In the world of Detective Conan, however, he was bound to the Naruto System.

Chapter 30: Surrender, Art Museum Sword Saint!

The four people at the scene were busy: some were looking for clues, some were scared, some were trembling, some were pretending to be detectives and making deductions, while others were just watching the excitement. No one was idle.

The Beika Town police responded as efficiently as ever, even faster than the exhibition staff who rushed to the scene after hearing the screams.

However, Akutagawa Hiko thought it was more likely that they were simply too frightened by the exhibits in the Hell Hall to react.

After all, the shouting was so loud, but there was no follow-up, so it didn't seem like something unexpected had happened.

Upon seeing Akutagawa Hiko, Inspector Megure felt a sense of kinship and immediately shook hands with him.

If you meet Akutagawa Hiko, the case will be solved, and you won't have to work overtime with a worried look on your face.

After a murder, it's impossible to keep the lights off in order to maintain the eerie and dark atmosphere of the hell exhibition hall. The entire scene clearly tells everyone that a murder recently occurred here.

After all, hanging himself in mid-air and nailing himself to the wall doesn't look like suicide at all.

Regardless, the procedures still had to be followed, but the routine questioning yielded no useful clues, and no one had seen any suspicious persons.

However, after being reminded by an employee, Inspector Megure was pleasantly surprised to find that there were actually security cameras in the exhibition hall!

Who knows, this time we might not even need to rely on Brother Akutagawa to solve the case!

With a naive wave of his hand and a face full of excitement, Inspector Megure exclaimed, "Let's go to the surveillance room!" The police could finally be put to good use this time.

Unfortunately, the surveillance footage did not capture the scene Inspector Megure wanted to see, because the murderer did not show his face when he committed the crime. Instead, he was wearing a heavy suit of Western armor, making it impossible to even estimate his physique, let alone his face.

Akutagawa Hiko relived this childhood memory on the spot, and couldn't help but marvel.

First, while the boss was waiting impatiently, he ambushed him from behind and slashed him with a sword. Then, under the surveillance camera, he struck a cool pose, giving the boss plenty of time to react.

Then, with a backhand strike, he grabbed the boss by the neck with his left hand, lifted him up, thrust out his sword with his right hand to deliver the finishing move, and then turned and left.

The composition of the last image almost echoes that of the painting titled "Divine Punishment".

Akutagawa Hiko silently added a comment: "At this point, the art is complete."

After watching the great show orchestrated by the Sword Saint at the art museum, what attracted Akutagawa Hiko the most next was solving the case and the subsequent increase in reputation points, so Akutagawa Hiko started to fast-forward.

"Inspector Megure, could you please rewind the footage to the part where the culprit crossed over from Mr. Manaka to the camera?"

Inspector Megure had no objection; in fact, there was a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

Look at what it means to respect the police! They know to ask permission before doing anything. In contrast, Kudo and the other detectives, who have been missing lately, always like to tamper with crime scenes without permission.

They dared to tamper with not only videotapes, but also corpses and important evidence.

I used to be used to it, but now I realize what a truly heartwarming relationship between a famous detective and a police officer is like.

Kudo is alright; although his professional skills aren't as good as Akutagawa's, he can still solve cases.

Those detectives who are just causing trouble are nothing compared to Akutagawa.

Akutagawa Hiko had no idea that Inspector Megure had such a high opinion of him. Right now, all he wanted was to get off work, and he was even distracted by what to have for dinner, already smelling the aroma of fish soup.

As the video paused, everyone noticed that the boss behind the murderer, Zhenzhong, took advantage of the murderer's "lack of attention," picked up a piece of paper and a pen placed next to him, wrote something, and then held it tightly in his hand before dying.

Akutagawa Hiko watched wearily as the police officers pulled the deceased's hand out of the body bag and took out a piece of paper.

That's why many people ridicule these police officers as incompetent fools; they didn't even notice anything unusual when the body was being placed inside, almost missing crucial clues.

"This is... Kubota!!"

As Inspector Megure read out the words written on it, the slender Kubota looked completely bewildered: "Why are you suddenly calling my name?!"

I was initially relieved that after Boss Zhenzhong died, perhaps no one would pursue his art resale business anymore. Why is everyone suddenly watching him?

Just as the police were considering Kubota as a prime suspect, Conan found the ballpoint pen lying in the corner and utterly humiliated the investigation team.

Inspector Megure took the pen, scribbled something on the blank notebook, and compared it to the name on the other paper: "Looks like it was written with the same pen."

Immediately afterwards, the two officers found the Western-style armor in Kubota's cabinet.

Kubota exclaimed in horror, "How could this be? I didn't know anything about this!"

Inspector Megure was secretly overjoyed, but his face remained very serious: "Faced with two irrefutable pieces of evidence, and the note left by the victim before he died, there's nothing more to say. Please come with us to the police station."

Conan's intuition gave him a crazy warning.

No, Kubota is not the culprit; the real killer is someone else!

Knowing that there were security cameras in the exhibition hall, there's no reason to deliberately lure the victim here to commit the crime, let alone choose such a troublesome method as wearing armor...

Moreover, why would someone deliberately imitate the scene in that painting when they clearly have no interest in art and even engage in activities like reselling collectibles?

Conan was about to tell Akutagawa Hiko about his discovery, hoping that the two of them could work together to find the real culprit as soon as possible. Kubota should be punished, but definitely not for taking the blame for the murderer!

Looking up, I saw Hiko Akutagawa and Director Ochiai talking in front of the painting "Divine Punishment".

It seems that Akutagawa has also noticed something is wrong and is actively looking for clues.

Just as he sneaked over to eavesdrop, Akutagawa Hiko's words left Conan speechless.

"Director Ochiai, turn yourself in!"

……

A few minutes earlier, having gathered all the clues except for the pen on Curator Ochiai's body, Akutagawa Hiko walked up to Curator Ochiai, who was standing in front of "Heaven's Punishment".

Akutagawa Hiko couldn't read Ochiai's expression. His beard, which had been growing for decades and reached down to his chest, along with his thick eyebrows, concealed half of his face.

Thinking about his incredibly high level of skill, Akutagawa Hiko managed to sense a touch of the aloof and otherworldly air of a hermit master.

"A suit of armor that could be called a work of art was turned into a pile of scrap metal because of the murderer's selfishness. What a pity."

"Is that right, Director Ochiai?"

Looking at the handsome young man before him, Director Ochiai seemed to have found a kindred spirit and explained cheerfully, "It's alright, that suit of armor is a replica; the real one wasn't damaged."

Akutagawa Hiko seemed comforted and nodded with relief, but what he said next made Director Ochiai freeze in place.

"Confess, Director Ochiai."