"Mr. Hayashi, good morning. Thank you for coming here so early." Later, Hayashi Yoshiki received an invitation from the Metropolitan Police
"Mr. Hayashi, good morning. Thank you for coming here so early."
Later, Hayashi Yoshiki received an invitation from the Metropolitan Police Department to attend a meeting somewhere.
But it didn't seem to be about the case of Shuichi Akai.
"After all, such a terrible incident happened. If I can help, I will certainly do my best,"
Hayashi Yoshiki spoke, though he couldn't help but cough lightly.
Takagi Wataru and Sato Miwako, who sat across from him, both looked serious.
They each had identity cards pinned to their chests, and Hayashi Yoshiki had one placed before him — but the color and pattern were different.
"A mahjong tile was also found at the scene of the murder that occurred on the toll road in Odawara City the day before yesterday," said Wataru Takagi.
Miwako Sato immediately added, "There have also been related cases in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, and Nagano Prefectures... Five cases so far."
Today's meeting is about this case.
Hayashi Yoshiki heard this and asked, "What about the shooting case in Mihama City four days ago?"
"We quickly found the gunman's motorcycle based on surveillance footage and eyewitnesses, but the license plate was fake," Miwako Sato answered seriously.
"But based on our investigation of the motorcycle's traces, as well as visits and tracking of various parties, we now have some clues."
"I see…"
Hayashi Yoshiki nodded.
Those involved that day had all obeyed his orders, but they had no direct relationship with him. Even the orders had been relayed by Gin and others.
So even if they were caught, it would have no impact on Hayashi Yoshiki.
However, what was discussed in today's meeting had nothing to do with that case —
it was also a case of a serious nature, but it had happened only in Beika Town, after all.
Large-scale serial murders were what truly caused panic among citizens everywhere,
and the participants of this meeting had come from the local police stations where the crimes had occurred.
Hayashi Yoshiki followed the two people into the conference room and found it full of people talking in groups of three or five.
Among them were the two brothers Yokomizo Sango and Yokomizo Jugo, prefectural police officers from Shizuoka and Kanagawa; Ogino Ayami, the police captain and policewoman of Saitama Prefecture; Yamato Gansuke from Nagano Prefecture; and, for Gunma Prefecture, a man named Yamamura Kou... Thanks to Conan, he had become a police captain effortlessly.
"Mr. Hayashi! Nice to meet you. I am Yokomizo Sango from Shizuoka Prefecture," a coral-headed man came forward excitedly.
The stern and serious brother was a police officer who respected detectives greatly and was now considered a fan of Kogoro Mouri.
"Hello."
Hayashi Yoshiki smiled and shook his hand.
"I often hear your name, Mr. Hayashi, from Mr. Maori, and I've always wondered when I'd have the chance to see your reasoning in person."
"But the places where reasoning is needed are basically crime scenes, so I think it's best to avoid it if possible."
"That's right. Otherwise, if you appeared in the newspapers as frequently as Brother Maori does, there must be many sad cases behind them."
Megure Juzo walked over, his eyes half-closed.
Sometimes he really wondered if Maori was cursed. Brother Hayashi was better, at being capable and having fewer problems.
"It's outrageous that a detective came to a meeting of police officers."
"Brother Hayashi is the consultant of our Metropolitan Police Department's important task force, and this time it was Manager Matsumoto who invited him to be a special consultant," Megure Juzo glanced at Yokomizo Shigeo who had spoken and said.
Hayashi Yoshiki just smiled.
Then Matsumoto Kiyonaga walked in and announced that everyone should take their seats for the meeting.
Hayashi Yoshiki sat in the front row.
Documents were distributed in front of him. As he picked them up to read, he noticed that Matsumoto Kiyonaga's eyes always fell on him — intentionally or unintentionally.
"First, excluding the sixth case, the common point of the remaining five cases is that the victims were attacked with large knives. Judging from the shape of the wounds, the perpetrator stabbed them with his right hand swinging from top to bottom,"
ShiratoriNinzaburo stood in the middle of the conference room holding the documents, raising his right hand above his head and slamming it down.
"In all five cases, the victims were stunned with electric shock guns before being taken to the crime scene, killed, and their bodies disposed of. This raises a question: why did the murderer specifically take the victims to another place before killing them?"
"Secondly, in each of the six cases, mahjong tiles with red circular marks, letters printed on the reverse side, and vertical black lines were found next to the bodies. This is obviously the message left by the suspect."
That was the "Seven of Bamboos" in mahjong.
While Hayashi Yoshiki carefully examined the information, Matsumoto Kiyonaga, who was sitting above him... no, Ireland was also observing him carefully.
Cointreau...
This dangerous man sat among the policemen in broad daylight. Judging from the reactions of the Tokyo policemen, they were all very convinced by him.
A scary guy.
Ireland would never forget the opponent's incredible command in Osaka. Later, he had also collected some information related to the accident... Those incredible killing methods were all created by this man.
And unlike himself, who needed to carefully disguise himself in order to sit here, Ireland had truly disguised himself without any flaws.
"…"
Thinking about how his disguise had been completed with the help of that woman, Ireland's eyes became gloomy.
He was Pisco, the adopted son of Kenzo Masuyama.
At the memorial service at the Beika Hotel, Pisco was shot by Vermouth because he made a mistake, and his body was thrown into the fire and burned... Because Ireland admired Pisco as a father, he hated Vermouth.
But Vermouth was the most special one in the organization.
When she failed in her mission a while ago, she just patted her butt and let it go. However, as a veteran from the early days of the organization, Pisco had always worked diligently, but just a small mistake led to such an end... Ireland feared there was no way to bring her down.
If it was about defeating Gin, there might still be some hope, but there was probably no way to deal with Vermouth.
Unless you killed her directly.
Ireland thought to himself.
But how to do that?
Vermouth was no pushover — otherwise, she would have been caught by the FBI long ago after her long-term activities in the United States.
Even if he could do all this with his own abilities, he would have no way out.
At that moment, Hayashi Yoshiki seemed to notice his gaze. He raised his head and smiled.
Looking at that handsome and gentle face — whose true identity no one would guess — Ireland's expression quietly turned solemn.