What Happened 20 Years Ago / Heiji Hattori's New Deduction

After all, that was 20 years ago. Would most people still remember the names of the people they learned to drive with back then so clearly 20 years later?

Clearly, something memorable must have happened that made it impossible for Okazaki Sumie to forget what happened back then, and it is also the real cause of this serial murder case.

After Jiang Hang asked the question, Okazaki Sumie hesitated for a moment before explaining somewhat unclearly, "Twenty years ago, on the day our training ended, our instructor died in a car accident... After that, our training program was disbanded..."

The woman's ambiguous tone made it clear to almost everyone that she was probably hiding a lot about this matter.

If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. If she were truly confident, she wouldn't be acting so timidly. She even chose to flee immediately upon seeing the police at the crime scene.

It's estimated that she was getting increasingly worried about the killer coming to her door from staying at home, which is why she wanted to seek help from the police after Officer Sakata called her.

Jiang Hang gave Heiji Hattori a look, signaling him to thoroughly investigate the training class from back then, while he continued to keep Okazaki Sumie calm.

The other party still had a defensive stance and was unwilling to reveal everything. Because they were communicating over the phone, he was worried that continuing to press Okazaki Sumie would cause her to break down again and do something irrational, so he didn't press her any further.

It wouldn't be too late for them to wait until they meet with Okazaki Sumie and have a face-to-face conversation before gradually uncovering the truth about what happened back then.

"So, have you kept in touch all these years? Why were you there at that place at noon today? Were you notified in advance?"

Okazaki Sumie quickly replied, "It's been a long time since we've all seen each other in our training class. But because Nishiguchi runs an izakaya, I occasionally go there for a visit. Aside from that, I've only taken a taxi driven by Noya a few times."

"I actually received a voicemail around noon today. The person on the phone asked me to go to a certain place, saying that I could see my old friend there. Because the news reported this morning about the murder in Xikou, I went to the place indicated in the call to take a look..."

"Then, after I got home, I received another message asking if I had seen it, and telling me that I was next... You guys better hurry up and come over now!"

Hearing the increasingly panicked voice of the woman on the other end of the phone, I reassured her a few times, told her to stay on the phone, and then let her slowly recall who might be the murderer in this case.

The members of that training class were of paramount importance back then, and now any member of that training class could be the murderer or the next victim.

Okazaki Sumie controlled her flustered tone and slowly recounted the names of the trainees from back then.

The three deceased were listed first, but the names she mentioned next made everyone in the car pause in surprise.

"Sōji Munetaro... is that the Osaka Prefectural Assemblyman Sōji Munetaro?" I just heard this name from Officer Sakata, and I didn't expect to hear it from Okazaki Sumie so soon.

After receiving a positive reply from Okazaki Sumie, Jiang Hang couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Well, he was planning to go to the other person's house tonight to drug them and interrogate them, but now it seems that if Heiji Hattori and Officer Sakata report this to the Osaka police, he probably won't even need to take action.

As a potential target of the perpetrator in this case, and given that the other party is also a suspect in this case, even if that congressman hates the police, he will probably have to go and be questioned by the police.

They had thought that the name Sōji Munetaro was already quite prestigious, but they were surprised to find that the driving school training class from 20 years ago was full of hidden talents. Soon, another name came out of Okazaki Sumie's mouth that moved everyone in the car.

"Numabuchi Ki'ichirō?"

Jiang Hang had never heard of this name before, but judging from the astonished expressions on the faces of Heiji Hattori, Officer Sakata, and even Miyano Shiho beside him, this Numabuchi Ki'ichirō was actually more important than Sōji Munetaro.

Jiang Hang soon learned about Numabuchi Ki'ichirō's situation from Heiji Hattori.

In a sense, this Numabuchi Ki'ichirō is indeed quite famous within the police department.

He has committed assaults and even murders in Osaka, Gunma and other places. Although he disappeared for a few years, he recently reappeared and killed three innocent passersby. He is still being hunted down by the police with a reward.

"If I remember correctly, that Numabuchi Ki'ichirō committed a robbery in Kyoto a while ago and then disappeared again. According to internal police intelligence, it is believed that he has fled back to Osaka, right?" Heiji Hattori checked with Officer Sakata, who was driving.

