in2ebook Chapter 1289 Farlight's Loser
Chapter 1289 Farlight's Loser
Chapter 1289 Farlight's Loser
"There was no one else in the car except the driver, and it was going extremely fast —"
Listening to the descriptions from several people, Sato Miwako looked at the tollbooth that was already full of vehicles and slapped her forehead in exasperation.
A case that can alarm so many detectives is definitely not simple. Just hearing about this case makes you feel like you'll have to work overtime to write a report.
"The murderer strangled the driver while the car was speeding? That's unlikely, isn't it?" Takagi Wataru showed the same expression as Sato Miwako.
Even if the detectives solve the case, just summarizing the case will take them quite a while.
A high-speed locked-room murder case involving five detectives—is this karma for taking a break from work to have dinner with Inspector Sato, only to be cursed by my colleagues? —How terrifying!
The two men's gazes swept over the faces of the group of detectives, finally settling on the face of Kogoro Mouri, whose expression was the most composed, as if he had everything under control.
Kogoro Mouri only realized after being stared at by the two of them for a while that they were waiting for his response.
It wasn't that he actually had any ideas, but with so many detectives here today, there was no need for him to make any moves. He quickly prepared to clear his mind and naturally appeared quite calm.
"Like a ghost." Kogoro Mouri shrugged, his expression one of helplessness. "The most likely culprit right now is definitely a nearby driver."
"Yes, we found his car was in bad shape on the side of the road. After we forced the car to stop, Heiji said that the body was still warm, which means the driver hadn't been dead for long—" Toyama Kazuha nodded and added.
"Then Shinichi told me to call the police. But that's how we ran into you guys—"
"Speaking of which, when did Kudo-kun get back? We didn't hear a thing." Hearing Ran Mouri say this, Miwako Sato muttered to herself, "Did some emergency come up and he had to come back again?"
"Uh—" Ran Mouri was speechless, her gaze drifting to the side.
How can this be explained? They went to investigate an old case, and temporarily reverted to their original identities to avoid being discovered by the parties involved. This resulted in Conan Edogawa arriving and Shinichi Kudo running back. If Inspector Sato and the others insist on questioning them, it will indeed be a problem.
She shifted her pleading gaze elsewhere, only to see several detectives already dispersed into the congested waiting vehicles, seemingly lost in thought.
"Are they off looking for a suspect?" she couldn't help but ask. "They were here just a moment ago—"
"Looking for suspects? How are we supposed to look? There are nearly a hundred cars here." Sato Miwako crossed her arms. "Because we don't have concrete evidence, we've stopped all the vehicles at this tollbooth. Of course, many of them were definitely going in a different direction than the victim's car—"
Three vehicles.
Sato Miwako turned her head and saw several young people weaving through the gaps in the vehicles and walking back.
"There are only three suspicious cars here." Shinichi Kudo, who was leading the way, pressed down his baseball cap. "It's not good to leave the other cars stuck here; it's affecting traffic. Let's get them out of here as soon as possible."
Shinichi Kudo, who somehow managed to get Heiji Hattori's baseball cap, was standing in the crowd, but he was intentionally covering his face with the brim of the cap, seemingly to avoid having his appearance noticed immediately.
"You guys finished watching so quickly?" Takagi Wataru looked down to check the time on his watch and exclaimed in surprise.
At this speed of investigation, they have already surpassed all the frontline officers of the First Investigation Division.
If they could be that efficient—
"It's not that many," said Koshimizu Nanaaki frankly. "Vehicles coming from the other direction are not even considered. We'll check each of the remaining checkpoints, which is only about ten vehicles."
"The condition of the body is quite telling," Hattori Heiji explained. "There were bleeding points on the eyelids, and there were cord-like ligature marks on the neck. The deceased was definitely strangled by some method while driving."
However, the victim's phone had no messages or calls, meaning it was unlikely that anything was done remotely.
If it's something like a bomb detonator that needs to be operated remotely, then there must be some kind of medium.
Without obtaining information via mobile phone, the murderer must observe the victim's condition from a nearby location and then find a suitable opportunity to strike.
