NCCnovel Chapter 1020: It Has Not Begun Yet, It Has Already Ended
Chapter 1020: It Has Not Begun Yet, It Has Already Ended
Chapter 1020 It Has Not Started Yet, It Has Already Ended
"The owner's name is Yuan Yuan Gao Ping, he is 28 years old, and his occupation is..."
Megure Jusan glanced at the Do Not Disturb sign hanging in front of the door and curled his lips.
Right on the door of the room where he was attacked, there was a sign that read "Work in progress, no entry."
...It's true that every young person in his 20s who is still unemployed likes to call himself a writer.
"...freelancer." In the end, that's all he concluded.
"Freelancer..." Conan, who was staring at the things on the shelf, straightened up and repeated it, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
You don’t need to look up information carefully to see that these exquisitely crafted figures and various collectibles are expensive.
This is not something that unemployed 20-somethings can afford.
Even if he is really a freelancer, this guy is probably a very profitable freelancer.
"At present, it seems that the cause of the injury is a heavy blow to the back of the head by the attacker, and the murder weapon is this, a broken vase." Megure Jusan gestured to the blood-stained fragments on the ground and said this.
"So, it really wasn't my ball that hit it?" Yuantai looked up and confirmed the baseball on the top of the shelf, saying uncertainly.
"That shouldn't be the case," Takagi Wataru soothed. "The pieces from your baseball are still there. As for the vase, the auntie who cleans the room said it's usually placed on the other side of the shelf."
"But, Conan just said that he was squatting here looking at something in the drawer and was hit from behind." Yuan Tai touched the back of his head, still a little unsure, "What if the baseball hit the vase and caused the other one to roll down?"
"Impossible." Mrs. Ichimura, with her hair in a bun, shook her head seriously. "This vase is very heavy. It won't fall down just because it's hit. And it's not above this position."
She gestured to a location and explained.
"Well, you are the part-time worker responsible for cleaning for him, right?" Megure Jusan turned to Ichimura and confirmed, "Are you scheduled to clean for him today as well?"
"Yes. However, the original time will be delayed by one hour. I wanted to confirm his schedule in advance. I have made an appointment for him at the dentist..." Mrs. Ichimura came to her senses and asked vigilantly, "Are you suspicious of me, officer?"
"That's not the case."
"Originally, Mr. does have some annoying aspects. For example, he likes to deliberately turn some things upside down, so I have to put them in order for him one by one when I clean. Then he likes to hide in a corner and observe how I put things. I can't tell whether it's a prank or he really wants to test whether I'm careful or not... It's very annoying, but it's really not to the extent that I have to conflict with him over it..."
Conan listened to their conversation, which had low information density, for a while and quickly sorted out the basic information about the victim.
Just as he guessed, although Gao Ping never left his house, he actually had a high-paying job with a decent salary - he worked as an assistant to the writer Man Tian Nianjiu who lived next door.
According to Mrs. Ichimura's understanding, he would be responsible for helping Man Tian Nianjiu organize the existing manuscripts, revise the words and sentences, organize the direction of the plot, check readers' letters, and so on, which are a series of trivial tasks that are difficult to leave to the editor.
Because Man Tian Nianjiu is now also a well-known novelist, this job is not easy, but the income is very high, and the salary that Man Tian Nianjiu gave him is extraordinary.
"...To put it simply, apart from you, the victim almost only interacted with Mr. Manda Toshihisa?" Takagi Wataru simply recorded it in the manual and summarized it.
"It's like this. Mr. Manda Nenku lives across the street." Mrs. Ichimura raised her hand and pointed at the building opposite. "This was originally Mr. Manda's property. After his wife died and his son left here to get married and start a family, he didn't want to live here anymore, so he built a smaller house across the street. Usually, he hardly communicated with anyone except me and Mr. Manda."
Takagi Wataru nodded and exchanged a knowing look with Megure Jusan.
At this time, if the attacker was not the worried and nagging hourly worker in front of him, then he could only consider Wantian who lived opposite.
"Could it be that someone broke into the house and attacked the unsuspecting owner?" Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya thought, "He was looking down at the drawer, so he probably didn't notice someone coming in."
