In Detective Conan: Intercepting Miwako Sato at the Start

Page 6

The key point is after the police completed their initial investigation and the scene was cordoned off.

"stop!"

Yuki Takada suddenly spoke, his finger precisely tapping a screen.

The image shows the entrance from the underground parking garage to the apartment building's elevator lobby, and the time stamp is 2:47 AM the day after the police's initial investigation concluded.

A figure appeared.

The person was wearing a dark hoodie with the hood pulled down low, completely obscuring their face.

He was of medium to thin build, walked briskly, and was somewhat cautious, deliberately avoiding an angle directly facing the surveillance camera.

As Yuuki Takada looked at the figure, he had a vague feeling that he had met him somewhere before.

The other person skillfully used something resembling an access card to swipe open the security door leading to the elevator.

The entire process took no more than ten seconds and went unnoticed.

"?" Sato Miwako exclaimed softly, "Is it a resident? Or... did they use some special method?"

"They must have used some kind of lock-picking technique." Takada Yuki stared at the screen in front of him and said coldly, "Continue tracking."

The following footage shows that after entering the elevator, the person did not press the floor button, but instead used a card-like object to stick it in an inconspicuous place on the elevator control panel.

The elevator then started moving and went straight to the floor where Ai Mizuno was.

The person's figure flashed by in the corridor surveillance footage, cleverly using the angle to avoid being clearly captured.

About fifteen minutes later, the same figure reappeared at the entrance of the underground parking garage, quickly left, and disappeared from the surveillance range.

"No face was captured, but the actions were very professional, demonstrating a strong awareness of counter-surveillance."

Sato Miwako felt a chill run down her spine. "The other party seems very familiar with the surveillance layout and access control system here!"

"Looks like a repeat offender!"

"There's no need to investigate further; I should be able to guess who it is."

Hearing Inspector Takada's extremely confident tone, Miwako Sato asked doubtfully, "Inspector Takada, do we really not need to continue the investigation? This person is our only lead right now."

Yuuki Takada shook his head and said, "No need. This person is already dead, and he died right in front of us."

"Inspector Takada, you mean... the person who broke into Mizuno Ai's apartment is Matsui Shosuke?" Sato Miwako's eyes narrowed, and she suddenly remembered something.

“That’s right!” Yuuki Takada nodded. Although he didn’t reveal too much under surveillance, it was still very difficult for someone to change their physique in such a short time.

"Based on what you said about Matsui Shoyu earlier, I guess he was asked to do this, which is why he took such a big risk to go to the crime scene to retrieve something."

Yuki Takada took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it.

Just as I was about to take a puff to relax, I unexpectedly saw three dark figures appear on the surveillance camera.

Chapter 8 Three Black Shadows

Just as Yuki Takada brought the cigarette to his lips, his gaze was suddenly stunned by a scene that flashed in the corner of the monitor screen.

His fingers, which were holding the cigarette, froze instantly.

"Go back! Top right corner, entrance to garage B, time marker 3:28!" Yuuki Takada directed the staff in a low voice, his face conveying an undeniable sense of urgency.

The screen rewinds as instructed by the staff.

It had been almost an hour since Matsui Shoyu's figure disappeared at the entrance of the underground parking garage.

Three blurry figures, like ghosts blending into the night, flashed extremely quickly at the edge of the same surveillance camera's field of view.

Wait... who are these three figures...?

Two children and an elderly person.

These two children seem somewhat familiar; it's as if I've seen them somewhere before.

"Mizuno Abori and Mizuno Ruby?"

Sato Miwako gasped in shock, covering her mouth in disbelief as she stared intently at the screen. "And...why is Director Ishida of the orphanage here with those two?! At this time?!"

In the picture, walking at the front is Mizuno Ahori, Mizuno Ai's eldest son.

He kept his head down, his shoulders slightly hunched, and his steps were stiff and dragging, completely lacking the vitality a boy his age should have.

Following closely behind him was his younger sister, Ruby Mizuno. Her small hands gripped her brother's clothes tightly, her head was lowered, and her long hair covered most of her face, with only the outline of her thin chin visible.

Her steps were even smaller; she was almost being pulled forward by her brother.

The most heartbreaking sight was the last person to leave – Director Ishida of the "Hope House" children's welfare home.

"Why would they return to the crime scene after the incident?" Sato Miwako couldn't believe the footage on the surveillance camera.

Yuuki Takada almost crushed the cigarette between his fingers, and the image frozen on the screen felt like a heavy piece of ice, falling into the hearts of the two people present.

"Sato, let me ask you something. After Ai Mizuno was murdered, did you neglect her two children?"

Yuki Takada's eyes sharpened, his gaze never leaving the screen, and he said, "To be precise, did you fail to conduct the routine questioning of those two children back then?"

Sato Miwako's face turned pale instantly, and she felt a suffocating sense of guilt.

