In Detective Conan: Intercepting Miwako Sato at the Start

Page 35

"The threatening letter was left on your desk, President, and it was written in blood. You were the target, but in the end, it also involved the missing assistant, Airi Horikawa..."

"The connection here is probably not just as simple as Fuyuyama Reihito's anger. It seems that Fuyuyama Reihito has learned something from Horikawa Airi. President, are you sure you didn't say anything to Ms. Horikawa Airi?"

Junichi Tanaka's body stiffened almost imperceptibly, his eyes darting away again, and his voice was a little dry: "No...no!! Mr. Takada, you're overthinking it! The most important thing now is to find Fuyuyama and get the whereabouts of Airi Horikawa from him!"

He eagerly steered the conversation back to Fuyuyama Reihito.

Yuuki Takada gave him a deep look, then stopped asking questions and simply said, "Let's go, let's go take a look at your company."

Junichi Tanaka's company is located in a somewhat old office building.

The company was indeed small; there was no one at the front desk, and the entire office area was filled with a depressing silence.

The remaining employees looked at the president with curiosity and a little fear as he entered with a detective and a capable woman.

Junichi Tanaka led them directly to a separate office at the very back.

The door is open.

"Everyone, this... is my office." Junichi Tanaka pointed to a large desk, the surface of which was somewhat messy, with documents scattered around.

The threatening letter... was placed right in the center of the table.

Kogoro Mouri took a pair of gloves from Yuki Takada and carefully approached the desk.

Besides the documents, there was also an overturned pen holder on the desktop, with several pens rolling off.

The center was empty, but you could see some marks from the paper being pressed and a few extremely tiny, dried, dark red spots.

"Where's the letter?" Kogoro Mouri asked.

"I...I was so scared at the time, and I was afraid that if the employees saw it, it would cause panic, so...I put it away." Junichi Tanaka took out a transparent file bag from the inside pocket of his suit, which contained an A4 printed sheet of paper.

On the paper, written in crooked, illegible handwriting that seemed to be filled with intense hatred, was that chilling sentence:

"If you don't hand it over, your affair with her will be exposed online, and you'll be punished!"

The handwriting was dark red, viscous, and had a faint metallic smell.

"Blood...is it really blood?" Kogoro Mouri leaned closer to examine it closely.

"It looks like animal blood mixed with pigment, or... it could also be dried human blood. We'll need to analyze the exact composition." Yuuki Takada calmly assessed, his gaze sweeping over the edges and creases of the paper.

"President, are you sure you discovered it when you arrived this morning? Are you sure you didn't when you left last night?"

“I’m sure! I was the last one to leave last night! I locked the door! When I came in this morning, the lock was intact, but the letter is here!” Junichi Tanaka pointed to the table.

Yuuki Takada's gaze shifted to a low, built-in cabinet on the side of the desk. The cabinet door was ajar, and there were obvious, fresh signs of forced entry at the lock.

"Is this the stolen safe?"

Chapter 54 Threatening Photos

"Yes! Inside, besides spare cash, some bankbooks and some checks, there was also a letter opener, a very sharp one, an antique silver knife left by my father, with an ivory handle. Now... now the knife is gone!"

Junichi Tanaka's voice was choked with sobs and anger as he sighed, "He took almost everything that was in the safe."

Kogoro Mori crouched down to examine the pry marks: "The technique was very rough, like he used a screwdriver or something to pry it open. This guy seems to have really gone all out."

After glancing at it, Yuuki Takada didn't pay much attention to the safe. His gaze quickly swept across the office: bookshelves, sofa, coffee table, trash can... Finally, his eyes landed on the edge of the carpet inside the office doorway.

There was a small, inconspicuous, blurry mark that had been wiped clean. The color was very light, like... a stain from rubbing against the sole of a shoe? It was very low, and you wouldn't notice it unless you looked closely.

"President, where is Ms. Horikawa Airi's workstation?" Takada Yuki asked.

"Right outside, by the window!"

The three walked out of the president's office.

Airi Horikawa's workstation was very tidy. The computer screen was black, the desktop was clean and tidy, and the water cup and pen holder were neatly arranged.

Yuki Takada opened the drawer and looked inside; it only contained some stationery and documents.

He picked up a photo frame on the corner of the table. Inside was a picture of Airi Horikawa and a middle-aged woman, both smiling brightly.

"She didn't seem to leave in a hurry, or be forcibly taken away," Sato Miwako whispered. "What about her phone? Did she take it?"

“They must have taken it; we can’t get through,” Tanaka Junichi replied.

Yuki Takada's gaze swept across Airi Horikawa's desk and lingered on an inconspicuous corner under the keyboard tray.

There, it seemed, was stuck with a tiny, glittering fragment?

He discreetly picked it up with tweezers and placed it in the evidence bag. It looked like... a fragment of some kind of glass or plastic decoration?

"Where is Fuyuyama Reihito's workstation?" Kogoro Mouri asked.

“Over there, in the corner against the wall.” Junichi Tanaka pointed to a somewhat cluttered workstation piled high with documents and books.

The person who occupied the workstation had clearly left in a hurry.

The keyboard was leaning to one side, and the chair wasn't pushed back in place.

Several loan application documents were spread out on the table, next to a half-empty, cheap coffee cup.

Most noticeably, there was a medicine bottle on the corner of the table.

Kogoro Mouri picked it up and looked at it: "Diazepam? Sleeping pills? He hasn't been sleeping well lately?"

