The Events of the Eito Film Studio Murder Case / The Case's Unanswered Questions

However, considering that these two have been dating for ten years without any progress in the original game, perhaps having Chihiro Ayasato as a catalyst might have an unexpected effect.

Just as Jiang Hang was thinking about this, Chihiro Ayasato had already taken Maya Ayasato to the detention center to meet with Saburo Hoshimaru.

As a rookie lawyer, Ryūichi Naruhodō naturally had no choice but to accompany Jiang Hang to the Eito Studios the murder case had occurred.

"What are you doing following a detective like me, a lawyer? Shouldn't you be following your teacher at a time like this?" Jiang Hang complained to Ryūichi Naruhodō with a hint of exasperation as he drove.

Ryūichi Naruhodō scratched his spiky hair and said, "I was thinking that it might be a bit inconvenient for you to come to investigate alone Jiang Hang. I can be your assistant for the time being."

As he said this, his expression became somewhat subtle. "Besides, Chihiro-sensei's younger sister has a really lively personality. I'm not very good at dealing with girls like that, so I'd better stick with you. At least I'll feel more relaxed when I'm talking to you."

Maya Ayasato is naturally a very lively person, and since she didn't experience her sister's death in this world, it's normal for her to be even more outgoing, as she can still act cute towards her sister.

Looking at the oblivious Ryūichi Naruhodō, Jiang Hang couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Serves Phoenix Wright right for being single even in his thirties in the original work."

Although he, a person who has never been in a relationship, seems to have no right to speak about Naruhodo, a guy who used to have a girlfriend.

After arriving at Eito Studios, Jiang Hang took a bag of packaged snacks from the car.

"This snack... Jiang Hang, didn't you have breakfast before you came?" Ryūichi Naruhodō asked Jiang Hang with some curiosity.

Jiang Hang shook his finger at Cheng Butang.

"This is something I prepared in advance to give away. After all, your teacher hasn't confirmed that he'll take on Saburo Hoshimaru's case yet, and although I'm a detective, I can't just walk into any place."

At Ryūichi Naruhodō didn't quite understand Jiang Hang's intentions, but after he arrived at the main entrance of Eito Studios and saw many police cars, as well as the unfriendly-looking, god-like middle-aged woman guarding the gatehouse, he understood Jiang Hang's purpose.

Jiang Hang smiled and handed the pastry to the middle-aged woman in front of him. After whispering a few words to her, the woman, who was acting as the doorman, immediately welcomed Jiang Hang and Ryūichi Naruhodō into the Eito Studios with a smile.

After entering the Eito Studios, Ryūichi Naruhodō thought about Jiang Hang's reputation among the locals in Beika City and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: No wonder he's the heartthrob of middle-aged women in Beika City... You're something else, Jiang Hang.

If Jiang, a master of poisons, knew about the slander Ryūichi Naruhodō was making against him, Ryūichi Naruhodō's stomach would probably be in for a rough few days.

Because the incident occurred yesterday afternoon, many police officers can still be seen conducting investigations at the crime scene today.

Jiang Hang saw several familiar police officers at the scene, but Inspector Megure, whom he was more familiar with, and his assistant Takagi Wataru were not there. After all, Inspector Megure and his colleagues were from the Investigation Division One Investigative Division, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had a total of twelve divisions for murder investigations. It was already a coincidence that Conan always dealt with Inspector Megure's division 3. This time, Jiang Hang finally saw inspectors from other divisions.

The inspector in charge of this case was a middle-aged inspector from the Seventh Investigation Division. This inspector recognized Jiang Hang's identity at first glance.

After all, not long ago, Jiang Hang had just helped the police find the real Kyosuke Kazato, in the case of the police officer's murder, saving face for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Even the higher-ups in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department have recently begun to consider whether to give Jiang Hang the position of "Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Advisor".

Of course, the discussion eventually came to nothing, since the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had never granted such a position to any detective before.

Even established detectives didn't receive such treatment, nor did the missing high school student Shinichi Kudo. Jiang Hang has only been in the industry for less than three months and is also a foreigner. Getting the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to make an exception for Jiang Hang is no easy task.

However, this did not affect the discussions among the lower and middle-ranking police officers about Jiang Hang.

After recognizing Jiang Hang, the police inspector warmly approached him to greet Jiang Hang and inquired whether Jiang Hang was there to investigate the case of Saburo Hoshimaru.

Jiang Hang originally wanted to be polite to this newly acquainted police inspector, but he underestimated his reputation within the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. After recognizing him, the inspector began explaining the case to him, as if he wanted the renowned detective Jiang Hang to check if there was anything he had overlooked.

To this end, he even summoned one of his subordinates to explain the course of the case to Jiang Hang.

When Jiang Hang saw that the policeman he had called over to explain the case to him was a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard and a band-aid always on his face, Jiang Hang knew he had run into someone he knew.

