The Girl Named Nanao Koshimizu

Listening to Shizuka Sakaki's explanation, Jiang Hang nodded slightly in agreement. "So we can tell from this photo that Rob returned to Japan this year, or even in the last month."

"Since the production team can obtain the other party's latest photos, why not just write in the information that the other party is currently traveling and filming in Japan again?"

"I think it's because the other party already had a motive. If we directly reveal the time of the crime, many people would probably think he is the murderer in this case."

"So, in order to make this case more difficult, you deliberately hid these clues, and only a truly observant person can realize the truth."

In fact, if Jiang Hang didn't have Eagle Eye, he probably wouldn't have noticed the hidden secret in this photo.

"So how did you determine that he was the murderer?" Rena Mizunashi continued to press.

"The police investigation results are a significant factor."

Jiang Hang produced the case files from the Tottori Prefecture Police Department.

Although the Takeda Family had already experienced two suicides three years prior, the Japan police still managed to record the details of the deceased and the actions of the Takeda Family members during the time of the incident in the case file within a few days after this case.

Ultimately, because they found no suspicious individuals among the Takeda Family members and no other clues were left on the deceased Negishi's body, they concluded that Negishi was a suicide.

Although it's often said that the Japan police are incompetent, this incompetence actually refers only to their lack of on-site reasoning ability. Even if they encounter clues, they may not be able to connect them to the murderer in a short period of time, which could lead to the murderer escaping punishment.

However, most police officers' work attitude and the content of the case files are not problematic. Basically, you can treat the police case files as if they were crime scenes.

During the time following Negishi's death, Takeda Shinichi made three phone calls to Negishi regarding business matters, but Negishi did not answer.

Takeda Yuzo was out delivering goods and had no time to commit the crime.

Although Takeda Ryuji lived in his hometown, he always stayed with his wife and daughter.

Ranta Miyuki, a maid in the Takeda Family, takes care of the elderly members of the Takeda Family.

Each member of the Takeda Family has their own alibi.

Of course, these alibis are not foolproof, but no matter how well these people manage their time, it is obviously not an easy task to perfectly cover up the crime scene in one night and evade the police search.

"So it was at this moment that Rob, who had a criminal motive and plenty of time to commit the crime, appeared in front of me."

"He was just a dispensable passerby to the Takeda Family, and the Takeda Family's warehouse was an area rarely visited, which was perfect for Rob to secretly carry out these tasks in the dark. When the police launched their investigation, they could hardly have imagined that a man who had appeared three years ago would suddenly reappear here and silently kill Mr. Negishi."

Jiang Hang's explanation didn't involve much reasoning; at most, he mentioned the alibis of each member of the Takeda Family and that they had no motive to kill Negishi.

However, after he ruled out the motives and timing of the other individuals one by one, the only ones left with a real motive for murder were Takeda Shinichi and Rob, who was not present at the scene.

"So you also had doubts about Takeda Shinichi, but why did you ultimately choose Rob?"

"The reason for suspecting Takeda Shinichi is simple: he and Negishi had been engaged in illegal transactions for many years, during which they probably often got into disputes over the division of the spoils. If Takeda Shinichi had dealt with Negishi himself, then he could have kept everything for himself."

Jiang Hang casually brought up a rather shocking topic.

"You mean, the Takeda Family is also involved in the drug business?" Rena Mizunashi asked, feigning ignorance. Most of the people present knew about Negishi's connection to drugs, but they probably couldn't guess that even Takeda Shinichi was involved.

"That's a given," Jiang Hang answered matter-of-factly. "Otherwise, for a family like the Takeda Family that makes traditional puppets, it would be quite an achievement to maintain their business in this era. Why would so many buyers be willing to spend millions to buy these puppets that don't move and don't perform very well?"

"I've read the information. The rise of the Takeda Family began when the eldest son took over the family affairs and cooperated with Negishi."