"The deceased's vehicle was unusual; he was driving a left-hand drive car," Shinichi Kudo continued. "Plus, when we noticed his car was acting strangely and approached, the driver's side window was always open. No matter how you look at it, it seems more natural that the murderer used the car to get close to him and then did something, right?"
This can be said to be the most distinctive feature of the deceased.
Most vehicles in Japan are right-hand drive, with the driver's seat on the left. Therefore, if the window is lowered, the driver of the vehicle to the left will indeed have room to maneuver, which is currently the most suitable approach.
"If that's the case, the killer must have done a lot of preparation. Attacking a car traveling at high speed is a very difficult operation, and it's hard to achieve the desired effect if you don't prepare properly and just act on impulse." Koshimizu Nanaichi stroked his chin. "No matter how you look at it, the killer must have been close to the victim's car, meaning at least at the previous intersection, they must have been close to their car."
"There are many cars coming from the same highway entrance, but only three fit the criteria." Hoshikawa Teru, feeling it wasn't right to remain silent, forced himself to speak. "I forced his car to stop, which means it couldn't have been done by a vehicle after us. After eliminating those, there are less than thirty left."
"Yes, we checked the toll cards. The victim and we passed through the same entrance. The ETC system over there is broken. Vehicles passing through during this time period will have to use toll cards, just like ours." Shinichi Kudo waved the card in his hand. "We just confirmed it at this toll station. The victim entered the entrance an hour earlier than us, which means he may have stopped at a service area along the way for a while."
"It's unlikely that a car would slowly stop and wait for the car behind it on the highway; it's easy to have an accident if you don't reach a certain speed. The only three cars that passed through the entrance around the same time and are now in this area are those three cars," Hattori Heiji concluded.
Sato Miwako looked the young faces up and down, paused for a moment, and then said with mixed feelings, "You've already checked their passes directly. Did the tollbooth agree to that?"
"We said it was because there were too many vehicles and the police couldn't check them all, so we were helping them with the checks and statistics. The tollbooth staff all agreed. What's wrong with that?" Hoshikawa Teru tilted his head, his tone matter-of-fact.
This is the kind of work detectives do. Helping the police or stealing their jobs is nothing new for them. He thought the Tokyo police were already used to it.
"Officer Sato, would you like to go and ask them together?" Shinichi Kudo, who had already lifted his foot, thought for a moment and asked politely.
"—So, you never intended for us to investigate together?" Sato Miwako's eyes twitched.
What's the point of calling the police then? Are they just there to stop vehicles?
"Ah, it was really unexpected to run into you two here. I thought you two had something important to do." Shinichi Kudo glanced at their attire and asked uncertainly, "So, don't you have other business or dates?"
"Well—" Takagi Wataru looked away and didn't reply.
"It was my fault," Tang Ze, who had been watching for a while, chimed in at the right moment. "If I had known beforehand that this was your private time, I shouldn't have disturbed you. I should have told Xiao Lan to call the police directly."
If someone else had said this, it might have drawn some complaints, but since Tang Ze said it this way, Sato Miwako could only quickly wave her hand.
"No, it's not that important—"
The two of them had only gone to Hachioji City for sightseeing; they were planning to go back to Tokyo to have dinner at a restaurant they had booked.
But since there's still plenty of time, we should be able to finish it in time.
Unable to refuse again, the two of them went to the tollbooth staff to explain the matter of being allowed to pass, and then followed a few high school students to the three cars that they had already screened out.
The first one, of course, was the woman who got out of the car and rushed over to check, right after the deceased and the detectives' vehicle.
"How could I be the murderer? You shouldn't be suspecting me, no matter who you suspect!" Mizobata Riko's tone was agitated and indignant when Hattori Heiji bluntly asked, "Why did you wait for an opportunity to commit the crime?" "Gunihei is my boyfriend! I was just driving with him, heading to a place to eat!"
"You're his girlfriend. You two went for a drive, did you split into two cars?" Without commenting on whether the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship would affect the investigation of the murder case, Sato Miwako, who was also going to dinner, immediately spotted the suspicious point: "What's wrong with your cars?"
