Discussing the Case / The Newspaper and Mysterious Hair in the Briefcase

Soon after, Misao Yamamura, upon learning of Kogoro Mouri's idea, also expressed his approval of it.

"That's a brilliant idea! You truly are a master detective. Please allow me to lend you a hand!"

Seeing the two like-minded people, Ran Mori could only look to Jiang Hang for help.

Jiang Hang pondered for a moment, "After the hotel owner sought your father's help, a fake suddenly appeared, and then the matter became related to a corpse from five years ago... Was it the real killer who did it? And how did he know your father was coming and prepare the disguise in advance?"

"As it stands, there's no need to rush into confronting the counterfeit product. Let's wait and see; we should be able to glean some useful clues from it."

Ran Mori heard Jiang Hang's words, she knew that she couldn't persuade him to stop, so she could only shrug and say that they could play by themselves and she didn't want to get involved.

Anyway, now that the two famous detectives are here, the murderer definitely won't be able to cause any more trouble.

Just as Kogoro Mouri was already pondering the name he should use when disguising himself, another inn employee Jimbo Masao, arrived late.

He looked like he had just gone to park the car for Misao Yamamura; he was holding a cell phone in his hand and then went straight to Kogoro Mouri.

"Sir, it seems you left your phone in the car. This should be your daughter's phone, right?"

Kogoro Mouri had just given himself a completely fake name, "Echigo Kōemon," and was currently thinking about how to expose the imposter in a clever way. Therefore, he simply thanked the employee and put the matter out of his mind.

Jiang Hang also booked a room for himself and Koharu Yoshino. Unlike Kogoro Mouri, who was currently on a path of forbearance and therefore only booked the cheapest room, Jiang Hang stayed in the most luxurious suite.

After putting his luggage in his room and having Koharu Yoshino investigate whether anything unusual had happened in the vicinity five years ago, Jiang Hang went to chat with Conan.

"While your future father-in-law is still drinking with that Officer Yamamura, tell me how you met him."

Upon hearing Jiang Hang's question, Conan's expression became somewhat subtle. He was clearly still a little uncomfortable with being addressed as his future father-in-law, but he didn't directly object.

"It's a rather strange coincidence. My mother took me to a friend's house in Gunma, where a murder occurred. That's when I first met Officer Yamamura. Some time later, while we were traveling in Gunma, Uncle Mori was framed for murder by a criminal. Officer Yamamura was also in charge of that case. That's how we met. I never expected to run into this officer again."

"Although this Officer Yamamura is indeed a little... well, maybe not a little unreliable, he should be considered a good cop."

It's clear that Conan's feelings towards Misao Yamamura are quite subtle. She has no special abilities and is one of those rare people who have absolutely no talent in deduction, but she is not bad in other areas, and can even be said to be extremely excellent.

He developed a desire to become a police officer after watching a crime drama his mother, Yukiko Kudo, starred in before her debut during his childhood. He later worked hard and actually became a police officer, and a highly prestigious one at that.

All I can say is that this guy is indeed a talented individual, it's just a pity he chose the wrong profession.

However... with Conan as his benefactor, it's likely that Misao Yamamura will appear in any future cases related to Gunma. So, it seems that Misao Yamamura's future development is quite promising.

Thinking about it this way, if Misao Yamamura were to become a regional police superintendent one day, then the Japan police would truly be doomed.

Chapter 463: Chapter 459: Discussing the Case

After learning from Conan how he met this police officer from the Misao Yamamura, Jiang Hang only made a few mental complaints.

Anyway, Misao Yamamura is only an Assistant Inspector right now. Even if he becomes a police inspector soon, judging from the fact that he always encounters Conan as his savior when a major case occurs, he can probably hold on to his position quite securely.

Even if this guy who doesn't understand reasoning at all were to become the highest-ranking official in a region, namely the Superintendent General, it would still take at least twenty or thirty years.

By then, Shinichi Kudo and Ran's child will probably have inherited their father's profession and become a new generation of famous detectives. Even if the Japan police were incompetent at that time, it would be a headache for that generation.

