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He jumped by himself, which ruled out the possibility of accident... Was it suicide?
However, based on her contact with Toma Katsuragi at the office yesterday, Karasuma Ei did not think that Toma Katsuragi had any suicidal tendencies.
Of course, there is another possibility, that is, Hoshino Terumi is lying, but this idea just came up and was immediately rejected by Karasuma Ying herself.
Unless there is irrefutable evidence, Karasuma Ying would never doubt his friend.
Even if it was really done by Hoshino Terumi, she would only try to help Hoshino Terumi cover up the truth.
Although this is illegal and does not meet most people's expectations of her, it is indeed what Karasuma Ying really thinks.
She is indeed not a pure detective.
However, in the current situation, Hoshino Terumi, as the only person on the cliff at the time, was indeed highly suspicious.
"Sister Huimei, I heard that this scene today was originally supposed to be performed by a stuntman?" asked Karasuma Ying.
“Well, the stuntman Komiya was originally supposed to perform the scene, but because he has been in poor health recently, the crew was planning to postpone the filming of this scene, but Katsuragi suddenly proposed that he should perform this scene himself.
No one agreed at first, but it was only after his strong request and the producer's approval that the final decision was made."
"Producer?" Wu Wanying heard this word again.
I remember that the previous staff mentioned that this morning it was at the request of the producer of this crew that all the staff were moved to the front of the cliff, leaving only an air cushion at the back.
"Does the producer agree that Mr. Katsuragi should perform in person?" asked Karasuma Ying.
"Yes, and in the original design, Onimare only needed to jump down from the edge of the cliff. It was after these two discussed with each other that they decided to modify the action to sprint before jumping..."
"Hey! What happened?! I received a call saying someone called the police?"
Just then, a man wearing glasses and a shirt walked into the studio and asked loudly.
"Mr. Shibata! Something big has happened!" Seeing him, the staff in the studio suddenly became respectful.
"He is the producer Daisuke Shibata." Hoshino Terumi explained softly.
"Don't panic! Tell me the general situation first. Also! Have someone tell the people in the security room not to let those reporters in!"
"The police are coming!"
At this moment, several police officers also hurried into the studio. As expected, the leader was also an acquaintance of Mori and others - Miwako Sato and Wataru Takagi.
"Everyone, be quiet! I'm Inspector Sato of the First Investigation Division!"
Showing her police officer ID card, Sato Miwako said loudly: "We received a call from the police and came here. Next we will first conduct an on-site investigation, and then collect evidence from everyone present. Before that, please don't leave the photography studio."
"Officer." As soon as Sato Miwako finished speaking, Shibata Daisuke immediately asked, "Then should we arrange for the people here to go to the lounge first?"
"No problem, just don't leave the studio."
"Okay, then the staff will stay on site, and Ms. Hoshino and the other actors will go to the lounge..."
As he spoke, Shibata Daisuke looked at Mori and his group and said, "You are Mr. Katsuragi's guests, right? If you don't mind, why don't you come to the lounge with us?"
"No need, Detective Maori and the others will stay and assist with the investigation."
Sato Miwako spoke, she looked back at Maori and the others, and when her eyes met with Karasuma Ying, she nodded.
"I understand." Seeing this, Shibata Daisuke no longer insisted.
"Sister Huimei, I'll come over for a moment."
Karasuma Ying stood up and walked towards Sato Miwako.
Next chapter will be later~
Chapter 177 Investigation in Progress (Additional Update 410)
"Officer Sato."
Together with Kogoro Mori, Karasuma Ying walked quickly towards Miwako Sato.
"Xiaoying, you are here too."
Sato Miwako's face looked a little tired, but when she saw Karasuma Ying, she still smiled.
"When I received the call from Xiaolan, I guessed that you and Detective Maori might be there too. It turned out to be true. Wherever there is a case, you will appear there...
By the way, Xiaoying, I brought the things you wanted in the car before I came. After we finish this case, Xiaoying, come with me."
"Ah."
As they talked, several people walked towards the back of the artificial cliff, where several police officers from the forensic department were already investigating.
"What's the situation?" asked Miwako Sato.
"Officer Sato, the cause of the victim's death is roughly clear. First, his entire body was injured when he fell. In addition, the chest area of his costume was also broken into pieces, and the fragments pierced the victim's chest, causing bleeding. However, the time of death is not yet certain..."
"The time of death is uncertain?" Wu Wanying asked puzzledly.
"It should be when he fell down?" Kogoro Mouri said casually.
“Well, you could say that…”
Upon hearing this, the forensic police officer said with some embarrassment: "But it may be because of the fan here that the victim's body temperature lost too quickly, accelerating the speed of body stiffness. Just in case, we need to conduct further tests..."
【fan?】
Karasuma Ying looked up and indeed saw a large fan on top of the wall. She remembered that the fan was indeed running when she was taking pictures before.
This type of fan is generally used to simulate strong wind scenes during shooting, so the wind force is indeed very strong.
