20demayo Chapter 198 also involves working in the funeral industry.
Chapter 198 also involves working in the funeral industry.
Chapter 198 also involves working in the funeral industry.
Arriving at the garden, which was riddled with holes, Conan began to observe it with a knowing look. He realized that if he didn't look for the answer himself now, it wouldn't be fun if it were just told to him later.
Looking at the bewildered Heiji Hattori, Conan suddenly felt a tiny bit of superiority. Sure enough, he and Hiko Akutagawa worked together much better.
With Akutagawa's current abilities, finding a buried corpse in the garden is not a difficult task. He quickly located a spot where the surface soil showed signs of being renovated.
Things are getting a little complicated now. He thinks that President Nagato may already know about Hinata Sachi's desire for revenge, and may even be deliberately condoning it.
Akutagawa Hiko, who also knew about this matter, couldn't interfere, so he had to push President Nagato forward and let him make a choice.
Should he protect Nagato, the man whose plan was to kill him, and let him slowly atone for his sins in the future? Or should he let Hyuga Yuki take revenge? Or should something unexpected happen in the future? Conan carefully compared the options, and a white light flashed in his mind: "The number of mounds is not right. There are many more than pits."
Hattori Heiji, reminded of something, glanced over and said, "It really is, but what does that prove—wait—Nagato Hideomi?!"
His reaction was several beats slower, not because he was really several levels below Shinichi Kudo, but simply because he wasn't used to Hikaru Akutagawa's detective style. Once Hikaru Akutagawa and Conan had a few strolls around Osaka together, he would probably be able to keep up.
Heiji Hattori and Conan immediately rolled up their sleeves and started digging, leaving Hiko Akutagawa, who had just returned from borrowing a shovel from the butler, completely bewildered.
Conan is one thing; he can gather chakra in his hands and dig in this soft soil with the same ease as using a shovel. But what's wrong with this Osaka Black Chicken? It hasn't been enhanced either.
Hattori Heiji stiffly raised his head, took the shovel handed to him, and was so embarrassed that he couldn't say anything. He could only lower his head and hum as he worked hard.
Conan, on the other hand, didn't feel embarrassed at all. He had seen all sorts of embarrassing moments during training. He patted the dirt off his hands and deftly joined the two in wielding shovels that were clearly several sizes smaller.
Nagato Hideomi wasn't buried very deep. After all, in the Nagato household, where people came and went and there were many servants, it was already quite remarkable that a pit could be dug to bury someone without anyone noticing.
Those who haven't done it may not understand, but digging a hole is a physically demanding job, especially a hole that can bury people; the deeper the hole, the harder it is to dig.
This was only because the area had been dug up quite loosely, which allowed them to find the already deceased Nagato Hideomi so quickly.
The first thing to appear was a pale, stiff hand. When the face, unmasked and scarred by flames, was revealed, the identity of the deceased was beyond doubt.
Under Hattori Heiji's envious gaze, Akutagawa Hiko took out the latest model phone and took several clear photos of Nagato Hideomi.
Nagato Hideomi had no obvious external injuries and appeared to have only been dead for a few hours. However, considering that being buried in the ground would slow down the decomposition, the rate of decay would be about one-eighth that of being exposed to the air.
He was carrying a suicide note. Since he was a writer, it was easy for him to identify the handwriting. The person in front of him had probably committed suicide by poisoning yesterday. Judging from his facial features, it was probably not any other way of dying.
After discussing it, the group unanimously decided to follow Akutagawa Hiko's advice and take the photos to President Nagato to discuss the matter. After all, it was President Nagato's birthday today, and the deceased was his only son.
When Akutagawa and his two companions returned to the president's room with their belongings, the old man had already composed himself and greeted them without any gloom upon seeing them.
"It seems you've made another discovery. Tell me about it."
Akutagawa Hiko and Hattori Heiji exchanged a glance, then took out their phones and the suicide note. While showing the photo to President Nagato, they explained, "This suicide note has signs of being cut; there should be a second half."
Hattori Heiji continued, "Based on our deduction, it was probably your son who, due to inner torment and guilt, committed suicide by poisoning himself and left this suicide note, which was then discovered by Ms. Hyuga, who cared about Mr. Hideomi—"
Conan retorted, "Although I don't know why Ms. Hinata hid the second half of the suicide note, since she chose to hide the body, she must have some ulterior motive—"
Seeing President Nagato looking at him in surprise, Conan quickly tried to act cute: "It was Brother Hiko who taught me!"
However, while President Nagato was appeased, Heiji Hattori became suspicious. If Conan didn't explain, Heiji Hattori could still be explained as a genius child who followed Hiko Akutagawa.
But this explanation just makes him look guilty.
Akutagawa Hiko concluded, "Because the fire twenty years ago was caused by Mr. Hideomi and Mr. Koumitsu together, Miss Hinata's goal is probably revenge, while Mr. Koumitsu's target is probably you, or rather, the position of company president—"
President Nagato fell silent again, then let out a deep sigh.
With the help of the people in front of him, he has roughly figured out the situation and confirmed some of his guesses.
He felt extremely guilty about his family member's suicide because he hadn't noticed Xiuchen's mental state, or rather, he deliberately ignored the fact that the fire twenty years ago was caused by his son.
While Hideaki became withdrawn and sensitive, tormented by guilt, he also failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a father, which led to this tragedy.
Nagato Dosan's gaze sharpened, and his imposing aura surprised Hattori Heiji and Conan, even causing them to overlook the fact that the old man was seriously ill.
Akutagawa Hiko was somewhat surprised, but also felt that it made sense.
"Please don't tell anyone yet. As for Hideomi's body..."
Akutagawa Hiko accepted the task, knowing that the rewards and hidden benefits would be plentiful: "Leave it to me, I'll handle it properly."
Conan thought of Akutagawa Hiko's masterful ice-style technique, which was perfect for preserving corpses. To cover for him, he used the excuse of wanting to hear about Hattori Heiji's exploits to lure him away.
Akutagawa Hiko didn't mind Hattori Heiji watching. The main characters were all of good character and not big mouths, so it wouldn't bother him.
However, since Conan took the initiative to cover for him, it wouldn't be right to let his good intentions go to waste.
Returning to the spot where Nagato Hideomi's body had been placed, Akutagawa Hiko swiftly formed hand seals: "Ice Release: Ice Pivot Binding."
In an instant, invisible water droplets in the air condensed into ice crystals, enveloping Nagato Hideomi's body and forming a chilling ice crystal coffin.