Chapter 86 Manhunt
After a week of fermentation, the situation in Hokkaido became more and more serious, with reporters from all over the world flying here every day.

The families of the deceased, who have now gotten over their grief, also hope to get compensation.

Therefore, the number of people coming in and out of the police station increased instead of decreased.

Conan took advantage of his small stature and finally squeezed through the legs.

Now he is the only one left.

After receiving the call, Xiaolan returned to the hospital to take care of the Kudo couple who had difficulty moving.

And if it could keep her away from danger, Conan would certainly not refuse.

As we walked through the gate, the small space was packed with people. There was a large crowd surrounding each police officer in uniform, making the scene noisy and chaotic.

Conan didn't know what to do for a moment.

"Conan!"

Two people squeezed out of the crowd sideways.

Conan turned around, a little surprised: "Officer Shiratori, Officer Sato...why are you here?!"

Officer Sato squatted down and looked him in the eye. "Of course, he came here specially from the Tokyo Police Station as reinforcement."

Seeing that he still didn't understand, Officer Shiratori explained: "Although the mastermind of the bomb case, Asakura Songming, died at the scene, the origin of the bombs still needs to be carefully investigated... The local police in Hokkaido are already unable to do it, so we came here to assist."

"And Megure... Officer, there is still no news. I am worried if I don't come here to check."

"I see."

Conan nodded.

Although he wanted to say that Su Beixun was the mastermind, he also knew that no one would believe it without evidence - after all, the police needed stability more now.

He couldn't wait to ask, "By the way, Officer Shiratori, could you please help me find out which students did not come to school on the day of the poisoning at Minzhi Middle School?"

"This……"

Officer Shiratori was puzzled.

"Please! This matter is very important, and...it is related to the whereabouts of Inspector Megure!"

Hearing this, Sato immediately became serious: "I know!"

She turned her head and said, "Officer Shiratori, you will help too, right?"

Shiratori smiled bitterly: "...Of course, I will go and talk to the local police officer I know."

"No! No!"

Conan subconsciously retorted: "Don't let the local police know about this!"

"……Why?"

Officer Shiratori frowned in embarrassment.

After all, this is not Tokyo. They are only nominal assistants and need to consider the local people's opinions on many matters.

Conan expressed his speculation and the relationship between Asakura Songming, Su Beixun and A.

He explained: "I suspect there is a spy among the police, otherwise it would be impossible for the explosion to happen just as I started to track down Officer Megure... Although I have no evidence, it is better to avoid local police officers just in case."

Sato's expression darkened.

Before she came, she had always thought it was just an ordinary terrorist attack...but she didn't expect there were so many things hidden behind it.

and……

"Su Beixun, he is here too!"

She thought of the child she had a crush on at the time, her colleagues who were lying in the hospital and the cemetery, and the back of Inspector Megure who left his job sadly... The anger and fighting spirit in her eyes seemed to solidify.

Shiratori pinched the corner of his eye and said, "I understand. We will investigate privately."

soon……

Three hours passed.

In an empty room in the police station.

Shiratori spread a list on the table.

"I compared the list of poisoned people with the list of survivors and the list of the entire school, and found all the students who were not in school at the time."

"Then, under the pretext of investigating the poisoning case, we called their parents and teachers one by one to ask them why they had asked for leave that day."

"Well done, Officer Shiratori!"

Officer Sato praised generously.

Shiratori smiled modestly: "No, this is the basic ability of an excellent police officer."

But Sato immediately added something that made his mouth twitch: "By the way, you haven't been discovered by others, right?"

"...Of course not. I secretly looked for the list in the archives."

Conan couldn't wait to ask: "So...what was the result?"

Officer Shiratori pointed at the names one by one and said, "First of all, there are two people in the first year of high school who have asked for leave..."

"Yezawa Aso from Class A, Grade 1... His teacher said he took a day off because he was not feeling well, but his parents said that Yazawa Aso was not at home that day."

"After the poisoning, his parents heard the news and rushed to the school to pick him up, only to find out that he did not go to school that day."

Conan asked, "Do you know where he went?"

Shiratori nodded: "Afterwards, when his parents questioned him, Ye Ze Ma Sheng admitted that he secretly ran out to play... But there is no evidence."

Conan thought about it.