"That's unlikely." Huihara Ai shrugged. "He has already hung a no trespassing sign at the door. A robber would know by looking at it that he won't run into the owner as long as he doesn't go in. Wouldn't it be enough to search for valuables in other rooms? Why would he have to come in specially to make things more difficult for himself?"
"Besides, since he was working and the door was closed, he would have noticed if someone opened it. Being able to get close to his back when he was least prepared means that the attacker must have been welcomed in by him opening the door himself."
"So, the conclusion is still that the crime was committed by an acquaintance." Conan said concisely.
As he spoke, he glanced at his part-time worker, Aunt Ichimura, and noticed that there was only pure shock on her face, which reaffirmed that she was unlikely to be the murderer.
If one can conceal his expression so perfectly in the face of this kind of reasoning and analysis, then with his psychological quality, it would be a bit of a waste of talent to work as a part-time worker instead of pursuing a special profession.
"Are you saying that the murderer is Mr. Manda?" Ichimura held his face in his hands and murmured in disbelief, "It's unlikely... Mr. Yuanyuan can be considered his disciple. They have a very close relationship..."
This is a tacit acknowledgement that you are no longer a suspect.
That means she might really be innocent.
It is very likely that Man Tian Nianjiu, who was both the master and the landlord, had a conflict with the deceased due to work issues.
The two detectives with rich experience in handling cases understood the situation clearly and continued to ask Mrs. Ichimura about the information of the victim, apparently intending to believe what she provided.
Seeing that they were still sorting out the clues step by step, Conan tiptoed out of the study quietly.
Now that we have a name and a possible motive, we can talk to Kitagawa Yusuke about the situation.
With a bit of luck, the Phantom Thief of Heart might be able to discover the attacker's inner state, and there might be results soon.
Leaving the lively study, Conan found Kitagawa Yusuke sitting cross-legged on the sofa in the living room, stroking the cat lying on his lap.
"The cat probably belongs to the neighbor across the street." Conan couldn't help but remind him when he saw that he was holding the cat tightly.
This is very different from Nekko who was casually stuffed next to the bomb like a victim of Moriya Teiji. It is obviously a domestic cat that is loved by its owner and has smooth fur.
The information just provided by Mrs. Ichimura also explains why this cat appeared here.
This place and the one opposite are essentially Wantian’s long-time residences. If the cat is also raised by the other party, then both houses can be considered familiar territories for the cat, so it is normal for the cat to come and go freely in the house.
"I know." Tang Ze stroked the cat and said confidently, "But he won't have time to take care of it soon anyway."
"…Even if you are certain that the other person is the murderer, you can't be so straightforward." Conan was speechless.
"It doesn't matter, I will definitely send him in." Tang Ze vowed.
We still need to bring some more cats into the base, at least to stop our teammates from having to feed two Siamese cats.
Siamese cats look better when they are thin. It doesn’t look right if they are fed too much and become round, and it is not good for their health.
There's nothing wrong with having a cat to share the burden of cat food and canned food with them.
"Huh?" Conan looked weird.
Why, for the cat?
That's bad. If the target of the Heart Thief has a cat, it will definitely be bad luck...
Tang Ze didn't explain, but just touched the cat's smooth long fur again.
Of course it’s because the murderer this time is just as bad.
If it weren't for Yuantai's divine move, which allowed him to accurately choose the victim's house, and the murderer returned to the residence two hours later as planned, and discovered that Gao Ping had been in trouble, the victim would definitely not have survived.
not to mention……
Tang Ze lowered his eyes and looked at his hands.
In order to avoid skipping steps and coming to the outrageous conclusion that Goro Akechi is equal to Yusuke Kitagawa before Conan suspects his true identity, Karasawa did some special effects camouflage on his hands today.
Basically, it is modified based on the impression of Kidd's hands.
Kidd, who also makes a living by performing hand skills, also takes good care of his hands. Apart from the calluses left by holding a pen and some magic training, there are no obvious marks on his hands. He can produce results quickly and conveniently - there is a skilled special effects makeup artist on his team, and this is an advantage that Kidd finds difficult to surpass.
These are the hands of an artist.
If Kitagawa Yusuke really lived in this world, he might also have a pair of hands like this.
Naturally, he would not forgive the criminal this time...
----
"What's going on? This is..."
The editor who was following behind Man Tian Nianjiu pushed his glasses up and looked at the policeman who stopped at the door with some surprise.
