A Fugitive from the Liquor Factory

What they need to do now is to protect this woman before the murderer finds her.

But Officer Sakata is in a much worse situation now.

They borrowed the best police car from the police station to entertain guests, but in just one afternoon, the perfectly good police car was damaged by a corpse.

After this incident, Officer Sakata will have to write a report to the police station explaining the cause of the police car damage, and he probably won't have much of his attendance bonus left this month.

But Officer Sakata still seems relatively optimistic, and is seriously discussing with his colleagues in the Investigation Division One whether the victim could possibly be connected to the previous two victims.

To be honest, the police are indeed much faster at doing these things than the two detective assistants Shizuka Sakaki and Koharu Yoshino.

Jiang Hang was still listening to his assistants analyze the murderer's motives when Officer Sakata excitedly came to Heiji Hattori's side with a videotape.

"We've found it! We've just discovered the first connection between these victims."

As he said this, he plugged the videotape into the television next to him and started playing the news from it.

That was a news report about officials suspected of embezzlement and bribery.

As a native of Osaka, and with his father being the head of the Osaka Police Headquarters, Heiji Hattori was somewhat familiar with this kind of news.

After just a quick glance, he recalled the details of the news report and explained it to Shizuka Sakaki and the others who were looking somewhat confused.

"The person reported in the news is Sōji Munetaro, a current Councilman Goji. This is the first scandal he has encountered since he entered politics, which happened six years ago."

"Anyway, I remember that the news eventually fizzled out with the guy shifting the blame to his secretary."

Heiji Hattori said this, then looked at Officer Sakata beside him, wanting him to continue explaining the connection between the news from six years ago and this serial murder case.

Officer Sakata nodded and continued explaining, picking up where Heiji Hattori left off. "That's right. According to our comparison, the secretary that Sōji Munetaro fired was the first victim in this murder case Hidetoshi Nagao."

He found a spot to pause the videotape, then pointed to the secretary in the news footage who was blocking the reporters from approaching.

Jiang Hang compared the photos of the people in the news with those of the deceased.

Six years have passed. After leaving politics Hidetoshi Nagao lost his original spirit. Six years seemed to have passed for him as if sixteen years had gone by. At first glance, he was almost unrecognizable as the same person.

Seeing everyone comparing the deceased's appearance now with that of six years ago, Officer Sakata paused for a moment before continuing, "Then there's the victim in today's case Kazuto Noasu."

He pointed to the man sitting in the driver's seat in the videotape.

The man who drove Sōji Munetaro in the news is the same person who fell into the police car today!

Because the other party was just an ordinary driver, six years had not left many marks on his face, and everyone quickly confirmed this after Officer Sakata pointed it out.

"Until four years ago, Kazuto Noasu, who was killed today, was the personal driver of Councilor Kazuhito. However, he resigned four years ago for some unknown reason and became a taxi driver until now."

At this point, Officer Sakata scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. "However, we haven't been able to find a second victim who is connected to them yet."

"But I think the two victims in this case used to work as a driver and secretary for the same politician, so perhaps the izakaya owner also had some connection with that politician..."

"The senior officers at the police station are already investigating this matter, and it seems they are preparing to go directly to the township councilor to inquire about the case."

Upon hearing Officer Sakata's words, Heiji Hattori spread his hands. "But I heard that Councilor Goji has never had a good attitude towards the police. You have no evidence right now, so even if you go there, he won't see you."

Officer Sakata gave a wry smile, "But no matter what, this is the only useful clue our police have found so far."

"If all else fails, I'll have to report this to my superiors and see if there's anything they can do."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hang rested his chin on his hand and pondered for a moment. He was a politician who disliked the police.

In addition to the bribery scandal that occurred six years ago, he is now involved in this serial murder case, so he is probably not a good person.

If the police really run into a wall with that congressman, then he can find time tonight to "sneak" into that guy's house, drug him a bit, and force him to tell the truth.

Anyway, he's not exactly a proper detective; those seemingly unconventional methods are his usual approach.

Unaware that Jiang Hang was about to make a move, Officer Sakata shook his head helplessly. He seemed to remember something and started talking to Heiji Hattori about the woman who had escaped from the scene.

"By the way, I've already found out the identity of the woman you asked me to investigate through her license plate."

"That woman's name is Okazaki Sumie. She's 39 years old and currently divorced and single. According to the information on her driver's license, she lives in the Saito Apartments, which isn't far from here. I Heiji tell you're quite concerned about her, Heiji. Shall we go check on her first?"

Upon hearing this, Hattori Heiji, who had been pondering his next Heiji Hattori, immediately perked up.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's contact her right away. I feel the key to this case lies with her!"

