Detective Conan: Is Miss Haibara planning to assault a police officer again today?

"Today, it is ordinary people who are killed, and we are angry; today, it is our colleagues who are killed, and we are angry."

"All evil will eventually be brought to justice, and that is my response."

"As for wasting police resources, I want to ask how stupid you must be to say something like that. If we didn't have enough manpower, would I have brought so many people here?"

"The peace and tranquility that our police have worked so hard to fight against criminals has become a waste of police resources in your hands."

"And your claim that criminal police were deliberately used as bait is utter nonsense!"

"Don't try to judge the intelligence of our police force with your underdeveloped brain. We're not as stupid as you!"

"If you don't believe me, I welcome you to conduct a full interview at the Metropolitan Police Department. If you can find any evidence that we risked our comrades' lives to lure criminals into committing crimes, I, Higashino Ning, will immediately resign without uttering a single unnecessary word!"

Higashino Ningyi speaks righteously and rapidly, and the faster he speaks, the more credible he becomes.

Of course, he wasn't lying; all his thinking was just to serve his rhetoric.

He turned the megaphone volume up to the maximum, "Alright, it's still raining, so you should all disperse as soon as possible and not delay our police work. Anyone who stubbornly stays will be treated as a criminal suspect!"

"Anyway, I don't think anyone other than the criminal would insist on coming back to see the crime scene."

"I'm not joking. Now, scatter immediately!"

The reporters, who had been thoroughly berated by Higashino Ning, didn't want to leave, but now they had no choice.

Those criminal police officers all looked fierce and menacing; if they dared not leave, the police would arrest them.

The reporters and onlookers quickly dispersed.

The conversation between Higashino Ning and the reporter just now made them quite excited.

What we're saying is that some people get promoted not just because of good luck. Many detectives now honestly admit that they can't be as tough and resolute as Higashino Ning, who can criticize people while also responding directly to what needs to be responded to.

Inspector Higashino is awesome!

The ambulance arrived shortly afterward, picked up Narazawa's body, and hurriedly left.

The on-site investigation was quickly completed, and Higashino Ning took Conan and the others back to the Metropolitan Police Department to give statements.

These four are all important eyewitnesses.

Back at the Metropolitan Police Department.

Both Inspector Megure and Shiratori Ninzaburo were very serious, their faces so gloomy they could drip water.

"Brother Dongye, I already know the situation. These kids are eyewitnesses, right?"

Higashino Ning nodded. "Yes, I had someone check the street surveillance footage. There's no news yet, but I think it's unlikely we'll find any clues, since the current surveillance coverage is still very low."

Let's investigate using the traditional methods then...

Inspector Megure sighed inwardly, called Conan and the others into the conference room, and also made a phone call to Kogoro Mouri.

The investigation and questioning of children requires the presence of guardians. It would be too time-consuming to call all the parents, so we called in a lazy and clueless detective to avoid wasting too much time.

When Conan isn't using his powers, Kogoro Mouri does indeed spend most of his time idling around, and he arrived in less than twenty minutes.

In the conference room.

Inspector Megure looked at the three children and asked in a deep voice:

"Okay, after about 20 minutes of recalling, can you now identify the killer's characteristics?"

They cannot.

According to the three children, the murderer was androgynous, of inconsistent ages, and even the umbrella he was holding had three different colors.

Therefore, Inspector Megure can only believe Conan's version of events: gray raincoat, gray umbrella, gender and age unknown, left-handed.

The reason Conan said the other person was left-handed was because the culprit held the umbrella in his right hand and shot with his left.

Higashino Ning, standing nearby, exclaimed that it was a classic.

Here it comes, here it comes!

Classic left-handed.

Kogoro Mouri then spoke up, "Inspector, what do you mean by the fact that the deceased was clutching his left chest tightly when he died? Do you have any ideas?"

Megure nodded. "He was trying to imply that he had a police manual hidden in his chest. We've already figured that out and have arranged for someone to investigate the contents of the manual."

That's about enough. Asking any further questions won't yield any results.

Kogoro Mouri led the children away, while the police continued their work.

Besides the case, the busy period also included a media storm, specifically a media storm targeting Higashino Ning.

His remarks to the media that afternoon were either taken out of context or truncated, and in the news reports, Higashino Ning was portrayed as a major villain in the police force, and an extremely arrogant one at that.

Chapter 171 No Future in Tokyo

"Brother Higashino..."

Inspector Megure sighed deeply, "Didn't I tell you before that too much talk leads to mistakes? Especially in front of so many media outlets, you don't need to keep quiet, but at least you shouldn't have openly insulted the reporters."

Higashino Ning waved his hand, indicating that it was nothing to worry about. "That's all they're capable of. Whether they're right or wrong is just a matter of words. I wonder how they'll respond if I show them the video footage from the scene?"

Almost everyone in the Metropolitan Police Department went; how could Chiba and Shinichi not go?

Why haven't we mentioned him before?

Because he secretly recorded videos under Higashino Ning's arrangement.

