Conan: I can hear the murderer's voice

In the evening of that day, Lin Xuan and others returned to Beika Town.

Sato personally greeted us at the station.

Lin Xuan felt a little guilty for some reason, and he took the initiative to greet Sato.

"Officer Sato, long time no see!"

However, Sato just acted businesslike:

"Sorry, time is tight. Please take a rest in the car."

[Huh, you still remember to come back? ]

【Didn’t you have a great time in Osaka? 】

[Of course female high school students are younger and more attractive than me]

The policewoman's inner resentment made Lin Xuan shiver.

[For personal safety, this case must be solved as soon as possible! ]

Soon, Sato brought Lin Xuan, Conan, and Maori's father and daughter to the section of the river where the kidnappers and their car plunged into the water.

It was already dark at this time, but Officer Liben's savior finally returned to Mihua. The Metropolitan Police Department specially arranged several mobile lighting vehicles, and the area within a radius of several hundred meters was as bright as day.

The kidnappers' van was temporarily placed on the road above the river bank. Megure explained the clues the police had currently grasped to Lin Xuan and others:

"Ms. Naoko was kidnapped between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. yesterday. President Takei left the villa at 8 a.m., when Ms. Naoko had just gotten up."

"The president's secretary, Hanai, made an appointment with Naoko to leave at 5pm to go see a newly released movie together. However, when Hanai arrived at the villa to pick her up at the appointed time, she found that the entire villa was empty."

"She tried to contact Naoko to no avail. Three hours later, President Takei received a ransom call. The kidnappers demanded that the president prepare 300 million in ransom overnight. The transaction was made at the dock this morning. They also threatened to kill the president immediately if the police were called."

Kogoro looked at Megure helplessly. Although he didn't say anything, Lin Xuan certainly knew what he was thinking.

[Megure, what are you doing? You let the kidnappers escape. It looks like Miss Naoko is in danger.]

Conan interrupted:

"The long holiday ends the day after tomorrow. Sister Naoko has been staying at home the whole time. Didn't she go out to play with her friends?"

Megure sighed and said:

"I also asked President Takei whether Miss Naoko has any close friends or romantic partners, and where she usually goes during long vacations."

"But the president is a man who devotes all his time and energy to work. He knows nothing about these issues."

Conan had no choice but to look at Xiaolan:

"Oh, Sister Lan, I think you and Sister Mako are in the same class, right?"

Xiaolan nodded, but also felt strange.

[How did Conan know? Did I mention Mako to him before? ]

Ever since Lin Xuan appeared, Xiaolan no longer mistook Conan for Shinichi, and even the appearance of Shinichi in her memory became a little vague.

Therefore, she didn't take Conan's words to heart.

Of course, Kudo Shinichi was a classmate of Takei Naoko, but at that time Shinichi devoted all his energy to reasoning and football.

Although they were classmates, he had never spoken to Naoko and only knew that there was such a person in the class.

Xiaolan tried hard to recall, but in the end she was unable to provide any useful clues:

"I'm not sure either, because Mako-san has always been very low-key..."

Maori Kogoro sighed and said:

"Forget it, Officer Megure, were there any fingerprints found on the van driven by the kidnappers?"

Megure shook his head:

"We only found a hammer. The kidnapper must have used it to smash the right window glass and escape. Apart from that, we didn't find any other clues."

Just as Megure said, the glass on the right front door of the van was shattered.

All three detectives checked the van but found nothing.

Conan glanced at the empty gap above the right front door of the van, then cast his gaze at the turbulent Tiwujin River and fell into deep thought.

[In recent months, it is the flood season and the river water is turbulent. Is it true that a kidnapper could break the car window in a short time and take the kidnapped Miss Naoko away from the police? ]

[No, it's impossible, no one can do it! ]

【The kidnappers must have used some kind of trick! 】

Lin Xuan also agreed that the kidnapper must have used a trick to escape, but he could not agree with Conan's other conclusions.

【Why can't anyone do this? 】

[Maybe there is someone who can breathe freely underwater for one minute]

At the scene where the kidnappers' van fell into the river, no one was able to obtain any valuable clues, so the police car took Lin Xuan and the others to the Wu Ju family's villa.

On the way, Megure explained to Lin Xuan and others the police's current suspicions and the direction of the investigation:

"President Takei is very ambitious in business, but he is also an unscrupulous person. He has used many despicable and even cruel means to bring his competitors to ruin, and even destroy their families."

Maori is puzzled:

"Why don't you just start the investigation from the enemy's perspective? Why do you say you have no clue?"

Sato sighed and said:

"The problem is that President Takei has used brutal business tactics to destroy at least forty competitors. Forty is just the number the president himself acknowledged."

"I even suspected that he had used illegal means to attack competing companies, but it was inconvenient to explain to the police."

"Takei has too many enemies, but we as the police have enough time to act..."

Sato didn't finish her words, but everyone in the car understood what she meant.

After the arrest operation at the dock failed, the kidnappers could kill the hostages at any time, and the remaining time was not enough for the police to conduct a detailed investigation of Wu Ju's many enemies.

Xiaolan couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat.

[The long vacation will end the day after tomorrow. Naoko-san, I'm sorry that I couldn't become friends with you before.]

[I will take the initiative to chat with you after school starts]

【Can I be your friend? 】

Conan noticed that something was wrong with Xiaolan and he wanted to comfort her.

But Lin Xuan took Xiaolan's hand first and made a promise:

"Takei-san will be safe. I promise."

Xiaolan buried her face in Lin Xuan's chest and sobbed softly.

Conan suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, and the air in the police car became extremely heavy in an instant.

Fortunately, Sato, who was driving, thought the same thing, and she shattered the ambiguous atmosphere with an emergency brake.

"Sato, Sato!"

The chubby Inspector Megure's face hit the car window and his hat almost fell off.

Megure straightened his hat and said:

"be careful!"

"I'm sorry, I was too unbridled."

The policewoman almost gritted her teeth as she said the last few words. Facing the Shura Field, Lin Xuan once again felt that the situation was not good.

[You are all my wings, don’t get tangled]

Fortunately, the police car has arrived in front of the Takei family’s big villa.

It has to be said that President Takei's dirty tricks in the business world helped him make a lot of money.

Including the garden outside, the villa covers an area at least as large as ten basketball courts.

Kogoro is considered a semi-celebrity, but he rarely sees such a large villa.

At the same time, he also had a question:

"The Takei family's servants don't know Miss Naoko's situation?"