bookbashuk Page 62
Page 62
"What did you say? My necklace... he actually stuffed it in a place like that?"
……
When Matsuda and his three companions came out of the orca exhibit, they discovered that the short-haired girl was also following behind them.
"Hey, what are you doing following us?"
For some reason, Sato instinctively felt a great deal of hostility towards this girl whose temperament was similar to his own.
"Actually, I have something I'd like to ask Officer Matsuda for a favor," the girl said earnestly, taking off her sunglasses.
"Looking for you..."
Sato nudged Matsuda with his hand in annoyance.
"Xiaolan and I are going to play somewhere else first. We'll meet at the entrance of Ocean World later!"
After saying that, Sato pulled Ran away.
Conan stayed behind. The three of them went to a café in the aquarium.
Matsuda ordered two coffees and also specially ordered a freshly squeezed juice for Conan.
"...I can drink coffee too!"
Conan complained, dissatisfied.
"It's better for kids to drink less coffee," Yue Shui advised. "Caffeine can stimulate the nerves, which isn't good for your future development."
"Hehe..." Conan chuckled dryly twice.
Looking at Matsuda, who was trying not to laugh, he had a feeling that the guy was deliberately waiting for this moment.
“Alright, this one…” Matsuda paused.
“Koshimizu, Koshimizu Nanatsuki, I’m from Fukuoka Prefecture in the south,” the short-haired girl introduced herself.
It really was her! Matsuda nodded to himself.
"Nanatsuki Koshimizu?" Conan paused, "I've heard of you. You're a high school detective, aren't you?"
"Little brother, you really know a lot!"
Koshimizu looked at Conan strangely, then explained,
"I could be considered a high school detective before the year before last, but not anymore."
"Two years ago?" Conan asked. "You've been out of high school for two years already?"
"Ah."
Koshimizu nodded, then looked at Matsuda with resentment.
"That's why I said I'm not a child anymore!"
"Since you're a girl, why did you refer to yourself as 'this humble scholar' just now? It sounded strange," Matsuda said, amused.
“What can I do?” Koshimizu shrugged. “You men know perfectly well the status of women in Japan.”
"In addition, there are already few female detectives. If I directly reveal that I am a woman, many police officers may not even want to listen to my reasoning."
At this point, Yue Shui sighed.
"So I usually dress in a neutral style and use neutral terms of address, trying not to be too feminine. Anyway, didn't you just say that I naturally look like a tomboy?"
"Heh, you actually remember such a small thing..." Matsuda said with a headache.
"The importance that women place on appearance and age is something that you men can't understand," Yue Shui snorted lightly.
Yes, Matsuda recalled Kujo's struggle with age just a week ago...
Forget it, why am I thinking about her again?
Matsuda shook his head.
"By the way, you just said you wanted to see me about something. Is it related to the lavender villa murder case?"
“Yes,” Koshimizu nodded. “Officer Matsuda has already guessed it. The girl who died from being interrogated by the police, Kana Mizuguchi, was my good friend. She used to work as a maid at the Lavender Villa.”
"You...you're not thinking of getting revenge on the police who forced that girl to confess, are you?" Matsuda frowned. "If you're looking to retaliate with a crime, I won't help you."
"You're still so young, you'd better not do anything illegal, otherwise you'll definitely regret it in the future."
“I’m not trying to get revenge on the police,” Yue Shui shook her head. “In fact, the police officer who interrogated my friend after she was driven to jump into the sea has been suspended.”
"Then what do you want me to do? Find out the truth behind the Lavender Villa murder case?" Matsuda asked, puzzled.
"Actually, I've already found out the truth behind the Lavender Villa murder case,"
Yue Shui said with a look of disgust,
"That was actually a suicide. The young lady from the villa who died had been taking banned drugs. She tried to quit several times but failed. In the end, out of regret and pain, she hanged herself!"
"What?" Matsuda and Conan both exclaimed in surprise.
"If she took banned drugs, shouldn't the local police have considered suicide? Why do they still think she was murdered?" Matsuda asked.
Chapter 75 Yue Shui's Request
"First, because the villa's housekeeper, in order to cover up the scandalous affairs of their young lady, did not report this to the police."
Yue Shui looked helpless.
"Secondly, the local police were also misled by a certain detective, which is why they kept believing that the young lady was murdered!"
"What I want to ask of Officer Matsuda is for you to help me find out who the detective was who misled the Shikoku police in their investigation."
"Didn't you ask yourself?" Matsuda inquired.