Therefore, after a brief chat about the Misao Yamamura, the two of them returned to the main topic.

The discussion mainly focuses on two points.

One question is whether there were any human factors involved in creating this suicide forest.

The second question is, what is the background of this imposter of Kogoro Mouri suddenly appeared?

The first question requires a large amount of data to support it.

In recent years, what percentage of the suicide rate in Gunma Prefecture has been attributed to people who specifically Togami Forest to commit suicide?

Fortunately, Jiang Hang and Conan had done some research on the place before they came. They also asked some questions to the hotel guests and nearby residents on site, so they were able to get a more accurate answer.

Regarding the second question, because Kogoro Mouri wanted to play dumb to deceive others, Jiang Hang and the other person hadn't yet checked the imposter's room, and the imposter hadn't shown up yet, so there's nothing to discuss for the time being.

However, hard reasoning can also uncover a lot of useful information:

Not many people knew that Kogoro Mouri would be coming; apart from the hotel staff, there was practically no one else.

Unless these people are big mouths who leak secrets every day, the people who planned this incident are most likely the hotel's employees.

Secondly, the person who secretly orchestrated this is most likely related to the recently discovered corpse.

If we use Detective Conan's methods to deduce this, either the deceased hid something important before their death, and now the murderer wants to retrieve that thing.

Either the deceased's relatives or friends are using this method to lure out the real killer, who is actually hiding in this hotel and trying to use this method to find out who the real killer is.

Of course, there is also a very low possibility that a group of imposters impersonating Kogoro Mouri have appeared, and the person who commissioned this job just happened to mistake him for someone else, which led to this mix-up.

Although this possibility sounds even more outrageous, it doesn't seem strange at all if you put it in Conan —after all, there are quite a few people in Conan who look similar or even exactly alike.

Mary Akai, who resembles Ai Haibara, Aoko Nakamori, who resembles Ran Mouri, and another foreign princess, are all examples of characters who resemble Shinichi Kudo, the main character.

First, there's Kaito Kid, who can perfectly adapt to any hairstyle. After Kaito Kid guessed Conan's identity and discovered that the other person looked extremely similar to himself, he even borrowed Shinichi Kudo's face more than once. This identity is not easy to arouse suspicion from others, nor is it easy to be exposed. Even if Conan wanted to explain, no one would believe the explanation of a child.

In addition, there is a character design where Heiji Hattori has his face powdered to resemble Shinichi Kudo, and one of Heiji Hattori's kendo rivals Souji Okita, is also almost identical to Shinichi Kudo except for having slightly darker skin.

There are even people who specifically get plastic surgery to look like Shinichi Kudo, hoping to frame him.

There's really nothing to be particularly concerned about now that a Kogoro Mouri counterfeit product has appeared.

Conan didn't really take this imposter seriously; he just figured he'd deal with whatever came his way.

Kogoro Mouri was waiting for the imposter to come out and deliver the goods, while Conan wanted to find out what the imposter was up to.

"However, that imposter has been in his room for four or five hours now, and he hasn't come out yet. Could he have secretly escaped?" Conan asked suspiciously, and went to the window to check outside.

Jiang Hang shook his head. "I've already had Altair monitor the area above the hotel, so no one can sneak out of the hotel rooms."

"I've also checked the area around the hotel. There weren't any special signs left before we arrived. Unless there's an underground passage in the hotel, that imposter is definitely still inside."

Since Gunma Prefecture is adjacent to Tokyo and Jiang Hang drove himself there, he simply brought Altair along.

This is a perfect opportunity for the eagle, which has been circling over Tokyo for the past few months, to experience hunting firsthand in the vicinity of this forest.

Jiang Hang wasn't worried about Altair getting caught while wandering around the forest. It was a reward from the system. Altair was very intelligent and wouldn't be easily deceived. At the same time, its eyesight was practically like having Eagle Eye all the time, allowing it to clearly see the location of traps. Instead of worrying about Altair, it was better to pray for the prey in the forest.

