Conan's corpse picker

Chapters 3769 and 3782 [Uzo and the Beauty Trap] Requesting monthly votes (`)

The tough-guy pastry chef thought for a moment: "At that time, the office called me and asked me to come over immediately. So for the next 10 minutes after 12:25, I was in the office."

Officer Oda looked at him suspiciously: "How do you remember the time so clearly?"

The tough-guy pastry chef looked at him suspiciously: "You police officers, don't you usually keep track of time? -- I always check my watch no matter what I'm doing, every second counts. And time means the right temperature, and it also means the taste of the dessert, so of course I have to keep track of it."

“Okay.” Officer Oda wasn’t used to this pastry chef’s style, so he stretched his shoulders. “Bring the person who called you to the office here. I’ll take his statement and clarify your alibi.”

The tough-guy pastry chef shook his head: "But when I went to the office, there was no one there. It seemed like all my colleagues had gone out to eat."

Officer Oda understood, and said with exasperation, "So you don't have an alibi?"

The tough-guy pastry chef didn't quite understand his emotions, but he still nodded: "You could say that."

Officer Oda sighed, glancing furtively at the curly-haired man behind Officer Sato: Oh no, there's another, bigger suspect than him. Could it be that the murderer really isn't this suspicious curly-haired guy?

After only a couple of glances, Sato Miwako's gaze drifted over: "What are you looking at?"

Officer Oda: "..."

Just as he was sighing to the heavens, a large group of people walked in through the door, and at the same time, a warm voice rang out: "Brother Jiang Xia!"

The four officers turned around abruptly and saw Inspector Megure. They sighed inwardly: Oh no, someone else has taken over the situation.

Inspector Megure was about to exchange a few pleasantries with the enthusiastic young man, Jiang Xia, when he got closer and saw Sato Miwako standing next to him first.

"Sato? Didn't you take the day off for a date? What happened..."

Halfway through his sentence, Inspector Megure suddenly realized something, his gaze shifting back and forth between his younger brother and his subordinate. Finally, he hesitated and lowered his voice, "Sato, this isn't a good idea. Enatsu... he's still just a high school student."

Sato Miwako paused for a moment, her face flushing red. She said awkwardly, "What are you thinking? We didn't come together; we just happened to run into each other."

"Not Jiang Xia?" Inspector Megure breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a pang of disappointment. He looked around the crowd again and this time spotted a curly-haired man etched deep in his memory.

Looking at his clothes and sunglasses again, he blurted out, "Matsuda, my friend?! You're alive again?!"

Matsuda looked at him, somewhat speechless, and shook his head.

"It really is you!" That speechless expression, tinged with a hint of disgust, perfectly matched his memory. After a moment of confusion, Inspector Megure's materialistic mindset finally kicked in. "No, Matsuda has indeed..."

After a closer look, he came to a similar conclusion: "Are you Matsuda's younger brother?"

Miwako Sato snapped out of her reverie, not wanting to bring up this painful memory of Matsuda's alter ego, and interrupted, "Inspector, let's solve the case first."

"Oh, right." Inspector Megure snapped out of his daze, quickly suppressing his gossipy nature, and asked the officer sent by Shiratori for clarification.

He quickly nodded: "So now there are four suspects..."

Sato Miwako's brow twitched, and she corrected, "There are three. Matsuda was with us the whole time, and Jiang Xia was there too."

"I see." Upon hearing Jiang Xia's name, Inspector Megure immediately disregarded the deductions of his four subordinates and, under their sorrowful gazes, began to speak again:
"In other words, there are now three suspects. The last person to see the deceased was the 'Cake Prince' who went out with the tree stump cake, and the first person to discover the body was the Cake Ironman Champion who returned here shortly after he left, is that right?"

The tough-guy pastry chef, who was being stared at, nodded: "When I came back from the office, I saw someone lying on the floor. When I got closer, I found that it was the dead president."

The Cake Prince disagreed: "I might not be the last person to see the manager, because Ms. Morimoto stayed in the dessert shop after I left."

The quiet candy magician next to him was startled and quickly waved his hand: "I did stay in the dessert shop the whole time, but I was focused on making candy and didn't notice anything outside."

Inspector Megure stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "The deceased died from a severe blow to the back of the head. In that case, the murder weapon may still be nearby."

He looked at his men: "Search immediately and find the hidden murder weapon!"

"Yes!" The subordinates scattered, four of them glancing at the curly-haired man, itching to make a move.

However, before the search could even begin, Sato Miwako's voice drifted over: "His suit is so fitted, how could he possibly hide a blunt weapon? What's wrong with you four today? Why are you picking on him?"

"...No, no." The four officers, unable to break through her defenses, could only awkwardly circle around her, saying, "We're just passing through."

Then, passing by, they joined the search team.

Outside the dessert shop.

In the crowd outside the cordon.

Hashimoto Maya watched this scene and sighed silently.

"I never expected that four people in the Metropolitan Police Department would simultaneously suspect Lord Uzo's identity..."

"But what's the use of that? — The few who grasp the truth are besieged by their companions and forced into silence in their resentment... This is just a little bit of fun in Lord Uzo's daily life."

After all, compared to these four ordinary police officers, the policewoman who had a lot of influence had completely fallen into Lord Uzo's clutches, willingly becoming a pathetic shield, forever standing in front of him...

"He even uses his good looks so skillfully. No wonder he's Lord Uzo. He's always so cunning... cough, always so resourceful!"

So that ring was just a tool used to infiltrate the police force?

While trying to figure out her boss's intentions, Hashimoto Maya huddled in the crowd of onlookers, pretending to be just an ordinary bystander.

……

The police officers, like diligent ants, were preparing to bring the clues to Jiang Xia for review.

The witnesses nearby were not idle either.

The candy magician looked around and, unexpectedly, was the first to attack: "Maeda, Fujino, it was one of you who murdered Manager Hashigaki, wasn't it?"

The Cake Prince and the Cake Emperor exclaimed in unison, "What did you say?!"

Inspector Megure's ears immediately perked up: They're here!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Thank you so much for the monthly tickets! (σ≧▽≦)σ