
“But just now, you threw a seven or eight-year-old child into the air and slammed him into a police car. Based on that alone, I can arrest you for intentional assault!”
Abe Yutaka's face immediately fell.
He glared at Conan resentfully. If it weren't for this brat, he would have already boarded the plane!
At that moment, Ayako walked over with a tape recorder in her hand.
"Officer Matsuda, I found this on the ground over there."
Upon seeing this, Abe Yutaka immediately rushed over to try and snatch the tape recorder.
However, Matsuda already knew from Ran that he was a suspect in the case.
Although he was handcuffed, they still kept an eye on his movements.
As soon as Abe Yutaka moved, Matsuda reacted immediately, grabbed his arm, and threw him out using the same method Abe Yutaka had used on Conan.
"boom!"
Yutaka Abe crashed heavily into the police car, his eyes rolled back, and he immediately lost consciousness.
"How about that? I've avenged you." Matsuda said to Conan with a smile.
"cut……"
Conan snorted, but seeing Abe Yutaka's miserable state, he didn't show Matsuda the cold face he had shown before.
"It seems like Mr. Abe Yutaka was trying to steal this just now?"
Ayako handed the tape recorder to Matsuda.
Matsuda pressed play, and a man's voice came through the tape recorder.