Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

Amuro Toru frowned when he heard this.

He only saw the TV report on this case and didn't know the specific process - after all, it was an ordinary homicide case, not under the jurisdiction of the police - he remembered that the reason for the public's doubts later was...

"The case should have been closed at that point, but when Koshiba Koichi was taken to the detention center and examined, no injuries were found on his body."

"That night, Koshiba Koji went to the izakaya again. After drinking a lot of alcohol, he suddenly laughed and said he wanted to thank Kudo Yusaku for helping him get rid of a loser who depended on him for support. After that, he changed his words in a panic, saying that he was drunk and he was very sad that his brother did that."

"Not only that, the boss also discovered that when Koji Koshiba went to the izakaya the day before, he had medical tape on the back of his right hand, but when he went there again, the tape was gone. He also deliberately concealed it by holding the wine glass with his left hand instead."

"The boss who saw the case on the news felt something was wrong and called the police immediately, suspecting that the police had arrested the wrong person."

"I called Yusaku again to ask him about this, and he made it clear that the culprit was his brother. After I told him about Koshiba Koji's strange behavior, he was silent for a long time, and then said..."

"Police Department!!"

Two policemen suddenly rushed in and interrupted what Inspector Megure was going to say.

"We have checked. The residence of Koji Koshiba listed in the employment file is empty. The landlord said that it has never been rented out!"

"What?!" Inspector Megure's eyes widened.

The other policeman had a look of joy on his face.

Behind him, a pale middle-aged woman, surrounded by two female police officers, walked in with her head lowered, rubbing her hands nervously on her apron.

"When we went near Kudo's house, we happened to find his hired nanny! When she saw us, she came over and turned herself in!"

The middle-aged woman raised her head and saw so many people looking at her. Her body trembled and she began to sob softly.

"Where are those two kids now?!"

Faced with the confirmed suspect, Officer Megure lost his previous politeness and questioned him sternly.

"I have no idea!!"

The woman slipped to the ground, covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.

"Yesterday I put medicine in Shinichi's meal, and he fell asleep right after he ate it. Then Xiao Chai drove over and carried him away... I had no idea where he was going to take him!"

Miwako Sato immediately asked: "Why do you do this?"

"That man kidnapped my child and asked me to help him. He didn't allow me to call the police, otherwise he would kill my child... I, I was really coerced!!"

Hearing her miserable cry, Matsuda Jinpei looked at the female police officer who brought the female suspect in and asked, "How is her child?"

"She has been found, and she is fine." The policewoman replied, "She came over to turn herself in as soon as she saw her child returned safely."

Jinpei Matsuda doesn't usually handle criminal cases, so when he encountered a suspect who was completely coerced, he didn't know what to say.

"What about Hojo? How is Hojo Shinji?" Inspector Megure was concerned about another missing student.

"I don't know! He just asked me to help kidnap Shinichi!!"

The woman continued crying, "Xiao Chai asked me not to leave any communication tools, but after Shinichi fell asleep, I secretly put his phone in his pocket so that he could call for help when he woke up..."

Inspector Megure's face was filled with anger, but he did not lose his temper this time. He knew that this was probably the only thing the person being coerced could do for Kudo Shinichi at the time.

Amuro Toru sighed in his heart.

Koji Koshiba might have conducted a body search after taking the person away. When he saw that Kudo Shinichi did not come to school in the morning, the Dean of Academic Affairs called Kudo's home and his cell phone many times, but no one answered.

Toru Amuro looked at Aoyagi Akimichi and saw that he had a slightly frown on his brows, as if he was thinking about something, and his eyes looked particularly dark.

"...Teacher Qingliu?" He called out to him.

Aoyagi Binguang came to his senses and turned around immediately.

Seeing his calm and gentle expression return in less than a second, Amuro Toru smiled on the surface: "Finally found the culprit, I knew that Mr. Aoyagi would not do such a thing."

Aoyagi Binkou seemed not to have expected him to say that and was slightly stunned.

After a brief eye contact, Aoyagi Akimitsu shifted his gaze and looked at the kneeling nanny.

"It's a pity that we still don't know where Kudo and the others went, and what's going on with them now."

He sighed: "Because the father solved the case, the son was retaliated. This kind of thing is simply..."

Amuro Toru asked out of the blue: "Teacher Aoyagi, do you think it's revenge? Kudo and Hojo both come from well-off families. Maybe Koshiba just kidnapped them and wants a ransom?"

"If they wanted a ransom, they would have called long ago," said Aoyagi. "And in kidnapping cases, the kidnappers would try their best to avoid alerting the police. But he planted a bomb under the piano of an ordinary music teacher like me. This doesn't make sense."

Hearing the keyword "bomb", Jinpei Matsuda also looked over.

"But he has no reason to take revenge on Mr. Kudo, right?"

Amuro revealed a puzzled expression: "Three years ago, it was Mr. Kudo who found the murderer and saved him from jail."

"Brother Xiaochai has a good relationship."

Qingliu Binguang said suddenly.