"No, Kohei and I are both car enthusiasts. We became friends because of cars. We always drive our own cars when we go out, since we all have different tastes—" Mizobata Riko shook her head immediately. "What, is that not allowed?"
"So, you followed the car because you went to the service area just like him?" Takagi Wataru continued, following up on her statement.
The deceased had stayed at the service area for nearly an hour. If they did not enter the service area at the same time, it is difficult to explain their similar entry and exit times.
"Who knows? This wasn't arranged beforehand. He suddenly turned into the service area without saying a word. I followed him and asked him what happened, and he said he hadn't slept well last night and was very tired, so he took a nap. I could only kill time waiting in the service area." Riko Mizobata patted the roof of her car behind her. "I washed the car and went to the convenience store to shop. You can find the records if you want to investigate."
"He slept at the service area for almost an hour, I understand." Takagi Wataru wrote a few lines, then looked at the other two, "And you, why did you go to the service area?"
"It's normal to stop at a service area while driving on the highway, isn't it?" Seemingly annoyed by the police officer's questioning tone, the tall, mustachioed man, Atsuo Tadada, answered curtly, "I was just hungry, so I saw the service area sign and went to find a restaurant to eat. Is that not allowed?"
"As for me, I just went to the restroom." The other, shorter and stouter, bespectacled middle-aged man, Shimotori Taishi, was more polite, but his expression was just as resistant. "Afterwards, I rested at the service area for a while. As for the death or anything, it was just a coincidence. I didn't know him."
Riko Mizobata, who was standing nearby, stepped forward and immediately exposed their lie.
"Liar! How could you two not know Junping!"
She first pointed to Atsuo Tadada with the mustache and said directly, "You are the boss of Blackstar, the team that competes with Kohei."
After saying that, he pointed his finger at the middle-aged man, Shimotori Taishi: "Aren't you the father of A-Zhang, the team member who died in the accident last time?!"
"Wait a minute, Kohei..." Sato Miwako finally caught a glimpse of something familiar. "So, the deceased was actually Kohei Kojo, the leader of that racing gang RedComments?!"
"Yeah, didn't you recognize him?" Riko Mizobata turned around, asking blankly, "He just shaved off his beard and dyed his hair back to black, he's not that hard to recognize, is he?"
"Wait a minute, if I remember correctly, didn't he leave the team and retire because someone died in the accident, and he said he would take responsibility for it?" Sato Miwako frowned. "From what you're saying, they are all people involved in this matter."
"Yes, Gunpei has indeed resigned to take responsibility." Mizobata Riko nodded. "He didn't do anything outrageous this time. He just wanted to enjoy the scenery one last time before leaving Tokyo and drive normally."
As a result, people kept cutting us off, flashing their high beams, and honking their horns the whole way.
As she spoke, she seemed to get angry again, and turned to glare at Tadada Atsuo.
"It's this guy, flashing his high beams the whole time! My car was right in front of Junping, and the flashes were blinding me. It's all your fault that something happened to Junping!"
"Flashing your high beams on," Tang Ze nodded. "No wonder. If I were driving and someone was flashing their high beams on me the whole time, I'd probably want to kill them too, unless they killed me first. You could call that a motive."
"Hey, Tang Ze—" Sato Miwako relaxed her stern face when he suddenly interrupted her with a joke.
This isn't just any ordinary driver; this is a member of a motorcycle gang. There's no good in messing with them.
"Tch, he just always loses to Gunpei on the mountain roads. Gunpei has already retired, and he still hasn't won once." Mizobata Riko said disdainfully, "He resorts to such disgusting tactics when he can't win. How pathetic."
Tang Ze chimed in, "That's true, it's normal that those who use high beams are destined to lose."
"Hey!" Atsuo Tadada's forehead veins bulged out as he met Tang Ze's gaze, but his hostility instinctively subsided somewhat.
For some reason, even though he didn't show any expression, I had this feeling that this young man was even more intimidating than the fierce-looking Riko Mizobata next to him.