Chapter 27: Ever Thought About Becoming a Police Officer?
"So that's how it is!"
Inspector Megure nodded.
Going by Makoto's reasoning, every trace at the scene lined up perfectly.
The blade-up knife, the puddle on the floor, the high AC temperature, the isolated chair.
Even the dent in the floor matched the knife's handle perfectly.
"It was actually suicide?"
"How did this turn into a suicide?"
Kogoro paced back and forth, still unable to accept the facts in front of him.
"If you still don't believe it, you can test the fingerprints on the knife."
"The knife went in from behind, and it was fatal in one strike. If it were murder, the handle wouldn't have the victim's fingerprints on it."
"But if it's suicide, the victim's fingerprints would be right there on the handle."
Makoto went on.
Deduction alone couldn't really close a case—you needed hard evidence like fingerprints and DNA.
After all, this time the "culprit" was already dead—he wasn't about to drop to his knees, clutch his head, and sob out a full confession.
"Bring all of this back to the station."
Inspector Megure instructed.
He turned and clapped Makoto on the shoulder. "Thanks to you again this time, Higashino-kun."
"Ha ha ha, you really are a genius at deduction. Ever thought about becoming a police officer?"
"Come straight to our Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigative Division after you graduate."
"With your talent, making Police Sergeant in three years and Inspector in five would be no problem at all!"
Inspector in five years?
Hearing that, Takagi clicked his tongue in astonishment.
He himself was already twenty-six this year, and he'd only just been promoted to Police Sergeant.
There were still two ranks between him and Inspector, with Assistant Inspector standing in between.
Given Japan's workplace culture, making Assistant Inspector before thirty would already count as a small miracle.
As for Inspector?
That was the kind of goal you hoped to hit right before retirement!
Take his own superior, Megure Juzo, for instance—even he only held the rank of Inspector.
And he was already in his forties.
And that was only because he was in Violent Crime Investigation Section 3 of the Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigative Division—the so-called "Major Crimes Unit."
"If it's Inspector in five years, that would make him only..."
"Twenty-seven?"
Kogoro startled.
A son-in-law who made Inspector before thirty—now that was a future without limits!
Becoming a Superintendent someday, even a Senior Superintendent, would practically be a sure thing.
Maybe even Chief Superintendent, or Superintendent Supervisor, weren't out of reach!
"Heh heh heh..."
The more Kogoro thought about it, the stranger the grin on his face grew.
"Mouri-kun?"
Inspector Megure eyed him sideways.
"Makoto, go be a police officer! Punish criminals, protect the people!"
Kogoro clapped him on the shoulder, righteous as ever.
"I'll think about it!"
Makoto laughed awkwardly.
'A police officer?'
'Sorry, all I want is to be a perfectly unremarkable playboy.'
Mouri Detective Agency. Ran was busy fixing dinner.
The dinner table, which usually saw nothing but natto and miso soup, now bore the rare sight of grilled saury and hamburger steak.
The 5,000,000 yen payout from solving the Tani family kidnapping had bumped the Mouri household's diet up from the poverty line straight to comfortably middle-class.
"Ahh—"
"Ice-cold beer really hits the spot!"
"5,000,000 yen, 5,000,000 yen—how about we head to Roppongi's entertainment district and have some fun?"
"Horse betting wouldn't be bad either—haven't been to the racetrack in ages!"
Kogoro sipped his beer, wearing a shameless grin.
'Tch, so what if he solved a couple of cases.'
Conan propped his chin on one hand, glaring with eyes as flat and dead as a fish's.
Back at Yoko's apartment, he'd snuck off to a public phone booth by the road.
He'd used Dr. Agasa's invention, the Voice-Changing Bowtie, to mimic Kudo Shinichi's voice and call Inspector Megure.
He'd meant to put on a deduction show over the phone, only for Inspector Megure to tell him the case was already solved?
Just minutes after he'd been kicked out, that guy had already cracked the case?
And he'd won everyone over with just a few sentences.
Especially Makoto's reasoning about the fingerprints on the murder weapon—even he hadn't thought of that one.
If the fingerprints on the weapon checked out, the man's suicide would be locked down as an airtight case.
'That guy!'
Conan held his rice bowl in his hands without an ounce of appetite.
◇◇◇
The luxury apartment in Roppongi.
After Kogoro and the police had all left, the now-empty hallway held just the two of them—Makoto and Yoko.
"I never imagined Fujie-kun would do something like this!"
"If I'd known sooner that it was Yamagishi-san who forced him to break up with me, none of this would have—"
Yoko covered her mouth, her lovely eyes brimming, as if she were about to cry.
The victim, Fujie Akiyoshi, had been her boyfriend back in high school.
After her debut, her manager, Yamagishi, had gone and talked Fujie into breaking up with her.
But years later, watching Yoko grow more famous, more radiant on television with each passing year—
Fujie grew more and more regretful, until the thought of getting back together took hold of him.
After failing to win her back, his love curdled into hatred, and he chose to end his life in Yoko's home, deliberately staging it to look like murder.
"It's all over now."
"It's alright now."
Makoto held out a handkerchief, his voice gentle.
"Higashino-san!"
Yoko looked up.
Her face, like a pear blossom caught in the rain, flushed a shy, faint pink.
…
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Higashino Makoto — Protagonist. Transmigrated.
Megure Juzo — Police Inspector. Series: Detective Conan.
Mouri Kogoro — Ran's father. Series: Detective Conan.
Mouri Ran — Shinichi's childhood sweetheart. Series: Detective Conan.
Okino Yoko — Idol. Series: Detective Conan.
…
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Translated by CheapBiscuit.
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