Officer Sakata nodded. "Yes, that is the case. We also received calls from concerned citizens in our Higashishiri Precinct who said they saw someone resembling Numabuchi. Our police station launched a manhunt for him a while ago, and I participated in that operation."

"However, no trace of Numabuchi Ki'ichirō was found in the end. I guess he has probably escaped to another place again."

But before Officer Sakata could finish speaking, Heiji Hattori refuted him.

"I don't think so. After all, there were a series of deaths at that driving school training class 20 years ago. Now, the only people still alive are Numabuchi, Councilor Goji, and this Ms. Okazaki whose life is threatened. I don't think this is a coincidence."

"Based on the current clues, there may be some unknown secrets in that training course back then, such as the suspicious death of that coach."

"Then, so many years have passed, and Numabuchi Ki'ichirō, having committed his crimes, happened to return to Osaka. So he wanted to use what happened back then to blackmail the victims. Eventually, something went wrong, leading him to decide to eliminate everyone from back then, which resulted in this series of cases..."

After stating his reasoning, Heiji Hattori turned to look at Jiang Hang in the back seat, wanting to see what Jiang Hang thought of his reasoning.

Unfortunately, while Heiji Hattori's reasoning sounded plausible, to Jiang Hang, who had more information, it was essentially the same as listening to Kogoro Mouri's reasoning—allowing him to immediately rule out a wrong answer.

Just now, Jiang Hang had exchanged information with Miyano Shiho, whose face showed a look of astonishment.

That Numabuchi Ki'ichirō should be the target locked by Miyano Shiho's the Black Organization radar.

Jiang Hang glanced at Heiji Hattori and Officer Sakata who was driving, then brought his ear close to Miyano Shiho's mouth to listen to her begin to explain about Numabuchi Ki'ichirō.

Even if Miyano Shiho didn't explain in detail, he could still guess a lot of useful information.

First of all, given the Black Organization's consistent style, from the moment he joined the Black Organization, his life was no longer his own.

If you dare to show any intention to rebel against the organization, Gin, who specializes in killing his own people, is not kidding.

Since the other party is still being hunted by the police and has to hide everywhere to do petty theft, and even the Black Organization has no intention of protecting him, it means that he is definitely not an important cadre. At most, he is just a low-level member who has worked for Miyano Shiho.

This guy might even have already been abandoned by the Black Organization.

Sure enough, through Miyano Shiho's whispered explanation, Jiang Hang quickly understood the true background of this Numabuchi Ki'ichirō.

A social outcast who had killed people was recruited by the Black Organization. The Black Organization originally wanted to train him to be an assassin, but his performance was consistently unsatisfactory, and he even showed signs of resistance against the organization on several occasions due to his personality.

Ultimately, it was sent to Miyano Shiho's laboratory as the least valuable consumable item in the Black Organization for drug testing.

The information on the people had already been delivered to Miyano Shiho, but this Numabuchi Ki'ichirō really had some tricks up his sleeve. He managed to escape the organization at a critical moment and even managed to evade their pursuit.

However, because he still acted recklessly and committed several murders while on the run, he was eventually targeted by the police and the Black Organization, and eventually fled from Tokyo all the way to Osaka.

It must be said that although this Numabuchi Ki'ichirō may not have any other skills, his ability to escape is truly first-rate, managing to withstand the pursuit of the Black Organization and the Japan police for such a long time.

If it weren't for the fact that this guy has stained his hands with the blood of countless innocent people since his debut, Jiang Hang would have really wanted to recruit him into the Brotherhood made up to be a gofer.

But after hearing what Miyano Shiho, Jiang Hang couldn't help but have more doubts.

A man being pursued by both the Black Organization and the police actually had the intention to kill someone he had learned to drive with 20 years ago after escaping to Osaka. He even devised a unique method of murder and created a mechanism to make the body fall, just to provoke the Osaka police.

This is not only provoking the police, but also blatantly humiliating the Black Organization.

After defecting from the Black Organization, FBI Shuichi Akai spent several years working discreetly on the fringes of the American political scene, until recently when he returned to Japan because of Vermouth.

If a low-level defector from the Black Organization can slap the Black Organization in the face like this, and the Black Organization can't even respond, then the Black Organization's already increasingly precarious reputation will probably plummet to rock bottom.