"This is Detective Itokaki, a police officer with extensive experience in on-site investigations. Mr. Jiang Hang, let him explain this case to you. I believe you will soon understand that there are no suspicious points in this case, and all the evidence points to Saburo Hoshimaru."

Detective Itogiri gave Jiang Hang a brief self-introduction. "I am Keisuke Itonokogiri, the patrol chief of the Seventh Investigation Division. Nice to meet you."

Keisuke Itonokogiri, it really is this guy.

The police officer who appears most frequently in the Ace Attorney series is also "the most tragic ordinary person" in the story.

This guy always puts his heart and soul into investigating and collecting evidence, but because he always inadvertently helps Ryūichi Naruhodō in and out of court in the original work, he always ends up taking the blame. Not only does he get exploited and have his wages deducted by the prosecutor's office, but he also loses his job more than once.

However, these tragic experiences are only possible in the future. Now that Jiang Hang has appeared, this guy won't have to worry about his salary for at least a short period of time.

Thinking about it this way, Jiang Hang realized that he had actually done another great thing.

Chapter 228: Chapter 226: The Course of the Eito Studios Murder Case

In the original work, Keisuke Itonokogiri is a righteous and conscientious police officer who often takes the blame and has his salary docked.

Perhaps because he had never heard of Jiang Hang before, when his superior asked him to explain the case to Jiang Hang, his gaze lingered on Jiang Hang and Ryūichi Naruhodō for a while before he raised an objection to his superior.

"Inspector Yamada, this case information is classified by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The prosecutor's office is about to file charges against the suspect. Are you sure there's no problem telling them?"

"Of course, no problem. This is the famous Eagle-Eyed Detective, who has helped our police solve many troublesome cases. He is completely trustworthy."

As an inspector in the Seventh Division, Yamada knew that the Third Division had made a lot of contributions recently. In the past two months, almost half of the murder and kidnapping cases in Tokyo had been solved by Inspector Megure and his subordinates in the Third Division. Even after handling so many murder cases, the Third Division still had time to assist other departments in their investigations.

These undeniable achievements have brought the three departments into the sights of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's upper echelons. If things continue like this, Inspector Megure will likely be promoted to Superintendent within a few years. At the end of his career, Inspector Megure might even have the chance to reach the highest rank that non-professional police officers can achieve, namely Superintendent.

All of this is because Inspector Megure is incredibly lucky. He had the help of the high school detective Shinichi Kudo before, and after Shinichi Kudo suddenly disappeared, Inspector Megure got involved with two other detectives who had recently risen to fame: Kogoro Mouri and Jiang Hang.

Yamada had inquired and found out that these two famous detectives would contact the Third Department to take over the case whenever they encountered one, and they could usually solve the case on the same day it happened. It could be said that the Third Department staff could simply go through the motions and arrest the criminals.

Who wouldn't envy someone who can easily achieve such merit by just going through the motions?

Inspector Yamada is already quite old this year. If things continue as they are, becoming an inspector will be the end of his police career, and there is almost no possibility of him advancing further.

Now that Jiang Hang, the famous detective who had recently done the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department a great favor, was here, he naturally wanted to try to build a better relationship with Jiang Hang.

Although he believed that the culprit in this case was almost certainly Saburo Hoshimaru, since the famous detective Jiang Hang wanted to come and confirm it, there was no problem.

If they could poach Jiang Hang from Inspector Megure, wouldn't their Seventh Division also gain a lot of credit? Wouldn't he also have a chance for a promotion and a raise?

Thinking of this, he gave his subordinate a wink. He thought Keisuke Itonokogiri was quite capable, which was why he was thinking of giving him a hand. He never expected that this guy would ask him such a question.

Seeing that his boss was giving him a meaningful look, Keisuke Itonokogiri had no choice but to follow his instructions.

"Mr. Jiang Hang, please come here. I'll take you to the crime scene first." He led Jiang Hang to the crime scene and explained the details of the case to Jiang Hang and Ryūichi Naruhodō along the way.

According to the police investigation, the victim, Takeshi Ibukuro, died from being stabbed by a sharp weapon. The time of death was around 2:30 pm yesterday, and the location of death was the first shooting studio of Eito Studios.

Because there were no daytime filming tasks yesterday, his body was not discovered until 5 p. m. when the crew gathered at the first filming location to prepare for evening filming.

After the police arrived and questioned them, they discovered that because they had not worked during the day yesterday, from noon until 4 p. m. yesterday, the only people in the staff rest area of Eito Studios, besides the security guard, were the suspect, Saburo Hoshimaru, the victim, Takeshi Ibukuro, and another female staff member from the props department.

Jiang Hang listened attentively to this information. He needed to resolve this case before the police and prosecutor's office decided to file charges against Saburo Hoshimaru.

