Conan: Begins to collaborate with Miss Bayonetta and become famous

Chapter 771 Identify the murderer

At this moment, unexpected words came out of Otomo's mouth.

"I saw that avalanche, too."

Ten months ago, while Otomo was praying at Maki's grave with his hands folded, he suddenly heard a sound similar to an earthquake from the top of the mountain. It was the sound of an avalanche.

Fortunately, the avalanche did not flow in the direction of Maki's grave and the charcoal hut.

After the avalanche subsided, Otomo went to the scene. While struggling through knee-deep snow, he tripped over something. When Otomo dug through the snow, he saw Yamato buried beneath it.

"So, the person who saved Xiao Gan was..." Yui's voice trembled.

It turned out that the person who rescued Yamato from the avalanche and called an ambulance using a public phone at the foot of the mountain was Otomo.

A dark shadow appeared on Otomo's face, as if he had given up everything.

"I betrayed the chef through a judicial bargain and was ultimately sentenced to probation. It's only natural that I'm resented."

"So you're going to wait? Wait for the chef to be released from prison, and then come and kill you." As soon as Kogoro finished speaking, Funakubo murmured to himself, "I won't forgive you."

"I will never forgive either you or the royal chef."

Funakubo's grip on Otomo's chest gradually weakened, and he finally lowered his head helplessly: "But...but, I will never allow you to be killed by him! The only one who can kill you...is me! I have been thinking about this for the past eight years!"

Fukubo clutched Otomo's chest and lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly. His drooping shoulders and hunched back made Fukubo look insignificant, and Otomo felt, without mercy, how long eight years had passed.

"This is...this is my eight years! How about your eight years..."

"How did you live after Maki died?"

Tears welled up in Funakubo's eyes, dripping down his nose. Otomo cried too, his lips tightly pursed as if trying to hold back a sob.

"What is your purpose in offering flowers...Tell me about your experiences over the past eight years..." Funakubo slipped from Otomo's chest and fell to the ground.

Otomo was so devastated that he couldn't help but kneel down and bowed his head deeply: "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

After eight long years, Otomo was finally able to apologize to Fukubo, and everyone watched quietly as the two knelt together and cried bitterly.

"Ah, I found it! Ran! Conan!"

Ochi waved and ran over from the observation building.

"Because of what happened yesterday, we weren't able to observe at the campsite, so I used lasers to create stars and made special preparations so that everyone can observe them." Ochi pointed to the silver dome on the roof of the laser building.

At this time, Kogoro looked at the observation building where Ochi came out and said, "Before that, let's do a site inspection here first."

There was a projector in the center of the terraced seats. Kogoro and the others walked down the stairs and gathered around the projector.

"Then we will begin the on-site verification of the murders of Inspector Samedani and Inspector Yamato."

Hearing what Kogoro said, Ochi was surprised: "Killed, why here?"

Sato answered Ochi's question: "That's because the murder and the attack on the researcher here were committed by the same person."

"what?!"

"So, can we start?" Sato turned and asked, and Kogoro nodded.

"Crocodile must be a 'hidden public security officer'. That's why he was involved in the case!" Kogoro said this while holding his cell phone tightly with his hands behind his back.

A text message from Shinichi appeared on the phone screen.

Conan looked towards the stairs between the seats. Standing in the middle of the stairs was Hasebe.

"That person must be one too." Conan pointed at Hasebe.

"Am I right, uncle?" Hasebe, who was pointed at, looked back. Standing behind him was Lin.

The person Conan just pointed at was actually Lin.

"Wait, didn't you promise not to tell anyone?"

"No, it doesn't matter if you tell me now." A voice came from the door.

Everyone looked back and saw Kazami standing there with a serious look on his face.

“It’s you…” Kogoro muttered, and Yui asked, “Who is he?

"...He's a criminal police officer from the public security department." Feng Jian looked at Lin with a serious face.

"Inspector Hayashi, after you were assigned to the Security Division of the Yamanashi Prefectural Police Department, you were discovered by the Public Security Department as a 'hidden public security officer' and assigned to the Regional Division."

"Indeed..." Lin replied somewhat confusedly. Kazami continued, "That department has the authority to deal with confiscated firearms and explosives."

"I've already asked Inspector Yamato."

Conan got straight to the point: "A few years ago, on the county highway, a pistol that could use rifle bullets was confiscated, right? That gun could be hidden under clothes."

"As long as we put on a protective cover, it should be easy to disguise it as a rifle." Conan and Gao Ming said in succession.

Unlike rifles with very long barrels, this gun can be easily hidden inside a shirt. Moreover, as long as the barrel is lengthened and a rifle cover is put on, others will think it is just a rifle.

"You shot the crocodile with that gun, right?" Kogoro glared at Lin.

Sato, who was standing by, murmured softly, "I see."

"Afterwards, you abandoned the motorcycle at the subway entrance and fled alone."

"Come to think of it, there's the Metropolitan Police Department and the National Police Agency on that street."

When Conan said this, Takagi suddenly realized: "If it were the police, they could escape there!"

Hasebe listened silently to the conversation between Conan and the others, and nodded slightly as if in agreement.

"No wonder. They immediately blocked the road to the mountain after receiving the emergency signal, but no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find the murderer. It turns out he'd infiltrated the search team."

Gao Ming remembered the P3 terminal he had thrown over the cliff when he fell. "You're the one who caused my emergency signal to disappear so quickly. The only people who know the P3I's emergency notification function and can accurately disable it are the police."

Lin, who was being stared at with suspicion by everyone, was obviously deeply shaken.

"No, I actually..."

"Crocodile..." Kogoro spoke as if deliberately interrupting Lin.

"That's how I greeted you when I first met you."

——Thank you for your attention to today's crocodile case.

—So, you’re also a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department?

"You didn't question the nickname 'Crocodile' at the time, but others would have asked because it was a nickname only I knew."

Hearing Kogoro say this, Ran remembered the scene when Samedani was shot and attacked.

—Crocodile?! What’s wrong with you, crocodile!

—Crocodile, are you referring to this person?!

At that time, Kogoro called Samedani "crocodile".

"I see... because you are the criminal at the scene!"

"Yeah. So that's why you know Sametani is 'Crocodile', am I right?!"

But even if Kogoro investigates further, Lin has no intention of confessing: "All of this is just circumstantial evidence. It's too much to say that I am the murderer of the police based on this alone..."

"Those gloves are very warm, aren't they?"