I'm writing a fictional immortality script in Detective Conan.

Chapter 322 Identification of the Prisoner

The sky was a bit hazy this morning, and apart from the noisy calls of seabirds, there seemed to be some other, more lively sounds.

Before realizing what had happened, Fanze Zhenren reluctantly buried his head in the blankets, vaguely suspecting that he had also caught the morning grumpiness.

Suddenly, a mother's exclamation came from across the floor, followed by hurried and chaotic footsteps rushing upstairs. Familiar and unfamiliar voices, along with arguing, conversations, and angry shouts, drew ever closer until...

Boom!

Nitian kicked the door open, followed by the guest who had come to his house the night before, and a number of villagers with resentful expressions.

With his worn-out police uniform open, Nitian drew handcuffs from his waist, gleaming with a cold, silver light, and approached step by step.

"Honozawa Masato, I, Nida Masayoshi, in my capacity as the town's sheriff, hereby announce that you are formally arrested today on suspicion of committing multiple murders! I advise you to cooperate with the investigation obediently and not to resist."

After the brief shock, the conversation had given Fanze Zhenren enough time to quickly calm down thanks to his training and take in his surroundings.

The bedroom has two exits. Judging from the noise coming from outside the window, a lot of people have gathered there, and with his injured leg, he cannot be sure that he can get off the roof smoothly.

The entrance was blocked by at least three adults, two men and one woman. The one leading the group, Nitian, was tall, but he was nearing middle age and had long lacked exercise, as evidenced by the loose muscles under his rolled-up sleeves.

In this situation, Master Fanze's first reaction was actually relief.

"Luckily, I didn't keep the guns and ammunition I was carrying in the bedroom. Instead, I entrusted them to Mr. Heimen and his men for safekeeping. If they had been found during the search, I would have been finished."

"Real person!"

"...Mother?"

The mother stumbled through the crowd, her hair, which she had carefully tied up every morning, now disheveled and soft around her ears.

Madam Fanze squeezed between her son and Nitian, resolutely spreading her arms. Her small, thin figure seemed almost vulnerable between the two: "My son can't be a murderer! You can't just take him away like this! Something must have gone wrong!"

Nida Zhengyi, biting his lower lip, watched this touching drama of mother-son affection with disdain and condescension. Finally, unable to suppress the ever-growing smile on his face, he turned and laughed at the villagers who had followed him.

"Hahaha! You guys, hahaha, don't you think this scene looks familiar?"

“Sister Jiang,” Nitian said, twirling the galvanized handcuffs on his index finger with amusement. “If I remember correctly, you did the same thing back then when you protected your husband. You didn’t even change your lines. It’s too perfunctory.”

"you..."

"Enough." Fanze Zhenren gently pushed his mother, who trembled violently, away and confronted her directly. "You have to give me a reason to arrest me!"

"The evidence is sufficient!" A customer, whose camera flash was constantly going off, suddenly jumped out and pointed indignantly: "You were the only one who had a conflict with Ms. Jiangye yesterday. The death message she left behind when she was murdered last night was you, and your hair color was also brown!"

Jiang Ye, the bar hostess who had an argument with the grocery store owner yesterday... she was actually murdered?!

"Not only that, we've also heard from the landlady of the hotel where the first victim stayed that, in addition to her real name, the victim also had a nickname: Kosaki!"

"That's enough, no need to talk so much to criminals!"

Nida waved his hand and whispered under Fanze's angry and resentful gaze, "Zhenren, you've always been a considerate and good child. You wouldn't want your mother to be ostracized and harassed by the townspeople for refusing to enforce the law, would you?"

!

Fanze Zhenren's pupils constricted sharply, his chest puffing out with rage: "You dare..."

"It's not that I dare."

Nida pushed him to the bedside in the bedroom, showing him the townspeople who had gathered and were discussing the situation on the street—Kuromon Haruya and Conan, along with other outsiders, were excluded. In the instant their eyes met, he shook his head, signaling him not to make any rash moves.

"It's about what the people in the town want to see."

......

"Damn it! What a bunch of bastards!"

As soon as he approached the inn, Kogoro Mouri threw his cigarette butt into the wet puddle outside the door and stomped on it a few times until his already dirty trousers were covered in mud. Only then did he finally calm down, muttering, "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

"Dad, how is it?" Ran Mouri, who was watching from the front hall, approached and sensed something was wrong.

Four hours have passed since Fan Ze was forcibly detained, and a torrential downpour has begun, but there is still no sign of an opportunity for his release.

The sudden rain completely destroyed any evidence that might have been left at the crime scene. Kogoro Mouri had already seen the victim's body; like the previous one, he had been stabbed to death in the abdomen.

Because it involves local organized crime, investigating the victim's past entanglements and network of relationships is extremely difficult. Just when someone was finally willing to come forward, the two bodyguards who escorted her to collect protection money yesterday claimed that Fanzawa Makoto could very well have killed Jiang Ye because he was offended, and that Kuromon Haruya might even be the professional assassin who did it.

What a load of bull! This is just a way to shift the blame!

With insufficient evidence, the two words "Fanze" that Ms. Jiangye typed in her phone's memo before her death were regarded as the only valid hope. Taking into account past suspicions, under the leadership of Nida, the police officers were almost unanimously convinced that Fanze Makoto was the murderer.

"Fortunately, he was only temporarily detained on suspicion. The fact that Nida was arrested without cause is enough to warrant a lawsuit. As long as the murderer is found, we can exonerate Fanze!"

Despite saying this, Kogoro Mouri knew the actual situation was much worse—he wasn't sure if this was Dooda's style of handling cases or the local government's usual approach.

The cases spanned across the country, and the victims were all women whose families had sufficient assets to support solo travel. The crimes were heinous, and clues were never uncovered in time for each incident.

Once the facts of this case are exposed, the credibility of the government in the affected area will drop significantly. If the suspect cannot be caught for a long time, wouldn't Masato Sawa, who has no alibi and is identified by the death message, be the "most suitable" murderer?

The gentle clatter of wooden clogs echoed from the depths of the corridor.

"Xiao Lan, let me take your place. It's windy and rainy outside. Come in and have some ginger tea to warm yourself up."

Haruya Kuromon was wearing a soaking wet yukata, water droplets dripping from her feet, while Conan jogged up behind her carrying a towel.

He was about to greet Ran when his eyes lit up with hope the moment he saw Mori: "Mr. Mori! How's the case going? Any progress?"

This hope almost stung Kogoro Mouri:

"It'll be soon. Fan Ze is doing well now, with food and clothing. We just need to find the murderer quickly to solve the problem."

The implication is that there is currently no way to solve the problem except by finding the murderer.

"..."

As astute as Kuromon Haruya was, he immediately grasped the deeper meaning. His shoulders slumped, and he narrowed his eyes, concealing the fleeting disappointment within them. He clasped his hands together and smiled.

"I'm relieved to hear that. Now I can only rely on you! I never imagined that the identity I once used to solve cases would become..."

burden.

Inwardly, Kogoro Mouri's fingers twitched, and he dared not look at his "calm and composed" expression. The more Kuromon Haruya and Mrs. Hanzawa appeared to be understanding and tolerant, the more they emphasized that it was the Japanese government institutions that had subjected them to such unfair treatment.

"Now that everyone's here, let's go back together! Tomorrow is Miss Kosaki's coming-of-age birthday, so at the very least, we should make sure she has a comfortable birthday."

Breaking the silence, Kuromon Haruya lifted the sleeve that was pressed against her skin and turned to leave.