The Spider Mansion's Past / Hacking Skills

Although Kitagawa resisted, Kitagawa was quickly rendered speechless by the police's presentation of a series of evidence, including phone and text message records, supermarket surveillance footage, and autopsy reports.

During the subsequent search, the police successfully discovered that an electrical wire was missing from Kitagawa's room, and the type of the wire matched the murder weapon used to kill the victim.

After realizing that everything about him had been thoroughly investigated by the police, the murderer had no choice but to confess to his crimes and the details of the offense.

The crime unfolded exactly as Jiang Hang had expected: he and the deceased, Ms. Muranishi, had been having a secret office romance, but Kitagawa himself was not a stable person and did not intend to tie himself to Muranishi.

However, he did not expect that while dating Muranishi was easy, he would run into trouble when he wanted to stop— Muranishi was unwilling to break up and even took out a marriage application to express her desire to marry him and make the matter public in the company.

When Kitagawa saw how determined Muranishi was to force him into marriage, and how he even used his job as a threat, he decided to kill Muranishi.

After that, things became much simpler.

Although he and Higashida were drinking buddies, their relationship wasn't actually that good. In fact, they were direct competitors, and Higashida's performance was slightly better than his.

So, after spending some time figuring out some of Higashida's habits, he came up with the idea of killing Muranishi and framing Higashida.

He first went to Higashida's house a few times to get a general idea of the layout, and then, under the pretext of repairing the TV, he got Dongtian to leave his fingerprints on the electrical wires in his house.

Next, he prepared a new set of blankets and curtains. After murdering Muranishi and hiding her in the bathroom, he rearranged the layout of her house.

Finally, they went to their usual pub and got Higashida, who wasn't a very good drinker, drunk. Then, they took him to Muranishi's house and thoughtfully reminded him to lock the door.

Through this series of actions, a crime scene was created where the doors and windows were locked from the inside, and the suspect inside was a drunk man who had a conflict with the victim and couldn't remember anything.

In fact, if it weren't for the accident during the transport that allowed Higashida to escape and then run into Conan and his group, Kitagawa would probably still be happily drinking beer at home, enjoying the pleasure of escaping legal judgment.

"In short, we owe you a lot for helping us this time, Brother Jiang Hang. If it weren't for your help, we probably would have let the real culprit get away with it." Inspector Megure on the other end of the phone continued to thank Jiang Hang, and also mentioned the handling of Miike Sato and Takagi Wataru.

Although Takagi Wataru and his colleague were able to redeem themselves and save face for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, this matter cannot be judged solely by its final outcome.

First, the suspect escaped during the transport due to the carelessness of the guards. Second, after learning that there might be other hidden details in the case, they privately reopened the investigation without the approval of their superiors. These are all things that require warnings and self-criticism. Furthermore, their promotions have been temporarily suspended.

Miike Sato is in a slightly better position, since she was only promoted to Assistant Inspector this year. Given her age, it would probably take her another five or six years to get promoted to inspector again.

In comparison, Takagi Wataru is a bit unlucky. He has been preparing for the promotion exam for Assistant Inspector recently. As long as he passes the exam, he will be promoted to a higher police rank and get a small raise in salary and bonus.

With this punishment, Takagi Wataru will probably just have to stick to his job as a patrol chief this year. It's definitely not going to happen anytime soon if he tries to surpass Miike Sato in rank.

However, it was clear from the phone call that although Inspector Megure was criticizing Takagi Wataru, Inspector Megure was actually quite pleased with his two subordinates. The apology was probably just a perfunctory formality.

After finishing his call with Inspector Megure, Jiang Hang was thinking of logging into the game to see if he had been penalized by the game's official system for AFK last night. However, before he could even turn on his computer, Shizuka Sakaki rushed to the agency with another piece of information.

"I contacted someone who works at the Spider Mansion last night and got some important clues from her!"

Chapter 423: Chapter 419: The Past of the Spider Mansion

Now, Shizuka Sakaki and Koharu Yoshino's intelligence-gathering abilities are on a completely different level compared to when they first joined the agency.

As for Shizuka Sakaki, since she still wanted to continue working towards becoming a voice actress, Jiang Hang mainly assigned her voice-changing ability as her skill. After her information gathering skill was assigned to the beginner level on her character panel, he stopped paying attention to it, since the beginner skill recognized by the system was more than enough for everyday use.

As for Koharu Yoshino, it's because she's been constantly boosted by the Intelligence Gathering skill, and she's also been working hard, so Intelligence Gathering is currently the only intermediate skill on her character panel.