Conan, listening to Jiang Hang's words, actually looked somewhat envious.

Altair had seen and witnessed the other party's abilities and combat prowess firsthand.

Although he wasn't particularly interested in keeping pets, to be honest, if he were to choose an assistant while solving a case...

Between Kogoro Mouri and Altair, he felt he would choose Altair without hesitation.

Unfortunately, according to Jiang Hang, Altair was raised from a young age by the Pioneer Foundation, and even within the entire Foundation, there are very few people who can own a pet of Altair's caliber.

Conan could only mutter to himself that he didn't understand the world of the super-rich—compared to ordinary people, the Mouri Residence was naturally extremely wealthy.

However, compared to a Japan zaibatsu family like the Suzuki family, their family is nothing, not to mention the Pioneer Foundation, whose total wealth is much greater than that of the Suzuki family.

After chatting with Jiang Hang about the case for a while, Jiang Hang got a little bored and asked Koharu Yoshino if she had found any useful clues online in the past hour.

Five years ago, quite a few things happened in Gunma, but there were still quite a few cases that were never solved.

In just over an hour, it would be quite an achievement Koharu Yoshino could skim through all the cases and organize them into a readable document.

Jiang Hang looked at the case above.

Although robbery and murder cases are rampant, there have been very few truly major cases, and the amounts involved are mostly small-scale.

Jiang Hang looked at the report about a toy manufacturer who had been extorted for 100 million yen by an unnamed and unseen criminal five years ago and then disappeared. Surprisingly, he didn't feel much connection to the story.

"But no matter what, it's still a case that hasn't been solved yet. The criminal has been holding back for so many years and is unwilling to take out and use that money. Is this going to be another case of Shuushirou Case money?"

In the case of Shuushirou Case, which Miike Sato's father was involved in, the perpetrator was a friend of Miike Sato's father. After seeing his friend die because of him, he felt guilty and was unwilling to use the money.

Perhaps this murderer was also involved in a similar situation?

Jiang Hang shook his head slightly, thinking that such a similar plot shouldn't be playing out in front of him again so soon.

"It's possible that the murderer's accomplice hid the money, which is why those banknotes haven't appeared on the market for the past five years."

After muttering this to himself, Jiang Hang didn't take the case to heart and instead moved on to the next case.

Just as Jiang Hang was looking at these things, a very familiar-sounding exclamation suddenly came from downstairs.

"Ahhh!!—"

That's Ran's scream!

Almost at the same moment he heard the shout, Conan, like a wild horse, jumped to his feet, wanting to go downstairs to look for Ran.

Chapter 464: Chapter 460: The Newspaper in the Briefcase and the Mysterious Hair

Although Jiang Hang hadn't really heard Ran's screams much since arriving in this world, in his previous life, Ran's screams after discovering a corpse were a major feature of the early Conan series.

As for why it's described as the early to mid-stage, it's because from the middle of Conan onwards, while the main storyline of the Black Organization continued to advance, Ran's side, since the Vermouth arc, has hardly had any outstanding performances in the main storyline.

Furthermore, in the later stages of the series, Conan deliberately reduced the horror and gore of those cases, which naturally made Ran's performance in the show seem like that of a female passerby with a sharp-edged head.

Therefore, hearing Ran's exclamation now, Jiang Hang felt quite emotional.

After seeing that Conan had already run out of the room, Jiang Hang slowly stood up and walked downstairs.

Conan's anxiety about Ran stems from his worry that something might happen to his future wife. But in reality, even if Ran Mori is frightened by the corpse, she still possesses fighting abilities far exceeding those of an ordinary person. How could an ordinary culprit possibly be a match for Ran? To be honest, Ran's weakest period was during the time she lost her memory.

Ran has now fully recovered both physically and mentally, and may even be more resilient than before. So, while she may scream, it would be truly insane for anyone to try to ambush her while Ran's screaming.

The crime scene this time was in the room of that imposter Kogoro Mouri.

With just one glance, Jiang Hang already knew that the deceased was the imposter Kogoro Mouri.

