As the police from the village police station took out the keys and opened the door of the villa, everyone stepped into the crime scene that had been covered in dust for a year.

From the outside, the village chief's villa looks quite impressive.

But entering the house, it was a mess.

Various glass products were smashed to the ground, and all drawers and cabinets were opened. It looked like they had just been looted.

But looking at the layer of dust covering it, everyone realized that a year had passed.

And between the living room and the corridor, a pair of bright shoe prints caught everyone's eyes.

"Is this the 'murderer's' shoe print?"

Qin Zhibo pointed to the mark on the ground and asked.

"Yes." The gloomy-looking police station officer nodded, "This is the shoe print left by the murderer wearing shoes who stepped on the blood of the village chief's wife who was killed on the stairs and then walked back and forth in the room."

Since a year has passed since the case, the blood stains on the shoe prints have completely turned black, along with a pool of blood on the stairs.

"It's so miserable..." Mao Lilan, who has always been kind-hearted, sighed with emotion.

A middle-aged man in the village also made Amitabha gestures around the living room.

A few people stayed in the living room for a while, then followed the "murderer's" footsteps and walked to the second floor.

Among the crowd, Conan walked at the back, looking solemnly at the shoe prints on the ground.

A year ago, he also walked through this place and saw this tragic scene. He secretly vowed in his heart that the murderer must be brought to justice.

But as he investigates the case in depth, more and more clues point to the fact that there is no so-called "murderer".

After realizing this, his mood became even heavier.

Because the village chief and his wife also left behind a young son, if the incident becomes public, the younger son will definitely be affected by the gossip of the villagers.

In order to make the living people as comfortable as possible, he made some small changes in the details of the case.

Now that he was visiting his old place again, he didn't know how to face it.

If you were yourself now, what would you choose to do?

What would Qin Zhibo do?

…

Everyone followed the "murderer's" shoe prints all the way to the balcony on the second floor.

After a year of exposure to the sun and rain, the shoe prints themselves have not faded.

The shoe prints extended all the way to the edge of the balcony handrail, and then turned back.

At this time, the policeman from the village police station once again stood aside to explain, pointing to the open space under the railing and saying, "The body of the village chief was under this railing at that time. The cause of death was that he broke his neck when he jumped..."

Miwako Sato also came to the railing and looked down. The height was almost four meters. If the angle was not suitable, she might fall to her death.

Although the body had been laid to rest long ago, if you follow the images in your mind and the descriptions of the village police, such a scene would be clear at a glance.

Sato's eyes were heavy and he murmured: "Judging from the traces at the scene, the murderer seemed to have used a murder weapon to kill the village chief's wife first, and the village chief happened to see this scene."

"Then the murderer chased the village chief here. In fright, the village chief hurriedly jumped from the balcony and fell to his death..."

As soon as Sato finished speaking, Makoto Yada immediately started shouting behind him.

"Look! I just said it was a robbery and murder case!"

Next to him, Takagi quickly tugged Yada Makoto's handcuffed arm to stop him from continuing to speak.

At this time, Mouri Kogoro held his chin up and turned to look at the village policeman, "What did that detective boy say a year ago?"

Although Kudo Shinichi did not announce the entire truth of the case to the village, the police at least wanted to tell it.

"..." The village policeman thought for a few seconds and was about to open his mouth, but Qin Zhibo raised his hand to stop him.

"Mr. Police, don't say it yet..."

Qin Zhibo turned his head and looked at everyone, "Since the investigation is restarted this time, don't be affected by preconceived notions. Whatever you see is what you see."

"I think this is the best way to ensure fairness, isn't it?"

Qin Zhibo's approach was more particular, which also aroused the tacit approval of several village representatives.

Conan was stunned after hearing this. Is Qin Zhibo planning to investigate the truth of the entire case on his own?

Although the case itself was not complicated, and he had told Qin Zhibo the result before, he did not say anything about the method or motive.

