Chapter 8: There Are Many Talented People in the Mental Hospital~
On the other side, Hattori Heizo headed to the Interrogation Room, deep in thought, and didn't have the 'triumphant' look Conan had imagined.
They hadn't caught the person themselves, so the Osaka Prefectural Police had nothing to brag about.
Originally, when he heard that Numabuchi Kiichiro had been caught and sent over, he only paid a little attention. Since the person had already been caught, he figured two police officers could slowly inquire about the specifics.
His attention was still focused on the case where the murderer had already killed four people and might continue to kill.
But not long after Numabuchi Kiichiro was brought in, the National Police Agency suddenly called, asking them to provide Information about Numabuchi Kiichiro's arrest.
When asked where Numabuchi Kiichiro was caught, it led to the truth of this case and Sakata, the real culprit. However, when asked who caught him, Numabuchi Kiichiro changed his previous cooperative attitude and remained silent.
"Chief!" Toyama Ginshiro greeted Hattori Heizo as he approached.
Hattori Heizo nodded. "He's still not saying anything?"
"Yes, as soon as we ask who sent him here, he clams up," Toyama Ginshiro said. "The people who went to the Cabin to collect evidence only found traces of Numabuchi Kiichiro and Sakata's activities at the scene. The person who brought Numabuchi Kiichiro here seems to have deliberately cleaned up their own traces, fingerprints, footprints, hair... nothing was left behind."
"What about the Surveillance Camera outside the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters Building?" Hattori Heizo asked. "Did it capture the other person's movements?"
"No, the Roadside they chose was right in the Blind Spot of the Camera," Toyama Ginshiro said. "The Phone Card used to call the police was a temporarily purchased prepaid card with no previous call Bill, and it's currently turned off, making it impossible to track their location through Contact Information. Furthermore, no useful clues were left on the Paper, and the Cardboard Box is a Leopard Express packaging box. I've already sent someone to the Leopard Express packaging center in Osaka to confirm."
Hattori Heizo observed Numabuchi Kiichiro's wrist through the glass window, noticing the chafed skin. "Numabuchi Kiichiro is injured. Judging by the wound, it hasn't been long."
"Yes," Toyama Ginshiro's expression became a little strange. "Numabuchi Kiichiro said he fell and injured himself, and the people who surveyed the scene agreed with this explanation. The marks don't look like they were left by two people fighting..."
"In other words, we have absolutely no Information about the other person, and it's difficult to make a Judgment?" Hattori Heizo asked.
"Yes," Toyama Ginshiro nodded solemnly and tentatively asked, "Is there something wrong with that person?"
"Oh?" Hattori Heizo had some guesses, but he didn't voice them.
"It's obvious that Numabuchi Kiichiro is protecting that person!" Toyama Ginshiro's mind raced. "Could the other person be an accomplice of Numabuchi Kiichiro in the previous murders of three people? No... it's confirmed that Numabuchi Kiichiro acted alone. Then, could that person be the mastermind behind the scenes? Did they persuade Numabuchi Kiichiro to take all the blame and cooperate in being sent to the police station...?"
Seeing Toyama Ginshiro's expression becoming increasingly serious, Hattori Heizo couldn't help but chuckle. "That's not it. If we can't find out, then so be it. After the investigation is over, organize the investigation results for me."
"Uh, okay..." Toyama Ginshiro was a little confused, wondering why the chief seemed so relaxed.
Hattori Heizo didn't explain.
Numabuchi Kiichiro had only been caught for a little over ten minutes when the Public Security from the National Police Agency called to request Information.
They didn't ask if Numabuchi Kiichiro had been caught, but directly asked for the Information about the capture.
This indicated that the other party had informed the Public Security of the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters Security Department in advance. Once it was confirmed that Numabuchi Kiichiro had been arrested, the Public Security of the Osaka Security Department immediately reported it.
Because this was a case for the Criminal Investigation Department, it was inconvenient for them to intervene directly, but they wanted to know the other person's Information, so the National Police Agency contacted him.
The person who called had a very casual attitude, as if they just wanted to gather as much intelligence as possible and didn't take it too seriously, not like they were treating the other person as a criminal.
It must be someone they were paying attention to...
Hattori Heizo remained relatively relaxed.
Just submit the Situation they had investigated, and they were powerless to do anything else.
...Leopard Express.
"All of our packaging center Staff are here. No one has gone out today, and we've only delivered a few large items recently..."
"Have any large packaging Cardboard Boxes gone missing?" The Staff member recalled for a moment, "Packaging Cardboard Boxes aren't worth much, and we haven't paid much attention..."
The two Police officers in charge exchanged glances. It seemed there was no way to investigate further.
"Well then, if you think of anything, you can Contact Information us again."
"Okay."
Seeing the Police leave, the Staff member then turned to look at Chi Feichi and smiled apologetically, "Sorry to keep you waiting!"
"It's nothing, cooperating with the Police in handling a case is a big deal," Chi Feichi said understandingly.
It wasn't strange for the Police to come and investigate the packaging Cardboard Box. It was probably the National Police Agency trying to get his Information, and they were likely checking other leads as well.
However, he wasn't here out of guilt, or to try and cover his tracks. The Home Delivery packaging Cardboard Box was just picked up on the Roadside. If it wasn't a Leopard Express Cardboard Box, it could have been a Cardboard Box from another business...
He was really here just to send Things.
"So, the delivery location is Aoyama No. 4 Hospital, the recipient is Zhi Ming Fukuyama Doctor, and the Phone is..."