Amuro Toru heard his calmness and certainty and was stunned for a moment.

Officer Megure turned around and looked at Aoyagi Akiko with surprise: "Brother Yusaku said the same thing on the phone back then."

Miwako Sato felt her temples throbbing. She continued to ask the nanny, "What else did he say during the process of coercing you? Please tell me everything."

"He said……"

The middle-aged woman raised her head with tearful eyes and spoke with trembling lips.

"...He said that since he was the son of a mystery novelist, he would leave clues in the school that could lead to their location..."

----

10:05 am.

In an inconspicuous single-family house, Koji Koshiba opened his eyes at the sound of the alarm clock.

His socks and trouser legs were wrinkled, as if they had been through water not long ago and the clothes had not been straightened out before drying naturally.

There were empty wine bottles piled around him. He reeked of alcohol, but his eyes were quite sober.

Koshiba Koji sat up and leaned gently against a small box. He looked at the reflection of his face in the dressing mirror not far away and smiled back.

He turned on the TV in a relaxed manner, switched to the news channel he watched most often, and waited to see the news he wanted to see.

"Ding-dong-"

The doorbell rang suddenly.

Koshiba Koji's eyes widened and his heart was beating violently.

He didn't dare to hit the box behind him with force. He turned his head carefully and looked towards the door, standing motionless in the same place, as if moving would alarm the people outside.

The doorbell rang only once and then stopped.

Koshiba Koji was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but the next second, he heard clear footsteps coming from outside.

Da da da……

"Great, you're home."

A hand rested on the door frame, and a woman with brown-gray hair appeared there.

She has fair skin and speaks Kansai dialect. Her light brown eyes are like melted honey, full of sweet smiles.

She was obviously very beautiful, but for some reason, her clothes and gloves were covered with mud and dust, as if she had just run away from a construction site.

Chapter 52 Absolute Musicality

10:15 am, Minato Middle School.

The temporary resettlement site was filled with gloom and the faculty, staff and police all looked unhappy.

Officer Megure looked down at his watch. "Kudo was definitely taken away from home at 4pm yesterday. Hojo is not sure at the moment. The last time a neighbor saw him was before 5pm, when he ran out of the house..."

——At this time, more than twelve hours had passed since the two students disappeared.

Jinpei Matsuda had no appetite for smoking any longer, and the police officers from the Investigation Division nearby didn't care why a bomb disposal officer like him was here.

Everyone was trying hard to think about the clues currently available, especially the kitchen employees who had regular interactions with Koshiba Koji, who were desperately trying to recall if there was anything unusual about their partner's daily life.

"Have you contacted their parents?" Jinpei Matsuda suddenly asked.

"We had contacted them when we found out they didn't come. It was Mrs. Hojo who answered the phone at the Hojo family. Hojo-kun had a history of not coming home all night several times in the past, so they didn't call the police yesterday." The Dean of Academic Affairs said, "The Kudo couple is abroad and we haven't been able to contact them yet."

"I mean, is there any now?" Matsuda Jinpei said, "Maybe while we were thinking hard, those two brats had already gone home early."

Sato Miwako was speechless and said, "We have already sent people to their house and contacted the Kudo couple. If we receive any strange calls or any other situations, we will notify this place immediately."

Officer Megure was about to interrupt when his cell phone suddenly vibrated. He took it out and saw, "It's Yusaku calling... Sorry, I have to excuse myself for a moment."

Toru Amuro glanced at his walking away figure, then looked away.

He originally didn't like the fact that the Metropolitan Police Department always relied on detectives and mystery novelists to solve cases. He always felt that this would make the current police lack the ability to think for themselves. But now the other party's child was involved...

"Really?!"

Inspector Megure let out a cry of surprise, and everyone looked at him.

The police inspector from the Investigation Division 1 turned around and looked at Sato Miwako: "Sato, go get the tape and player from the studio!"

"Any clues?" the Dean of Academic Affairs asked with concern.

"He said that the other party played that strange piano music in the school. It definitely wasn't for no reason! It could very well be the clue to our guidance!"

Amid the voice of Inspector Megure, a kitchen handyman stood up and said, "Oh, now I remember that Xiao Chai sometimes sorts out the music scores after work. He said that they record their family's secret communications."

After hearing the secret communication, Toru Amuro became interested, but due to his current identity, he did not ask the question directly.

The police officer Matsuda Jinpei asked directly, "What communication?"

"That's right. I heard him say that his parents had learned a secret code from another musician. Starting from the leftmost side of the piano keyboard, they put the 26 English letters in order, and then translated the message they wanted to convey into Roman letters and recorded it on the music score..."

"........."

As a person with a great tone deafness, Matsuda Jinpei had to sort out his thoughts: "...Does it mean that I can translate what they want to convey by looking at the piano music?"

"I think so." The logistics staff said uncertainly.

The police officer who was in charge of searching the studio with Sato Miwako said, "But we only found the threatening letter and the tape at the scene. The tape only contained that strange piano piece, nothing else."

"Could it be that……"