However, although the wind from the fan can indeed accelerate the loss of body temperature, it should not be to the extent that it can significantly prolong the time of death, right?
"Is it only the chest front of the costume that was torn?" After noting this, Karasuma Ying asked again.
"Yes."
The forensic officer nodded and said, "This costume is made of reinforced plastic and fiberglass. It is a very well-made costume.
Even though he fell from a height of more than ten meters, only his chest was shattered, and the rest of his body was still intact."
"In other words, this costume as a whole is very strong?" asked Karasuma Ying.
"Yes, the quality of the costumes is very good."
"That's not right. Why is there such severe damage to the chest? And only the chest is damaged..."
"Could it be because the victim landed on his chest? Hmm, that doesn't seem right..."
As soon as Takagi Shigeru made a guess, he rejected it himself.
Because the situation at the scene was very obvious, Katsuragi Toma fell on the air cushion in a side-lying position, and his entire chest did not have direct contact with the ground.
And more importantly, almost all of the chest fragments are concave inwards...
"Someone tampered with the chest area of this costume." Uesugi Ying concluded.
"Was it homicide?" Sato Miwako looked at her.
"Well, in addition to the costume, there is also a problem with this air cushion." Wu Wanying nodded and mentioned the suspicious points she had discovered before.
"When the center of the air cushion is subjected to force, it will slowly compress downwards, gradually alleviating the impact. In this process, the edge of the air cushion is actually the main stress point, and it is also the most vulnerable place."
"But the air cushion in front of me is broken in the middle, and the tear is very neat and smooth, as if it was deliberately cut by a sharp weapon..." Sato Miwako continued her words.
"As expected, it is better to investigate towards homicide at this point... Takagi, immediately start collecting evidence from the people who were in the studio at the time and inquire about the circumstances.
Detective Maori, Xiaoying, I'm sorry to bother you to assist me in the investigation this time."
"No problem, it's our honor to help the police." Kogoro Mouri smiled confidently.
While Kogoro Mori and Ei Karasuma were accompanying Miwako Sato to investigate the death scene, Conan, in his capacity as "Detective Mori's little assistant," had already begun to gather intelligence from the staff in the studio.
After this period of time, Conan has roughly figured out the way to conduct investigations together with Karasuma Ying.
There is no doubt that Karasuma Ying's reasoning ability is very strong, at least at a similar level to his.
Therefore, when the two are involved in the same case, Conan basically doesn't have to worry where Karasuma Ying appears.
Just like now, since Karasuma Ying has already gone to the scene, there is no need for Conan to follow her because it doesn't make much sense.
Rather than crowding two detectives there and wasting their time, he might as well just search somewhere else.
Of course, more importantly, if he forced his way through, he might get hit on the head by the uncle again...
Conan really wanted to complain about the uncle's behavior.
How many times have I solved cases for you, uncle? I'm the one who supports the Maori family by myself, so why do you still hit my head every time I show up? You're doing it on purpose, right?
Without thinking about it anymore, Conan looked up at a staff member in front of him.
"Big brother, do you have time? I want to ask you a question."
Perhaps affected by the murder of Toma Katsuragi, this staff member also looked dejected. When he heard Conan's question, he just turned his head and glanced.
"What's the problem, kid?"
"Mr. Katsuragi, are you in the same condition today as usual?" Conan asked.
Most people who want to commit suicide will have some obvious abnormal reactions before they actually start to commit suicide. He wanted to know if Toma Katsuragi had the same situation this morning.
"Katsuragi's condition... I don't know. I only saw him in costume today, so I'm not sure... Ah, but he came pretty early this morning."
"Is this weird?"
"It's not strange, it's mainly because Katsuragi always waits until the photo shoot is about to start before coming to the studio. It's because of this that Miss Hoshino often complains about him...
But he came very early today. I heard that he seemed to have arrived at the lounge very early in the morning. When other staff members went to check, he was already wearing his costume and waiting there..."
[Have you already put on your costume at that time? 】
"That is to say, since this morning, no one has actually seen Mr. Katsuragi in person, right?" Conan's voice lowered.
"It seems that the studio staff didn't have it, but I think the people in the security office should have seen it, because we have to register there when we go to and from get off work... Oh, there's more."
As if he had just thought of it suddenly, the staff member continued:
"Katsuragi is indeed a little strange today... Little brother, you also took a photo with Katsuragi before, right?"
What he was talking about was the incident when Katsuragi Toma took a photo with Mori Ran before the filming began. Conan, Karasuma Ei and even Mori Kogoro, who were traveling with them at the time, were all encouraged to take a photo together.
"Well, yes, is there a problem with this too?" Conan asked, nodding.
"It's indeed a problem. Little boy, you may not know that after Katsuragi puts on his costume, he never takes the initiative to take photos with others. Every time someone invites him, he will just make some gestures and wait for those people to come up and take photos with him.