Ke Xue: The thief Cao is actually myself

Chapter 470: Asymmetrical Architecture? Blast! (Vote for the monthly ticket!)

"Mr. Maori, this is where the bomb timer stopped last time..."

On the way to where Teiji Moriya lived, while driving, Officer Shiratori seemed to notice something, pondered for a moment, and suddenly spoke.

Hearing his words, Kogoro Mouri and Conan subconsciously looked out the window.

"Children's Park..."

Looking at the slightly familiar building outside the window, Conan couldn't help but sigh.

You know, the situation last time was quite dangerous. If they were not careful, not only would he, the old lady and the driver be blown into pieces, but even the nearby children's park would be in trouble.

It is no exaggeration to say that it was a critical moment!

Even now, when he recalled the previous scene, he still felt somewhat confused.

Officer Megure crossed his arms and looked unhappy. "Really? Because of those crudely made bombs, our police force spent most of the day to find them..."

First it was Green Park, then it was near the Mika Station, and now they have even installed a bomb directly on the ring line.

Moreover, the number of bombs used in these incidents was only a small part of the stolen gunpowder, and no one knew where the remaining gunpowder would be used.

That mysterious man is too dangerous!
This time, if he could get any clues about the mysterious man from Moriya Teiji, he would not let him go no matter what.

Looking at the street lights that had already been lit up on the roadside, especially the unique design, Conan blinked his eyes, thinking...

……

Moriya House.

After Inspector Megure finished explaining the whole story, Moritani Teiji did not express his opinion immediately. Instead, he gently held a pipe in his mouth, lit a match, took a slow puff of the thick smoke, then extinguished the match and put it in the ashtray.

After he had done all this, he began to speak slowly.

"You're right. These cases are indeed incredibly coincidental."

Whether these cases are coincidences or something else, others may not know, but doesn’t he know?
However, even though he knew it, there was no way he would tell Inspector Megure and others.

The reason is simple.

Because the person who took charge of this series of projects was none other than this famous architectural designer.

Officer Megure looked serious, "Do you have any plans for someone who might do such a thing?"

The buildings destroyed in the serial arson incidents and the Sumida Canal Bridge in the explosion were all works by Teiji Moriya.

With such a "coincidence", it is hard not to think that the person who did all this was the enemy of Teiji Moritani.

In fact, this is why we came to visit Teiji Moriya late at night.

Because they suspected that the mysterious man was probably someone that Moriya Teiji 'knew'.

If the police could get the list of people who have grudges against the other party from Teiji Moriya, they could narrow the scope of the investigation and shorten the time to find the mysterious man and arrest him.

"Well..."

After hesitating for a moment, Moriya Teiji was about to say something, but he noticed that at some point, a little kid had actually come up to a nearby photo and began to observe it carefully.

There were three people in the photo, a man and a woman with a boy about ten years old.

"That was a photo I took when I was 10 years old, Conan..."

Noticing that Conan was interested in the photo, Moriya Teiji took a puff of his cigarette and introduced the origin of the photo to him, "The ones with me are my parents..."

Conan blinked his eyes, "Professor Moritani's father seems to be a very remarkable man!"

Officer Shiratori took the initiative to take over the topic and said, "Yes, he is also a world-renowned architect. In the past, he was mainly active in the British architectural community."

At this point, Officer Shiratori paused, crossed his arms, and sighed, "What I appreciate most is the style of his construction."

As he spoke, he seemed to have thought of something, and he could not help but cast his gaze towards Moriya Teiji who was sitting opposite him, and said: "I remember he passed away around..."

Holding his pipe in one hand, Moriya Teiji continued his words, "Fifteen years ago, there was a fire in the villa, and he and my mother died."

After casually looking around, Moriya Teiji's expression remained unchanged, and he continued calmly, "This house was inherited by me as an inheritance at that time."

Officer Shiratori lowered his head slightly, his entire face immersed in the shadows, and said, "I remember that it seemed to be from that time that Professor Moritani's design has been the focus of everyone's attention ever since."

"That's right!"

Moriya Teiji was slightly stunned, then exhaled a puff of thick smoke.

What's wrong with this policeman? Why does he know so much about his affairs?
Could it be that the police had suspected him? Or was it simply that the policeman in front of him was interested in architecture and so was paying attention to this aspect?
"Eh? Weird, this taste..."

While he was suspicious, Conan noticed that something was wrong.

He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that there was a smell of tobacco on Moriya Teiji, and he seemed to have heard of it somewhere.

Recalling the smell he just smelled, Conan thought: "Could it be..."

I still remember his little friend Ayumi saying that when she had come into contact with the mysterious man in disguise, she had smelled a sweet scent from him, but that sweet scent was not brought by any cosmetics.

And now, the scent he smelled on Teiji Moritani was also sweet. When he thought about the buildings that were burned down in the successive arson incidents, and the Sumida Canal Bridge that was almost blown up this time, all of which were the work of Teiji Moritani, Conan suddenly had a bold guess in his mind.

Could it be that the serial arson incidents, the theft of gunpowder from the Toyo powder depot, and the bomb installation in Green Park, near Beika Station, and on the Loop Line were all done by someone who had a grudge against Teiji Moriya?

There was no way, no wonder he had such a guess. It was just too coincidental that it was so coincidental that it was hard for him not to suspect Moritani Teiji.

As for the truth of the matter, he will know after a thorough investigation.

Thinking of this, Conan made a decision in his heart.

