boyutpedia Page 336
Page 336
“Dad!” Tomizawa Yuzo pulled his father up.
"Stop talking! Give me some face in front of others, okay? Go back to the villa now!"
"Aren't you going back?"
"I can't believe it," Tomizawa Tetsuji asked curiously.
I'm not going back yet.
Tomizawa Yuzo paused for a moment, then said:
"I feel like I've known Xia Ye for ages, and I still have so much to talk about with him. I'll go back later!"
"Fine!"
Tomizawa Tetsuji was a little puzzled but didn't suspect anything. He smiled and said goodbye to everyone before walking back to his villa in the night.
Everyone returned to the living room.
The girls didn't have any doubts about Tomizawa Yuzo staying behind. After all, whether he wanted to spend more time with his fiancée Ayako or wanted to chat with Natsume because of his identity and skills, both reasons were reasonable.
only--
Xia Ye frowned slightly.
Just now, when Tomizawa Tetsuji was scolding his son at the door, he saw a deep malice flash in the depths of Tomizawa Yuzo's eyes.
Based on Xia Ye's rich experience, he judged that it was not a simple reaction of impatience after being scolded, but a sinister thought containing a trace of murderous intent!
This is interesting!
Next.
Xia Ye observed Tomizawa Yuzo without making a sound.
Soon, it was 11 p.m.
Sure enough, something happened!
Yuko entered the living room, her pretty face serious, and delivered a devastating message: the maid at the neighboring Tomizawa villa discovered that Chairman Tomizawa Tetsuji, who had returned to the villa two hours earlier, was dead in a corner outside the villa. His death was gruesome; he had been brutally stoned to death!
Chapter 282 Could it be patricide?
At the Tomizawa family's villa.
Everyone gathered at the corner of the side wall of the villa.
On the ground in front of them.
Just moments ago, Tetsuji Tomizawa was enthusiastically watching a live baseball broadcast at the Suzuki family villa, but now he was lying stiffly on the ground, his entire head almost smashed to pieces by a blunt object, and his upper body was covered in splattered blood, a bloody and cruel scene.
His eyes were wide open, and he died with his eyes still open, as if he had seen something that shocked him before he died.
"father!"
Tomizawa Yuzo rushed toward the corpse in grief, but Natsume pulled him back and calmly commanded:
"Stand here and don't move. No one is allowed near the corpse except me!"
"Xia Ye, how are you?"
Ayako ignored Tomizawa Yuzo and walked to Natsume's side, asking softly:
"Can you see anything?"
"The cause of death was traumatic brain injury caused by a blunt force trauma; the murder weapon was likely the rock nearby—"
Xia Ye crouched down and briefly examined the body:
"According to the evidence, after the killer knocked the victim unconscious by surprise, he straddled him and struck his head with the rock at least ten times. The victim died during this period, and the time of death was one to two hours ago."
"One or two hours ago?" Xiaolan asked in surprise.
"So that means Chairman Tomizawa was very likely killed as soon as he returned to the villa?"
"It's very likely—"
"By the way, did it rain just now?"
"That's right, it happened fifteen minutes after Uncle went back, but it only lasted for about ten minutes before stopping!"
Ayako thought back for a moment.
"Chairman Tomizawa was killed shortly after returning to the villa. If he was murdered after the rain, there would have been footprints on the ground!"
The time of the murder was determined.
Xia Ye then looked at the maid from the Tomizawa family next to her. Of course, this maid was not a beautiful young girl like Yuko, but a real working maid in her thirties or forties, and she wasn't particularly good-looking either.
"this--"
02 “Miss Hirosue~”
Ayako responded tactfully.
"Hmm~" Xia Ye nodded:
"Miss Hirosue, please tell me what happened?"
The maid remained relatively calm, though a hint of worry lingered between her brows, likely concerning her future career. However, upon hearing Xia Ye's inquiry, she still managed to describe the events in a well-organized manner—
"The master returned to the villa just after nine o'clock and went to his room. He asked me to run the water in the bathroom for him at eleven o'clock. When I went to call him around eleven o'clock, I found that he was not in his room. However, his window was open. I looked down through the window and saw the master's body. Then I quickly ran to inform the young master!"
"You mean the room upstairs is Chairman Tomizawa's room?"
Xia Ye looked up. Soft light shone from the second-floor room, and outside the window was a small, arched platform with railings. Although it was a bit small as a balcony, one could still clearly see everything below from there.
“That’s right!” Miss Hirosue sighed.
"The master really likes those chrysanthemum plants here. Every time he comes to Izu, he takes care of them for a few days. Two of them have already bloomed these past few days, and he treasures them terribly, tending to them personally every day."
"Gypsophila?"
Upon closer inspection, Xia Ye indeed found several withered branches of windmill chrysanthemums beneath the body of the deceased Chairman Tomizawa.
The once white petals have all withered and fallen, some even crushed into the soil, which seems to perfectly embody the Japanese aesthetic of "mono no aware" (the pathos of things).
"What a pity~"
"Woo-!"
The piercing sound of police sirens came from outside the villa.
