Compared to the young Shinichi Kudo, whom the villagers did not welcome, Mori Kogoro had a far more reliable image as a detective.
He had once been a police officer, possessed extensive investigative experience, had earned recognition from all sides, and was a middle-aged man with some years on him. No matter how one looked at it, he seemed more dependable than the remaining high schoolers.
So before they had even begun looking into the case itself, they had already learned some details from the villagers' overlapping chatter.
Yadaken Makoto, the man who had sent the letter, was the adopted son of the Nihira couple, who had died a year ago.
Takatoku Nihira had been the village chief at the time. Humble, cheerful, and charitable, he had served as chief of Higashioho Village for twenty years and was deeply loved by its residents.
So when such a tragedy occurred a year ago, the villagers had been heartbroken. Naturally, they had actively cooperated with the investigation, hoping to find the true culprit.
In the end, however, the detective everyone had placed their hopes on had concluded that the village chief had coerced his wife into committing suicide with him.
"Even if Village Chief Higashihara had been diagnosed with cancer, a man as good-tempered as him could never have done something so cruel to Madam Choko, could he?"
"Exactly. Even if he had been afraid it couldn't be cured, he would only have left a will, asked someone to take care of his family, and then gone off alone..."
"That's strange too, isn't it? They didn't find any will at the scene at all."
"Exactly! The whole scene had been smashed up like that... What an irresponsible detective..."
The attitude of the people around them came through loud and clear, and they