In Detective Conan: Intercepting Miwako Sato at the Start

Page 86

The teacher's screams... at a time like this?!

He could no longer care about the chaos around him. He leaped out from behind the rocks and dashed off like an arrow toward the direction from which the screams came.

"Shinichi Kudo!" Yuki Takada shouted sharply, but Shinichi Kudo had already rushed more than ten meters away.

"Takada-senpai, leave the rest of this to me!" Sato Miwako said immediately. She quickly dialed a number to have someone come and deal with the bodies, while keeping a watchful eye on the possibility of another sniper attack. "Go check the situation over there and protect the two children!"

Yuuki Takada hesitated for only a moment before nodding immediately: "Stay alert. I've contacted backup, they'll be here soon!" With that, he immediately followed Shinichi Kudo. His speed was extremely fast, and his movements were agile, demonstrating physical abilities far beyond those of ordinary people.

Ran Mouri followed without hesitation, her heart filled with worry for her teachers and classmates.

The screams came from a quiet, secluded area of ​​carefully manicured ornamental bushes and trees, not far from the beach, separated from the bustling main beach area.

Shinichi Kudo was the first to rush to the scene.

The sight before him made even someone as experienced as him take a deep breath.

They saw Mr. Date Takujin, the homeroom teacher of Class B in the first year of Teitan Junior High School, slumped on the ground, his face ashen.

His whole body was trembling violently, his fingers were pointing forward with shaky fingers, and his lips were moving, but he couldn't make a complete sound because of extreme fear.

In the direction Professor Date Takujin pointed, among several dense low trees, a person lay face up in a pool of blood.

The man was wearing a dark blue tracksuit jacket and gray trousers. His eyes were wide open in terror, his pupils dilated and devoid of any light.

He had a deep and horrific wound in his throat, from which blood was gushing out, staining the large patch of grass and fallen leaves beneath him.

His right hand was slightly raised, as if he wanted to grasp something in his last moments, but it eventually fell limply to his side.

Shinichi Kudo recognized the face—it was Mr. Kenji Higashiyama, the homeroom teacher of Class C next door!

"Teacher Higashiyama!" Ran Mouri, who arrived shortly after, covered her mouth with her hand upon seeing this scene and let out a suppressed scream, almost fainting.

The teacher who greeted everyone with a smile this morning is now a cold corpse.

Yuki Takada followed closely behind, his gaze quickly sweeping across the entire scene. He immediately confirmed that the victim was clearly dead, and then vigilantly looked around, observing any traces of potentially dangerous or suspicious individuals.

He saw the terrified Mr. Date Takujin, and the shocked looks on Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mouri's faces.

"Ran Mouri, take care of your teacher! Shinichi Kudo, don't come any closer, protect the scene!" Yuuki Takada gave the serious instructions as he looked at the scene before him, instantly pulling Shinichi Kudo back to reality from his initial shock.

Shinichi Kudo abruptly stopped, standing about three meters away from the body.

Yes, on site!

This is a murder scene; any hasty approach could destroy crucial evidence.

He forced himself to calm down, and his detective instincts quickly overcame his emotional turmoil.

With a sharpened gaze, Shinichi Kudo began to scrutinize everything around him like a scanner.

Yuki Takada had already taken out his phone and made another urgent contact with the Metropolitan Police Department, reporting the murder that had occurred there and requesting that additional officers from the First Investigation Division of the Criminal Investigation Department, as well as forensic doctors and forensic experts, be dispatched immediately.

“Dead…dead, Kenjiro Higashiyama…” Takujin Date, finally regaining his composure after Ran Mouri's comforting words, choked back tears and stammered:

"I...I just came over to ask him about our class's afternoon assembly time, and then I saw...I saw him lying there. And then, a dark shadow...whoosh...and disappeared..."

"Dark Shadow?"

"What kind of shadow?"