The police arrived very quickly this time. There was no other way; the young lady of the Suzuki Group had personally called the police. Even if it was just a muddy road, or even if there were flash floods or avalanches, they would overcome the difficulties and get there as quickly as possible.
"The police are here!"
"Let them handle it."
Although Xia Ye had some vague clues, he was only there on vacation, so he decided to leave it to...
etc--
This is the seaside of Izu.
Izu is also under the jurisdiction of Shizuoka.
Speaking of Shizuoka—
A coral-headed police officer appeared in Xia Ye's mind.
Could it really be him?
In the end, I guess I'll have to take matters into my own hands to sort it out!
After all, this Yokomizo police officer in Shizuoka is far less capable than his younger brother in Kanagawa Prefecture. Can you believe his idol is Kogoro Mouri?
Of course, ominous premonitions usually come true.
A moment later, Xia Ye saw Officer Yokomizo Sango, who had a coral-shaped haircut, walk into the villa. Unexpectedly, behind Officer Yokomizo were two figures that Xia Ye, Ran, and Sonoko were very familiar with!
"Dad, Conan?"
"Why are you here?"
Xiao Lan looked at her father and her childhood sweetheart who was staying at her house in surprise, thinking to herself: Could these two really be the Grim Reapers that Xia Ye talked about, going wherever there is a case?
"Ran~" Kogoro Mouri laughed heartily:
"You're not the only one who can take a vacation during the holidays, Dad and Conan can too! This time, Conan and I are here in place of Professor Agasa for an event called 'The Mysterious Journey to Izu,' so we came to Izu a day early!"
"No—" Ran waved her hand and said, "I wanted to ask, why did you and Conan end up here with the police?"
"Mr. Mori?" Yokomizo, with his coral-headed hair, asked curiously, "Is this your daughter?"
“That’s right, Officer Yokomizo, this is my daughter Ran—” Kogoro Mouri decided to act as an intermediary and introduce her to Officer Yokomizo:
"This is Ayako, the eldest daughter of the Suzuki Group; this is Sonoko, the second daughter; and this is Natsuha Akiyama, their friend—"
"Akiyama Natsume?" Officer Yokomizo's eyes lit up, and he stepped forward to shake hands with Natsume.
"Is this Officer Natsume from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department? I've heard your name many times in internal police meetings, and you even helped the local police station solve two cases when you came to Izu last time. I'm so glad to finally meet you in person!"
"It's me~"
Xia Ye was taken aback by his enthusiasm, but one shouldn't be rude to a smiling face; since he was being greeted with a smile, he couldn't be cold either.
"Officer Yokomizo, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Dad, you still haven't told me why you came with Officer Yokomizo!" Xiaolan was still bothered by this question.
"Let me explain," Officer Yokomizo explained with a smile.
"Mr. Mori helped me solve the murder case at the Greatest Night Festival in the World when I was still working in Saitama Prefecture. I happened to meet him in Izu this time, and we were just about to have a chat when we received a call. I heard that it was the Suzuki family who called the police, so Mr. Mori came with us!"
"So that's it~"
"Alright, enough chit-chat, let Inspector Yokomizo investigate the case first—" Xia Ye interrupted the group's conversation; there was still a dead body lying on the ground.
"it is good!"
Inspector Yokomizo's expression turned serious, and he directed his men to begin organizing the clues from the crime scene.
"Have you noticed anything wrong?"
Officer Yokomizo over there had already questioned the maid, Ms. Hirosue, about her testimony again.
Conan, who had been secretly observing the scene and the body since arriving at the villa, leaned close to Natsume and asked in a low voice.
Since Xia Ye already knew his identity as Shinichi Kudo and had promised him that he could speak at the event, he asked directly.
"Yes, there is—"
Xia Ye glanced at the corpse and sneered:
"The killer's plan was crude and he was a bit unlucky. He originally took the watch off the victim's wrist to prevent the police from determining the exact time of death, but a rainstorm made all his efforts futile, narrowing down the time of death to between 9:05 and 9:15!"
What do you think of the killer's identity?
Conan had already gleaned a lot of information from the maid's testimony, and his question was simply an attempt to challenge Natsume once again.
See how big the gap is between him and me!
"Trying to test me?" Xia Ye chuckled.
"The murderer is undoubtedly someone from this family!"
"what?!"
Unlike Conan, Xia Ye didn't lower his voice; everyone around him heard what he said.
Then a gasp rippled through the crowd. Ran and Sonoko gaped, and even Ayako's pretty face was no longer calm.
Of course, the one who reacted the most was Officer Yokomizo, who was listening to his subordinates' report. He ran over in alarm and shouted:
"Xia Ye, are you telling the truth?"
"What evidence do you have?"
“The evidence is naturally these crushed windmill chrysanthemums—” Xia Ye pointed to the ground, and everyone looked in the direction he was pointing. The pure white petals were scattered in the soil, along with specks of blood, giving off an eerie feeling.
"Golden chrysanthemums?" Kogoro Mouri scratched his head, puzzled. "What does this have to do with these withered flowers?"
"Of course it's related!" Xia Ye smiled faintly, picked up a broken windmill chrysanthemum from the ground, and asked the crowd:
"Do you see anything?"