Chapter 263
Being able to openly admit his own suspicions was actually commendable honesty, but Samukawa Shinryu was only met with awkward silence.
It wasn't that everyone was being uncooperative—it was just... what kind of good person makes jokes and tells stories in front of a horribly dead corpse?!
If there were family members of the deceased present, going crazy and beating him up would be completely understandable!
So when Mouri Kogoro heard former Officer Samezaki's mental breakdown and shouting, he couldn't help but mutter to himself:
—This clearly isn't the first time, so isn't this all your fault for spoiling him? Is this what a police officer should say?! Only now you know to educate him?!
Samukawa Shinryu was very self-aware, immediately categorizing himself among the suspects, which left everyone at a loss for words.
After an awkward silence, Hattori Heiji bit the bullet and spoke: "Um, I'm not suspecting you."
Regardless of whether Samukawa Shinryu was [the Consultant] or had any connection to that organization, the point was this guy didn't look like someone who would do the dirty work himself.
Even if he had enemies, they would probably mysteriously disappear, and no matter how thoroughly investigated, nothing would trace back to Samukawa Shinryu.
Samukawa Shinryu just gave him that strange feeling.
So even though Samukawa Shinryu so openly said he went to kill someone... well, it really did feel like just a joke, albeit an unfunny one.
Instead, their reactions were probably quite amusing to Samukawa Shinryu...
His personality really was nasty.
But compared to actual crimes, this kind of nastiness was relatively harmless... No wonder that Kudo guy was so conflicted. Samukawa Shinryu was indeed a complex person, not easy to analyze.
With Hattori Heiji breaking the awkward atmosphere, former Officer Samezaki also calmed down a bit: "Anyway, let's first examine this corpse."
Sigh, he wasn't Hagiwara Kenji—he couldn't accurately judge when Samukawa Shinryu was about to say something damaging to the police image, nor did he dare directly cover his mouth to interrupt. Fortunately, not many people here knew Samukawa Shinryu was a police officer, so there shouldn't be any more complaints.
However, since he was the one who invited Samukawa Shinryu aboard, if there really were complaints, he'd help write the self-criticism at worst. It just felt weird having to write such things two years after retirement, somehow inexplicably sad...
Under former Officer Samezaki's leadership, the group gathered around the corpse to examine it.
The fashionably dressed young woman looked over here hesitantly: "Um... I can understand the two detectives and this police officer, but is this Samukawa-kun... also a detective?"
Although when the gunshot was heard, this Samukawa Shinryu was indeed under everyone's noses, he still looked very suspicious!
Why did this group so naturally include him among those who could discuss the case?!
Former Officer Samezaki fell silent.
If previously not mentioning Samukawa Shinryu's identity was to stage a surprise attack and have Samukawa Shinryu observe if anyone acted suspiciously, then after Samukawa Shinryu's strange comments just now, he completely didn't want to admit Samukawa Shinryu was a police officer.
Samukawa Shinryu seemed to see through former Officer Samezaki's dilemma and calmly nodded at him, indicating he understood.
Former Officer Samezaki was puzzled.
What did Samukawa understand? That as a police officer he shouldn't say such strange things? Or that he didn't want Samukawa to reveal his identity?
For a moment, former Officer Samezaki felt a bit guilty.
Although, although Samukawa's dark humor always manifested regardless of the situation, frequently damaging the police image and reputation, he had boarded this ship for his sake.
Having helped him, yet not letting Samukawa reveal his police identity—wouldn't that make Samukawa continue to be suspected?
No, one couldn't be so heartless.
So former Officer Samezaki calmed himself and said solemnly: "Actually, he..."
Samukawa Shinryu cut off former Officer Samezaki: "Although I'm not a detective, I often encounter police and am very familiar with murder methods. I understand more than many police officers, so I can definitely help."
Everyone: "................"
Former Officer Samezaki: "..........."
Those who knew understood Samukawa Shinryu was a Metropolitan Police consultant, but those who didn't would think this guy was some kind of outlaw!!!
"You..." former Officer Samezaki didn't know whether this maximally suspicious description was intentional on Samukawa Shinryu's part, or if he was avoiding the police consultant designation for his sake.
How could anyone describe a perfectly legitimate profession like this?!
Samukawa Shinryu had already nonchalantly moved on to the next topic: "The watch on the corpse looks familiar."
Edogawa Conan reflexively responded: "It's Mr. Kanie's. He said he was going to smoke after we finished playing cards..."
"This on the face is traces of plastic surgery, right?" Hattori Heiji also joined the discussion.
Although Samukawa Shinryu's earlier words were suspicious, they all felt this case had nothing to do with Samukawa Shinryu, so they only mentally complained about his dark humor.
But the real murderer, Mr. Kujii, was different—he was sweating in the back of the crowd.
Fortunately, in his script, he was supposed to appear terrified right now, so this was method acting.
At this moment, he was internally panicked, completely unable to understand what Samukawa Shinryu was about.
From Samukawa Shinryu's description, he seemed like some kind of outlaw, but the police and detectives over there seemed to know him, with attitudes that were somewhat wary but still including him in discussions when needed...
Mr. Kujii vaguely felt this interaction pattern was familiar.