Therefore, after confirming with Miyano Shiho that Numabuchi Ki'ichirō was a fugitive member of the Black Organization, Jiang Hang ruled out his possibility of committing crimes.

Chapter 381: Chapter 377: The Past 20 Years Ago

After some deliberation, Jiang Hang determined that Numabuchi Ki'ichirō was temporarily ruled out as a possible perpetrator due to external factors related to the Black Organization.

But this does not mean that the case has reached a stalemate again.

Regardless, this case has already implicated the fugitive Numabuchi Ki'ichirō.

The perpetrator in this case happened to target the members of that training class when Numabuchi Ki'ichirō fled to the vicinity of Osaka.

To be a bold guess, perhaps this Numabuchi Ki'ichirō was just bait used by the real culprit to draw attention away from the real killer.

The killer may have wanted to kill one of the members of that training program but hadn't found the opportunity before.

It wasn't until the appearance of Numabuchi Ki'ichirō that he felt he could use Numabuchi Ki'ichirō as a target to draw the police's attention.

Even if the police investigate the training course from back then, they will only regard the suspect as Numabuchi Ki'ichirō, who returned to Osaka to extort some money for his escape, and will not notice the real culprit hidden deeper inside.

If that's the case, then the real culprit has indeed succeeded in achieving their goal.

If Miyano Shiho hadn't heard about him when she was at the Black Organization, Jiang Hang would probably still be wondering about the whereabouts of Numabuchi Ki'ichirō.

After all, even Heiji Hattori, the Kansai detective from Kansai whose reasoning ability is no less than Conan's, now thinks that the culprit in this case is most likely Numabuchi Ki'ichirō, so there is no need to say more about the others.

Jiang Hang did not stop Heiji Hattori from contacting a police officer he knew, preparing to inform the Osaka police that the murderer might be Numabuchi Ki'ichirō.

The real culprit probably wanted to draw everyone's attention to Numabuchi Ki'ichirō so that he could then take advantage of the situation when no one was paying attention to him and continue to target his own enemy.

Hiding oneself in public, killing the target, and then leaving a mark on the victim—this method does indeed seem to have a bit of an assassin's feel to it.

However, it won't be so easy for the murderer to continue targeting his intended victims.

The murderer wanted to kill members of a driving school training class from 20 years ago. Although the specific purpose is still unclear, three people from that training class are still alive.

Numabuchi Ki'ichirō is currently a fugitive, and no one knows his whereabouts.

Sōji Munetaro is a member of the Osaka and usually goes out with bodyguards.

Although these bodyguards might not be able to handle firearms, the tools the murderer is currently using are nothing more than ropes and knives. As long as Sōji Munetaro isn't alone, the bodyguards can still be of some use.

The most vulnerable person right now seems to be Okazaki Sumie, a divorced single woman living alone.

Now that the police know the killer's target, they will naturally provide protection for Okazaki Sumie.

In this situation, how would the murderer achieve their goal?

While Jiang Hang was pondering these matters, Officer Sakata finally drove the car to the building downstairs in Okazaki Sumie's building.

"I'll stay here and guard downstairs. Jiang Hang Heiji, you two go up and talk to Ms. Okazaki. If you need police support, just contact me," Officer Sakata said as he assigned his tasks upon arrival.

Heiji Hattori had no objection to this. He and Jiang Hang exchanged a glance and said, "Let's go and find out what exactly happened 20 years ago."

Since the matter involved defectors from the Black Organization, Miyano Shiho naturally went along with them.

Upon hearing Jiang Hang's calm voice, Okazaki Sumie carefully examined the three people outside the door through the peephole. Only after seeing their appearance did she breathe a sigh of relief, open the door, and welcome Jiang Hang and his companions into the house.

Jiang Hang had a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department badge, and Heiji Hattori was already a well-known detective in the Kansai.

As for Miyano Shiho, her air of a social elite is still quite reassuring at this time.

Upon arriving at the Okazaki Sumie, Jiang Hang and Heiji Hattori first listened to the so-called voicemail.

The content was no different from what Okazaki Sumie said, but the voice was obviously altered using a voice changer, and the tone and accent made it impossible to discern any useful information. One could not determine the criminal's situation based on the phone message.

However, Jiang Hang further denied the possibility that Numabuchi Ki'ichirō perpetrator.

