Soon, Inspector Megure Juzo of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Investigation Division One arrived at the villa where Takato and others were located. Takato recognized this kind-faced, somewhat corpulent Police Officer dressed in an orange-yellow uniform at a glance.
"Kudo! You've truly worked hard."
Upon entering, Inspector Megure said to Shinichi Kudo.
"The clues you provided are very important! They are of great significance to the murder case that occurred half a month ago!"
Inspector Megure's words indicated that the deduction made by Takato and Shinichi Kudo earlier was indeed correct.
"It's nothing, Inspector Megure. This deduction was made by me and the owner of this villa, Detective Akechi, together!"
Shinichi Kudo said.
"Ah! Is this Detective Akechi?"
Seeing Takato nearby, Inspector Megure came over and greeted him warmly, "Thank you very much for your help!"
Takato responded politely and then said, "Inspector Megure, why don't we first look at the layout of this villa?"
"Yes, indeed."
Inspector Megure said, and then, led by Takato and others, began investigating the villa, with the Police Officers following behind him.
After a brief survey of the villa's layout, Inspector Megure gave a positive answer.
"That's right. It's exactly the same as that villa!"
"So, Inspector Megure, what kind of case is this exactly?"
Ran asked.
"The specific details are similar to what Kudo deduced. About half a month ago, Nishino Yasushiro, the president of Beika Yasushiro Cleaning Company, was murdered in his home. The time of death was roughly between midnight and 1 AM. Based on our investigation into Mr. Nishino's social circle, we found someone who had a grudge against him.
"That person was originally an employee of Beika Yasushiro Cleaning Company, considered a capable subordinate of Nishino, named Takemura Kengo. But two years ago, due to a work accident, he was fired by Nishino and has harbored resentment towards Nishino ever since. However, when Police found him, he claimed to have an alibi, stating that on that day, he and his friend Utsumi Asa were drinking in a newly built villa in Shizuoka Prefecture until the early hours of the morning, with a photo of them drinking together as proof. The fastest way to get from that villa to Nishino's crime scene would take over three hours, so Takemura could not have committed the crime."
"Beika Yasushiro Cleaning Company?"
Takato reacted to the name, "Isn't that the company that previously did the cleaning work for this villa?"
"So, as an employee of this company, he would have had the opportunity to see the structure of this villa."
Shinichi Kudo said.
"Very good. Since that's the case, I have a new direction for investigation. Thank you very much, you've been a great help!"
Inspector Megure said, then had the Police Officers photograph the structure of the villa, and led his team away.
"It seems our deduction was basically correct! Mr. Akechi, please continue to guide me in the future!"
Shinichi Kudo watched Inspector Megure and his team leave, then said to Takato, who had come to the same conclusion as him.
"You too!"
Takato responded politely, but at this moment, Takato felt a bit strange. Why hadn't the settlement panel appeared yet? Did he have to wait until the Police completely caught the culprit?
However, as it was already late, Shinichi Kudo and the two others took their leave first.
Two more days passed, and Takato finally finished furnishing the villa with furniture and common appliances. He also set up the computer and internet there, so Takato wouldn't have to go out to access the internet for information anymore.
He opened his computer and browsed recent news. An article titled "New Progress in Cleaning Company President Murder Case! High School "High School Detective"Shinichi Kudo Solves Another Bizarre Case" caught Takato's attention. After clicking on it, Takato saw the following report:
Recently, the murder case of the president of Beika Yasushiro Cleaning Company was finally solved after many days of investigation by the Police. However, this case unexpectedly uncovered a multi-year ongoing case of illegal trafficking of prohibited drugs and abduction of women, spanning from Tokyo to Shizuoka! It is understood that in this case, High School "High School Detective"Shinichi Kudo played a crucial role in solving the case.
After reading this, the settlement panel finally appeared.
"Deduction complete, case closed"
"Overall case evaluation: D"
"Logic: B"
"Observation: C"
"Social: C"
"Settlement complete, overall score reached D, reward 10"
"This case was too difficult, additional reward 100, because overall score reached D, additional reward 20"
"Detective rating: Assistant Detective"
"Bounty: 300"
Looking at this familiar yet strange news, and the "D" evaluation, Takato was completely bewildered. Moreover, the additional bounty for the case was actually 100! This was almost the highest difficulty an Assistant Detective could encounter in the game!
So he immediately got up and went out, arriving at Shinichi Kudo's house next door and ringing the doorbell—it was the weekend today, he should be home!
Soon, a yawning Shinichi Kudo came out and opened the door for Takato.
"What's wrong? Is there something, Mr. Akechi?"
Sleepily, Shinichi Kudo asked.
"Regarding the murder case of the cleaning company president, what's with the illegal drug trafficking and abduction of women mentioned in the news?!"
Takato asked urgently.
"Ah? About that. I just found out yesterday when Inspector Megure called me to Shizuoka for an investigation. That's why I came back very late and haven't had enough sleep yet."
Shinichi Kudo said, yawning again.
"Explain it simply!"
Takato said in a very heavy and slow tone.
"Simply put, Beika Yasushiro Cleaning Company itself was a shell company, secretly engaged in the trafficking of prohibited drugs, as well as using prohibited drugs to control and abduct women. Nishino Yasushiro, Takemura Kengo, and Utsumi Asa were the key figures in this. Nishino was responsible for the procurement of prohibited drugs, Takemura was responsible for abducting women with drugs, and Utsumi was responsible for bringing the drugs and people to Shizuoka for sale."
"Then what's with the basement and the identical villa?"
"Because storing prohibited drugs and housing abducted women required a hidden location, the original owner of your villa happened to find this cleaning company and had them clean the villa regularly once a year. Then they discovered that this villa was completely uninhabited, so they used it as their criminal base. However, because the original owner would send people to supervise the cleaning work every year, they specifically dug out a basement to avoid being discovered."
As Shinichi Kudo spoke, he was no longer sleepy and continued to explain.
"As for the identical villa, it's even simpler. Utsumi Asa, who was mainly responsible for the Shizuoka area, simply fell in love with the structure of this villa, so he built an identical one in Shizuoka."
"Then why was there a murder?"
"Because of uneven distribution of spoils! Nishino, who was responsible for procuring drugs, had always monopolized the lion's share of the illegal income, which made Takemura and Utsumi very dissatisfied. So they used the two newly built identical villas to create alibis and committed the murder!"
"But if that's the case, this operation started several years ago, so why did the rumors of haunting only start coming from this villa a year ago?"
"Because before that, they were mainly focused on drug trafficking. Only recently did they become bold enough to abduct women. So the noises they made would be louder than before. But if I had to say, a criminal organization like that was right next to my house, and I didn't even notice it. That's truly my mistake!"
Shinichi Kudo said with some self-reproach.
Back in the villa, Takato recalled the entire course of events. Thinking of how many details and clues he completely didn't know about in this case, and how he encountered such a case right after meeting Shinichi Kudo, he couldn't help but exclaim—"So difficult!"