Seeing that the topic was getting more and more off track, Inspector Megure, who had been ignored for a long time, had no choice but to speak again, repeating the previous question and bringing the topic back on track: "Professor Moritani, do you know anyone who might have committed these crimes?"

Really, as we were talking, the topic turned to architecture.

If he didn't know that Conan and Officer Shiratori didn't mean it, he would almost suspect that these people were deliberately making trouble for him as a police captain and didn't want him to solve the case sooner.

"Oh right..." Moriya Teiji seemed to realize that he had not yet answered the police's questions. He immediately raised his head, clenched his palms, and then thought, "This matter..."

He had to think carefully about who might have committed these crimes.

Otherwise, if he accidentally said the wrong name, or said the name of someone he shouldn't offend, it would be easy to get into trouble and cause trouble for him as an architect.

In addition, there is a certain chance that it will arouse the suspicion of the police.

Therefore, he had to think carefully before saying whose name to mention.

At this time, he, as well as Inspector Megure and others, did not notice that while they were talking, Conan took advantage of their inattention, secretly opened the door, and slipped out...

……

Walking through the corridor, Conan headed straight for his destination, the exhibition room he had visited before.

Because he suspected that the secret of Teiji Moriya was hidden in the other party's works.

"His works after he turned 30 started from here..."

Arriving at the exhibition room, Conan turned on the light nearby and carefully examined the architectural works in the room, with his focus on the works created by Teiji Moritani after he was 30 years old.

As expected, in these works, he saw the Kurokawa family, Mizushima family, Yasuda family, and Akutsu family that were burned down in a series of arson incidents, as well as the Sumida Canal Bridge that was almost blown up.

"Wait a minute, this bridge..."

As Conan watched, his pupils suddenly shrank.

Because, from that bridge, he discovered a key point that he almost overlooked.

"You can't go wrong with that."

Thinking back to what Teiji Moriya had said before - "After all, people are still immature when they are young, so please don't continue watching!", Conan's mind flashed with a flash, and he thought of something incredible.

"Is there really such a thing?"

Although he didn't want to believe his own guess, this series of "evidence" was right in front of him, and he had no choice but to believe it.

"But, that smell just now..."

"Hmm? Was this what I had last time I was here?"

Just then, a nearby table covered with a black cloth caught his attention.

If he remembered correctly, this was clearly not available when he came last time.

Out of curiosity, he ran directly to the table and pulled away the black cloth.

The next moment, a golden sign came into his sight.

There were a few big words written on it: 'My dream new town - Nishitama City.'

"Speaking of which..."

Conan blinked and remembered something.

'Because of that case, Mayor Okamoto resigned in disgrace, and the plan to build a new town in Nishitama City that he had been planning was completely halted after the new mayor took over.'

——Mayor Okamoto of Sitoma City accidentally hit and killed a woman with his car one night. The woman’s son wanted to take the blame for him, but his boss, Kudo Shinichi, saw through it. As a result, Mayor Okamoto stepped down because of this incident. As for the plan to build a new town in Nishitama City that the other party had been planning, it was completely stopped after the new mayor took over.

At that time, they also suspected that the mysterious man might be the son of Mayor Okamoto, who wanted to avenge his father.

But now it seems that the mysterious man is related to that incident. They are not wrong in their suspicion, but they may be suspecting in the wrong direction.

The mysterious man is not Mayor Okamoto's son, but someone else!

"I see! The one who planned this town-building project was Professor Moriya Teiji!"

Conan pulled off the black cloth on the table, moved a chair over, and stood on it, carefully observing the model design of the new town of Nishitama City.

"This is a new town in the English symmetrical style..."

As Conan looked around, his pupils suddenly shrank, because the street lights on both sides of the street in this new town were exactly the same style as the ones he had seen in the children's park before.

“It’s the same street light as the one in the Children’s Park!”

Thinking back on these things, Conan's eyes flickered.

"Oh, so, at that time..."

He suspected that the reason why the bomb he found near the Mika Station suddenly stopped was not because he was lucky or because there was some malfunction in the bomb, but because someone did not want to blow up the symmetrical street lights near the Children's Park, so he stopped the bomb, giving him the opportunity to move the bomb to the open space under the highway!

"The suspect is indeed that person! However, I still don't have any evidence."

Although the identity of the real criminal was deduced based on the smell of the incense, the burning of buildings such as the Kurokawa residence, and the Sumida Canal Bridge, which were works of Teiji Moriya.

Unfortunately, although the identity of the mysterious man has been confirmed, he still has no substantial evidence to prove that Moriya Teiji is the culprit who stole gunpowder from the Oriental gunpowder depot, made it into plastic bombs, attempted to blow up Green Park, Beika Station, Touto Loop Line, and set fire to the Kurokawa, Mizushima, Yasuda, and Akutsu families.

Conan took a deep breath and came up with an idea in his mind, "At this point, I can only make a bet with what I have now!"

Thinking of this, Conan left the exhibition room before being discovered by others and came to the study of Teiji Moriya's house.

After looking at the layout of the room, Conan came to a piece of armor and carefully felt the texture of the "hair" on the armor. A smile appeared on Conan's face, "This thing can be used."

"Then, I just need to find a pair of scissors and a water-based ballpoint pen..."

"lighter?"

As he spoke, Conan was slightly stunned.

Because, on the table next to it, there was a lighter, a lighter with a peculiar shape.

Holding the strange lighter, Conan couldn't help but fall into deep thought...

(End of this chapter)