After all, Mr. Kujii fancied himself a criminal mastermind, so he'd seen many crime-themed movies, TV dramas, and novels. He tried hard to recall and really found a match—
Wasn't this exactly the interaction pattern between Hannibal and the police in "The Silence of the Lambs"?!
Although Hannibal was a criminal, he was also a psychological expert. When police encountered twisted cases, they still had to consult Hannibal for insights.
But the police were also very aware of Hannibal's danger, so their attitude was always vigilant, wary, somewhat dissatisfied, and fearful... This was exactly the same as the current situation!
Former Officer Samezaki, vigilant and afraid Samukawa Shinryu would say more strange things: "This posture is due to heat rigor mortis. After the corpse burns at high temperature, skeletal muscle contraction causes this position..."
Hattori Heiji, wary of Samukawa Shinryu, mainly troubled by some intelligence Edogawa Conan had told him: "But this watch seems to be worn incorrectly. This corpse might not be Mr. Kanie's but a distraction. Maybe Mr. Kanie is still hiding on this ship..."
Mouri Kogoro, who actually disliked anyone competitive with him: "So who didn't have alibis at the time..."
Although these people were indeed vigilant, wary, and dissatisfied, their reasons might be quite different from what Mr. Kujii thought...
Nevertheless, Mr. Kujii confidently reached his conclusion.
—Got it. Samukawa Shinryu is a big shot that all the police know about but just can't find evidence against, so they can only watch him roam free and occasionally might even need to ask for his help!
Mr. Kujii was filled with respect.
Immediately after, he became excited.
When he killed Hacai San back then, besides Hacai San wanting to turn himself in, it was also because he'd always been jealous of Hacai San.
Hacai San was a genius criminal mastermind. He thought he was no worse, but his suggestions were always rejected by Hacai San. Mr. Kujii's elaborate scheme twenty years later was also to prove he was no worse than Hacai San.
Although Hacai San was dead, now another similar big shot had appeared. If this big shot also failed to discover his plan, then he would have won!
Soon, things proceeded as Mr. Kujii planned—everyone began returning to the restaurant to interrogate him because of his "slip of the tongue."
And as planned, he began denying everything until he heard the detectives reach the conclusion he wanted.
"When the explosion happened, most people were on deck, and the staff were in pairs vouching for each other. Those without alibis are only the mysterious guest from Room 1 who never appeared, Samukawa Shinryu, and Mr. Kameda who said he was going to rest early."
Samukawa Shinryu: "I..."
"You're fine!" Former Officer Samezaki immediately interrupted his spellcasting, secretly cursing that he couldn't directly cover his mouth like Hagiwara Kenji, "I know this case has nothing to do with you!"
Samukawa Shinryu: "..........."
He fell silent for a moment, then simply stood up and left.
Hattori Heiji, unfamiliar with Samukawa Shinryu, saw this and hesitantly asked: "Is he angry?"
Although getting angry over being told "you're fine" seemed rather odd, this turning and walking away really did look like a tantrum.
"No, maybe he went to investigate." former Officer Samezaki, though he hadn't cooperated with Samukawa Shinryu many times, understood his habits fairly well. "He always preferred acting alone anyway. Even if I hadn't said anything, he would have suddenly disappeared later."
As he spoke, former Officer Samezaki sighed: "At crime scenes, if you're not careful, Samukawa just vanishes. When you find him again, either the criminal is crying and begging for mercy, or crying and asking the police to help them..."
Hattori Heiji: "..........."
Edogawa Conan: "..........."
Ah, this.
Such a nasty personality (repeat).
Former Officer Samezaki: "Anyway, I'll go look for that Kameda. What about you?"
Hattori Heiji sighed: "I'll go back to the deck and look around. We might have missed some clues earlier."
Once these people left, the others didn't want to stay in the restaurant either.
Mouri Kogoro wanted to keep people there, but he couldn't help that he wasn't a real police officer—people wouldn't listen to him and left when they wanted to.
Having no choice and unable to sit idle, he also went around the ship looking for that mysterious person.
As Mouri Kogoro searched, he suddenly heard a scream followed by calls for help.
What?! Another case already?!
Mouri Kogoro was shocked and hurried toward the sound, meeting Edogawa Conan on the way, who was also running around asking staff about the situation.
But at this moment, he couldn't bother complaining about Edogawa Conan wandering around again—he only wished he had more legs, very worried that by the time he reached the scene, he'd only see a corpse with the criminal vanished again.
Strangely, as he got closer, the calls for help became clearer—such prolonged cries for help, was this really an encounter with a criminal? Was this criminal so slow to act? Or was the victim resisting too effectively?
Puzzled, he encountered several others who had heard the sound and were running over. The group collectively rushed to the deck and finally saw the scene of screaming.
Samukawa Shinryu stood with his back to them, with what appeared to be an unconscious Hattori Heiji lying beside him. In the dark environment, it was hard to tell if the other person was still alive... What a murder scene!
Even Edogawa Conan, who thought Samukawa Shinryu wouldn't personally act even if he had problems, couldn't help but suspect for a moment.
But soon he realized something was wrong.
Huh? Hattori Heiji was lying on the ground unresponsive, so who was screaming?!