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Officer Sakata nodded somewhat hurriedly, took out his phone, and dialed the number the woman had left when she took her driver's license test, putting it on speakerphone.

Not long after, a somewhat flustered woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"You... you, who are you? Tell me now, or I'm hanging up!"

Hearing the woman's extremely flustered voice, Heiji Hattori and Jiang Hang, who were standing next to Officer Sakata, exchanged a glance and realized that there was indeed a problem.

Officer Sakata quickly explained, "Hello, Ms. Okazaki, this is Officer Sakata from the Investigation Division One Higashishiri Precinct of the Osaka Police Department. We're calling to inquire about a recent case..."

Officer Sakata was interrupted by Okazaki Sumie on the other end of the phone before he could finish speaking.

"Officer, please come and protect me! If this continues, I'm going to be killed by that guy just like Noyasu and Nishiguchi!"

Upon hearing the names of the two victims from the woman, Heiji Hattori clenched his fists.

As expected, his guess was right. This woman was the key, and she might even know the murderer's identity!

Officer Sakata was startled by the woman's sudden cry for help. He quickly reassured her, "Ms. Okazaki, please calm down. We police will definitely protect you."

"We're heading from the police station to your home now. Is your current address still at Xidu Apartments?"

After receiving the woman's affirmative reply, Officer Sakata once again solemnly reminded her, "Before we arrive, lock the doors to your house and don't let anyone in!"

"We'll be there in ten minutes, but you must be extremely careful until then!"

With that, Officer Sakata prepared to hang up the phone and head to Okazaki Sumie's house to protect this important informant.

But just as he was about to hang up the phone, Jiang Hang suddenly stopped him.

"Don't hang up yet. What if the murderer suddenly breaks down the door during this time, and Ms. Okazaki can't contact you immediately?"

Seeing that Officer Sakata was stunned for a moment, Jiang Hang took the phone from his hand.

Are you kidding me? He's seen this kind of plot way too many times in movies and TV shows.

They kept saying they'd be there right away, but in those few minutes, they always encountered unexpected situations, ultimately leading to the person the main characters were looking for being killed by the criminal before they could find him.

In this situation, you need to keep confirming the information from the other party and try to get more information about the case from them as soon as possible!

Jiang Hang coughed lightly, then spoke into the phone in a relatively calm voice, "Hello, this is Jiang Hang, a special advisor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. I will be in constant communication with you from now on until the police arrive at your room."

"First, make sure all the doors and windows in your house are closed as quickly as possible before you come back to the phone."

While Okazaki Sumie was checking the doors and windows, Jiang Hang glanced at Officer Sakata, who looked somewhat embarrassed, gave him a look that said, "Let's go now," and prepared to set off with Heiji Hattori.

He had only just taken a few words out of the police station with his phone when he suddenly noticed his assistants following behind him, ready to join him.

He had been so focused on the case that he almost forgot about the girls.

But Jiang Hang isn't planning to bring them along this time.

After all, the perpetrator in this case is a murderer whose identity has not yet been confirmed.

With so many girls here, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to bring just anyone to the event, as he usually does.

But it would be too high-profile to take a group of girls with you to solve a case.

Even if Jiang Hang is very skilled, it's better to be more cautious in this situation. It would be bad if the murderer hurt them while escaping.

So Jiang Hang thought about it and decided that to keep things simple and convenient, he would just go with Heiji Hattori this time, and the girls could stay at the police station and wait for them to come back.

Jiang Hang whispered to the girls about the dangers of the operation, and asked Kazuha Toyama nearby, to look after them at the police station for a while. Then he looked towards Miyano Akemi's location.

Miyano Akemi smiled understandingly at Jiang Hang, indicating that she didn't care about these things.

But it might not be so easy to get rid of Miyano Shiho...

Um?

Where is Miyano Shiho?

It was only then that Jiang Hang realized that Miyano Shiho was no longer at the police station.

Did they go to the restroom?

However, with Miyano Shiho not around, he's saved a lot of trouble.

Jiang Hang gave Miyano Akemi a look that said, "Please apologize to your sister for me," and then hurriedly left the police station.

The damaged car was obviously no longer drivable, but Officer Sakata seemed to have partnered with Heiji Hattori many times before and knew what kind of person Heiji Hattori was, so he had prepared another car in advance during the investigation.

Even when Heiji Hattori thanked him, he just kept adjusting the direction of the car's rearview mirrors while saying that he was already used to it.

However, just as they were about to drive away, another person suddenly squeezed into the back seat, which had previously only had Jiang Hang sitting there.

Upon seeing that the person who suddenly squeezed in was Miyano Shiho, Jiang Hang, who was holding his phone, almost dropped it on the ground.

