Chapter 84: What Kind of Sin Has This Been Created?
When the figure finally reached the spot directly below Natsukawa's hiding place, it transformed from a distant black dot into a recognizable person.
Jeans, a purple knitted long-sleeved shirt, and a single ponytail swaying side to side—it was unmistakably the cross-dressing Asai Narumi.
However, Natsukawa was extremely curious about what she was doing here.
Shouldn't she have been called back to treat that police officer right about now?
Oh wait, I've been searching for an entire hour. The officer's probably already been treated and released by now.
Natsukawa watched as Asai Narumi skillfully scaled the wall surrounding the Kuroiwa family estate. Her movements were agile and practiced—clearly someone who'd climbed over many walls before.
After climbing down from his tree, Natsukawa turned and headed back toward the community center.
The police officer was fine, but Uncle Mouri would probably still want to investigate the mountain. He'd just promised to accompany him up there, and he couldn't simply pretend that conversation never happened.
Besides, he genuinely wanted to examine Kuroiwa Tatsuji's body in person.
As for what Asai Narumi is doing at the Kuroiwa residence, she's most likely searching for evidence of their illegal transactions. Either way, I've already taken and destroyed everything relevant. She won't find anything and will have made the trip for nothing.
When Natsukawa returned to the community center, several new people had arrived on the scene.
There was Kuroiwa Tatsuji's daughter, Kuroiwa Reiko, along with her fiancé Murasawa Shuichi, the village chief's secretary Hirata Kazuaki, Kawashima Hideo (who was supposedly meant to be the first victim), the chronically unemployed Nishimoto Ken, and village assembly candidate Shimizu Masato.
Shimizu Masato—I remember this guy shouting campaign slogans through the village loudspeakers earlier. Didn't expect him to have time to show up here.
Then again, with Village Chief Kuroiwa dead, his strongest political competitor was now eliminated. He must be secretly thrilled.
Come to think of it, the other village chief candidate, Kawashima Hideo, was also supposed to die according to the original timeline.
If both of them end up dead, Shimizu wouldn't even need to campaign—he'd be appointed village chief by default.
Thinking about it logically... could he have been responsible for Kuroiwa Tatsuji's death?
Hmm, it's definitely possible.
"Papa, where did you go? Did you buy me any local specialties?"
Anya looked up at him with sparkling eyes, her small fists clenched hopefully in front of her chest, looking incredibly expectant.
Aunt Yor bought souvenirs for her little brother. I really want Papa to buy some for me too!
"Uh, well..."
Natsukawa was momentarily speechless.
Fortunately, Kogoro Mouri came to his rescue.
"Natsukawa, you're back just in time. The police officer has recovered. Let's head up the mountain together and check out the situation."
Natsukawa glanced at the elderly officer. His face was still somewhat pale, but he seemed to have regained his composure. Thank goodness he hadn't actually died—otherwise Uncle Mouri would've been the perfect scapegoat.
After all, only the two of them had gone to examine Kuroiwa Tatsuji's severed head. If the officer had been literally scared to death, Uncle Mouri would undoubtedly have become a prime suspect.
"Alright, let's go."
Natsukawa nodded in agreement, then glanced around curiously. There were no other police officers present—not even Inspector Megure, who usually showed up like clockwork at every crime scene.
He asked with a puzzled expression, "Didn't anyone call the police?"
Everyone at the scene froze. (￣△￣;)
Kogoro Mouri looked stunned. (°ー°〃)
Because of the elderly officer's dramatic fainting spell, he'd completely forgotten to have Ran contact the police and notify the Metropolitan Police Department to send backup. This was a major oversight.
Kogoro Mouri looked helplessly at Ran, and Ran looked questioningly at the police officer.
Isn't he already here though?
Uh... can this really count as the same thing? This guy can barely walk straight.
Look at him—he can't even stand up properly without hunching over.
Kogoro Mouri wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He decided to let the old man off the hook.
"I'll go call the police station," offered Hirata Kazuaki, Kuroiwa Tatsuji's secretary, breaking the awkward silence.
Kogoro Mouri nodded gratefully, then instructed everyone else to remain at the community center and wait.
These people were either directly involved with the case or had obvious conflicts of interest with Kuroiwa Tatsuji—like the two rival village chief candidates, whom he'd suspected from the very beginning.
Nishimoto Ken was particularly strange. He kept muttering obsessively that it was Keiji Aso's vengeful ghost returning from the grave.
The whole situation is deeply suspicious.
"By the way, where's Dr. Asai?" Kogoro Mouri suddenly asked, looking around.
"Dr. Asai said she had to return to the clinic briefly, but she'll be back soon," Ran replied.
Kogoro Mouri nodded and told Ran that when the doctor returned, she should wait here. If they discovered a body in the mountains, they'd need her to perform an examination.
Meanwhile, Conan silently concealed himself behind Natsukawa's back, sneaking along with the group as they headed up the mountain trail.
With a local guide leading the way, they quickly arrived at the location where the bloodstains had been discovered.
The spot was roughly halfway up the mountainside, with a steep precipice on the left side overlooking a deep valley below.
The blood on the ground was extremely obvious—so much had soaked into the dark soil that the earth itself seemed stained crimson.
The trail of bloodstains stretched ominously all the way to the cliff's edge.
