Chapter 8: A Wealth of Talent in the Psychiatric Hospital

On the other side, Heizo Hattori made his way to the interrogation room, deep in thought, without the sense of triumph Conan had imagined. The man wasn’t captured by them; the Osaka Prefectural Police had nothing to boast about.

When he first heard that Kiichiro Numazawa had been caught and brought in, he merely took note. Since the suspect was already in custody, the two officers could handle the detailed questioning.

His focus remained on the case where the killer had already claimed four lives and might continue killing.

However, shortly after Numazawa was brought in, the Police Headquarters suddenly called, requesting information about his arrest.

When asked where Numazawa had been apprehended, the truth of the case and the involvement of Sakata—the real culprit—came to light. Yet, when asked who had caught him, Numazawa suddenly became uncooperative and silent.

“Chief!” Ginjiro Toyama greeted Heizo Hattori as he approached.

Hattori nodded. “Is he still refusing to say anything?”

“Yes. Whenever asked who brought him here, he clams up,” Toyama replied. “The officers who collected evidence at the cabin only found traces of Numazawa’s and Sakata’s activities. The person who delivered Numazawa seems to have deliberately erased all traces—no fingerprints, footprints, or hair left behind.”

“What about surveillance cameras outside the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters building?” Hattori asked. “Did they capture any movements?”

“No. The route chosen was right in a blind spot of the cameras,” Toyama said. “The phone card used to call the police was a temporary, unregistered prepaid card with no prior call history. It’s already been deactivated, so it can’t be tracked. Additionally, no useful clues were found on the printed paper, and the box was from Cheetah Express. I’ve already sent someone to confirm with their packaging center in Osaka.”

Hattori looked through the glass at Numazawa’s wrist, where the skin was scraped. “He’s injured. Judging by the wound, it’s recent.”

“Yes,” Toyama’s expression shifted oddly. “Numazawa claims he fell on his own, and the investigators at the scene agreed. The marks don’t look like those from a fight between two people…”

“So, we have no information about the other party and it’s hard to identify them?” Hattori asked.

“Exactly,” Toyama nodded solemnly and tentatively asked, “Do you think there’s something wrong with that person?”

“Oh?” Hattori had some suspicions but kept them to himself.

“Clearly, Numazawa is protecting that person!” Toyama’s imagination ran wild. “Could that person be an accomplice in the three previous murders? No… Numazawa acted alone, that’s certain. So maybe that person is the mastermind? He persuaded Numazawa to take the fall alone and cooperate in being brought here…”

Seeing Toyama’s increasingly serious expression, Hattori chuckled. “That’s not it. If we can’t find anything, so be it. After the investigation, just compile the results for me.”

“Uh, okay…” Toyama looked a bit dazed, wondering how the chief could remain so calm.

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