"Which way did they run?" Yuuki Takada immediately squatted down and asked in a calm tone to avoid upsetting the almost collapsing Takujin Date.

“No…I don’t know…the other party was too fast…I didn’t see clearly…it seemed like they were going that way…” Teacher Date Takujin pointed tremblingly into the deeper part of the woods, where it led to the other exit of the park and the parking lot.

Yuuki Takada winked at Shinichi Kudo.

Kudo Shinichi nodded and immediately began a quick survey in the general direction indicated by Date Takujin, but he was very careful to avoid stepping on any areas that might leave footprints or evidence.

He quickly spotted some trampled grass and a branch that had clearly been broken, but further away, the traces became blurry.

"It seems the murderer escaped from this direction," Shinichi Kudo said in a deep voice.

Yuki Takada's expression was grave.

A sniper killing to silence witnesses, followed by the murder of a teacher nearby... Is this just a coincidence?

Or is there some connection between the two?

However, judging from the current situation, these two groups should have different motives.

It seems that this time, Shinichi Kudo and his friends' field trip to Teitan Middle School was not so easy; they seem to have been caught in an extremely dangerous vortex.

That makes sense. With Shinichi Kudo around, it's highly unlikely that nothing will go wrong.

Chapter 105 The Teitan Middle School Teacher Murder Case

Soon, the sharp sound of sirens grew louder as a large number of police cars arrived at Odaiba Seaside Park.

A large number of police officers quickly rushed in, set up a long cordon, and isolated the crime scene in the woods.

As for the attackers and the scarred man's body on the beach, Sato Miwako had already disposed of them.

The forensic team, dressed in white overalls, began carefully collecting footprints and any other traces that might lead to the perpetrator from the body.

Meanwhile, the detectives from the First Investigation Division were conducting a series of case-handling procedures around the body of the deceased, Mr. Higashiyama, including taking photos, measuring, and searching for clues.

Yuuki Takada gave a brief report of the situation to Inspector Juichi Megure, who had arrived at the scene.

Of course, the fact that the two of them were being monitored by suspicious individuals, attacked, and sniped to silence them was also told to Megure. After all, this incident happened suddenly, and if others were to find out about it rashly, it might cause a lot of panic.

Finally, we come to the teacher murder case that is currently taking place.

Inspector Megure's chubby face was filled with seriousness, especially after hearing that Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mouri were also at the scene and involved in the attack, his brows furrowed even more.

"Brother Takada, Miwako Sato, are you two alright?" Inspector Megure asked with concern.

“We’re fine, Inspector Megure, but the other side was clearly prepared and ruthless. They’ll kill us off as soon as the operation fails,” Takada Yuki said in a deep voice, his gaze sweeping over Date-sensei, who was being questioned. “The murder case over there is too coincidental.”

"Hmm..." Inspector Megure stroked his chin, puzzled. "Right? What do you think of that little boy?"

Yuuki Takada smiled faintly: "This person is quite intelligent, and if it weren't for his keen senses, we wouldn't have been able to react to the fact that someone was attacking us. Besides, I've heard that he's quite quick-witted; perhaps he can be of some help to us?"

"By the way, where did that kid run off to again?" Takada Yuki turned around and glanced around, but did not see Kudo Shinichi.

"He and Ran Mouri are over there, keeping their teacher company," Miwako Sato pointed to the area where they were resting in the distance.

While comforting the still-shaken Date-sensei, Shinichi Kudo keenly observed the direction of the crime scene, his mind clearly racing.

Yuuki Takada said to Juzo Megure, "Brother Megure, for now, let's focus on solving this religious master murder case first. As for that other matter, I think we can wait."

"I need you to send me some men, Brother Megure."

"Approved." Inspector Megure nodded and asked, "How many men do you need?"

"Too many people will only alert them. I'll start by tracking down the trail based on Date-sensei's description and the clues Shinichi Kudo found."