Previously, because Jiang Hang solved cases at the scene so quickly, Koharu Yoshino and Shizuka Sakaki couldn't fully utilize their abilities. But after encountering this case and being entrusted with an important task by Jiang Hang, they finally proved to Jiang Hang that their efforts over the past period had not been in vain.

According to Shizuka Sakaki, they have been investigating the Spider Mansion through various channels around them these past few days.

The six degrees of separation theory is perfectly embodied in them—this theory states that there are no more than six people between a person and another stranger. In an ideal situation, you can get to know everyone in the world through six intermediaries.

Of course, this theory only describes an ideal situation. You can't know what kind of social circles the people you know have, let alone how many new social circles can be derived from their social circles. If you want to find your target accurately in this way, you will naturally have to spend a lot of energy and money, and you will also need a little bit of luck.

However, this is where intelligence gathering capabilities come into play.

They can effectively analyze and eliminate potential contacts by establishing data analysis, then gradually narrow down the scope, and finally successfully connect with the employee of the Spider Mansion.

The employee contacted by Shizuka Sakaki is named Ranta Miyuki. She works as a maid at the Spider Mansion and has been working there for four or five years. It can be said that, apart from the Takeda Family, she is the one who knows the most about what happened back then.

To put it bluntly, if the suicides at the Spider Mansion deliberately orchestrated, then the maid who had worked there for four or five years was also a prime suspect.

Therefore, it was not an easy task to get more useful information from the maid without alerting her.

Fortunately, Shizuka Sakaki and the others were well-prepared before contacting the maid, and their questions did not show any suspicion. In the end, they did obtain a lot of useful information from the maid.

Although the details of the Takeda Family had been explained before, the maid's explanation included some subjective opinions, offering a fresh perspective on the family.

In addition, Shizuka Sakaki meticulously recorded the maid's daily work and the doll sales at the Spider Mansion in her notebook.

However, the most important information concerns the two earliest suicide cases from three years ago, namely the reasons why Takeda Shinichi's daughter Takeda Misa, and his wife, Takeda Kinuyo, committed suicide back then.

According to the maid, she and Takeda Misa were friends for many years, and she was introduced to work here by Takeda Misa.

In the period leading up to Takeda Misa's suicide, Takeda Shinichi day and became very angry with Takeda Kinuyo. When Takeda Misa tried to stop him, Takeda Shinichi pushed her aside forcefully, almost disfiguring her.

After that, the originally cheerful Takeda Misa became depressed and even quit her job, staying in her room all day and refusing to go out. After a few months, Takeda Misa suddenly chose to commit suicide one day, and Takeda Kinuyo made the same choice.

In the maid's opinion, the reason why Takeda Shinichi and Takeda Kinuyo had a quarrel was probably the trigger that led to their suicide. However, Takeda Shinichi never mentioned that quarrel, so naturally no one knew what happened that day.

The only thing the other person remembered was that when Takeda Shinichi got home that day, he yelled at his wife, "You've been lying to me for so many years!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hang's gaze sharpened.

This development sounds so absurd!

Even if a married couple who have been married for decades argue and bring up old grievances, they shouldn't make such a big fuss.

Judging from Takeda Shinichi's reaction back then, if this argument really was the reason for the two people's suicide, then it is obvious that Takeda Shinichi's wife, Takeda Kinuyo, did something to betray him. To make it even more dramatic, it is possible that Takeda Shinichi's daughter Takeda Misa, whom he raised for more than 20 years, was not his biological daughter.

That's why Takeda Shinichi showed such anger after learning the "truth," and even treated Takeda Misa came to mediate, in such a brutal way.

After learning about her "origins," Takeda Misa became depressed and eventually chose to end her life. Takeda Kinuyo, after witnessing her daughter's suicide, also felt ashamed to continue living and chose to leave with her daughter.

After this analysis, it seems quite likely.

Jiang Hang looked at Shizuka Sakaki and shared his thoughts.

"First, let's confirm if my guess is correct. I think Takeda Shinichi probably went to the hospital for a paternity test to find out about this news. If we could find a way to get his file from the hospital, that would be great."

Jiang Hang said this, and then touched his chin.

If we could find this paternity test, everything that happened in the Takeda Family three years ago would be explained: Why did Takeda Misa and Takeda Kinuyo commit suicide? And why didn't Takeda Shinichi hire a detective back then?

But this raises another question—is there any connection between the two suicide cases three years ago and the recent suicide case at the Spider Mansion?