"I went to the police station and even went to see those two cops who interrogated me, but they didn't believe me. Instead, they firmly believed in that bastard detective's reasoning and insisted on keeping his identity a secret, refusing to reveal it no matter what," Yue Shui said indignantly.
"I'm afraid it's not that they don't believe it, but rather that they dare not believe it,"
Conan sneered, "According to that detective's reasoning, they've only forced a murderer to his death through interrogation."
"And if Sister Yueshui's reasoning is true, then the person they forced to death through torture was an innocent ordinary person!"
"If this gets out in the newspapers, all those officials in the police headquarters of the four countries will probably be finished."
After Conan finished speaking, he noticed that Matsuda was gesturing for him to look to the side.
Conan turned his head and found that Koshimizu was staring at him with an expression as if he were looking at a rare animal.
"Are you really a child?" Koshimizu tugged at Conan's cheek. "I only understood what you were talking about after visiting the Shikoku Police Headquarters a few times, but you can see right away that this is not something a child with limited experience could analyze."
"Actually, these are things Uncle Mori often says," Conan said with a forced laugh, quickly offering up his excuse.
"Mouri?" Koshimizu blinked. "That detective who recently appeared, the one who claims to be able to deduce things while asleep?"
“Yes, this kid is staying at the Mori family’s place. He probably finds out by listening to Mori nag about these things all the time,” Matsuda covered for Conan.
"Yes, just like Officer Matsuda said."
Conan quickly replied, while giving Matsuda a grateful look.
“That detective named Mori is quite good,” Koshimizu nodded in praise. “I originally thought he was some kind of fraudster, or that some detective was putting on an act for him, when I heard that he could deduce things while asleep.”
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Conan, who had just taken a sip of juice to calm his nerves, was so startled that he almost choked.
“Actually, Kogoro Mouri was a detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department before he left the department for some reason,” Matsuda explained. “I don’t know how good his reasoning skills are, but his knowledge of police headquarters in various regions should be based on his many years of experience as a detective.”
"So he was a detective before, just like Officer Matsuda. No wonder..."
Yue Shui nodded in sudden understanding, then continued,
"Just like this kid said, the police headquarters in Shikoku have already concluded that my friend is the murderer in the Lavender Villa murder case, and I can't get anything out of them at all."
At this point, Yue Shui sighed.
"For the past six months or so, I've been traveling all over Japan conducting research."
"We want to find the high school detective who misled the police back then. Unfortunately, although we have several suspects, we haven't been able to find any evidence to confirm who it is."
"Another so-called high school detective?" Matsuda said helplessly. "These high school brats, they don't study properly every day, all they do is cause trouble."
"Not every high school detective is like that!" Conan couldn't help but say angrily.
After noticing the way the two were looking at him, Conan quickly added, "At least, Shinichi has never wrongly convicted anyone."
"Shinichi? You mean that famous high school detective Shinichi Kudo from Tokyo? You know quite a lot of people, kid," Koshimizu exclaimed.
“Maybe Shinichi Kudo was behind the lavender case,” Matsuda said deliberately, glancing at Conan.
"It absolutely can't be Shinichi's!" Conan retorted confidently.
“Actually, that detective couldn’t possibly be Shinichi Kudo,” Koshimizu also said. “My friend called me before he committed suicide.”
"According to her description, it should be a high school detective with a strange accent. If it were Shinichi Kudo, firstly, the strange accent wouldn't match, and secondly, Shinichi Kudo is very famous, so my friend should be able to recognize him."
"Sister Koshimizu," Conan asked, feigning innocence, "didn't you just say you had a few suspects? Who are they?"
"Currently, I suspect three people. The first is Hattori Heiji from Osaka, who speaks with a strong Kansai accent."
"The second one is Tokitsu Junya from Hokkaido. He likes to refer to himself as 'this humble one' when he speaks."
"The third is Hakuba Saguru, who has studied abroad for many years, resulting in a harsh Japanese accent."
"These three are all high school detectives, and they all fit the description my friend gave me at the time: having strange accents."
Yue Shui simply stated.
"Hattori Heiji, Tokitsu Junya, and... Hakuba Saguru,"
Matsuda nodded.
"I can help you investigate that detective's identity, but if I find out, what are you going to do with him?"
Matsuda took a sip of coffee, his gaze fixed on Koshimizu, and said...
"I want to hear the truth."
"This one……"
Yue Shui paused, her eyes flashing with hatred and disgust.