69novels Page 105
Page 105
"Phew, thank goodness this show won't be broadcast overseas," Hakuba Saguru breathed a sigh of relief. "If my classmates knew that I represented the overseas team and lost to the Japanese, I'd definitely be ridiculed when I got back."
Just as everyone was racking their brains over the regional disputes, Matsuda suddenly received a phone call.
His expression changed immediately after he answered the call, and he rushed to the entrance of the TV station.
There, Matsuda met with Inspector Yoneya, who had come from Shikoku.
Last time he and Koshimizu were in Shikoku, if it weren't for the old police officer's help, Matsuda and Koshimizu wouldn't have been able to bring the culprit of the Lavender Villa secret room, the thief Tsuchio Hiroki, back to Tokyo so easily.
However, the old patrolman seemed noticeably less enthusiastic during this meeting.
"Senior Miyako, what exactly happened? How could Inspector Daimon... have also committed suicide?"
Although Matsuda already knew that Kana Mizuguchi's spirit was haunting Shotaro Daimon,
But the two policemen who had been pestered by her before had at least persisted for two or three months.
Finally, unable to bear the pressure from Kana Mizuguchi's ghost, he chose suicide out of guilt towards her.
How come when it came to Daimon Shotaro, only half a month had passed, he couldn't hold on and died?
"Like Panasonic and Oshima before him, Daimon also committed suicide by hanging."
The old patrolman sighed and took out a notebook.
"This is a relic of the gate, containing his record of the entire Lavender Villa case. Although that guy did something wrong, he finally knew to repent before he died."
"I heard from Takagi that you might need it, so I sent it over to you first."
Matsuda took the notebook and flipped through it; it was indeed just as the old patrolman had said.
The story of the Lavender Villa case begins with the suicide of the eldest daughter of the Nagasone family, and then progresses to when Tokitsu Junya presents new evidence and persuades them to change the suicide case to a murder case.
Later, in order to improve the Kochi Prefectural Police Department's case-solving rate, the gatekeeper ordered Matsushita and Oshima to solve the case within a limited time, which led them to interrogate Mizuguchi Kana, ultimately resulting in the tragedy of Mizuguchi Kana jumping off a cliff and committing suicide.
All of this was recorded in detail in the notebook.
Chapter 130 The Gate is Dead Too
And at the end of the notebook, just like the two policemen who committed suicide earlier,
Every blank space on each page was filled with "I'm sorry".
After handing the notebook to Matsuda, the old patrolman took his leave.
Matsuda had intended to invite him to participate in a later program.
But the veteran patrolman refused, saying he wanted to meet up with the senior officer.
Inspector Yoneya had worked his entire life at the Kochi Prefectural Police Department, and although he felt he had a clear conscience,
However, it is clearly unacceptable that the scandals of the Kochi Prefectural Police Department would be broadcast on television for the whole of Japan to enjoy.
The veteran patrol officer had already done the best he could to get Matsuda the crucial evidence left at the gate.
……
After a busy day and a brief rehearsal, the Detective Koshien program is finally going to meet the audience live.
Actually, Nichiuri TV initially planned to pre-record the Detective Koshien tournament.
Matsuda was worried that if it was a pre-recorded broadcast, his revelation of Tokitsu Junya's secret would inevitably be leaked during the recording.
If the audience was prepared in advance, the impact of his exposing Tokitsu Junya on the show would certainly not be as great as if he suddenly launched an attack during the live broadcast.
Therefore, at Matsuda's request, and with the sponsorship of the Suzuki family, and mainly due to the latter's influence, Nichiri TV finally agreed to broadcast the live.
……
At 8:00 PM sharp, the live broadcast of Detective Koshien officially began.
Following Matsuda's advice, Rena Mizunashi wore a long dress in a color similar to lavender and stood in the center of the studio.
After a brief opening speech, and with Rena Mizunashi's introduction, five detectives representing the four cardinal directions of Japan and overseas walked onto the stage in turn.
Finally, Matsuda appeared as the question setter and referee for this year's Detective Koshien.
As for Ran, Sonoko, Kazuha, and Ayako, they were all sitting in the audience below, watching the show live.
Once everyone was in place, the large screen in the center of the stage began playing a video recording taken on the Suzuki family's private island.
The first part was the self-introduction of the five detectives; the footage shown in the studio was edited.