Although he remembered the ending, he certainly couldn't reveal it directly. He didn't remember the process of gathering clues in the cases as clearly, so the case information Keisuke Itonokogiri gave him was still quite useful.

Is it possible that the female staff member did not commit the crime?

The Ryūichi Naruhodō, who seemed to have now taken on the role of Jiang Hang's assistant.

"Regarding this..." Keisuke Itonokogiri hesitated for a moment, "In fact, the key to this case lies here."

He glanced at Jiang Hang, remembering the wink his boss had given him earlier, and finally took out a surveillance photo and handed it to Jiang Hang.

"Just by seeing this, you should be able to tell the approximate size of the person who committed the crime."

Ryūichi Naruhodō and Jiang Hang looked at the photo in Itokko's hand.

"This is..." Ryūichi Naruhodō quickly realized that the location captured by the surveillance camera was exactly near their current location.

In the photo, a person dressed in a prop costume is holding a long gun and dragging their leg toward the location of the first shooting position.

"This is the Great General's costume. According to the security guard, he was the only person captured on camera between yesterday afternoon and 4 p. m.," Keisuke Itonokogiri explained. "At the crime scene, this long gun was stuck in the victim's chest, which is the murder weapon in this case."

"Our police have investigated and found that it is impossible for an ordinary woman to wear such a heavy costume and still be able to lift a long gun weighing several kilograms so easily. In terms of physique, only Saburo Hoshimaru meets this standard."

Keisuke Itonokogiri pointed to the photo again, showing the "Great General" dragging one leg, and explained to Jiang Hang, "And look at the person in the photo, he is dragging one leg. According to our investigation, the suspect Saburo Hoshimaru, had a rehearsal with the victim, Takeshi Ibukuro, at the First Photography Studio yesterday morning, and injured his leg due to his own mistake."

"According to our investigation, the female staff member from the props department was not present at the time, so she was unaware of Saburo Hoshimaru's leg injury. Therefore, we have ruled out that female staff member as a suspect."

"Therefore, based on the above, our police have identified Saburo Hoshimaru as the prime suspect, who was at Eito Studios at the time of the incident and had no alibi."

After he finished speaking, judging from Keisuke Itonokogiri's expression, he seemed to be very confident in his reasoning.

Chapter 229: Chapter 227: Suspicious Points in the Case

Jiang Hang did not express any other opinion on Keisuke Itonokogiri's judgment.

Based on the police's current investigation, there doesn't seem to be any major problem. If Jiang Hang hadn't been able to see things from afar, he probably would have followed the police's line of thinking.

After all, these clues do indeed point to Saburo Hoshimaru.

The three of them have now arrived at the first photography studio, the "crime scene".

There wasn't much to see at the crime scene. Takeshi Ibukuro's body had already been moved by the police, and there wouldn't be any obvious clues left at the scene. Even if Jiang Hang used Eagle Eye, he wouldn't be able to find anything special in this studio.

However, Keisuke Itonokogiri's side provided Jiang Hang with photos of the deceased taken by their police yesterday.

The photo shows a man in a costume. When he was discovered, the Great General's spear was stuck directly in his chest. He seemed to have died from extreme pain, and his appearance before death was particularly ferocious.

"The victim, Takeshi Ibukuro, was the actor who played the villain 'Evil Official' in the TV series 'The Great General.' The costume he was wearing was also the costume of 'Evil Official.' So, according to our speculation, Takeshi Ibukuro may have been dissatisfied with the rehearsal yesterday morning, so he invited Saburo Hoshimaru to the studio in the afternoon to continue filming. It is possible that Saburo Hoshimaru intentionally killed Takeshi Ibukuro, or there may have been a problem during the rehearsal. In any case, it was here that Takeshi Ibukuro was pierced through the chest by a spear and ultimately died."

Since Ryūichi Naruhodō has not yet met Saburo Hoshimaru, and given that Inspector Itokozuke's words seem plausible, Ryūichi Naruhodō is now wondering if Saburo Hoshimaru accidentally killed Takeshi Ibukuro during rehearsals.

"So... if Ms. Chihiro is to take on this case, it might mean she has to figure out how to defend Saburo Hoshimaru on charges of 'manslaughter'?"

His muttering was naturally heard by Jiang Hang, who was standing next to him. Jiang Hang patted him on the shoulder and said, "There are still many doubts in the case."

"Suspicious points?" Not to mention Ryūichi Naruhodō, even Keisuke Itonokogiri seemed to be drawn to Jiang Hang's words.

As a detective, Keisuke Itonokogiri could indeed sense that something was off about the case, but since those things couldn't clear Saburo Hoshimaru of suspicion, and the police inspector and prosecutor's office were urging them to investigate the case as soon as possible, he didn't mention those things to Jiang Hang.