When I first discovered the scene of Mizuno Ai's tragic death, and saw the empty, soulless eyes of Mizuno Ahori and Mizuno Ruby, I was deeply moved.

Her and her colleagues' first reaction was immense sympathy and helplessness.

A broken family.

Two children who suddenly lost their mother and witnessed such a cruel and bloody scene...

The usual questioning procedures seemed incredibly cruel and inhumane in the face of such immense shock and pity.

They only offered the most basic reassurance and confirmed that the child had not witnessed the direct act of murder.

They were then entrusted to the reputable and caring "Hope House" welfare home, where Director Ishida personally took care of them.

"Yes, it is."

With difficulty, Sato Miwako spoke, her voice trembling with immense self-reproach: "It was my fault... I think that after such a traumatic experience, the two children need psychological intervention and protection, not cold interrogation."

"Furthermore, the initial on-site investigation has not yielded any evidence pointing to them... Director Ishida has also assured us that they will be provided with the best care."

She looked at the three figures on the screen who had returned to the crime scene late at night, especially the familiar dark figure of Director Ishida.

At this moment, however, the outline appeared unusually eerie, and a chilling sense of dread crept up the spine.

"But...why is this happening? Why are they here? And at this time? How could Director Ishida..."

“Ignoring something, no matter how noble the reason, can be a fatal flaw.”

Yuki Takada interrupted her, his tone icy cold, devoid of any blame, offering only a pure statement of facts.

He pointed to the screen, carefully analyzing frame by frame: "Look at their condition. Ariya, shoulders hunched, steps stiff and dragging, this is not just sadness, but more like immense pressure and... fear."

“Ruby, completely dependent on her brother and hiding herself away, is a classic example of escapism and extreme insecurity. As for Dean Ishida…”

Yuki Takada squinted, trying to glean more details from the blurry pixels. "He was walking at the back, seemingly acting as a guardian, but his posture—his steps were steady, his gaze was fixed straight ahead, and he made no attempt to reassure the children in front of him. It was more like... an escort."

"Escorted?!" Sato gasped, the word sending a chill down her spine. "You mean, the children were coerced? What...what was Director Ishida involved in?"

"It is too early to draw conclusions, but their appearance is by no means accidental, nor is it a simple return."

Yuki Takada took out his phone and made a call to the technical department:

"Track them immediately!"

"Enlarge the view of where Director Ishida and the others came out of the B Komachi apartment! Check the surveillance footage at the B exit of this parking garage?"

“We must review every single traffic camera feed in the vicinity! We must focus on checking tire tracks left during that time period, especially vehicles that may have been carrying children or the elderly!”

The technician's fingers flew across the keyboard, and the screen rapidly switched, zoomed in, and froze.

The surveillance camera at the B exit was positioned at a tricky angle, only capturing a blurry taillight disappearing around the corner.

However, based on traffic monitoring data from several nearby intersections, the vehicle likely headed towards Matsubara-cho.

"That's it!"

Yuuki Takada's eyes gleamed. "Investigate this vehicle immediately! Notify the traffic division to begin setting up a checkpoint, focusing on searching the routes near Matsubaracho!"

"I need to retrieve all possible surveillance footage along the route and find out Director Ishida's exact location."

The order was issued swiftly, and the atmosphere in the entire monitoring room became extremely tense.

Urgent calls and responses came through the police channel.

“Inspector Takada…” Sato Miwako forced herself to calm down and analyzed, “Would it be inappropriate for us to do this?”

"Besides, Dean Ishida had no conflict with the deceased, Ai Mizuno. If we have misjudged the situation, I think I should call Dean Ishida to confirm the facts."

Miwako Sato took out her phone and called Director Ishida of the "Hope Home" welfare center, asking, "Hello, is this Director Ishida?"

"I'm the officer who took Mizuno Asahi over there before, regarding the deceased Mizuno Ai. I'd like to ask about the two children. Do you have time now? We're planning to go over there later."

A hoarse voice came from the other end of the phone: "Oh, it's Officer Sato! Okay, I happen to be at the orphanage, come over here."

Sato Miwako deliberately put the phone on speakerphone, and after listening to Dean Ishida's words, Takada Yuuki finally felt relieved.

Just as Sato Miwako said, Director Ishida had absolutely no connection to the case.

What does that scene under the surveillance camera mean? It seems that only by going to the welfare home can we find out the truth.

Chapter 9 Dean Ishida

As Yuki Takada and Miwako Sato drove to the Hope Home welfare center, the car was silent.

If it weren't for Sato Miwako's phone call just now, it would have been difficult to dispel Takada Yuuki's suspicions about Dean Ishida.

From any perspective, Dean Ishida seemed extremely suspicious.

but……

All of this will have to wait until we meet with Director Ishida of the welfare home.

Miwako Sato gripped the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles turning white.

“Inspector Takada, I know your first thought was good.”

“Indeed! Based on the information we have at the moment, Dean Ishida is the most suspicious…”