Of course he knew that Man Tian's assistant lived in Man Tian's old house, so he was particularly surprised to see this scene.
Then, he began to worry whether Wantian would be affected.
His new book is about to be published, and he came here today to pick up the manuscript.
If something happened to Man Tian's long-time assistant, especially at Man Tian's property, it would very likely affect the entire publicity plan...
The corners of Manda Nenku's eyes kept twitching, and his expression was even more nervous than his.
It wasn't just a problem with the publishing plan; the police arrived much earlier than he expected.
He would delay until this time before taking the editor home in order to create an alibi and wait for Mrs. Ichimura to finish cleaning today.
In that way, by the time Mrs. Ichimura called the police, the editor would have been with him, and the traces left behind would have naturally been covered up, and he would of course have been cleared of suspicion.
Thinking of this, he tightened the handle of the airline box in his hand.
"Excuse me, may I ask, has something happened?" Although anxious and unwilling to sit and wait for death, Wantian Nianjiu still walked forward and took the initiative to ask the policeman standing in front of the door.
Megure Juzo and Takagi Wataru, who were discussing not far from the door, turned their heads and looked at his face for a while, then looked at the aviation box covered with a sunshade in his hand, with subtle expressions.
"...You are the writer, Manada Norihisa, right?" In the end, it was Megure Jusan who took the initiative to confirm.
"Yes, it's me." Man Tian Nianjiu nodded calmly, but at the same time he felt more and more uneasy.
The policemen looked at him with a somewhat scrutinizing and critical look, a look he had seen on the faces of many of his colleagues and practitioners many years ago.
Ever since his fame grew and he gradually made a wealthy living from his writing, he rarely saw a similar expression on his face again.
Now I feel this intense scrutiny again, and in such a special situation...
"Well, the original resident here, Mr. Takahira, was your assistant, right?" Megure Jusan did not explain, but continued to ask questions.
"Yes. He helps me organize and proofread the manuscripts, and also helps me record some important ideas, as well as my essays and the like..." Man Tian Nianjiu forced a smile, "I also persuaded him not to focus too much on these scraps, and to try to create more of his own things, but he was a bit stubborn."
At this point, he could hardly hold back any longer.
This subtle tense atmosphere made him feel as if he was waiting for the court session.
He couldn't help but ask to confirm: "Did something happen to him? Was he okay originally?"
As he spoke, he was secretly calculating in his mind.
If only Mrs. Ichimura arrived at the house early, then she had called the police in advance and let the police come to the situation.
Although Gao Ping did not die on the spot after suffering a severe blow to the head, he lost consciousness instantly. He should not have had the chance to leave any fatal death message.
In that case, at most his alibi would be slightly flawed. However, since editor Shimoki had been sitting at the door of the hotel, he could indirectly prove his whereabouts...
What he didn't expect was that the policeman on the other side gave him an answer he didn't expect.
"Oh, he's fine, don't worry about him." Megure Jusan tilted his head.
Understanding what was meant, Takagi Wataru and the other police officers from the Investigation Division turned around silently and moved closer to Mandan.
"It may be a bit presumptuous to ask this, but, Mr. Manda, could you please confirm what you were doing two hours ago?" Megure Jusan stood in the middle, as if he was confirming something at the last minute.
"I, I have been finishing the new work in the hotel room since yesterday..." Man Tiannian, who had been thinking about it for a long time, blurted out the reason he had been thinking about for a long time without thinking.
"Meow~"
Just as he was about to explain that he had the editor to testify that Gao Ping's death had nothing to do with him, his voice was interrupted by the intimate meow of a cat.
Tang Ze, holding a cat in his arms, followed the police and walked out of Gao Ping's house silently.
The long-haired cat was obviously very happy to see Man Tian Nian Jiu. It pressed its paw on Tang Ze's arm and its whole body stood up a little, like a child who had seen a relative and was ready to pounce on him.
Having said that, the back half of its body was still nestled comfortably in Tangze's arms, as if it was reluctant to leave.
Wan Tian was stunned for a long time, and the editor beside him was also stunned.
Everyone looked at the cat, then at the airline box in Man Tian Nianjiu's hand.
Man Tian Nianjiu, who seemed to have ended before the excuse even started: "..."