The Staff member filled out the form while confirming with Chi Feichi, "Do you need to specify a delivery Time?"
"No need," Chi Feichi said, "Any Time is fine."
"Okay," the Staff member stuck the form on, then picked up another Cardboard Box, put a pile of Dolls, Plush Toy Keychains, and children's T-shirts on the table inside, and sealed it with Adhesive Tape. "Is this a Gift for a Little Girl? Is she your younger sister?"
"Sort of," Chi Feichi said, "Send this one to Tokyo Beika Town, 2-22, recipient Ai, no specified delivery Time."
"Okay," the Staff member quickly filled out the form, "Contact Information?"
"None."
"O-okay..."
Leaving the packaging center, Chi Feichi directly hailed a Taxi to the Airport.
Coming to Osaka and earning money again, he naturally wanted to share it, but he didn't have many people to give Gifts to.
He didn't know the addresses of his former classmates, and he had almost no Friends. Counting them, only Zhi Ming Fukuyama and Haibara Ai were somewhat familiar, and he had only met them after transmigrating here...
He also prepared a Gift for Kitagawa Adachi, sending it to Zhi Ming Fukuyama together, leaving a note for Zhi Ming Fukuyama to pass it on, as an apology for knocking him out and using Ether to enhance the coma effect.
He originally thought about being fair and giving a Gift to his cheap old man and old mom as well, but then he realized he didn't know where those two were, or even if they were in the country or abroad, so he simply gave up.
The Hospital should be looking for him everywhere now. He wasn't sure about his cheap old man's side, but he had bought two prepaid Phone Cards, and his previous number was currently unreachable.
When Zhi Ming Fukuyama received the Home Delivery and learned he was in Osaka from the sender's address, he might give up searching, or he might send someone to Osaka to take a look.
He really didn't dare to underestimate the level of responsibility of that Hospital, but no matter which situation it was, he could use this Time to complete another Bounty...
The Taxi stopped outside the Airport. Chi Feichi paid and got out. As he went inside, he casually threw the Phone Card he used to call the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters into the trash can at the entrance.
More than thirty minutes later, the plane took off from Osaka, heading to Tokyo.
At 6:30 PM in the evening, Chi Feichi came out of the Airport. He didn't go to get his car parked nearby, and hailed another Taxi.
The protection Task didn't require much effort. On the contrary, the Evidence of Crime search required him to first investigate and confirm the Information properly.
The Goal was a Key Member of the Inagawa-kai's Tokyo regional executive department.
The Bounty Information provided the target's name, Photo, age, address, places they frequented, and daily routine.
The requirement was to obtain Evidence of Crime of the other party's illegal activities, anything would do.
Although there were no other instructions, he could guess.
It was estimated that someone had crossed the bottom line of the Public Security of Japan and wanted to find a breakthrough to deal with this guy, or it was to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys, to give a warning.
Public Security didn't choose to take action themselves, and the requirement was 'anything would do', indicating that the other party was very well-hidden and also very tricky...
He might need to find a helper!
...Night, 8:00 PM.
Night fell, and the city was shrouded in lights.
The Shopkeepers on Pet Street were in their most leisurely Time, and had already made plans in twos and threes about where to go for a couple of drinks after closing up later.
There really weren't many people who came to buy Pets late at night. When Chi Feichi arrived, the Street was deserted.
Walking along, he could occasionally hear Animal voices in his ears.
"That guy over there is so ugly..."
"I wonder what to eat tomorrow?"
"Where's the Water? Where's the Water?"
"Move over a bit, you're squeezing me!"
...
After looking around a few Shops, Chi Feichi discovered a very interesting phenomenon.
The Animals he could hear speaking, whether cats, dogs, or birds, all had Eyes that were much more lively than other Animals of the same kind, and their status among their kind was also relatively high.
In other words, Spirituality!
And through interacting with these Animals, he also discovered the pattern of his ability—
Sometimes, he couldn't hear Animals or Plants speaking, not because his ability was intermittent, but because the surrounding Animals and Plants lacked Spirituality or didn't have enough Spirituality.
And sometimes, Animals and Plants that had spoken suddenly became silent. It might be that they were just having a 'flash of inspiration' when they spoke.
For example, the Potted Plant outside the Restroom. Apart from that night, he had never heard that Potted Plant speak again. It must have been a 'flash of inspiration' that made it say that sentence at the Time, and afterwards it was muddled and had no thoughts.
Of course, the sudden silence might also be because they didn't want to talk...
And based on the frequency of speaking and the content of their speech, he could judge the Spirituality of these Animals and Plants. For Animals, Spirituality was basically equivalent to intelligence.
Thinking of the Mental Hospital, the Big Tree that remembered gossip from more than ten years ago, the Despicable Bird that would imitate the Nurse calling his name as a prank, the Succulent Plant on Zhi Ming Fukuyama's desk that complained every day, and the Flower in the Activity Room that laughed and played with the patients...
Looking at what was in front of him now, the Puppy that looked at him blankly with its tongue lolling out after saying one sentence, the Cat sleeping lazily, the Hamster that only repeatedly muttered about what to eat tomorrow...
Chi Feichi fell silent.
Comparing the two, he suddenly felt the gap in intelligence!
Could it really be 'There are many talented people in the Mental Hospital'? Was it the same for Animals and Plants?
Speaking of which, in the past two days outside, he had never heard a Plant speak. Judging by this, there were fewer Plants with Spirituality than Animals with Spirituality.
And in the Mental Hospital, there were three... no, three Plants with intelligence no less than humans...
(End of Chapter)