After all, at first glance, the other person's appearance does look somewhat similar to Kogoro Mouri, except that his mustache looks more refined than the real Kogoro Mouri. People familiar with Kogoro Mouri can naturally tell the difference between the two at a glance, but if they have never seen Kogoro Mouri, or have only seen his appearance in photos, it may not be so easy for ordinary people to recognize the two of them.

However, this fake Kogoro Mouri is now hanging from a beam in the room with a rope around his neck, his limbs dangling, his eyes bulging outwards lifelessly, and he has long since lost his breath.

When Jiang Hang arrived at the room, many people in the hotel had already come out to see what was going on because of Ran Lan's scream. Several hotel staff members were also struggling to squeeze through the crowd to find out what had happened.

Jiang Hang glanced at the scene briefly and noticed that someone seemed to be missing.

Huh? Where is the only policeman at the scene, Misao Yamamura? Shouldn't he be the one stepping up to restore order? He's a policeman, and now that a murder has occurred, where is he?

However, since Misao Yamamura hasn't come out yet, someone still needs to be responsible for maintaining order at the scene.

Fortunately, Jiang Hang has gradually gotten used to this kind of thing.

He revealed his identity, along with the special advisor's badge issued by the Metropolitan Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

With his sharp eyes and tough attitude, he quickly restored order to the area around the crime scene.

It wasn't until then that Misao Yamamura, reeking of alcohol, staggered out of Kogoro Mouri's room. Judging from his drunken appearance, he probably had no idea what had happened.

"What? Kogoro Mouri hanged himself in his room?" It wasn't until he heard the surrounding travelers discussing this that Misao Yamamura suddenly sobered up from his drunken stupor.

He didn't notice Jiang Hang, who was maintaining order outside the door, or Kogoro Mouri, who was searching for clues inside the room.

He simply stared at the corpse hanging from the beam, not even figuring out the body's true identity, before bursting into a dramatic lament.

"Waaaaah, Mr. Mori, we've only had a little bit of wine, but you look so different than before?"

"Was it because I was drunk that I couldn't see clearly?"

"But why would you suddenly do something so stupid? That sleeping Kogoro Mouri is really sleeping forever in this place... Is this why you came to the Togami Forest?"

Listening to the Officer Yamamura's "sincere" condolences, even Kogoro Mouri, who was standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch any longer.

"What are you babbling about? I'm still alive and well. You should see clearly who actually died."

Kogoro Mouri knew this wasn't the time to argue with people, so he directly instructed Misao Yamamura: "Thanks to Jiang Hang and my efforts, no one else has entered this room since we discovered the body. You'd better contact the Gunma Prefecture police station right now and have them send forensic experts to examine the cause of death."

Kogoro Mouri's words of warning startled Misao Yamamura again, and he even subconsciously made a "ghostly" expression.

Even Kogoro Mouri had to wonder how this guy, who had neither the ability nor the mental fortitude, had become a police officer.

Fortunately, after regaining consciousness, Misao Yamamura's professional ethics remained high. He quickly contacted the Gunma Police Station and began explaining the situation to the hotel staff standing outside the door.

Upon learning that the person who had just died was actually an imposter Kogoro Mouri, the innkeeper Toda Yoshiro was naturally the most surprised.

With the police's assurance and Jiang Hang having already revealed their identities, the Beika Twin Stars are quite well-known.

Therefore, they quickly confirmed that the real Kogoro Mouri was still alive, and that the one who had died was just an imposter.

"I never expected such a thing to happen. I'm so sorry, because we've never seen your true face, so this fake took advantage of our vulnerability."

Toda Yoshiro's face looked like he had a headache.

After all, he personally extended the invitation to Kogoro Mouri, and there weren't many people who knew about it. But just at this very moment, on the very day that Kogoro Mouri agreed to accept the request and arrived at the inn, a fake Kogoro Mouri inexplicably appeared.

Most importantly, this fake Kogoro Mouri, after taking the briefcase that had been stored there for five years, inexplicably died in his hotel within just one afternoon.