"The other person is Haruno Sakura from Class C of Grade 1. There is no problem in investigating this. She was injured in a club activity and had been on leave for three days before the poisoning incident."

No one interrupted, and Shiratori continued.

"There's one person in the second year of high school."

"Kawasaki Lizi, Class 2B, I'm taking a day off to prepare for the club's national competition and to visit other schools for inspection."

"As for the senior year... three of them asked for leave!"

"Kazama Satoru, Class A, Grade 3. The reason for his absence is that he sprained his ankle on the way to school. This was confirmed when I contacted his family... But it is worth mentioning that he personally answered the phone call to his home."

"Nanamiya Chion, Class A, Grade 3. The reason for his absence is that he has signed up for a more intensive training course to prepare for the entrance exam... He takes regular leave every Tuesday and Thursday."

"Fukawa Fujina, Class 3B, reason for absence unknown... His family situation is complicated, and he is also a delinquent, so skipping classes is a common occurrence."

"Okay." Bai Niao took back his hand: "That's all there is to it."

Sato rubbed his chin and said first: "If the guess is correct, Su Beixun's decision to stop A from going to school should be a sudden decision after poisoning... Then Haruno Sakura and Nanamiya Chione, who have been taking leave for a period of time or regularly, are less likely to be suspected."

"The most likely person is Ye Ze Ma Sheng. He was probably stopped by Su Beixun on the way to school as usual. He only called the teacher... because he didn't know how to tell his family."

Shiratori also nodded: "It's very likely!"

In fact, we are still short of manpower, otherwise five people could arrest them at the same time instead of in order as they do now.

Conan remained silent.

He stared at Feng Jianwu's name over and over again.

Sato noticed this and asked curiously: "What's wrong, Conan? Do you think there's something wrong with him?"

Conan shook his head slowly: "No... I just felt that I seemed to have seen this name somewhere... Where was it?"

He closed his eyes and tried to recall.

The people I met and the names I heard these days flashed through my mind like slides...

And then...it froze on a yellowed file!
"Officer Shiratori!"

Conan opened his eyes suddenly: "There is a case related to Minzhi Middle School in the archives room, which happened on May 93, 5. Can you please get it for me?"

Seeing that he was serious, Bai Niao left without saying anything else.

Sato was curious: "This guy called Kazama Satoru...what happened to him?"

Conan's glasses turned pure white under the reflection of the light. He half lowered his head and rubbed the name on the paper with his fingers. "If it goes as I expected... Kazama Satoru, he is A."

"Oh?"

Sato raised her eyebrows, but she didn't ask any more questions, and also waited for Shiratori to bring the files.

soon.

The white bird returned again.

He handed over what he was holding: "Is this it?"

Conan reached out and took it: "Yes, that's right, it's this!"

The file was opened and everyone crowded together to read it.

[On May 1993, 5, Tanaka Mu, who was fond of domestic violence, died in the woods near the casino he often visited. His body was in a kneeling position, and a long nail was driven into the back of his head, nailing his hands to the ground... The death scene was clearly on the ground, but there were no footprints around him, and there were no witnesses, so the case was left unresolved.]

This was the third person who died when Conan and his friends were checking the files at the police station.

Conan did not pay attention to the case report at the top, but searched downwards.

"really!"

He pointed at a name!
——Kazama Satoru!

Conan looked at it and said, "Tanaka Mu's wife is called Kazama Kanna. Twenty years ago, the honest and steady Tanaka Mu was favored by Kazama Kanna's parents, and married into the Kazama family and changed his name to Kazama Mu."

"So, their son's last name is Kazama."

"However, when Kazama Kanna's parents died, Tanaka Mu, who had seized the family property, restored his real name."

"Then……"

"On July 1985, 7, Kazama Kaina, who had been traveling with Tanaka Mu, was found drowned in a stream in the mountains."

"After investigation, the police determined it was an accident and closed the case."

"After that, Tanaka Mu was suspected to be provoked and his temperament changed drastically. He often beat his son... Although the police went to mediate, it was useless. Instead, the abuse became more severe..."

(According to what I found on Baidu, Japan's earliest legal provision regarding domestic violence against children was the Child Abuse Prevention Law enacted in 2000)
“What a scumbag!”

Officer Sato looked at the photo of Tanaka Mu with disgust.

Conan took a deep breath: "Kazama Satoru...it's definitely him!"