"This...I don't know..." Tanaka Junichi said somewhat guiltily.

Yuuki Takada picked up a sticky note from under the documents. Several words were scribbled repeatedly on it: "liar," "shameless," "price," "finished."

...The handwriting exuded a desperate madness, somewhat resembling the handwriting on the threatening letter.

“It seems he is indeed under a lot of mental pressure,” Yuki Takada mused.

He opened Fuyuyama Reihito's drawer, which was stuffed with documents and odds and ends.

At the very bottom of the drawer, Yuki Takada found a crumpled envelope.

He carefully unfolded it, and inside was a photocopy of a hospital payment notice. The amount was not small, and the payee was... Horikawa Airi? The diagnosis section was blacked out.

Yuuki Takada's pupils contracted slightly. He handed the receipt to Miwako Sato for a glance, and Sato also showed a knowing and serious expression.

"President Tanaka," Yuki Takada's voice remained steady, but carried a hint of barely perceptible coldness, "What is the relationship between Reihito Fuyuyama and Ms. Airi Horikawa like within the company? Are you familiar with them? Or, do they have any shared financial dealings?"

"Huh? This... why are you suddenly asking this?" Tanaka Junichi seemed bewildered, but his eyes became even more unpredictable. "Fuyuyama Reijin is a quiet person. He rarely interacts with Horikawa Airi at the company. If it weren't for that time when I was drunk and talked to her, and Horikawa Airi herself revealed that her boyfriend was Fuyuyama Reijin, I wouldn't know now."

"What... Mr. Takada, have you discovered something?"

"It's nothing, just a routine inquiry." Yuuki Takada put the receipt away without saying anything more.

His gaze swept over the almost invisible pink stain on Tanaka Junichi's collar again, and then glanced at the glittering fragments below Horikawa Airi's workstation.

Fuyuyama Reijin's despair and hatred are real, and the threatening letter is clearly aimed at the president.

But that "she"... and the president's unusual resistance to calling the police and his evasive answers... things seem to be much more complicated than simple employee retaliation.

Where is the stolen knife now?

Is Airi Horikawa a victim, or... an accomplice in some sense?

Or perhaps she possesses something that would terrify the president?

"President..." Kogoro Mouri finished inspecting Reito Fuyuyama's workstation and concluded in a serious tone, "The situation is not optimistic. Reito Fuyuyama has a strong motive and emotional basis for committing the crime. Now that he can't be found, the murder weapon has been stolen, and Ms. Airi Horikawa is also missing, he may have already taken action or is planning something even more dangerous."

"We must do it as soon as possible..."

"President! Something terrible has happened!"

"President!"

A young male employee came running in from outside, panting and pale.

With a sob in her voice and extreme fear, she rushed to President Tanaka and whispered, "Just... just now! Someone... someone with an unknown username... sent an email to my work computer. It contained a picture of Horikawa Airi!"

"You...you...what did you say?"

The male employee immediately led everyone to his workstation and showed them his computer screen.

On the screen is a dimly lit photograph taken at an odd angle.

In the photo, a woman in a business suit, judging from her figure and clothing, is none other than Airi Horikawa.

He appeared to be bound, slumped amidst a pile of debris, his eyes closed, his fate unknown.

What's most chilling is that, in the shadows near her carotid artery, a cold, gleaming metal tip is faintly visible—its shape is strikingly similar to the tip of an antique silver letter opener!

Below the photo, there is only one line of shocking blood-red text, which was obviously photoshopped in later:

"Clearance, begin."

"Ah—!" Tanaka Junichi let out a short scream, his eyes rolled back, and his body went limp backward. He was caught by the quick-thinking Kogoro Mouri, who pinched his philtrum and brought him back to his senses.

After a quick glance, Yuuki Takada stopped looking at the computer screen and fixed his cold gaze on the almost limp face of Junichi Tanaka, especially on his expensive shirt with suspicious powder stains on the collar.

"President Tanaka..." Yuuki Takada immediately stepped forward to check on the situation. After seeing that Junichi Tanaka was not seriously injured, he asked clearly, word by word, "Where exactly is that place in the photo? And why didn't they send you this photo?"

"Instead, they're using this method to threaten you!"

There was deathly silence in the office.

Only Junichi Tanaka's heavy, fearful breathing could be heard.

It wasn't until he heard Yuki Takada's voice beside him that Junichi Tanaka realized what was happening.

Chapter 55 The culprit

"Mr. Takada, what do you mean?" Tanaka Junichi's voice trembled, shaking uncontrollably. His face was even paler than before, and cold sweat soaked his temples. He subconsciously wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, but the action seemed more like a cover-up.

A glint flashed in Yuuki Takada's eyes as he said calmly:

"My point is simple. Instead of sending this highly threatening photo directly to you, the person being investigated, they sent it to one of the members of your company."

“This is very unusual, President Tanaka. Usually, criminals, in order to maximize the intimidation effect, will directly contact the person who cares most about the victim, or the culprit they believe to be the one to blame—which is naturally you.”

Yuki Takada took a step forward, and the invisible pressure made Junichi Tanaka involuntarily take half a step back, his back against the office door frame.

"The other party chose a roundabout way, having the photo delivered to you through an employee."

"This illustrates at least two points: First, the other party may not be able to contact you directly, or they may think that contacting you directly would cause you to overreact, and you might even call the police immediately, or even run away, thus disrupting their plan to settle scores."

"Secondly, he might be... testing you."