Chapter 7: Conan: The Osaka Police Are Truly Impressive

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Chi Feichi could only remain silent. No matter what, he was considered crazy—what else could he say? Even the words he had wanted to say at that moment—“The succulent on your desk tells me you secretly played games on your phone for over an hour at work yesterday”—were swallowed back down.

Following Shimei Fukuyama’s line of thought, it was easy to guess that if Fukuyama had heard him say that, his first thought would probably be: This guy secretly spied on my office yesterday? He didn’t remember it but imagined it? Terrifying... cough, no, one shouldn’t say “patient” like that; it should be—pitiful, truly seriously ill...

Anyway, after that, he gave up trying to prove to Shimei Fukuyama that he wasn’t ill and quietly studied his ability on his own.

So far, the times when he hears plants and animals speak are irregular; he can’t control it and hasn’t found any pattern yet. Sometimes he might go several days without hearing anything, other times he might have to listen to a certain big tree ramble on for hours.

Because the timing was unpredictable and appearances irregular, it caused many troubles.

For example, the sudden shift to horror movie vibes.

One night, going to the bathroom in the quiet and deserted ward, the small potted shrub outside the restroom softly murmured, “Still coming to the bathroom this late...”

If he didn’t have strong nerves and mental preparation, he probably would have jumped up and kicked the pot aside.

Another example: he couldn’t tell the number of people by their voices.

Once, outside the activity room, he heard three different voices inside. When he opened the door, sure enough, there were three patients.

But one of them, an autistic patient, was silent, while the little grass on the windowsill cheerfully echoed the other two patients’ lively shouts.

Another instance: some plants and animals’ voices sounded different from humans, but others sounded indistinguishable from human voices, making it impossible to tell whether it was a person or something else calling him.

A while ago, a cheeky bird kept perching on a big tree near the hospital. One day, when Shimei Fukuyama came out to chat with him, the bird imitated the nurse’s tone and shouted, “Mr. Chi!” He instinctively looked back.

The result was...

Shimei Fukuyama: “Mr. Chi, what’s wrong?”

He: “Nothing.”

Shimei Fukuyama: “Is it another hallucination? You must believe me; if anything happens, tell me in time. If you have worries, you can talk to me…”

Blah blah blah.

He: “...”

Moreover, that pesky bird happily imitated the nurse’s tone and called him more than ten times over three consecutive days. Only after he stared at it with murderous intent and considered how to use the tools here to make a delicious roasted bird dish did the bird finally quiet down.

Actually, making a spicy hot pot would be nice too~~

Ahem...

However, where there are troubles, there are also benefits.

He could learn many secrets and understand things unavailable through normal channels, and he could even communicate a bit.

Though those animals and plants might not fully understand his meaning, simple commands could still be followed.

Proving it to Shimei Fukuyama again?

Don’t even think about it!

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More than ten days ago, that cheeky bird landed in his hands, letting him test how far simple commands could go.

Shimei Fukuyama passed by, saw the bird obediently flying up, down, left, right, plucking leaves, and after watching for a while, sighed, “Mr. Chi, no wonder you’re an animal medicine student—you’re quite good at taming animals!”

He: ...

Dr. Fukuyama must have misunderstood veterinary medicine.

A veterinarian is not a trainer. Although they learn some animal habits and how to calm animals, compared to taming them, he and his classmates and seniors are probably more skilled in dissecting animals...

Silently grumbling, Chi Feichi withdrew his thoughts and hailed a cab.

Where was he going?

To spend money!

...

While Chi Feichi was busy buying and ordering things, Conan and Heiji Hattori were busy chasing a case.

Two people had died right under their noses in succession, and with two previous cases sharing the same modus operandi, that made four victims in total!

At the time, they hadn’t suspected that the police officer accompanying them everywhere, Yusuke Sakata, was the real culprit.

Sakata was driving and casually remarked, “The wallets pierced by the knives on the victims all contained driver’s licenses…”

In the passenger seat, Heiji Hattori froze for a moment, then turned to look at Conan in the back seat.

They exchanged a glance, both smiling faintly.

Eye contact confirmed that both had noticed an important clue.

Heiji immediately looked at Yusuke Sakata. “Mr. Sakata, let’s change course! We’re going to the Driver’s Licensing Office…”

The call interrupted.

Sakata answered, “Yes! ... Returning now? To the Prefectural Police Headquarters? Okay, understood…”

Heiji asked curiously, “What’s going on?”