"Among the Takeda Family's customers, there were also quite a few very strange customers. Traditional dolls worth one million yen that would break after one or two months of use and would require hundreds of thousands of yen to be sent back for repairs were not only not disliked by those who bought them, but also quite regularly came to give Takeda Shinichi money every now and then."

"At the same time, these same clients, knowing that Negishi, with whom they had frequent dealings, had died, were almost all unwilling to mention anything about him to the television station, which was clearly a kind of glory."

"I suspect that Takeda Shinichi was using hollow puppet dolls to conduct drug transactions in secret."

"However, it was precisely because they were engaged in this kind of dangerous business that I ultimately ruled out Takeda Shinichi. People who deal in drugs are most afraid of being noticed by the police. If Takeda Shinichi killed Negishi, then in order to avoid being discovered by the police, he would never have placed the crime scene in his own warehouse."

"So, after eliminating the last suspect, I finally narrowed it down to Rob."

Chapter 442: Chapter 438: A Girl Named Natsuki Kosimizu

In fact, if someone were to analyze it carefully, they would find that Jiang Hang's reasoning is not entirely flawless.

Just like the case of Takeda Shinichi, it's not that simply not having the time to commit the crime or not choosing a place like his own warehouse, which is easily suspected, as the crime scene can directly clear him of suspicion.

The possibility that Takeda Shinichi killed Negishi because of the division of drug trafficking proceeds still exists.

The main reason Jiang Hang was able to confirm that Takeda Shinichi was not the murderer was the invitation letter that the other party sent him, as well as another unsigned invitation letter that Heiji Hattori received.

Jiang Hang Heiji Hattori had already deduced that these two invitations were not from the same person.

The invitation from Heiji Hattori that said if he didn't come, there would be more live puppets used as bait for the spider was clearly a provocation from the murderer to the detective.

Thus, Takeda Shinichi, who had formally sent an invitation to Jiang Hang, was able to clear himself of suspicion.

After learning that the Takeda Family was selling drugs, Jiang Hang understood why Takeda Shinichi still hired a detective to investigate the case even though the police had ruled it a suicide. How could he not panic when his partner in the drug trade was suddenly killed?

Jiang Hang knew this information, and so did Shizuka Sakaki, but obviously they couldn't just tell the audience directly.

However, Jiang Hang didn't need to worry about anyone noticing anything wrong, because his reasoning was correct, only slightly weak in one aspect of less important evidence.

However, this weakness became insignificant after he revealed the identity of the real culprit.

Because there are significantly more suspicious points about Rob than about Takeda Shinichi.

The misunderstanding three years ago and his return after three years, followed by the discovery that his beloved had died, led him to transform into a demon to seek revenge for love. These events, once told by Jiang Hang, completely captivated the attention of the entire audience.

"In my deduction, Rob probably didn't know that the message he left three years ago would cause such a great regret. He probably stayed at the house of the deceased Negishi on his way to the Spider Mansion after returning to Japan."

"Then that night, Negishi, presumably because of Takeda Shinichi, used some insulting adjectives when talking about Takeda Misa, and was then killed by an angry Rob."

At this point in Jiang Hang's speech, Rena Mizunashi, who was standing next to him, also feigned surprise at just the right moment. "From what you're saying, Mr. Jiang Hang, you think that after killing Negishi, Rob wasn't satisfied and wanted to continue targeting others?"

Jiang Hang nodded in agreement.

"If he killed Negishi in a moment of impulse, then he wouldn't have needed to properly dispose of the body and put it in the Takeda Family's warehouse."

"Since he chose to disguise Negishi's body as a suicide and put it in the Takeda Family, it basically means that he is ready to continue his 'revenge' and Takeda Shinichi is very likely to be his next target."

By this time, the audience had largely accepted Jiang Hang's reasoning, so when they heard Jiang Hang say that if he hadn't stopped the other party, they were likely to continue killing, they couldn't help but gasp in amazement.

However, the program did not provide a follow-up answer, which means that the perpetrator was arrested by the police before he could continue committing crimes, which is why the revenge could not continue.

