Transmigrated into Conan, his ability is Rhodes Island

"In the case just mentioned, the deceased was obese and a heavy drinker and smoker. The police explained that she was wearing flammable woolen clothing that day and fell asleep while heavily intoxicated. A cigarette butt landed on her clothes, ignited, burned through the subcutaneous tissue, and then ignited the fat. The fat seeped into the clothing, creating a wick effect..."

Kenji Hagiwara glanced at everyone and continued to explain: "The wick effect, simply put, means that clothing is like the wick of a candle, and fat is like the wax. Fat continuously provides fuel for combustion, making the torso area burn more cleanly than an incinerator, while parts far from the torso, such as the feet, are preserved."

"You mean, this case is similar?" The section chief looked at Kenji Hagiwara with a serious expression, recalling the situation at the crime scene.

Kenji Hagiwara pondered for a moment. "This is only one possibility, after all, I remember there were cigarette boxes and lighters left at the scene. But we need further investigation results to make a judgment."

Akihara Kazumitsu watched their discussion from the side, shaking his head inwardly. He didn't rush to join the discussion, but instead asked the system to retrieve the "dugong buns" he had bought on the American island from his spatial storage—originally intended as a souvenir to give back to his mentor, Hirota Masami, to express his apology for taking two days off on a non-rest day.

However, apart from eating some snacks provided by the ferry in the morning, he had not eaten or drunk anything all day.

Professor Hirota would surely not be stingy with a pie that could save his beloved student's life.

With these thoughts in mind, Akihara Kazumitsu took a bite with gratitude.

At this moment, the discussion among the police officers had temporarily come to an end. Hagiwara Kenji then remembered that Akihara Kazuhiro seemed to have some knowledge of SHC-related cases, so he turned to look at the other person in the corner.

"Akihara, what do you think... what are you doing??"

Qiu Yuan swallowed the last bite of the fish paste pie, feeling that the system space's preservation function could be the system's biggest selling point. He clapped the crumbs off his hands, met the gazes of the crowd who were wondering, "What? He still has an appetite?" and "Where did he get that from?", and answered matter-of-factly, "I'm maintaining the minimum vital signs—of course, that's not the point."

He produced another tissue from somewhere and calmly wiped his mouth. "Back to your earlier guess, that possibility doesn't exist. First, the burning time is only about half an hour. If it were caused by the wick effect, the burning would last longer and the flame would be very small. Just like a real candle, it can burn slowly for up to ten hours."

"Secondly, although the surveillance footage is not clear, it can be roughly determined that the victim's body type is not obese, and therefore cannot meet the requirements for producing the wick effect." At this point, he paused and glanced intentionally or unintentionally at the overweight mall manager.

The person in charge shrank back under his gaze, sweating even more profusely. "Ten hours of burning... even with excessive drinking, wouldn't he wake up in pain during the middle?"

Akihara Kazumitsu put away the tissue. "In that case, it started with alcohol-induced drowsiness, followed by severe pain-induced neurogenic shock, and it's even possible that the shock caused peripheral circulatory disorders and coagulation dysfunction, leading to death—commonly known as 'painful death'."

After hearing this, the person in charge went to the side to wipe his sweat.

Akihara Kazumitsu recalled the scene and continued to elaborate on his point of view: "The third point is that there was no 'candle wax' residue left at the scene, which is the grease left after the wick burns. Instead, there were radial scorch marks... Based on this, it can be inferred that the fire must have been very large and burned from top to bottom."

"I see." Kenji Hagiwara listened attentively and nodded. "At least the old man who was cleaning was right about one thing: you observed very carefully."

Akihara Kazumitsu instinctively felt this wasn't a good topic—it was best not to spout nonsense about being a UDI forensic pathologist in front of these police officers. So he changed the subject, suggesting, "So let's go back to the scene and take a look."

After the section chief packed the videotapes into an evidence bag, the group returned the way they came. The First Investigation Division's evidence collection and photography were almost finished; the victim's remains had been placed in a black body bag and would likely be sent to a nearby university's forensic medicine department or the hospital's medical laboratory.

However, according to statistics, there are only 150 forensic doctors in the entire country of Japan, and the autopsy rate is even more pitifully low.

Akihara stared at the busy crowd, letting his thoughts wander.

Approximately 130 million people die in Japan each year, of which about 15 are considered unnatural deaths. The autopsy rate is a paltry 0.3%, meaning that only a few hundred bodies may actually be eligible for autopsy.

But considering that the main storyline is about to begin and the number of unnatural deaths is about to surge...

Akihara Kazumitsu watched the body bag being taken away, tapped his chest four times, made the sign of the cross, and silently mourned for the forensic doctors.

"So why would a time traveler choose forensic medicine as a profession? The work is heavy, there's no commission, and while others are on vacation, they're working overtime. Public universities are drastically cutting their budgets for forensic medicine programs, and the number of related professionals is decreasing rapidly. Why would anyone still jump into such a bottomless pit?"

The system was silent for two seconds, then said, "Perhaps this is what a siege is like. 'Those inside want to escape, while those outside want to rush in.'"

Akihara: Sigh.

System: Sigh.

A few seconds after sighing, the system suddenly realized, "Don't try to find a sense of reality in fictional stories, Kora!!"

After arranging the next tasks for the members of the First Investigation Division, the section chief took a moment from his busy schedule to come over to Akihara and say, "Thank you for the ideas you just provided. Your suspicion has been basically eliminated. Here is your contact information. You can leave now."

Akihara checked the time on his phone; he was already way past the last bus. Just as he was pondering how to find an excuse to stay and legitimately mooch a meal at the Metropolitan Police Department cafeteria, and ideally, hitch a free ride, Hagiwara Kenji spoke up before he could.

He put his arm around Akihara's shoulder again and explained to the section chief with a smile, "This is my friend. As you can see, he has a lot of ideas about this case. If he stays, he might be able to help solve the case."

Although they weren't in the same department, they had a connection through Date Wataru, and they were both graduates of the police academy. The head of the First Investigation Division was quite tolerant of such a talented junior, so he nodded in agreement.

Having first received the section chief's approval, Kenji Hagiwara turned to Kazumitsu Akihara and said with a smile, "Someone promised us to have dinner together on the way here, but then used magic as an excuse to slip away. You won't go back on your word this time, will you?"

Thanks to Kenji Hagiwara for the assist.

Akihara Kazumitsu smiled in response. "Of course."