Kogoro Mouri glanced toward the precipice, then immediately turned away, showing absolutely no intention of approaching for a closer examination.
Well, even famous detectives have their weaknesses. His fear of heights isn't really his fault.
It's the cliff's fault for being so tall!
"Could this possibly be animal blood?" Kogoro Mouri crouched down and examined the stains for several minutes, even picking up some blood-soaked soil to sniff it carefully.
"It shouldn't be animal blood."
Conan's voice from directly behind him startled Kogoro Mouri, who whipped around to locate the source.
"Conan! Why are you following me again?! Can't you learn from Anya and stay put?!"
"Uncle Mouri, did you call for Anya?" Anya peeked out adorably from behind Natsukawa's legs, asking with innocent curiosity.
Uh...
The famous detective stared at both children with completely deadpan eyes.
Not only is Conan being disobedient, but he even dragged Anya along with him. Absolutely unforgivable.
"Alright, it's fine, Mr. Mouri. I think Conan's observations are sometimes quite useful, actually."
Natsukawa intervened diplomatically to smooth things over, then turned to the boy. "Conan, why do you think this is human blood specifically?"
Human blood and mammal blood are virtually indistinguishable to the naked eye, and Natsukawa was genuinely curious how the kid could tell the difference.
"Because of this!" Conan pointed toward the thick bushes growing behind them. After ensuring everyone's attention was focused on him, he parted the branches and pointed to a suspicious bag hidden inside.
The bag was carefully pulled out from its hiding place. Its long, slender shape with a heavy-duty zipper made it immediately obvious to Natsukawa what it was.
A body bag—standard issue, thin yet incredibly durable, and heavily stained with blood.
The zipper was opened, and Conan rummaged carefully through the contents, revealing large patches of congealed blood that appeared relatively fresh.
Kogoro Mouri's expression immediately turned deadly serious. "It looks like the body was most likely thrown off this cliff."
He then addressed their local guide, Foreman Nakamasa. "Is there a path down to the bottom of the valley?"
Foreman Nakamasa nodded silently, stubbed out his cigarette on a nearby rock, and led the group back into the dense forest.
Half an hour of careful hiking later, they finally reached the base of the cliff.
The cliff face itself was approximately a hundred meters high—not extraordinarily tall, but extremely steep and treacherous.
The area at the bottom was surprisingly serene, with lush trees surrounding them and a crystal-clear stream flowing peacefully down the mountainside.
The only jarring element disrupting this natural beauty was the headless corpse lying beside the stream.
The body lay collapsed near the water's edge, noticeably deformed from the catastrophic fall, with blood thoroughly staining the surrounding ground. Internal organs had spilled out in a truly gruesome display.
Most disturbing of all were the several wild dogs scattered nearby. It wasn't difficult to guess what they'd been doing before the group's arrival.
A few of the scavenger dogs noticed the approaching humans and turned to stare, the fresh bloodstains around their muzzles adding to the absolutely horrifying scene.
Upon recognizing that people were approaching, the dogs immediately turned and fled, quickly disappearing into the dense forest undergrowth.
"Papa, Anya's scared!"
The little girl scrambled up Natsukawa's pant leg all the way to his shoulder, clinging to him desperately and refusing to let go.
This scene is still far too gruesome for a young child to witness.
However, compared to Anya's terrified reaction, Conan seemed remarkably composed and unaffected.
He suppressed his own nausea, pressed a handkerchief firmly against his nose and mouth, and was about to step forward to investigate the remains—but Natsukawa immediately grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.
"You two stay back over there. Don't come any closer to the body."
Natsukawa didn't particularly want to interfere with Conan's detective work, but Anya was right there watching. If Anya couldn't approach the crime scene, then Conan naturally couldn't either—otherwise Anya would immediately accuse him of playing favorites.
Sigh.
Being a father is genuinely exhausting.
Sorry Conan, but you'll have to bear with it.
That troublesome Anya... now I'm getting dragged into this too!
Conan glared at Anya with irritated, fish-like eyes, his dissatisfaction written plainly across his face, practically bursting to complain out loud.
Fine, I'll just observe from here. My eyesight's perfectly good anyway.
Conan gave up struggling and stood obediently in place like a well-behaved child.
Not for any other reason except that Uncle Mouri was currently cracking his knuckles menacingly, looking ready to deliver another round of head bumps—which made Conan instinctively touch the three swollen lumps on his skull that had only just started to shrink.
"Mr. Nakamasa, could you please keep an eye on these two children for me?"
Nakamasa nodded readily. Such a disgusting scene—just one glance at it made him certain he'd have nightmares tonight. He had absolutely no desire to approach any closer than necessary.
Truthfully, Natsukawa didn't get too close either. The entire area was littered with torn intestines and body parts that had been gnawed on by wild dogs. It was utterly indescribable, and he hadn't brought any extra shoes to change into afterward.
The corpse itself was in such horrific condition that any other wounds on the body were no longer clearly visible or identifiable.
Kogoro Mouri, however, approached the scene with complete professional seriousness.
In this moment, he displayed the composed demeanor befitting a former police detective, methodically examining the remains while carefully pulling on latex gloves.
This poor guy is truly pitiful. His severed head was left stuffed in a toilet, his body thrown off a cliff to be devoured by wild dogs.
What kind of terrible sins could he possibly have committed to deserve this fate?
(End of Chapter 84)
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