"Did you take that photo of the 'Great General' taken by the surveillance camera to ask that Saburo Hoshimaru?" Jiang Hang asked Keisuke Itonokogiri first.

Keisuke Itonokogiri nodded firmly. "Of course. After discovering what the surveillance footage showed, we found him immediately and questioned him."

Then Saburo Hoshimaru shook his head. "He said that after having lunch with Takeshi Ibukuro in the cafeteria yesterday, he went straight back to the lounge and slept until 5 p. m., when it was time to assemble. He also said that after he woke up, the Great General costume he had left in his room was stolen, but our police have not been able to find the whereabouts of the costume yet."

"Doesn't this mean someone is framing Mr. He Xing?" Ryūichi Naruhodō blurted out instinctively.

"He also said that, but I'm afraid he said it on purpose to get away with it. Even if someone really stole his costume and killed Takeshi Ibukuro Saburo Hoshimaru, they wouldn't know that he injured his leg yesterday noon and could only walk with a limp." Keisuke Itonokogiri once again highlighted the key point to Ryūichi Naruhodō.

After hearing what Keisuke Itonokogiri said, Ryūichi Naruhodō was immediately caught in a dilemma, while Jiang Hang continued to ask Keisuke Itonokogiri questions.

"Well, I have two more questions now."

Jiang Hang held up two fingers. "First, did the surveillance cameras capture any footage of Saburo Hoshimaru returning to his rest area from here?"

Upon hearing this question, Keisuke Itonokogiri quickly explained, "The reason the surveillance camera didn't capture it is that Saburo Hoshimaru deliberately avoided the camera to deal with the costume after the murder. For this reason, we are now more inclined to believe that Saburo Hoshimaru accidentally killed Takeshi Ibukuro during rehearsals, rather than that it was premeditated murder."

If Saburo Hoshimaru intended to murder Takeshi Ibukuro, since he chose to avoid cameras on his way back, even if he was wearing the costume of Great General, he should have avoided cameras from the beginning to avoid suspicion.

However, Jiang Hang has a different view. "Whether it's premeditated murder or manslaughter, there are serious problems here—"

"Since Saburo Hoshimaru was able to dispose of the costume and avoid the cameras when leaving, why didn't he deal with the highly recognizable spear that served as the 'murder weapon'?"

Keisuke Itonokogiri was stumped by Jiang Hang's question. He stammered for a while but couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

Before he could even process what was happening, Jiang Hang asked his second question, "Secondly, when did Takeshi Ibukuro arrive here, at the crime scene?"

This question made Keisuke Itonokogiri hesitate again. When did the victim arrive here? What was the connection between that and the current case?

Is this important?

Seeing Jiang Hang's "what do you think?" expression, Keisuke Itonokogiri thought about how his boss had told him to follow Jiang Hang's instructions as much as possible, so he quickly took out his phone to contact his colleagues to find out what was going on.

It took about ten minutes to confirm this, and the answer he received made Keisuke Itonokogiri look at Jiang Hang with a strange expression.

Because the surveillance footage only captured the scene of Takeshi Ibukuro helping Saburo Hoshimaru had an injured leg, to the staff lounge after the morning rehearsal ended. After that, there was no more footage of Takeshi Ibukuro in the surveillance footage, let alone any photos of him going to the First Studio.

"What's going on..." Keisuke Itonokogiri scratched his head vigorously. Their police force had always focused on finding evidence of Saburo Hoshimaru's guilt. If Jiang Hang hadn't brought it up, they probably wouldn't have thought of investigating Takeshi Ibukuro's case.

Unexpectedly, he only followed Jiang Hang's instructions to conduct a simple investigation and discovered such a huge problem.

As the victim Takeshi Ibukuro Ibuki shouldn't have needed to avoid the cameras, so when exactly did he go to the First Studio?

And what about the murder weapon that wasn't disposed of?

Chapter 230: Chapter 228: The Appearance of the Reiji Mitsurugi

Today is the first time Keisuke Itonokogiri has met Jiang Hang.

Before this, he had only heard his colleagues mention a very skilled detective at work.

As for those "famous detectives" he had never met, Keisuke Itonokogiri naturally couldn't help but feel some suspicion.

But today, Jiang Hang only stayed at the crime scene for a short while before raising several suspicious points that the police could not ignore, which immediately made this seemingly simple murder case become shrouded in mystery.

He had to take seriously the things Jiang Hang had put forward.

Why did the "murderer" leave the long gun, which was the murder weapon, at the crime scene after killing Takeshi Ibukuro?

Because of this spear, the possibility that Saburo Hoshimaru destroyed the Great General's costume to exonerate himself seems somewhat untenable.

Of course, it could also be explained that after committing the murder Saburo Hoshimaru was so flustered that he forgot to deal with the key murder weapon. But why would Takeshi Ibukuro, the victim, deliberately avoid being filmed by cameras when he went to the First Studio?