After Jiang Hang explained and clarified his reasoning process, Rena Mizunashi also made a summary statement.

Following the procedure, the results Jiang Hang deduced were announced one by one to see if they matched the truth, and then the number of audience members who answered correctly was counted.

Given that he was using cheats, Jiang Hang's answer was naturally unlikely to be wrong.

When she said that Jiang Hang's reasoning was correct, Rena Mizunashi's attitude was somewhat subtle.

She had already tried her best to mislead Jiang Hang's judgment, but the other party was completely unmoved and showed no sign of being misled.

It even seems that the other party had already identified Rob as the suspect from the very beginning.

Faced with such an opponent, all Rena Mizunashi could do was obediently shoulder her responsibilities as the host.

As for the accuracy rate of the audience members present, it was rather dismal.

Aside from the questions Jiang Hang asked, the correct answer rate for the questions he didn't give directly was less than 10%. In the final question about guessing who the real culprit was, only one or two audience members wrote down Rob's name.

Moreover, these viewers didn't deduce the result through reasoning; they were just people who wanted to have fun and write down an answer that a normal person wouldn't write to make up the numbers. These kinds of shows usually give a couple of shots to people who choose outrageous options, and those who deliberately filled in Rob's name had roughly the same intention.

Little did they know that the answer they had casually written down would actually be the truth of the case.

The experience of being filmed directly in the face by a camera was completely beyond their imagination.

When asked why they chose Rob, they could only stammer and repeat what Jiang Hang had just said, adding that they had a rather accurate intuition that confirmed Rob was the real culprit in this case.

After the Q&A session, Rena Mizunashi announced the final outcome of the case to the audience.

Rob, who was plotting his next revenge, was arrested on the spot by the police, who discovered a crime scene trap he had designed himself.

Drug dealer Takeda Shinichi was also arrested, and the drugs hidden in the doll were seized on the spot. Those who had long maintained a business relationship with Takeda Shinichi are also being investigated by the police.

This result was naturally not unexpected for Jiang Hang, and it truly shows how much influence the Black Organization has accumulated over the years in Tottori Prefecture.

In less than two days, they learned the whole story of the case and then handed the murderer over to the Tottori Prefecture Police Department, which saved Jiang Hang a lot of trouble.

Jiang Hang did not regret failing to recruit Rob into his Assassin Brotherhood.

The reasons for Rob's crimes differ from those of Yusuke Sakata.

Yusuke Sakata seeks revenge on the murderer of his father, without involving bystanders.

His initial plan was to surrender himself or commit suicide after the revenge was over as a way of making amends.

In other words, Yusuke Sakata still maintained a sense of proportion during his revenge.

What makes Rob different is that he failed to realize the wound in his beloved girl's heart three years ago, and it was a full three years after he left that he returned to Japan hoping to rekindle their relationship.

As a result, after discovering that Takeda Misa was dead, he immediately killed Negishi had no direct connection to the matter.

If the truth hadn't been discovered, Rob might have actually killed the entire Takeda family to avenge Takeda Misa.

Although Negishi is a drug dealer who deserves to die a thousand times over, Rob's indiscriminate revenge makes him unsuitable for joining the Assassin Brotherhood.

Finally, the screen on stage paused on Takeda Misa's grave, marking the end of the program.

After that, Jiang Hang also assisted in recording some behind-the-scenes footage of the show. Of course, the focus of the footage was mainly on Shizuka Sakaki, who was dressed up for the occasion. After completing these shoots, Jiang Hang's first ever TV show recording came to an end.

Rena Mizunashi had originally planned to invite Jiang Hang out for a meal after the show's recording ended.

After all, the opening of this program was quite successful. With a little promotion, it could probably become the most popular program since the program's revamp. It's not surprising that the host would have dinner with the famous detective Jiang Hang.

However, she was still an undercover agent infiltrating the Black Organization. It was already troublesome that she failed to complete the mission assigned to her by the organization this time. She also had to go back and think about what she should say if the people above her in the organization asked her to explain this matter.