Previously, Kudo Yusaku guessed that A must have a close relationship with one of these dead people, so in order of first to last, they started with Yoshimori Nobuyuki.

But the facts were different from what they thought - although Asakura Songming was forced out, Conan felt that A was someone else.

Now it seems that it was not the method that was wrong, but that they fell into a misunderstanding!
Su Beixun said that he had a masterpiece in Minzhi Middle School, so he subconsciously thought that there was only one person A, but this was not the case!
In this way, the existence of Asakura Takaaki can be explained!
He might also have been trained by Su Beixun, but he was not called a masterpiece. Yoshimori Nobuyuki and the gangster were killed by him.

Afterwards, Su Beixun discovered Feng Jianwu, and all the cases starting with Tanaka Wu were committed by him.

Since all of them were related to Su Beixun, it was natural that the causes of death of the deceased had something in common.

Shiratori frowned: "Conan, are you really sure? What evidence do you have?"

Conan shook his head: "There is no evidence."

But his eyes were burning, and he said firmly once again -

"But...I firmly believe it!"

There was no evidence, no reasoning, but he didn't hesitate at all!

Maybe... this is what growing up is.

Sato looked at him for a moment, nodded and said, "I understand, I will mobilize the manpower now!"

Conan said again: "Officer Sato, find some non-local police officers you trust!"

"Ok!"

Officer Sato nodded.

Although it seems unkind to arrest suspects without the knowledge of the local police in Hokkaido, now is not the time to worry about such trivial matters.

Watching the two people turn and leave, Conan thought of the bombing at Hokkaido University.

I couldn't help but shout loudly: "That's right! If we don't have enough manpower to control the situation, don't force the action, even if it means delaying it!"

In response, Officer Sato raised his hand.

##
Qingshui Community.

The standard broadcast tone echoed in the empty living room.

It's midday news time.

Kazama Satoru prepared lunch while listening to the news on TV.

——Probably in order to stabilize the uneasy public sentiment, the government has decided to hold a public trial of Ishikawa Jōji, the mastermind of the Meiji Junior High School poisoning case, at nine o'clock tomorrow morning.

Many experts began to express their opinions, analyzing the case from various legal angles and speculating on the possible punishment that Ishikawa Jōji might receive.

Feng Jianwu has been looking forward to this.

But now, he seemed distracted.

The phone call just now gave him an ominous premonition - there was a reason why he didn't go to school on the day of the poisoning. It was such a clear clue that he couldn't deceive himself.

He knew that he must have been exposed.

Perhaps in the next moment, a group of policemen would swarm in, break down the door and pin him to the floor.

Yes, he had a premonition of all this.

But he is not worried!

It didn't even affect his mood for preparing lunch.

Cut the longli fish into slices, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, mix well and spread it on the hot pan little by little.

The snow-white fish meat became curled and browned in the oil. He picked them up piece by piece with chopsticks and placed them on the rice.

He was very skilled at this sort of thing.

Because after his mother died, he had to cook for that scumbag, watch him squander the money his mother left him, and silently endure his beatings when he got drunk.

After a moment of trance, Feng Jianwu came to his senses in an instant.

He quickly turned off the fire, picked up the bowl and walked into the side room.

Megure was still lying there tied up.

He looked haggard, with dark circles under his eyes.

The gauze wrapped around the palm was also stained scarlet with blood.

He just stared in silence at Feng Jianwu who pushed the door open, and watched him feed food into his mouth one bite at a time, opening and closing his mouth mechanically.

soon……

The food was eaten up completely.

Feng Jianwu fed him another half bottle of water, then picked up his things and stood up silently.

But when he was about to leave the room, he still said: "...You are going to be free."

Megure's eyes moved, and his voice became stiff because he hadn't spoken for a long time: "Have you...finished the investigation?"

Fengjian shook his head: "Tokyo is too far away from Hokkaido, and some things are difficult to find out... But I have been exposed, and from the information I have found so far, you are a good person... So, I will not kill you."

Seven days later, did the police finally find out?!
Megure breathed a sigh of relief. After all, life these past few days was really tiring.

He looked at Feng Jianwu and suddenly asked: "You want to escape?!"

"escape?"

Feng Jianwu opened the door with his back to him, his voice extremely cold.

"I always believed that only people who have done something wrong need to run away!"

(End of this chapter)