The person who committed suicide at the Spider Mansion this time was a business partner who had been doing business with the Takeda Family for many years.

If the two are not connected, then why would the other person deliberately choose to commit suicide in the Spider Mansion?

If the two are indeed connected, what is that connection?

Could it be that after a few years, Takeda Shinichi finally realized that the person who had betrayed him was actually his business partner, and so he couldn't help but get rid of the person who had betrayed him?

But the police there have already confirmed it as a suicide case. Takeda Shinichi doesn't need him, the detective, to go and prove his innocence. What motive would he have for doing this?

From this perspective, there are still many doubts surrounding this case.

It seems that becoming an armchair detective is not an easy task. To understand the full picture of this case, he will probably have to go to the scene in person.

Chapter 424: Chapter 420: Hacking Techniques

Because Jiang Hang wasn't the only one who received the letter of commission; Heiji Hattori, who was far away in Osaka, was also keeping an eye on the development of this commission.

Although he had just made some harsh remarks to Jiang Hang not long ago and now had no desire to meet with Jiang Hang, this did not prevent him from sharing the information they possessed through communication with Kazuha and Shizuka Sakaki.

It has to be said that Heiji Hattori's family background is what it is. To be honest, although Shinichi Kudo's parents were a big star and a world-renowned mystery writer, Yusaku Kudo wife no longer live in Japan, so they can't get a lot of information right away.

Heiji Hattori, on the other hand, was different. His father's subordinates had treated him like one of their own since he was a child, and they gave him their full support when he chose to become a Heiji Hattori.

There are many things that ordinary people cannot investigate, but Heiji Hattori can basically get his hands on those documents and materials as long as he is willing to ask his father's subordinates for help.

Of course, as Heiji Hattori grew up, he rarely sought help from his father's subordinates anymore, but this request was indeed an exception.

The two suicide cases three years ago, the third suicide case recently, and the client's evasive attitude all indicate that this case is probably not ordinary. If he just leaves it alone, who knows if more deaths will occur.

Moreover, he had been holding his breath, wanting to prove himself to Jiang Hang.

Especially after receiving a call from Jiang Hang, who asked him to help investigate the hospital that Takeda Shinichi Jiang Hang years ago, and if possible, to find out about the other party's family situation.

Upon hearing Jiang Hang's request, Heiji Hattori reacted just as quickly, almost instantly figuring out what might have been the cause of the two suicides that occurred three years ago.

Heiji Hattori immediately agreed. This was the first time Jiang Hang had taken the initiative to ask him for help, and the matter was indeed quite urgent. If he could figure this out before heading to the Spider Mansion, many things would probably become much easier once they arrived.

"Since you've called directly, let me confirm one more thing with you. The letter of authorization you received clearly states the name of the client as 'Takeda Shinichi,' right?" After finishing the business, Heiji Hattori suddenly brought up the differences between the letters of authorization they received.

Two letters of entrustment, each containing money, fell into the hands of Jiang Hang and Heiji Hattori almost one after the other, and both letters were destined for the Spider Mansion in Tottori Prefecture.

However, the letter of authorization that Jiang Hang received had a proper signature, and the content of the letter was more in the tone of discussion and invitation.

The letter of commission that Heiji Hattori received was not only unsigned, but also carried a threatening tone. "Please arrive at the Takeda Family at Puppet Peak before sunset next Saturday, or a new puppet will become bait for the spider."

This letter of authorization seems to suggest that the recent case at the Spider Mansion, which was defined as a suicide by the Tottori Prefecture Police, was actually orchestrated by this mysterious "client."

Judging from his words, if Heiji Hattori doesn't plan to go, then when the time comes, another so-called "suicide" case will occur in the Spider Mansion.

Jiang Hang on the other end of the phone shook his head slightly. "We don't have enough clues right now. Based on the clues we have so far, Takeda Shinichi is obviously the most suspicious person. But if it really is him, he wouldn't need to send you a letter of commission and then openly send me a commission invitation. I don't think he did that to provoke us. So it's very likely that these two letters of commission were sent by different people."

"I've thought about it for a while, but I haven't found a suitable candidate. There must be some important information hidden in this case that we don't know yet. Only by discovering this key information can we proceed to the next step of our judgment."

After a brief discussion with Heiji Hattori, Jiang Hang hung up the phone and scratched his head.

Being an armchair detective is indeed not so easy. He has basically done everything he could in Tokyo. The rest depends on the efforts of Heiji Hattori, the second-in-command, to see if he can find any key information before Saturday.