“Indeed, we need to change route. The chief wants us to return immediately,” Sakata explained. “He says there’s an important discovery…”

Though Heiji wanted to investigate the driver’s licenses at the licensing office, he was also curious about the “important discovery,” so he didn’t object.

They returned all the way to the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters. After Sakata parked the car and stepped inside, he was immediately surrounded.

Police Chief Heizo Hattori personally led the team, glaring at Sakata sternly. “Sakata, as a police officer you’ve killed four people, committing such a grave crime. Do you have anything to say?”

Sakata was stunned—where had he gone wrong? How had he been discovered?

Conan and Heiji also froze—what was this? The seemingly reliable police officer who drove them all over was the culprit behind this case?

Heizo Hattori spoke solemnly, “The commonality in the four cases is that the knives pierced wallets, which were then pinned to the victims’ chests, and all four victims’ wallets contained driver’s licenses…”

Heiji had wanted to ask if his father had made a mistake, but hearing this, he fell silent, recognizing the same clue they had noticed...

“According to our investigation, the four victims participated in the same driving training camp twenty years ago…”

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Heizo Hattori produced a photo. “Besides these four, there were City Councilor Sōtarō Gōji and the wanted fugitive Kiichirō Numabuchi. Also involved was the driving instructor at that time, Tetsuji Inaba—your father!

Twenty years ago, on the day the six students graduated, Tetsuji Inaba died in a car accident caused by drunk driving.

This was actually a prank by the six students—they got Inaba drunk and drained the brake fluid to see if the so-called ‘Demon Instructor’ would be scared, but it ended up causing his fatal accident.

Twenty years later, after learning the truth about your father’s death, you planned to kill the other five and frame the fugitive Kiichirō Numabuchi…”

Sakata, seeing that the events from twenty years ago had been uncovered, lost hope immediately. Listening to the real cause of his father’s death, he couldn’t falsely convince Chief Hattori otherwise, and said coldly, “Yes… the statute of limitations for murder is fifteen years. Now that twenty years have passed, no charges can be filed. So I decided to act as judge, jury, and executioner… to punish them!”

“Don’t be so self-righteous!” Hattori snapped. “Sakata, do you still believe this is justice? You who deprive others of life—does that represent justice? As a police officer, you should uphold the law, but you trampled it! Even the cherry blossom badge on your detective’s ID will cry for you!”

Other officers took the stunned Sakata away.

Conan couldn’t help but quietly remark to Heiji, “Your Osaka police really are impressive.”

Not only strong in investigation, but Chief Heizo Hattori’s words were stirring and righteous...

Usually, Hattori already knows everything while the police are still confused. But this time, he was the one who noticed the vital clue; they had the murderer’s motive and plan in hand.

Osaka police are truly different!

“That’s right,” Heiji said proudly, grinning. “I didn’t expect they’d clear up something from twenty years ago.”

Conan nodded. “Yeah, it’s like they saw it with their own eyes. Usually, such praise is reserved for detectives...”

“But…” Heiji glanced at Heizo Hattori. Seeing his father look over, he asked smugly, “You haven’t figured out the method of the crime, right?”

Hattori narrowed his eyes at Heiji. The brat was already showing off in front of his father?

“No need to figure it out. We’ll just ask Sakata directly.”

“Cough...” Heiji choked. “What about the evidence? Have you found it?”

Conan also looked at Hattori. They hadn’t found a shred of evidence. What about the police?

“We’ve already arrested Kiichirō Numabuchi. He confessed everything,” Hattori said casually. “We have witness testimony, and based on his confession, we found physical evidence at the place where Sakata detained him.”

Heiji’s mouth twitched. “So, you caught Numabuchi first and learned all this from him?”

“As police, as long as you solve the case, catch the real culprit, and obtain evidence for conviction, a fancy deductive process isn’t necessary,” Hattori said as he turned to leave. “The opposite is also true!”

“Opposite?”

Heiji was momentarily confused, then smirked. “So, even if you have a brilliant deductive process, if you can’t solve the case, find evidence, or catch the culprit, it’s useless. Is he showing off in front of us detectives or subtly expressing dissatisfaction with us?”

“Not quite dissatisfaction. More like the police regaining some ground and feeling proud…” Conan looked at Heiji again. “And also reminding you as a father.”

Heiji was speechless. “...”

Though it made sense that deduction ultimately aims to catch the culprit and secure evidence, being rebuked suddenly by your own father—and having to admit he’s right—is the hardest thing!