He quickly covered the microphone and whispered to Miyano Shiho why she had suddenly followed him.

"I came out to wait for you when you were talking about that councilor," Miyano Shiho explained succinctly, seemingly having figured out Jiang Hang's modus operandi.

Then she stared at Jiang Hang with wide eyes and said to him in a voice only the two of them could hear, "On my first day in Osaka, I had a bad feeling, like... I could smell those guys, so I'm going to find out if this case is related to them."

Chapter 380: Chapter 376: Fugitives from the Black Organization

Upon hearing Miyano Shiho's words, Jiang Hang was slightly taken aback, but then quickly realized that the "guys" Miyano Shiho was referring to were the members of the Black Organization.

Speaking of which, he did vaguely remember that after Miyano Shiho escaped the organization, she became particularly sensitive to the people from the Black Organization. Whenever a member of the Black Organization appeared around her, she could always detect it immediately.

But Jiang Hang really didn't expect that, judging from Miyano Shiho's words, this case would involve encountering members of the Black Organization.

Seemingly noticing that Jiang Hang was whispering something to Miyano Shiho Heiji Hattori wanted to come over and listen to what the two were saying.

However, Conan hadn't told Heiji Hattori about the Black Organization yet, so Jiang Hang naturally didn't intend to bring up such a private matter with Heiji Hattori in this kind of place.

He immediately rolled his eyes at Heiji Hattori, telling him to sit properly in the passenger seat and not eavesdrop on other people's whispers.

As for Miyano Shiho, Jiang Hang nodded slightly, indicating that he understood and tacitly acquiesced to Miyano Shiho's actions in acting with him.

After Heiji Hattori withdrew his curiosity, Jiang Hang began to ponder what role a member of the Black Organization would play in this case if there really was one.

The first person to be considered is naturally the murderer.

However, this was also the direction that Jiang Hang ruled out the fastest.

After all, given the Black Organization's style, they would definitely eliminate their targets in the simplest way possible, and most importantly, maintain their own secrecy.

Unlike this serial murder case, where each victim was killed in the same way, the people at the Black Organization would not have openly displayed the victims' bodies to provoke the Osaka police, as if they were afraid the police wouldn't realize it was a serial killing.

Jiang Hang pondered, resting his chin on his hand: Or perhaps there was an undercover agent sent by the Black Organization in the Osaka Police Department, which was detected by Miyano Shiho's unreliable and unadjustable the Black Organization radar?

Seeing Miyano Shiho's current state, Jiang Hang subconsciously turned his gaze to Officer Sakata, who had just adjusted the rearview mirror and was preparing to drive.

Heiji Hattori knew he was part of the main cast, so he could rest assured about that.

Naturally, his parents and the family of his childhood friend Kazuha Toyama, can also be excluded.

So after they arrived in Osaka, the only person they had the most contact with was Officer Sakata.

After thinking about this, Jiang Hang suddenly recalled the faint smell of blood he had smelled on Officer Sakata when he first met him that morning.

At the time, Jiang Hang thought the other person was a detective from the Investigation Division One, who was busy with various cases all day and could not get off work until very late.

The bloodstains on him were likely from yesterday's crime scene, traces that he hadn't had time to clean off.

But now that the other party has been labeled as a "The Black Organization member," the source of the bloody smell on him is questionable.

Jiang Hang pondered the possibility that Officer Sakata, whom he had only met today, was an undercover agent at the Black Organization.

However, all of this is just baseless speculation. In the end, Jiang Hang decided to focus on Officer Sakata for the time being.

After Okazaki Sumie, on the other end of the phone, confirmed that all the doors and windows in her house were locked and closed, Jiang Hang temporarily turned his attention back to the phone.

"Ms. Okazaki, please relax a little. We are on our way and will be there soon," he continued in a steady voice as he spoke to Okazaki Sumie on the other end of the phone.

"Now, please briefly explain over the phone how you met Kazuto Noasu and Tayo Nishiguchi, and whether you were at the crime scene this afternoon because you knew something in advance."

Because of the successive deaths of people she knew, Okazaki Sumie on the other end of the phone had long since become a frightened bird.

Fearing that she might be killed by the mysterious killer at any moment, she swallowed hard, hesitated for a moment, and then stammered out how she had met the victims of this case when she was young.

"About twenty years ago, when I had just come of age, I was attending a short-term driving training camp. I shared a room with Nishiguchi, and Noyasu and Nagao were also in that training class..."

Because Jiang Hang had the speakers on, everyone in the car could hear what Okazaki Sumie was saying.

Heiji Hattori immediately took out his notebook and began to write down this important information, planning to investigate the training course from back then after making the call in Jiang Hang.

"So, did anything happen during that short training session?"