Although a voice changer is not a professional device, it is not so easy for a suspect on the run to obtain.

Besides, the attempt to conceal something in these phone messages is far too obvious.

Numabuchi Ki'ichirō was already a major criminal who had killed several people and committed several robberies, and was being closely watched by the police. His voice was frightening enough that he didn't need to disguise it.

After hearing the message, seeing Okazaki Sumie relieved by the arrival of the police, Heiji Hattori asked some simple questions before pressing for details about what happened back then.

"Now that things have come to this, there's nothing we can't talk about from 20 years ago," Heiji Hattori said, revealing the time of death and the method of murder for the three people.

Although Okazaki Sumie already knew about these things from the news, the detailed death report from the police, delivered by Heiji Hattori, still sent a chill down her spine.

She bit her finger and then used her nails to forcefully leave marks on her skin, a gesture that perfectly expressed the turmoil in her heart.

But under the silent gaze of Jiang Hang and Heiji Hattori, Okazaki Sumie slowly recounted what happened back then.

"Our training class's coach at that time was a very famous devil coach. All six of us were severely disciplined by him when we were taking classes there."

"The day before graduation... because we couldn't stand that coach's temper anymore, the six of us discussed it and decided to play a prank on him..."

"On graduation night, we tried to get the coach drunk, wanting to see him make a fool of himself... But we really didn't expect that the coach would be involved in a car accident and die the next day, and would even be checked by the police for drunk driving..."

"After that incident, Numabuchi and Goji came to us. They first warned us and then offered us a sum of money as hush money, telling us never to mention it again... But I never expected that 20 years later, first Nagao was killed, then Nishiguchi, and today Noyasu is dead too. Now all that's left are me, Goji, and that Numabuchi!"

"It must be one of them who wanted to completely resolve what happened back then, which is why they did this. Now that I've told you everything, your police force should be able to guarantee my safety, right?"

Chapter 382: Chapter 378: Heiji Hattori's New Deduction

Hearing about this past event from 20 years ago from Okazaki Sumie, Heiji Hattori frowned, seemingly trying to figure out whether it was more likely that Numabuchi Ki'ichirō was the perpetrator, or that of Sōji Munetaro had become Osaka Prefectural Assemblyman Assembly.

Generally speaking, it seems more likely that Numabuchi Ki'ichirō, who has already committed multiple crimes, is the culprit. After all, he has so much blood on his hands, so it wouldn't be surprising if a few more lives were lost.

But after hearing this story, it seems that Sōji Munetaro is also quite suspicious.

Numabuchi Ki'ichirō used force to threaten others into not revealing the matter, while Sōji Munetaro was a bit smarter and chose to use money to make everyone keep the matter buried forever.

If it weren't for this murder case, Okazaki Sumie probably wouldn't have thought of revealing it.

After listening to Okazaki Sumie's words, Jiang Hang had just opened Eagle Eye to observe the situation at the other party's house when Heiji Hattori pulled him aside and whispered his new idea.

"Could it be that after returning to Osaka Numabuchi Ki'ichirō wanted to use Sōji Munetaro to blackmail him using this past incident, but Sōji Munetaro refused because he asked for an exorbitant amount? To prevent his past from being exposed, Sōji Munetaro first eliminated Numabuchi Ki'ichirō, preparing to completely eliminate any future troubles?"

Heiji Hattori's speculation is reasonable.

The first victim in this case Hidetoshi Nagao, was Sōji Munetaro's former secretary. The Kazuto Noasu, was also his former driver. These two men have been able to stay by Sōji Munetaro's side for so many years, so they must have received a lot of benefits from him.

Perhaps it was the appearance of Numabuchi Ki'ichirō that made Sōji Munetaro grow tired of the endless giving and extortion, which led to the occurrence of this series of murders.

As for the final conclusion, after thoroughly eliminating those people from back then, Sōji Munetaro would create the illusion that Numabuchi Ki'ichirō committed suicide out of guilt, thus completely extricating himself from the case.

After explaining his new idea, Heiji Hattori wanted to hear Jiang Hang's opinion.

It has to be said that Heiji Hattori's new reasoning sounds much more plausible than before.

However, Jiang Hang's gaze was not on Heiji Hattori. Instead, he lowered his head with a somewhat subtle expression, looking thoughtfully at the ground where he could not see anything.