But if the investigation had to be restarted, even Qin Zhibo wouldn't be able to get results from the murder scene of the past year in a short time, right?

Back then, I faced a new crime scene, but it took a full day to investigate...

…

Next, everyone, led by the village police, walked around every room where the "murderer" had visited.

Among them, a room similar to a showroom on the second floor suffered the most serious damage, with a large area of ​​display furniture inside being torn apart.

Qin Zhibo looked at these furnishings and found that most of the honors displayed on one of the cabinets were the honors obtained by the village chief.

In addition, there is a picture of the village chief competing on the sports field when he was young.

"This village chief was an athlete when he was young?" Qin Zhibo asked.

At this time, a villager standing at the door of the room said: "Yes, the village chief almost stood on the Olympic field when he was young..."

"What project is it?"

"This...it's been many years, and the village chief doesn't mention it often, so I've long forgotten about it."

Qin Zhibo looked at these trophies and a lot of gold medals.

It's just that the ribbons have been removed from these gold medals, and the medals themselves are still here.

There was a brown Nioh statue lying upside down next to the cabinet. Just as Qin Zhibo was about to raise his hand to pick it up, Mouri Kogoro picked up the Nioh statue first.

But as soon as he picked it up, his hand sank a little lower.

"This thing is so heavy..."

"But the carving is quite detailed and it looks quite beautiful."

At this time, Sato came to the side and asked doubtfully: "I remember, shouldn't the Nioh statues have two statues? It seems to be called 'The Second General of Humha' or something like that..."

The village police explained: "A year ago, General Ha disappeared without a trace along with the jewelry of the village chief's wife."

"I see……"

Mouri Kogoro nodded clearly, and just as he was about to put the statue back in its place, the current village chief at the door quickly said: "Be careful! This carving is very expensive."

Mouri Kogoro glanced at him and asked, "How expensive can this thing be?"

The village policeman said expressionlessly: "This is the work of a famous sculptor from the Edo period. According to the current market price, one sculpture must cost at least 5 million yen..."

"55 million!"

Mouri Kogoro opened his mouth wide in surprise, his heart trembled with excitement, and his hands almost dropped the sculpture directly to the ground.

After holding it firmly, he stared at the carving in disbelief.

Even though this thing is so small, it is actually worth a Ford Mustang convertible that has been soaked in water!

What does it feel like to hold a roadster in your hands?

Of course it’s heavy!

Mouri Kogoro carefully placed the carving in its original place, fearing that it might be bumped a little, otherwise he would not be able to afford the compensation in full view of the public.

As soon as Mouri Kogoro put the carving down, Qin Zhibo picked it up casually.

If you take a closer look, you can see that the carving is really good, comparable to the "foreign Bodhisattvas" created by the sculpting masters I encountered before.

However, in terms of subject matter, "Foreign Bodhisattva" completely wins.

"In other words, most people in your village know that this carving is of high value?"

The current village chief nodded, "Yes, this is Ribu's most proud collection. Almost everyone who comes to his home as a guest should have been introduced to it."

Qin Zhibo put the carving back to its original place and glanced at the medal next to it.

If you are someone who knows the value of carvings, you will just get a pair. After all, if you take one less, you will miss out on a huge sum of 5 million.

Moreover, if there is a pair of paired collections, then the value is not as simple as 1+1=2, but far greater than 2.

Therefore, the "murderer" should be an amateur who does not know the value of the collection. He may just take one at random because he is not sure of the value of the statue.

But if you are a layman who doesn’t understand the market, why don’t you get these gold medals next to them?

Although the gold medal is not pure gold, in this era when knowledge has not yet become popular, many people must subconsciously think that the gold medal is made of gold.

As long as gold is melted, it is easier to sell than carvings and gems.

And the ribbons hanging around the necks of these medals are gone...

"Okay, I've finished looking at this room, let's go check out the other rooms."

Everyone walked to the next room, opened the door and entered, and what they saw was a huge poster of Kudo Shinichi.
To be continued...