The dialogue between Hattori and his comrades, who argued that Hakuba Saguru could not represent eastern Japan, was removed.
Instead, Rena Mizunashi directly introduced Hakuba Saguru as a specially invited overseas guest.
Upon hearing that an overseas detective representative had suddenly been added...
And when Ran Mouri replaced Kudo as the new generation of Japanese TV host,
The shills at the scene—no, the audience members—immediately let out a surprised shout.
……
"It's actually Ran-neechan, the representative of detectives in eastern Japan. Is she really good at deduction?"
At Professor Agasa's house, the other members of the Junior Detective League were also sitting in front of the television, watching Detective Koshien with Professor Agasa.
"It seems like Ran-neechan is only really good at karate, right?" Ayumi thought for a moment.
Genta was a little confused and exclaimed, "Isn't this a detective competition, but a karate competition?"
"Didn't I just say that Ran-neechan is replacing Shinichi Kudo?"
After explaining something to Genta, Mitsuhiko still seemed worried.
"The East is probably going to lose this time."
"Don't worry, Ran will definitely win!" Professor Agasa was full of confidence in Ran, "After all, she has Shinichi... no, Conan helping her."
"But the other representatives are all famous high school detectives. Is Conan really effective against them?" Mitsuhiko questioned.
“Conan will definitely win!” Ayumi said, dissatisfied. “Besides, wasn’t it Inspector Matsuda who set the questions for this detective competition? He will definitely help Conan.”
“But wouldn’t that be cheating?” Yuan Tai said innocently.
"I don't care, Japan's eastern region must win this time!" Ayumi shouted defiantly.
Seeing that she seemed genuinely angry, the two sycophants beside her immediately fell silent in fear.
……
The Metropolitan Police Department's First Division office was well past closing time.
However, many police officers still adhere to the traditions of Japanese society and stay in their offices working overtime.
The overtime work consisted of watching tonight's Detective Koshien together.
Everyone in the class except Matsuda was there, including Yumi, who was from the Ministry of Transportation.
"Is it really okay to have Ran replace Shinichi Kudo?"
Megure looked at the introductions of the detectives from various regions on the television screen and shook his head.
"Isn't this perfect? This is the perfect opportunity for Koshimizu to take first place!" Koshimizu's fans in the office immediately shouted.
Unfortunately, no sooner had he finished shouting than he was met with angry glares from the others in the office.
"Hey, are you even from Tokyo?!"
"At a time like this, everything else has to wait; our first priority is to defend Tokyo's dignity!"
"We absolutely cannot let anyone from elsewhere win, especially that dark-skinned kid from Osaka!"
……
Although the members of the class didn't like the feeling of being overshadowed by the detective,
But now that regional differences are involved, even if they don't like Shinichi Kudo, they still hope that he can win as the representative of the East.
"Hey, Takagi, where's Sato?"
Yumi tapped on Takagi's table and asked.
She hadn't seen Sato since she entered the office.
Yumi initially thought Sato had gone to the restroom, but after waiting for so long, she still hadn't seen her.
Yumi then realized something was wrong.
"It seems that Officer Matsuda asked her to escort a prisoner to the TV station," Takagi replied.
"Is this the time to escort prisoners to the TV station?"
Yumi asked curiously, "What is that Matsuda guy up to now?"
"I don't know," Takagi honestly shook his head. "It seems that only Inspectors Sato, Inspector Megure, and Koshimizu know what Inspector Matsuda is doing."
“I saw them gathered together a few days ago discussing TV programs.”
"What's Matsuda up to now, all mysterious and secretive?" Yumi muttered resentfully, watching Matsuda's image on TV. "He didn't tell me anything at all."
……
In the prosecutor's office, Sasaki walked into Kujo's office with a stack of documents in his hand.
As soon as he entered, he saw Kujo staring at the television screen hanging on the wall to the side.
At that moment, a video of Rena Mizunashi introducing Matsuda was playing on the screen.
Kujo was so engrossed in watching that she didn't notice Sasaki entering.
"Cough, cough!" Sasaki coughed heavily twice before Kujo came back to his senses.
"Is something the matter?" Kujo asked softly, pretending to be nonchalant as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"These are the case files from that dismemberment case,"
Sasaki placed the documents he was holding on the desk, thought for a moment, and then added,
"By the way, he also solved this case."
"Really?"
Kujo originally had no interest in this stack of files.