At the same time, Jiang Hang seriously began to think about whether he should work overtime to add a hacker skill to his character panel.

If he had hacking skills, he wouldn't need to call Heiji Hattori; he could simply find a way to hack into the hospital systems of those hospitals in Tottori Prefecture and investigate Takeda Shinichi's affairs there.

If he could achieve the level of technology shown in the Watch Dogs series, then his intelligence gathering capabilities would truly be completely flawless.

In addition, Animus's technological updates also rely on the support of hacking skills. Jiang Hang is currently just operating the machine by following the manual provided by the system administrator. However, simply reading the manual is enough to make it usable. To fully unleash its capabilities, hacking and computer skills are naturally indispensable.

Moreover, among the people he knows now, there aren't many who have hacking skills.

Miyano Shiho knows a lot, but she's not exactly a top-tier expert. She's probably just someone who's studied computer technology for a few years and has some knowledge of programming and hacking.

To be honest, Professor Agasa's computer skills can only be considered that of a half-hacker.

Conan... although he seems to know a little bit about everything, ultimately his skills are mostly used to assist in deduction, and his hacking skills are probably similar.

Thinking about it this way, the person he knew who was most skilled in hacking was actually that guy Kaito Kid, whom he hadn't heard from for a while.

However, since the other party had previously helped him rescue Miyano Shiho from the Black Organization, he hadn't expressed any gratitude to them. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to go and ask them for help investigating another case now.

After much thought, Jiang Hang decided that rather than troubling others, he should take matters into his own hands. His combat skills were already almost overflowing, and even if he displayed great strength, it probably wouldn't be enough to shock Conan and Heiji Hattori. It was time to use some technical skills to bolster his image.

Chapter 425: Chapter 421: Jiang Hang's Hacking Skills

Although Jiang Hang has not yet met Makoto Kyogoku, the peak of combat power in the world of Detective Conan, he has not seen anyone who can compare with him in terms of combat strength since his fighting skills reached the advanced level and his assassin bloodline was upgraded to the intermediate level, which also greatly enhanced his physique.

After he acquired Bajiquan from the neighboring Moon Studio, even Makoto Kyogoku would obviously be no match for him.

However, in the Detective Conan universe, physical strength is generally only useful in theatrical films; it's not really that useful in regular cases.

Therefore, having already mastered sufficient combat skills, Jiang Hang naturally wanted to develop in the direction of technical expertise in order to facilitate solving cases.

However, with the system constantly feeding him various combat and assassination skills, if he wants to switch to a technical playstyle, he can only rely on himself to slowly grind through the learning space bit by bit.

Jiang Hang had actually been learning hacking skills on his own since the learning space first opened, but his progress was rather slow.

Fortunately, Jiang Hang is not trying to hack into any important database. He just wants to access a hospital's database to investigate a patient's examination report. A hospital in Tottori Prefecture obviously wouldn't use a very advanced operating system, so it's not too difficult for Jiang Hang.

Even though Jiang Hang hasn't added hacking skills to his skill panel yet, as long as he spends a few nights studying and practicing in this area in his learning space, he'll be ready to give it a try.

Just to be on the safe side, Jiang Hang also specifically invited Miyano Shiho to come along.

However, Miyano Shiho couldn't help but look at Jiang Hang with a somewhat suspicious gaze after learning about his plans.

She knew Jiang Hang's combat skills and crime-solving abilities, but she had never heard of Jiang Hang being a skilled hacker before.

After being rescued by Jiang Hang and his group, Miyano Shiho asked her sister about the clues they used to find her location.

According to Miyano Akemi, she accidentally included an APTX4869 memory card in a letter she sent to her sister Professor Agasa cracked the key clue of the memory card's password, "White Dove," which allowed them to gradually unravel the mystery and find her location.

Looking back on this period, Miyano Shiho can't help but marvel at the reasoning abilities and action of Jiang Hang and Conan.

However, according to her sister's explanation, she remembered that after Jiang Hang got the memory card from her sister, he didn't crack the memory card password himself, but went to Professor Agasa for help.

If Jiang Hang had possessed this skill, he wouldn't have needed to seek help from Professor Agasa at that time.

In other words, Jiang Hang probably didn't have this technology at that time.

It hasn't been that long, and I haven't heard of Jiang Hang researching this stuff during this time. How come he can suddenly show off his hacking skills in front of Jiang Hang now?

When she learned that Jiang Hang had only recently started learning and mastering this skill, Miyano Shiho didn't think much of it.