If he hadn't been prepared, how could someone as incredibly composed as Higashino Ning have publicly attacked a reporter?

Seeing that Higashino Ning wasn't just mindlessly attacking the reporter, Inspector Megure felt a little more at ease. "Well... let's leave it at that for now. We can now be fairly certain that this is a series of murders targeting the police."

"You'll be announcing this information to the public at the press conference later. Be careful this time; it's an important occasion, so don't mess around."

Higashino Ning nodded to indicate that he understood.

Inspector Megure continued, "Then there's the case that Chief Odagiri is secretly investigating... First it was Inspector Aota, and now it's Inspector Narasawa. There must be a connection between them."

"The higher-ups have decided to put the case investigation in your hands again. This time, you can go a little deeper. Chief Odagiri has already given his approval."

"However, once we have accurate results, we must keep the news under wraps. We still have a lot of procedures to go through before announcing the identity of the prisoner, so we can't rush it."

These things were all expected; even without Megure mentioning it, Higashino Ning was pretty much aware of them.

After arranging the work, Inspector Megure said he would first go and recall Miwako Sato, and then give a reminder to another "high-risk" detective, Yoichiro Shiba.

That concludes the entire exchange.

He can't go home; Higashino Ning has a press conference to attend in an hour, and he's the main speaker.

He walked to the window, looked at the rain, and called Ai Haibara.

In the world of Detective Conan, there are short breaks every three days and long breaks every ten days. Today, Ai Haibara is at Professor Agasa's house researching antidotes.

But the little girl is just too kind.

Because of the previous "after-get off work stroll" incident, Ai Haibara, despite being preoccupied with her research, decided to take some time in the evening to prepare dinner for Ning Higashino as usual.

The exchange was just a few words and that was it.

Right now, Higashino Ning and Haibara Ai do have a bit of an "old married couple" feel to them. They don't have much to say to each other, but they can understand each other's meaning very quickly.

"Tsk, it's not as fun as it was at the beginning."

Higashino Ning put away his phone, intending to go back to his office to tidy up his appearance, but then noticed Shiratori Ninzaburo walking towards him.

There's no one else in this long corridor right now; everyone's busy.

Shiratori Ninzaburo got straight to the point, "Higashino-kun, this investigation will be very helpful to you, as it will allow you to establish a connection with Chief Odagiri."

"His high regard for you may be a crucial opportunity for your next meteoric rise in your career."

Higashino Ning didn't think so.

To be honest, he felt that his future promotion opportunities lay more with Tsuchimon Yasuharu and Matsumoto Kiyonaga.

He asked with some curiosity, "What, isn't Director Odagiri one of your men?"

Shiratori Ninzaburo chuckled, "He's within the Shiratori family's sphere of influence, but this is modern society. A dignified police superintendent can't be manipulated like a puppet."

"Director Odagiri is a very traditional and rigid person. He was very unhappy about your promotion before. If you can win him over this time, it will definitely help your future development."

Higashino Ning raised an eyebrow. "So, what kind of moves are you planning this time?"

It's not that Shiratori Ninzaburo is the kind of "scheming politician" type, but rather that Higashino Ning felt that the other party, as someone who wanted to replicate his promotion model, would definitely not give up such an opportunity to gain great merit.

Shiratori Ninzaburo has become much more straightforward under Higashino Ning's influence: "The higher-ups have decided to put you in charge of the case investigation, so the main credit will definitely go to you."

"I only need to share a small share of the credit to add some luster to my resume. It's not easy to get promoted from police inspector. I'll take it one step at a time."

Higashino Ning shrugged. "Well, I guess you didn't need to tell me that."

“I’m just worried you might have a problem with that,” Shiratori Ninzaburo patted him on the shoulder. “Right now, your potential determines my potential, so being good friends is the best option.”

Higashino Ning was a little speechless. "An exchange of interests is an exchange of interests, and being friends is being friends. This is the first time I've seen something like this mixed up."

"Really?" Shiratori Ninzaburo was a little embarrassed. "I'm a bit inexperienced when it comes to making friends, please forgive me."

Okay, I understand now.

You want to be my friend.

Higashino Ning sighed, "Next time I make friends, I should put aside interests first, or at least not say it outright. I'm leaving now, I still have to deal with those reporters, it's such a hassle every day."

He had only taken two steps when Shiratori Ninzaburo called out to him, "Wait a minute, are you planning to go to Nagano later?"

Higashino Ning was a little puzzled. "Yeah, there's no future in staying in Tokyo."

"Then let me know before you leave, so I can see you off." Shiratori Renzaburo turned around. "As for the press conference... well, be careful, they'll definitely make things difficult for you this time."

There was no further communication, and Shiratori Ninzaburo left resolutely.

Higashino Ning was also going to host a press conference.

This reception was indeed very difficult. Higashino Ning was challenged by all sides, and he kept talking non-stop. He even showed off two bottles of mineral water that were just for decoration.

But... they have a slight advantage!

The four-hour press conference finally came to an end.