"Have the forensic team focus on examining all traces along the path from the woods to the parking lot, especially footprints and any possible debris," Yuki Takada calmly instructed.

"Understood. Stay in touch, Brother Takada. Be careful, the other party could be extremely dangerous," Inspector Megure solemnly instructed.

Yuuki Takada nodded, then walked towards Shinichi Kudo and Mr. Date.

"Teacher Date, please try to recall carefully, what were the characteristics of that dark figure?"

"Is it height, weight, clothing, or running posture?" Takada Yuki asked in a gentle but professional tone.

Takujin Date tried to suppress his trembling: "I-I really didn't see it clearly, it just flashed by, very fast, it seemed...it seemed to be wearing dark clothes, maybe black or dark blue, and in terms of build, not particularly tall, seemed a bit thin..."

"Is it a man or a woman?" Yuki Takada pressed.

“This… I didn’t notice… It was too fast…” Teacher Date shook her head in anguish.

Shinichi Kudo suddenly spoke up: "Officer Takada, I just checked the trampled grass and broken branches over there."

"Judging from the initial impression of the footprints, the shoe size is not large, around 36-38. The stride is relatively narrow, but the push-off is powerful and the movement is very agile when running."

"The killer seems to have some knowledge of this terrain, and the escape route he chose makes the most of the vegetation to block the view."

Yuuki Takada gave Shinichi Kudo an approving look; the boy's observation skills were always so sharp.

“Size 36-38…slender build, agile movements…” He pondered. This did have some similarities to the characteristics that Teacher Ida had described. The description of him not being particularly tall and being somewhat thin matched.

"Shinichi Kudo, you stay here and assist the police in investigating Higashiyama-sensei's background and social connections. In particular, find out if he has offended anyone recently or done anything unusual," Yuuki Takada instructed.

“I understand.” Shinichi Kudo nodded; he was equally eager to know the truth behind the murder.

Without further delay, Yuki Takada immediately followed the trail quickly but carefully, pointing out the direction that Shinichi Kudo had previously indicated and that the forensic department had just marked.

His gaze swept quickly across the ground, bushes, and tree trunks, not missing any clues.

The traces were intermittent, indicating that the killer had deliberately avoided and concealed his movements.

However, Yuki Takada's performance at the Metropolitan Police Department earned the recognition of many officers. He combined the scene environment, the killer's psychological state, and subtle traces to gradually reconstruct the killer's escape route.

The route eventually led to a temporary parking lot on the west side of the park, where many tourists' vehicles were parked, including several buses arranged by Teitan Junior High School.

There is a surveillance camera near the parking lot entrance.

Yuki Takada immediately contacted the park management and requested to view the surveillance footage.

At the same time, he instructed the forensic team to focus their investigation on this area.

While waiting for the surveillance footage to be retrieved, Yuki Takada discovered a relatively clear footprint on a patch of mud at the edge of the parking lot.

It's a shoe print that's about size 37, with a unique pattern.

"Officer Takada!" an investigator shouted, "We've found something here!"

Yuki Takada immediately went over and saw the forensic officer carefully picking out a small piece of dark blue fabric from the gap between the tires of a bus with tweezers. The edges were jagged, as if it had been scraped off suddenly.

Yuki Takada's eyes sharpened.

Dark blue clothes! The color that Ms. Date mentioned!

He examined the cloth closely. It was of ordinary quality, but the scratched area seemed to have a very fine, dark red stain, different from bloodstains.

"Send it back to the laboratory immediately for the most detailed component analysis!" Yuki Takada ordered.

At that moment, a security guard from the park management office ran over with a hard drive containing the surveillance footage.

Yuuki Takada borrowed the management office's computer and quickly browsed the surveillance footage of the parking lot exits before and after the time of the incident.

In the video, vehicles and pedestrians are seen coming and going.

Due to the angle, the entire parking lot could not be covered, especially the area where the bus where the fabric fragments were found was a blind spot.