Therefore, in the end, she only exchanged contact information with Jiang Hang, and then the two went their separate ways.

Jiang Hang also erased his disguise and prepared to return with Shizuka Sakaki and Koharu Yoshino, who had changed back into normal clothes.

He could see that although the case had been solved, Shizuka Sakaki still had many doubts in her heart.

They had already been investigating this case for a week, so why did it suddenly end, and why was it even featured on television as the subject of a program?

However, since they were still on the TV station's turf, neither Shizuka Sakaki nor Koharu Yoshino directly raised this issue. They were both waiting for Jiang Hang's explanation after they returned to the agency.

To Jiang Hang's surprise, they arrived quite discreetly and did not attract any attention.

However, when they were about to drive back, they encountered an uninvited guest.

A short-haired girl was blocking the AE86 parked in front of Jiang Hang.

He looked to be around 17 or 18 years old, with bright, alert eyes, and was dressed in sportswear that allowed for easy movement.

To avoid any danger, Jiang Hang simply glanced at the other party with his Eagle Eye.

He wasn't carrying any weapons and didn't seem to pose any threat.

Judging from the current situation, it seems that this girl has realized his identity, so she is waiting for him here on purpose?

Jiang Hang told Shizuka Sakaki and Koharu Yoshino to stay in the car while he got out and started talking to the girl.

"By stopping my car here in this way, is there something you want to talk to me about privately? If it's a request, you can come to my office tomorrow."

The girl looked at Jiang Hang, whose appearance was different from what she had seen on stage, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Wasn't Jiang Hang on stage just now an ordinary-looking guy? How come the person in front of her now suddenly looks so much more handsome?

But the Famous Detective Jiang Hang drove this car today, and the two extremely beautiful female assistants she had just seen on the show were indeed in the car.

"You... did you disguise yourself when you went on the show?" After carefully examining Jiang Hang, she first asked about his appearance.

"Because I am just a detective, it's not a good thing if too many people know a detective's face. So far, I personally have no intention of transforming into an idol detective."

Hearing Jiang Hang's answer, the girl's attitude seemed to have improved considerably compared to before.

She stopped dwelling on that point and instead introduced herself directly to Jiang Hang.

"I am Natsuki Kosimizu. For now, I would say I'm a professional detective who works primarily out of hobby. I was just in the audience in the studio. Your reasoning skills are amazing. Even though the program deliberately concealed Rob's information, you were able to pinpoint the culprit directly to him. I certainly couldn't do that. Before you gave me the answer, I was still thinking of Takeda Shinichi as the culprit."

Upon hearing this name, Jiang Hang seemed to have some kind of reaction.

It sounds familiar. Is it a character from Conan or a main character from other anime?

However, Jiang Hang didn't dwell on this for long, because the girl who called herself an "amateur detective" suddenly brought up what Jiang Hang had just said on the show.

"This act of stopping the car was indeed somewhat inappropriate, but I just heard you say on the show that 'if a detective's reasoning is wrong even once, an innocent person may become a scapegoat.' So I still have some questions that I would like to discuss with you in person. I wonder if you have time now, Mr. Jiang Hang?"

Jiang Hang frowned slightly.

At first, he thought the other party might have some kind of commission to ask him to investigate. But when the other party revealed his identity as a detective, he sensed trouble, especially since the questions the other party was about to ask were sure to be the kind of incisive and crucial questions.

Sure enough, before Jiang Hang could react, Natsuki Kosimizu had already asked her first question with a rather fiery tone, "What I want to ask is, in your reasoning, the explanation that Takeda Shinichi was cleared of suspicion seems a bit too simplistic."

"Not being present at the scene and having no reason to act seem like sufficient grounds for explanation, but what if these were all staged by Takeda Shinichi himself to cover his tracks and evade punishment?"

"I have a feeling that you had already determined that Rob was the real culprit, and then used reverse reasoning to deduce his actions, and then eliminated the suspicion of others one by one. Am I right?"